National Trust Archaeology

Image description: Excavating the ship. Basil Brown is pictured standing. Charles Phillips is seated on the right. | © Original photograph by Mercie Lack ARPS © Trustees of the British Museum; digital image © National Trust Images

The team recreating the famous Sutton Hoo Anglo-Saxon burial ship is inviting the public to name it!

The Sutton Hoo Ships Company (SHSC) aim to complete the project next year before getting the ship on the River Deben in 2027.

You can submit your nomination here: saxonship.org/suggest-a-na...

Cartoon by Tom Gauld showing different methods of presenting your findings: an article in a peer reviewed journal, a popular science bestseller, engraved on the walls of a secret chamber, a transmission beamed to our alien overlords, a Broadway musical, whispered into a hole in an enchanted oak, an internet meme involving cats

Can you believe it - it's 8 years since we set up our Facebook & 4 years since we started on Instagram!

A huge THANK YOU to all our followers on both channels (nearly 17,000 of you on Facebook & 8,000 on Instagram) & also to the 4,000+ of you who are following us here.

✍️ Tom Gauld / New Scientist

Looking for something to do as the nights draw in?

Earlier this year, during the #FestivalofArchaeology, three of our brilliant archaeologists provided an opportunity to learn more about the varied work they’re involved with.

Head to the @archaeologyuk YouTube channel to watch: bit.ly/3LQtS2i

Find out more about how we care for these special places: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/our-cause/hi...

Cattle grazing at Hambledon Hill, Dorset – a prehistoric hillfort and National Nature Reserve, situated in the Blackmore Vale, near Blandford Forum. ©National Trust Images/Ross Hoddinott

These hillforts are managed in a way that strikes the balance between protecting archaeological features, as well as making space for nature.

And they're not only largely Scheduled Monuments, but also Sites of Special Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and National Nature Reserves (NNR).

Ecologists Jonathan Cox (Natural England) and Graham Poynter at Hambledon Hill, Dorset. ©National Trust Images/Ross Hoddinott

The layout of hillforts with their steep ramparts and ditches means they’ve never been intensively farmed. These ancient landscapes have, by virtue of their formation and position, evolved into outstanding habitats supporting rare, beautiful wildflowers, butterflies and birds.

Aerial view of the Figsbury Ring, Wiltshire. Neolithic and Iron Age site with sweeping views of surrounding countryside. ©National Trust Images/John Miller

It’s #HillfortsWednesday!

Did you know that there are more than 150 hillforts, hilltop and hillslope enclosures recorded on land cared for by the National Trust?

They're amazing archaeological sites, but also real havens for nature. 🧵

Knole Revealed: Archaeology & discovery at a great country house by National Trust Archaeologist Nathalie Cohen and Curator Frances Parton describe discoveries made in this former archbishop's palace, and in the garden and park during the “Inspired By Knole” conservation project.

The Wonder of the North: Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal by National Trust Archaeologist Mark Newman.
This publication charts the landscape's history from the first arrival of prehistoric hunters, via medieval monasticism, the Dissolution of the monasteries, to the present day.

A Date with the Two Cerne Giants - Reinvestigating an Iconic British Hill Figure. Edited by Dr Michael J. Allen. Nearly 30 experts unravel a bit more of the truth of the Giant in this publication.

Chedworth Roman Villa: Excavations and Re-imaginings from the nineteenth to the twenty-first Centuries by Simon Esmonde Cleary, Jason Wood and Emma Durham. A major scholarly monograph; the outcome of a decade-long research project at Chedworth Roman Villa.

Britain's Landmarks and Legends by Jo Woolf
Discover the history, legends and folklore of Britain’s most intriguing landmarks.

This month we’re sharing different ways in which you can learn more about the archaeology at the places in the care of @nationaltrust.org.uk.

As the colder, darker nights set in it can be nice to curl up with a good book, so here are some recent publications you might find interesting. 📚🧵

An image of cartoon coloured photo frames with question marks on a black background

Earlier this year, the ‘Back When’ podcast was launched.
You can join historians Helen Antrobus and James Grasby on your favourite podcast app, or the National Trust website, as they take you inside the stories of the people, places and moments that made us.

Find out more: bit.ly/3JvN0lL

A view over the Surrey Hills countryside, with rolling green hills, hedgerows and a blue sky with white fluffy clouds

The main gates at Reigate Fort in Surrey

Start your week in Surrey!
If you're looking for some Monday morning listening why not tune in to our podcast series exploring the landscapes and monuments in the Surrey Hills:
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/surrey...

Be sure to check out Episode 1 which features our very own James Brown!

An example of a search for a hillfort with a range of results in the Heritage Records Online search option

Why not check it out to see what’s potentially hidden beneath your feet at your favourite National Trust property!

You can use the search function or the map to find out more:
heritagerecords.nationaltrust.org.uk/home

Heritage Records Online website map

This resource holds information on nearly 100,000 archaeological sites and buildings located on, or adjacent to National Trust-owned land.

The types of features recorded include standing buildings, earthworks, buried archaeology, historic garden and parkland features, and archaeological landscapes.

The Heritage Records Online website homepage with a range of pictures of historic sites and options to learn more

Did you know there's a website dedicated to helping you discover more about the archaeology and heritage cared for by @nationaltrust.org.uk?
NT Heritage Records Online has been developed to promote, and provide access to, the National Trust’s archaeological and historic building database. 🧵

A figure photographs a rocky headland in a storm

The only reason to be on #AncientBluesky it's #HillfortsWednesday 🥳🍻

Lou Barker facing the majestic cliff castle of Gurnard's Head, west Penwith, #Cornwall. The far end is crowded with houses & dominated by a towering outcrop ⛰️😮

In the care of @nattrustarch.bsky.social

📷 Yesterday

Text inscriptions on the fire surround

Taper burn mark

Compass drawn design

The fireplace is ornately decorated & covered in 15th- 16th century text. Throughout the rest of the house are examples of ritual protective marks, such as compass-drawn designs & taper burns 🔥

A huge thank you to @kentarchsoc & the William & Edith Oldham Charitable Trust for funding the survey.

Graffiti surveyor at work recording the fireplace in the Great Hall

Vallance actively 'collected' both structural elements & interiors to add to the house - one of these was the fireplace in the Great Hall. The fireplace is recorded to have originally been located at the George, an inn or hotel at 31 High Street Sittingbourne.

The timberframed house at Stoneacre surrounded by autumn foliage

We're delighted to be working with MJC-Associates to record the graffiti & inscriptions at Stoneacre. The house is a medieval timber-framed building, with many later alterations to the fabric, including those undertaken by Aymer Vallance, who presented the house to the National Trust in 1928.

Our most haunted places Some of the ancient buildings in our care come with spooky stories, from headless phantoms to kindly spirits. Discover the National Trust's most haunted places.

Learn more about our haunted buildings: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/houses...

Or if you’re feeling brave and fancy getting out and about in the countryside, why not explore the spookiest woods and haunted forests that we care for: www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/countr...

Mist rising off the dyke at Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve, Cambridgeshire ©National Trust Images/Rob Colema

The National Trust’s oldest nature reserve, Wicken Fen, is said to be haunted by the Lantern Men, evil spirits whose lights flicker across the marshes and lure people to a watery grave.

The seventeenth-century townhouse and garden in December at Treasurer's House, York ©National Trust Images/Arnhel de Serra

The Treasurer's House in York is full of phantoms, from marching Roman military figures to the cat that haunts the café, or the smell of cigar smoke from a previous owner who checks on his beloved home.

Illuminated Dunster Castle ©National Trust Images/Chris Lacey

At Dunster Castle in Somerset, floating lights, a man in green and dungeon skeletons found chained together are some of the strange encounters reported.

👻🎃 It’s All Hallows Eve, or Halloween! 🎃👻
There are many ancient buildings in the care of @nationaltrust.org.uk, so it's no surprise that some come with ghost stories and the chance to discover headless phantoms, tormented souls and even one spirit with a fondness for books!

Aerial view of the mansion and parkland at Knole in Sevenoaks Kent

We've partnered with Essex Place Services to offer a practical, 3-day building recording course in May 2026 at Knole, focusing on the Garden Wall to create a stone-by-stone record. The course includes a tour of Lord Sackville's Private Garden: www.placeservices.co.uk/conservation...

#CPD #Training

A family exploring the Halloween trail at Dyffryn Gardens, Glamorgan | © National Trust Images/Aled Llywelyn

Find out about events near you on our website:
www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/whats-...

From ‘Tales by Torchlight – East Anglian Folk Tales’ at Sutton Hoo National Trust and All Hallows Tide at National Trust - Trelissick, to learning about the magical powers of hagstones at Robin Hoods Bay or joining Corfe Castle’s storytellers for an insight into the castle’s grisly history.