This 19th-century letterpress printing plate was found by a metal-detectorist, on cultivated land in Warwickshire, last summer. It is made from copper alloy, and – measuring 6.24cm by 4cm by 0.48cm – it weighs just over 100g. Rectangular plates like…
DAVID PORTER ON MILITARY HISTORY’S DOOMED INVENTIONS.
Your views on the latest issues in Current Archaeology.
What was life like for German prisoners of war who were interned in England during the Second World War? Wessex Archaeology’s recent excavation of a camp outside Oswestry in Shropshire suggests that its inmates saw out the conflict in relative comfort, with a packed programme of activities – but hints of tensions brewing between inmates and guards were also unearthed. Carly Hilts reports.
Around 2,000 German prisoners were housed at this camp, research suggests.
Recent analysis of 600-year-old murals in Stratford-upon-Avon’s historic guildhall has revealed clues to their probable date, as well as the purpose behind their creation. As the building, now a visitor attraction, prepares to reopen, Carly Hilts visited the site, and spoke to Jonathan Foyle to find out more.
• Uncovering scenes of the Trojan War in Rutland
• Wall paintings and rood-screens in Welsh churches
• African identities in Roman Britain
• Reconstructing the Dunch Hill roundhouse
• From West Africa to Wisbech: analysing an abolitionist’s campaign chest
This coin, found near Shrewsbury, Shropshire, is one of a series of high denomination gold coins issued during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603). Elizabethan coins are among the objects most frequently reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS). Gold…
There is a growing realisation that the solution to the climate emergency is to retrofit existing buildings, with all their embodied carbon and energy, rather than to build new ‘environmentally sustainable’ structures in place of old.
The statues of five elephants surrounding this part of the cemetery have led to the belief that these and other circus animals are buried here along with the human victims of the Hammond circus train disaster of 22 June 1918.
Recent analysis of a 1st-century lead figurine at Wall Roman site in Staffordshire, depicting a man from sub-Saharan Africa, has shed new light on perceptions of identity in Roman Britain. Carly Hilts spoke to Cameron Moffett to find out more.
Crafted from copper-alloy, this early medieval disc brooch features a bird holding a branch (outlined above by Peter Reavill, Finds Liaison Officer for Shropshire and Hereford). The item is thought to date to between c.AD 800 and c.AD 1000, and…
The latest on acquisitions, exhibitions, and key decisions.
It was likely included as a grave good in an interred cremation burial.
The uniform, consisting of jacket and trousers, was found in a house in Rolleston-on-Dove, East Staffordshire, during a home clear-out.
MHM's Calum Henderson reviews the best military history exhibitions. This month, he explores The National Memorial Arboretum.
Arthur’s Stone is protected as a scheduled monument – it is famous for being the possible inspiration for C S Lewis’s ‘stone table’ in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
What is it about the members of the Mortimer family, powerful and ambitious lords of the March, that attracts people to the Mortimer History Society (MHS)?
The team from Arco Services had to abseil from the hangar’s 30m-high roof to get access to the various aircraft, which include a Vulcan bomber and an English Electric Lightning.
When Stanley Christopherson wrote in his diary in late November 1945, he proclaimed, ‘So many outstanding things were done during this war, which so thoroughly deserved an award, but were never witnessed.’ The truism is appropriate. Recalling the battle conducted…
The annual high-level cleaning took place at the end of April and was conducted by specialists from ArcoServices. The team also carried out various safety checks on the suspension cables which keep the aircraft in 'flight'.
Straddling the border between Herefordshire and Monmouthshire in the lee of the Black Mountains, the parish of Longtown has the remains of two castles. One is a popular visitor attraction in the care of English Heritage, with a stout-walled round keep. Half a mile away is another, in the form of a large earthen mound. When the members of the Longtown & District Historical Society decided to investigate, they realised that little was known about either castle, so they set out to find out when they were built, by whom, and why there were two in such close proximity. Current Archaeology's Chris Catling reports.
Worcester, like many historic cities, has had its share of undistinguished 20th-century development. As this has come up for redevelopment, it has afforded numerous opportunities for archaeological investigations, which have revealed the city’s Roman origins. Roman Worcester developed on the…
The remains of an extravagant but previously unknown garden from the Elizabethan period have recently been revealed at Coleshill in Warwickshire. The site was first identified a few years ago during an aerial survey that revealed the remains of Coleshill…
From Birmingham's industrial heritage to a Roman riding school: Joe Flatman explores half a century of reports from the West Midlands
The report on this significant site is most welcome. While earlier and later prehistoric features were present, as well as a small Roman cemetery, the chief interest lies with the mid-Saxon oven/grain-dryer complex. This feature was clearly explored most determinedly,…
No doubt those early Christians would say it was relatively mild revenge for the sufferings of the martyrs.
Churches are what archaeologists call ‘persistent sites’, places used for the same purpose for centuries, even millennia. But that does not mean the churches themselves are static: they represent the accretion of various building interventions of many different kinds and dates. None are richer in art and architecture, though, than those from the period we call ‘Decorated’, as Nigel Saul’s new survey of 14th-century Herefordshire church buildings demonstrates. Current Archaeology's Chris Catling reports.
Your thoughts on Hilderstone, Bath plaster ceilings, and Norwich Castle
Sharing elements with a standard regional study of a hillfort in geographical context, this series of papers is distinctly wider in scope. It is neither underpinned by recent excavation, nor by reassessment in detail of the 1930s interventions. Instead, ten…
The Reverend Francis (Frank) Kilvert (1840-1879) died as a result of peritonitis at the age of 38, days after returning from his honeymoon in Scotland. Although greatly mourned by his widow, family, and parishioners, he would nevertheless have been an…
Archaeological investigations at Shrewsbury Castle have provided surprising insights into the make-up of some of its defences. The castle was founded by the Normans and reworked in the 13th century, and the imposing ramparts, crowned with curtain walls, that surround…
Last year, four men were jailed for stealing and selling one of the most significant Viking hoards ever found in western Britain. To date, only a few of its contents have been recovered. What can these objects, and the landscape in which they were buried, tell us about the area’s early medieval history? Tim Hoverd, Peter Reavill, Judy Stevenson, and Gareth Williams report.
The cache – a lump of fused coins, about the size of a rugby ball – was block-lifted so its contents could be teased apart under controlled conditions.
The Staffordshire Hoard is a glittering reminder of the creative talents of the Anglo-Saxons – but now pioneering research is revealing that their skills were more far sophisticated than previously imagined, as Carly Hilts learned.