And news just in. The application to Historic England to schedule the whole of Abbey Field where the Roman villa is has been successful. Safeguards the archaeology for the nation. To say we are happy would be an understatement
Many thanks to
@allenarchaeo
and in particular to
@RobEvershed
who worked in partnership with us on our summer 2023 dig that produced our most spectacular and mysterious find yet, a Gallo Roman dodecahedron!
Non stop press enquiries today! We had Canada calling just now. Website traffic, up big time and donations are being received to help us for this summer’s dig. Thank you for taking an interest in Norton Disney’s fantastic and internationally famous archaeology
We had a very good week. Thank you to everyone for your support. Donations have flowed. International fame too! Whatever the dodecahedron is, it’s been a brilliant talisman for us, a little amateur archaeology from Lincolnshire.
Press enquires from Talk Radio and a French magazine this afternoon, oh and Der Spiegel this morning. All a bit weird being international famous. Anyway we return to excavating Norton Disney's archaeology in early June with our partners
@allenarchaeo
. 13 tonne digger is ready!
A mystery Roman object that has puzzled archaeologists is now available to view at our museum! 👀
The rare, hollow 12-sided object was found by a small community dig in the village of Norton Disney and is the 33rd ever to be discovered in Britain.
Good Morning. We are pleased to announce we are back on site digging for the 2024 season. 😀 Here are some of the finds we made last week. Keep an eye out for updates as we continue digging this week. Fingers crossed about the weather!
@chapps
@theAliceRoberts
Keep any eye on our website and social media about replicas. We do need to raise funds for this year’s dig. We particularly need cash for a robust tent/shelter for volunteers to keep sun/wind/rain off. Any donations via our website gratefully received
On Monday we begin fund raising for £1500 to pay for a magnetometer survey on a field bordering the Roman villa in Norton Disney. Nothing is known apart from lots of Roman masonry including box flue tile is there. Trying to define the extent of the complex
We have been given permission today to carry out a geophysics survey on this very interesting 1.25H field next to Norton Disney church by the Lincoln Diocese. LIDAR shows some curious rectilinear shapes and the visible lumps have long been speculated about. Must done in Feb!
Who would of thought, six years on from when you came to see us
@justrena
, in the dark days of the site being threatened, we would now be internationally famous. A bit of magic from our site deity
@MThingsus
and the support of a great Hibernian sage 😉
Oh look, our dodecahedron find is back in
@guardian
this afternoon. More weird and wacky ideas on it’s purpose. All good fun. The serious business for this year is investigating the context of where we found it. Watch this space😉
We proudly present the 2024 version of our volunteer hi viz safety gilet. Volunteers will be wearing this on site when we return to excavate the dodecahedron find spot in June.
@robertevershed
@allenarchaeo
Pleased to announce the start of a magnetometer survey of an 11 hectare field this morning. A field full of IA iron smelting material, Roman CBM and the site of a 1950 Wellington crash. Also adjacent to the Roman villa field. Hints of a round house and furnaces. Exciting 😁
We are continuing to receive a lot of press enquiries, many from the US. Our website traffic is very much up and evenly split between the US and UK. The magic of the Norton Disney dodecahedron continues! PS Can any one make us a gif with our dodecahedron winking?
The three lion crest on William D'Isney's (Disney) tomb in St Peter's church, Norton Disney that now appear on every Disneyland castle and in the opening titles of every Disney movie since 2006.
#Disney100
@BBCRadioLincs
@looknorthBBC
Today
@hillholtwood
installed at their "Roman Villa Corner" our interpretation board about the Roman Villa which we fundraised for this autumn. It creates a place for visitors to learn about this nationally important archeological site.
@LincsLocalLists
@HistPlacesLincs
Today
@hillholtwood
installed at "Roman Villa Corner" our interpretation board about the Roman Villa which our group fundraised for this autumn. It creates a place for visitors to learn about this nationally important archeological site.
@BBCRadioLincs
@advertisergroup
They seem to want to make it clear they were not looking for the occult dodecahedron specifically... That seems sus. Anything with the word Disney attached to them are not going to be trusted easily. Y'all arent the most reliable..
The international press interest continues today in the Norton Disney dodecahedron. One enquiry from an Austrian magazine, the other from a French science magazine 😀
1/ Looks like another day where Norton Disney is going to be trending. However this BBC article fails to mention the archaeological context of our find or note the other finds in similar circumstances. 🧵
Pleased to announce our partners
@allenarchaeo
will be on site for a two day excavation on 8th & 9th April to find out what our mysterious enclosure feature is discovered by
@robertevershed
. Excavating archaeologists at Norton Disney have a tradition dressing up for the occasion
Good morning from the Norton Disney dig site. It’s day 8. Thanks to Jim Sallis from Nottingham Trent University for these drone shots of the site last night
Thanks to
@civilwarcentre
for allowing us to share. Perhaps the best image of the 1933 work showing the Roman villa mosaic. Illustrates
@hillholtwood
too. The villa discovery was announced on 4th October 1933. By 16th October the museum had leased the rights to excavate.
This is
@MThingsus
, a cheeky Romano British rider god. He is our local deity and was found in a field in Norton Disney in 1989 and now exhibited in the British Museum
One for the diary, our site open day. Saturday 15th June. Come and see what we have found on this year's excavation in Norton Disney. Further details on our website
Norton Disney villa, the villa that never stops giving. Two new photos have emerged of the villa excavation from 1934/5. Note how close the remains are to the surface
A big thank you to
@civilwarcentre
for allowing us to share these recently discovered 1930s images from their archives of the Norton Disney Roman villa excavation. Our friends
@hillholtwood
can see the wood in the background. Earliest known images perhaps of the wood?
Field walking this morning on the field next to the villa site. A haul of smelting material in the same area as before confirming again where there may be a furnace site. Our last geophysics survey by
@allenarchaeo
indicated that possibility too. We are an Iron Age Scunthorpe 😉
Exciting news, the report is now available on our 2022 two week community excavation. Many thanks to our partners in the project
@allenarchaeo
. We excavated a roundhouse site with pottery dated to the Middle Iron Age, plus more evidence of industrial activity from that period 😀
Final day team photo. Many thanks to our donors and grant providers. Jake from
@allenarchaeo
and all our volunteers. That is us signing off from the 2024 summer dig. Hope to see you at tomorrow’s open day!
We are launching an appeal to help pay for a large two week community dig in late summer, returning to further explore the extensive Iron Age archaeology to the south of the Roman Villa. We need about £3000. Promises of plant equipment already secured!
Big shout out to
@allenarchaeo
who are again our partners in this year’s dig. Jake who has been in charge from Allen Archaeology gives professional over sight and supervision to our team of volunteers. Thank you for helping us in 2024
Hot off the press
@velohistorian
is going to be speaking at an online talk about our archaeology on 10th May at 7pm. Sign up now. 40% of ticket sales will go to the “Norton Disney Big Community Dig. Thanks
@HeritageLincs
. Appreciated 😀
Interested in the Norton Disney dodecahedron and watching "Digging for Britain" with
@theAliceRoberts
tonight? You can read a bit more about our fantastic and mysterious find on our website
Stand by, big announcement. Drum roll .... We have now hit our initial fund raising target of £1470 in 9 days! The geophysics survey next to the villa is happening. In fact it's happening on Thursday and Friday! Thanks to everyone who has donated. You are all wonderful.
News this afternoon of a £500 grant puts us within £88 of our £5000 target for financing the Norton Disney Big Community Dig. Covers both excavation and post excavation costs! We hope to start in September to mark the tricentenary of William Stukeley describing our site!
Last Saturday we launched a
@gofundme
appeal to pay for a geophysics survey. A special thanks to
@DePyhn
who prompted us to set it up. In the last week we have raised £525 with direct donations, £750 on Gofundme. A shortfall now of just £195. Thank you
@WittsPat
@civilwarcentre
You may also be interested in
@civilwarcentre
photos from their archives of the initial uncovering of the villa’s mosaic in 1933/4. A big thank you to them for permission to share more widely
7th September is "William Stukeley Day" in Norton Disney. The tricentenary of the Lincs antiquarian drawing the landscape and describing our archaeology locally! Thanks to the Spalding Gentlemans Society for passed on to us this rare colour image
This aerial photos from 1959 shows Abbey Field. The Norton Disney Roman villa is the “L” shaped crop mark towards the top left. The proposed rendering plant site is bottom right. So quite clear even without geophysics the proximity of the scheduled ancient monument.
And so the investigation begins in the field next to our villa this morning. Good luck Louise and Rob. Thank you
@allenarchaeo
for your help with our project. Thank you
@hillholtwood
too
A short update on the Norton Disney Big Community Dig 2022 which finished on Friday. A big thank you to
@allenarchaeo
who were our partners in this project.
@robertevershed
who kept us all in order and all our volunteers and donors.
Good morning from Norton Disney. It’s day two. The plant equipment has left the site. Our volunteers are here for the first time and now in the big trench excavating
It's interesting, since the rendering plant developer tried to build their monstrosity at Villa Farm, and threatened to come back with a 2nd planning application we have, by hook or by crook vastly increased the knowledge about our Roman Villa and it's surrounding archaeology 😉
@chapps
@theAliceRoberts
We didn’t manage to complete the excavation due to time and money, so will be returning this year. An opportunity to see what other evidence exists about context/use. Ours is a really beautiful well made example. The hope is to 3D scan it and 3D print it.
Backfill day tomorrow. Now the post excavation work begins. Many thanks to Jake from
@allenarchaeo
for his support and work this year. Very much appreciated.
Preparations for our Big Community Dig in September continue. Insurance ready, volunteers briefed and planning by our "Big Dig Management Team" with our partners
@allenarchaeo
is putting things in place. Landowners and plant plant equipment providers are ready. Exciting!
How unusual is our site? To summarise what Norton Disney has going for it after four years of research by our group: One scheduled ancient monument of a Roman Villa. (6 hectares). Successful application by us to extend the original 1934 boundaries in 2020)