Flinders University – Willow Court Tasmania

Future plans for Archaeology at Willow Court in 2018 and 2017 Report

April 13, 2017 4 Comments

The outcomes of the 2017 field season included:
 The excavation of three underfloor areas beneath rooms in the Barracks (the old
hardware store room, pharmacy and Assistant Superintendent’s office) and the
excavation of three trenches at the rear of Frescati.

 To enable the excavations at the Barracks, floorboards were removed from parts of
the floor of the hardware store and pharmacy. These were removed by the Centre for
Heritage at Oatlands. These boards will be replaced by the Centre for Heritage at
Oatlands. No boards were removed in the Assistant Superintendent’s office.

 The artefacts from the Barracks included hundred of pieces of butchered animal bone
(mainly sheep and cow), buttons, clay pipes and discarded medical equipment. This
will all be documented, analysed and interpreted by Flinders University Honours
student, Calvin Logan, as part of his Honours thesis. A copy of this thesis will be
provided to the DVC upon completion at the end of 2017.

 The excavations at the rear of Frescati did not reveal any outbuildings and contained
very few artifacts. A short report on these trenches will be provided to the DVC upon
completion in late 2017.

 A Community Open Day held on Sunday 12th February. We estimate that c300 people
attended this event.

 A special ‘Kids’ Dig’ was trialed as part of the Open Day and was very successful.
Feedback from parents indicated that it was both engaging and valuable.

 50 year 7 history students from Ogilvie High School visited the site on Friday 17th
February.

The Council provided the following ‘in-kind’ and financial support for this project, all financial assistance was requested to be allocated to the Willow Court Reservation Fund 2016 budget allocation as noted in the decision of the Council. This excludes the cost of time allocated to this project by indoor staff.

Future plans for Archaeology at Willow Court in 2018 (YET TO BE APPOVED)
Several community members asked whether they could participate in the excavations in
future. To facilitate this we would like to excavate next year in the Carlton (C Ward) yard, at the location of the former Gentlemen’s Cottage (A Ward above). This is a large outdoor area that could easily accommodate community participation. We would like to invite members of the community to take part in all aspects of the archaeology for the duration of the field school (to be held in February 2018 – precise dates to be advised).

Flinders University, the University of Tasmania and the University of Canberra are interested in applying for two grants for various aspects of Archaeology at Willow Court.

Global, Local

Archaeology field work at Willow Court.

February 14, 2016 No Comments

It’s been a big week at Willow Court with the Archaeology team on their field trip from Flinders University. Many of the students have been doing 14 hour days with field work and their study load. It was a pleasant and relaxed break on Friday night to enjoy a BBQ with the Team and the Friends of Willow Court. There was a lot of talk about the site and it’s history.

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The next day the team were back into the work with a survey team, a geophysics team and more cataloguing of items including the clothing found in the privately owned Ladies Cottage.

077 Logging each pass in the grid as a file

The geophysics team used three types of ground penetrating radar in the quest for hidden foundations and artifacts. Early reports have found, what is believed to be the foundations of the Male Refractory building, which is an “L” shape” and crosses from Carlton yard to the rear of the Carlton side yard. The equipment is so sensitive that the metal contained in the Carlton Ward exercise yard walls was showing up on the equipments data up to five metre away from the wall.

070 Students setting up the grid

When I visited, the team were setting out grids behind the Barracks and beside the Carlton Ward and old Lachlan Ward, which is now converted to residential units. Once the grid was set out the radar was dragged over the surface and each pass was logged as a separate file which will later form an overall bigger picture.

065 Calibrating the equipment

The internal walls were being measured in the Barracks and the floorboards were of some interest and were being analysed and the data was being recording. The survey team were just finishing the Willow Court side and started to survey the grounds of Frascati House.

The Friends of Willow Court are hoping that Associate Professor will be able to return to present some of the findings in a public information / lecture session during heritage month activities this year (yet to be confirmed and approved by DVC).

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Above: A small pair of shoes which had been catalogued.

Below: Students and the teacher setting out areas to be surveyed in front of Frascati House.

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Above: Walking the grid starts.

Below: Checking the instrumentation.

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Global, Local

Updated Artifacts catalogue

February 23, 2015 No Comments

The Archaeology Students from Flinders University have been busy updating and expanding the artifact list from the remaining artifacts. Some cross referencing is occurring with older catalogues and hopefully we will have a definitive list. The students are going through the recorded data and will present the work back as a finished catalogue as part of their assessment requirements in approximately a months time. Here are some of the pictures of the students laboriously sorting through and recording each item last week. One of the earlier lists was called the 1996 Inventory of Historical Items and there are some remaining items on that list that are recorded in the 2014 list. It is hoped that the artifacts can be used to tell the story and the history and serve as a tactile reminder of our past. Item are still being donated back to the hospital which will be included and recorded. Many items are still out in the community and each time this is discussed we are seeing more memorabilia appearing. Some of this was purchased at the large garage sales when Willow Court closed and there are many stories of items being taken in the last days and months of the institution’s life. I was believed that there were two oil painting of some considerable size and value that once were the property of the hospital. It is hoped that some of that held in private hands will somehow make its way back to Willow Court and will be managed by the Derwent Valley Council.

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Archaeology invasion

February 19, 2015 No Comments

Students everywhere! New Norfolk is host to a group of Students from South Australia who are on what is believed to be one of many trips to Australia’s oldest Asylum that has been on the same ground, and it is that last point that makes this an interesting site for archaeology. Layer upon layer of possibility is waiting to be discovered which the Friends of Willow Court are hoping to learn more about and the students are keen to get started. During this trip the current 2014 catalogue of remaining artifacts has been reviewed by the students under the careful guidance of Associate Professor Heather Burke. The 500 recorded items are being expanded upon as box loads of artifacts get broken down into singular items and the item count was over 900 by Wednesday night. The 2014 catalogue is being matched with older catalogues and cross referenced and there are some interesting pieces.

Members of the Friends of Willow Court also hosted the guests on Wednesday night at a BBQ at Anne and Chris Salts home. It was a great evening and we all enjoyed the teams enthusiasm for Willow Court’s history.