Fenscapes Archaeology Project

YouTube video by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust 5000 years of environmental archaeology in the Fens

Hear Fenscapers Rachel, Phil and Neal taking about our work & 5,000 years' worth of environmental archaeology in the Fens!

Great to be invited by Fens East Peat Partnership to give a webinar last month - now on YouTube, along with many other great talks
@lincswildlife.bsky.social
shorturl.at/x3alQ

YouTube video by The Convention on Wetlands World Wetlands Day 2026

Happy #WorldWetlandsDay!

Traditional knowledge has long guided the sustainable use of wetlands. As the Convention on Wetlands marks 55 years, #WorldWetlandsDay2026 calls on us to protect wetlands and honour cultural heritage.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_Mc...

Aerial image of a green landscape near a village with areas of wetland

This is a pioneering new wetland restoration project on the Oxfordshire-Wiltshire border at Coleshill. It was designed to bring clean-water habitats back to the River Cole floodplain and create a much-needed wildlife corridor where 90% of freshwater habitats have been lost over the last century.

For our first Wilder Lincolnshire podcast of 2026, the team headed north to Crowle Moor to catch up with two of the Fens East Peat Partnership project officers and discuss the benefits and potential problems of using drones in conservation.
Listen now at www.lincstrust.org.uk/wilder-linco...

Fenscapes: archaeology, natural heritage and environmental change in the Fens of eastern England The Fenscapes project investigates trajectories of landscape, habitat and species change in the Fens of eastern England from the Neolithic to the present, with the aim to build self-reflective understandings of land-use and wetland management. Yet underlying biases exist in data patterning linked to burial depth and archaeological practice.

Wetlands often preserve organic archaeological remains, but they are under threat from climate change #WorldWetlandsDay

New research in the Fens of eastern England shows the need for integrated heritage and environmental management.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

A metal peat sampler laying on grass. The sampler contains a core of wood peat - the base of the core, to the left, is pale grey sandy clay which is overlain by dark brown peat containing pale yellow wood fragments

A view of the artificially-straightened River Nene, looking downstream. The river channel runs from the foreground through the centre of the picture into the flat horizon. Either side of the river are fields - pasture to the right, and arable fields to the left. Also to the left of the riverbank are two yellow dredging machines.

Two people pushing an auger into the ground at Wicken Fen. In the foreground is an orange bag containing coring equipment. Beneath a blue sky with fluffy white clouds, a mowed droveway stretches off towards the horizon, flanked on either sides by reeds.

View across part of Dersingham Bog. In the foreground are dark pools of water, surrounded by mosses and heather. The tussocky bog stretches away from the viewer towards a line of pine and birch trees that surround the bog.

Happy World Wetlands Day! 🌍 🏛️💧🌱
Did you know about the variety of wetlands that exist around the East Anglian Fens?
These incredible habitats preserve evidence of past environmental change & human activity over thousands of years, as well as being vital for biodiversity, water & carbon management

First food alert of the winter for the Ouse Washes

check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/target-area/...

Last chance to see? The ‘Crisis of Preservation’ and pathways to a sustainable future for Europe’s peatland archaeology | Antiquity | Cambridge Core Last chance to see? The ‘Crisis of Preservation’ and pathways to a sustainable future for Europe’s peatland archaeology

Last chance to see? Thought provoking piece about the future of peatland archaeology

Open access and well worth a read!

Archaeological section showing Holocene stratigraphy with preserved tree stump

Submerged forest #FlagFenBasin #Fenland

Curved Romanesque arches, the ruined remains of 12th century parts of Crowland Abbey

Interior of the tower

Piscina, inside the existing church

The blue and red coat of arms of Crowland Abbey and an image of St Guthlac

View of the ruins of Crowland Abbey, with the church beyond

Paid an impromptu visit to Crowland Abbey this afternoon. One of the most important medieval religious centres in the Ferns. Looking very picturesque in the autumn afternoon sun today 👌

Dr Neal Payne standing by his conference poster

Day 2 at 50 Years of Discovery in Norwich. Dr Neal Payne presenting a first glimpse of our huge new environmental archaeological database, that illustrates the history of farming and ecology in the Fens stretching back thousands of years! 🌾🐏🐄

... and of course #mustfarm another illustration of the far-reaching impact of the archaeology of the #flagfenbasin

Prof Carenza Lewis giving a conference presentation

First talk at the 50 Years of Discovery conference in Norwich, and the Fens already get an honourable mention in Prof Carenza Lewis's top 20 sites in East Anglia! #flagfen #fenland

Beautiful!

Two more weeks till Dublin!! Can't wait for this!

Fenscapes: archaeology, natural heritage and environmental change in the Fens of eastern England | Antiquity | Cambridge Core Fenscapes: archaeology, natural heritage and environmental change in the Fens of eastern England

First project output published! 🙌 Fully open access

Read more about our project and initial results here!

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

The team augering

Wicken Lode

📣 PUBLISHED OPEN ACCESS 📣

Fenscapes: archaeology, natural heritage and environmental change in the Fens of eastern England in @antiquity.ac.uk

👉 www.arch.cam.ac.uk/news/fenscap...

📸 Fenscapes Team

@cambridgearch.bsky.social @cam.ac.uk

Illuminated - Voices from the Bog - BBC Sounds Old voices offer new perspectives on the discovery of Lindow Man and Woman, 40 years on.

This is Radio 4 at its best - an immersive "documentary" about Lindow Man, Lindow Woman, their society, discovery and their ongoing relevance. Well worth a listen even if bog bodies aren't your thing! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

The project team are heading down en-masse for @AEA_Oxford24 later this week. Looking forward a couple of days of exciting talks, meeting old friends and presenting our first results from the #Fens! See you there!