ARCHAEOLOGY can be great fun, as the numerous visitors to Wallingford Museum’s Family Archaeology Day last month found out.

There were plenty of grubby hands and smiling faces by the end of the day!

Our fossils expert Dr Steve Head held his visitors spellbound with his interpretation of their fossil treasures and with samples his own fabulous collection.

Meanwhile the archaeology sand trays in the museum – always a favourite – were fully occupied all day long.

Of course, archaeology is much more than digging and treasure-hunting: one popular display on Archaeology Day was a view of the latest resistivity instruments for geophysical survey.

Such surveys require no invasive work, but can often provide images of buildings and ditches lying hidden beneath the ground.

Anyone walking the Wallingford castle site in mid-June may well have come across a TWHAS team (in their purple shirts) laying out lines and probes to take readings using the latest Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) which recovers data about underlying features to a depth of around six metres – considerably deeper than previous surveys we have done.

More simply, the recent hot dry weather has been useful to archaeologists seeking out new sites of potential interest: aerial views of the parched ground have been revealing outlines of structures and roads/ pathways that have long since disappeared.

A recent aerial view of Wallingford Castle showed up the lines of some of the old walls quite well.

By the 13th century the castle had three walls and moats on the north, west and south sides, with the eastern side being protected by a single wall and moat and the River Thames.

The main gateways stood near the end of the bridge, with double drawbridges protecting the entrance.

The castle was a stronghold passed down to the heirs of the medieval kings, where the young princes could learn how to manage estates.

It became part of the new Duchy of Cornwall in 1337 when Edward the Black Prince held the castle as his main residence.

This Saturday from 11am to 4pm we’ll be holding a special family ‘Castle Day’ at Wallingford Museum, with plenty on offer for all ages.

Besides displays about our castle research, our own knight will be in attendance, with a wonderful display of weapons, armour and other things that would have been in daily use in the castle.

He loves to talk about how things were made and used. There will also be a chance to help build a model of the Great Tower of Wallingford Castle during the day, and much more besides.

Entrance is by our usual Wallingford Museum ticket: £5 per adult, but all children are free. A great day out!