See some of the finds from our dig and find out what they tell us about the people who lived in Weeley in the past.
Finds from the trial trenching in January - February 2021
These are eighteenth century finds from the Napoleonic-era military barracks in Weeley.


Military Button
This button is associated with the 5th Dragoon Guards and dates to c.1788-96. Around the outside of the button is the regimental motto VESTIGIA NULLA RETRORSUM (Never a Step Backwards/We Do Not Retreat) with a crown at the top, above a Hannover Horse with the (now barely legible) letters V D G (5th Dragoon Guards) below. The button was probably silvered rather than gilded, but no trace now remains, while the relatively small size (16mm diameter) suggests it may have been a cuff button. The 5th Dragoon Guards wore red coats very similar to the infantry, with green facings. Records from the Parish Register at Weeley indicate that the 5th Dragoon Guards were at the barracks between May 1809 and May 1811 (https://essexandsuffolksurnames.co.uk/history/regiments-at-weeley-barracks).
Gun Flint
This is one of four gunflints recovered from various locations across the site. All flints were 1” to 1” 1/8th suggesting they are all smooth bore ‘Brown Bess’ musket or carbine flints. Two of the flints are smaller suggesting they may be carbine flints used by the Light Dragoons. The high quality material and method of manufacture suggest they were made at Brandon, the centre of the British flint knapping industry during the revolutionary and Napoleonic wars.
Finds from the excavation August 2021 - onwards
Prehistoric Finds (up to 43AD)
Post-Medieval Finds (c.1485 - 1900AD)








Modern Finds (1900AD onwards)