Holt Castle in Denbighshire, northeast Wales, was built under Edward I and later served as Richard II’s treasury but today its royal connections are far from obvious. Plundered for stone to build the 17th century Eaton Hall in Cheshire, the once-mighty fortification has been reduced to overgrown ruins. Now, however, a Castle Studies Trust-funded project […]

Chedworth Roman Villa is undergoing a major transformation. Despite being one of England’s largest and best-preserved Roman villas, it was poorly understood. Past site reports had been lost, and previously excavated portions had been reburied. The National Trust has therefore launched a major project to re-explore the site. The results, as our cover picture reveals, […]

For anyone hoping to visit the Maryport Roman Temples Project, make sure you get there before 14 August, when the 5-year project finishes.

Eight hundred years ago, a band of revolting barons famously forced Bad King John to seal Magna Carta at Runnymede. But while historians have pored over the documents, what about the archaeology? Why Runnymede, and what remains on the ground? Architectural historian and archaeologist Tim Tatton-Brown enlightens us. Tim then takes us to two must-see […]

Fans of Classical mythology (or the Game of Thrones series!) may be interested in the latest news from Colchester, where a  conservator has  just completed the painstaking process of cleaning a newly-discovered copper-alloy  harpy. Standing 98mm tall, with an intricately detailed face (topped with braided hair), wings, talons, and scales, the Roman figurine  is the […]

The recent discovery of a rare Roman tombstone by Cotswold Archaeology in Cirencester (CA 302) is being celebrated by the launch of a new beer named in honour of the woman it commemorates. ‘Bodicacia’ – a 4.7% golden ale that contains a variety of English hops including the floral ‘Boadicea’ – has been brewed by […]

What was life like in Londinium when the first Romans arrived? In the shadows of St Paul’s Cathedral, at the site of 10 Gresham Street, archaeologists have revealed London’s largest-known cluster of indigenous round-houses. They date from the Roman city’s very earliest years. Read our feature to discover how this dynamic site is shedding new […]

In 1929, a bright young scholar named Eric Birley arrived at Vindolanda, the Roman fort and settlement lying just south of Hadrian’s Wall. Eric was to embark on an archaeological journey that forms an important part of British history, and is a voyage of discovery pursued by his family to this day. From his son’s […]

April Fool! Did we catch you out with our ‘breaking news’ about the earliest-known representation of the Easter Bunny? Sadly this discovery only exists in our imaginations – but the artefact we featured is real, though in reality it  is a 2nd-3rd century Roman brooch  from Lincolnshire. You can read its entry on the Portable […]

Just in time for Easter, archaeologists digging in Norfolk have announced the discovery of the earliest-known representation of the Easter Bunny. Thought to date from the 2nd century, the rabbit-shaped copper-alloy brooch had been carefully placed at the bottom of a pit, and surrounded by a number of egg-shaped stones. ‘This is an incredibly exciting […]