Hen Domen, Montgomery

“This is a very readable excavation report with a strong touch of humanity. As well as the main contributors, the local community played its part, and continues to do so with the display of the site model and exhibits in 'The Bell', the visitor centre of the Montgomery Civic Society. The spirit of the excavation and its team pervades the text, and is recognised by the photographs of camp life among the final pages.’” –Archaeological Journal, Vol. 158, July 2001

“The authors deserve our thanks for seeing this well-produced report to publication, as indeed does Exeter University Press for publishing it. It is an expensive volume compared to other excavation reports published recently as monographs, but it is a book that should be on the shelves of anyone interested in the history of the Welsh borderland, let alone students of castle history.” –Archaeology in Wales, Vol. 40, 2001

“This is a book I would like to see in the hands of anyone involved in archaeological excavation, but most especially students approaching the trenches for the first time, shiny trowel at the ready. This is what excavation should be about: digging and recording to the highest standards, intellectual rigour and transparency, an appreciation that a complex site can only begin to be understood within its landscape by constantly revisiting it, and sheer dedication. In fact, it is the antithesis of much that passes for excavation today . . . As well as being important, it is attractively and well produced – the quality of the drawings and photographs, and their integration with each other and the text is exemplary – with a charm and personality entirely missing from so many reports . . . When the history of medieval archaeology is written, this site and its excavations will feature prominently.” –Medieval Archaeology, Vol. 45, 2001

“Two features lift this above the usual range of excavation reports – the reconstruction drawings of the phases of the castle by Peter Scholefield, which are already classics, and the “photographic memoir” at the end. We all have collections of informal excavation photographs never intended for publication, but it takes a Philip Barker to realize that these were already an historical document in their own right, recording what that threatened, and well nigh extinct species, a large-scale volunteer-based excavation, looked and felt like to those taking part.” –Antiquaries Journal, Vol 81