Current church archaeology: Exploring the peculiarities of excavating in sacred spaces

I am fortunate that my work as an archaeologist takes me to many churches: a typical day might see me driving down narrow lanes to a secluded Cotswold village, or scaling scaffolding high up on Gloucester Cathedral – all a long way from the noise and intensity of major urban excavations that I have worked on previously, like the investigations at Spitalfields in London (CA 270 and CA 310). It should come as no surprise that archaeologists often encounter religious structures: for well over 1,000 years, the Church has been at the heart of nearly every urban and rural landscape in Britain, representing an institution at the centre of communities and a building that often bears physical witne