Holly Litherland-Forrest

Holly is Senior Manager of Archaeological Illustration and Digital Processing at Border Archaeology and has been part of the organisation since 2015. Over the last decade, she has had the opportunity to advance her career while contributing to a remarkably diverse array of projects. Her background, including a BA (Hons.) in Illustration from Hereford College of Arts, reflects her foundation in creativity and precision—qualities that are essential to her current role.

Initially, Holly’s responsibilities focused on digitising site drawings to meet report standards and implementing house styles. As digital recording technologies have evolved, her role has expanded to incorporate a broader range of digital recording methods. She thrives on the daily challenges presented by her work, which is one of the aspects she enjoys most about her role.

Holly particularly enjoys heritage-based projects, especially building recordings due to her interest in historic buildings and architecture. One of Holly’s favourite projects involved digitising drawings for a Grade I listed building within the historic ‘Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales.’ This undertaking included surveying and recording over 400 rooms using 3D laser scanning and photogrammetry, carried out by Stuart Forsythe, followed by producing detailed line drawings of the rooms and their unique features.

From creating phased plans of roof timbers to working on drawings from evaluation trenching for large-scale housing developments, the variety in her work ensures that no two days are alike.

Outside of her professional endeavours, Holly leads a creative and hands-on lifestyle. Her hobbies include gardening, growing her own vegetables, restoring and upcycling furniture, reading, and exploring various handicrafts such as crocheting and spinning her own yarn. Her yarn-making involves experimenting with diverse fibres, ranging from nettle, rose, and Tencel to animal fibres like alpaca and sheep’s wool.