A community archaeological dig is set to get underway in Carlisle, after recently revealing that one of their previous finds was thought to be the only one of its type in the former Roman Empire.
Roman Imperial Purple - Tyrian Purple - paint pigment was found as part of the city’s Uncovering Roman Carlisle project. A lump of a soft mysterious purple substance was discovered at a Roman Bathhouse - within the grounds of Carlisle Cricket Club - during the 2023 excavation by archaeologists and volunteers.
The award-winning Uncovering Roman Carlisle (URC) is set to return to Carlisle’s Roman Bathhouse to discover more of the remaining mysteries of the site.
The dig at Carlisle Cricket Club will take place between Saturday 11May and Saturday 15 June. So far 700 volunteering slots have been taken up, thought to be made up of around 300 people.
Limited spaces are available for volunteers. No prior experience in archaeology is needed, just enthusiasm in learning about Carlisle’s past. Find out more at the Uncovering Roman Carlisle website and book directly at the Trybooking website.
So far, 460 school pupils are booked in to visit the site (and counting) from schools all over Cumbria. Any school wanting to make a visit, can sign up at the Uncovering Roman Carlisle website.
This project is delivered by a partnership of Cumberland Council, Carlisle Cricket Club, Tullie, and Wardell Armstrong LLP.
Councillor Anne Quilter, Cumberland Council’s Executive Member for Vibrant and Healthy Places, said:
“Following the recent news of the Tyrian Purple, there’s a real buzz about the site and it’s going to be fascinating to see what else is uncovered.
“The upcoming excavation will once again provide opportunities for Cumberland residents to take part in archaeology and heritage, or for groups, schools, and individuals to visit a live archaeological excavation.
“I look forward to visiting the dig again this year and meeting everyone involved in this exciting project.”
The site will be active and open to the public between Monday and Saturday of each week of the dig. Tours of the site will be held between 10am and 3pm each day, groups over 10 are encouraged to contact us through the new website and make a booking. A small temporary exhibition will coincide with the excavation in the Carlisle Tourist Information Centre in May.
Uncovering Roman Carlisle has received funding from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Wardell Armstrong LLP alongside Cumberland Council, Tullie, and Carlisle Cricket Club would like to get as many people to visit in this incredible project as possible.
The funding aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. The project will allow members of the public to take part in the community excavation or visit free of charge.
Frank Giecco, Technical Director at Wardell Armstrong, said:
“We are very happy to be welcoming people from Cumberland and beyond back to the site. I’m so proud of what we have been able to achieve and of all the diggers and everyone who has contributed and continues to give so much to the project. It’s so much more than we could have expected when the bathhouse was first discovered.
“Volunteers have gone on to work or study archaeology and related fields due to the project, we see a lot of new faces a lot of returning, and even feature in BBC and Smithsonian documentaries and international news. All the project partners are really looking forward to being back! It’s a bit like with a sport, people are learning and developing and growing through active participation in archaeology and the artefacts continue to shed more light on Carlisle, which was once Rome’s frontier city.
“As always, we want people to come and see the dig and visit the site. We have a new website you can find out more at, or if you want to bring a group or are a school wanting to visit you can contact us and book through. Around 6000 people came to see the dig last year, and we have tours by volunteers at the site between 10am and 3pm each day, anyone can just walk up, but groups over ten I’d encourage to contact us through the website and make a booking.”
The bathhouse is the largest known building on Hadrian’s Wall, with over 2800 significant finds, and hundreds of volunteers having been offered over 2800 volunteer places offered in past phases of the project since 2021. URC has so far won four awards, three archaeological achievement awards from the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) and an award from the Society for Museum Archaeology for the 2023 exhibition. URC featured on the most recent series of Digging for Britain with Prof Alice Roberts.
Discoveries by The Diggers has been essential in uncovering over 2,800 significant finds. Among these; 550+ Roman coins from centuries of occupation, 300+ hair pins, Imperial stamped tiles (tiles literally fit for an emperor), North African style vaulting tubes for roof construction, hundreds of stunning glass beads, gaming pieces, even a rare Roman doll’s foot. Significantly, 70 intaglios have been discovered in the drains. These are magnificently carved gemstones which dropped from Roman signet rings when the glue holding them melted in the bathhouse heat. In 2023, two monumental and unique carved stone heads were discovered by a volunteer on their first ever excavation.