Written by archaeology volunteer David Wellings.
In the spring of 2024, Fulham Palace decided that they would further enhance the biodiversity of the walled garden by building a pond. Pete, the garden supervisor responsible for the pond’s creation, was very enthusiastic. It was going to be huge, at 5.2m long, 3.2m wide and 1.2m deep. It was also to have a sophisticated design with sloping edges leading down to a deep round centre in the middle. The aim, Pete told us, was to attract a range of amphibians and other pond life that are attracted to shallow and relatively warm water as well as those that enjoy deeper cooler waters.
The biggest challenge was that this pond would have to be dug out by hand. All the areas with the moated area of Fulham Palace are designated as a scheduled ancient monument, which means that you can only dig around 30cm into the ground. Any deeper than that and the dig must be under the conditions of a controlled archaeological excavation.
Fulham Place is in the fortunate position to have its own community archaeologist and a team of dedicated volunteers. The core of the team is little changed over the last decade. Some of us were lucky enough to be involved in the orchard dig of 2014 where the volunteers dug a series of 1m-by-1m square holes to plant the apple trees that are now flourishing in the walled garden. Archaeology is a process that builds on previous experience, so those of us who took part in the orchard dig knew what to expect when we started digging the pond.
The grounds of Fulham Palace have been used for cultivation for a long time. This has resulted in a layer of rich topsoil over a second soil layer with some more recent finds, such as clay tobacco pipes, a few bits of modern pottery and lost hobnails – possibly from the boots of garden staff in an earlier century. Once you are below this there are several sandy layers, no doubt washed in by the accumulated tides over many centuries. It was deep in these layers that we found our one major piece of Roman pottery. This bit of pottery provided us with a puzzle. We have found Roman ceramic fragments before, which you can see in the Palace museum. The obvious assumption would be that these were washed in with the tide, but the fragments have not been smoothed after spending years in the river. Single fragments of pottery also do not suggest that we have found Roman Fulham. The Romans were very wasteful with their pottery, so if were anywhere close this pond dig would have produced a lot more material.
This excavation only produced limited finds, but the plans and new understanding from the pond dig will help with any future excavations at Fulham Palace. More importantly, it gave us a sense of achievement and the opportunity to work with a wonderful team of staff and volunteers. Volunteer archaeology is a good excuse for what turns out to be a full-body workout in the delightful grounds of the Palace. We didn’t find much, but we kept digging knowing that Fulham Place can produce historically significant finds and features. It was not, as several Palace visitors pointed out to us, ‘just a way to get your pond dug for free’!