Many of you may already be following the latest excavations at the South Blockhouse in Hull. The South Blockhouse was built on the orders of Henry VIII and was the southernmost fortress in a range of military buildings protecting Hull from foreign invasion. It has a fascinating history including housing of Catholic prisoners in the 16th and 17th centuries - and used again as a prison into the 19th century. It was finally demolished in 1864 to make way for the building of the docks. Humber Field Archaeology (HFA), with funding from Highways England, excavated the site in 2019 and managed to establish the depth of the foundations whilst also recovering a second Tudor cannon. Community volunteers were welcomed and enjoyed the opportunity to get hands on with the excavation of such an important site in the history of Kingston upon Hull.
HFA have been commissioned again by Highways England and are excavating for a number of weeks. The exciting news for ERAS members is that we have been invited to take part!! The excavation is free to members and will take place over 2 weeks - Wednesday 31 August to Sunday 4 September and Wednesday 7th to 11 September. We have been offered 6 places per week. This is an amazing opportunity to explore more about Hull's military and maritime heritage whilst learning or brushing up on key archaeological skills.
You must be an ERAS member to take part. If you are interested please email [email protected] to register - and don't hang around these places will fill really quickly and rightly so - it is an incredible opportunity.
ERAS will be posting regular updates about progress as the excavation proceeds but members may wish to follow Humber Field Archaeology's facebook page for hot off the press news. There will also be visitor opportunities - we will of course keep you informed accordingly.
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