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Archaeology Officer
Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews, the archaeology officer, has recently completed editing a report on the results of excavations carried out in Baldock between 1978 and 1994, working with Gil Burleigh, who directed the original fieldwork. The most important finds are an internationally important series of burials which were excavated by the Council’s Archaeological Service and the North Hertfordshire Archaeological Society.
In partnership with the experts who worked on the data, Keith intends to make the material more widely known and available to both archaeologists and the general public. Following discussions with English Heritage, it is likely to be disseminated through the Archaeology Data Service. In the meantime, a popular booklet co-authored with Gil Burleigh is available from Letchworth and Hitchin Museums as well as other local outlets.
Keith, who is originally from Letchworth Garden City, worked for the Museums Service's Field Archaeology Section in the 1980s, then joined Chester City Council as a Senior Archaeologist in 1990. Having returned to North Herts, Keith is developing the Archaeological Service by expanding its community activities such as The North Herts branch of the Young Archaeologists’ Club, which holds regular meetings, and making the extensive library and archives more widely available for consultation.
Archaeological walks can be booked for groups, with new (and sometimes unexpected) venues. We hope to produce more leaflets giving details of what can be seen on these walks, which will also be available through the Council’s web pages.
Keith’s interests are in the transition from the Iron Age to the Roman period, the transition from the Roman to early medieval periods, the archaeology of sexuality and archaeological theory. He has published extensively on these subjects.
Keith runs the Museum Service’s artefact identification service. Anyone interested can bring objects along to Hitchin Museum on Tuesday afternoons from 2.00pm to 5.00pm and to Letchworth Museum on Thursday afternoons between 2.00pm and 5.00pm for identification.
Keith is happy to lecture to groups of all ages on aspects of local archaeology and archaeology more generally.
Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews can be contacted at:
Archaeological Services
North Hertfordshire District Council
Museums Resource Centre
Burymead Road
Hitchin
SG5 1RT
E-mail: service@north-herts.gov.uk
Tel. (01462) 434896
Fax. (01462) 434883
