With support from Cumberland Council through the government’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the award-winning community archaeological dig, Uncovering Roman Carlisle, is set to return to Carlisle’s Roman Bathhouse from this Saturday (15 February) and into March.
As part of the pilot scheme to bring long term unemployed residents in Cumberland back into the workforce, there will a two-week training dig at Carlisle Cricket Club to discover more of the remaining mysteries of the site. This will be held between Saturday 15 February and Saturday 1 March 2025. This dig is open to anyone to volunteer.
Using Carlisle’s spectacular archaeology, a group of candidates have begun to train and learn about the basics of archaeology and tourist guiding. The training is intended to use archaeology as a way of providing a number of transferable skills and raise customers awareness of jobs in heritage. The programme has been designed for Cumberland residents who have been out of the workforce and are looking to gain experience in not only archaeology, but also transferrable skills that could be applied to many different jobs and in any customer facing role to get back into work.
The candidates are being introduced to transferrable skills and knowledge connected to different parts of heritage. Archaeology provided by Wardell Armstrong LLP, Tourist Guiding by Cumbria Blue Badge Guide Tess Pike, 3D scanning and 3D printing objects with Eagle Labs in Whitehaven. The program has been supported by the DWP and will be enhanced by wrap around support from Inspira, and the Money Education Support Services to help candidates develop their CVs, interview skills, and support with managing finances and access to benefits.
The volunteers who are part of the programme are being trained at venues around Carlisle including Cumbria’s Museum of Military Life, Carlisle Cathedral, and behind the scenes with the Uncovering Roman Carlisle team.
The excavation will once again be able to provide free and easy access opportunities for Cumberland residents to take part in archaeology and heritage, or for groups, schools, and individuals to visit a live archaeological excavation.
More information can be found at the Uncovering Roman Carlisle Website: Https://www.uncoveringromancarlisle.co.uk
Bookings at the dig can be made through Eventbrite:
Councillor Anne Quilter, Cumberland Council’s Executive Member for Vibrant and Healthy Places, said:
“This exciting pilot project builds on the previous evidence that the community excavation of the Carlisle’s Roman Bathhouse has led to participants gaining employment as a consequence of the project, others going on to study and volunteer. This UKSPF funding will reduce structural barriers into employment and skills provision.
“The archaeology and the tour guiding training, are a means to acquire transferable skills and gain employment in a number of sectors, and when combined with wrap around support from Inspira for CVs.”
The funding aims to upskill local residents and bring long term residents back into the workforce. The project will allow members of the public to take part in the community excavation or visit free of charge.
Tess Pike, Cumbria Blue Badge Tourist Guide and trainer, said:
“We have had an excellent start to the programme in January at Cumbria’s Museum of Military Life in Carlisle Castle, the volunteers on the program have been fantastic and the opportunities that tourist guiding can open up in terms of employment, careers, and transferable skills have been well documented. Jules Wooding and the team at Cumbria’s Museum of Military Life have been great, and opened up an absolute gem of a museum here in Carlisle with quite a story for the volunteers to begin their training at. We will be coming to Carlisle Cathedral, Tullie, and venues around the city before their archaeological training and the excavation this February!”
Carlisle’s Roman bathhouse is the largest known building on Hadrian’s Wall, with more than 300 significant finds. Five thousand people visited in June/May 2024, with more than 300 volunteers joining in between May and June this year to help and hundreds of volunteers have been offered over 3,000 volunteer places in past phases of the project since 2021. URC has so far won four awards, three archaeological achievement awards from the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) and an award from the Society for Museum Archaeology for the 2023 exhibition. URC featured on the most recent series of Digging for Britain with Dr Alice Roberts. URC will feature in the 2024 series of Great Railway Journeys, promoting Carlisle.
Discoveries by The Diggers has been essential in uncovering over 4000 significant finds.
These finds are evidence that Carlisle has a very high-status monumental building, with a connection to the Roman Imperial family.
Among these discoveries are; over 780 Roman coins from centuries of occupation. A large amount of painted wall plaster, military finds (such as arrow heads, spear tips, and parts of swords and daggers), 400+ hair pins, Imperial stamped tiles (tiles literally fit for an emperor), North African style vaulting tubes for roof construction, hundreds of stunning glass beads, gaming pieces, even a rare Roman doll’s foot.
Significantly, 74 intaglios have been discovered in the drains. These are magnificently carved gemstones which dropped from Roman signet rings when the glue holding them melted in the bathhouse heat. In 2023, a sample of Tyrian Purple – a type of very expensive purple dye used for the clothes of the Roman Imperial Family, or in high status buildings was discovered, providing strong evidence for an Imperial connection. Two monumental and unique carved stone heads discovered by a volunteer on their first ever excavation. Recently in Autumn 2024, the foundations for a possible monumental building were discovered to the south of a Roman road where a Roman cremation urn was discovered, and a series of ritual sites and burials.