Biography
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 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 has been working on for a decade.
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.
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.
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.
He has been running Triskele Heritage since 2016.
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 will be released on 6 June 2024.
Curriculum Vitae
A current CV is available to download as a PDF file here…
Professional Affiliations
- Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
- Affiliate member of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation
- Trustee of Music Venue Properties
- Standing Committee member for the Thoroton Society of Nottinghamshire
- Former committee member for Nottinghamshire Local History Society (2017-21)
- Former committee member for Council for British Archaeology East Midlands (2006-08, 2017-19)
- Ordinary member of the Castle Studies Group, Vernacular Architecture Group and Society of Authors
Online Commitments
- Moderator for English Medieval Graffiti
- Group Expert for Medieval and Tudor Period Buildings Group
- Group Expert for Your Old House – Repair and Conservation
