Landscape Archaeology Training Course

Take your skills to the next level by joining our week long

‘Exploring Landscape Archaeology’
Course 2026 & 2027

at King’s Clipstone, and around Sherwood Forest

Price £375 per person

Community Archaeology Nottinghamshire, Community Archaeology Derbyshire, Community Archaeology Leicestershire, Community Archaeology East Midlands, Mercian Archaeological Services Community Archaeology for Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Sherwood Forest, Leicestershire and the East Midlands. Community Archaeology Nottinghamshire, Community Archaeology East Midlands, Community Archaeology Leicestershire. Archaeological

“Exploring Landscape Archaeology” Course

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email: info@mercian-as.co.uk

2026 Dates:

Week: 5th - 9th October

2027 Dates:

Week: 17th - 21st May

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The great WG Hoksins, author of the Making of the English Landsacpe, wrote: “to those who know how to read it aright, the English Landscape is the richest historical document we possess”.

This 5-day Landscape Archaeology course combines class-room lectures, field visits, and site tours, to give an immersive learning experience, introducing students to the wide and exciting field of landscape archaeology and landscape history, and how to not only begin reading the landscape, but to attempt to better understand the ideas, philosophies and great movements in history that have helped to shape it.

The course looks at the development of the English (and at times the British landscape) from prehistory to the mid-19th century (see the course outline below).

“a fantastic… tour of the history of mankind in Britain and the impact on the physical environment” - HA 2025.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the course and have spent the last few weeks wandering round on walks with ’new’ eyes…” - GB 2025.

“The course brought together… geography, history, environmental science and archaeology… in order to build a complete understanding of the landscape…by the end of the course I had not only gained a solid foundation in landscape archaeology but also a greater appreciation for the stories hidden in our everyday surroundings” - SV 2025.

The course uses the legendary landscape of Sherwood Forest as the main case study, with site visits to Creswell Crags, Thynghowe and Robin Hood’s Hill, Laxton Open Field village, the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve, and Thoresby Park, and also includes examples from around the UK and the wider world, to enable students to experience the subject first-hand and to begin seeing the landscape in a new way.

The course has a strong focus on not only the changes in landscape use over time, but also how peoples relationship to the landscape, in terms of it was viewed and imagined, changed over time as well.

The aim of the course is also to help change the way attendees look at landscapes, not only in terms of their development over time, but also in relation to the stories they contain, and to realise landscapes are rich with cultural memory and identity.

The course therefore covers themes including:

Recording the landscape - referring to how we know what we know and the research that has led to understandings and theories.

Landscape Development - covering the history of the landscape and how it developed and changed,.

and the Perceived landscape - covering mythology, ritual and religion, Pagan and Christian, animate landscapes in pre-Christian times, perceptions of pre-historic monuments by later generations and peoples, the impact of ideas such as chivalry and Arthurian romance literature, philosophical movements - including Rationalism and Empiricism, the impact of ancient writers such as Virgil, Horace and Ovid, on renaissance and landscape movements into the 18th and 19th centuries, and the emergence of the hypnotic ideas of Arcadia. The ideas influenced by Absolutist monarchy and Constitutional monarchy, Whigs, Tories, Roundheads and Cavaliers, the Grand Tour, Claudian landscapes, landscape gardeners such as Lancelot Capability Brown and Humphry Repton, the Picturesque movement, the Beautiful and the Sublime, the Classical and Romantic eras, and how poets and painters including Wordsworth and Keats, Constable and Turner, have helped shape our own views of the landscapes overtime…and much more besides!

Click the picture below to see 2025
photo gallery

The course begins by introducing the history of landscape archaeology as a discipline and the evolution of the philosophies of landscape archaeology over time.

It also presents many of the methods available for examining, recording and viewing the landscape, and for reconstructing historic landscapes, including:

topographic survey,
geophysical survey,
LiDAR and landscapes,
multi-spectral data,
historic mapping analysis,
aerial photography,
archaeoastronomy, and the relationship of landscapes to skyscapes.

The physical landscape is explored including:

the geological formations (and geological history),
soils,
topography,
rivers,

and in particular the resultant impact these physical aspects have on subsequent settlement patterns and land-use.

The human landscape is then studied in relation to this underlying physical landscape, including the evolution of landscapes over time from prehistoric to present day.

settlement patterns,
toponymic survey (place-name studies) and what place-names reveal of the physical and cultural landscape.
Villagescapes and daily life,
geology and the built environment,
agricultural practices (pastoral and arable),

the importance of different plants and their uses, and the impact on the landscape (focusing on Sherwood Forest).

The course then looks at different layers of cultural, and imagined landscapes:

political and administrative (including Viking assembly, hunting, and Forest law as local case studies),
human landscapes and experience,
philosophy and landscape,
art, poetry, literature and landscape,
skyscapes and monuments,
allegory and landscape (literary, religious and cultural - case studies include Clipstone and the Designed medieval landscape),
legendary landscapes (including Robin Hood).
Enclosure, and clearing of the common land,
18th and 19th century English Landscape Garden design, and the Dukeries Estates, including Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton,
Romanticism, notions of beauty, the sublime, and the picturesque, and their impact on 17th 18th, and 19th century landscapes
and much more…

The course has a strong focus on exploring the subjective human experience of landscapes in the past including:

Cognitive landscapes
Phenomenology of landscape

The course is located at King John's Palace in Sherwood Forest, and includes site visits around the Sherwood Forest landscape.

Your course tutor will be:

Andy Gaunt, MA, BSc.
Company Director and Archaeologist

Andy’s main specialism is Landscape Archaeology.

As a Landscape Archaeologist Andy combines knowledge from a wide spectrum of disciplines including archaeology, history, geology, historical and cultural geography, skyscape archaeology, archaeoastronomy, anthropology, toponomics, philosophy, art, music, literature, and more, to study the human experience of landscapes over time, and the impact of these elements on landscapes and the way they developed.

He is particularly interested in how human thought and the major movements in human culture have shaped landscapes over time- from the medieval desires of kings, through the Renaissance, Enlightenment, and Romantic eras, into modern times, and the impacts of industry, modern forestry and wars.

He is recognised for his knowledge of Sherwood Forest, its landscape, people and medieval administration and has research interests in medieval archaeology, the medieval landscape; settlement, elite and designed landscapes, medieval forests, parkland and hunting landscapes, medieval hunting, medieval romance literature and chivalry, and the medieval legends of Robin Hood. He has spent many years investigating the settlement and landscape of Clipstone and Sherwood Forest in the Medieval period. Notably, he identified medieval Clipstone as a designed hunting and Arthurian romance landscape, and is also undertaking research into the development of the Sherwood Forest landscape as a whole from prehistory to modern times.

As a landscape archaeologist he is responsible for Mercian’s geophysical survey, topographic survey, fieldwork and training, and geographic information systems (GIS), LiDAR analysis, research and training.

Alongside his archaeology qualifications and Masters Degree in Landscape Archaeology, GIS and Virtual Environments, he has an Honours Degree in Geology and Geography (BSc).

He regularly talks and presents on archaeology to local groups and at conferences, and is passionate about teaching and education.

He has made a number of TV appearances as an expert including on Channel Four, Channel Five, ARTE (France & Germany), BBC Breakfast, BBC East Midlands Today, and NottsTV.

He appeared in the Channel 5 series “Digging up Britain’s Past”, where he was interviewed about the archaeology of King John’s Palace, and the history and landscape of Sherwood Forest. He has also acted as an episode consultant to Channel Four’s ‘Walking Through History’ offering expert advise and location knowledge, as well as being interviewed by Tony Robinson at King John’s Palace and the Parliament Oak.

He acted as an independent site consultant to Channel Four’s Time Team at King John’s Palace, in Sherwood Forest, for the episode filed there in 2011.

He has also been interviewed a number of times on BBC Radio 4 including the ‘Making History’, and ‘You and Yours” shows. He has been interviewed by the national and international press including the Guardian newspaper, and the New York Observer, and the archaeological press including Current Archaeology, Heritage Daily, and Archaeology Magazine (USA).

He has also provided expert comment and interview on local radio including: Radio Nottingham, Radio Leicester, and local press including The Nottingham Post, Mansfield Chad Newspaper, and the Sherwood Life Magazine.

This course is open to anyone from any background who has a love of thelandscape and the wor laround them

It is suitable for all levels from beginner to experienced archaeologist .

For those wishing to develop their skills, for students and post-graduates seeking to fulfil the experience requirements of their courses… for those wishing to pursue a career in archaeology, or improve their knowledge to give them the edge at work… for those looking to acquire cross-transferable skills… for volunteer wishing to raise their game, impress their friends, and increase their enjoyment of archaeology and heritage through a greater skill set and knowledge base…. through to people simply wishing to learn for the love of learning…

Everyone is welcome… no previous knowledge or experience is required…

Indoor training will take place at the Tin Tabernacle, King John’s Palace. Kings Clipstone. The outdoor elements will take place around the landscape of Sherwood Forest including the Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve

*Please note the course requires people to visit sites in the field and includes a fair amount of walking, also it is necessary to drive to the various sites (lifts may be available from other participants) but access to a car is recommended, as lifts are not able to be provided by Mercian.

About King John’s Palace and Sherwood Forest

The classroom elements of the course are based at King John’s Palace in Kings Clipstone, Sherwood Forest- and teaching will include a study of the royal hunting lodge and palatial enclosure of the King’s Houses, now known as King John’s Palace, and the designed landscape that surrounded it.

King John’s Palace was the Royal Heart of Sherwood Forest in the Medieval period.

The site was visited by all 8 kings from Henry II to Richard II, with King John possibly holding a proto-parliament there in the early 13th century and Edward I holding Parliament there in 1290.

Recent archaeological work by Mercian Archaeological Services CIC has helped to reveal the size and importance of the site, and has also interpreted the surrounding lordship as a ‘designed’ medieval romantic hunting landscape.

The palace was sat at the heart of medieval Sherwood Forest and provided amenities for hunting, royal retreat, and the entertaining of foreign royalty and important members of society.

The landscape of Clipstone was identified by the course tutor as a designed romance landscape from the medieval period.

Students at the Archaeology Field School Sherwood Forest

The Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve

The Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve is the legendary home of Robin Hood, and his secret hideaway the 1000 year old major Oak.

It is also home to over 900 ancient oak trees, beautiful wildlife and extensive lowland heath.

This ancient landscape of wood-pasture will be explored though field trips and classroom learning.

The development of that landscape over the centuries will be teased out from historic mapping and documents, and will be combined with seeing the results of archaeological investigations undertaken over many year by Mercian.

Delegates will wander the ancient woods and visit archeological earthworks, and then working with mapping and other techniques will explore how this landscape was formed.

This will then form the back drop to understanding how people have used the landscape and how they have imagined this landscape over the years.

The course is designed to demonstrate how much there is to see hear think of, and learn in a landscape, and what tools are available for understanding landscapes in the past and present.

The course aims to change how delegates think of landscapes in the future.

As part of the course attendees will learn all about Sherwood Forest, Robin Hood, outlaws, foresters, the landscape of Sherwood Forest in medieval times, the forest law, courts, offences and judiciary, the Palace at Clipstone, monasteries, chapels and hermitages, hunting parks, Nottingham Castle, Sheriffs and much more about life in Medieval Sherwood Forest…

All included as part of the course.

In the meantime have a look at the following websites for more information:

Sherwood Forest Archaeology Project pages:

http://mercian-as.co.uk/sherwoodforest.html

http://twitter.com/archistsherwood

http://www.facebook.com/sherwoodforesthistory

King John’s Palace:

http://twitter.com/KingJohnsPalace

http://www.facebook.com/kingjohnspalace

http://twitter.com/KingJohnsPalace

Mercian:

http://www.facebook.com/Mercianarch

http://twitter.com/MercianArch

Bookings

Important information:

On-site toilet facilities are provided, at King John’s Palace, and are available while at the site.
Please note lunch is not provided.
Accommodation is not included.
Please note that this course includes a number of site visits which require delegates to walk for a number of miles at a time, so please contact to discuss any limiting factors with regard to you undertaking the course There are aspects of the course that are less physically challenging. Please contact us if you have any issues.
Delegates will be required to bring a laptop in order to take part directly in GIS and computer-based elements of the course.

Thank you

Please note we do not provide accommodation.

We can provide a list of local accommodation from camping to hotels- but it is the responsibility of the individual booking on to the field school to organise their own accommodation.

Any list provided should not be seen as a recommendation by Mercian Archaeological Services CIC.

To pay by cheque or bank transfer, please contact us below stating which week you wish to attend and how you wish to pay.

or If you require more information before booking please contact us via our email:

info@mercian-as.co.uk

Payment options

You can book your place for the ‘Exploring Landscape Archaeology’ course via a number of ways:

You can pay for your place in full online via the ‘buy now’ option below for the required week. This includes a £200 non-refundable deposit.
You can pay a £200 non-refundable deposit via the second ‘buy now’ option below for the required week. This will reserve your place until we receive your full payment which is required prior to the commencement of the course. You can pay by cheque in FULL or £200 deposit. In order to pay this way please email us first (info@mercian-as.co.uk).
You can pay by direct bank transfer in FULL for £375 or for the £200 deposit. In order to pay this way please contact us first email with your enquiry and we will provide bank details.

PLEASE NOTE:

By booking a place on the field school you are agreeing to abide by Mercian Archaeological Services CIC’s TERMS and CONDITIONS and by our CODE of CONDUCT.

Click here to view full terms and conditions including our health and safety policy

Bookings

Landscape Course booking form- choose your week, and your payment option below and click “Buy Now”

Booking:

Places are limited so please book promptly to avoid disappointment.

‘Exploring Landscape Archaeology’ Week 3: 5th - 9th October

Book your place by paying in FULL £375:

Pay £200 non-refundable DEPOSIT to reserve your place:

Pay OUTSTANDING BALANCE £175:

2026 Dates:

If you are coming to our Landscape Archaeology course and you are new to Sherwood Forest why not stay a while and have a look at some of the other things there are to do in this landscape of legends…

Please have a look at the Information page for more details to enable you to come along and join the field school, and to get the most out of the experience.

The page contains information on getting to the site, ideas about where to stay, what to wear, what to bring, and more.

Community Archaeology in Derbyshire

Community Archaeology in Leicestershire

Community Archaeology Nottinghamshire, Excavation, Research, Volunteering, Community Archaeology Derbyshire, Training, Social, Learning, Community Archaeology Leicestershire, Heritage, Involvement, Belonging, Knowledge sharing, Community Archaeology Lincolnshire, Topographic Survey, Talks and Presentations, Outreach, Archaeology Projects , Open Days, Schools, Finds Processing, Day Schools, Field Schools, Young People, Archaeology and History of Sherwood Forest, Pottery Research, Medieval, Roman, Prehistoric, Community Interest Company, Community Archaeology Nottinghamshire.

Community Archaeology in Nottinghamshire

Community Archaeology East Midlands

Mercian Archaeological Services CIC

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