Archaeologists and students from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David will take part in a Festival of British Archaeology open day at Strata Florida Abbey.
The entrance archway to Strata Florida Abbey. Image: William M. Connolley., Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.
The event, organised by Cadw in partnership with the University, takes place on 21 July and visitors are invited to participate in guided tours of the abbey, view current excavations, meet conservators working on the historic floor tiles, chat to medieval characters and even have a go at stone carving.
The School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology at the University has a long running collaboration with the Strata Florida site. The Strata Florida Project sets the site in its social, political and landscape contexts, and includes not just the period of the Abbey’s existence, but also its antecedents from the later Iron Age onwards and its successors up to the present day.
The education and interpretation project
Volunteers were recently welcomed to Strata Florida to help the team excavate the Abbey’s Great gatehouse and begin exploration of its infirmary.
Professor David Austin, Director of the Project explains:
“Archaeological and historical work shows that the Abbey was once very large, covering nearly 120 acres, making it the largest known Abbey site in Wales and one of the largest in Europe. It is a large site with a large history, at the heart of Wales.
It is a large site with a large history, at the heart of Wales.
“We are delighted to be part of the Festival and open day as the events are about celebrating the past in the present and are a unique chance to discover and explore the archaeological heritage of this iconic, historically important site.
“We would like to encourage everyone, including young people and their families to visit the site and to see archaeology in action,” concludes Professor Austin.