18th October 2003: The Watching Brief at Astwood
The construction of the pond on the village green in Astwood began on Saturday 18th October 2003.
Society members were in attendance to perform a watching brief.
Other than a couple of old concrete standings for sheds, little was uncovered, and nothing of archaeological significance.
N.B. The village have funded this project though the Millennium fund. The pond will act as a nature reserve as well as an area for relaxation.
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The location of the new village pond
The new pond is located across the road from the village hall, on the village green behind the pub |
Work starts on the pond
The ground has been cleared and marked ready and the excavator has begun work |
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The mechanical excavator at work
A concrete platform from an old shed is removed by the excavator during the digging of the pond |
Watching Brief
Society members (Isabel, Kate and Phil) observe the excavation in progress |
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The final pond level
The new pond will be about a metre deep a the deepest area. We're done to the sub-soil here: Unfortunately, nothing of archaeological interest was uncovered |
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18th October 2003: Timber framed building constuction
While in Astwood we took the oportunity to have a more detailed look at the old barn.
Although leaning badly in some parts, much of its construction seems to be fairly modern, with a fair amount of timber re-use.
It's possible that there was an older barn behind the current site which provided much of the building material for the existing structure.
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The intriguing looking barn in Astwood
The barn is located on the right as you leave the village heading back to the main road in the direction of Bedford |
Re-used timber
The end of a re-used beam above the end door of the barn. The tool markings and cuts for old joints shown the beam has been used in a previous construction |
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Re-used timber in wall
One of the vertical pieces of timber which suggests it has a much earlier origin to many pieces.
Its curved nature contrasts significantly with the straight edged machine cut timbers.
Other timbers show nailed joints next to empty (earlier) tennon sockets |
Barn Roof
The inside of the barn roof, showing more re-used timbers beneath the more modern corrugated roof |
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Detail of the barn roof
The inside of the barn in close-up shows how many of the pieces of timber may have been re-used from a previous constuction |
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