Archaeology

Archaeology In Bristol

Bristol is one of the most important historic cities in Europe, founded about 1000AD.  People have lived in the area for hundreds of thousands of years.  The rich variety of Bristol's archaeology reflects this, including:

• Lower Palaeolithic artefacts, such as those found at Shirehampton.
• Iron Age hillforts and Roman villas and settlements.
• Medieval settlements and buildings.
• 18th and 19th Century industries, sites and settlements.
• The 19th century harbour.
• Twentieth Century sites.

What we do

• Identifying archaeological monuments and advising on their preservation, and recording within Bristol's Historic Environment Record.
• Providing advice to planning officers and developers on the impact of planning applications on heritage assets.
• Advising on the formulation of local planning policies.
• Sharing information about Bristol's history with community groups, building owners, developers, historic environment professionals and other teams within the council.

Visit our new Know Your Place website to explore your neighbourhood through historic maps, images and linked information. 

City Design Group

Shaping quality places

The archaeology officers work within the City Design Group at Bristol City Council.  The Group comprises of two multi-disciplinary teams – Place Shaping and Urban Design and Conservation.

All parts of our services are helping to shape new quality places throughout Bristol. They are also helping to improve the quality of existing neighbourhood areas and sites. As well as archaeology advice, our services include:

•  City Design Initiative
•  Community Involvement
•  Conservation information and advice
•  Legible City projects
•  Landscape Architecture advice and projects
•  Physical Regeneration (Place-shaping) advice and projects
•  Public Art commissions
•  Urban Design advice

For more information visit the City Design Group pages.