After a Saturday night where some of the team sampled the hospitality of the Mason’s Arms in Odcombe, others stayed at camp to consume the odd cup of Pimms from a large metal pan. This level of sophistication has never been reached by the project before…

Sunday has given us all a well-deserved day off. Most of the team caught up on some sleep and have spent the day relaxing and doing laundry. Tonight we’re looking forward to a tasty barbeque. What more could anyone ask for?

The first week has seen us set up camp and the site. After two days of machining we have defined the various deposits within the building and located exactly where we are in relation to Hayward’s published plan of the site. We’ve also been able to identify areas that Hayward trenched, found over twenty Roman coins (largely due to Ski’s metal detecting), lots of stone roof tiles and ceramic building materials (bricks and tiles). A couple fragments of window glass, wall plaster and a few tesserae point to the high status of the building.

We’ve found relatively little pottery so far. That said, we have sherds of BB1, Oxfordshire and New Forest Colour Coated wares and also a fragment from a thin walled Baetican amphora. This last vessel probably carried Spanish olive oil and, along with some oyster shells, points to the rich and varied diet of the inhabitants of the site.

Tomorrow we should start getting into the occupation deposits within the building. We all hope this will reveal further insights into this fascinating structure.