AN EXCAVATION group is celebrating its 60th anniversary with a special exhibition.

Winchester Excavations Committee is holding the display titled The Great Winchester Dig at the Hampshire Record Office until September 29.

The exhibition showcases how Winchester Excavations Committee’s archaeological digs revolutionised the understanding of Winchester’s history.

Visitors can expect to see a selection of archaeological finds from 1961-71 as well as a visual sketch of the key sites uncovered in Winchester.

The decade-long programme of excavation took place in Winchester locations such as the cathedral green and Wolvesey Castle. The project led by Professor Martin Biddle informed key aspects of modern urban archaeology.

The Winchester excavations uncovered 2,000 years of history from the iron age to the emergence of modern Winchester in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

Chairman of the Winchester Excavation Committee, Barbara Bryant said: “If you go to the exhibition, you will be taken back in time to when Martin who was a remarkably young archaeologist at the time started a unique series of digs in Winchester which were ground-breaking.

“This whole project which was Martin’s vision has given Winchester back it’s past. It’s phenomenal what was excavated and how it was done and now a great deal more is known.”

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The Hampshire Record Office posted on Facebook: “We are delighted to be hosting Winchester Excavation Committee’s 60th anniversary exhibition.”

The exhibition is free to the public for the next few months during the record office opening hours, Tuesday to Thursday, 9.30am to 4pm.

Barbara added: “It’s a wonderful opportunity and a privilege to be seen as part of Hampshire’s archives in a very accessible building. Don’t miss an opportunity to look back into how Winchester’s past was discovered.”

Most of the diggers involved with the project during the 1960s were students from schools such as Winchester College, St Swithuns and Peter Symmonds (before it became a sixth form). The students collaborated to create a board game which can be found at the exhibition.

Many of the findings from the excavation are already published in volumes of Winchester Studies volumes, including works of detailed scholarship that incorporate literary, artistic, historical and documentary evidence with archaeological results.

The Winchester Excavations Committee was founded in 1962 by Prof Biddle. The amount and significance of their finding led to a fulltime research unit being set up in 1968. The Winchester Research Unit continue to prepare the remaining volumes of Winchester Studies with teams in Oxford and Winchester.

Martin was the first ever lecturer of medieval archaeology and in 2014 he was awarded a CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for his services to archaeology.

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