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Explore history in action this July at Greys Court, near Henley-on-Thames, as archaeologists excavate the Oval Lawn.
Watch archaeologists uncover the hidden history of Greys Court this July, as a live excavation reveals new clues about the National Trust property’s medieval and Tudor past.
Running from Friday 18 to Sunday 27 July 2026 as part of the Festival of Archaeology, the dig takes place on the historic Oval Lawn between 10.30am and 3pm each day. Visitors can meet archaeologists, watch discoveries unfold in real time and even help clean newly unearthed finds.
Discovering Greys Court’s hidden past
The excavation builds on two years of archaeological investigations exploring how Greys Court evolved from a medieval manor into a grand Tudor residence under Sir Francis Knollys, one of Queen Elizabeth I’s closest advisers.
When Knollys inherited the estate in the 16th century, much of the earlier site was rebuilt. Recent excavations have revealed evidence of its medieval origins, including a 13th or 14th-century curtain wall built to give the appearance of a castle.
Last summer, archaeologists uncovered the foundations of a substantial medieval building beneath the Oval Lawn after parch marks and geophysical surveys suggested a lost structure lay below. Finds including decorative floor tiles, roof tiles and window glass indicate it was a high-status building, possibly a covered passage linking two sides of a courtyard with storage rooms underneath.
This year’s excavation will investigate evidence of what could be a brick-built cellar beside last year’s trench, while a second dig planned for September will explore another structure thought to have been a tower.
Watch archaeology in action
Visitors can speak with the archaeological team throughout the excavation and watch finds being cleaned and processed inside Greys Court’s historic Cromwellian building.
National Trust archaeologist Adrian Cox said: “We hope lots of visitors will come and see us during this summer’s excavation to experience archaeology in action, talk to archaeologists about the finds and even help with cleaning them.
“This exciting work at Greys Court is shedding new light on the history of this very special place. Today, visitors see house interiors and gardens shaped in the 1930s, but we want to take them on a journey back a few hundred years.”
The archaeological dig runs daily from Friday 18 to Sunday 27 July 2026, from 10.30am to 3pm, at Greys Court near Henley-on-Thames.
Normal admission applies, with free entry for National Trust members.
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