Clare King

I joined Wessex Archaeology in 2018 as a Principal Consultant in the Heritage team. I work closely with our clients to ensure that they get appropriate and informed advice at the right time in the planning process, allowing them to fulfil their responsibilities with regard to the historic environment so their projects move forward smoothly and effectively.

I am very experienced in the field, having worked in a number of roles in archaeology in the UK. I began my career initially in fieldwork, managing projects from small watching briefs to large excavations. I subsequently worked as a Consultant on a wide variety of projects, ranging from large infrastructure projects, schools and residential developments to single house extensions (including one that had Roman burials under it!). I have also been a Planning Archaeologist, working in the southern part of Wiltshire. This means that I have experience with developments under planning, agricultural and permitted development regimes, including Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects. Throughout my career, I have found pragmatic, appropriate solutions to ensure that our archaeological resource is looked after whilst helping to support sustainable development, and I have been lucky enough to be involved with some absolutely fantastic archaeology along the way!

What really motivates me is the challenge of balancing the needs of development with that of the archaeology. I enjoy the creative challenge of understanding both elements of a development and finding a good fit between them.

Outside work I practice sport fencing (I fence for Wales as a veteran fencer) and eastern martial arts (taekwondo and karate). I am also a student with the Open University, studying various arts and humanities courses. In any other spare (!) time I do needlepoint and tapestry.