Meetings programme

Every year, the RAI arranges at least three Meetings for its members. The Autumn and Spring meetings consist of one-day or weekend visits to buildings and monuments. Specialist guides accompany us on the visits, many of which provide access to buildings not usually open to the public.

The Summer Meeting is held in a British, Irish or European location. In addition to a comprehensive programme of guided visits to places of special interest, there are evening lectures, and on the last evening, the Annual Dinner of the Institute. The Summer Meeting report is usually published with the following Archaeological Journal.

A few past meetings in London Docklands and Suffolk have been filmed.

Forthcoming Meetings 2021

As there are to be no more paper fliers for meetings (field trips), this note is to give members a heads up. (Information will be updated when dates and further details are available.)

2021
Spring, 14-16 May: Dover (CANCELLED; Alternative Online Event below on 15 May)

15 MAY, 18.00 - 21.00: DOVER'S ENVIRONS
(Online talks - members have been emailed, places are limited and registration is required by 1 May)

'Julius Caesar’s Landing Sites' by Andrew Fitzpatrick
Julius Caesar landed in Britain in 55 and in 54 BC. It has long been believed that in 55 BC Caesar tried to land at Dover but had to disembark further north at Walmer. It is also thought that the two expeditions were largely unsuccessful and had little effect on Britain while in Rome they soon became a distant memory. It was also assumed that the expeditions left few, if any, archaeological traces. The recent discovery of what is thought to be the probable landing site and naval base for the expedition of 54 BC on the Isle of Thanet has challenged all of these views.

This talk will explore why Caesar came to Britain, how the east coast of Kent has changed since that time, and the logistical and naval factors that determined where the fleets landed. In Rome in the expeditions were regarded as a triumph and they had a lasting and significant effect on Britain and led, almost a century later, to its permanent occupation under Claudius.

'Roman Richborough: Some New Insights' by Tony Willmott
The Roman site of Richborough is known as the probable landing site of the Claudian invasion of AD 43, for the construction of a monumental quadrifons arch, which was one of the largest such monuments in the Roman empire, and subsequently for the late Roman fort which was part of the Saxon Shore chain of coastal defences. Less well known is the period in between the two military phases when the site was a major port town, and the amphitheatre which stood on the urban fringe. Over the last 15 years or so, English Heritage/ Historic England have undertaken geophysical survey, excavation, coring, and the reappraisal of aspects of the excavations of the 1920s-30s. This paper will summarise these activities and examine the implications of their results for the understanding of the site.

'The archaeology of Hellfire Corner: National Trust sites at the White Cliffs' by Nathalie Cohen
The National Trust cares for parts of one of England’s most iconic coastlines at the White Cliffs above Dover, where lie the remains of millennia of human activity. From Roman artefacts to World War II heritage, this talk will explore some of the discoveries made at South Foreland Lighthouse, Fan Bay and Langdon Cliffs during a decade of archaeological investigations and research as a result of acquisition, infrastructure and conservation works by the National Trust.

Summer, 10-17 July: Malmö & Copenhagen (POSTPONED until 2022) NEW DATE: 2-9 July 2022 - Full details will follow in due course

Autumn, 23 October: Newark (To be decided in August)

Please note that non-members are not covered by the Royal Archaeological Institute’s Public Liability Insurance and they must arrange their own insurance to enable them to attend Institute events.