Mercian Archaeological Services: Field School ’25

smiling archaeology student wearing black gloves and holding up some finds

A 5-Day Archaeological Field School in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire

Mercian Archaeological Services are a CIC (Community Interest Company) based in King’s Clipstone, Nottinghamshire, at the site of King John’s Palace. After attending their 5-day Exploring Landscape Archaeology course back in June 2025, I got chatting with Andy, Sean, and David (the directors) and they invited me along to a week of their Sherwood Forest Archaeological Training Field School to photograph the dig, documenting the attendees from the site tour on the Monday morning, through to the finds washing on the Friday. I was also lucky enough to be able to join in with all aspects of the week, getting plenty of chances to get my hands in the soil and work on my trowel game!

The whole experience was fantastic. Being a part of such a varied group of people, all with a keen interest (or intense, burning passion in some cases) in archaeology. The guys from Mercian know their stuff, and fill the week with not just some top-notch archaeological learning, but also dad jokes, friendly banter, and a hearty supply of biscuits. Having been a fan of archaeology since I was a teenager, being able to take my documentary photographic approach and apply it to something like this was amazing, and something I hope to do lots more of in the future. So if you’re planning an archaeological dig or community project that you’d like photographing, I’d love to hear from you. Drop me a message with details of your project.

  • archaeologist stood in front of info boards holding a print out teaching students about the site
  • man in a black shirt and light grey hat stood in a field laughing with a group of people
  • field school delegates being given a tour of the site
  • close up of hands examining a small coin
  • archaeological field school students being shown the tools of the trade
  • archaeologist in high vis vest teaching students at the side of the trench
  • field school delegates stood on the edge of the trench they're about to start diggin in
  • archaeologist in a hat stood in a trench while holding his dog
  • young woman wearing a blue shirt and cap digging in an archaeological trench
  • field school delegates digging in marked out squares in the trench
  • people picking through the finds in the sieve tray
  • a metal artefact in the palm of a hand
  • a dog lying down in between two ranging poles
  • two men digging in a trench with trowels
  • close up of hands examining a small pot sherd
  • archaeologist in a cream coloured hat examining a students finds tray
  • archaeologist holding ranging poles talking to a student
  • archaeologist teaching students how to lay out a trench with tape measures
  • woman wearing a black cap and t-shirt yawning
  • archaeologist holding measure tape
  • field school delegates digging in a trench on a sunny day
  • two young archaeology students sat in a trench
  • man wearing a hat sieving soil from his trench onto a spoil heap with dark grey clouds behind him
  • a person's hands using a sieving tray to sort through the trench spoil
  • archaeological dig dog sleeping inside a tent
  • two students stood in a field laughing
  • man in a red sweater holding an extended measuring stick
  • archaeology topographic survey lesson in front of a ruins
  • two men laughing whilst learning about topographic survey
  • a dumpy level with ruins behind it and a blue sky
  • archaeology field school delegates using a dumpy level for surveying
  • young man in a red sweater holding a measuring stick inside the arch of a ruined building
  • wire fox terrier enjoying a summer's day breeze whilst sat in a grassy field
  • archaeologists teaching students how to survey using a dumpy level and a measuring staff
  • archaeologist giving a health and safety talk to the students
  • a group of students excavating in an archaeological trench
  • close up of a shaped metal find in the ground
  • smiling archaeology student wearing black gloves and holding up some finds
  • close up of a decorated piece of pot sat in the palm of a hand
  • an archaeologist wearing a yellow high-vis vest teaching students about archaeological section drawing
  • top-down view of a man drawing the section of a trench
  • man holding a tape measure against the section of a trench
  • two drawing boards and a cup of tea rest on the grass
  • field school delegate drawing a section
  • an archaeologist wearing a yellow high-vis vest teaching students about archaeological section drawing
  • some pot sherds drying on a paper towel
  • a group of people choosing a washing up bowl to wash their finds
  • a close up of a pair of hands holding a toothbrush cleaning a small find over a washing up bowl.
  • a classroom full of delegates cleaning archaeological artefacts in washing up bowls.
  • an archaeologist in a blue t-shirt showing two students a cleaned artefact
  • a scatter of cleaned finds sat on kitchen roll in a blue finds tray
  • a classroom full of people with a man stood in front of a projector examining something under a microscope
  • two people passing a medieval roof tile between them
  • looking over someones shoulder as they examine a roman coin
  • group of people stood on a spoil pile after an archaeological field school