Meet the Committee

Landscape archaeologist from North Petherwin. Nearly 50 years exploring, recording and researching historic and semi-natural environment and landscape of Cornwall and Scilly, rural, urban and coastal.

Landscape archaeologists view the past and present with inclusive eyes. Remains and patterns of all periods, from those of the first gatherer-hunters to our own in the 2020s, are of interest. And landscape being centred on human perceptions of places, our interest also extends to all areas, whether currently regarded as in some way ‘special’ or not, and to all communities, past and present.

Places I’ve examined include Bodmin Moor, West Penwith, Kit Hill, St Michael’s Mount, Godolphin, Ethy, Torpoint, Camelford, Launceston, Stratton Hundred, and the Lynher catchment.

Started with undergraduate and post-graduate research on prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval Bodmin Moor, especially Bronwenelyn (Brown Willy) and Roughtor before working on the West Penwith Survey. Went from Field Officer with CAU to Principal Archaeologist with the Historic Environment Service.

Jumped ship in 2007 to be a Characterisation Inspector for English Heritage. Then from 2010 led its Assessment Team, containing their archaeological survey and architectural history teams, and the Survey of London and Blue Plaques teams. (All the while still fiddling with projects in Cornwall, and as a home-worker on the Roseland making thorough use of Britain’s rail services.) Now love Westbury’s white horse, Montague Street in London, Digbeth in Birmingham, Ramsgate, York’s city walls and Lincoln cathedral, but none as much as every square inch of Cornwall.

Returned to Cornwall Council in 2018 to lead its Strategic Historic Environment team before becoming in 2020 a freelance landscape archaeologist.

Many publications, talks, and guided walks, mostly in Cornwall. More of each still to come, all being well.

Mike Parker Pearson is Emeritus Professor of British Later Prehistory at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London (UCL). After gaining a BA in European Archaeology at Southampton University in 1979, he was awarded a PhD at Cambridge University in 1985. He worked as an Inspector of Ancient Monuments for English Heritage until 1990, during which time he drafted Planning Policy Guidance 16 and the outline for regional research frameworks. From then on, he lectured in the Department of Archaeology & Prehistory at Sheffield University until moving to UCL in 2012. He is a Fellow of the British Academy.

Mike grew up in South Devon where he has returned to live. He began his archaeological career in 1972, working on rescue excavations in Devon, Somerset, Hampshire, Dorset, Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire. He has also worked on archaeological sites around the world in Denmark, Germany, Greece, Syria, the United States, Madagascar, Rapa Nui (Easter Island) and the Outer Hebrides. He has published more than twenty books and many scientific papers.

Among Mike’s first publications was an article in Cornish Archaeology on Bronze Age pottery in the South West, identifying the long-distance movement of gabbroic Trevisker ware and establishing a typology for these vessels. In more recent years his focus has been the Stonehenge Riverside Project which evolved into two further projects: Feeding Stonehenge, and the Stones of Stonehenge. His current field research is in west Wales, where Stonehenge’s bluestones were quarried.

I managed the archaeological service in Cornwall for 35 years until retiring in 2010. As County Archaeologist, I guided the merging of the Archaeological and Conservation services of the County and District Councils when Cornwall Council was created in 2009. At the time it was the largest local government heritage service in England and the consultancy service had carried out over 3000 archaeological and historic building surveys in Cornwall and Scilly.

As head of CAU I was responsible for a number of innovative projects including the photogrammetric survey of Bodmin Moor and subsequent field surveys, and surveys of large areas of West Penwith. Both these projects resulted in publications. The Unit was also responsible for the development of national methodologies for characterising the historic landscape of Cornwall and its surrounding sea. The achievement of World Heritage Site status for Cornish Mining in 2006 was an exemplar for the imaginative use of Characterisation, GIS and the Web.

I have contributed to books, written many research articles and archaeological guides, have appeared on TV and radio and have led or given hundreds of walks and talks to local societies and institutions in Cornwall and beyond. I was an Exeter University Extra Mural lecturer in archaeology in Padstow, Penzance and Bodmin, and a lecturer for Exeter University/Camborne School of Mines Master’s degree in Industrial Heritage, and for Plymouth University Master’s in Landscape Design.

I have sat on national committees and councils including for English Heritage, the Prehistoric Society and the National Trust as well as many local heritage organisations in Cornwall and the South West. I was President of Cornwall Archaeological Society, 2015-18, and a Trustee of the Royal Cornwall Museum for many years. I was awarded the MBE in 2008 for services to archaeology in Cornwall.

Brought up in Oxfordshire I started digging with the University Archaeology Society at 15 and subsequently worked on rescue excavations for several years before studying archaeology at Cardiff in the 1960s. I married Trevor Miles while at Uni and after graduation directed several excavations for the then Ministry of Works.

In 1970 Exeter University appointed me Lecturer in Archaeology, teaching external students in both Cornwall and Devon. That year I dug Coxbarrow and the Longstone on the St Austell Granite. These were quickly followed by barrows at Caerloggas, Trenance Downs and Watchill and the full excavation of the Trethurgy Round. This work was due to the expanding china clay works. In 1972 I joined the CAS Committee and in 1975 took over the editorship of Cornish Archaeology for seven editions. There were also the excavations at Killibury hillfort. During this period, I met up with Ordnance Survey’s Norman Quinnell and we married in 1980. Norman was to die in 2008.

In the 1970s I was very much involved in setting up arrangements in both Cornwall and Devon which led to the present HERs and in Cornwall the CAU.

After a period of illness in the late 70s my main foci were the publication of ‘backlog’ work, mine and others, and the study of prehistoric pottery in SW Britain. This generally involved close collaboration with others, most importantly with the late Andy Jones. I retired early from Exeter University in 2000. I served as our President from 2004 – 7 and remain a Vice-President. I have lived in Exeter since 1970. Aileen Fox ensured that I was elected to the Devon Archaeological Society Committee in 1970, serving as Chair, President and Vice-President until 2024. My involvement with both Societies has provided a good overview of the region.

After moving from Germany to Cornwall in 1996, I had a shop which I closed in 1999; remembering my love of archaeology – I had attended a practical archaeology course in Arizona in 1973 during my ethnology studies – and wanting to know more about Cornwall’s archaeology, I enrolled in an HND for Archaeology at Truro College.

Joining CAS in 2000, I became a committee member and took over the office of Treasurer in 2002 (till 2005) and became Newsletter Editor after the death of Les Douch in 2003 (till 2006/7).

At the same time, I volunteered with CAU (later renamed HES) for finds washing, cataloguing, helping out where help was needed, including the occasional translation into German. I then worked for the HER, putting the Events Records online and sorting out old archives. I retired in 2013.

After a break from the CAS committee, I rejoined it in 2014 and took over as Membership Secretary in 2015 (till 2026), working closely with the Treasurer, the Presidents and supporting the Newsletter editors.

After graduating from Reading University my archaeological career began with a field-walking survey of the Kennet Valley for the Berkshire Archaeological Unit, one of those local trusts and units that sprang up in the 1970s to rescue archaeology. As well as flint-spotting, this taught me a lot about how to study historic landscapes.

Following some digging at York and Droitwich, in 1978 I had the good fortune to start work for the Cornwall Committee for Rescue Archaeology (later the Cornwall Archaeological Unit). In the early days, survey of threatened landscapes was an urgent priority, and I had the further good fortune to participate in the surveys of Bodmin Moor and West Penwith – happy days! I also learnt a lot from giving some evening classes about Cornish archaeology, and especially medieval archaeology.

Over the years the CAU grew in size and scope, with projects covering landscape survey, monument management, assessments, evaluations, watching briefs and excavations, post-excavation programmes and publication, building surveys, air photo mapping, and industrial and maritime heritage; my role evolved to become manager of the CAU’s projects team, a post I held until taking early retirement in 2011.

Having been a CAS committee member since 1980, after 2011 I was able to contribute to the work of the society by helping edit its journal, Cornish Archaeology, before stepping down from the committee in 2024. It was particularly good to work on the Jubilee volume, number 50, for 2011, which gave an overview of the many discoveries and advances of the previous 25 years.

I have been Hon. Secretary for the society since 2025, but I’ve been a member since 2002. My journey into archaeology started in 2000 with Surrey Heath Archaeological and Heritage Trust, when I volunteered at my first excavation, the King’s Arms coaching inn on the old A30 in Bagshot, Surrey. I went on to spend my evenings cataloguing finds and became a Trustee. This was where my passion for pottery began, especially post-medieval, inspired by border-ware pottery. I studied archaeology part time at Oxford University from 2002-2010. During this time, I also worked at Surrey Heath Museum. I volunteered databasing the finds from Ludgershall Castle, and did a short contract re-labelling the Henge Gallery for Wiltshire Museum, as well as being a member of their archaeological society. Through this I was able to volunteer briefly on the Stonehenge Riverside Project. At the Natural History Museum, London, I re-boxed Roman skeletons from Poundbury in Dorset as a volunteer.

In 2010 I moved to Cornwall and volunteer on excavations and projects whenever I can, including Tintagel Castle, the North Cliffs flint and Castilly Henge. I also volunteered as a room guide for the National Trust for 5 years at Lanhydrock. I have worked for Marks & Spencer since 2000, in Truro since 2010, but I have also worked for Wheal Martyn Clay Works and The National Trust. After volunteering on the A30 Carland to Chiverton excavations I was taken on as a contractor, finds specialist, by Cornwall Archaeological Unit. I have been working on the large Mesolithic flint scatter since 2023. I am now one of two flint specialists for Cornwall.

When I’m not working or volunteering, I enjoy gardening, live music, fitness including running, photography, travel especially city breaks where I run half marathons. I take part in jewellery and pottery making workshops. I love quizzing and Formula 1.

I have been the Hon. Treasurer for CAS since 2018.

I am a long-standing member of the Kent Archaeological Society and the Orkney Archaeological Society.

Until I took early retirement at the end of 2004, I had been an accountant for 35 years, latterly as chief accountant for a national hotel group.

As an antidote to office work, I joined the very active Dover Archaeological Group in 1994. Under the leadership of Keith Parfitt, who was also Director of the Dover branch of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, I took part in many fieldwork projects over the following years – ranging from the Paleolithic, through every period, up to the modern era. This included many small PPG16 investigations, several Roman villas, at least four Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, and many prehistoric, medieval and post-medieval excavations as well as a World War II Deep Shelter. A highlight was the 5-year excavation at Ringlemere, where the Bronze Age gold cup was found in 2000.

After giving up my office job at the end of 2004 I worked for ten years with the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, sometimes as a volunteer, sometimes as a paid employee – it made very little difference. My special interest is in prehistoric flint work, and in 2007 I spent a month in Libya, taking part in Graham Barker’s excavation at the amazing Palaeolithic cave site of Hauah Fteah.

In 2015 my wife and I moved back to Cornwall. For five years I assisted Anna Tyacke, the FLO, in finds identification at the Royal Cornwall Museum. I have also taken part in numerous fieldwork projects, right across Cornwall.

In 2022 my body made it clear that I had done enough, so I hung up my mattock and trowel and my main contribution to archaeology is now as CAS Treasurer.

I am relatively new to archaeology, having come to the field after living with M.E. since childhood. My involvement began through volunteering on the Monumental Improvements project, run by Cornwall National Landscape, where I met Iain Rowe and members of the Meneage Archaeology Group. From that point, my role in community archaeology developed significantly.

Through my work with Monumental Improvements, the Meneage Archaeology Group and the Castilly Henge project, I have gained valuable practical experience and successfully achieved my PCIfA qualification.

Alongside my role in CAS as Honorary Membership Secretary, I also:

I volunteer as Branch Leader for Cornwall Young Archaeologists’ Club; in October 2025, we became officially recognised by the CBA.

I manage social media for CIfA’s Information Management Special Interest Group (IMSIG) and recently attended the CIfA conference.

I am close to completing my foundation degree in archaeology through the University of Plymouth at Truro University Centre.

My foundation year dissertation focused on the structured deposition of Trevisker Ware in Roundhouse 3 at Boden.

I plan to begin a BSc at Truro University Centre in September and hope to progress to a master’s degree at the University of Leicester the following year.

I was born in Helston and attended Helston Grammar School. I read history at the University of Leicester 1970–73, when Charles Thomas was professor there. Then a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at King Alfred’s College, Winchester (1976–77). I became a member of the Institute for Field Archaeologists in 1984 MCIfA (no 381), and joined the Prehistoric Society the same year. I was an Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University 2007–12.

My first dig was the Romano-British saltworks at Trebarveth in 1969, when I joined CAS. I was a volunteer at Carn Brea, 1970–71. I rediscovered archaeology during the Central Excavation Unit (CEU)/CAS excavation at Carngoon Bank, The Lizard, in autumn 1979. From 1980 I worked for various organisations including: CEU, Colchester Archaeological Trust, the Committee for Rescue Archaeology in Avon, Gloucestershire and Somerset (CRAAGS), Wessex Archaeology, Essex County Council, the Passmore Edwards Museum, the Museum of London (Department of Urban Archaeology), Cadw, Exeter Archaeology, etc. Starting as a volunteer, I have held job titles containing almost every combination of the words ‘site’, ‘assistant’ and ‘supervisor’. I was Research Officer for Southampton City Museums on the extensive Early Middle Saxon site at Six Dials (Hamwic), 1986–87.

My all-time favourite dig was the Cotswold-Severn Neolithic long cairn at Hazleton North (1981–82), directed by the great Alan Saville.

I joined Cornwall Archaeological Unit as a field surveyor in 1991. From 2002 I was senior archaeologist with special responsibility for maritime projects and the Isles of Scilly. Notable Scillonian projects included the Bryher sword and mirror burial in 1999, the Lyonesse Project and the historic environment research framework for the islands (SHERF). Favourite maritime project was the Royal Ann Galley Marine Environmental Assessment.

I took voluntary redundancy in December 2018. I am now a semi-retired, self-employed archaeologist/heritage specialist.

I’m a trustee of the Museum of Cornish Life, Helston. Currently Hon Editor of the Society’s journal.

My career in journalism began in the newsroom of The Cornishman, Penzance, where I was tolerated as a (no doubt irritating) unpaid trainee during school holidays and at weekends. My formal apprenticeship was on a series of weekly newspapers in Kent, followed by posts as a reporter on daily newspapers before a change of medium took me to Yorkshire Television. I spent 12 years in Leeds as a News Editor, Producer, Director, and ultimately the Editor of a weekly documentary series, before moving to London, where I was News Editor of Channel Four News.

I turned from poacher to gamekeeper for the final phase of my salaried years, running the Press Office at North Yorkshire County Council.

I am now retired, and live in Wensleydale. In addition to the CAS Newsletter, I edit two other publications: the journals of the Charles Close Society for the Study of Ordnance Survey Maps, and of the Edward Thomas Fellowship. My article on Edward Thomas’s visits to Cornwall in 1908 and 1909, based on his Field Notebooks, is due to be published in the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall.

I have been interested in Archaeology since aged six, living outside London. Worked for BA at Heathrow Airport before moving to Cornwall in 1976. I did many jobs here but worked as a librarian in education beginning in 1991, finally retiring in 2022. Have been involved in archaeology in Cornwall since 2002. I am one of the more chronologically ancient members of the committee. Gained my BSc Archaeology in 2009 and was consequently press-ganged onto the Cornwall Archaeological Society committee in 2009/2010.

My responsibilities within the committee have developed and evolved as time has progressed. They cover a broad range of roles including:

Informing members through email of future walks, lectures, meetings and other events of interest – not necessarily organised by CAS.

Emailing members the CAS e-newsletter three times a year.

Am involved in the organisation of CAS conferences from helping the Events Group Chair and attending the logistic meetings, to publicity of the event. At present I am involved in the setting up of the biennial Archaeology in Cornwall Conference, to be held in October this year.

Chair CAS Publicity Group meetings. The group consists of Pete Herring, the Webmaster – Ben Sumpter, Social Media co-ordinators – Sam Barnes-Knight and Laura Miucci, Andrew Darling and myself. The group is new and the members are just settling into their roles.

I sit in and contribute where possible on other CAS Trustee Groups meetings, these include Events and Investigations.

In the past year I have been involved in the organisation and sales of various pieces of merchandise for the Society and Castilly Henge Project. (This has happened thanks to the encouragement from Pete Herring and assistance from Marta Patti, a graphic designer and CAS member). Attending and offering merchandise at as many external events as possible.

Iain has had a very long association with the monitoring and on-going protection of Cornwall’s 1,500-ish scheduled ancient monuments. Born and bred in the former stannary town of Liskeard, the Moor has always been at his door and etched in his heart. Working voluntarily to raise the profile of the southern area of Bodmin Moor through walks and talks for over 40 years, as a member of CAS and a forming member of the off-shoot Caradon Group (now Caradon Archaeology) with mentor Geoff Walford, throughout that time.

After a serious illness in his early 40s and a chance to go back and make amends for somewhat underwhelming school days, he achieved a foundation degree in History, Heritage & Archaeology, then a BA Hons in History, whilst also completing his Certificate in Education and working for Cornwall Adult Education Service as a tutor. Stepping then, straight into roles at the then Cornwall Record Office as a learning officer and the Caradon Hill Area Heritage Project as officer for learning and historic environment. It was in this latter role that he gradually took over the reins from Peter Cornell and started to co-ordinate the Area Representatives in and around 2005. Further roles developed on the groundbreaking – NLHF and CC funded – Kresen Kernow Project and as learning and activities officer on the CAS supported Cornwall AONB’s Monumental Improvement project, after sitting on the partnership board for CAS during the development of the project. Now Cornwall National Landscape, Iain has coordinated the learning and activities of two other projects and is about to start another, the Heart of Natural Beauty. Iain also works as a freelance in heritage and research and has filled in/helped out with roles for the Cornwall & IoS HER and the Farming in Protected Landscapes teams.

Iain’s strengths lie in partnership working and being able to engage with and carry along with him those who love and wish to protect the historic environment of Cornwall. Whilst at Kresen Kernow he and James Gossip along with several primary teaching staff developed their Prehistoric Cornwall workshop, still their number one asked for visit. He and James pledged to restart the Cornwall Young Archaeologists’ Club at this time, as it had recently closed down with the sad death of former CAS President Tony Blackman. This became reality during the MI project and now has a membership of 58, and is affiliated to the CBA and he, James & joint leader Tanya Brown are supported by an amazing team of Cornwall-based heritage professionals, who between them have been running 12 events per year for our next generation of heritage professionals. As a renowned archaeological non-digger (a facilitator not an excavator) he has taken a bit of stick over the years, but always manages to sniff out and deliver to his teams, the best local pasties and keeps them well topped up with these and other baked goods, tea, coffee etc. And of course, always with a dose of good humour.

Some of my earliest memories are of visiting prehistoric sites in north Wiltshire, including Avebury, Silbury Hill and West Kennett. This stimulated a lifelong interest in Prehistory and outside of work I have visited hundreds of sites, particularly in Wiltshire, Derbyshire and Cornwall.

I studied Mathematics at University, before qualifying as a teacher and working in a primary school. I was then lucky enough to obtain funding for a doctorate on Computer Applications to Archaeology. My research focussed on Irish megalithic tombs which meant I read extensively in a range of disciplines including British and Irish prehistory, particularly the Neolithic and early Bronze Age.

Following this, I spent over thirty years working in the adult community learning sector, initially teaching for a range of organisations including the WEA, local education authorities, and FE Colleges. I became a national director of the WEA, managing the Association’s IT department, and providing the Association with specialist skills and knowledge in funding frameworks and the use of data. I established a research department developing evidence on the impact of adult learning and held responsibility for the WEA’s ICT curriculum offer and the use of information technology for teaching and learning (ILT).

On my retirement I collated a substantial archive of material relating to working class life in Swindon now housed in the Swindon Local Studies Library. In partnership with a local voluntary heritage group, I wrote a successful Heritage Lottery bid which financed the production of an award-winning publication.

Throughout my life I have visited West Penwith regularly and have been lucky enough to move to Penzance where I became involved with the Cornwall Archaeological Society. Currently, I am the CAS Events Group coordinator, have introduced our online ticketing system, organised a series of annual lectures in Penzance, and led field walks.

Ben Sumpter is a Cornish mining historian, classicist, underground explorer, and entrepreneur best known as the co-owner of Cornwall Underground Adventures, the pioneering company that introduced guided exploration tours of Cornwall’s abandoned tin mines. Based in West Cornwall, he has built a reputation for combining historical scholarship, technical knowledge, and authentic adventure experiences to reveal the underground world that shaped Cornwall’s industrial heritage. Since co-founding Cornwall Underground Adventures in 2019, Ben has helped create one of the region’s most distinctive tourism experiences, leading groups through historic mine workings around the St Just mining district within the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site.

Alongside his work in heritage tourism and mining history research, Ben is the founder and principal investigator of the Kassiteros Project, an interdisciplinary study of the ancient tin trade between Cornwall and the Mediterranean world. Drawing on classical literature, archaeology, geology, and mining history, the project investigates the legendary west-Atlantic “Tin Islands” described by Greek and Roman writers and Cornwall’s role in ancient trade networks. His research places particular emphasis on interpreting ancient Greek and Roman sources relating to Atlantic trade and understanding how Cornwall’s mineral wealth influenced the development of early international exchange.

Widely regarded as one of Cornwall’s foremost mining historians, Ben combines archival research with practical underground exploration to preserve and interpret Cornwall’s industrial past. An experienced caver and mine explorer, he has documented countless historic mine sites across Cornwall and delivered talks on mining history, exploration, archaeology, and classics for organisations including the Cornwall Archaeological Society, of which he has been a member since 2020, as well as university groups. Known for his calm leadership, historical insight, and enthusiasm for Cornwall’s heritage, Ben continues to promote safe, immersive, and historically grounded underground experiences for visitors from around the world.

Dr Imogen Wood is an independent ceramic specialist in Prehistoric pottery and a leading national specialist in petrographic analysis with over 30 years’ experience working in both the commercial and research sectors. Working with Prehistoric, Romano-British and early medieval ceramics. Her position on the CIfA Finds Group committee shapes guidance on handling and reporting on ceramics. Growing up in Cornwall she developed a passion for Archaeology and after gaining a BA from Durham University she went on to do an MA and PhD at Exeter University where she currently lives with her family. Imogen has been involved with CAS since her teens and was CAS secretary 1999-2000, lectures officer 2010-2012 and is currently chair of the investigations sub-committee.

After completing an undergraduate degree in art history, in 2003 I started an MA in Museum Studies at the University of Manchester which is where my historic environment career began. As part of the degree, I undertook a work placement helping to write a conservation plan on the city’s town hall complex which introduced me to architectural history and ultimately swayed me away from the museum world. A research scholarship on Manchester’s Board Schools followed (published by the Victorian Society in 2009), then three years with the Architectural History Practice, an MSc in Historic Building Conservation from the University of Bath, and a place on the acclaimed English Heritage Historic Environment Traineeship Scheme.

In 2018, after a 24-year absence, I moved home to Cornwall, working for the Tamar Valley AONB and completing the Calstock Roman Fort project (my first ‘real’ experience of archaeology!) and the successful Helping Hands for Heritage Project; it was through these projects I met many of the CAS Trustees. Since 2017 I have been a listing adviser at Historic England in the south-west region. My work covers the listing of buildings and scheduling of monuments mainly in Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly, Plymouth and north Devon.

Outside of work I have been on the Council of the Cornish Buildings Group since 2016, and I am secretary for my local history group in St Tudy. I have also been on the committee for the Twentieth Century Society south-west group (disbanded 2021) but I am continuing my interest in all things modern with current research into Cornwall County Council Architects’ Department under FK Hicklin 1956-1963. With CAS I am an Area Rep and Cornwall YAC branch assistant and help with the society’s social media.

Community archaeologist and finds specialist.

Aficionado of archaeology since age six, after participating in my first excavation.

Born and raised in West Penwith, spending much of my childhood exploring Cornish archaeology, heritage sites, museums, and YAC events.

Truro College: Medieval History and Archaeology, before University of Kent: Joint Honours Degree in French and History, with Minor in Archaeology/Classics. Year Abroad: T.E.A.L Languages Assistant (France).

During my 20s, I worked as a T.E.A.L Assistant across the world: Italy, Quebec, Louisiana, and Spain (Catalonia, then Andalusia), where I trained and became a fully-fledged T.E.A.L Teacher. Meanwhile, spoken-word artist since 2016; performing poetry worldwide (inc. national Programmes, prominent festivals, multiple-slam winner). Two traditionally-published collections: 2017, 2019.

During COVID, I completed my Archaeology MSc degree at University College Dublin: 50% Experimental Archaeology, and 50% Material Culture (scientific research, finds processes, and museum collections). Time in Ireland: professionally trained as an osteologist (high-profile sites), and as a ceramics specialist in my free time. From here, a Post-Ex Manager (ceramic finds), before becoming a Finds Manager/Site Supervisor.

Since graduating in 2023: Research Assistant for UCD, and freelance finds specialist.

2020-present: Working closely with Cornwall Archaeological Unit: excavations, archives, and post-ex, but more recently, finds reports. In 2023: mainly post-ex work, inc. professionally training, then working, in historic wall-painting conservation, (sites: Italy, Spain, and Portugal).

October 2023-March 2025: Finds Liaison Officer for Cornwall & Isles of Scilly.

2025-present: Freelance consultant; namely a finds specialist (reports etc), Director of SEND-informed social enterprise, Lore & Piece: in-schools and community workshops, plus 2 days a week as a Teaching Assistant. My new roles unite my two passions: teaching and community archaeology.

Other roles: Archaeology Officer for the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, Lead Facilitator with re-launched Cornwall YAC Club, Research Associate of the Institute of Cornish Studies, and Secretary: CIfA ‘Community Archaeology’ SIG. Additionally, Girlguiding Leader (since 2012), polyglot, artist, botany enthusiast and, inevitably, neuro-divergent!

I have been a committee member for CAS since April 2026 and am responsible for organizing the Cornwall Online series of talks for 2026-27.

I have been a professional field archaeologist since 1996, working with various units as an excavator interspersed with periods working with the National Trust in Wales undertaking landscape surveys. In 2001 I joined CAU as a Project Officer running large excavations on the mainland and Scilly, various pipeline schemes, alongside smaller watching briefs, assessments, surveys, and GIS projects. I have since managed large excavations at the Tregurra Park and Ride near Truro, the A30 upgrade between Chiverton and Carland Cross, and the St Austell to A30 Link Road at Roche, as well as smaller excavations of barrows at Newlyn Downs and Treskyber, and Bronze Age to Roman settlements at Newquay, Padstow and Carruan, St Minver. Between 2015 and 2020 I also provided archaeological planning advice for Cornwall Council.

My main interests are in prehistoric to early medieval archaeology, and in particular settlement and crafting and industrial processes, and also the extent of the Roman influence in Cornwall. I am currently working on the publication programmes for the A30 (Mesolithic structures and artefact scatter, Neolithic structures and pits, Bronze Age barrows and roundhouses, Bronze and Iron Age metalworking, Iron Age, Romano-British, and early medieval settlement, Roman road sections, WWII military sites) and Newquay housing (Neolithic pits and ring-ditches, Bronze Age roundhouses, Romano-British settlement) sites.

Highlights of the last year include getting back out into the field after five desk-bound years by working at Castilly Henge for CAU with CAS and Historic England, and also acquiring a small piece of woodland containing a Scheduled round, which I hope to improve over the next few years by removing the bracken presently infesting it.