Engaging the Community with Digital Archaeology at the Old Church of St. Nicholas, Uphill: Damien Campbell-Bell (Wessex Archaeology)
Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by the Churches Conservation Trust to undertake a community project at the Old Church of St. Nicholas, Uphill during Heritage Open Days. Whilst the CCT were interested in the results of the archaeological work, the primary aim of the project was to use the work to enthuse the community about this seldom open heritage asset. It was hoped that as a result volunteers would be found to help keep the church regularly open to visitors. The project made use of a combination of laser scanning, metric survey, excavation, RTI and geophysics to investigate the church and graveyard. This integrated approach to site investigation helped draw large numbers of visitors to the site and allowed them to learn about the practice of modern archaeology. With engaging the community a priority people were encouraged to help conduct the archaeological work where possible. Volunteers were trained in archaeological survey and excavation techniques and given explanations of how the equipment they were using worked. The project was carried out in such a way that provisional results could be viewed on site to maximise engagement. Raw scans were shown on the instrument as the laser scanning progressed, the graveyard was surveyed straight to CAD on a tablet PC, and Reflectance Transformation Imaging was processed on site. This allowed volunteers to see the product of their work straight away. A selection of the project work was exhibited on the final open day including the processed laser scan survey of the exterior of the church. This project brought new knowledge about the Old Church of St. Nicholas to the community and allowed individuals from that community to share their knowledge with others. The multi-disciplinary approach to this project drew large numbers of people to the church and many were excited by the potential of the digital practices of modern archaeology, however traditional approaches still hold a great appeal. This paper will discuss the successes and challenges of the project, the benefits that the use of technology brought to it, and some of the findings of the work carried out.
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Engaging the Community with Digital Archaeology at the Old Church of St. Nicholas, Uphill: Damien Campbell-Bell (Wessex Archaeology)
- 1. www.wessexarch.co.uk Engaging the community with digital archaeology at the Old Church of St. Nicholas, Uphill Damien Campbell-Bell Geomatics Officer
- 2. www.wessexarch.co.uk Objectives • Record the Old Church of St. Nicholas and its graveyard • Survey the interior of the church with Ground Penetrating Radar • Investigate the nave with test pits and the surrounding landscape with UAV • Find volunteers to open and close the church for the CCT to allow more people to visit • Demonstrate techniques of digital archaeology and educate in their use • Enthuse the local community about the church and its history • Enthuse community about archaeology • Deliver a series of talks at a weekend event
- 3. www.wessexarch.co.uk Laser Scanning • Faro Focus 3D X330 Scanner- small and simple • Proper visualisation not possible whilst in use • Quick processing • Great interest in the functionality • Limited interactivity
- 6. www.wessexarch.co.uk Outputs • Traditional line drawing plans, elevations and cross sections • Views not possible with other techniques • Areas not usually accessible to public
- 7. www.wessexarch.co.uk Churchyard Survey • Leica TST and GPS to record grave monuments • Survey straight to CAD on tablet PC • One of the most interactive project elements • Involved in all aspects of survey and instant visualisation of results • Fewer errors
- 8. www.wessexarch.co.uk Reflectance Transformation Imaging • Targeting grave monuments and the church • Very exposed and so very weathered • Use of tablet computer to process on site • Real time manipulation of results • Showed power of digital photography
- 9. www.wessexarch.co.uk Potential of RTI • Heavily weathered stones unreadable to the naked eye
- 10. www.wessexarch.co.uk Geophysics • GPR survey of chancel and eastern side of graveyard • Investigate features shown in background research and potential for Saxon Church • A potential barrow? • 200MHz and 400 MHz antennae
- 11. www.wessexarch.co.uk Results and Problems • A lot of kit to get up a very steep hill! • Dynamite ruins chances of finding a barrow • Graves • Post holes
- 12. www.wessexarch.co.uk Excavation • Not at all digital, but still a big draw • The excitement of discovery • Slowed significantly by volunteer engagement • Church stripped for new one?
- 13. www.wessexarch.co.uk UAV • Colour and near Infra-Red photography with a full frame Canon camera to create DSM • 172 Archaeological features identified through analysis in ArcGIS- 47 of which in the HER • Unable to demonstrate during the volunteer stage of the project
- 14. www.wessexarch.co.uk Heritage Open Days Event • Short talks on the various techniques used during the project • Processed data from the week presented • Continued to show people techniques in use • Drew the biggest crowds of the week
- 15. www.wessexarch.co.uk Project Successes • Over 500 people of all ages attended across the week • A very positive response from the community • Knowledge shared in all directions between the CCT, the Wessex team and the community • Ability to see results of work really helped engage volunteers • Knowledge about the church’s history expanded • Volunteers for the CCT found • All objectives met!