Summary: Archaeologist-led tour of the Park exploring the history of the Park site from the Neolithic to the present-day.

Join writer and Groundbreakers contributor Dr Jonathan Gardner for a walking tour of the Park that takes in some of its lesser known archaeology and history from the Neolithic to the present-day. Challenging the idea that this place was simply an ‘industrial wasteland’ before the Games came, the tour takes in sites of both the recent and distant past to reflect on how ten years of Olympic and Paralympic legacy compare with what happened here decades, centuries, or millennia previously. The tour will last around two hours and incorporates highlights from the Groundbreakers trail including the site of a Bronze Age Village, lost rivers, a Cold War Civil Defence training village and many more. Sponsored by the Raphael Samuel History Centre to celebrate the launch of the Groundbreakers trail and guide to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Jonathan Gardner is an archaeologist and heritage researcher based at Edinburgh College of Art (University of Edinburgh). His first book will be published with UCL Press in May 2022 entitled, A Contemporary archaeology of London’s Mega Events: From the Great Exhibition to London 2012 (free PDF download or purchase in print here).