Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd PCA

Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd PCA PCA Ltd is an independent archaeological company celebrating over 30 years of business. One of our main areas of expertise lies in our archaeological fieldwork.

Pre-Construct Archaeology (PCA) is one of the largest archaeological practices in the UK with the capability to undertake projects of all sizes and complexity and in any geographic location. PCA operates from offices in Cambridge, London, Durham, Newark, Norwich, Warwick, and Wi******er. Commensurate with our size is our ability to assist clients in determining their archaeological requirements an

d to successfully discharge their planning conditions. PCA has a well-established and respected team whose experience at all levels allows us to deliver a unique service designed to meet the specific requirements of each project. Our work covers a wide variety of sites, both green and brown-field. These projects range from housing development to shop refurbishment, river foreshore to road construction and infrastructure improvement, quarrying to environmental management schemes, and leisure complexes to industrial facilities. A full range of fieldwork interventions are provided by PCA from Watching Briefs and Evaluations, to large Open Area Excavations. PCA also undertakes desk-based assessments, which are either stand-alone or integrated into larger interdisciplinary reports, such as Environmental Impact Assessments. In addition, a variety of non-invasive techniques such as field walking and topographic survey are provided. The expertise of the Company is not restricted to buried heritage. PCA has a team of experts able to undertake a variety of investigations, including historic and architectural building recording, surveys of the historic built environment and Area Characterisation Studies. PCA has a proven record of delivering results within an agreed time-scale and budget. We have a flexible approach which aims to deliver a professional service, minimising delay and inconvenience while maximising the archaeological knowledge and enhancing a site's heritage value. Pre-Construct Archaeology Limited is proud to have achieved the criteria enabling it to become a Registered Organisation (RO) at the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA). Being an RO means that we are committed to maintaining professional and ethical standards and that our clients can commission work with confidence. PCA is also registered as ISO 9001:2015 and is CHAS and SMAS compliant.

This single-handled jug with white painted decoration and tall-necked globular beaker were discovered within the remains...
12/06/2026

This single-handled jug with white painted decoration and tall-necked globular beaker were discovered within the remains of a Romano-British grain dryer at Fordingbridge, Hampshire, during excavations undertaken on behalf of Highwood Group.

Both are New Forest wares dating to the second half of the 4th century AD. What makes them particularly interesting is the way they were found, placed side by side, covered intentionally by a stone slab in a nook of the structure after it had gone out of use.

Their late date and apparent deliberate deposition provide a rare insight into activity at the site during the final decades of Roman Britain. The grain dryer formed just one phase in a landscape that had already seen thousands of years of activity, from Neolithic pits and Bronze Age remains to Iron Age roundhouses and Romano-British settlement.

Archaeologists from PCA Newark have recently rediscovered a hidden well during monitoring works inside the gatehouse at ...
11/06/2026

Archaeologists from PCA Newark have recently rediscovered a hidden well during monitoring works inside the gatehouse at Newark Castle.

The earliest known reference to the well comes from a plan published in Archaeologia in 1782, where it is briefly described as being 'still open'.

Investigations suggest the well was partially infilled and later reused as a cistern, with a stone drainage channel feeding into it. At some point it fell out of use and was eventually covered over completely, remaining hidden beneath the surface for well over a century.

A few weeks ago, the team worked alongside stonemasons to reopen the feature, while members of Lincoln Caving Club helped recover samples from the fills. These should help establish when the well was finally infilled and may reveal more about its history.

Work is ongoing, but we'd be interested to hear your thoughts. When do you think the well was first constructed?

Watch a timelapse of the well being reopened here: https://www.pre-construct.com/news/a-rediscovered-well-at-newark-castle/

🌊 World Oceans Day 🌊Imagine standing on the waterfront of a busy medieval port... in a town that is now miles inland. Ne...
08/06/2026

🌊 World Oceans Day 🌊

Imagine standing on the waterfront of a busy medieval port... in a town that is now miles inland. New Romney was once one of England's most important Cinque Ports, but centuries of coastal change transformed its relationship with the sea.

Discover how archaeology is helping to uncover that story in our free interactive flipbook The Sea and the Marsh.

https://www.pre-construct.com/product/the-sea-and-the-marsh/

This polished Neolithic axe from Fordingbridge, Hampshire, was made from volcanic stone sourced hundreds of miles away i...
05/06/2026

This polished Neolithic axe from Fordingbridge, Hampshire, was made from volcanic stone sourced hundreds of miles away in the Langdale Fells of Cumbria.

Discovered during excavations undertaken on behalf of Highwood Group, it came from a cluster of pits containing hundreds of lithics, all recorded in 3D during excavation to help us understand how the material was deposited and whether it was placed deliberately.

Fordingbridge lies around 20 miles south of Stonehenge and within its wider landscape, making discoveries like this intriguing. What was happening here, and how might it have related to activity taking place across the wider Stonehenge landscape?

📺 PCA at the Tower of LondonWhat lies beneath one of the Tower of London's most historic buildings?PCA's excavation at t...
01/06/2026

📺 PCA at the Tower of London
What lies beneath one of the Tower of London's most historic buildings?
PCA's excavation at the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula will feature in the new series of Inside the Tower of London on Channel 5.
Led by Guy Seddon and undertaken in partnership with Historic Royal Palaces, the excavation took place ahead of the installation of a new lift within the chapel. Having featured briefly in the previous series, this episode takes a much closer look at the project, revealing the challenges and discoveries encountered as the team investigated archaeology hidden beneath the chapel floor.
📅 Wednesday 3 June
🕗 8pm
📺 Channel 5

For , we're following a trail of tiny glass beads left behind by the Victorian residents of Islington.Hundreds of these...
29/05/2026

For , we're following a trail of tiny glass beads left behind by the Victorian residents of Islington.

Hundreds of these beads were recovered during our excavations at Ironmonger Row Baths. Found alongside dress fasteners, copper-alloy pins and buttons made from glass, shell and bone, they hint at the presence of a seamstress among the residents of the terraced houses that once occupied the site. Seed beads were commonly used in beadwork and embroidery, to decorate clothing, purses and other accessories. Some of the darker examples may have been associated with Victorian mourning fashions.

Scattered, lost, and buried for more than a century, these delicate beads survived long after the houses themselves had disappeared, preserving a trace of Victorian Islington and the people who lived there.

Harry Platts from PCA will be speaking at the Council for British Archaeology - London Spring Archaeological Forum on Tu...
15/05/2026

Harry Platts from PCA will be speaking at the Council for British Archaeology - London Spring Archaeological Forum on Tuesday 19 May at the UCL Institute of Archaeology.

His talk, Imperial Suburbia: New Excavations on The Highway, Shadwell, will present findings from recent excavations around 200m west of earlier PCA sites at To***co Dock and the former Babe Ruth Restaurant, where a late Roman settlement and bathhouse were discovered. Further evidence of late Roman activity alongside the remains of 18th- and 19th-century housing has been revealed.

Harry will be joined by Alfred R J Hawkins, Curator of Historic Buildings at HM Tower of London who will discuss recent archaeological work undertaken by PCA. Han Li, Senior Building Material Specialist at MOLA, will review The first Roman painters of Londinium, including the recent Liberty site in Southwark.

As usual, there will be a trip to the pub afterwards!
details here: https://www.pre-construct.com/news/spring-laf-2026/

This unusual and delicately decorated bone object was recovered from excavations of a medieval rural settlement at Great...
15/05/2026

This unusual and delicately decorated bone object was recovered from excavations of a medieval rural settlement at Great Dunmow in Essex.

Featuring a lion with tendrils and a small triangle emanating from its mouth, a motif with parallels in Romanesque sculpture, it reflects the transfer of imagery from ecclesiastical contexts to everyday objects. The original function of this object is not clear but the shape suggests it may have been the chape from a dagger sheath, a fitting that was normally of metal.

If you want to know more about this find, it features as bone tool of the month at the Worked Bone Research Group website:
https://www.wbrg.net/bonetool-of-the-month-archives/

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