Digging into Lincoln’s history
Archaeologist and author Dr Mick Jones’s latest book examines how the city’s archaeology has been recorded from the time of the early antiquaries to the modern day. Interview by Kate Chapman.
He’s dedicated his life to uncovering Lincoln’s secrets and in his latest book, former City Archaeologist, Dr Mick Jones, shares his personal account of how those important findings were recorded.
Mick grew up near Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, but has spent the majority of his professional career working in Lincoln, where he was director of the Lincoln Archaeology Unit for two decades from 1980.
In 2000 he took up the post of City Archaeologist, where he remained until his retirement in 2012, monitoring the investigation of sites that produced evidence of remains ranging from prehistoric to post-medieval.
In his latest book Digging Lincoln: An Archaeological Memoir, Mick gives his account of how the city’s archaeology was recorded from the time of the early antiquaries through to the commercially funded professional teams of today.
“In the early 1970s there was a need to access funding for archaeology and to create an organisation which would carry out digs before the material under the ground was lost forever, destroyed by deep foundations that had become common,” he explains.
“The idea was to document our findings and analyse the results and the finds for handover to the museum.”
Mick says his time in charge of excavations was an exhilarating period, full of important discoveries, but also at times a struggle for the organisation to survive in the face of other forces.
“When I took the job in Lincoln, aged 25, there were a lot of battles to be fought and there have been ever since,” he says. “We had got to the stage where we received annual grants, but from the early 1980s we had to bid for national funding. A county-wide organisation was established, but it only survived as such for four years, and as time went on we had to compete against an increasing number of commercial organisations.”
Career path
Although he enjoyed history at school, Mick initially studied Latin at Manchester University when he began his undergraduate degree in 1966.
He recalls: “I wasn’t really thinking about archaeology at all. I chose Latin because I had a talent for it: I could be top of the class by doing the least work! I was probably thinking of going into librarianship rather than teaching.
“When I got to university I found the way the subject was taught was very old-fashioned. Within the Classics and Ancient History department, however, there were a couple of young tutors – archaeologists – who made things more interesting and dynamic.
“I was very fortunate that they took me under their wing, and supported and motivated me, so as I continued with my studies I concentrated on archaeology.”
Mick took part in university training digs and joined others during the holidays. He says there were wonderful opportunities to get out into the countryside as well as explore some urban areas.
“You were with a great bunch of people, all working together; it’s a combination of physical exercise as part of a team, and intellectual thought processes, as you’re trying to understand the sequence of the various layers and how they relate to each other. There are so many different clues. You use so many different skills too – digging, drawing plans, surveying, and dealing with the finds and later analysis.”
Archaeological trust
As Mick looked for his first proper job at the beginning of the 1970s, a group of senior academics were putting pressure on the government to do more to record the nation’s archaeology, which was being destroyed by projects to build motorways and road networks, as well as deep ploughing, gravel and stone extraction, and urban renewal.
Mick joined Lincoln’s newly founded archaeological trust as second-in-command in 1972. He describes the city then as quite modest and unshowy, “hiding its light under a bushel”.
The struggles to come were far outweighed by the rich history they discovered and shared with fellow academics and the public.
“One of the most important sites we investigated was on the corner of Grantham Street and Flaxengate in Lincoln, excavated in the early to mid-1970s. It’s where we first started to understand the impact of the Vikings, who were here in Lincoln from the late 9th century, and over a century or more the former town revived as an important centre,” recalls Mick, an honorary professor at Bishop Grosseteste University.
“My favourite site has to be St Paul-in-the-Bail (in Bailgate), the site of a church demolished in 1971. It was one of the earliest churches in Britain – dating back to the 5th-6th century, at the centre of the original Roman city.
“The first church was built in the courtyard of the Roman forum, the civic centre, which itself was built over the HQ building of the Roman Legionary Fortress (a legion was only based in the city for about 30 years, before the military zone moved northwards).
“Although the church was demolished it’s never become a development site – the parochial church council was so impressed with the discoveries made that it wouldn’t allow it. The city council created a garden and open space there, where the site’s significance could be explained.”
Inspiring generations
Mick has written many academic articles, and several books including a short history of Lincoln and a book on Roman Lincoln.
He hopes the exciting discoveries and the remarkable story of the city will help inspire and enthuse the next generation. He adds that the most interesting discoveries in the 21st century have been the early prehistoric findings linked to the development of Lincoln University.
“Lincoln used to be a quiet town with its castle and cathedral, but urban development over the past 40 to 50 years has enabled many investigations and, more recently, generous Lottery funding has meant that it has really changed. People come to see a place partly to enjoy its heritage. It’s created a very nice place to visit.
“There’s also the benefits from education – enthusing children about the past – and local people being proud of their town and the rich history it has.
“We’ve also been able to add many more artefact finds to the museum collections. Without the digs, they would never have seen the light of day.”
Digging Lincoln: An Archaeological Memoir by Dr Michael J Jones is published by Archaeopress. Available from the publishers or Steep Hill Books in Lincoln, the Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology bookshop at its headquarters in Jews Court, 2-3 Steep Hill. There is also an e-version priced £9.99.
Main photograph: Dr Mick Jones signing copies of Digging Lincoln following a talk at Lincoln Central Library earlier this year (Photography: Copyright SLHA)
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Lincolnshire Life Magazine Newsletter 12/25 - mailchi.mp/lincolnshirelife.co.uk/lincolnshire-life-magazine-newsletter-12-25