James Wright

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Biography

Dr James Wright FSA is a buildings archaeologist, author, lecturer and broadcaster based in Nottingham, UK. He founded Triskele Heritage in 2016.

Hailing from Staffordshire, James has been involved with the world of archaeology for over twenty years. Following graduation from the Department of Archaeology at the University of Nottingham, he began his career working for Trent & Peak Archaeology prior to retraining as a conservation stonemason under the master mason Mark Stafford with formal qualifications obtained from Weymouth College. James then combined both disciplines as Archaeological and Historic Buildings Assistant at Nottinghamshire County Council between 2004-2010, where he ran the Castles of Nottinghamshire Project.

James Wright (right) with Natalie Cohen (centre) of the National Trust and David Sorapure (left) of MOLA at the British Archaeological Awards. Photo: Hannah Kay.

James then moved on to work as a buildings archaeologist and historic stone specialist for the Museum of London Archaeology until the autumn of 2016. He was part of a team which won Best Project at the British Archaeological Awards for his work leading the historic building recording at Knole (Kent) – a building that he worked on for a over decade.

Surveying roof structures for MOLA at the Tower of London. Photo: Greg Laban.

Wright returned to the University of Nottingham as a doctoral researcher funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council in a Collaborative Doctoral Award with the National Trust on Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire. Alongside his research, James has also taught undergraduates in the Department of Archaeology – principally in mediaeval and early modern archaeology, practical archaeology, archaeology in society and buildings archaeology.

Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire

James  has worked in several areas of the heritage sector with experience as a field archaeologist, conservation stonemason, community archaeologist, historic stone specialist, archival researcher, historic graffiti specialist and buildings archaeologist. He also has experience of working within development control in the planning system as well as working with historic environment records.

Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent

His principle interest is buildings archaeology and he has experience of working on properties from the eleventh to twentieth century including castles, great houses, ecclesiastical sites, civic structures, industrial and vernacular architecture. He has led major projects at sites including the Tower of London, Palace of Westminster,  Southwark Cathedral, Knole (Kent), King John’s Palace (Nottinghamshire), St Mary’s Warwick and Tattershall Castle. Recent projects have found James working from Lancashire to Kent and from Wiltshire to Norfolk.

James is a firm believer in public access to archaeology. He has many years experience as a broadcaster with television credits that include Time Team, The Great British Dig and Unearthed. James has contributed many times for radio stations including BBC Radio 4 and the BBC World Service. His podcast appearances include Gone Medieval (with Cat jarman and Matt Lewis), RHLSTP (with Richard Herring) and Willy Willy Harry Stee (with Charlie Higson). James also hosts regular live online events on his own Triskele Heritage platform, including the (quite foolhardy) annual 12-hour One Man Conference!

In 2020, James began writing the Mediaeval Mythbusting Blog which seeks to investigate and debunk commonly believed and repeated stories about ancient buildings. This project has subsequently been picked up as a book option – Historic Building Mythbusting – by The History Press and was released in June 2024. His next book, The Buildings Archaeologist, will be released in 2026.

Curriculum Vitae

A current CV is available to download as a PDF file here…

James_Wright_CV_2021Download

Professional Affiliations

Online Commitments

Former Society Roles

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