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Foreshore Fieldwork Update:We headed hopefully into the 2012 summer season with drought assured by the expert boffins at the MetOffice, and assumed that this would be one of the best years yet for identifying new features at the bottom ofthe low tide mark. A summer of glorious sunshine and great archaeology, what could possibly go wrong?As we know, the weather hasnt exactly gone to plan (!), but we have nevertheless run fieldwork at threesites, a monitoring session at a fourth, and two rounds of FROG training. Well done to the hardy and intrepidFROG members who have braved the British summer!

Tower of London: In May wereturned for our third yearrunning to the Tower Beach, inparticular to the eastern end ofthe site where erosioncontinues to be extremelysevere. We carried out a findssurvey with the Society ofThames Mudlarks and the

Thames and Field MetalDetecting Society and thePortable Antiquities Scheme,and we would like to thank theCrown Estate and HistoricRoyal Palaces for funding thefieldwork. As ever at this site,we found that many of thefeatures recorded in previousyears had been eroded awaywhile new, hitherto unseen ones had emerged in their place. A new layer of base plates had emergedbeneath, and on a different alignment to those recorded last year, along with new rows of vertical piles.

These appear to represent river stairs and revetments which may pre-date the medieval river wall. Furtherdown the foreshore eight round wood elm piles had emerged which appear to be a substantial jetty ofpossibly earlier date. Samples have been taken for radiocarbon dating so watch this space for results!

Greenwich Palace:After the wonderful March weather and some reallygood low tides we headed to Greenwich in April with optimism; especially asthe Greenwich FROG had recently identified new peat deposits and possibleAnglo-Saxon fishtraps at the very low tide markwell done to Helen and theteam. Unfortunately, in came the rain, and while we were able to photograph

these new features and deposits, we were unable to survey them. We there-fore focussed upon what appeared to be a series of phases of jetty, part ofwhich comprised base plates, the joints and fixings suggesting a 12 th centurydate. On closer examination it appeared that it was actually one very largestructure, around 40m in length which continued into the river below the lowtide mark, necessitating at times some rather unorthodox planningtechniquessee left! This jetty, barely visible three years ago, not onlydemonstrates the ongoing erosion at this site, but also that there was asignificant and thriving medieval presence at Greenwich, with deep watervessels trading here. Initial documentary research suggests that it may berelated to a religious foundation of the Abbey of Ghent, so it may have beenprimarily for the export of wool and import of wine. This is the largestmedieval structure we have yet recorded on the foreshore and, hopefully, wewill see more of it emerge in the future.

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Future fieldwork:After the Olympics, we are hopingto undertake two further weeks ofsummer season fieldwork at theimportant shipbuilding and breakingsites at Charlton (left), near theThames Barrier in August, and atDeptford in September.

Isleworth and Chiswick:At Isleworth we were hoping to

survey the Anglo-Saxon fish trap and causeway,unfortunately, the fish trap did not appear from the waterall week. Instead, we recorded in detail two phases ofpost-medieval causeway and a much-repaired masonrystream outfall. As ever, the MOLA geomatics team wereon hand to record our baselines and undertaketopographic survey, which rather surprisingly suggestedthat there had been up to 0.15m of erosion in placessince the last survey in 2009; this is certainly changingour thinking about what we earlier thought were relativelystable upstream sites. We look to the West LondonFROG to keep us informed of possible developments!For the last day of the week we undertook a monitoringvisit to the Chiswick foreshore (right) on an extremelyblustery, but thankfully dry day. This was the first propermonitoring session undertaken here since the ThamesArchaeological Survey identified features in the late1990s, and while the river was not low enough for us toinvestigate the entire site, we were able to usefullyupdate our records for much of the area.

FORTHCOMING EVENTS!A few dates for your diaries:

The Festival of British Archaeologyjoin the TDP and MOLA at the Museum of London onSaturday 21st July to find out more about ceramic finds from the foreshore.

Walbrook Discovery Programmea series of guided walks, site visits and seminars with MOLAand the Developing City in August and September

The Thames Festival8th and 9th September 2012SAVE THE DATE: The fourth annual TDP Foreshore Forum will be held at the Institute of

Archaeology, London on Saturday 8th Decembermore details coming soon!As always, please check the events pages of the TDP website for more information and details of

many more events across London and beyond......http://www.thamesdiscovery.org/events-home/

http://www.thamesdiscovery.org/events-home/http://www.thamesdiscovery.org/events-home/http://www.thamesdiscovery.org/events-home/

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UPDATE on the GRESHAM SHIP

When the substantial remains of an armed Elizabethanmerchantman were discovered in 2003 by the Port of LondonAuthority while they were clearing a navigation channel in theThames estuary, they called in the archaeologists. A gunbarrel from the wreck bore the insignia of Sir ThomasGresham (the famous London merchant and financier 1519-1579), while tree-ring analysis of the hull timbers suggestedthe ship had been built in or just after AD 1574. The teamfrom Wessex Archaeology, led by Jens Auer, recorded thetimbers partially on the sea bed and then on dry land, oncethe five huge sections of the hull had been raised. The

remains represent that most exciting period of Elizabethanseafaring, exploration and adventure, the age of Drake,Frobisher, Seymour and Hawkins.

RESEARCH & PUBLICATIONA five-year intensive study began in 2007, co-ordinated by the UCLInstitute of Archaeology, with support from the PLA, Gresham College,English Heritage, Nautical Archaeological Society (NAS), Museum ofLondon, the Receiver of Wreck, the Mercers' Company, the RoyalArmouries and the University of Southern Denmark. Results of theresearch on the hull, the guns, the associated artefacts as well as the ironbars and metal ingots representing its valuable cargo will all be ready by

the end of 2012. Publication will be in two major volumes in the NASmonograph series.

MUSEUM DISPLAYS:Stoney Cove, LeicestershireAs for the hull timbers, they have been moved to the National DivingCentre at Stoney Cove (http://www.stoneycove.com/the-gresham-ship.html), where they now form the star attraction for the many SCUBAdivers who frequent this popular facility. This museum display is certainly

unusual, being 6m underwater. But it is more than just a fascinating exhibit, for it will become a major focusfor training the next generation of nautical archaeologists, as the NAS expands its pioneering educationalrole with the development of this unique underwater classroom. We look forward to the first blog from aFROG member who gets to dive on this Tudor wreck site!Central Museum, Southend on Sea, EssexFor those who prefer their museum displays on terra firma, you will be pleased to know that the artefactsfrom the Gresham Ship are being transferred to the Southend Museum Service. A brand new museum isbeing built overlooking the Thames Estuary, and is thus a most appropriate location for the finds to bepermanently displayed (the gallery will also eventually house the Prittlewell Prince assemblage). There is achance to see some of the finds from the Gresham Ship this summer (2nd June- 6th October 2012) as anew temporary exhibition has just opened in the Central Museum. This is called "THAMES TITANICS:Wrecks from the Estuary", (http://www.southendmuseums.co.uk/whats_on/event/Thames-Titanics-Wrecks-from-the-Estuary) and features a range of a artefacts recovered from the bed of the Thames, and tells thestory of associated vessels that sank in these treacherous waters. Many of the wrecks featured (including

the Gresham Ship) were encountered during channel clearance work associated with the development ofLondon Gateway, the brand new container port being built by DP World. Are there any FROGs who wish toreview this exhibition of finds from the Thames (while enjoying a day at the seaside)?

http://www.stoneycove.com/the-gresham-ship.htmlhttp://www.stoneycove.com/the-gresham-ship.htmlhttp://www.stoneycove.com/the-gresham-ship.htmlhttp://www.southendmuseums.co.uk/whats_on/event/Thames-Titanics-Wrecks-from-the-Estuaryhttp://www.southendmuseums.co.uk/whats_on/event/Thames-Titanics-Wrecks-from-the-Estuaryhttp://www.southendmuseums.co.uk/whats_on/event/Thames-Titanics-Wrecks-from-the-Estuaryhttp://www.southendmuseums.co.uk/whats_on/event/Thames-Titanics-Wrecks-from-the-Estuaryhttp://www.southendmuseums.co.uk/whats_on/event/Thames-Titanics-Wrecks-from-the-Estuaryhttp://www.stoneycove.com/the-gresham-ship.htmlhttp://www.stoneycove.com/the-gresham-ship.html