Artists to join archaeologists at 1,200-year-old monastery

Creative minds and excavation experts are set to unite at a medieval site for a special two-day celebration of culture and heritage.

The Cookham Abbey monastery, led by Queen Cynethryth in the eighth century, has been excavated by University of Reading staff and students every summer since 2021. Archaeologists returned for more digging in July.

In addition to this year’s excavations, a two-day symposium, “Digging the Bigger Picture” will bring together leading artists and archaeologists to explore creative collaborations and new ways of working together. The event will be accompanied by an Art and Archaeology display, ‘Work in Progress’.

Phyllida Shelley, artist-in-residence at the excavation and archaeologist Keith Abbott, will lead the symposium on Wednesday, 31 July and 1st August 2025 at The Parish Centre and Paddock at Holy Trinity, Church, Cookham.

Phyllida said: “This symposium brings together archaeologists and artists, offering a valuable opportunity to learn from each other’s methods. By learning about and discussing different ways artists have worked with archaeological research projects, we explore how these collaborations can enhance archaeological research, enrich artistic practice, and deepen public engagement with local history."

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Highlights of the symposium, which will also be livestreamed, include keynote talks by Dr Antonia Thomas from Orkney, course leader of the Archaeology and Contemporary Art MA course, University of the Highlands and Islands, and Professor Sarah Casey, Professor in Fine Art and its Histories at Lancaster University. A guided tour of the Cookham Abbey excavation site with Professor Gabor Thomas, lead of the field work, will follow before a panel discussion on developing future collaborations between art and archaeology.

On the second day, 20 artists and archaeologists will attend a half-day workshop to create artwork directly on the archaeological site and develop work inspired by the Cookham excavations.

Last year, five professional artists were invited to join Phyllida Shelley Cookham Abbey to develop artwork inspired by the excavation of Cookham Abbey. Alongside the symposium, the exhibition “River & Earth: Contemporary Art Meets Ancient Ground” will display artwork created by the group of artists inside Holy Trinity Church, next to the Cookham Abbey excavation site

In addition to the symposium, Phyllida Shelley will run the “Down to Earth” programme, a series of five creative engagement workshops taking place during the Cookham Dig season. Each session invites people from the wider community to explore archaeology through printmaking and drawing, inspired by finds from the excavation. The workshops are open to all, with no previous experience necessary.

Details of events and Bookings for The Art and Archaeology symposium “Digging the Bigger Picture” “Down to Earth” are available via the Cookham Abbey website.

Find out more about previous discoveries from excavations at Cookham in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. Read an overview of the Cookham excavations.   

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