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Prehistoric wood is archaeological gold dust. So, what do you call Worcestershire’s first Iron Age wooden trackway and a whole wetland landscape? Exceptional. This is not an archaeologist’s dream, but a site excavated for Worcester Six Business Park. Despite the unassuming location (alongside Junction 6 of the M5), in 2019 we uncovered human activity around...

Temple Laugherne Knight Jug Perhaps one of the most unusual finds from the past two years was this medieval jug which was found during excavations at Temple Laugherne. Anyone at Worcestershire Archaeology Day 2021 will have seen great talks on a variety of subjects. This jug featured in the Fascinating Finds talk. Sometimes we have...

A newspaper transcription recalling horse buses was among items being catalogued in our Library Pamphlets (which came from Worcestershire History Centre before the service moved to The Hive in 2012). It refers to a Mr. Harry Birchley of London Road who was an old cabby of 90+ years who remembered very well cab-stands and horse...

Frost fairs are more commonly known to have been held on the River Thames, the most recent example being in London in 1814. Examples of provincial frost fairs include one held in Shrewsbury in 1739. A printed souvenir held within the archives from 1855 has led us to investigate whether there is any evidence of...

These wonderful photos of snowy Worcester are within a collection deposited by a local photographer. Philip Ruler passed on several volumes of photographs, mostly from the 1990s, to add to the Archives. These have recently been catalogued by Tom, our Trainee Archivist. With his role we are giving him a range of work to provide...

An Iron Age enclosure dating from about 2,250 years ago has recently been excavated by our archaeologists. We have excavated many Iron Age settlements over the years, but this one differs from other sites we’ve worked on. The location is on the site of a new roundabout being constructed by Worcestershire County Council at the...

A hint of Saxon archaeology, medieval town plots, a lime kiln, pits, ditches and more – a fair wishlist for any town centre excavation! We’ve recently excavated an area in the medieval core of Calne, in north Wiltshire, on behalf of Orion Heritage and Churchill Retirement Living. Now fieldwork is finished, finds and environmental analysis...

Walking through the landscape – a pastime for some and lifestyle for others. Drawing on excavations of an Iron Age site, our Environmental Archaeologist Liz Pearson continues our exploration of prehistoric landscapes. In this blog, she traces the footsteps (and hoof prints) of ancient herders from the past to present day. A stream of animals...

After providing an introduction to the Archive Service for a student, we were asked to raise awareness of World Aids Day, https://www.worldaidsday.org/ We were also asked about records covering sexual health, in order to advocate its importance amongst fellow students, particularly those who are LGBTQ+.   This got us thinking, since many records we hold...

Our archaeologists have archives, as well as our Record Office side of the service. Kerry, our Archaeological Archivist, explains what she does, what archaeological archives and why they are so important.