Dr Paul Belford
FSA MCIfA
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
Paul is passionate about using the past in the present to create social and environmental benefits for the future. He believes that individual and collective well-being is enhanced by the widest possible engagement with heritage.
Paul has been the Director (CEO) of the Clwyd-Powys Archaeological Trust since 2013.
Paul has held a number of leadership roles in archaeology and cultural heritage in the UK and overseas. Before joining CPAT he was Principal Consultant in a dynamic private-sector consultancy which had a portfolio of cultural heritage projects across Europe, Africa and East Asia. Previously he spent ten years as a senior manager responsible for archaeology, monuments and landscapes in the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site. As well as his private-sector experience, Paul has extensive expertise in not-for-profit leadership, governance and administration; he has also worked in academia. He has a range of archaeological interests, for example late prehistoric, early medieval and post-medieval archaeology. Paul is also interested in wider heritage policy and practice, particularly public engagement with the historic environment.
Beyond CPAT, Paul is currently the Chair of the Black Country Living Museum and a Trustee of the environmental charity Size of Wales. In addition he chairs the Historic Environment Partnership for the Brecon Beacons National Park, and is co-founder and Chair of the European Association of Archaeologists‘ Urban Archaeology Community. Paul also serves on the Editorial Board of the professional journal The Historic Environment: Policy and Practice.
Paul was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 2008, and is a full Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists (MCIfA). He served as a CIfA Board Member from 2014-2020.
More information about Paul can be found here.
Selected publications
Paul has published more than 70 peer-reviewed books, journal articles, book chapters and reviews, as well as popular, professional and other articles. Some recent publications are listed below. Many can be freely downloaded on Academia. There is a full list of publications on Paul’s personal website; you can also look at Paul’s ORCID profile and Google Scholar page.
Books
Belford, P. and Bouwmeester, J. (eds.) 2020. Managing Archaeology in Dynamic Urban Centres. Leiden: Sidestone.
Belford, P. 2018. Blood, Faith and Iron. A Dynasty of Catholic Industrialists in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century England. Oxford: Archaeopress.
Journal articles and book chapters
Belford, P. 2021. Crisis? What crisis? Archaeology under pressure in the United Kingdom. Archäologische Informationen, 44.
Belford, P. 2021. The impact of development-driven archaeology on understanding later medieval settlements in central and north-east Wales. Medieval Settlement Research, 36. 18-39.
Belford, P. 2021. Borderlands: Rethinking Archaeological Research Frameworks. In Engaging with Heritage and Historic Environment Policy: Agency, Interpretation and Implementation, edited by Hana Morel and Mike Dawson. London and New York: Routledge. 198-213.
Belford, P. 2020. Some More Equal than Others? Issues for Urban Archaeology in the United Kingdom. In Managing archaeology in dynamic urban centres, edited by Paul Belford and Jeroen Bouwmeester. Leiden: Sidestone. 39-55.
Belford, P. and Bouwmeester, J. 2020. Managing Archaeology in Dynamic Urban Centres: Challenges and Opportunities. In Managing archaeology in dynamic urban centres, edited by Paul Belford and Jeroen Bouwmeester. Leiden: Sidestone. 209-212.
Belford, P. and Foreman, P. 2020. People, places and performance: reflections on community archaeology and heritage in north-east Wales. Journal of Community Archaeology and Heritage, 8:1. 58-76.
Belford, P. 2019. Ensuring archaeology in the planning system delivers public benefit. Public Archaeology, 18:4. 191-216.
Belford, P. 2019. Hidden earthworks: excavation and protection of Offa’s and Wat’s Dykes. Offa’s Dyke Journal, 1. 80-95.
Belford, P. 2018. Politics and heritage: developments in historic environment policy and practice in Wales. The Historic Environment: Policy and Practice, 9:2. 1-25.
