Building a continuous 74 km stretch of new railway through the historic south-east corner of England presented an unrivalled opportunity to learn more about past settlements, cultures and technologies. As such, the archaeological investigation associated with section 1 of the £5·2 billion Channel Tunnel Rail Link was one of the biggest ever undertaken in the UK and produced a wealth of new information. This paper explains how integrating the archaeological team within the project management team ensured that disruption to construction work was kept to an absolute minimum. It also highlights some of the more significant archaeology and heritage works on section 1.