The Geoarchaeology of Winchester: a Sub-Surface Tour

Tuesday 30th June 2026

Keith Wilkinson, Professor of Geoarchaeology at the University of Winchester, gave an excellent talk with a helpful handout.

He described the geological context of Winchester in general and Oram’s Arbour in particular (where he’d done a dig and, among earlier relics, found that the bank on the west side contained air-raid shelters built during the war by people living in Clifton Road).

We walked down to the site of a bore-hole at Staple Gardens and then to one in Lower Brook Street car-park, where he explained the results of the core samples shown on his handout.

We didn’t have time to complete the walk, which would have taken us to other bore-hole sites including one by the Cathedral. We suggested that Keith might come back next year for the other half!