A golden anniversary: marking 50 years of the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit

Before development-led archaeology was enshrined in law, many archaeological features were destroyed by construction projects without being documented – so, in the 1970s, a number of ‘rescue’ groups were set up to help record these remains before they were lost forever. The Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit marks its 50th anniversary this year, and Brian Philp guides us through some of its trials and triumphs to-date.

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Current Archaeology

June 27, 2021

As 2021 dawned, there was a mixture of joy and dismay as Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit members realised that we had reached our Golden Anniversary. Founded in 1971, we were the first county-based Unit, followed by the Norfolk Unit in 1972, the Oxford Unit in 1973, and others later. All these early formations came about as a result of the huge threat to the buried heritage following growing post-war development for schools, housing, and commercial schemes – added to by extensive road-building, including motorways – which left the Government and county societies unable to keep up. Another excellent early response was the formation of RESCUE in 1971, under the inspirational leadership of

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