Hugh Willmott
@hugh-willmott.bsky.social
Archaeologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield
Archaeology🏺 monasteries ⛪ and the occasional cat 🐈⬛
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/hpdh/people/history-staff/hugh-willmott
https://www.hugh-willmott.co.uk/
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7945-7796
Archaeology🏺 monasteries ⛪ and the occasional cat 🐈⬛
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/hpdh/people/history-staff/hugh-willmott
https://www.hugh-willmott.co.uk/
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7945-7796
It's been a pleasure collaborating with @helengittos.bsky.social on such an engaging and fun project!
Now out! Cerne Abbas: Secrets Beneath the Giant.
A @timeteam.bsky.social special on @hugh-willmott.bsky.social's excavations. It's been a joy to work with Hugh, at Cerne, to do some digging, and to get to know the people and the landscape of so special a place.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY68...
A @timeteam.bsky.social special on @hugh-willmott.bsky.social's excavations. It's been a joy to work with Hugh, at Cerne, to do some digging, and to get to know the people and the landscape of so special a place.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY68...
NEW EPISODE! Cerne Abbas: Secrets Beneath The Giant | TIME TEAM (Dorset) 2025
YouTube video by Time Team Official
www.youtube.com
November 9, 2025 at 11:52 AM
It's been a pleasure collaborating with @helengittos.bsky.social on such an engaging and fun project!
The latest @timeteam.bsky.social feature length episode focusing on our excavations at Cerne Abbey has gone live. It's fantastic to see the work we've been doing over the last couple of years shared with everyone!
🏺 🐈⬛
youtu.be/DY68mzYXWK8?...
🏺 🐈⬛
youtu.be/DY68mzYXWK8?...
NEW EPISODE! Cerne Abbas: Secrets Beneath The Giant | TIME TEAM (Dorset) 2025
YouTube video by Time Team Official
youtu.be
November 8, 2025 at 9:35 PM
The latest @timeteam.bsky.social feature length episode focusing on our excavations at Cerne Abbey has gone live. It's fantastic to see the work we've been doing over the last couple of years shared with everyone!
🏺 🐈⬛
youtu.be/DY68mzYXWK8?...
🏺 🐈⬛
youtu.be/DY68mzYXWK8?...
Well it's been a while in the making, but this Saturday sees the release of the Time Team feature length episode focusing on our work at Cerne Abbey
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Tm...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Tm...
Coming Soon! | Cerne Abbas: Secrets Beneath The Giant | TIME TEAM (Dorset) 2025
YouTube video by Time Team Official
www.youtube.com
November 3, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Well it's been a while in the making, but this Saturday sees the release of the Time Team feature length episode focusing on our work at Cerne Abbey
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Tm...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Tm...
A little teaser from @timeteam.bsky.social highlighting the forthcoming full length episode coming out soon looking at our work at Cerne Abbas... 🙈
youtu.be/lL1ucbcLwLg?...
youtu.be/lL1ucbcLwLg?...
This chalk giant is hiding a secret | Time Team Podcast
YouTube video by Time Team Official
youtu.be
September 17, 2025 at 7:23 PM
A little teaser from @timeteam.bsky.social highlighting the forthcoming full length episode coming out soon looking at our work at Cerne Abbas... 🙈
youtu.be/lL1ucbcLwLg?...
youtu.be/lL1ucbcLwLg?...
Pleased to see some coverage by the BBC of our excavations at #CerneAbbey which concluded at the weekend! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Cerne Abbey: Archaeologists unearth secrets of medieval hall
Archaeologists return to Cerne Abbas to unearth the medieval abbey and its Anglo Saxon predecessor.
www.bbc.co.uk
August 5, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Pleased to see some coverage by the BBC of our excavations at #CerneAbbey which concluded at the weekend! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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!🏺
July 26, 2025 at 1:11 PM
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!🏺
Pleased to welcome back team supervisor Walter on our excavations at #CerneAbbey 🏺🐈⬛
July 18, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Pleased to welcome back team supervisor Walter on our excavations at #CerneAbbey 🏺🐈⬛
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!
July 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
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!
Reposted by Hugh Willmott
A week to go before @hugh-willmott.bsky.social's third season of excavations at #cerneabbey! Here's an @timeteam.bsky.social reminder of what a gloriously evocative site it is.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctpR...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctpR...
Search for the Lost Abbey: Cerne Abbas | Time Team (Dorset)
YouTube video by Time Team Official
www.youtube.com
July 4, 2025 at 3:22 PM
A week to go before @hugh-willmott.bsky.social's third season of excavations at #cerneabbey! Here's an @timeteam.bsky.social reminder of what a gloriously evocative site it is.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctpR...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctpR...
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...
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...
July 5, 2025 at 7:21 AM
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...
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...
A small selection of medieval tiles found last year at #CerneAbbey 🏺
Perfect entertainment for any jigsaw enthusiasts out there!
#TilesOnTuesday
Perfect entertainment for any jigsaw enthusiasts out there!
#TilesOnTuesday
June 3, 2025 at 7:18 AM
A small selection of medieval tiles found last year at #CerneAbbey 🏺
Perfect entertainment for any jigsaw enthusiasts out there!
#TilesOnTuesday
Perfect entertainment for any jigsaw enthusiasts out there!
#TilesOnTuesday
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)
May 22, 2025 at 4:56 PM
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)
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)
May 22, 2025 at 7:30 AM
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)
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
#TilesOnTuesday
May 20, 2025 at 8:23 AM
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
#TilesOnTuesday
Wow, what better way to end a stressful week than to see one’s collaborative research featured on the cover of @appliedspec.bsky.social! All credit to @sheonashankland.bsky.social for leading this impactful project 🏺🦴
Very pleased that my paper with @drjemmakerns.bsky.social @hugh-willmott.bsky.social & Adam Taylor on changes in #bone chemistry with #ageing made the March cover of Applied Spectroscopy! 🌈 😁
@sasspectroscopy.bsky.social @appliedspec.bsky.social
@lancasteruni.bsky.social @uofglasgow.bsky.social
@sasspectroscopy.bsky.social @appliedspec.bsky.social
@lancasteruni.bsky.social @uofglasgow.bsky.social
March 14, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Wow, what better way to end a stressful week than to see one’s collaborative research featured on the cover of @appliedspec.bsky.social! All credit to @sheonashankland.bsky.social for leading this impactful project 🏺🦴
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 ?
It's experienced a lot of wear since I last saw it, and now looks even more medieval!
A perfect offering for #TilesOnTuesday ?
March 4, 2025 at 8:43 AM
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 ?
It's experienced a lot of wear since I last saw it, and now looks even more medieval!
A perfect offering for #TilesOnTuesday ?
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
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
January 22, 2025 at 1:24 PM
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
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
Two possible responses to the way 2025 is already unfolding. I'm not sure which approach to adopt in the coming days/weeks.
January 2, 2025 at 6:05 PM
Two possible responses to the way 2025 is already unfolding. I'm not sure which approach to adopt in the coming days/weeks.
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.
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.
December 24, 2024 at 5:48 PM
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.
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.
Personally, I'd love to see local byelaws insisting "googly eyes" be placed on every public sculpture. I'm just worried the Great British public would respond with "goolies" instead
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ar...
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ar...
Stop sticking googly eyes on sculptures says US city
After googly eyes started appearing on sculptures, a US city council put out a request.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 16, 2024 at 9:07 PM
Personally, I'd love to see local byelaws insisting "googly eyes" be placed on every public sculpture. I'm just worried the Great British public would respond with "goolies" instead
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ar...
www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/ar...
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...
www.newsweek.com/mystery-uniq...
December 14, 2024 at 3:00 PM
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...
www.newsweek.com/mystery-uniq...
Got to say I’m rather honoured to have been able to excavate this amazing cup and also rather pleased with our analysis and publication! 🏺
This cup is just so freakin' cool! 🏺🧪
1,500-year-old Anglo-Saxon burial holds a 'unique' mystery — a Roman goblet once filled with pig fat
The sixth-century burial of an Anglo-Saxon teenage girl surprised archaeologists when they discovered a small third-century Roman goblet full of pig fat near her head.
www.livescience.com
December 10, 2024 at 8:46 AM
Got to say I’m rather honoured to have been able to excavate this amazing cup and also rather pleased with our analysis and publication! 🏺
Nice to see this article highlighting our research into the Scremby Cup. It's got to be the most unusual object I've ever excavated and it has a fascinating biography to it! 🥛🐖
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
1,500-year-old Anglo-Saxon burial holds a 'unique' mystery — a Roman goblet once filled with pig fat
The sixth-century burial of an Anglo-Saxon teenage girl surprised archaeologists when they discovered a small third-century Roman goblet full of pig fat near her head.
www.livescience.com
December 9, 2024 at 5:12 PM
Nice to see this article highlighting our research into the Scremby Cup. It's got to be the most unusual object I've ever excavated and it has a fascinating biography to it! 🥛🐖
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
My Mrs is trying to persuade me that the cat has shed his summer coat with the changing season.
I remain unconvinced…
I remain unconvinced…
December 7, 2024 at 5:33 PM
My Mrs is trying to persuade me that the cat has shed his summer coat with the changing season.
I remain unconvinced…
I remain unconvinced…
For anyone outside of the sector, here's a very accessible and succinct overview of the imminent collapse in UK higher education
It's worth highlighting that only 12% of university income comes from direct government funding...
theweek.com/education/uk...
It's worth highlighting that only 12% of university income comes from direct government funding...
theweek.com/education/uk...
The UK universities in financial crisis
Spiralling costs and fewer international students is leaving universities in serious financial trouble
theweek.com
November 29, 2024 at 3:27 PM
For anyone outside of the sector, here's a very accessible and succinct overview of the imminent collapse in UK higher education
It's worth highlighting that only 12% of university income comes from direct government funding...
theweek.com/education/uk...
It's worth highlighting that only 12% of university income comes from direct government funding...
theweek.com/education/uk...