Last month I began a tour around the final county of the UK that I had yet to visit in these pages: Wiltshire. I began in the north and headed south as far as the Vale of Pewsey. This month I will continue into what is popularly seen as the most fertile of all archaeological hunting grounds: the county’s central belt around Salisbury Plain
I have now examined the archaeology of every county in Britain bar one – Wiltshire. This was no accident, for I have a confession to make: Wiltshire’s archaeology terrifies me.
The traditional portrayal of post-Roman Britain as a landscape in decline, devoid of the cultural richness that had been infused into it by the presence of the Empire, was turned on its head in 2020, when a mosaic at Chedworth…
The 55m-tall hill-figure that towers above the village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset has long been the subject of debate, in terms of both its date and whom it represents. Mike Allen reports on fieldwork undertaken in 2020-2024 which revealed new clues – and surprises – about the Giant.
REVIEW BY ROB IXER Over the decades, O’Brien has recorded, in intense detail, the earliest prehistoric copper mining in south-west Ireland, namely Beaker People’s Chalcolithic to early Bronze Age exploitation at Ross Island (now known for its massive contribution to…
A First World War soldier was saved when a pocketbook he was carrying stopped a sniper’s bullet. The remarkable story of Private Sydney ‘Syd’ Cross is part of a new display at Knightshayes Court, a Victorian mansion in Devon which…
The Cotswolds these days have a reputation as a playground of the rich and famous. The Roman occupation of this area certainly had its social high society too.
This copper-alloy fibula brooch was found by a metal detectorist in 2019, near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, and recently appeared as a star find in the Portable Antiquities Scheme Annual Report (see here). The brooch features a human face design or…
For the past two years, Cotswold Archaeology – led by their Senior Heritage Consultant Clive Meaton – have been working with the Tamara Landscape Partnership to survey a series of mining sites in the Tamar Valley of Cornwall and Devon,…
Your thoughts on issues raised by CA.
Joe Flatman explores over half a century of reports from the past.
When the Salisbury Plain village of Imber was taken over by the War Department in 1943, its inhabitants all departed, never to return. What has recent archaeological work revealed about the life and death of a long-lived Wiltshire community? Richard Osgood reports.
The Pole Society is the delightful invention of a group of satirists who have taken to the internet to poke fun at Tripadvisor by championing the merits of a new tourist attraction in Gloucestershire’s Forest of Dean: the ‘Cinderford Rusty…
Work by Cotswold Archaeology has revealed the evolution of a farmstead known as Cowfield Farm, from its medieval origins to its redevelopment in the 18th century. When the centuries-old brick farmhouse at Cowfield Farm burnt down during a fire in…
REVIEW BY AB Until the mid-20th century, England was covered with orchards. But these quintessential features of the historic landscape did not simply spring into being: the story of England’s orchards is filled with generations of people who cultivated them.…
REVIEW BY ANDREW SELKIRK What fields are left for Barry Cunliffe to conquer? After the Celts and the Bretons, Europe between the oceans, the Atlantic Ocean, the Scythians, and the Steppe, he has now turned his attention to Africa, and…
Joe Flatman explores over half a century of reports from the past.
REVIEW BY EDWARD BIDDULPH How did a giant ship create the White Cliffs of Dover? Why can Oxfordshire’s Rollright Stones never be counted? Which ghost said to haunt Lake Windermere was recorded on Ordnance Survey mapping? The answers can be…
REVIEW BY KK This brief volume provides a succinct overview of the main castles and fortifications found across the West Country. Starting in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Powell-Thomas then gives special attention to examining the Palmerston forts surrounding…
REVIEW BY AB We have so many written and pictorial records created between 1500 and the present day that it might be supposed that artefacts from this time are of less importance than for earlier periods. Laura Burnett and Rob…
Joe Flatman explores over half a century of reports from the past.
• Llanddwyn Island: illuminating centuries of sacred and secular life
• A Victorian rock garden: ‘dahlia-mania’ at Stonehenge
• Distilling the spirit of Northumbria’s Golden Age at Ad Gefrin
• Alternative views: exploring ‘icons’ of the Hadrian’s Wall landscape
• The tale of a tree: an archaeological history of Sycamore Gap
• Rooted in the future: a cultural ecology of the Sycamore Gap tree
• Avalon Archaeology: a new open-air museum in Somerset
For a brief snapshot of the mid-19th century, flower festivals drew thousands of visitors to Stonehenge, long before the Neolithic monument became a popular tourist attraction in its own right. Carly Hilts visited the site and spoke to Louise Crawley, Brian Edwards, and Jennifer Wexler to learn more about this colourful but little-known episode of Salisbury Plain’s past.
An eight-year effort by a dedicated band of more than 100 volunteers has borne fruit with the recent opening of a new heritage attraction in the heart of the Avalon Marshes. Richard Brunning describes how Somerset’s Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Viking past has been brought to life once more.
There are lots of great opportunities to get stuck into history and heritage this autumn, whether you’re looking for conferences, exhibitions, or archaeological days out. If you would rather get involved at home, though, there are a wider variety of resources on offer, from new virtual museums and digital tours of heritage sites to podcasts, blogs, TV shows, and more. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.
Your thoughts on issues raised by CA.
Joe Flatman explores over half a century of reports from the past.
Christopher Catling, Contributing Editor for CA, delves into the eccentricities of the heritage world.
This is an early medieval brooch made from a gilded silver penny, which was found over a year ago by a metal-detectorist in Wiltshire. It was recently acquired by the Wiltshire Museum in Devizes, after having been declared Treasure. The…
A pair of Roman swords – the first to be found in the Cotswolds, and thought to be only the second time two have been found in the same context in the whole of Britain – has been discovered during…
New research is calling into question the origin and function of the Altar Stone at Stonehenge. A century ago, Herbert Thomas announced that the non-sarsens, dolerites, and volcanic tuffs making up the Stonehenge bluestones had been transported to Wiltshire from…
Staff and students from Bournemouth University, together with local volunteers, have been excavating Iron Age settlements around Winterborne Kingston in Dorset as part of the Durotriges Project since 2009. This past excavation season, however, while investigating an enclosed Iron Age…
A recent modelling project has created a probable map of the Roman road network across the counties of Devon and Cornwall, showing how it may have connected with the wider province of Britannia. While the presence of a few Roman…
Conserving more than 26,000 shells in Devon For the past year, staff from the National Trust have been working to conserve the tens of thousands of marine materials – including shells, bones, coral, and starfish – that decorate the interior…
REVIEW BY GEORGE NASH One of the most impressive archaeological site-types in the British Isles is the Iron Age hillfort. Archaeological evidence has shown that it took many generations to construct and remodel these structures. Even after Roman occupation, hillforts…
REVIEW BY IAIN BANKS This is a landmark publication, summarising as it does the 12 years (and counting) that Operation Nightingale has been in existence. During this period, some excellent archaeology has been carried out and some excellent therapeutic work…