Between March to December 2022, the Bishop Big Dig excavated 107 small holes in volunteered gardens and greenspaces across Bishop Auckland, writes archaeologist, Caroline Smith.
Our aim was simple: to better understand the history of Bishop Auckland town, from prehistory to the present day.
This collaboration, between Durham University, King James I Academy and The Auckland Project, worked with a diverse team of Year 9 pupils, university students and local volunteers passionate about uncovering the history of their town.
From these test pits we recovered around 10,000 artefacts, ranging from the everyday to the extraordinary. Each of them tells a story from the past, igniting a forgotten memory or long-lost moment in time.
Dumps of butchered animal bone from the Market Place tell us about massive medieval feasts at Auckland Castle.
Miniature teacups found in flowerbeds shed light on Victorian tea parties held in gardens across the town.
Smashed vinyl records allow us to reconstruct the sounds of 1960s dance halls, while a fire alarm buried a metre underground relates a universal household irritation.
These artefacts offer us glimpses into the lives and identities of Bishop Auckland’s ancestors: medieval families drawn to Bishop Auckland to work in the bishop’s palace, itinerant Travellers settled on the Batts in the 1700s and 1800s, Irish migrants and Weardale lead miners seeking employment in the new coal fields at the end of the 1800s, and people relocated from Category D-listed properties in neighbouring villages from the 1950s.
Taken together, this vibrant history informs every aspect of life in Bishop Auckland today, from the streets and buildings around us to the local legends and stories we’re all familiar with.
Since we finished excavating, we have been busy! Our website atbthebishopbigdig.com has links to our full report, a short film chronicling the year, and details of the prizes we’ve won and been nominated for.
But we haven’t finished yet – we need your help to tell these stories on a bigger scale.
Firstly, we are seeking volunteers from Bishop Auckland and the surrounding area to join our Curation Committee.
As this is your town, we want local people to help decide which stories drawn from our artefacts are the most interesting, important and impactful to you.
This opportunity is open to people of all backgrounds who live in Bishop Auckland town and the surrounding area.
As a member of the Curation Committee, you’ll need to be available for one or more half day sessions held on weekends or Fridays in the coming months.
These will be fun and interactive sessions involving group discussions, activities and interviews.
Secondly, we are seeking spaces across the town to display these stories.
If you have access to an empty shop front, open foyer space or another public area that could hold a temporary pop-up storyboard, then please let us know.
We passionately believe that these stories are best told in public spaces, available for anyone to view.
If you are interested in joining the Curation Committee or hosting a display panel, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch using the form on our website, or email us at thebishopbigdig@gmail.com.
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
