Headland Archaeology

Headland Archaeology Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of the RSK Group. Headland provides archaeological services and heritage advice to the construction industry.

Company history

Headland Archaeology Ltd was established in 1996. Headquartered in Edinburgh, this company expanded as a provider of commercial archaeology services in the UK. Expansion into the Irish market led to the establishment of Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd in 2000, in County Cork.

Restructuring of the companies in May and June 2008 involved the renaming of Headland Archaeology Ltd as Headland Group Limited. A new company, Headland Archaeology (UK) Limited, was founded at this time to give, in conjunction with Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd, a coherent structure to the group based on trading areas.

The acquisition of Hereford-based Archaeological Investigations Ltd in 2010 expanded its UK operation. Archaeological Investigations Ltd was subsequently assimilated as a regional office of Headland Archaeology (UK) Limited by October 2010, with the underlying company dissolved in September 2012. The company opened a southeast office in 2011, initially in Leighton Buzzard later moving to Silsoe in Bedfordshire, and a northern office based in Beeston, Leeds in 2015. In December 2011, there was a management buyout of Headland Archaeology (Ireland) Ltd.

The Headland Group was acquired by the RSK Group in March 2019 but continues to trade as Headland Archaeology (UK) Limited.

Registered archaeological organisation

By 2001, Headland Archaeology Ltd had become a Registered Archaeological Organisation with the Institute for Archaeologists (reference number RAO40). This registration has been continued and was transferred to Headland Archaeology (UK) Limited during the company re-organisation in 2008.

Projects

The following are a selection of Headland Archaeology projects.

Major projects

A14 Huntingdon to Cambridge Road Improvement Scheme
M74 northern extension to M8, 19th century urban and industrial sites
Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh
The Newbridge chariot, Edinburgh
Verreville Glass and Pottery Works, Glasgow
The Inchmarnock Project, monastic settlement, Argyll and Bute
Whithorn Priory, a Medieval priory

Ireland

Carlow Bypass N9/N10
N25 Waterford Bypass
N7 Dual Carriageway Nenagh to Limerick

Archaeological excavations

Dubton Farm, Brechin, Angus. A wood-lined souterrain inside an Iron Age roundhouse.
Balblair Cist, Beauly, near Inverness, Bronze Age burial cairn
Bewell Street, Hereford
Burgh by Sands, Aballava, Hadrian's Wall Roman fort
Carrowkeel, N6 road scheme, Ireland. Early Christian and medieval settlement and cemetery
Cowgate, Edinburgh. Medieval town wall
Doune, Stirling, Roman fort
Captain's Cabin, Dunbar, East Lothian, multi-phase settlement
Cathedral Close, Hereford Cathedral
Gasswater, East Ayrshire, medieval turf building
Giles Street, Leith, Edinburgh. Medieval remains
Holm, Inverness, Bronze Age cists
Grassmarket, Edinburgh
Hackness battery, Longhope, Orkney
Shanzie Souterrain, Alyth, Perthshire. Iron Age underground structure
Straiton Quarry, Newport-on-Tay, Fife. Bronze Age cremation burials
Park Square Campus, University of Bedfordshire, Luton [1] [2] [3]
Perceton, North Ayrshire, Medieval Manor
Upper Forth Crossing, Kincardine, Clackmannan. Prehistoric and medieval remains
Queensferry Crossing, Edinburgh and Fife. Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, and medieval remains

Environmental archaeology

Clonycavan Man, Ireland
Geoarchaeological Regional Review of Marine Deposits along the Coastline of Southern England
Isle of Bute Master Chronology
Newrath, County Kilkenny, multi period wetland site
N9/N10 Kilcullen to Waterford scheme, pH analysis of burnt mounds
Old Croghan Man, Ireland
Ötzi, The Tyrolean Ice man, analysis of his last meal