Eastbourne residents asked to dig archaeological test pits in their gardens

The Big Dig will take place from June 9-11. As part of the event Heritage Eastbourne is asking people to dig archaeological test pits in their own gardens to give them a snapshot of how parts of Eastbourne developed as a downland settlement and to find out more about the daily lives of the town’s residents throughout history.

The Big Dig project is part of Changing Chalk – a partnership of organisations led by The National Trust and supported by The National Lottery, Heritage Fund and People’s Postcode Lottery.

A test pit is a small archaeological excavation, consisting of a square trench measuring one metre by one metre and up to one metre deep, that can be dug by hand in an open place in a garden.

Heritage Eastbourne said the test pit should be dug methodically, layer-by-layer and carefully recorded, the with aim of identifying evidence of past human activity. This can be done by finding pieces of pottery and other materials such as wall foundations.

Heritage Eastbourne added: “Test pits are also a great way of allowing a community, with the help of professional archaeologists, to investigate its past history and learn a bit about how archaeological excavations works. By collating the results from all the test pits the archaeologists will try to establish a general picture of the origins and development of Eastbourne as a Downland settlement, and hopefully find out something about the people who lived there.”

Archaeologists will also be on hand to supervise and ensure all excavations and recordings are done correctly – while another team of ‘finds specialists’ will be in Heritage Eastbourne’s headquarters in Motcombe Gardens to record and interpret the archaeology.

A spokesperson from Heritage Eastbourne said: “We will also have a number of test pits in public spaces in Eastbourne and visitors are welcome to pop by and see what we have uncovered. Full training and resources will be provided.”

Those wanting to get involved are asked to sign up by emailing [email protected] or by calling 07415208458.

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