COLAS lecture meetings are usually held on the third Friday of the month, with the Christmas Social on the second Friday of December.
Online lectures are free to both members and non-members.
Get in touch
Contact us at colas_outreach@yahoo.co.uk
Nearest Tube stations: Bank, Tower Hill, Aldgate and Fenchurch Street.
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> Plan your journey
2025 Lectures and walks
Lectures are currently online only and commence at 7pm
21 November
Knights Templar in London
Starting as humble warrior-monks protecting pilgrims in the Holy Land, the Knights Templar developed a vast global support network and became rich and powerful until their brutal suppression in the early 14th century when they were imprisoned, interrogated and forced to make confessions.
17 October
Archaeologist Gustav Milne talked about 60 years of archaeology in London and the excavations at Baynard’s Castle.
19 September
National Trust archaeologist Nathalie Cohen presented the history of investigation at Bodiam, Sussex and some preliminary results of the National Trust’s Bodiam 100 project.
17 January 2025
Dr Michael Rhodes on Charles Roach Smith and the first museum of London.
21 February. AGM and Lecture.
Excavations near Holborn Viaduct by Alex Blanks, MOLA.
21 March 2025
Excavations at Barn Elms for Tideway by Michael Curnow, MOLA
25 April – lecture online only
The archaeology of London’s modern mega events: from the Great Exhibition to London 2012 – Dr Jonathan Gardner, University of Edinburgh.
16 May 2025
A late-medieval tannery at Stratford: Excavations at Jubilee House with Harry Platts from PCA.
20 June
Dr Steve Ford, Director TVAS, will talked about the prehistoric landscape of west London.
18 July
Short talks by COLAS members on a range of archaeological topics.
2024 Lectures
15 November
Kathy Davidson from Pre-Construct Archaeology – Excavations at 81 Newgate Street in the City of London and the former GPO site
18 October
Ian Jones, Chair of the Enfield Archaeological Society – Roman boats uncovered in Pisa “Merchants, fishermen, ferrymen, bargees and a seagull. Life and work in Roman Pisa”
20 September
The secret micro-archaeological world of pollen & other pesky palynomorphs, including recent work in London
Dr Jane Wheeler of Pre-Construct Archaeology.
21 June
Archaeologists on page, stage and screen
Signe Hoffos presents the exciting career prospects for archaeologists as portrayed in fiction, film, comics and games.
17 May
Excavations at Maritime Academy, Frindsbury. A new palaeolithic site by Letty Ingrey, Archaeology South East.
19 April
Alison Telfer from MOLA presented the results of fieldwork at 4 Frederick’s Place in the heart of the City of London
15 March
Dr. Martin Dearne, Director of Research of the Enfield Archeological Society, gave an overview of 20 years of EAS’s excavations at the Tudor Palace of Elsyng, Enfield.
16 February
Dominic Perring ‘How London got its walls.
19 January – Zoom lecture only
The Enderby Bark Shield
Dr. Sophia Adams, British Museum.
2023
8 December
Seasonal Social
An entertaining quiz, seasonal refreshments, a raffle and a book sale. No lecture this month
17 November
Cosmologies and beliefs at the time of Stonehenge
Dr. Jennifer Wexler.
20 October
Human remains from the River Thames by Dr. Nicola Arthur
22 September
Lord Elgin and the Parthenon Sculptures at the British Museum
Lecture by William Sterling.
> Watch the lecture on YouTube
16 June
London’s Great Plague of 1665
Pete Smith.
> Watch the lecture on YouTube
19 May
Roman London West of the Walbrook.
Ireneo Grosso from PCA.
> Watch the lecture on YouTube
21 April
Fine dining, quarrying, and manufacturing. Medieval & later landuse
with Archaeologist Dougie Killock, from PCA
> Watch the lecture on YouTube
20 January
Thomas Cromwell, Senior Archaeologist with Historic England, presents the results of work at Marble Hill House, Twickenham.
> Watch the lecture on YouTube
17 February
Jane Sidell, Historic England talks about being an Inspector of Ancient Monuments,
> Watch the lecture on YouTube
17 March
Archaeologist Gustav Milne talked about the development of Medieval London.
> Watch the lecture on YouTube
2022
18 November – online talk only – ‘London’s Roman Tools: Artefacts at Work’
Dr Owen Humphreys, Senior Registered Finds Specialist at MOLA.
> Watch the lecture on YouTube
21 October –online talk only
Robert Stephenson talked about the Thames, its myths and mysteries.
26 August
Whitehall Palace in a nutshell
Phil Roberts talked about this lost palace.
17 June
Syon Abbey revisited: reconstructing England’s wealthiest nunnery
Archaeologist Robert Cowie.
20 May
HS2 archaeology: An introduction to St Mary’s in Stoke Mandeville with Guy Hunt, LP Archaeology.
22 April
The Greenwich Park Revealed Project: Community Archaeologist, Andrew Mayfield
> Watch the lecture on YouTube
18 February
Gustav Milne, archaeologist and COLAS President takes an eco-archaeological approach to London’s topography after the Blitz.
> Watch the lecture on YouTube
21 January
Nathalie Cohen, National Trust Regional Archaeologist for Kent and East Sussex talked about her recent work at Smallhythe Place, Kent.
> Watch the lecture on YouTube
COLAS Lectures 2021
15 October – A mammoth tale: the ice age history of the river Thames. Dr Martin Bates explores the prehistory of London’s river over a million years of climate change and shifting landscapes.
Watch the lecture on YouTube
18 June – ‘Revealing Holywell Priory: Recent excavations’ by Matt Edmonds from PCA
Watch the lecture on YouTube
18 April – ‘Medieval London: games, toys and recreation’ by Eliot Benbow
Watch the lecture on our YouTube channel
26 March – ‘The Havering Hoard’. Kate Sumnall, Museum of London
Watch the lecture on YouTube
19 February – ‘Medieval bridge building as an act of piety’. Bruce Watson.
Watch the lecture on YouTube
COLAS Lectures 2020
21 August 2020 – Nathalie Cohen talked about the exciting discoveries at Canterbury cathedral.
Watch the lecture on our YouTube channel
18 September 2020 – Gustav Milne told a forgotten story of the Thames at war during the London Blitz and the teams who saved London from drowning.
Watch the lecture on our YouTube channel
COLAS Lectures 2019
- January 2019: A Conversation about Conservation, Andy Holbrook, Museum of London
- February 2019: AGM and Lecture, Thames Landing Craft, Gustav Milne, UCL
- March 2019: London’s Waterfront from C-12th to 1666, John Schofield, urban archaeologist and architectural historian
- April 2019: City Trowel Blazers: Women in London Archaeology, Dr Sadie Watson, MOLA
- May 2019: Archaeology at Knole House, Nathalie Cohen, National Trust
- June 2019: London in Fragments: A Mudlark’s Treasures, Edward Sandling
- July 2019: Medieval Mass Burial at St Mary Spital, Don Walker, Museum of London
- August 2019: Members’ Night
- September 2019: From Roman Activity East of the Forum to Post-Medieval Guildhall (120 Fenchurch Street), Neil Hawkins, PCA
- October 2019: Public Executions in London, Robert Stephenson, City Guide
- November 2019: London’s Lost City Churches, Signe Hoffos, Friends of the City Churches
COLAS Lectures 2018
- January 2018: Tower Bridge and the Bridge House Estates, Dirk Bennett, Tower Bridge Exhibition
- February 2018: Uncivilised Genes: Human Evolution and the Urban Paradox, Gustav Milne, UCL
- March 2018: The Archaeology of Western Sicily, Ian Jones
- April 2018: The Rediscovery of Roman London: From John Stow to William Stukeley, John Clark, Museum of London
- May 2018: Septimus Severus, First Hammer of the Scots, Dr Simon Elliott
- June 2018: Guided walk around Rotherhithe, Led by City Guide and COLAS Vice-Chairman, Robert Stephenson
- July 2018: Civil War London, The Militarized City, David Flintham, historian
- August 2018: One Thames or Two? The Archaeology of London’s River, Jon Cotton, archaeological consultant
- September 2018: The Archaeology of Fulham Palace, Alexis Haslam, Community Archaeologist
- October 2018: Respect Your Elders – Old Swords in Anglo-Saxon England, Dr Sue Brunning, British Museum
- November 2018: A Sarcophagus and a Roman Road in Southwark, Excavations at 25-29 Harper Road, Ireneo Grosso, PCA
COLAS Lectures 2017
- January 2017: Raising The Curtain, Excavations at the Curtain Theatre, Shoreditch, Heather Knight, MOLA
- February 2017: The Archaeology of Crossrail: Overview and Update, Jay Carver, Crossrail
- March 2017: The Work of a Building Curator for Historic Royal Palaces, Daniel Jackson, HRP
- April 2017: Excavations at 100 Minories, Guy Hunt, LP Archaeology
- May 2017: Ancient Merv, A Forgotten City on the Silk Roads of Central Asia, Tim Williams, Institute of Archaeology UCL
- June 2017: Built on Bones, Cities and Their Skeletons, Dr Brenna Hassett, Natural History Museum
- July 2017: From Battle Bridge To King’s Cross The Making of an Inner London Suburb, Rebecca Haslam PCA
- August 2017: COLAS Members’ Evening
- September 2017: 21 Lime Street, City, Revisited, Again, Lesley Dunwoodie and Ian Betts MOLA
- October 2017: Royal Burials at St George’s Chapel, Windsor, Lesley Grout
- November 2017: Recent Archaeological Discoveries at Holy Family School Walthamstow, Shane Maher PCA
City of London Archaeological Society 