Call for volunteers to unearth secrets of old pub

Some early glazed pottery was found during an earlier dig

Volunteers are wanted for the "last moment of archaeology" on a £3.5m pub restoration project.

Experts are trying to uncover a 19th-Century path between the Old Black Lion and the adjacent church in Northampton.

The path is causing problems with damp in the pub.

It is hoped the long-disused hostelry will reopen for business by the beginning of 2025.

The latest challenge is finding an old path between the church and the pub

The project is designed to return the pub building to its original role of providing refreshment and create new offices for the Churches Conservation Trust, which looks after redundant places of worship.

The pub is next door to St Peter's Church, which stopped hosting regular worship in 1995 and is looked after by the trust.

Nick Patrick, from the trust, said previous digs at the site had already produced some significant finds.

He said: "There was something called Stamford Ware, which is our earliest glazed pottery, which we start to find in the 9th Century going through to the 13th Century.

"They also found evidence of some ovens, so hospitality has been at the heart of the Old Black Lion site for near-on 1,000 years, which is remarkable."

The £3.5m project is designed to get the pub up and running again

The archaeologists now have a new challenge - solving a problem that has developed on the pub site.

"The thing we're looking at next week is the area between pub and church," Mr Patrick said.

"We know there's a 19th-Century pathway and we need to uncover that because the churchyard has moved up against the wall of the pub, and it's causing quite serious damp problems in the pub. So we need to excavate that, find this old pathway and see what's there."

The 12th-Century St Peter's Church is next to the pub

Volunteers over the age of 16 are being invited to help out next week, and training will be given.

Mr Patrick believes programmes such as Time Team give the impression that archaeology is all about digging with trowels, but it "is more than just that".

He said: "It's burrowing away the soil, it's sorting the finds out and washing them, so there really is something for everyone, and we've got an opportunity for two or three people every day next week."

He added that the pub was due to open by the beginning of next year.