Archaeology in Kent

03/09/2026

Still time to see this exhibition at Folkestone Museum ❤️👍🏻👏🏻

Hot off the press - our summer exhibition, Raising the Dead: Life and Loss in the Kingdom of Kent, is extending! By popular demand, the exhibition now closes on Saturday 24 October. Admission is free.

Featuring finds seen on Digging for Britain in 2025 and 2026, ‘Raising the Dead’ displays the grave goods of four people who died in the fifth and sixth centuries. It includes a spectacular sixth century ‘ring sword’ with a silver-gilt hilt. The sword even revealed a new secret while we prepared it for display.

Kent was its own kingdom until the ninth century. Its culture was distinct from the rest of Anglo-Saxon England. These people’s remains, and the objects buried with them, help us tell their community’s story. They show us what they valued, how they mourned, and their links to the wider world.

Please note that this exhibition includes images of human remains.

Raising the Dead is a collaboration between Folkestone Museum, the University of Lancashire, Isle Heritage CIC, Amtec CIC (Dana Goodburn-Brown), and the Parish Meeting.

01/09/2026

Help celebrate 🎉 50 years of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust 👏🏻👍🏻❤️

Canterbury Archaeological Trust is 50 this year and we are marking the occasion with a special public Open Day on Saturday 12 September.

Come and spend the day with us at Canterbury Cathedral Lodge and see what CAT has been working on over the past five decades.

We will have displays from some of our projects with original artefacts and archaeological finds on show. You can meet members of the team, find out what happens behind the scenes and see some of the technology we now use in our work.

There will also be interactive displays and activities for children, so families are very welcome. Tea, coffee and soft drinks will be available during the day.

Saturday 12 September 2026
10.30am to 4.00pm
Canterbury Cathedral Lodge, Kentish Barn
Free entry

Entry is through Christ Church Gate in the Buttermarket. Just tell the Cathedral gate staff that you are attending the Canterbury Archaeological Trust event at the Lodge. They will let you into the Precincts without charge and point you in the right direction.

We would love to see you there and celebrate 50 years of Canterbury Archaeological Trust together.

01/09/2026

Can you help Coasts in Mind ??

❗️ Attention❗️ Share your memories of Elmley Nature Reserve.

Do you have any images from your past visits, did you once live there, or is it in your home area today? Do you have any family pictures of the area or things which you've noticed have changed, whether in the landscape or what grows there?

Elmley Nature Reserve is a working landscape where nature and farming sit side by side on the Swale estuary. This beautiful slice of Kent is located on the Isle of Sheppey, and is a privately owned National Nature Reserve covering 3,300 acres. Designated a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) in the early 1980s, and is home to an incredible variety of birds and other wildlife 🦆

If you have a memory you want to share, reach out to us and contribute a picture. It'll help us build a better view of the wider Swale estuary and the changes happening for you and the local communities on the ground! You can share your observations on [email protected] or share them directly with the wider public on our website https://cim.mola.org.uk/sign_up

Coasts in Mind is Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) project made possible by The National Lottery Heritage Fund and players.
Explore our records and website! https://cim.mola.org.uk

30/08/2026

Activities at Reculver Towers & Roman Fort today!!!

📜 TALKS AT RECULVER TODAY!

Fancy discovering a little more about the fascinating history beneath your feet?

Join us today at Reculver Towers & Roman Fort for two volunteer led short talks exploring different chapters of Reculver’s remarkable past.

🏛️ The History of St Mary’s Church
Explore the story of the church from the 10th to the 19th century, and discover how this remarkable building changed over time.
🕚 11am & 2pm

🏺 Tour of Regulbium – The Remains Beneath Your Feet
Take a closer look at the remains of the Roman fort and discover what once stood here nearly 2,000 years ago.
🕛 12pm & 3pm

The North Tower will be open from 10am-4pm

All talks are free to join and there’s no need to book, just come along and meet us at the Towers.

Why not make a day of it? While you're at Reculver, don't forget there's plenty more happening today!

🎪 Community Fun Day at The King Ethelbert Inn
From 12pm, head down to the King Ethelbert for a great community day with plenty to see and do.

We look forward to seeing you!

28/08/2026

Move over for (thanks Anne 👏🏻). investigations continue at Shorne Woods Country Park 🌳❤️. This is another view from the ongoing 🧱 kiln excavation. We are looking down the length of one of the two flues, with demolition in the background. You can see the effect of extreme heat on the brickwork in the flue 🔥. Evidence still points to multiple firings of this later 18th to earlier 19th century kiln, with the kiln emptied after its final firing before being demolished sometime later. One hundred years on, a D-day embarkation site sprung up over the same area...with a foxhole dug adjacent to the site 👍🏻 📸 Pauline.

27/08/2026

Quite a story about the now lost Sandown 🏰!

Stone from a ruined castle has been discovered in a tourist attraction visited by hundreds of thousands,

24/08/2026

It's Monday morning so we must be due another Shorne Woods Country Park 🧱 kiln update! Here's a view looking down one of the stokeholes...the extreme heat involved in production has caused the 🧱 in the stokehole to vitrify. A process where the silica in the clay fuses and melts into a glass like state at very high 🌡️😱, creating the green colour. 📸 JB. ❤️🌳.

23/08/2026

A short 😇 article on the Shorts tunnels in Rochester!

The Shorts Brothers, Horace, Eustace and Oswald, are fondly remembered in Rochester.