Hinkley Point C

Cotswold Archaeology undertook extensive archaeological works over 137 hectares at Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station, Somerset, on behalf of EDF.  We investigated the site of the power station, as well ancillary sites (a park and ride, worker accommodation and a new bypass around the village of Cannington). The nature of the project required special security vetting and confidentiality agreements, as well as exact programming and scalable resource deployment.

The project required teams of more than 50 archaeologists working over a period of ten years, starting with pre-construction trial-trench evaluations, followed by large open-area excavations and watching briefs. During the post-excavation phase, detailed technical analysis and archiving were carried out. Two volumes on the excavations are now available here (Vol. 1, Vol. 2). We have also disseminated the findings through public talks and events.

We were able to investigate multiple important archaeological sites across a wide landscape, in an area little explored previously. A wealth of information was revealed about how people lived, worked and used this part of Somerset over more than 5,000 years, including prehistoric farmsteads, Roman buildings (including a Villa), an important early medieval (‘Dark Age’) cemetery, and Post-medieval farms.