Date Written
6 November 2024
Author
Caz Adams (Community Engagement Officer)
Projects
On 11th May 2024, Oxford Cotswold Archaeology (OCA) and Kier Transportation, on behalf of National Highways, hosted an archaeology open day for the A417 ‘Missing Link’ project at Gloucester Guildhall. The day promised to be busy, and we had a long queue even before the doors had opened! By the end of the day, we had almost 900 visitors who were able to learn and discover the amazing archaeology uncovered on the project.
So, what did the exhibition feature? Visitors had the chance to explore finds from four key excavation areas, including Area 4’s banjo enclosure (featured on Digging for Britain) and Roman features from Area 22. One of the exhibition’s highlights were two flyby videos of these areas, offering stunning bird’s-eye views of the excavations. These videos proved popular, with many visitors describing them as “superb” and “very well done”. The videos are now available on the project site pages.
Image: visitors looking at the find displays at the A417 open day
Visitors of all ages enjoyed the activities at the open day, with both kids and adults getting hands-on and crafting their own replica prehistoric pinch pots. The handling collection was a hit too, giving everyone a chance to touch real artefacts.
Image: visitors at the A417 open day creating pinch pots
“[my favourite part of the day was] being able to hold items from over 2,000 years ago – history in my hand!”
Visitor
The 11-person OCA team, including fieldwork, finds and outreach staff, were the perfect combination to answer questions about the sites, finds and future engagement opportunities. From the public feedback received, the friendliness, professionalism and helpfulness of the staff was a top-scoring highlight of everyone’s visit. Visitors described the team as “knowledgeable”, “informative”, “courteous” and “approachable”.
“A wonderful and really interesting event”
Carolyne Ferguson, Kier Transportation’s Head of Stakeholder, Customer and Communications
