We Dig Derventio: York Archaeology

happy archaeology volunteers cleaning finds in washing up bowls

A 3-Week Community Dig in Derby by York Archaeology & Derby Museum

Following on from previous digs within the area of Darley Abbey Playing Fields, in early 2025, York Archaeology announced a 3-week community training dig called ‘We Dig Derventio’. Derventio is the name of the Roman area of Derby; which included a defended settlement (we won’t mention the ‘F’ word), industrial sites, as well as a bath house. The aim was to carry on previous efforts to locate the civilian settlement (vicas) of the town, as well as offering training opportunities in section drawing, GPS recording, and finds processing.

The announcement came not long after I’d made the decision to see what sort of career in archaeology I could carve out for myself, so obviously I got to work to see how I could get involved. After asking around a few local contacts, I found myself on a video call with Laura Parker, the Community Engagement Manager for York Archaeology. I spoke about how I was interested in photographing archaeological digs with a documentary approach, showing what it’s like to be a part of a community dig outside of scrabbling around on your hands & knees in a trench. And with that, I was invited to come along to the dig!

Booking anything in during the British summer is a gamble at the best of times, but the gamble paid off for the Derventio dig, as we had 3 hot and sunny weeks in August! And whilst I’m sure there were times we’d have given anything for a drop of rain, it’s probably better than digging in waterlogged trenches! It was wonderful to see the dig so well attended, and to see plenty of people popping along for a chat and a look through the fences to see what was going on. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with digs, it wasn’t until the end of the final week that we started to reach the Roman levels, and by the last day, it was all hands on trowels to clean up the Roman demolition layer we’d uncovered. Fingers crossed that Laura and York Archaeology will be back again next year!

https://community.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/
https://derbymuseums.org/

  • archaeology volunteers preparing a dig site
  • a sign attached to a metal fence with the words 'we dig derventio'
  • group of archaeology volunteers sat around a series of finds trays looking at finds
  • finds tray filled with lots of pieces of pot
  • a woman in a checked shirt and a man in a hat dancing together on an archaeological dig
  • close up of peoples hands digging in a trench with trowels
  • a man with a white beard and blue tshirt writing on a white board
  • a group of community archaeologists chatting in a gazebo
  • a group of archaeology volunteers listening to a talk by local finds liaison officer in derby
  • a man and woman sat on chairs laughing while a woman in the foreground dunks a biscuit in a cup of tea
  • community archaeologist showing students a print out
  • a young woman in a high vis vest emptying her sieve onto a spoil heap
  • two women kneeling down digging in an archaeological trench
  • a large tree in a green field with a fenced-off archaeological dig next to it
  • close up image of archaeological finds being cleaned with toothbrushes
  • community archaeologist volunteers digging and throwing soil into a wheelbarrow
  • a york archaeologist examining a pot sherd
  • a man in a high vis vest and sunglasses on his head looks through some print outs in an archaeological dig tent
  • a man in a sun hat enjoying a cup of tea while in the blurry foreground a man looks at his phone
  • a broken, dirty, old fashioned dolls head and an old glass bottle on a table
  • a number of books and documents lie open on a table
  • an old green glass shieldhall bottle being held up to the light
  • two women sat on the edge of the trench having a break and a chat
  • archaeologist holding a drone on his lap
  • community archaeology team waving at the drone
  • community archaeologist laura parker showing off her new derbyshire scouts archaeology badge
  • break time at the community dig people sat on chairs under a large gazebo
  • woman in high vis vest learning how to plot gps points while a man in a white tshirt stands inside the trench
  • york archaeologist examining a small coin
  • derventio community archaeology dig
  • archaeologists queuing up at the ice cream van
  • community archaeology volunteers enjoy ice creams during a heatwave
  • a man in a high vis vest holds up a small roman coin
  • happy archaeology volunteers cleaning finds in washing up bowls
  • small finds from the derby derventio dig 2025
  • community dig volunteers learning the basics of metal detecting
  • archaeologist volunteers measuring the sides of the trench
  • happy smiling archaeologists on a sunny community dig in derby
  • a busy community archaeology trench
  • lady with white hair and high vis vest crouching in a trench digging with a trowel
  • archaeologist from york archaeology teaching volunteers how to use gps equipment
  • community archaeologists uncovering a roman demolition layer in derby
  • archaeologist in a flat cap digging with a trowel while site visitors look into the trench in the background
  • archaeology volunteer stood outside a trench watching a metal detectorist working
  • small roman coin in the palm of a hand
  • archaeologist examining the trench on the last day
  • happy community archaeologists in a trench
  • archaeology dig song name game
  • ground level view of archaeology volunteers digging with trowels
  • archaeologist in a high vis vest and hard hat sat on the floor filling in a form
  • woman in a brown vest taking a photo of an archaeological trench
  • man with white hair watching a lady metal detectorist in a trench