The eighth annual Post-Medieval Archaeology Congress (PMAC26) will be hosted by the University of Reading in Reading, UK, on 15-17 May 2026. Our main venue is the Agriculture Department conference suite including the Nike Theatre, and rooms 1L04, 1L06 and 1L08.
Find the preliminary programme, including tours and events as well as sessions, on this page. Advance Registration has opened!
Click on the headings below to find out more about the conference.
> PROGRAMME
Read the preliminary programme for an outline of the Congress schedule.
The preliminary programme includes information about Registration, tours, the Keynote lecture and Evening Reception on Friday 15 May.
It also lists the sessions, roundtables and room locations for the Scientific Programme on Saturday 16 May and Sunday 17 May, with additional optional activities on the weekend.
We will post a finalised version of the programme closer to the conference, so do check back for more details!
> CONFERENCE REGISTRATION
Registration is open. Keep in mind, join the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology to benefit from significantly discounted ticket prices, plus all the benefits of membership.
Advance registration at discounted prices closes on 31 March 2026. Late registration at a higher ticket price is open 1-27 April 2026. Registration includes the Keynote lecture and opening reception at the Museum of English Rural Life, the in-person scientific programme, daily refreshment breaks and Saturday (16 May) lunch, and an on-campus car park pass. You can also book from a selection of guided tours and events.
The preliminary programme is available (above) and the final programme will be published here once registration closes. All papers at PMAC26 will be delivered in person.
Advance prices (closes 31 March):
- SPMA member, £95
- Non-member, £150
- SPMA student member, £45
- Student non-member, £80
Late registration prices (1-27 April):
- SPMA member, £120
- Non-member, £175
- SPMA student member, £65
- Student non-member, £100
The SPMA offers a travel award to students attending the Congress. The deadline for receipt of applications is 15 January each year and awardees are notified by 15 February. Find out more on the Paul and Yolande Courtney Congress Bursary Award page.
Contact us to ask about ‘no questions asked’ free tickets, available until 31 March. Since 2020, we have committed to provide a few free conference registrations each year. The cost of living crisis is affecting many colleagues and friends within the archaeology and heritage sector. We also acknowledge that people from historically marginalised and excluded groups (Black, Brown, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, disabled, GRT, working class) suffer additional barriers in archaeology and we wish to offer financial support to those colleagues as well. Therefore we operate a ‘no questions asked’ policy for these tickets. Please email the conference organisers directly to request a free registration (conference@spma.org.uk).
> READING HIGHLIGHTS
Reading has a lively history. By the 6th century CE there was a ford across the River Kennet. An account dated 4 January 871 of a battle between the Danes, King Ethelred and his brother Alfred the Great mentions ‘Readingum’. The Domesday Book records Reading as a substantial English town (in the largest 20%).
The town prospered with the founding of the Abbey in 1121 by Henry I. The king asked to be buried there. Other royalty buried in the abbey include Empress Matilda, William of Poitiers and Constance of York. Henry III often visited a few times each year. The royal patronage of the abbey made it a pilgrimage centre. It became one of the richest and most important religious houses of medieval England. Henry VIII’s dissolution of the monasteries destroyed much of the religious structures in 1538.
More recently, Reading is famous for the ‘four Bs’ – beer, bulbs, biscuits, and bricks. The Bs refer to the companies H & G Simonds (beer), Sutton and Sons (bulbs), Huntley & Palmers (biscuits), and S & E Collier (brickmakers). These businesses developed from the late 18th Century and continued in the town into the late 20th century.
> THINGS TO DO
Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) is the pre-eminent museum and archive for the study of the history of British agriculture, the countryside, and rural society. Museum exhibits feature objects relating to agricultural practices, rural crafts, technological innovation, and the diversity and complexity of rural life. MERL archives include documents and ephemera of agricultural engineering firms such as Ransomes, seed producers such as Suttons, and trade literature. Many landscape architecture businesses record hundreds of individual farms across the UK. They reveal day-to-day farming routine dating back to the 17th century. Records and testimony made by people include the memoirs of children evacuated to the countryside during the Second World War; research papers of scientists Hugh Macdonald Sinclair and R.G. Stapledon and the historian W.E. Tate; and documents from the author H.E. Bates and the poultry expert David Scrivener.
Reading Museum in the city centre has excellent permanent galleries and changing exhibitions throughout the year. Outstanding collections include the contemporary Aldermaston Pottery, 300 Huntley and Palmer biscuit tins, and a fine Victorian copy of the Bayeaux Tapestry. The Sir John Madejski Gallery is home to a wonderful art collection. The Silchester Gallery displays finds from the Roman town. The Story of Reading begins in prehistory but also has major medieval and post-medieval archaeology collections on show.
During the Norman Conquest the area of the University of Reading’s Whiteknights campus was known as the Manor of Earley. The Marquess of Blandford acquired the estate in 1798. He invested substantially in library acquisitions and elaborate gardens. The legacy of his interest in the diversity of plants is an impressive range of tree plantings that visitors can enjoy in a self-guided campus Tree Walk. PMAC26 conferencegoers can also enjoy a self-guided nature trail, including getting lost in the Wilderness, feeding the ducks that call Whiteknights Lake home, and looking out for springtime butterflies on the Meadows and bees on the Pollinator Lawns,. Visit the Rewilding Area to see the change over time, and enjoy the Wooded Meadows. The beautiful cherry trees of the Harris Garden will be in bloom in May. The trail takes roughly 30 minutes to walk around. You can complete it as a circular walk, starting and finishing close to central campus bars and cafes, or visit in sections.
Images by Chris j wood – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0.
> TRANSPORTATION AND LODGING
Reading is conveniently located west of London and is a transportation hub, with train and bus connections to all of the London-area airports, including 24-hour RailAir bus service from Heathrow Airport and trains from Gatwick to Reading. The local Reading bus service also has 24-hour service from Reading town centre, including Reading Station, to Whiteknights campus (a 10-15 minute trip). The town centre and Whiteknights campus area have many options for dining and lodging. Most AirBnBs are in east and central Reading. These hotels are all within a 5-minute drive or bus journey to the University of Reading. The University has also negotiated the best rates with some of the hotels so PMAC26 attendees can book directly with the hotel.
The conference will be held in the School of Agriculture, Policy and Development Conference Centre. The School buildings are nestled in The Wilderness. It is a picturesque part of the campus.easily accessed from the Earley Gate entrance.
