Bradgate the video 2021

This work was made possible by the National Lottery Heritage Fund

A video by David Budge (Mercian Archaeological Services) made during our below-ground archaeological investigation at Bradgate Park, in search of the Late Upper Palaeolithic (LUP).

Twenty-one test pits, half a meter square by half a meter deep were dug by our volunteers on an area called Bradgate Lawns. They found 14 human-struck flints and one unworked, burnt flint. All were prehistoric, but none were firmly diagnostic from the LUP. Nevertheless, contextually, they were not out of place with the nearby Little Matlock LUP campsite excavated in 2015.

Pottery sherds found in the test pits revealed evidence of Roman and either, Iron Age or, Anglo Saxon use of the site. A 16th century sherd from the Continent hints at the lifestyle of Lady Jane Grey's family, earlier owners of the Park.