The final week of the dig and the team were hoping for good things. Phil and Jan went to start Test Pit 10, while Mark and Brian had still to finish backfilling Test Pit 9, then they could start Test Pit 11. For one member of the team the day was to take an unexpected turn when his shoes fell apart and he had to hobble back to the tent soleless only to have a second pair of shoes suffer the same fate moments after putting them on.
Only two days to go and the two test pits opened on Tuesday were to be completed with a further test pit, number 12 to be started. Linda, the ‘Finds Queen’ had washed and sorted all the finds so far and was asking for more to be found to keep her busy. Jan and Alison completed Test Pit 10, while Mark and Brian continued work on Test Pit 11 and Phil and Malcolm started on Test Pit 12. More misfortune struck at the end of the day when Brian’s motorbike wouldn’t start and his breakdown service failed to turn up in the 4 hours promised.
It was therefore with some trepidation that the team started Thursday knowing that they had to open Test Pit 13 and wondering what bad luck may lay in wait for an unsuspecting team member today. Mark did suffer a very minor injury to his finger whilst working on Test Pit 12, but there were no mishaps in Test Pit 13. By the end of the day only Test Pit 13 remained unfinished. Brian suggested that the end of a successful dig required a visit to the ‘Waddy’ for a celebration drink and everyone agreed. Jan returned to Test Pit 13 alone, completed the excavation then backfilled and returfed it, finishing it at 19:00 on Thursday and declaring the dig officially over.
So the dig has drawn to a close, four trenches and thirteen test pits excavated, recorded, backfilled and returfed; hundreds of finds washed and sorted, twenty four days of fun and friendship enjoyed and a community brought together through an interest in the origins of their village. The existence of a medieval manor house still remains a mystery, but more theories and questions about the medieval village of Osgodby have been raised by the dig and the findings will be published in due course. It only remains to thank everyone who has been involved over the past 2 months, most importantly the team of volunteers and local residents, without whom the dig would not have been such a resounding success. Special thanks go to all those who allowed the team into their gardens, and to Stan and his family for allowing access to the paddock. Finally gratitude must go to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the grant awarded to Osgodby Heritage & History Group for their project ‘The Village with a History Nun Could Guess’, which made the dig possible.