Access all areas

Access Cambridge Archaeology and Ridley Hall have joined forces to offer local archaeology groups, community volunteers and visiting sixth-form students a rare opportunity to take part in an archaeological dig in the grounds of a Cambridge college.

Access Cambridge Archaeology is an outreach unit within the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, aiming to enhance educational, economic and social well-being through active participation in archaeology with communities and schools.

The dig is taking place in the grounds of Ridley Hall, a theological college training students for ministry in the Anglican Church.

The area being excavated is part of the site covered by planning consent for a new building development, intended to provide additional teaching and living space for Ridley students.

Before the foundations are laid, Access Cambridge Archaeology’s 11-day dig will explore the extent and character of archaeological remains within college grounds.

The dig will also serve as an educational project for volunteers from the local community and twenty sixth formers from state schools across the UK.  Visiting sixth formers will be hosted by Homerton and Magdalene Colleges.

After removing the topsoil as preparation for the excavations, Access Cambridge Archaeology began by digging sections of a Romano-British ditch revealed in a 2009 excavation.

During these early stages of excavation, which occurred in advance of planning consent, evidence indicated that the dig would uncover evidence of Roman settlement, dating to the early Romano-British period.

A number of other excavations and investigations in the wider locality of Ridley Hall have revealed extensive evidence for archaeological potential within the area, with material from the Mesolithic through to the Medieval period.

Cambridge is rich in archaeology. Recent excavations at Trumpington Meadows on the southern city limits of Cambridge, funded by the property developers Grosvenor, unearthed significant findings from the Neolithic and Iron Ages, as well as one of the earliest Anglo-Saxon Christian burial sites in Britain.

The grave of a teenage girl from the mid 7th century AD held an extraordinary combination of two extremely rare finds: a ‘bed burial’ and an early Christian artefact in the form of a stunning gold and garnet cross.

“There are tantalising possibilities here: we have found signs of Roman settlement and there may also be some Iron Age remains which will be excavated and recorded. The volunteers and students are taking part in real research and will have the opportunity to gain new archaeological skills and knowledge,” said Dr Carenza Lewis, Director of Access Cambridge Archaeology.

Colin MacRae, Bursar of Ridley Hall, said: “We are delighted to be working with Access Cambridge Archaeology on this exciting project. Our new building is essential to our plans for the future and, at this stage of the design process, gives us a wonderful opportunity to explore the roots of Cambridge’s past. We pride ourselves on being an open community and we look forward to welcoming the volunteer teams.”

Members of the public who would like to see the excavations are invited to visit Ridley Hall on the afternoon of Tuesday 17^th April, when an Open Day will take place between 2 and 4pm.

Launched in 1881 to train forty young men for Anglican ministry, today Ridley Hall has 140 students of all ages, both male and female, preparing for a variety of ministries. Located adjacent to Newnham College, Ridley works closely with the Cambridge University Divinity Faculty and Anglia Ruskin University. It is an active member of Cambridge’s partnership for theological education, the Cambridge Theological Federation.

Ridley Hall serves the Cambridge area through student involvement in local churches, colleges, hospitals, prisons and other areas of community life.  Ridley’s Centre for Youth Ministry trains leaders working with young people, who often are disadvantaged or marginalized.

The new building will provide state of the art teaching space, a multi-purpose auditorium, further residential accommodation, an audio-visual studio and additional social space. The whole development is expected to cost £9 million.

Access Cambridge Archaeology is an outreach unit within the Department of Archaeology at the University of Cambridge, based in the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research.

The primary aim of Access Cambridge Archaeology is to enhance educational, economic and social well-being through active participation in archaeology.

It seeks to achieve this by running novel, fun and challenging activities for members of the public, including school pupils, to develop new skills and confidence; raise their educational aspirations, boost their academic performance; enjoy learning for the love of it; take part in new archaeological excavations and make new discoveries about themselves and the world around them.

Access Cambridge Archaeology activities and events are available for people of all ages and interests. Field Academies and Discovery Days provide for young people of secondary school age, with junior versions of these tailored for younger pupils, while anybody can get involved in community excavations.