My research focuses primarily on Medieval Archaeology and Castle Studies, and more recently upon Death, Burial and the Funerary Industry, whilst my teaching focuses on Archaeological Practice and Landscape Archaeology. I also have research interests in Ancient Technology, Warfare and Experimental Archaeology, and a professional interest in Archaeological Health and Safety and Professional Practice.

I am currently conducting research on the Archaeology of the Anarchy Period for a publication examining the castles and structures surviving from one of the darkest chapters in English history, the first English Civil War, c.1139-53 AD.  Whilst, as a former gravedigger, I am acutely aware of the current burial space crisis in the funerary industry in the UK, and am leading a research project examining the oral history of gravediggers and cemetery operatives.

From 2005 to 2019, I was Co-Director of the Berkeley Castle Project, a long-term archaeological research project that conducted annual fieldwork at Berkeley Castle, Glous. The Project’s objective was to build a detailed picture of the history and archaeology of the castle and the associated settlement of Berkeley, and the focus for the project can be described as ‘Minster, Manor & Town’. The project uncovered a multi-period site with archaeological features from every period from the Romans to the (second) English Civil War, with significant evidence of a high-status Anglo-Saxon Minster. I was particularly interested in the transition from the Anglo-Saxon minster landscape to the Norman feudal castle-centered landscape.

In 2021/2, a new season of archaeological fieldwork will begin at a new site related to the anarchy and more details of this will be added here soon.

Having worked in Contract Archaeology for 10 years before joining the University, I have a professional interest in Archaeological Health and Safety and Professional Practice.  From 2011 to 2014, I worked with a group of specialists from industry and commerce helping to develop national H&S policy, acting as advisors for the Health and Safety Executive regarding the CDM Regulations and Archaeology. In 2014, I was elected to the Advisory Council for the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (CIfA) and in 2021 gained Membership level (MCIfA) of the CIfA.