Nigel Nayling CO78 Looks Back on His Own History

Professor Nigel Nayling visited the school recently with his wife Ana. Nigel had travelled from West Wales, where he now lives, en route to Cádiz, Spain for work. He attended Truro School firstly as a day pupil and then as a boarder from 1967 to 1977, at the same time as his brothers Kevin CO75 and Simon CO78.

After leaving Truro School, Nigel told us that he moved to Orkney for work before returning to education at Durham University and the University of Bradford to study Archaeology (BA) and Archaeological Science (MA). What followed was a 20-year career in the field, before a transition into academia. Nigel is a prominent British archaeologist and tree-ring dating expert (dendrochronologist), and is now an Honorary Professor at Swansea University, having spent over 26 years at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David as a Professor of Archaeology.

He specialises in maritime archaeology, using tree-ring analysis to date, source and understand historical shipwrecks worldwide. He is widely recognised for his leading role in the post-conservation analysis and reassembly of the 15th-century Newport Medieval Ship, as well as his collaborative research on major international projects such as the ForSEAdiscovery initiative and several high-profile Iberian shipwrecks.