Warkworth History Society 8th January, 2024

Happy Days Digging up Northumberland, local archaeologist Barry Meade
Our first meeting of the year took place on Monday 8th January, when local archaeologist Barry Meade delivered a talk entitled ‘Happy Days Digging up Northumberland’. Barry achieved local celebrity in 2019 when he was named ‘Community Archaeologist of the Year’ for his leadership in the restoration of Peel Tower in his home village of Cresswell. The work was paid for by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the site is now open to the public.
What emerged most noticeably from Barry’s talk was his unmistakable enthusiasm for his work. His first dig was in 1975 and continues right up to the present day. He typically uses a mattock, a tool similar to a pickaxe, to dig down into the soil and rock, leaving the more delicate trowel work to his colleagues.
He explained that Northumberland contained some of the most well preserved archaeological sites in Europe because of its low population density. Some of the most interesting excavations have been on Holy Island where the outline of a building, possibly a pre-Norman church, was recently found just inches below the surface turf. The known presence of a 6th to 7th Century monastery nearby suggests an even earlier date.
A more unlikely area for a dig came up in a field near North Seaton and Ashington which was designated for development by a building company. When this happens, the builders themselves are obliged to pay for an archaeological excavation before any work can begin and, sure enough, evidence was unearthed of early Neolithic Anglo-Saxon dwellings as well as henge monuments.
Similarly, when the owners of the Tarmac Harden Quarry at Biddlestone applied to extend the works, an archaeological dig had to be financed which revealed a palisade enclosure indicating the presence of an Iron Age settlement there.
We were treated to many more of Barry’s tales and adventures at Kentstone, at Belsay, East Thurston near Felton and on the Ministry of Defence ranges at Otterburn. In sunshine and, more typically, in pouring rain, it was clear that he will continue digging up Northumberland’s past for many years to come, whilst at the same time enthusing others to follow his example.