Digging deep into history is one of the most fascinating ways to understand our past. If you fancy getting your hands dirty, you can get some hands-on-trowel action at participatory digs in prehistory, Iron Age, Roman and Saxon archaeological sites. Unearth a Viking bone spoon, discover Ice Age rock art or take in the ambience of a hill fort encampment dig at one of the many Roman sites in England. For a more relaxed take on history, dip into the contemporary spa amenities available at sumptuously restored Roman baths. History is part of the present in England!
Travel back 3,500 years to discover a prehistoric causeway at one of the finest Bronze Age archaeological site in Northern Europe, discovered 1982.
Location: Peterborough, Cambridgeshire
Enjoy a 10 min trip on the Needles Park Chairlift and go dinosaur hunting.
Location: Isle of Wight
Follow in the footsteps of Romans as you explore the history of the walls that protected the original City of London.
Location: London, Greater London
Enjoy a deeper exploration into our Roman heritage through reconstructions and live excavations on a visit to Hadrian’s Wall.
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne / Carlisle / Hexham
Britain’s biggest and best reconstruction of a Roman fort is the perfect place to immerse yourself in an ancient way of life.
Location: South Shields, South Tyneside
Housesteads is the most iconic of all the Wall sites and the views and Roman remains are spectacular.
Location: Housesteads, Northumberland
Take a walk around Steel Rigg and Crag Lough to see how the Romans used the natural landscape to maximise the strength of the Empire's frontier.
Location: Steel Rigg, Northumberland
See live archaeological excavations before your eyes at the ancient fort of Vindolanda.
Location: Vindolanda, Northumberland
Hidden in a beautiful limestone gorge you'll find some of Britain's only known Ice Age art.
Location: Creswell, Nottinghamshire
Danebury is perhaps the most extensively studied Iron Age hillfort in Europe. Its intriguing finds can be found at Andover’s Museum of the Iron Age.
Location: Test Valley, Hampshire
Discover how over 2,000 years of history made Whitby Abbey one of England’s most important archaeological sites.
Location: Whitby, North Yorkshire
Join the Wallquest community archaeology project, and discover what secrets lie on the eastern sections of Hadrian’s Wall.
Location: South Shields, Tyne and Wear
Follow in the footsteps of an Emperor along the Hadrian's Wall Path National Trail.
Location: Wallsend, Tyne and Wear
Home to the longest visible stretch of Hadrian’s Wall, Cumbria is one of the best places to start exploring Roman Britain.
Location: Cumbria
See one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time at Sutton Hoo.
Location: Woodbridge, Suffolk
Explore the landscape of Cranborne Chase which inspired the father of modern archaeology, William Fox Pitt.
Location: Cranborne, Dorset
Discover 4th-century Roman England at Chedworth.
Location: Fossebridge, Gloucestershire
The tiny landmass of the Isles of Scilly is home to 239 ancient monuments and archaeological sites, the UK’s greatest density of historic sites.
Location: Isles of Scilly, Cornwall
Uncover Bristol’s hidden treasures as the city’s most beautiful and quirky buildings open their doors to the public for free.
Location: Bristol
VisitEngland would like to invite you to take part in a short survey about our website, it should take no more than a couple of minutes.