I’m a historical archaeologist working part-time in heritage funding, with lots of side projects. I am Honorary Treasurer for the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, and an Associated Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
I recently completed a PhD in archaeology at the Universities of Bristol and Exeter, funded by the AHRC through the South, West and Wales Doctoral Training Partnership. My research investigated the landscape and historical archaeology of hare hunting between 1600 and 1800, particularly in terms of what this can reveal about social relationships, animal-human interaction, and the development of early modern sport and sport hunting.
I completed my undergraduate degree at the University of Southampton in 2007, working for Cotswold Archaeology in my summer holiday. Shortly afterwards I joined Historic England on the Silbury Hill Conservation Project and subsequently was awarded an Institute for Archaeologists work-place learning bursary at the National Monuments Record in Swindon. With a brief dip back into the world of commercial digging I rejoined Historic England on the data team working on record enhancement. In 2009 I moved to Cornwall to work as Project Officer at the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (which it really is!), in a role involving everything from orchard surveys to running an Heritage Lottery Fund community heritage project.
I left my job in Cornwall after three years to complete an MA in Landscape Archaeology at the University of Bristol. My dissertation focused on the historical landscape archaeology of a forgotten post-medieval park and its lost country house. During this project I identified a hare warren, which, after much meandering around digital archaeological records and archives looking for clues as to their purpose, became the basis for my PhD proposal. I finally finished my PhD in 2021, and now work part-time for the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Two small children, one cat, one very chasey lurcher, six eight chickens ducks, two guinea pigs and a pony leave not much time for hobbies. That being said, I enjoy travelling (when we’re allowed to), piano, hilly walks, acquiring excessive amounts of camping equipment and I really, really like a good cheese.