2026 Day 10 - Rich pickings from our new test pits

By Finch Neville, Visitor Assistant and undergraduate palaeontologist

I made the 'how time flies' remark yesterday, but it is just as topical today, for we have reached double digits. This milestone coincided with the birthdays of two team members, which we celebrated with cake and an exquisite rhubarb crumble.  

Amazing finds continue to be made as the new excavator digs more large trenches in the field. Much credit is due to Adam, the farmer who owns Court Farm where we are working, who has been endlessly obliging and facilitative of our endeavours. 

Behind the two existing trenches, the latter of which has been lengthened yet again, are two more areas that have been subject to the excavator's attention. Immediately behind the second trench is one of these new test pits, roughly alike in depth although shorter and wider. The second pit is further into the field. It is considerably deeper than the others at one end. It serves a stratigraphical purpose by helping us to understand the layers of rock above those that contain the nodules.

Notably, this test pit penetrates into the Bifrons Zone, a distinct rock layer from the early Jurassic. It is there that we have found a beautiful bed of iron-rich nodules containing ammonites, belemnites and crinoids (marine invertebrates with elongated bodies and long, feathery appendages). These fossils are astonishing, and proof that this site still has many surprises for us to uncover.  

I spent most of the afternoon looking through the spoil pile (the discarded rock and earth) from this deeper hole with Murray Edmunds, a specialist in ammonites. The rest of the team continued to split the nodules from trench two, finding many excellent fossils in the process. As mentioned yesterday, there is a chance to see some of these absolutely superb fossils tomorrow, from 6 until 8 pm, at the Rest on Court Farm, King Stanley. 

There are still several days left of this dig, and with every nodule cracked, there is a chance of something even more spectacular. Stay tuned...