BUDDING archaeologists and amateur historians can find out more about an intriguing aspect of the Forest’s past on Sunday (October 29) as experts reveal discoveries from an archaeological investigation currently underway in Soudley.

The archaeology open day, at Soudley Camp in the heart of the village, includes site tours, children’s activities and a display of finds that have been discovered.

Archaeological investigations of the camp are being carried out by a team of local volunteers and archaeologists from Worcestershire Archive and Archaeology Service over the last two weeks in October, and the open day will provide an opportunity to find out what the team has discovered.

Archaeologist Andy Walsh, who is leading the excavation, said: “The excavations will hopefully answer some of our long held questions about Soudley Camp, as well as being a great opportunity for local people to get involved in uncovering the Forest’s heritage.

“Soudley Camp is an enigmatic archaeological site on a promontory above the Soudley Brook, with a large bank and ditch defending its more accessible western side. No one knows quite what the camp was built for or how old it is – is it a neolithic hilltop enclosure, a defensive Iron Age settlement, or an early medieval castle?

“The site is officially recorded as an Iron Age ’promontory fort’ or defended farmstead, but it doesn’t quite fit the typical form for these sites.”

Over two four-day sessions, the team is hoping to find answers to some of these questions. In addition to three trenches and six small test pits, samples are being taken across the ditch in the hope of establishing its depth.

The Soudley Camp excavation is part of the Foresters’ Forest Programme, a Heritage Lottery-funded landscape partnership project led by the Forestry Commission. A major aspect of the Foresters’ Forest Programme is to survey and investigate archaeological sites identified across the Forest of Dean by LiDAR survey.

This is a form of aerial survey which has revealed over 1,700 sites across the Forest, many of them previously unknown to archaeologists.

There will be information available about this work presented at the open day and an opportunity to sign up to help survey them over the next five years.

Access to Soudley Camp is close to Soudley School. The open day takes place between 11am and 3pm.