4 – 22 August 2025
The oldest inhabited part of Derby, Little Chester, is set to reveal more of its Roman secrets this summer when work begins on a series of training digs for budding archaeologists at Darley Playing Fields.
York Archaeology’s Nottingham-based team will be working with students and enthusiastic amateur archaeologists to excavate part of Derventio, the Roman town next to the River Derwent which was the forerunner of modern-day Derby. Working with Derby Museums, the focus will be on the area outside the defences that grew up alongside the early Roman fort, in the area close to Ryknield Street.
“As archaeologists, this is a very exciting site to uncover, as we start to peel back the layers on what life would have been like for civilians in Roman times. This part of the settlement would have originally been established to service the soldiers garrisoned in Derventio, so we would expect to find evidence of pottery-making and food production, as well as any items dropped or discarded by the local people whilst going about their day-to-day business,” comments director of archaeology for York Archaeology, Gareth Davies.
Students and members of the public can book either taster day sessions, full weeks or two-week placements from 4 – 22 August 2025, with prices starting from £70 for a day or £375 for a week. Those taking part will be shown how to excavate pits, sieve and process finds, with special sessions focusing on pottery, osteoarchaeology and even metal detecting skills by York Archaeology’s experts. For more details, or to book, please visit our We Dig Derventio page.
Those who prefer to explore archaeology without getting their hands dirty can also get involved! Community project officer, Laura Parker, will be running free weekday tours of the site from 18 – 22 August, for which places can be booked by emailing [email protected] or calling 07767 238756.
In the city centre, Derby Museum & Art Gallery will be hosting activities on Thursday afternoons in August linked to the dig, including an ‘ask the archaeologist’ session with archaeologist Laura from the team who will give a short presentation into what’s happening across the River Derwent a mini-dig and the chance to wash and identify some of the items recovered from the training dig.
