This Handbook provides an informative and accessible guide to the industrial remains of the UK. It is essential reading for anyone with an interest in our industrial heritage, giving concise summaries of the history of different industries, together with descriptions of the structures and below-ground remains likely to be encountered. The book also considers the power which drove these industries, the transport network which delivered the products and the houses in which the workforce lived. It further reviews the legislation protecting industrial sites and the problems and potential of their adaptive re-use.

Large-scale redevelopment at Kingsway Business Park, near Rochdale, and Cutacre Country Park, near Bolton, has provided an important opportunity to investigate the prehistoric and later rural landscapes in the south-eastern corner of the historic county of Lancashire, now part of Greater Manchester. A combination of archaeological techniques has been employed to explore the archaeology of these areas, principally comprising standing-building survey and open-area excavation, directed towards the investigation of 17 sites. Topographical survey and palaeoenvironmental coring were also used to examine the character of the early landscape. Evidence for prehistoric and medieval activity was discovered within the two areas, particularly a significant Middle Bronze Age settlement and medieval iron-smelting site at Cutacre, although the majority of the remains investigated dated to the post-medieval and industrial periods. These latter remains relate to a range of different rural house types and farm buildings, built by the lesser gentry, and the yeoman and tenant farmers of the region. This volume is the result of a multi-disciplinary approach to the archaeology, with the work of a range of authors from Oxford Archaeology and the University of Salford, and also several external specialists. The results greatly enhance an understanding of the archaeology of Greater Manchester, and, more generally, provide important information on rural settlement in north-west England.

The Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire is one of the cradles of industrialisation. At its heart is the Iron Bridge spanning the River Severn, one of the world’s first iron bridges and an iconic image of the Industrial Revolution. The area’s role in helping to transform Britain into the world’s first industrial society earned it UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1986. Industrialisation in and around the gorge was shaped and constrained by the landscape and this is reflected in the range of extractive, manufacturing, and transport sites in the area. These include Abraham Darby’s coke-fired iron furnace of 1709, the first steel furnace in England at the Upper Forge, brick and tile works, canals, tramways, and workers’ housing. The Archaeology of Ironbridge in 20 Digs explores a range of sites and material evidence excavated from the 1970s to the 2010s. It combines archaeological excavation with the analysis of the industrial and domestic buildings that helped to create the Ironbridge industrial community, and which continue to form an integral part of this internationally important twenty-first century landscape.

Heritage under Pressure examines the relationship between the political perspective of the UK government on 'soft power' and the globalising effect of projects carried out by archaeologists and heritage professionals working in the historic environment. It exemplifies the nature of professional engagement and the role of the profession in working towards a theory of practice based on the integrity of data, the recovery and communication of information, and the application of data in real world situations. Individual papers raise complex and challenging issues, such as commemoration, identity, and political intervention. A further aim of the volume is to illustrate the role of professionals adhering to standards forged in the UK, in the context of world heritage under pressure. Papers also contribute to the emerging agenda developing as a result of the re-orientation of the UK following the Brexit vote, at once emphasising the global aspiration of the Uk's professional archaeological body - the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists - in relation to the global reach of UK academic practice. By implication the volume also addresses the relationship between professional practice and academic endeavour. The volume as a whole contributes to the emerging debate on the authorised heritage discourse and provides an agenda for the future of the profession.