Devon gardens wanted to 'uncover local history'

Volunteers and gardens are being sought as part of an archaeology project to help "uncover local history" in Teignbridge and south Devon.

Teignbridge Archaeological Society said a "good number" of people had already been in touch since its appeal in May who would be interested in hosting a small test pit in their garden.

The group said a 1m x 1m (3.2ft), about 1.2m (3.9ft) deep pit would be "carefully" dug, looking for items such as pottery, clay pipes, building material and other artefacts.

Jowan Albon, secretary for the society, told BBC Radio Devon the project also aimed to give people, who do not require any experience, the opportunity to gain practical archaeological skills.

Albon said the volunteers would be able to learn skills such as soil layers, photographing, trawling and how to put turf back in a way which will not destroy a "lovely garden".

He said: "Even though there's lots of archaeology that has been done in Teignbridge already, we still don't know a lot about the origins of towns, villages and also where many local stories actually began thousands of years ago.

"Hopefully we'll find some particularly interesting bits, maybe some pottery, prehistoric bits or flint... that will tell us how people lived back then and the spread of occupation in that area."

If anything of significance, including items that fall under the Treasure Act, was discovered, Albon said it would be reported to either the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS), local museums or Devon County Archaelogists who can advise on next steps.

"It doesn't mean people will have to have their house bulldozed or anything drastic," Albon said.

"It might mean the test pit needs to be expanded, but the likelihood of something being found like that and their whole garden has to be dug up is quite rare."

Anyone interested in either volunteering or offering up their garden is asked to contact the Teignbridge Archaeology Society.

Albon added: "The more gardens we have, the more of Teignbridge's story we can uncover- there's no such thing as too many test pits."

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