SWAG Croome Court privy excavation

SWAG Projects

Croome Landscape Park Privy - National Archaeology Weekend 19-20 July 2008

map and satellite photograph - please note that A on the photograph is the car park for the Landscape Park.

SWAG were fortunate again this year (2008) to be invited by the National Trust to take part in the National Archaeology Weekend activities in Croome Park. This time we were based at the Temple Greenhouse. Our display boards drew a lot of interest as did the finds on show. As usual, there was enthusiastic involvement in pot washing by many of the younger visitors.

Croome Court ©2008 Dennis Williams	Temple Greenhouse ©2008 Dennis Williams
A further attraction was Deborah Overton’s WHEAS display about lavatories down the ages. This also served to point visitors to the other main activity, the excavation of a privy hidden away at the edge of the park, just to the south-west of the Temple Greenhouse. This excavation was organised by WHEAS, but could not have been carried out without the effort put in by SWAG members. Little is known of the history of this building, so the initial aims were to determine the extent of its structure and try to obtain some dating evidence. Over the course of the two days, we were able to expose the brickwork on two sides of the privy, and remove part of the fill of a cess chamber that would have discharged into a large ditch at the park boundary. Finds from this chamber comprised bottles, gilt-decorated bone china and 12-bore shotgun cartridges, probably all from the early 20th century, so we can only speculate as to what kind of gatherings went on there! Fragments of painted wall plaster and carved stone mouldings were also retrieved from demolition rubble within the privy, suggesting it had a rather grand appearance, both inside and out. Much of the brickwork remains to be uncovered, and the National Trust’s Regional Archaeologist has agreed in principle that the excavation should be continued next year. In the meantime, Emma Hancox and Dennis Williams are producing an interim report on this project, which will be made available online, via the WHEAS website.	©2008 Dennis Williams ©2008 Dennis Williams
©2008 Dennis Williams	©2008 Dennis Williams
Ice House ©2008 Philp Blackman The above is an edited version of the full report written by Dennis Williams for the next SWAG newsletter. Thanks also to Dennis for the photographs.

More on Croome Court and Landscape Park:

BBC: An archaeological dig at Croome Park in Worcestershire investigates an 18th century latrine. See also links to panoramic views of the Landscape Park at the foot of this BBC page.
SWAG assists the Worcestershire Young Archaeologists' Club's with the excavation of the carriage splash at Croome Court.
WWII RAF Hospital opened to the public for the first time since World War II (July 2006).
Croome Park entry on Wikipedia.
BBC report on National Trust efforts to raise money to turn Croome Court into a tourist attraction - includes a video showing the inside of the house.
- BBC photographs inside Croome Court.
- BBC - Wartime Memories at Croome Court.
Croome Court at the National Trust website.
Croome Walled Garden.
Croome Court at SCRAN - part of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland.
Croome Court and Landscape Park photographs at pbase.com.
Images of Croome Court and Landscape Park at Flickr digital photo gallery.
The Croome Collection - information on the Earls of Coventry at Worcestershire Record Office.