National Trust Archaeology in Wessex over 38 years

Martin Papworth retired in 2024 after 38 years with the National Trust as their archaeologist in Wessex and this talk highlights some of the archaeological discoveries on National Trust properties during that time. What started in 1986 as a four week contract to supervise volunteer archaeologists at Corfe Castle turned into a career which included the discovery of a Roman temple and town at Kingston Lacy, the unveiling of a medieval hunting lodge, the dating of the Cerne Abbas Giant, the finding of three lost mansions and a 5th-6th century mosaic at Chedworth Roman Villa.

He began his archaeological career at Weymouth College and then worked on various excavations in the UK and New Zealand. Returning to the UK to take a degree in Geography and Landscape Studies his time with the National Trust began in 1986 at Corfe Castle and continued for 38 years providing archaeological advice for National Trust properties in the south-west including the WW2 landscape of Studland Heath, the relict designed gardens of Lacock, Dyrham, Montacute and Stourhead as well as over 30 hillforts and the palaeolithic cave deposits of the Mendips. He has completed an MA in Local History and a PhD on the Iron Age communities of Dorset.