The HS2 dig that opened the door to Roman Britain

Archaeological digs often take place far away from the public gaze. However, archaeologists working on a section of the UK’s High Speed Two route decided to take a different approach – with award-winning results. AECOM’s Dr Rachel Wood, lead archaeologist for the site, shares how she helped tell the fascinating story of St Mary’s.

The astounding discovery of three Roman sculptures on the High Speed Two (HS2) rail route at St Mary’s Church, near Stoke Mandeville last year captured the nation’s imagination. Pictures of AECOM’s Dr Rachel Wood, lead archaeologist on the dig, holding a beautifully carved female head, appeared in major media outlets from The Guardian and The Washington Post to the BBC Breakfast Show’s famous red sofa.

Yet, the world’s media were not the only ones looking on. In a highly unusual move for a live construction site, Rachel and her team opened the doors to the dig allowing members of the public to watch the excavations in real-time. In doing so, they were able to take them on an award-winning – and as it would turn out, headline-worthy – journey of discovery spanning 900 years.

A site of special interest

The site of St Mary’s Church in Stoke Mandeville is of special interest to archaeologists. The church, which lies to the south of the village and was built around 1080AD, had a long life serving the community until a new church was constructed in the village, and it fell into disrepair. The question of why the church had been built so far away from the village had endured. Had the village had moved slightly over time? Or had the church been the centre of a manorial estate?

The construction of the HS2 Phase 1 Central line provided an opportunity to archaeologically excavate the site and its landscape to answer these questions, and more. For archaeologists, the chance to excavate a medieval church and its surrounding churchyard does not arise very often as most churches are still standing and often in use. There were other unusual aspects of the site, too.

“Public engagement programmes are usually conducted through offsite talks and exhibitions. However, right from the start both myself and Dr Lily Hawker-Yates from L-P Archaeology realised that St Mary’s was the ideal location to set up a field museum as there was plenty of space, and the location was well known to villagers and walkers,” says Dr Wood.

“We knew that it could be done safely, and – unusual as this approach currently is – we knew the public value it would bring,” she says.

Opening the doors to history

Their instincts were right. The field museum was a huge success, attracting over 1,700 visitors over seven open weekends.

The museum sat at one end of enormous 80 metre by 20 metre marquee that covered the excavation, where a bespoke scaffolding viewing platform constructed along its length provided visitors a view across the excavations. Visitors were able to chat to archaeologists working on the site, and were able to watch the excavations in real time, effectively seeing 900 years of history unfold before their eyes.

Bespoke displays told the story of St Mary’s, including a specially created Lego scale model of the church as it would have looked.

The displays also showed how the archaeologists were approaching the excavation of the site, explaining the processes and specialist skills used.  A wooden skeleton puzzle table explained what could be learnt from the study of human remains such as where people grew up and what their lives may have been like. A series of educational courses were also held, featuring talks from various specialists and covered topics such as osteology and medieval graffiti.

The quality of engagement was recognised at the 2021 Archaeological Achievement Awards, and by the public whose comments included: “There should be more events like this on other building sites,” and “It’s a fascinating look into the past right on our doorstep.”

Hidden layers

And what a past it turned out to be. Much to the surprise of the team there were extensive surviving archaeological features beneath the church. In an unexpected twist, the team found remains of a Roman mausoleum and it was amongst the rubble of this building that the three astounding stone busts were discovered. Specialists believe they are funerary monuments depicting a Roman family who may have once lived in the area. The detail on the busts is breath-taking in its complexity.

“It was so exciting to be able to share our discoveries with the public during the open weekends, and incredible that the final Roman finds – the culmination of an extensive body of archaeological work at the site – have attracted so much interest,” says Dr Wood.

She continues: “Personally, the engagement at St Mary’s really shows the value that archaeology can add to a scheme – not only helping visitors to see current development as part of continuous landscape change, but also because we have helped create a lasting, treasured legacy for both the community at Stoke Mandeville, and the nation.”

Dr Rachel Wood, lead archaeologist, was seconded from AECOM to enabling works contractor Fusion JV, alongside L-P Archaeology.