West Railway Terrace community archaeology project at Barrow Hill Roundhouse
It’s your chance to be part of an archaeological project investigating the Victorian cottages of the Barrow Hill ironworkers and miners!
About the Project
Booking is now open for members of the community, students and budding archaeologists to uncover the remains of the cottages built for the Staveley Coal and Iron Company employees in the middle of the 19th Century, at Barrow Hill Roundhouse.
As part of a larger Heritage Lottery Funded Project, Trent & Peak Archaeology, in association with the Barrow Hill Engine Shed Society, are investigating sections of the terraced cottages that would have formed Brickyard Terrace, later known as West Railway Terrace, or ‘Long Row’. The row consisted of 19, 2-up 2-down cottages, built alongside the earlier Railway Terrace around 1847-8 and costed £73 each to build. The terraces were bordered on one side by a railway line, the ‘Garden Line’, so named because of its proximity to the back gardens of the houses. The terraces were knocked down c.1970.
The excavations began last summer, when archaeologists and volunteers uncovered the back rooms of three cottages, revealing the foundations and the side entries. Excavation also revealed the remains of garden walls. This year’s excavations will attempt to uncover the front rooms of the same cottages, which may also reveal the cellars and pantries.
Read more about the project here.
Get involved
The free excavations will run from the 8th to the 19th July and will enable people from all backgrounds, aged 16-plus, including people who have never done anything like this before, to get involved in archaeological investigations uncovering new information about the history and archaeology of Barrow Hill. There will also be an opportunity for children under 16 to get involved with a family dig weekend over the 13th and 14th July. Schools are also invited to book in a visit to the site during the second week of excavations.
Alongside the excavations Trent & Peak Archaeology are also hoping to find out more about these cottages and the people who lived here. They are collecting together information and most importantly, memories, of this place to help tell the real story of West Railway Terrace. If you have any information or memories, they want to hear from you! You can visit the site every day whilst excavation are ongoing, so please take along any, pictures and memories that you would like to share to make history come alive. Trent & Peak are also hoping to interview people who used to live along the Terrace If you or someone you know would be happy to be interviewed please contact the team on tpa.volunteering@yorkat.co.uk or simply visit the site!
Read more about the Family Dig Weekend here.
