Our Esplanade investigation work has now been running for just over a week and we appreciate your patience while this is going on.
First of all, for those of you wondering what exactly is happening, let’s take a look at the work.
Machinery
The inspections require the use of two machines. The first is a rotary rig, which is in essence a giant drill. We are using this to drill up to 12m down, to the main geological layers. In this case the base geology is the same chalk that makes up the mound on which Rochester Castle is built.
The second machine is a percussive rig and works like a giant hammer. This drops a heavy hollow tube from a height, hammering it down. The ground material is then forced into the tube to be collected when it is winched up.
Our methods may sound quite basic, but the sophisticated part comes in with regard the samples. A huge amount of detail about these is logged and an array of chemical and physical tests are carried out on them.
Findings
It’s obviously too early to tell you much about what we’ve found, but so far the chalk is where we expected it to be – around 7m below ground level, sloping down from the castle.
The interesting results are expected to come this Thursday and Sunday, when we will make two trial holes near the castle wall. An archaeologist will be attending these digs as there is a chance we might find something at such proximity to the castle!
Update: We did find something!