Due in part to the influence of Victorian poets and writers, tourists today flock to the evocative ruins of ‘King Arthur’s Castle’ at Tintagel. In fact, the site has a complex and intriguing archaeological story, from elite post-Roman trading settlement to medieval castle, completely intertwined with famous legends; not only Arthur, but also the love story of Tristan and Iseult. This talk will set out how English Heritage presented these stories in a new interpretation and artistic project on site and through the installation of a new footbridge, and the reactions to these projects. It will also present the results of new archaeological excavations on the site, which are re-writing the early medieval history of this internationally connected site.
Dr Susan Greaney is a Lecturer in Archaeology at University of Exeter, where she teaches prehistory, archaeology and heritage interpretation. Her specialist interest is the Neolithic and early Bronze Age of Britain and Ireland, and she completed her PhD in 2022 on Neolithic monument complexes at Cardiff University. Previously, Susan worked as Senior Properties Historian at English Heritage, the charity with responsibility for maintaining and presenting over 400 historic sites across the country. Susan worked for English Heritage for 17 years on the presentation and interpretation of historic sites, and was involved with an interpretation and presentation project at Tintagel Castle in 2015-7, and excavations there in 2017-8.