A GROUP of jigsaw and archaeology enthusiasts have helped record more than 10,000 pieces of broken pottery.

An excavation last year in the grounds of Monk Fryston Hall saw thousands of pieces of pottery discovered, which date back about 1,000 years.

The items were identified and recorded over the winter, and a team of volunteers took part in the Community Archaeology Project earlier this month, to try and rebuild the pieces, called 'sherds', into their original forms.

By the end of the day, about 50 pots were recreated, including Northern Grittyware and Humberware from the monastic period, to blue and white transferware from the 19th Century, which one volunteer identified from a picture in a book, and was able to recreate.

Chris Lovett, who took part in the excavation last year, said: "This is fantastic, I have found lots of sherds in the past but have never been able to put them together; it really brings archaeology alive be seeing and feeling a pot which somebody used in the 12th century."

The dig will continue this year, thanks to funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and will include a Big Village Dig in July. The Monk Fryston Time Team hope that in due course, a selection of the finds will be on public display in Monk Fryston Hall Hotel.

Sue Newton, finds manager from the dig, said she hoped another Jigsaw Day would take place after the latest excavation, which took place this week.

She said: "All the volunteers have told me that they have learned so much today by having to repeatedly look carefully and handle the sherds, but it’s also great to see their delight when they start to get a few pieces to sit together.

"We reached a tantalising point last year when at the end of the dig we had just found a previously unknown wall and two road surfaces from the monastic period which seem to indicate activity on the site which we have yet to discover."