Feenagh Johnson, Project Supervisor

Tucked among the various stalls at the Lincolnshire show 2017, Team Allen joined the wonderful people in the Cathedral Tent and the Lincoln Cathedral Connected project to perform a little bit of community outreach and to show off some of the cooler parts of our work!

Director, Mark Allen chats about the Cathedral excavations

Over the course of the Show, countless cups of coffee were consumed (thanks to Stokes) and even more people were introduced into the wonderful world of archaeology, engaging with our reconstruction pots; mosaic tiles and plans of our works at the cathedral and of course Pighill Archaeological Illustration’s virtual reconstruction of the Works Chantry, which quite literally brought the archaeology we had encountered to life!

Fee with a reconstructed pot

It was great to see how enthusiastic and interested the public were in their local heritage, but the centrepiece of this adventure was without a doubt the sandpit. Armed with trowels, little spades and of course finds trays and brushes, a small army of budding archaeologists (hopefully!) jumped at the chance to explore what it was like to be a real digger.

They travelled from Ancient Egypt, with a sphinx and a couple of pyramids; through the Roman Empire, with a fort and colosseum and then back home again with a castle and a very artistic representation of Lincoln cathedral, unearthing all sorts of artefacts (including what we were told were real dinosaur teeth!). At the end of the two days we can’t help but wonder…who had the most fun in the sandpit… the kids or the archaeologists!

Sand Cathedral

Nicky and Bill with their sand castle