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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 25/09/2026

A little late for #FindsFriday but I’ve finally started working through this year’s artefacts from #CerneAbbey At 22mm it's tiny but this fragment of Anglo-Saxon window glass is not only unusual but also really important for our interpretation of the site Just goes to show, size isn’t important

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 01/09/2026

I’m probably being fanciful, but I recently spotted this unusual concrete gravestone in Ecclesfield, Sheffield, and thought it closely resembled a cutler’s grinding wheel. Does anyone know of other 20th-century gravestones whose design reflects the deceased’s profession? #TombTuesday

A gravestone resembling a grinding wheel

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 31/08/2026

Not sure if #MonasteryMonday is a Bluesky thing (it should be, if not), but here are some pictures from my visit last week to the Sufi lodge at Blagaj Tekke, near Mostar. Founded c. 1520, it has a stunning location and architecture, including the cutest little hammam at its heart.

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 22/08/2026

Despite all that happened subsequently, Vučko the wolf, mascot of the 1984 Winter Olympics, is still standing and welcoming you as you arrive at Sarajevo. True resilience.

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 21/08/2026

Great to finally visit Mostar again after so many years. The reconstructed Stari Most bridge is fantastically well done (you’d never know) and a perfect metaphor for post-war healing

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 17/08/2026

Visited the 11th-century Church of St Nicholas on Koločep. Although restored in parts, the interlace decoration around the door is a superb example of pre- Romanesque Dalmatian architecture.

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 25/07/2026

Local volunteer Andrew carefully excavating the top half of a medieval pot at #CerneAbbey as after five days we’re now getting to the great layers

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 19/07/2026

Assistant site director Walter is busy today greeting visitors to our excavations at #CerneAbbey

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 11/07/2026

One of 2025's star finds at #CerneAbbey was this roof boss from the conduit house. An exact match for one at the conduit in Sherborne and almost certainly carved by the same mason. Sherborne's spent the next 487 years exposed to the elements; Cerne's was buried, preserving it in remarkable condition

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 06/07/2026

Just 10 days until we're back digging at #CerneAbbey I'm not sure if we'll have any intact medieval floors to clean again this year, but at least it was good life training for the lad last year...

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 28/06/2026

Spent the last few weeks searching out boundary crosses demarcating the massive medieval parish of Ecclesfield (approx. 28,550 hectares or 112 square miles). Here the lad is showing off the Birley Stone, the shaft is a more recent addition but the base is medieval & mentioned in a charter of AD 1161

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 11/05/2026

Pleased to see my paper on the production and use of millefiori in Britain and Ireland (c. AD 580–850) published open access by @antiquaries.bsky.social A labour of love for a while now and definitely the most colourful illustrations I’ve ever produced, they were a bit of a nightmare to draw up...

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 27/04/2026

Good morning world 🐝 The red mason bees are emerging in my garden this sunny morning

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 18/04/2026

An absolutely gorgeous day here at Sherborne where I’ve been delivering the annual Jim Gibb lecture. The abbey looks resplendent against the cloudless sky!

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 10/02/2026

On another damp, fog-bound day here in the Pennines, I thought I’d share a few of the lustrous fragments of Saxon glass that I've just submitted for publication. Deposited in the early 8th century AD, they still sparkle with joy 1,300 years later 🏺✨

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 05/02/2026

Excited that my volume on the Early Bronze Age coffined burial from Tetney is now published open access by @antiquaries.bsky.social! Now everyone can read about this amazing find dated to 2032 BC and containing an amazing array of environmental and artefactual data. library.oapen.org/viewer/web/v...

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 27/01/2026

Wind, what wind? Today, hardy sheffielduni.bsky.social archaeology students have been out demonstrating their Yorkshire mettle at #CerneAbbey in Dorset, despite Storm Chandra's best efforts

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 21/01/2026

Finally had a chance to go through some of our finds from last year's excavation at #CerneAbbey & thought I would share this gem. Book clasps are quite common finds on monastic sites but this little fella is the finest I've ever excavated & must have come from a pretty fancy prayer book or psalter

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 26/07/2025

Today has been spent excavating an intact (if crushed) section of tiled floor in the east range of #CerneAbbey First laid down in c.1300, it’s survived remarkably well!🏺

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 18/07/2025

Pleased to welcome back team supervisor Walter on our excavations at #CerneAbbey 🏺🐈‍⬛

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 09/07/2025

The big man of Cerne looking resplendent at dusk yesterday. Whilst he usually grabs all the attention, The Trendle earthwork that sits just above him was looking even more fantastic!

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 05/07/2025

...and of course we're looking forward to being joined again by local volunteer and chief mouser, Walter! 🏺 🐈‍⬛

Walter the cat calling for the diggers to get back to work

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 05/07/2025

This time next week all this (and more) should be exposed again as excavations recommence at #CerneAbbey 🏺 We'll continue to work on the late medieval hall but also start investigating the intriguing earlier features that began to appear at the end of last season...

Excavations in 2024 showing walls, a fireplace and floor surfaces from a hall at the monastery

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 03/06/2025

A small selection of medieval tiles found last year at #CerneAbbey 🏺 Perfect entertainment for any jigsaw enthusiasts out there! #TilesOnTuesday

A selection of broken medieval floor tiles decorated with animals and floral designs

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 22/05/2025

Mr Gee is said to have overlaid and replaced a smaller horse, and a single surviving illustration from 1772 shows it was very different. Conventional wisdom is that this horse dates from the late 1600s, but I’m just not sure... (3/4)

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 22/05/2025

The current design is said to have been cut by a Mr Gee in 1778 and a depiction from 1885 shows that it was largely similar to today’s horse, with subtle differences. The steepness of the hill meant that the horse degraded quickly and had to undergo repeated repair. But it wasn’t the first… (2/4)

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 22/05/2025

Thinking about hill figures, another I’m really interested in is the Westbury White Horse. What you see today was permanently ‘preserved’ to prevent erosion by being covered in concrete in 1957. But what lurks beneath is rather more interesting… (1/4)

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 22/05/2025

Unfortunately the area is largely covered by trees today, meaning that for the foreseeable future it will hard to have another look to see what, if anything, was really there. Only Lethbridge knew what he actually saw, and he died in 1971. Perhaps that's what makes the site so intriguing! (5/5)

A photo of Lethbridge looking rather enigmatic!

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 22/05/2025

Furthermore, there are credible historical accounts of giant figures at Wandlebury, the earliest dating from 1605, and from this time on the spot was known locally as Gogmagog Hills, or variations thereof (4/5)

Another air photo of the hill figures after excavation

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 22/05/2025

But he was an experienced, albeit slap-dash, excavator and Keeper of Anglo-Saxon Antiquities at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. So not the von Däniken type figure he is sometimes made out to be today (3/5)

The 1931 Cambridge Antiquarian Society report on Lethbridge's Anglo-Saxon cemetery excavations

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 22/05/2025

Whilst I don't believe for a minute the full 'montage' he published, I can't help thinking that somewhere behind this is a kernel of reality. Lethbridge was certainly a very unorthodox character both professionally and personally; he was an advocate of dowsing and a believer in parapsychology (2/5)

Like drawing of all the figures Lethbridge claims to have identified

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 22/05/2025

Talking again to @helengittos.bsky.social about hill figures, I'm reminded of a 🧵 I posted elsewhere about my favourite ones excavated by TC Lethbridge on Wandlebury Hill, Cambridge in 1954. His findings were dismissed by his contemporaries as a combination of natural & invented features (1/5)

Air photo of a figure excavated by Lethbridge and interpreted as the Mother Goddess

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 20/05/2025

With summer just around the corner, I thought I'd share one of my favourite tiles excavated at #CerneAbbey last year. Perhaps we'll find the other half in a few weeks time? #TilesOnTuesday

A hand holding a medieval floor tile decorated with the rear end of a horse

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 04/03/2025

Last week I had the opportunity to revisit my favourite pub carpet for the first time in several years. It's experienced a lot of wear since I last saw it, and now looks even more medieval! A perfect offering for #TilesOnTuesday ?

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 22/01/2025

Really chuffed that our publication of the gorgeous Scremby Cup has been selected as cambridgeuparchaeo.bsky.social paper of the month ☺️ With Roman enamelwork 🏺, an Anglo-Saxon burial ☠️ and of course lard 🐷, there's a bit of something for everyone! And it's free to download for the next 30 days

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 02/01/2025

Two possible responses to the way 2025 is already unfolding. I'm not sure which approach to adopt in the coming days/weeks.

The painting "The Inundation of The Biesbosch" by Lawrence Alma-Tadema

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 24/12/2024

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 14/12/2024

I'm not sure which is more pleasing, finding out my research is currently fronting the science page of Newsweek, or the fact the Scremby bowl shares top billing with a cat... 🏺 🐈‍⬛ www.newsweek.com/mystery-uniq...

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 07/12/2024

There again he is looking particularly shiny today, so maybe there’s something in it.

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 07/12/2024

My Mrs is trying to persuade me that the cat has shed his summer coat with the changing season. I remain unconvinced…

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 29/11/2024

This picture of me intently examining a rather unusual 'find' uncovered by @lawrence-shaw.bsky.social at #CerneAbbey this summer seems particularly appropriate for #FindsFriday 🏺 🐈‍⬛

Two archaeologists wearing hard hats looking intently at a cat whilst standing in an archaeological trench

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 22/11/2024

I'm very excited with these professional photographs for the report on the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Scremby, which I excavated shortly before the pandemic. The clarity of the mineralised fabric surviving on the back of this cruciform brooch (c.AD 475-550) is astounding! #FindsFriday #FabricFriday

An Anglo-Saxon brooch with surviving mineralised fabric on its back

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 19/11/2024

On a cold and rather dull day, what could be better to cheer one up than this rather chipper fellow! One of my favourite floor tiles that we've excavated at #CerneAbbey! 🏺 #TilesOnTuesday

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 15/11/2024

For #FindsFriday I thought I would share one final montage of medieval window glass fragments excavated this summer at #CerneAbbey Although they've clearly seen better days they're lovely nonetheless!

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 14/11/2024

Medieval window glass usually weather black when buried, like the fragments in my previous post. But this 13th-century piece from #CerneAbbey is remarkably well preserved and really shows the artistry of the painters. For scale, the crosshatched lines are spaced 1-2mm apart 😍

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 14/11/2024

Thought I would share this picture of some delicately painted medieval window glass from my excavation at #CerneAbbey this summer. They're sat on the surface of a mortar floor where they had lain since the were discarded at the Dissolution 485 yrs ago ⛪

Pieces of medieval window glass with painted designs lying on wet mortar floor

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 14/11/2024

This morning, Monty our new rescue cat has gone into 'puddle mode'. A picture of pure kitty contentment! 🐈‍⬛ 💤 #CatsInBaskets

A black and white cat curled up and fast asleep in a basket

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 12/11/2024

Don't worry, I'm not proposing to recycle all my previous posts from *that* other site. However, I am particularly proud of this one and want it saved for posterity. It was posted on 1st April, not that a lot of people seemed to notice the date 😉

A fake medieval floor tile purporting to show a figure of the Cerne Abbas giant

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Hugh Willmott @hugh-willmott.co.uk · 10/11/2024

Although this particular fur friend of mine is sadly no longer with us, on a grey day such as this I'm always cheered up remembering the time she thought fragments of Anglo-Saxon glassmaking crucible were jolly tasty looking cat treats. Disaster was only just avoided... 🐈‍⬛ 🏺 #CatsEatingArchaeology

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