Washingborough Archaeology Group were contacted in mid-August 2003 by production staff at Time Team to see if we could assist with field walking on the site of an Anglo Saxon cemetery. They were also interested in looking at the surrounding area to try and find any possible settlement associated with it. The project was to take place at South Carlton in early September.

Following discussions between Time Team and ourselves it became clear that the scale of the job was likely to embody an area which would be too large for just W.A.G. alone to cover effectively, so we extended the invitation to members of another local archaeology group at Navenby. All told, we were able to raise over 30 volunteers for the 3 days.

Day One dawned bright and sunny, and as our volunteers arrived there was a real buzz about the place. Ben Dempsey, Assistant Producer for Time Team, greeted us in the Incident room (a large barn). He gave us an introduction to the site and also told us what we would be doing over the next 3 days.

We made the long walk from the incident room (it seemed to get longer every day!) onto the site of the dig and set about gridding out an area for field walking. Filming had just started and initial decisions were being made about the siting of the first trenches.

The purpose of our first field walking session was to try and establish, from pottery scatters, the extent of the Anglo-Saxon cemetery and thus help with the positioning of further excavations. Unfortunately the field was under stubble, which didn't make for good field walking conditions, but we carried on. Under the direction of Matt Williams from the excavation team, and despite the odd heavy downpour, we were able to cover a large area. Sadly no early Saxon pottery was found amongst the fairly general spread of Roman, medieval and post medieval pottery, but everyone was still well satisfied with the day's work and the promise of the next two days.

Day Two started damp and grey, but no one really minded, especially as we were to move to an area away from the main focus of the dig.

Time Team wanted to look for the site of a possible Saxon settlement between the villages of North and South Carlton. Several members of WAG were familiar with the area, and with the aid of aerial photographs, Saxon pottery (previously found on the site) and a bit of local knowledge, we were able to direct Time Team straight to the spot, the ploughed out settlement of Middle Carlton.

The volunteers were divided into two groups, one to carry out the field walking whilst the others would be tasked with cleaning the increasing number of finds from the site. The field walkers were transported down to the site of Middle Carlton just over a mile away, along with Carenza Lewis, Paul Blinkhorn and Theresa Hall. An initial walkover of the site by Carenza, Paul and Theresa satisfied them that the site should be field walked, so we divided the area into 10m squares, with each square walked by 2 people. Early, Mid and Late Saxon pottery was in evidence in relatively large quantities, with later Medieval pottery also present. The Early Saxon pottery was especially interesting as this was contemporary with pottery found with the inhumations in the cemetery over a mile away. Other finds included a small number of spindle whorls, several whet stones, a piece of decorative metal work and a coloured bead. A number of flint tools were also found over the survey area.

We spent the whole of the day on the Middle Carlton site under the direction of Theresa Hall. We covered two substantial areas, and although we were well away from the main site, Time Team were good enough to ensure that no one went hungry, and sent down food and drink to help keep us going. At the end of the day many of us commented that we had experienced some of the best field walking that we had ever undertaken.

Day Three began warm and sunny and with the announcement of the discovery of a sherd of Beaker pottery from the bottom of the ditch surround the burial mound. With Theresa Hall, the field walkers were sent to walk the area adjacent to the burial mound feature to see if there was any sign of prehistoric or Saxon pottery. Once again the stubble hampered our survey and very little material of note was discovered.

As this was the last area to be field walked, the rest of the day was spent washing the remaining finds. When this was complete, Ben Dempsey and Theresa thanked us for our hard work and we were able to watch the remaining stages of excavation and filming. A few hardy souls even stayed on to watch the final furious hunt for the extent of the cemetery as the rain set in.

Thanks to everyone at Time Team we all thoroughly enjoyed our time at South Carlton. We saw some fantastic archaeology, took part in some excellent field walking and were made to feel welcome and part of the project at all times.