Join us for this fantastic opportunity to hear about the rich and diverse archaeological sites cared for by the National Trust and the varied work of the National Trust’s Archaeologists.
Hosted by CBA Executive Director, Neil Redfern, and Shannon Hogan, National Archaeologist at the National Trust, the event will feature three presentations followed by the opportunity for the audience to ask questions about the projects and archaeology at the National Trust.
Details of the three talks are below, and you can find out more about our hosts and speakers in the biographies at the bottom of the page.
Weir Garden Community Project - Viviana Caroli
This talk presents the results of a community project run at the Weir Garden, Herefordshire, during the Festival of Archaeology 2025. The excavation aimed to characterise the nature of a Romano-British double-ditched enclosure, first identified by aerial photography in the 1970s and recently confirmed by geophysical survey at Old Weir Farm. The project was driven by the desire to research and preserve by record a site threatened by river erosion and climate change. Equally, it was designed to offer a safe and accessible place for volunteers and local groups to participate in archaeological research, contributing to the archaeological and cultural story of their community.
Highdown Revisited: A Summer of Archaeology at Highdown Hill - James Brown
This summer the National Trust partnered with Worthing Museum and Worthing Archaeological Society to undertake a two-week archaeological excavation at Highdown, funded by the Headley Trust. The site is dominated by a nationally significant large hilltop enclosure that dates back to the late Bronze Age period and was used at various points through human history, including an early medieval cemetery and a WWII radar station. The aims of the investigation were to explore and expand upon the unpublished findings of previous investigations and engage with the local community. This talk will explore how we got to site in the summer of 2025, what we uncovered and what comes next for Highdown.
Dolaucothi Gold Mines - David Thomas
Dolaucothi, in Carmarthenshire, is one of the National Trust’s most significant archaeological properties and the only known Roman gold-mining complex in Britain. The site covers an extensive area that includes opencast pits, underground workings, spoil tips, and an extensive water management system of leats, tanks, and reservoirs, reflecting advanced hydraulic techniques. Evidence suggests a sequence of activity beginning with alluvial working, followed by large-scale Roman exploitation combining opencast and underground mining with systematic water-powered processing.
In June 2025, the National Trust worked with the Early Mines Research Group (EMRG) on a programme of test pitting to investigate mining and processing deposits, recover gold particles, and obtain samples for radiocarbon and OSL dating. This revealed stratified processing waste, fire setting traces, crushed quartz layers, iron-pan horizons and large-scale washing of terrace gravels. Gold grains recovered from multiple contexts suggested very efficient Roman processing. Combined with new LiDAR evidence, these results highlight the complexity and scale of Roman gold extraction at Dolaucothi.
Speakers
James Brown
Viviana Caroli
Shannon Hogan
Neil Redfern
