Waterloo Uncovered 2020


Sadly due to Coronavirus, we won’t be able to excavate this July as planned. Nevertheless, there’s a chance for you to dig ever-deeper into our work. Over the months ahead, we are creating an ambitious virtual programme of talks, articles, films and audio, activities to get involved in, and opportunities to learn much more about the battle, our exploration of the archaeology and our work with beneficiaries. This material will be available for everyone to explore via this website and social media with a launch at the beginning of May. Upcoming content includes:

This material will be available for everyone to explore via this website and social media with a launch at the beginning of May. Upcoming content includes:

  • Professor Tony Pollard gives a series of online talks about the techniques of Battlefield Archaeology and how they have been used to reveal the secrets of Waterloo;
  • Phil Harding describes his passion for the past, which has taken him from the Neolithic to the Napoleonic, and from Time Team to Waterloo;
  • How futuristic virtual reality techniques can unlock the past;
  • Follow our series of short films highlighting the major developments of Waterloo Uncovered’s work on the battlefield since 2015, from revelations about the fight in the “Killing Zone” of Hougoumont, to the discovery of human remains at Mont Saint Jean Field Hospital;
  • Immerse yourself in illustrated articles that allow you to catch up on the background of the Waterloo campaign and special features, like the ballistics of battle;
  • Browse our gallery of Finds images that bring the human history of the battle to life;
  • Dip into some of the moving first-hand accounts by eyewitnesses of the battle and contribute to our Reading to Remember event;
  • Waterloo Uncovered experts share some of their knowledge with top tips on: ethical metal detecting, identifying units that fought in the battle, how to excavate an archaeological trench, Finds conservation, getting the details right as a Napoleonic reenactor. And lots more.

We’ll bring you more news of our virtual programme in the days ahead. So watch this space!

Keep an eye out, too, for our Dig Diary. We’re going to publish this monthly, with news about Finds, interviews and articles, as well as some of our wonderful photographs, taking you into the heart of our work at Waterloo.

Waterloo Uncovered and our partner organisation, LP: Archaeology, are also working away on our latest publication -Waterloo Uncovered Project Review Volume 2. This is full of features and is lavishly illustrated. It will bring you up to date with our work for the period from 2017 to 2018. This should be available soon and promises to be a real page turner. To refresh your memory of our work from the very beginning, you can download a copy of Vol 1 here.

If you’d like to be kept in the loop with what’s what and who’s who, sign up to our newsletter now – we’ll send you monthly updates about WU and our plans, as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes glimpses into our archaeology, what’s coming up and WU’s inner workings…



We’re grateful for your continued interest and support. We hope you’ll be as fascinated by what we’re producing over the coming months as we are. In the meantime, stay well, stay safe -and keep in touch!


Dig Diary

Here’s where you can find out the latest news from WU…