Group tour programme

The Irchester Field School is a collaborative community research project that is central to a wide-ranging partnership between the University of Leicester and North Northants Council, based at the Chester House Estate (https://chesterhouseestate.org/). It encompasses research, learning, community engagement, wellbeing and enterprise. The University of Leicester team is coordinated through the University of Leicester Heritage Hub (https://le.ac.uk/research/natural-heritage/heritage-hub).

The Chester House Estate is a unique free to enter heritage site. There is evidence for 10,000 years of human activity in the landscape, from flint scatters dating the Mesolithic (c. 10,000 to 4,000 BC) to a complex of traditional farm buildings dating back to the 17th century. Within the Estate lies one of the best preserved walled Roman small towns in Britain, known as Irchester. At present, much of this heritage is buried; the challenge is to bring it to life and tell its stories.

The Archaeological Resource Centre (ARC) is a state-of-the-art facility located within the Chester House Estate, which is the new archaeological archive repository for the whole of Northants. The ARC will ultimately hold more than 20,000 boxes of archaeological finds from across Northamptonshire. This stretch of the Nene Valley is one of the richest parts of the country for archaeological investigation and archives.

The excavations

In June and July, the University of Leicester’s School of Archaeology and Ancient History (SAAH) and University of Leicester Archaeological Services (ULAS) conduct archaeological excavations within the suburbs of the small Roman town of Irchester in partnership with volunteers and staff from the Chester House Estate and the ARC.

Archaeological survey and excavations are revealing houses, workshops and cemeteries, allowing us to better understand the lives of the town’s inhabitants. The area of the suburbs extends to the west, east and south of the walled area and contains multiple buildings as well as cemeteries. The team has cleaned an area with buildings and a north-south side road close to the main east-west road that leading to the east gate of the town. Continued work in this area will hopefully result in a better understanding of when these buildings were in use, when the side road went out of use, and whether there is any evidence for very late and/or post-Roman activity. To the west of this area, at the northern end of the site, the team has excavated pits and ditches in the back yards of buildings fronting the north-south road.

The excavations have uncovered part of a late Roman cemetery, densely packed with cist burials; approximately 90 have been excavated over the past few years. The human skeletal remains are being studied by specialists using a wide range of cutting-edge scientific techniques which are providing insights into the lives of the townsfolk, including information about diet, disease and lifestyle.

The Irchester Field School is a long-term collaborative project that supports local community and school involvement in archaeological research. The collaboration is enhancing our understanding of this archaeologically rich landscape, and is helping to make archaeological research and archives accessible for all.

The Irchester Field School was awarded the Council for British Archaeology Archaeological Achievement Award 2024 (Learning and Skills).

Tour programme

Tours will take place throughout the 3 weeks of the excavation:

Week 1

Tues 17^th June 1430 (1 slot)

Weds 18^th June 1430 (1 slot)

Thurs 19^th June 1430 (1 slot)

Week 2

Tues 24^th June 1430 (1 slot)

Weds 25^th June 1430 (1 slot)

Thurs 26^th June 1430 (1 slot)

Week 3

Tuesday 1^st July 1430 (1 slot)

Weds 2^nd July 1430 (1 slot)

Thurs 3^rd July 1430 (1 slot)

Friday 4^th July 1430 (1 slot)

Each tour can accommodate up to 20 people. Tours will be led by archaeologists from the Archaeological Resource Centre (ARC) and the University of Leicester

It includes

A tour of Excavation (30 mins)

A ‘show and tell’ session with finds from Irchester (30 mins)

A tour of the Archaeological Resource Centre (45 mins)

Tours start at 1430 and take approximately one hour and 45 minutes.

Price £100 / tour

Once you have booked, we will be in touch to confirm arrangements.

Refreshments are not included in the tour package, but if you would like to book lunch / refreshments in the café before your tour please email info@chesterhouseestate.org. Advance booking is recommended as the site will be busy.