Durham University's Department of Archaeology's annual excavation at Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland, took place over the course of three weeks in June, serving as the field training for our first-year students.
Image above: Durham University Archaeology Student Annabelle Scullion discusses the 17th-century site with Vice Chancellor and Warden Karen O'Brien (photo by Megan Olshefski).
Over the course of the excavation, our students are granted an opportunity to develop their archaeological skills and, for the majority of them, experience an archaeological excavation for the first time. Our students learn alongside the Department of Archaeology's academic and Archaeological Services, Durham University staff members; as well as staff and local community from The Auckland Project – the regeneration charity that operates Auckland Castle and a series of other visitor attractions to bring benefits to the local community in Bishop Auckland.
Pro-Vice Chancellor (Global) Claire O'Malley in discussion with Professor of Archaeology Chris Gerrard and Durham Archaeology Student and former Archaeological Services Placement Intern, Faye McLean (photo by Megan Olshefski).
Vice Chancellor and Warden Karen O'Brien and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Global) Claire O'Malley met with members of the Archaeology Department (Professor Chris Gerrard and Mr. Alexander Jansen) and students who were undertaking digital recording and 3-D scanning of the site (photo by Megan Olshefski).
During the excavation, Durham University's Vice Chancellor and Warden Karen O'Brien, and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Global), Professor Claire O'Malley, paid the site a visit to meet with students and staff and learn about the archaeological research being conducted. During their visit, they additionally met with members of The Auckland Project team and took a tour of the Faith Museum where they viewed featured artefacts found by Durham University students on previous excavations.
Members of the Department of Archaeology and Archaeological Services (Professor Chris Gerrard, Henry Morris, and Cait Wakefield) discuss the medieval-terraced site with the Vice Chancellor and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Global) (photo by Megan Olshefski).
The Vice Chancellor and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Global) received a tour of The Auckland Project's Faith Musuem which features objects found by Durham University students during past excavations (photo by Megan Olshefski).
Durham University's Department of Archaeology has a long-standing relationship with The Auckland Project, with their primary field-school located at Auckland Castle since 2018. This year's site explored the remains of a house built in the 1650s by Parliamentarian Sir Arthur Haselrig, who demolished parts of Auckland Castle with gunpowder and begin constructing a new house on the site, before being thrown into the Tower of London at the Restoration of the Monarchy. Updates from the three weeks of excavation can be viewed in an online blog and the site will be open to visitors until the end of August. The Auckland Project are giving tours of the site each day (Weds-Sun), and will be running family friendly activities in July and August as part of the Council for British Archaeology’s Festival of Archaeology.
Members of Durham University Department of Archaeology and The Auckland Project were happy to welcome the Vice Chancellor and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Global) to the 2024 excavation site (left to right: John Castling, Archaeological Curator, The Auckland Project and Durham University PhD researcher in Archaeology; Pro-Vice Chancellor (Global), Claire O'Malley; Jonathan Ruffer, Founder - The Auckland Project; Vice Chancellor and Warden of Durham University, Karen O'Brien; Professor of Archaeology Chris Gerrard; Megan Olshefski, Durham University PhD researcher in Archaeology).
There were plenty of live updates about the site posted on Twitter (X) throughout the excavation's progress - make sure to check them out via the Twitter (X) accounts below:
Our Department of Archaeology is a leading centre for the study of archaeology and is ranked =5th in the world (QS World University Rankings by subject 2024). We are an inclusive, vibrant and international community. Our students develop knowledge and gain essential and transferable skills through research-led teaching and lab-based training.
