Thursday 8th October 2026
‘The Lost American Colony of Roanoke’
Professor Mark Horton FSA, Pro Vice-Chancellor, Royal Agricultural University
Professor Horton will be talking about his research and excavations that explore what happened to the ‘lost’ American colony of Roanoke. In 1587, over 100 English settlers vanished from Roanoke Island, leaving behind almost no trace – except one cryptic word carved into a tree: Croatoan. Was the colony destroyed, absorbed into Indigenous communities, or did something even stranger happen?
Professor Mark Horton is currently Pro Vice Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at the Royal Agricultural University and Emeritus Professor at the University of Bristol. His research has taken him on fieldwork all over the world and he has been a passionate advocate for the public understanding of the past through TV, radio and media. He was closely involved in the early series of Time Team and has worked with the History, National Geographic and Discovery channels.
Thursday 12th November 2026
‘The Druid’s Sacrifice: Searching for Llyn Cerrig Bach‘
Richard Osgood MBE, Senior Historic Advisor, Defence Infrastructure Organisation
Recent work at RAF Valley, Anglesey continued the search for more of the fabled Llyn Cerrig Bach late Iron Age assemblage, some of which came to light in the 1940s during work to extend the airfield for American bombers during the Allied war effort. The hoard is one of the most important collections discovered in the UK comprising over 150 bronze and iron objects deposited between 300BC and 100AD.
Richard Osgood is the Senior Historic Advisor in the DIO (Defence Infrastructure Organisation) within the MOD. He was voted Archaeologist of the Year by Current Archaeology Magazine in 2019 and awarded an MBE in 2021 for his work on Operation Nightingale, providing mental health benefits to military veterans through heritage work on archaeological digs.
Thursday 10th December 2026
‘Nabobs : Bath & India in the 18th Century’
Colin Fisher, Bath Mayor’s Guide
In the eighteenth century, Britain’s growing empire in India brought immense wealth and influence to a new class of men known as ‘Nabobs’. Many returned to Britain with fortunes made through the East India Company and settled in fashionable Bath. Their wealth and extravagant lifestyles attracted both admiration, envy and distaste, some questioning the sources of their riches and the influence they sought to wield. This talk explores the connections between Bath and India, and the fascinating lives, fortunes and legacies of the Nabobs who helped shape the city.
Colin Fisher has researched many aspects of the history of Bath and has been a Mayor’s Guide for many years.
Wednesday 13th January 2027
‘Exploring the lakeshore Neolithic of southeast Europe’
Professor Amy Bogaard, Professor of Neolithic and Bronze Age Archaeology, University of Oxford
Recent archaeological research in the ‘lake district’ of the southwest Balkans (northern Greece, North Macedonia and Albania) has explored Europe’s earliest lakeshore pile-built settlements. Funded by a Synergy grant of the European Research Council, this research by the ‘EXPLO’ project (a collaboration of the universities of Thessaloniki, Bern and Oxford) has investigated lakeshore villages that were established in the 6th millennium BCE, more than 1000 years earlier than the well-known lakeshore settlements of the circum-Alpine region. The waterlogged archaeology of these wetland settlements in the southwest Balkans, featuring excellent organic preservation and high-resolution dendrochronology, reveals the rhythms and details of everyday life in the Neolithic, illuminating dimensions of this period in southeast Europe that had remained obscure until now due to limited organic preservation on dryland sites.
Professor Amy Bogaard is a Canadian archaeologist and Professor of Neolithic and Bronze Age Archaeology at the University of Oxford, specializing in early farming systems, archaeobotany, and their social implications, including resilience and inequality. A Fellow of the British Academy, her work spans Europe and western Asia and her research focus is early farming practice from farming origins to early cities. Amy will be sharing the results of her multi-country project centring on Lake Ohrid.
Thursday 11th February 2027
‘New Research Directions at the Roman Baths’
Amanda Hart, Director of Archaeology & Art at the Roman Baths and Victoria Art Gallery, Bath
Discover how new research is transforming our understanding of Aquae Sulis. In this talk, Amanda will discuss ongoing scientific and curatorial research of osteobiographies and inscriptions to reassess the overlooked stories of women, children, migrants, and the enslaved. Reimagining the Roman Baths highlights how these insights are shaping a bold new interpretation of the museum, bringing a richer and more inclusive history to life for visitors.
Amanda Hart, Director of Archaeology and Art, leads the Curatorial and Learning and Participation Teams at the Roman Baths and Victoria Art Gallery. She is an Archaeologist and Fellow of the Museums Association and is currently researching new interpretative themes for the Roman Baths that will diversify the stories and modernise the Roman Baths experience.
Thursday 11th March 2027
AGM and Members’ projects
All talks start at 7:30pm.
Photo by Ad Meskens – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12567818