The workshops, aimed at families, will take place on Wednesday 29 October from 10am until 3pm at Heeley City Farm.

The workshop activities, which will be run with the help of students from the University of Sheffield's Department of Archaeology, will include: leatherworking – making Viking bags and accessories ; roundhouse building – making models of Britain's earliest housing out of woven willow branches with clay and bronze casting – melting bronze down to form replica tools and weapons.

The event marks the launch of Heeley City Farm's Heritage Lottery funded project, "Digging Our Roots," which will work with young people at Heeley City Farm to explore farming heritage from the past to the present day. The farm cafe and Energy Centre will be open during the workshops and farm staff and volunteers will be happy to show children the animals and give tours of the site.

The first major event for the "Digging Our Roots" project will be the reconstruction of an Iron Age roundhouse (amongst the earliest type of housing in Britain) in partnership with staff and students from the University of Sheffield's Department of Archaeology.

This reconstruction will commence on Friday 31 October and local people are welcome to drop into the farm and watch the activity. As the project progresses over the coming months people will also be able to join in.

Sally Rodgers, a graduate of the University of Sheffield who is the "Digging Our Roots" Project Manager at Heeley City Farm, said:

"We are very excited about this fantastic opportunity to build the first roundhouse in Sheffield since the Iron Age.

"Once completed the structure will house a reconstructed Iron Age smelting furnace. Staff from the farm and the University will co-ordinate volunteers and students to smelt iron using local rocks in a way that hasn't been done in our Steel City for at least 500 years."

Dr Roger Doonan, a lecturer in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Sheffield, said:

"We are delighted to be joining forces with Heeley City Farm for such an exciting project. The farm has worked extremely hard to secure the funding for the project and Sally has put a lot of thought and effort into all the activities. It is a great pleasure to be supporting her and her team and to be able to share our expertise and enthusiasm for archaeology with the local community."

Information about this project and opportunities for volunteers to get involved over the next few months will be available on Wednesday 29 October. The workshops are free and local people can drop into sessions throughout the day.



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