News - Nick sees pupils’ prehistoric project (Millhouses)

SHEFFIELD Hallam MP Nick Clegg was given an insight into a prehistoric project at a city school which has seen the creation of a replica Iron Age round house.


The Lib Dem leader was at St Wilfrid’s RC Primary in Millhouses to officially open the house, constructed with the help of volunteers from Heeley City Farm and Sheffield University.

The round house is already being used by youngsters as an outdoor classroom for their environmental studies - although currently lighting is an issue as the structure has no windows!

“We’re looking at installing small solar-powered lights so the atmosphere of the round house is maintained,” said headteacher Barbara Jarrett.

“The work was only just completed before Nick arrived but he was very impressed with what he saw - he said they didn’t do things like this when he was at school.”

The Deputy Prime Minster also saw smelting work with a craftsman creating an iron hinge for the house’s door.

“It’s been a brilliant project and we are expanding our environmental work with our refurbished school pond and a forest school project,” Barbara added.

Every child in the school was involved in the building work - getting messy creating daub for the walls from clay, straw, water and sand.

The mixture was later spread on the woven willow walls by hand, with help from university archaeology students.

The building work began last February and tied in with classroom work on the whole Iron Age era.


Pupils also worked with heritage officers from Heeley City Farm and university lecturers on a host of activities, including handling genuine archaeological artefacts.

Youngsters also visited the Iron Age hill fort at Wincobank and harvested materials for the construction work.

Sheffield University lecturer Dr Roger Doonan said: “The pupils really enjoyed the project as it was fun but also formed part of an important research project with the work of the pupils contributing to our understanding of life in the Iron Age.

“Their enthusiasm and interest was incredibly impressive and I was asked questions by nine-year-old pupils which would not have been out of place at a professional conference.”

From: http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/nick_sees_pupils_prehistoric_project_1_3811478

News - Amateur diggers discover the realities of Victorian living (Sheffield)

AMATEUR archaeologists who have joined a dig on the site of a city farm have helped uncover what life was like in the area a century ago.

When Queen Victoria was on the throne, several streets around Heeley City Farm in Sheffield were home to families who worked in local factories.

The terrace houses were demolished in the 1970s but locals who have been taking part in the dig have discovered some of the artefacts that were left behind.

Dr Roger Doonan, of the department of archaeology at Sheffield University, has helped the volunteers, many of whom have never been involved in archaeology before.

He said: “The real thrust of the project is to find out about what people did in their back yards and gardens a century ago.

“We have found the foundations of the houses, and the outhouses, and beneath the 1978 demolition layer there are some interesting artefacts.”

Dr Doonan said pieces of oyster shell and bone which were probably offcuts from cutlery works had been found, which appeared to be evidence of a cottage industry.

He added: “It was probably waste which husbands brought home from the factories and foundries, which wives worked into buttons for clothing - not just for themselves but to sell.

From: http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/around-yorkshire/local-stories/amateur_diggers_discover_the_realities_of_victorian_living_1_3613026