Sussex Archaeology and History Ltd
Lectures, Conferences, Courses and Study Tours in Sussex and beyond
ONLINE ARCHAEOLOGY LECTURE SERIES
Our online archaeology lecture series (formerly USAS) will recommence in October 2026 and run until April 2027.
We have an exciting and varied programme of talks, all of which can be joined live online free of charge.
If you attend as a non-subscriber, you will be able to watch each lecture live as it takes place.
Why not become a subscriber? As well as supporting our programme, a subscription gives you access to a range of additional benefits, including recordings of lectures (where speakers have given permission), reduced prices for conferences and selected events, and access to the online lectures offered by our partner society, the Roman Studies Group of the Surrey Archaeological Society (live lectures only; recordings are not included).
Annual Subscription – £20
Our subscription year runs from 1st September 2026 to 31st August 2027.
As a subscriber, you will enjoy:
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Access to our online archaeology lecture programme
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Recordings of the archaeology lectures (where speaker permission has been given)
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Reduced prices for conferences and selected events
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Access to the live online lectures of our partner society, the Roman Studies Group of the Surrey Archaeological Society
To become a subscriber for the 2026/2027 subscription year, simply complete your payment using the online payment link below.
If you are a current subscriber, we will shortly be inviting you to renew your subscription for 2026/2027.
Online Lecture Programme for 2026/2027
Please note that the October and November talks will take place on Wednesdays.
From December onwards, talks will be held on Monday evenings.
Our programme of talks is shown below and will be updated as further information becomes available. Abstracts and speaker biographies will be added as they are received.
All lectures can be booked free of charge via our Tixoom site.
Please note that not all lectures are available to book yet; additional lectures will be added as details are confirmed.
Wednesday 14th October 2026, 7.30pm
'Was Battle Abbey really founded ‘on the very spot’ where Harold fell?'
Speakers: Dr Rebecca Welshman (University of Liverpool) and Simon Coleman (West Dean College)
The date of the lecture marks the 960th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings!
Wednesday 11th November 2026, 7.30pm
The Sally Christian Lecture 2026
'The Lives and Deaths of Old Buildings'
Speaker: Dr Michael Shapland, FSA (University College London)
Monday 14th December 2026, 7.30pm
'Winchelsea' (title tbc)
Speaker: Nathalie Cohen (National Trust)
Monday 18th January 2027, 7.30pm
'The Manufacture and Decoration of Roman Brooches'
Speaker: Dr Justine Bayley, FSA
Monday 15th February 2027, 7.30pm
'Neolithic Sussex' (title tbc)
Speaker: Dr Jon Baczkowski (CBAS)
Monday 22nd March 2027, 7.30pm
'The space between, reinterpreting relief-patterns on Roman daub and tiles'
Speaker: Han Li, FSA (Senior Roman building material specialist at MOLA London)
Monday 19th April 2027, 7.30pm
The George Holleyman Archaeology Lecture 2026
'The Iron Industry in the Weald from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages'
Speaker: Jeremy Hodgkinson, MA, FSA (WIRG)
Wednesday 14th October 2026
SAH Online Archaeology Lecture
7.30pm
Was Battle Abbey really founded ‘on the very spot’ where Harold fell?
Speakers: Dr Rebecca Welshman (University of Liverpool) and Simon Coleman (West Dean College)
Following our identification of Heathfield Down as an alternative site for the Battle of Hastings (Welshman and Coleman, 2024), and our former talks to Sussex Archaeology and History, we consider the possible reasons why William the Conqueror’s Abbey was founded at Battle.
We examine the source and reliability of the tradition, first recorded in the late 11th century, that William ordered the Abbey to be built on the battlefield on ‘the very spot’ where Harold fell, and how this tradition has since been circulated by chroniclers and historians.
Addressing the possibility that Battle Abbey was not built on the battlefield, we suggest that its siting could be viewed in the context of its proximity to Hastings and its new Norman castle, the seat of the post-Conquest Rape of Hastings. We will also explore how economic and other factors relating to the new town of Hastings and the surrounding area could have influenced the decision to build the abbey at Battle. The talk will then draw parallels between Battle Abbey and other European medieval abbeys built to commemorate battles yet situated some distance from the actual battlefields. Setting the subject in the context of the military events of 1066, we suggest that the siting of England’s first Norman abbey, at Battle, was likely the result of a combination of factors that have hitherto been largely overlooked.
About the speakers:
Dr Rebecca Welshman and Simon Coleman
Dr. Rebecca Welshman is an Honorary Research Fellow of the University of Liverpool. She works on projects concerning ‘the literary archaeology of place’ – the study of texts in the context of geography, history and environment. Her PhD (University of Exeter, 2010–13) titled ‘Imagining Archaeology’ focused on nature and landscape in 19th century literature. She has presented papers at the World Archaeological Congress, Archaeology in Conflict (Vienna, 2010), and ‘Theatres of War: The British Commission for Military History’s New Researchers’ Conference’ (Lancaster, 2019) where she presented a new interpretation of ‘The Hoar Apple Tree’ of the Battle of Hastings. She has published in historical, cultural, and literary studies. Her latest essay, which highlights military associations in the works of Shakespeare, will appear in Reading the River in Shakespeare’s Britain (2024).
Mr. Simon Coleman obtained a BA degree in Ancient History and then qualified as an archivist. He has worked in various academic institutions, including the British Library and the universities of Bath and Sussex, and is now at West Dean College in West Sussex. His work has largely focused on archives from the 19th and 20th centuries covering subjects such as literature, art and political history. Outside work he has written articles for the Richard Jefferies Society. Before attending university, he developed an interest in medieval and ancient battles and investigated theories regarding the locations of some Anglo-Saxon battlefields. On moving to East Sussex in 2014 he started to explore the question of the site of the Battle of Hastings, looking at issues around interpretation of sources, landscape changes, and the influence of ‘official’ narratives of events on current debate.
