What have I excavated?
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Discussion

johnpsanderson

Original Poster:

723 posts

222 months

Tuesday 30th December 2025
quotequote all
Because nothing says Festive Break like digging up the garden . I ve got a few days off work so am pulling out an old patio and so have worked down through a layer of sand; seemingly a second, earlier patio, and now hit what looks to the corner of some sort of manhole cover or something .

Last remaining section of the Original patio:


What might a second , earlier, patio or possibly an old garden path that was patio d (is that a verb?) over


Possibly a bit more second patio:


And then next to that, what looks to be some sort of purposefully placed casting which seems to have had a lid put on it at some point.



The house was built in 1955 and I believe the site was just an empty field before then .

Edited by johnpsanderson on Tuesday 30th December 17:08

johnpsanderson

Original Poster:

723 posts

222 months

Tuesday 30th December 2025
quotequote all
The ‘lid’ seems to be a sheet of poured concrete like material about 2 inches thick, but there’s no aggregate in it like I can see, I almost looks like flint where it’s broken. And it smells a bit like thinners/solvents, which is a bit weird!

J6542

3,211 posts

66 months

Tuesday 30th December 2025
quotequote all
Stop before you go any further!!

Get yourself a lamp on a stick and a mate called Dave to give you a hand.



Seriously though could be a lid to an old cess pit or similar. Possible footings to a wall.

thetapeworm

13,237 posts

261 months

Tuesday 30th December 2025
quotequote all
I also instantly thought "light bulb on a stick" biglaugh

Following with interest, order some holy water and find a young priest and an old priest just in case.

johnpsanderson

Original Poster:

723 posts

222 months

Tuesday 30th December 2025
quotequote all
Cess pit was my first guess but I think the house has always been on mains sewerage. This is in the corner of the garden furthest from the road (where the sewer is), footings is a good shout perhaps for a shed of some sort…

johnpsanderson

Original Poster:

723 posts

222 months

Wednesday 31st December 2025
quotequote all
Despite a brief wibble of anticipation when this was unearthed (ooh, a trapdoor!!!) as well as some random lengths of metal pipe, it s turns out the concrete casting was probably some sort of footings / the weird lid a skim of some kind of concrete/levelling compound perhaps.

I did briefly consider recycling the contents of the Nazi-bunker discovery thread for the newer members, but knew I d never get away with it

Simpo Two

90,999 posts

287 months

Wednesday 31st December 2025
quotequote all
You should get Time Team in. They'll soon find out it's an Iron Age settlement.. and then you'll have to pay the council £10,000 to knock your house down...

The Gauge

6,224 posts

35 months

Wednesday 31st December 2025
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Whatever it is, kill it with fire!!

ian996

1,204 posts

133 months

Wednesday 31st December 2025
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Simpo Two said:
You should get Time Team in. They'll soon find out it's an Iron Age settlement.. and then you'll have to pay the council £10,000 to knock your house down...
Or get Lance and Andy on the job

https://youtu.be/DZDxo6ZHR0M?si=UziGfje7Ld7oz6Zr


johnpsanderson

Original Poster:

723 posts

222 months

Wednesday 31st December 2025
quotequote all
ian996 said:
Funnily enough we live about halfway between that field and Dan(e)bury, but sadly there was not a whiff of Tizer ringpull or Ford Mustang…

hidetheelephants

33,355 posts

215 months

Wednesday 31st December 2025
quotequote all
Looks like the corner of a sewer or some other drainage collection cistern; have a look on the NLS maps to see what was there before your house.

cliffords

3,518 posts

45 months

Wednesday 31st December 2025
quotequote all
We used to have an old house ,some of it 240 years old . Quite a large garden and was originally the farmhouse of a very large orchard,with history of making cider .
I dug up part of the garden and found a well preserved Roman mosaic.
Stopped digging and wife got on the internet and about 3 days later two chaps from the local council along with a history expert , two ladies from natural England and an archeologist person all arrived.
We didn't have enough mugs to make them all tea.

They got to inspecting my find quite quickly and I was waiting for the local newspaper to take my grinning picture ( there was no photographer really)

I had found part of a swimming pool from about 1970.
Very proudsmile

Simpo Two

90,999 posts

287 months

Wednesday 31st December 2025
quotequote all
cliffords said:
I had found part of a swimming pool from about 1970.
Very proudsmile
Don't worry, in another 1,000 years it'll be worth something smile

-Cappo-

20,442 posts

225 months

Wednesday 31st December 2025
quotequote all
johnpsanderson said:


Despite a brief wibble of anticipation when this was unearthed (ooh, a trapdoor!!!) as well as some random lengths of metal pipe, it s turns out the concrete casting was probably some sort of footings / the weird lid a skim of some kind of concrete/levelling compound perhaps.

Anyone seen Colin Furze recently? scratchchin

fourstardan

6,160 posts

166 months

Wednesday 31st December 2025
quotequote all
cliffords said:
We used to have an old house ,some of it 240 years old . Quite a large garden and was originally the farmhouse of a very large orchard,with history of making cider .
I dug up part of the garden and found a well preserved Roman mosaic.
Stopped digging and wife got on the internet and about 3 days later two chaps from the local council along with a history expert , two ladies from natural England and an archeologist person all arrived.
We didn't have enough mugs to make them all tea.

They got to inspecting my find quite quickly and I was waiting for the local newspaper to take my grinning picture ( there was no photographer really)

I had found part of a swimming pool from about 1970.
Very proudsmile
I bet you will never not chuckle at this at random times remembering it.