The discovery of a largely complete Romano-Celtic boat in November 1993 [1] precipitated archaeologists (the GlamorganGwent Archaeological Trust), developers and local authority museum staff into a period of intense activity to ensure its safe retrieval from site. It also initiated a period of negotiation with senior staff from Newport Borough Council (now Newport County Council) to set up a rolling programme in order to finance different stages of work on the boat as needed. Found at the site of a new distribution centre for Tesco Stores Ltd, on the Welsh side of the second Severn Crossing, the boat is one of several, dating from the Bronze Age to modern times, which have been found in the archaeologically rich and often waterlogged Severn Estuary environs. It is the most complete of the boats found. A 'plus point' in Wales was the fact that, although the boat dates to the Roman period, it was built in a manner characteristic of the Romano-Celtic tradition. It therefore could be said to have been built by Celts. The Barland's Farm boat is a flat-bottomed trading vessel, constructed of oak planking and held together with large iron nails. As found, it survives to a length of 9.7m; it is 2.6m wide and 0.7m deep and is about 80% complete. Associated finds, notably coins, leather shoes and pottery, date its deposition to the late third century AD. Its age on deposition is unknown. Tesco Stores Ltd offered the boat to Newport Museum & Art Gallery subject to the local authority agreeing to conserve, restore and 'prominently' display it. For a local authority museum this represented a major investment of funding and personnel. For the Council the boat presented an opportunity for good publicity and was the occasion of some civic pride. Within the resources available, museum staff attempted to maintain a high profile for the boat, involving press and TV coverage as work progressed. Tesco Stores Ltd funded the excavation, some post-excavation recording, the costs of lifting and the purchase of a large scaffoldtank for preliminary storage. Money had to be found to cover the costs' of storage, a conservation assessment, extra conservation staff in Newport and the actual conservation work. Fortunately, the method of boat construction aided the lifting process. The boat consisted of four bottom planks, with five strakes on the port side and three surviving strakes on the starboard side. The planks and strakes were supported by framing timbers, fastened together by long iron nails driven from outboard through the planking and framing timber and then clenched over. The nails had corroded, with little or no surviving metal, so that the framing timbers could be separated and lifted individually from the boat. The bottom planks were then sawn into approximately 3m lengths and placed on wood and Correx pallets constructed on site. Where possible, cuts were positioned beneath the framing timbers so that joins would be invisible when the boat was re-assembled for display. From the first, freeze-drying was considered the preferable conservation option. Three metres was the length of the largest freeze-drier available and also, coincidentally, the length of the hired truck used to transport the timbers from site to Newport Museum. The upper strakes were very fragmentary and were faced up in numbered fibreglass units before being lifted as earth blocks. Newport Borough Council provided a factory unit and the costs of storage. Successful approaches were made to the local Area Museum Council, the Council of Museums in Wales, for a 45% grant towards the costs of a conservation assessment and towards equipping the unit. Mike Corfield, Head of Artifact Conservation at English Heritage, agreed to act as independent outside assessor. In 1994-95 two wood specialists, Richard Brunning and Adam Yates, recorded the boat in detail. Jim Spriggs and Ian Panter of the York Archaeological Trust carried out the conservation assessment, which comprised pin and Pilodyn measurements, water content assay, ash content, scanning electron microscopy and visual observation. All measurements showed wide variations in preservation across the boat, with water content ranging from 656% to 165.9%. In general, the more deeply buried wood, the floor planking and central sections of the framing timbers had benefitted from being constantly waterlogged and had survived better. Wood in the upper levels and closer to the ground surface was more degraded. The recommended conservation method was a two-step polyethylene glycol (PEG) impregnation [2], followed by freeze-drying. The quantity of PEG required would be based on the PEGCon computer program designed at the Canadian Conservation Institute [3]. It was stressed to the Council that long-term storage of waterlogged wood would result in further deterioration and that treatment should begin as soon as possible once recording was complete. In 1995 two conservators, Carolyn Woollam and Jeff Raymond, were employed to carry out final cleaning and recording before placing each timber on a purpose-built pallet, designed to support them through transport to and from Newport, treatment, and generally to reduce handling of these fragile but heavy timbers. Pallets were constructed of materials which would withstand the conservation process. The Council of Museums in Wales awarded a 45% grant for this work. At the same time a successful application was submitted to the National Heritage Memorial Fund, a committee visiting Newport in September 1995. At all times the enthusiastic support of the Council was stressed and also the high level of local public interest. The committee was particularly interested in the numbers of local press reports relating to the boat. Their main concern, however, was the long-term plan for display. The presence of a senior Council officer able to discuss the authority's long-term aims was important. A grant of £22,500 towards conservation was awarded and the boat left for treatment at York on 16 October 1995. It is anticipated that it will return to Newport in 1997-98. Museum staff are now looking at display options and funding sources. From the first, the intention has been to exhibit the find, and this continues to be the main impetus for those working on the Barland's Farm boat. Kate Hunter is Keeper of Conservation at Newport Museum & Art Gallery, John Frost Square, Newport, Gwent NP91PA, UK.