Hands-on archaeological school wins national award

A heritage site's hands-on archaeological initiative has won a national award.

North Northamptonshire Council's partnership with the Irchester Field School, based at the Chester House Estate near Wellingborough, was recognised at the MJ Awards which celebrate success in local government.

The field school, which is also supported by the University of Leicester, provides students and volunteers with the opportunity to excavate Iron Age and Roman settlements at Chester House believed to date back more than 10,000 years.

Martin Griffiths, leader of the Reform UK-controlled council, said the award was a "significant achievement".

The site previously appeared on BBC Two's Digging for Britain, with presenter Prof Alice Roberts exploring the Roman site.

The MJ Awards described the field school initiative as being "a powerful example of place-based engagement, a project that connects communities with history and archaeology – improving wellbeing, education, and public health".

Excavations at the field school have revealed houses, workshops and cemeteries - with hundreds of human and animal skeletons and other artefacts discovered.

Sarah Scott, professor of archaeology at the University of Leicester, said the site "would have been a really bustling small town in the Roman period".

She said: "We have buildings, workshops, some houses... so many things are really interesting and tell us how people lived. It's really exciting to see the wealth of evidence that we have."

The scheme is running again in 2025, with about 1,500 students involved.

Dr Jeremy Taylor, lecturer in archaeology at the University of Leicester, said: "From the start we wanted to open up the excavations on the project to everybody.

"We've got a big programme where we're working with all the schools in the local area to encourage them to come out to understand archaeology in action, and to get involved with looking for and processing the artefacts we find, and how to be an archaeologist."

Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.