When we last reported from Arthur’s Stone in 2023 (CA 404), it was thought of as an isolated Neolithic monumental site overlooking the Golden Valley in Herefordshire. Now, the Universities of Manchester and Cardiff team that is leading the project…
The first excavations at Wall Camp in more than 40 years have revealed new evidence for how Iron Age communities built and used one of Britain’s most unusual wetland enclosures. Archaeologists and students from the University of Birmingham have completed…
Milestone Ground at midsummer The description of 59 pits forming a long, neat line at the Milestone Ground, Worcestershire (CA 435) is intriguing, especially as such features found elsewhere in prehistoric Britain remain enigmatic. I suggest a clue is the…
Tiny traces of medieval wall-paintings have been discovered at Goodrich Castle in Herefordshire, transforming our understanding of how its chapel was decorated. Carly Hilts spoke to Sophie Stewart to learn more.
Excavation reports often have a long gestation, and the publication of the City of Hereford Archaeology Unit’s 1993 excavations on the site of Hereford Cathedral’s new Mappa Mundi museum has been eagerly awaited. Yet any frustration at the delay quickly…
The latest in the British Archaeological Association’s regional conference volumes covers Shropshire. The 16 contributions might seem at first sight to concentrate on the county’s best-known Roman and medieval sites – such as Wroxeter, Shrewsbury, Much Wenlock Priory, Buildwas Abbey,…
Following a successful inaugural event last year, the Hereford Military History Festival is back, from 25 to 27 September 2026. Held across three days in multiple historic venues around Hereford, Britain’s only global military history festival brings together an array…
This month’s selection of summer digging opportunities includes projects from Staffordshire, Stirling, Edinburgh, and Nottinghamshire.
Does ‘balti’, the Birmingham-created curry named after the steel bowl in which the dish is cooked and served, count as part of the UK’s intangible heritage?
Members of Go Detecting (Midlands) Ltd, carrying out a routine metal detecting survey in the parish of Bickmarsh in Worcestershire, have helped to uncover a coin hoard dating to the 9th century. Coins from this period are rare in Worcestershire…
Recent excavations at Milestone Ground on the eastern edge of Broadway have revealed one of the most intriguing archaeological landscapes yet found in Worcestershire. Beneath quiet pasture lay evidence of human activity stretching back 8,000 years, including Mesolithic flint tools, Bronze Age burials, hundreds of Iron Age storage pits, a Roman farmstead, and the largest late Roman cemetery known in the county. Constance Mitchell reports.
This unique and remarkably well-preserved bone box was uncovered during excavations at Milestone Ground in Broadway, Worcestershire. Dating to the late Roman period, it measures 68mm long, 33mm wide, and 30mm deep (2.7in by 1.3in by 1.2in), and is intricately…
REVIEW BY BRANDON BRAUN The Latin motto for Shropshire – Floreat Salopia, ‘may Shropshire flourish’ – has been used since at least the 17th century, so it is a fitting title for the 100th volume of the Transactions of the…
The British Museum has launched a £3.5 million fundraising campaign to acquire a unique pendant associated with Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon, and with the wider political ambitions of 16th-century Europe. Carly Hilts reports.
Excavations on the National Trust’s Attingham Estate in Shropshire have uncovered the remains of a Roman industrial complex and shrine, adding to our knowledge of the early northern fringes of Viroconium Cornoviorum (Wroxeter). A comprehensive geophysical and metal-detecting survey was…
The first UK festival dedicated to military history will take place in Hereford this autumn. Tickets have gone on sale for the three-day event in late September, which organisers say will include ‘a rich and varied programme of talks, panel…
The first research excavation to take place at Wroxeter in more than 30 years has illuminated a previously unexplored area of one of the largest urban centres in Roman Britain. Peter Guest, Roger H White, and Mike Luke report.
The system whereby coal was heated and the resulting gases purified, stored, and distributed to factories, street lamps, public buildings, and, in due course, to every home was developed in the UK in the first decade of the 19th century and exported around the world. Today the 600 remaining gasholders, once familiar industrial structures in every city and town, are being recorded by Historic England prior to being dismantled or converted to other uses, as Chris Catling reports.
Recent archaeological research in the grounds of a Shropshire stately home has added a surprising new chapter to the estate’s story. Viviana Caroli and Nigel Baker explain more.
My column this month is on one of the least-known ‘great sites’ of all: Offa’s Dyke, the linear earthwork that stretches along the Welsh/English border. Most people know Hadrian’s Wall, and a fair few the Antonine Wall, but how many of us can say that we are familiar with Offa’s Dyke, either the standing sections of it that survive or the National Trail of that name that runs from Sedbury in the south to Prestatyn in the north?
Britain’s largest-known coin hoard from the reign of Emperor Nero (AD 54-68) has gone on display at Worcester City Art Gallery and Museum for the first time since its discovery. Known as the Worcestershire Conquest Hoard, the collection of 1,368…
There are many exciting opportunities to get involved in archaeology over the next few months, including upcoming exhibitions, conferences, and lectures. If you would prefer to enjoy history and heritage at home, though, there are lots of great resources to choose from, including virtual museums and site tours, online archives and digital platforms, and new seasons of your favourite archaeological TV shows. Amy Brunskill has put together a summary of some of the options available.
There are lots of great historical and archaeological events coming up over the next couple of months, from exhibitions and lectures to archaeology days and conferences. Or, if you would prefer to get your heritage fix at home, there are many opportunities to do so, including virtual site-tours, digital resources, TV shows, and games. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.
Glassmaking was introduced to Smethwick by Thomas Shutt, who started making crown window-glass on a site alongside the Birmingham Canal in 1814. When he died in 1822, his company was sold to Robert Lucas Chance, the business later changing its…
The great military encounters of the British Civil Wars have been well documented. But, as David Flintham reveals, issues beyond the battlefield would also prove crucial.
Stylised dolphins and fish, in contrasting hues of red, blue, and yellow, swim across a sea of white tesserae. This striking mosaic was uncovered during excavations at Wroxeter Roman City (ancient Viroconium) in a collaborative effort by the University of…
Excavations at Arthur’s Stone, a Neolithic burial chamber overlooking the Golden Valley in Herefordshire, have revealed evidence of a second megalithic monument on the site: a possible stone circle some 65.5ft (20m) in diameter. Dating back 5,500 years, Arthur’s Stone…
I would like to dedicate these pages to my PhD supervisor, Eric Higgs. After studying at the London School of Economics, he bought a hill farm in Shropshire at the outset of the Second World War, and spent the following decade rearing sheep and cattle, with the objective, he once told me, of breeding miniature versions of the former.
The largest-ever geophysical survey undertaken by the National Trust has revealed two probable Roman villas among other archaeological features on the Attingham Estate in Shropshire. The work, carried out by Magnitude Surveys in July, covered an area of more than…
In the second part of our series to mark Winston Churchill's 150th birthday, Taylor Downing explores his relationship with the difficult but brilliant scientist who restarted Britain’s controversial World War II bombing campaign.
Shots from 13th-century catapult discovered outside Kenilworth Castle Eight stone catapult-shots from Henry III’s siege of Kenilworth Castle have been found perfectly preserved outside its walls. The shots range in weight from 20kg to 105kg, and would have been launched…
Following on from our coverage in CA 410 and 411, this selection of summer digging opportunities includes projects in Staffordshire, Wiltshire, and Hampshire.
In the first of a new series to celebrate the 150th birthday of Winston Churchill, Taylor Downing examines his role in some of the incredible technological advances made during World War I.
Historic England has recently listed three properties that have been claimed as the ‘first’ examples of their kind (not, it has to be said, by Historic England themselves – they know better than to invite a pantomimic chorus of ‘Oh no it’s not!’, but the media are not so subtle).
This month we are revisiting the subject of the very first ‘Odd Socs’ column (CA 211): the Milestone Society. The original idea for ‘Odd Socs’ was to adopt a tongue-in-cheek approach to the heritage sector’s hundreds of voluntary societies, presenting…
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