• Embroidering the Past: the Bayeux tapestry
• Castles in the cliffs: archaeology and myth in the Pyrenees
• The frontier in Raetia: heritage on the edge of the Roman world
• Becoming America: how science shaped a nation
• Digging into Paris’s past on the Ile de la Cite
A recent series of excavations across Burpham and Wepham in West Sussex has revealed new – and sometimes surprising – insights into their origins and evolution. James Sainsbury reports.
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 its images can tell us about life in the 11th century.
A second excavation season at Buckler’s Hard, a private ship- building hub on the River Beaulieu, 12 miles (20km) south of Southampton in the New Forest, has fully revealed the wooden slipway where 55 ships for the Royal Navy –…
Restoration work at the Priory House in Dunstable – a Grade II-listed building that was originally part of the grounds of Dunstable Priory, founded by Henry I in 1132 – is carefully unpicking its evolution over the decades. The project,…
Taylor Downing reviews the latest film and television releases.
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
There are lots of great ways to get involved with history and archaeology over the next few months, including exhibitions, lectures, and conferences exploring a wide range of subjects. If you would prefer to get your heritage fix from the comfort of your sofa, though, there is a variety of resources on offer online, too, from virtual site tours and digital offerings by museums to podcasts, TV shows, and more. Kathryn Krakowka has put together a selection of some of the options available.
The hotel suite in which Oscar Wilde stayed shortly before his arrest for gross indecency has been rediscovered during recent archaeological work at the Royal Albion Hotel in Brighton. The room was identified by Dr Michael Shapland from UCL Archaeology…
A metal-detectorist has discovered a hoard of Roman bronze objects in the Chilterns, Buckinghamshire, including a rare rattle that may have been used in religious ceremonies (below centre). Adam McClelland was detecting with the permission of the landowner when he…
While this summer’s drought conditions have had a dramatic effect on many aspects of our environment, one upside of the recent hot and dry conditions has been the discovery of long-forgotten or completely unknown archaeological sites. This was the case…
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 Abingdon Abbey came to an end. As a reward for giving up their property voluntarily,…
Recently published research suggests that the bones found around Brading Roman Villa could reflect violent events linked to 4th-century political upheaval. Kathryn Krakowka reports.
As the Bayeux Tapestry returns to England for a major new exhibition, Edmund West assesses the latest thinking about 1066 and all that.
Taylor Downing reviews the latest film and television releases.
The newly constructed Brookwood 1914-1918 Memorial to the Missing was inaugurated by HRH The Princess Royal, President of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC), on 9 June 2026. This memorial replaces an earlier monument at Brookwood Military Cemetery honouring some…
Six coins have been recovered from beneath the foremast of Nelson’s famous flagship during an ongoing conservation project. Over several nights in April, a 750-tonne crane was used to remove the Victory’s mizzen, foremast, and bowsprit, as part of the…
With Marc DeSantis
This new book from Pen & Sword is a most welcome one: many people are familiar with the Saxon Shore forts of east and south-east England, but there has not been a comprehensive guide to them published since Andrew Pearson’s…
Highdown Hill is an extraordinary place. It stands detached from the great chalk spine of the South Downs, dominating the coastal plain across to the English Channel. The Bronze Age saw the hill crowned with an enclosure, perhaps a redistributive…
Exploring the archaeology of Sandwich Bay The Nautical Archaeology Society has launched a new project: ‘Coastal Pasts – Connecting Community with Coastal Heritage at Sandwich Bay’. This initiative, largely funded by a recent National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, will create…
A second season of excavations at Bodiam Castle in Sussex has revealed extensive evidence of a Roman presence, with tiles and pottery confirming that the site was home to a port for the Classis Britannica – the Roman naval fleet…
One of the most important surviving Anglo-Saxon royal seals, belonging to Edward the Confessor, was thought to be lost after it went missing 40 years ago. CA reports on newly published research which describes the circumstances of the object’s rediscovery and offers illuminating insights into its innovative imagery.
Worthing Museum recently reopened following a year-long transformation. Carly Hilts visited its new-look archaeology galleries with their curator James Sainsbury.
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
A new exhibition at Discover Bucks Museum in Aylesbury draws together antiquarian excavations and very recent finds to illuminate life and death at different levels of early medieval society. Carly Hilts visited the displays and spoke to their curator Brett Thorn.
The story of Roman Britain is often seen as a tale of two zones. To the south and east lay a ‘civil zone’, where towns and villas were at their most plentiful, while to the north and west a profusion…
The watering hole found near Gloucester is not the only reworked water source recently discovered in England. Excavations in advance of a new Rolls-Royce extension site at Goodwood, near Chichester in West Sussex, have revealed evidence of a thriving Iron…
Following on from last month’s column, here I continue my survey of the Saxon Shore forts of south-east England: a series of fortifications on both sides of the English Channel thatwere established in the late 3rd century AD to defend Britain against the incursions of Saxon raiders
Newly opened exhibitions at Dock X, London, and Leeds Castle, Kent,
include AI technology that brings the past to life in a startlingly personal way,
offering interactive audiences with medieval queens: one from Viking Age Scandinavia and the other from 13th-century England. Carly Hilts reports.
New research examining the transition between the Iron Age and Romano-British period has shed new light on the detrimental impact of Roman occupation and urbanisation on population health. Previous studies had already highlighted the likely health consequences of ‘Romanisation’ in…
There are currently 57 nationally important shipwrecks in English waters, spanning the Bronze Age to the 20th century, designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act 1973 – including the remains of HMS Invincible (pictured here), a 74-gun warship that was…
Today, 17 million UK households have at least one pet. Carly Hilts visited a new exhibition in Oxford exploring humans’ long and varied relationships with animals.
A temporary export ban has been placed on a Union Flag that flew from HMS Royal Sovereign – the ship that led the British charge at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 – in order to allow time…
Tree-ring dating has enabled the identification of some very ancient church doors, which are still in situ and in use after nearly 1,000 years. Several were once covered with leather claimed to have been made from the skin of unfortunate Vikings, flayed as a warning to all would-be raiders. Despite this dubious lore, they and similar doors provide us with significant insights into woodworking tools and techniques, as well as ornamental ironwork in the 11th and 12th centuries, as Chris Catling reports.
Timber-framing is gaining momentum as a mainstream construction technique for new buildings in the UK because of its environmental benefits. Timber substantially reduces the carbon emissions and high energy costs associated with steel and concrete structures, and the use of…