Previous programmes
Archaeology in the Lake District Conference 2025 was held on Saturday 15 November 2025 at the Percival Lecture Hall, Ambleside campus, University Cumbria, Ambleside. Speakers included:
- Archaeology in the Lake District National Park 2024-25 Eleanor Kingston, Lake District National Park Authority
- Recent Archaeological Survey Work in the Lake District Jamie Lund, National Trust
- The Deepdale Survey John Hinchliffe, Lake District Archaeology Volunteer Network
- An Archaeological Investigation at Deepdale Bridge Settlement Martin Railton, Eden Heritage Ltd
- Lowther Medieval Castle and Village Dr James Morris, University of Central Lancashire
- Evidence of early Medieval Settlement at St. Paul’s Church, Irton Martin Railton, Eden Heritage Ltd
- Sculpting Early Medieval Cumbria, AD 600-1100 Dr Christina Cowart-Smith, Durham University
Last year’s conference was held on 9 November at Percival Lecture Hall, Ambleside campus, University of Cumbria. Speakers included:
- Archaeology in the Lake District National Park 2023-24 Eleanor Kingston, Lake District National Park Authority
- Recent Archaeological Work in the Lake District Jamie Lund, National Trust
- The Archaeology of Bampton Common John Hinchliffe, Lake District Archaeology Volunteer Network
- The Finest Circle; the hidden Sunkenkirk Kevin Grice, Lake District Archaeology Volunteer Network and Martin Railton, Eden Heritage Ltd
- Lowther Castle and Village in its wider landscape Dr James Morris, University of Central Lancashire
- Failures or Functional? Hundreds of Neolithic axes were left in the Langdale uplands – but they may have been more than just rejected roughouts Sally Taylor, Oxford University
- Tales of the unexpected: King Arthur’s Round Table, Mayburgh and Dunmail Raise Professor Richard Bradley, University of Reading and Dr Aaron Watson
The 2023 conference was held on 4 November at Percival Lecture Hall, Ambleside campus, University Cumbria. Speakers included:
- Archaeology in the Lake District National Park 2022-23 Eleanor Kingston, Lake District National Park Authority
- War and Peace at Ambleside Roman fort: old finds and new discoveries John Reid, Trimontium Trust and Professor Manuel Fernández-Götz, University of Edinburgh
- Romans in Ravenglass 2023: results of recent investigations north of the fort Rebecca Jarosz-Blackburn and Kurt Hunter-Mann, AOC Archaeology
- Set in stone: A Cumberland hill farm in the early post-medieval period Kevin Grice, Lake District Archaeology Volunteer Network
- Lowther Castle and Village Project Dr Sophie Ambler, University of Lancaster and Dr James Morris, University of Central Lancashire
- The Brigham Smelter complex at Keswick – is this one of the most important historic industrial sites in the UK? Mark Hatton, Cumbria Amenity Trust Mining History Society
2022’s conference was held on 8 October at Percival Lecture Hall, Ambleside campus, University Cumbria. Speakers included:
- Archaeology in the Lake District National Park 2021-22 Eleanor Kingston, Lake District National Park Authority
- The Archaeology of Riverlands Jamie Lund, National Trust
- Loaves & Fishes – the mills and fishponds of Shap Abbey Kevin Grice, Lake District Archaeology Volunteer Network
- Recent Survey Work at Shap and Bampton Common John Hinchliffe, Lake District Archaeology Volunteer Network
- Assault on Ambleside: a Roman Iron Age battle rediscovered John Reid, Trimontium Trust and Professor Manuel Fernández-Götz, University of Edinburgh
- I’ll Take the High Road: investigations of a Roman Road Martin Railton, Eden Heritage Ltd
Our conference in 2021 was held online due to the COVID pandemic. Our Speakers included:
- Archaeology in the Lake District National Park 2019-21 Eleanor Kingston, Lake District National Park Authority
- Archaeology in the time of a pandemic – an update on recent work by the National Trust Jamie Lund, National Trust
- A new survey of the Carles stone circle, Castlerigg Al Oswald, University of York
- ‘Weird and atypical, even degenerate’…or then again, maybe not? Early Neolithic enclosures in the North Al Oswald, University of York
- An Aerial Perspective of the High Street David Knight, Historic England
- Recent fieldwork at Ravenglass and Muncaster Castle Kurt Hunter-Mann, Romans in Ravenglass
- The origins of Dacre: What should an early medieval monastery look like? Rachel Newman, Oxford Archaeology North
A huge thank you to anyone who donated to the Lake District Archaeology Volunteer Network. We have purchased a new tablet to enable further archaeological survey work out in the field.
