industrial archaeology

Inside the Loughborough Bellfoundry museum (FAR LEFT) and manufactory (LEFT), where the ‘Great Paul’ bell, the heaviest rotatable bell in the world, was cast in 1881 for St Paul’s Cathedral. The last time that bells were silenced in British history was during the Second World War, when it was agreed to use them only to signal an invasion. The Trust has recently received £246,500 from the Cultural Recovery Fund to enable it to continue opening to the public with social distancing measures and one way routes in place.

Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust

In October 2020, a public inquiry was under way to consider whether planning consent should be given for the conversion of London’s Whitechapel Bell Foundry into a ‘boutique’ hotel. An alternative proposal has been developed by those who wish to…

Overlooking the Priors Hall excavation site, where Oxford Archaeology East has revealed the remains of a Roman temple mausoleum that was subsequently repurposed as a major tile and brick making centre.

Romano-Celtic villa: a temple-mausoleum and evidence of industry at Priors Hall, Corby

Excavation just outside Corby has shed vivid light on the construction of a Roman villa, the reuse of an enigmatic religious building, and a bustling array of industrial activity, as Paddy Lambert explains.

Sifting through the remains of Scotland’s kelping industry

For a brief period, from around 1750 to 1820, the west coast and islands of Scotland experienced a boom in demand for kelp, a seaweed-derived substance used in the soap and glass-making industries. Kevin Grant – formerly St Kilda Archaeologist with the National Trust for Scotland, now Archaeology Manager at Historic Environment Scotland – has been studying the fragile and elusive remains of this once-thriving industry, as Chris Catling reports.

LEFT Around 600 beer bottles were found stacked beneath the stairs of a building next to Scarborough Castle Inn in Leeds. BELOW A set of six ducts were uncovered beneath the floor of South Terrace.

Urban insights at Leeds’ Tetley’s Brewery

Excavations on the site of Tetley’s Brewery in Leeds have revealed intriguing insights into the 18th- and 19th-century development of the city. Carried out by Archaeological Services WYAS, the investigation explored buildings along Hunslet Lane, including the location of the…