Three of nine rare Bronze‑ and Iron‑Age log boats recovered at Must Farm (excavated 2011–2012) are now on public display at Flag Fen Archaeology Park in Peterborough. The vessels, dated about 2,500–3,500 years old, reveal remarkable prehistoric carpentry and repairs. After a decade-long conservation treatment using polyethylene glycol (PEG), the timbers were dried, cleaned and carefully reassembled. The exhibition includes replica tools, interactive displays and craft demonstrations.
3,000-Year-Old Bronze- and Iron-Age Log Boats from 'Britain’s Pompeii' Go on Display at Flag Fen
Three of nine rare Bronze‑ and Iron‑Age log boats recovered at Must Farm (excavated 2011–2012) are now on public display at Flag Fen Archaeology Park in Peterborough. The vessels, dated about 2,500–3,500 years old, reveal remarkable prehistoric carpentry and repairs. After a decade-long conservation treatment using polyethylene glycol (PEG), the timbers were dried, cleaned and carefully reassembled. The exhibition includes replica tools, interactive displays and craft demonstrations.
12:22 PM, 11/14/2025Culture
Rare log boats from Must Farm now centrepiece of new Flag Fen exhibition
Three exceptionally well-preserved log boats, recovered upstream from the Must Farm settlement — often called "Britain's Pompeii" — have gone on public display for the first time at Flag Fen Archaeology Park in Peterborough. The vessels, discovered during excavations at Must Farm quarry near Whittlesey in 2011–2012, date from roughly 2,500 to 3,500 years old and span the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age.
The nine boats recovered in total represent one of the world's largest collections of man-made log boats from this period; three of them form the heart of a new permanent gallery that interprets prehistoric life and transport across the Fens.
"This is our heritage, this is what our ancestors were doing 3,000 years ago," said Flag Fen general manager Jacqueline Mooney. "Nowhere in the world is there another collection of so many man-made log boats... and they belong to us: the people of the Fens, the people of Peterborough."
The nearby Must Farm settlement — excavated by the Cambridge Archaeological Unit (CAU) a few years after the boats were found — yielded an extraordinary range of everyday objects preserved in waterlogged conditions. Among the boat fragments on display are a Middle Bronze Age oak hull showing an elaborate repair and part of an Early Bronze Age maple boat.
CAU archaeological researcher Iona Robinson Zeki commented: "These simple yet supremely effective boats were used to navigate a fenland river for almost a millennium." The timbers reveal fine evidence of prehistoric woodworking and construction techniques, including visible axe marks where craftspersons hewed vessels from solid logs using bronze tools.
Conservation was a long and careful process. The timbers were stabilised by immersion in a water and polyethylene glycol (PEG) solution for around ten years, then dried, cleaned and painstakingly reassembled under specialist guidance from York Archaeological Trust. Flag Fen conservator Mary Evans led detailed hand-work to piece fragile fragments back together.
"She has spent many hours of her life holding teeny tiny bits of the boat together so they adhere back together... the job she has done is fantastic," Ms Mooney said, paying tribute to the conservation team.
Funding for the conservation and display came from several sources, including the landowner and developer Fonterra, a grant of more than £73,000 from Historic England, and nearly £49,000 from Peterborough City Council. Claudia Kenyatta and Emma Squire, co-CEOs of Historic England, described the boats as "an extraordinary window into our prehistoric past."
The exhibition, titled Bronze Age Boat Discoveries at Must Farm, also features replica tools, interactive displays and live demonstrations of ancient craft techniques to show how the boats and other objects were made and used. Shabina Qayyum, leader of Peterborough City Council, encouraged everyone to visit the new display.
Practical information: The boats are now part of Flag Fen's permanent gallery. Visitors can explore the boats, handling replicas and watching demonstrations that bring Bronze- and Iron-Age fenland life to life.