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  • The Wemyss Caves: Tracing 40 years of conservation, community, and discovery

    The Wemyss Caves: Tracing 40 years of conservation, community, and discovery

    The caves at East Wemyss are home to traces of human activity spanning prehistory to the present day, including important Pictish carvings. In recent decades some of these interactions have been destructive, but the local community is working to preserve this unique collection. As they mark the 40th anniversary of these efforts, Mike Arrowsmith reports.

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  • Conserving the Scottish crown jewels – Edinburgh Castle

    Conserving the Scottish crown jewels – Edinburgh Castle

    The Honours of Scotland recently underwent the most significant conservation in their centuries-long history, helping preserve them for generations to come. The Crown, Sceptre, and Sword of State represent the oldest crown jewels in Britain and are among the oldest in Europe: they were first used together at the coronation of Mary, Queen of Scots,…

  • Medieval boat graffiti – Isle of Luing

    Medieval boat graffiti – Isle of Luing

    On the outer walls of an old parish church, on the small island of Luing in the Inner Hebrides, are carvings of longships that are thought to date from the 13th century, when Norwegian and Scottish kings were fighting for control of the archipelago. The carvings include two boats with animal-head prows, several more alongside…

  • Byzantine wine factory

    Byzantine wine factory

    Excavations in the city of Yavne in Israel have discovered a vast 1,500-year-old industrial complex thought to be the largest wine production centre known from the Byzantine period. The factory complex encompasses five large wine presses, each covering an area of about 225m2, with treading floors where the grapes were crushed by foot, compartments for…

  • Celebrations at St Paul’s, VE Day, 8 May 1945

    Celebrations at St Paul’s, VE Day, 8 May 1945

    In this image, St Paul’s Cathedral is dramatically illuminated on the night of VE Day, 8 May 1945, which marked the end of the Second World War in Europe. Sir Christopher Wren’s masterpiece in central London had survived the war largely unscathed, despite the onslaught of the Blitz, which left much of the City devastated.…

  • The Vase in the Flooded Cave

    The Vase in the Flooded Cave

    Cave diving at the cenotes in Mexico is a magical experience, a never-ending labyrinth of tunnels filled with crystal-clear water where the only limit is how much gas you can carry. With no natural light, and the crazy speleothems (mineral deposits) and colours inside, it makes you feel like you are exploring a different planet.…

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  • The Jacobite Wars

    The Jacobite Wars

    In the first part of our new series, Graham Goodlad explores the Jacobite movement’s early attempts to overthrow Britain’s ruling Protestant monarchy.

Travel

Let our intrepid team of reporters inspire you with their reports from around the world

Museums

We continue our visits of museums around the workd

  • American thunderbolt

    In the first part of our special feature, Graham Goodlad charts the development of America’s air-arm from its earliest beginnings, while in our second article he focuses on the hardware deployed by American forces.

    American thunderbolt

Objects

We select our favourite objects from the newly discovered to the well-known

  • Finds Tray: Bronze Age hoard

    Finds Tray: Bronze Age hoard

    This is a Bronze Age hoard that was found near Blyth Bridge in the Scottish Borders. It comprises two bronze axe-heads, a complete copper ingot…

  • The pectoral of Ramesses II, Musée du Louvre

    The pectoral of Ramesses II, Musée du Louvre

    Campbell Price describes a New Kingdom pectoral made of electrum and glass.

  • Finds Tray: Bronze Age button

    Finds Tray: Bronze Age button

    This Bronze Age button comes from a hoard of three copper-alloy items that also included two axe heads. One of the axe heads was noticed…

  • Medieval notebook

    Medieval notebook

    We can see Latin, scratched into the book’s wax 700-800 years ago. What is it? This well-preserved medieval ‘notebook’ dates to the 13th or 14th…

  • Beyond conquerors and kings: Encountering ordinary people in the Bayeux Tapestry

    The Bayeux Tapestry is perhaps the most recognisable piece of early medieval art – and, almost 1,000 years after the brutal events that it depicts, rather friendlier relations between England and France have seen the famous embroidery travel to the British Museum for a hotly anticipated exhibition. Carly Hilts visited to learn more about what…

Groups

We discover the little known, yet tirelessly dedicated voluntary heritage societies thriving in Britain today..

  • Nautical Archaeology Society

    Nautical Archaeology Society

    Sea levels have risen by around 120m (400ft) since the last Ice Age, only stabilising at their current position around 3,000 years ago. Given how…

  • The Grayling Society

    The Grayling Society

    In the world of fly fishing, trout dominate the headlines, but in the past grayling were considered to be the equal of trout for sporting…

  • Friends of Abingdon Abbey Buildings Trust

    Friends of Abingdon Abbey Buildings Trust

    On 9 February 1538, Abbot Thomas Rowland signed a Deed of Surrender, formally handing over his monastery to Henry VIII, and the 1,000-year history of…

  • Cambridge Past, Present & Future

    Cambridge Past, Present & Future

    Starting with the opening of the UK’s first science park in 1970, Cambridge has grown from the sleepy market town of 60 years ago into…