South East

Above The new Neolithic: Butser Ancient Farm’s latest reconstructed building is based on the remains of a nearly 6,000 year old house excavated by Wessex Archaeology in Berkshire.

This week: Butser Ancient Farm

'Through a series of spectacular experiments, the archaeologist Peter Reynolds... told us more about Iron Age buildings and agriculture than most of the excavations of that period put together,' said The Guardian in its 2001 obituary of the first director of Butser Ancient Farm, the pioneering archaeological open-air museum nestling in the South Downs, which is now celebrating its 50th birthday.

Left The River Great Stour weaves its way through the centre of Canterbury, creating a much photographed vista from the High Street, where it is overlooked by the five gables of the building known as The Weavers. It is a former Huguenot workshop, with a much restored exterior but a genuine 17th century interior frame.

Lessons from Canterbury: saving heritage with new approaches to urban development

Influential figures in the heritage world are concerned about the scale and height of new buildings proposed for the centre of Canterbury, where the primacy of the cathedral as a focal point of views and the intimacy of historic streets are under threat. Chris Catling reports on a manifesto for the city produced by SAVE Britain’s Heritage, warning against the mistakes of post-war development and recommending a new approach that has lessons for many of our towns and cities.

Hms

This week: shipwrecks

On 11 October 1982, an estimated global audience of 60 million people tuned in to watch one of the televisual events of the decade: the long-awaited raising of the Mary Rose, Henry VIII's ill-fated Tudor flagship, from the seabed near Portsmouth, where it had rested since capsizing while fighting against the French at the Battle of the Solent some 437 years previously.

ABOVE Once a star of the Georgian Royal Navy, HMS Invincible sank off Portsmouth in 1758. Today, its wreck is the best preserved 18th century warship in UK waters, and recent excavations have revealed vivid insights into what life was like on board.

HMS Invincible: excavating a Georgian time capsule

In its heyday, HMS Invincible was considered one of the finest ships in the Royal Navy – and although it sank off Portsmouth in 1758, its remains represent the best-preserved 18th-century warship known in UK waters. Carly Hilts spoke to Daniel Pascoe, who headed recent excavations of the wreck, and visited an exhibition currently running at The Historic Dockyard Chatham to find out more.

The Great British Dig: History in Your Back Garden

Review by Eugenia Ellanskaya. When it comes to interpreting archaeological sites, invisible ink comes to mind as a common medium that has been used to paint the elusive picture of our past. Eye-opening discoveries often come from those slight variations…

Illuminated Psalter MET DT5343

This week: Golden manuscripts

Throughout history, gold has captured the imagination – as a glittering symbol of money, sex, power, divine love, or whatever else our hearts desire. From the Greek myth of the Golden Fleece to Titian's Danae, and from the golden objects found in Ancient Egyptian tombs to the quest at the heart of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, the precious metal has been mined as subject matter for writers and artists across continents and down millennia.

Far left The Marlipins c.1926, when the building first opened as a museum.

The Marlipins Museum, Shoreham-by-Sea

With its distinctive chequerboard exterior combining Caen stone and knapped flint, the Marlipins building in Shoreham-by-Sea has been an eye-catching landmark for centuries – in fact, dendrochronological analysis suggests that it is the earliest surviving secular building in Sussex. Its…

The Faversham Society

‘Widening access’ and ‘access for all’ are two of the slogans that characterise today’s heritage practice, but the community-minded people of Faversham have been doing access for half a century. Open House, held almost every July since 1982, sees the…

ABOVE Japan: Courts and Culture explores the relationship between the British and Japanese courts through objects in the Royal Collection, ranging from impressive samurai armour and weapons

Japan: Courts and Culture

A new exhibition at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, tells the story of 350 years of interaction between the British and Japanese royal and imperial families. Amy Brunskill visited to find out more.

WAR ON FILM – Operation Mincemeat

The newly released, star-studded British movie Operation Mincemeat is, on one level, about the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. On another, more profound level, it is about how people deceive one another. In its opening commentary, the film announces…

The British Sundial Society

The British Sundial Society is compiling a register of all the Mass dials (also known as scratch dials) in the country. So far, 5,500 examples have been recorded and the society is keen to hear from anyone who can help…

UK events, exhibitions, and heritage from home 2022-2023

As we head into spring, there are many fantastic opportunities to get out and about and enjoy the UK’s history, archaeology, and cultural heritage, whether you’re looking for historical re-enactments, excavation opportunities, or new exhibitions. If you prefer, there are also plenty of resources available online, ranging from digital museum collections and 3D tours of heritage sites to activities and archaeological TV shows for the whole family. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.

LEFT Overlooking the line of an east west early Roman street that was revealed on the former Shippam’s meat paste factory site in Chichester by Pre Construct Archaeology in 2006.

A festival of finds: celebrating Chichester’s Roman past

The people of Chichester – or Noviomagus Reginorum, as the settlement was known in the 1st century AD – have much to celebrate when it comes to their Roman heritage. Claire Walton and James Kenny explore the city’s Roman archaeology, and explain how it has served as both a platform for public engagement and the inspiration for an annual celebration of all things Roman.

Street Furniture

Review by AB. The term ‘street furniture’ encompasses a wide range of everyday objects that are found along roads and in towns and cities around the world, from manhole covers and postboxes to bus stops and cabman’s shelters. In this…

Ruins, Remains and Relics: Sussex

Review by Robin Hughes. Ruins, Remains and Relics: Sussex is a miscellany, organised into the three titular groups, of various historical curiosities from across the historic county of Sussex. Horlock explicitly emphasises the ‘unusual, offbeat, and decidedly quirky’, and the…