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Job category/type: Place, Property and Regeneration
The Museum of Barnstaple and North Devon has received Development Funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund for “Potted History”, a project which aims to progress the post-excavation analysis of at least fourteen archaeological digs undertaken in Barnstaple during the 1970s and 1980s. The excavations included several post-mediaeval pottery kilns
The project will process, digitise and publish a vast collection of material including the physical finds themselves alongside paper documents and photographs. The project will provide opportunities for volunteering, skills training and community engagement to increase public interest in our region’s pottery heritage. It will also provide hands-on opportunities – particularly for young people – to try out traditional North Devon pottery making skills.
The project archaeologist will conduct a nine-month development phase alongside a team of volunteers. They will develop training programmes in post-excavation techniques and procedures for processing large quantities of finds, especially pottery. A detailed report on the Barnstaple Library site excavations, which will be the focus of this pilot phase, will be published. At the end of the Development Phase an application will be submitted for the Delivery Phase of the Project, which, if successful, will run for a further three years.
The Potted History is not only of local and national significance but is of great interest to those working with ceramic finds overseas too. Large quantities of North Devon pots were extensively traded to Wales and Ireland, and even to the emerging colonies in the USA and Canada where fragments are frequently found in archaeological excavations.
The project’s advisory group includes post-mediaeval pottery specialists and the Director of the original excavations. For more information please contact Alison Mills, Museum Director on Alison.mills@northdevon.gov.uk
Interview Date: 2nd or 3rd October 2025
If you have not heard by the interview date, please assume that you have been unsuccessful on this occasion.
Apply Here: https://ce0498li.webitrent.com/ce0498li_webrecruitment/wrd/run/ETREC179GF.open?WVID=47164616B5