In 2013, Timmins Martelle Heritage Consultants was contracted to manage excavations at 275 Thames Street in London after the local community rallied to prevent the destruction of this very special building.  It was the home of the city’s first Black church, and was at the heart of London’s Black community from around 1850 to 1869. 

You can read about the church on the TMHC project blog: https://tmhc.ca/fugitive-slave-chapel

Or you can view the MOALiveTalks video here:

The project relied largely on volunteer labour from TMHC employees and interested members of the public.  Artifact processing took place, also by volunteers, at the public lab of the Museum of Ontario Archaeology. The community involvement for the project was one of the  most  significant aspects – the MOA interviewed people who were involved with the project at the time, including participants and one of the project managers, Darryl Dann, from the local branch of the Ontario Archaeological Society: