A MAJOR conference on archaeology in Winchester will be held in April.

Organisers believe it may be the biggest conference of its kind ever held in the city, which is itself one of the most-explored places in Europe.

The topics include King Alfred, whose remains could have been found in Hyde, to Winchester, World War One and even local links with the ancient fortress of Masada in Israel.

The event on April 26-27 boasts many eminent archaeologists and historians including Prof Martin Biddle, Dr John Crook and Dr Alex Langlands, well-known for TV appearances on programmes such as Wartime Farm and Time Team.

Much of the last 50 years of archaeological work in the city has been published in the Winchester Studies series, written and edited under the direction of Prof Biddle.

The aim of the conference is to share views and perspectives so there will be opportunities for discussion as well as reflective sessions where people can contribute their views.

Areas for discussion and debate will include memory and identity, myth, legend and history, power, space, place, architecture and fabric, communications, landscape, art, literature and piety, charity and devotion.

The conference is designed to be accessible to everyone with an interest in Winchester’s past.

Speakers include: Prof Martin Biddle – Winchester and Masada; Prof John Collis - Iron Age Winchester; Dr Peter Cramer - Sacred and Profane in Winchester’s Past; Dr John Crook - The Cult of the Saints; Dr Paul Everill - The Development of Archaeological Method through the Excavations at Winchester; Malcolm Hebron - Memory and Literature - Winchester and the South Downs; David Honigmann - Class and the City; Prof Tom James - Biography and Demographic Change from the Middle Ages to the 19th Century; Dr Alex Langlands - The Urban Topography of Winchester in the Early Middle Ages; Dr Phil Marter - Winchester and the First World War; Prof Richard Morris - Winchester and England; Dr Simon Roffey - Piety and Poverty: The Hermit Friars of Medieval Winchester; George Saumarez Smith - Architecture and Memory; Prof Barbara Yorke - King Alfred in Myth and History.

The conference fee of £62 (Friends of Winchester Studies £50) includes all conference sessions, morning refreshments, lunch and afternoon refreshments on April 26 and morning refreshments and lunch on April 27.

To book go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/winchester-archaeology-and-memory-tickets.

It is organised by Winchester Excavations Committee, Winchester College and the University of Winchester.