Community Heritage Weekend - a huge success!

We successfully bid for a £2000 grant which enabled us to take the first important steps of an archaeological and historical survey of the site. The Community Heritage Weekend which the grant funded was held on the weekend of 26/27 March 2011. Free events took place for all ages between on both days. The house itself, was open to look around. As well as the drawing competition, badge making and hurdy-gurdy performances (courtesy of Mark Veevers) There were three activities that members of the public took part in:

Resistivity
This is a form of geophysical survey where electrical current is passed through the ground at regular points on a survey grid. You might have seen this in action on Ch4's 'Time Team'. Electrical resistance in the soil varies, and is affected by the presence of archaeological features.

The patterns of resistance in the soil are recorded, plotted and interpreted. People of all ages queued up to try their hand and a lot of important data was gathered. The results will be collated and an image of the results along with their interpretation will appear on this site soon.

Projection Survey
This is a way of drawing an accurate scale plan of a house, and is a step towards getting a historic building survey. Practically it involved putting a freestanding grid against the house, measuring features and drawing to scale. Clearly this isn't a job that can be completed in a weekend and work will continue throughout the year. One of the many things we can do with the results is to accurately determine where repairs may be needed.

A window survey X-ray fluorescence (XRF)
This dates the windows by analyzing the composition of the glass an tell us more about the phasing of the building (how it has changed, been added to over time) this is a step towards a Historical building survey. Once the data is analysed, we will be able to tell you which is the oldest pane of glass in the building!

Outcomes
As well as making many exciting new contacts and signing up over 20 members, the data taken will be used to produce a detailed report which will be the first step towards our long term aim of helping to preserve this unique 15th Century Tudor farmhouse for future generations. All the results will be made available to the public through a public display, printed documentation and an evening talk following the weekend.

This was a wonderful opportunity to raise the profile of Bishops House locally and introduce the Friends of Bishops House (and the house itself) to a wider public. It also gave the opportunity for members of the community to learn new skills and to use professionally recognised techniques to actively engage in the history of this amazing building.

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