On Wednesday (21/7/10) as part of the Festival of British Archaeology, Peter Reavill (Finds Liaison Officer for the PAS) went to Bitterley C of E Primary School to look at some of the children’s finds. Bitterley School have an active out of hours archaeology club called BATs (Bitterley Archaeology Team) run by June Buckard. The BATs are made up of children from both years 5 and 6. They have been studying their village and looking at its rich  medieval history, especially a deserted medieval village close by. The children had found a large selection of medieval pottery and with some help from local metal detectorists some metal finds, including a Key and a 14th century box mount. Peter led a session with the class using an archaeological handling collection from nearby Ludlow Museum Resource Centre. The children looked at lots of medieval pottery, as well as some comparable Roman and Modern pot sherds. The BATs also showed off their new found skills by sorting three big bags of pottery into Roman, Medieval and Modern piles. The thing they liked best was the fact that they could put their fingers into the thumb impressions made by potters hundreds of years ago.

It is hoped that a wider project to look at the medieval landscape history of the village of Bitterley can be organised for next year, the BATs will be at the centre of this keeping professionals like Peter on their toes.

The contacts for the school are: Bitterley CE Primary School admin@bitterley.shropshire.sch.uk Bitterley CE Primary School, Nr Ludlow Shropshire SY8 3HF