Wednesday 30 June 2010

Day Eight: Wednesday 30th June

Photograph of the Day: Cherubin striking a Zoolander inspired pose.


Weather: Hot

Word of the Day: Factor 50 Sun cream

Quote of the Day: Hannah- When I stop mattocking, I start moping.

Find of the day: Bone button cut offs. (Pictured below)



Today we had a tour of the Turret House (Pictured Below). The Turret House was built in 1574 by the 6th Earl of Shrewbury and his wife Bess as a gate house to Manor Lodge. People believe it was built for Mary Queen of Scots as her prison, but it wasn't built until four years after she arrived in Sheffield. It wouldn't have been big enough for her entourage, she brought 30 servants with her. It has a French style to it, refelected in the shape of the tower. It is suspected that the Turret House was also used for banquets, and could have been used after the hunt for refreshments.

It is often thought that Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned here because one of the stained glass windows installed during the Victorian period states that she was imprisoned there.

This is the coffin that Thomas Furnival was buried in. Thomas Furnival designed and built the Turret House. It was later used a trough for animals to eat from.


A photograph of wall decoration.


The ceiling on the second floor is original. It is decorated very elaborately with lions, grapes and such like. Above is an example of the lion. These are heavily associated with the kind of lions that adorn the doors of French Manor houses as door knockers.


This character is also a feature of the ceiling in the Turret House. It is thought to be a face from Eastern Europe. The wooden carved forms would have originally be held up with horse hair.



A whet stone/sharpening stone found.


The body of a white ceramic figure was found in Trench 17 today.


The latest entry for Best Hat comes from 7 year old Isabel who was visiting the site with her Mum.




Introducing...

Introducing you to some more of our lovely lot at the Manor Lodge Excavation.







With the absense of Charile, we haven't been able to record Charlie's Beard today. Instead we had to improvise to bring you the latest in beard related news. Victoria made the beard using her artistic skills and asked Buttery Jonathon to model it.

Name: Buttery Jonathon. Going into his 3rd year of BA Archaeology.
Likes: Archaeology, food, Black Keys, and the film Red Dawn.
Dislikes: Pushchairs, Primark, pushchairs in Primark, train pushers, especially train pushers with pushchairs trying to push to Primark.
One interesting fact: Buttery Jonathon once won an Early Learning Centre pencil sharpener for painting a paper plate with an Ian Rush (Liverpool Footballer) portrait on it.
Proudest Moment: Being a Charlie's Beard Model for 5 minutes.
If I could be involved in any archaeology excavation, I'd like to excavate: with explosives or other general purpose explosives, like Thomas Bateman.


Name: Charlotte. Just finished BA Archaeology. Currently the resident tea lady, domestic goddess and desperate housewife of the dig.
Likes: Chocolate, Ribena, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Mango (The Shop) and Mangos.
Dislikes: Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, chocolate ice cream, and spiders.
If I could be anyone for a day i'd like to be: A Princess with her own castle.
If I could be involved in any archaeological excavation, I'd like to excavate: Egypt.



Name: C.J. BA Archaeology student at Nottingham University.
Likes: playing the guitar, 60's music like The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan, space, football and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Dislikes: Soggy cake, turkish delight, and hair in the plughole.
Best Holiday: Rome
Greatest Moment: Cooking a full roast dinner with all the trimmings.
If I could be involved in any archaeological excavation, I'd like to excavate: Greece or Rome, or be Captain Safety of Ceramics for Lord Elgin.

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