Day Three

The heat of the day was joined by a certain amount of uneventful quiet accompanied by the obligatory tumbleweed or two. Now that the trenches were clear we had to go about cleaning them, sadly without the help of a dyson. Having scraped the trenches clean of topsoil we were able to set about recording the contexts of the various objects of significance that had been found. Each context layer had to be recorded on forms and photographs which were taken both in black and white as well as colour. The cameras were duly passed around so we could all participate and we were all on our best behaviour and resisted the urge to take funny photos with admirable restraint. The recording of the context of our finds was very in depth including identifying what sort of soil type the earth was out of several different options (we personally can’t tell the difference between sandy loam and loamy sand, most likely a failing on our part).

The wall that was uncovered yesterday in the trench nearest to the castle itself cannot belong to a drum tower, as it does not reflect the curve of the existing wall. However, it may belong to part of a walkway or it may not be late enough but we could still find the tower base if we dig deep enough.

Lunch was mostly eaten in the shade today, due to the borderline unbearable heat. Most people stayed in the shade where they could safely complete their context sheets without the risk of overheating. Following this, our gloves are now acting as oven mitts, as both the shovels and the finds we are unearthing are a little too hot to pick up without them.

Despite the lobster shade of some of the volunteers’ necks, we are showing amazing resilience to the hostile environment (the Mumbles is now the new Sahara). At least we haven’t been rained on like yesterday.

By Rebecca Kelly and Nicola Main-Reade, Student volunteers.