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Salon: Issue 343
31 May 2015
Next issue: 14 June 2015
The Society of Antiquaries of London Online Newsletter (Salon) is a fortnightly digest of news from the heritage sector. It focuses on the activities of the Society and the contribution that the Society's Fellows make to public life. Like the intellectual salons of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe, it aims to amuse and to stimulate debate as well as to inform. A copy of Salon’s editorial policy can be found on the Society’s website. News and feedback for publication in Salon should be addressed to the Salon Editor.
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Inside this issue
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From the Desk of the General Secretary
Salon Welcomes a New Editor!
 Fellows will be pleased to know that we are in the process of appointing a new permanent editor of Salon. Mike Pitts, MCIFA, FSA, will begin editing this e-newsletter at the end of June . We are thrilled to welcome someone of Mike's experience and talents to the position.
Many Fellows will be familiar with Mike's work already. His first scholarly article was published in the Journal of Archaeological Science in 1978. Since then, he has written and published guidebooks and has worked as a journalist for many years, covering a wide range of archaeological and heritage topics; he shared the British Archaeology Press Award with Fellow Maev Kennedy in 2000. He has been writing trade books for 20 years – his most recent was a bestseller on Amazon. For the past decade, Mike has been the sole editor of British Archaeology, and has managed the design and production of the magazine for the past five years. Mike has been blogging since 2009, writing about antiquarian topics from archaeology to the arts; he now has more than 2,000 followers online (via the blog, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!). Additionally, Mike has presented and written programmes focused on art and heritage for BBC Radio 4.
Watch this space for more from Mike Pitts!
Magna Carta Through the Ages
Our landmark Magna Carta Through the Ages exhibition opened last week ( see photos from the opening reception here). In the first four days, the visitor feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with visitors praising the building, exhibition, interpretation and the staff and volunteers! Come and see it yourself! The exhibition is free and open to everyone, but Fellows will receive a 20 per cent discount from the exhibition gift shop (applies to in-store purchases only). Call for Volunteers: Open House London (19 September 2015)
The Society invites all Fellows to consider volunteering for our annual Open House London guided tours of our apartments on Saturday, 19 September. Tours will run from 10.00 to 17.00, and we welcome volunteers for all or part of the day. Email the Society's Communications Officer, Renée LaDue, to express an interest in volunteering. She will maintain a list of volunteers and be in touch later in the summer with details about the different ways to help.
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Forthcoming Events for Fellows
24 July: Fellows' Day at Kelmscott Manor
Fellows and their guests are invited to enjoy a special private day at Kelmscott Manor (Friday, 24 July 2016, 14.00 to 17.00). Details are available at www.sal.org.uk/events. Booking can be completed online or by calling the Society's executive assistant at 020 7479 7080. Booking closes 10 June! Please contact Kelmscott Manor with questions.
 6 August: Fellows' Private View of Magna Carta and the Changing Face of Revolt
This summer, the Society is lending one of its most well-known objects, the Bosworth Cross, to the Palace Green Library for the exhibition Magna Carta and the Changing Face of Revolt. To celebrate this important loan, the Society has organised a Fellows' private view of the exhibition. Tickets are £12.00 each and can be booked online or by contacting our Executive Assistant (admin@sal.org.uk; 020 7479 7080). Information and booking details are online at www.sal.org.uk/events.
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Magna Carta Through the Ages (26 May to 31 July)
 26 May – 31 July: Magna Carta Through the Ages Exhibition
The exhibition is free and open to all (Monday to Friday). For opening hours and other details, visit www.sal.org.uk/magna-carta.
To shop for Magna Carta merchandise and other Society souvenirs, visit www.sal.org.uk/shop.
26 May – 30 June: Magna Carta Through the Ages Six-Week Public Lecture Series
During the first six weeks of the Society's much-anticipated Magna Carta Through the Ages exhibition, there will be a weekly public lecture focused on exploring the impact of the 'Great Charter' around the world and throughout history.
These lectures are well on their way to being fully booked already, so you are advised to book early to avoid disappointment! More information can be found on the Society's website at www.sal.org.uk/events or www.sal.org.uk/magna-carta.
19 June: Magna Carta Museum Late
Join us for a unique opportunity to explore the exhibition, Magna Carta Through the Ages, after hours with special historic interpretation provided by Fellow Elizabeth New and medieval musician Jez Smith...and a cash bar! Details online at www.sal.org.uk/events.
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17 September 2015: 'The Cultural Legacy of the Battle of Agincourt, 1415-2015' (Conference, Society of Antiquaries)
 The Battle of Agincourt has come to mean much more than simply a battle fought in northern France on 25 October 1415 between the English and French. Over the centuries it has stimulated literary, artistic and musical outputs. It has also been used as a symbol of British identity as well as of family ancestral pride, even in cases where participation in the battle is dubious. There are claims of objects associated with the battle, as well as problematic early excavations. Major wars have stimulated new interest, especially the Napoleonic wars and the First World War. This day conference explores these themes and others to explain why Agincourt has generated such a legacy in antiquarian traditions as well as in the popular psyche.
This full-day conference has been organised by Fellow Anne Curry. Tickets are £20.00 per person and can be booked online or by contacting our Executive Assistant (admin@sal.org.uk, 020 7479 7080). Details of the conference (including a full programme and booking details) are available at www.sal.org.uk/events.
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Regional Fellows Groups
Stay up to date with Regional Fellows events by logging into the Fellows' Area of the website and checking the 'Fellows' Discussion Forum', where forthcoming events are posted.
Welsh Fellows
Friday, 5 June: Meeting at Blaenavon Ironworks.
South West Fellows
Want to join the South West Regional Fellows Group? If you would like to receive email updates about forthcoming meetings, you can subscribe online at: http://eepurl.com/MvHUr
York Fellows
Saturday, 27 June: Fellows' Day in Hull. A two-part day beginning at 11.00 with a guided walk around the Historic Buildings of Old Town of Hull, with Dave Evans, FSA. This will be followed by a pub or cafe lunch (venue to be decided, dependent upon numbers) and in the afternoon a tour of the 'selected highlights' of the Hull and East Riding Museum, by Peter Halkon, FSA. We expect the day to finish around 15.30. Send questions or expressions of interest to Stephen Greep, FSA, at sjgreep@gmail.com.
Want to join the York Regional Fellows Group? If you would like to receive email updates about forthcoming meetings in York, you can subscribe online at: http://eepurl.com/8nvxL
Other Regional Events
Sunday, 21 June (13.30): Fellow and Reviews Editor for the Society, Tom James, and Fellow and former Salon Editor, Christopher Catling, are organising a group outing for Fellows in Cheltenham (see the initial post in Salon 229). RSVP by Monday, 1 June. Advanced booking is required. Contact Christopher Catling to confirm.
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Historic Environment (Wales) Bill – Call for written evidence
Following on from the introduction of the Historic Environment (Wales) Bill earlier this month, the Communities, Equality and Local Government Committee, which is considering the general principles of the Bill, has issued its call for written evidence.
If you would like to help to shape the legislation during its passage through the National Assembly for Wales, this is the opportunity to share your views on the Bill with the committee. The deadline for written evidence is 19 June 2015.
For more information, visit the National Assembly website.
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Call to Action: Ratify the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict
Fellow Peter Stone (Professor, Newcastle University) has sent us the below call to action:
'The UK National Committee of the Blue Shield (UKBS), the British wing of a global organisation frequently referred to as the cultural equivalent of the Red Cross, is leading a nationwide campaign to persuade the UK Government to finally ratify the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two protocols of 1954 and 1999.'
Peter, Chairman of the UKBS, commented:
'The 1954 Hague Convention is the primary piece of International Humanitarian Law concerning the protection of heritage during armed conflict. While many in the UK have reacted with justifiable horror and indignation at the recent appalling destruction of ancient sites, libraries, archives, and museums in the Middle East and Africa, few people seem to realise that the UK remains today the only Permanent Member of the United Nations Security Council, and arguably the most significant military power in the world (and the only one with extensive military involvements abroad), not to have ratified the 1954 Hague Convention.'
The plea continued:
'After the 2003 US/UK led invasion, the then Minister for Heritage, Andrew McIntosh, announced in 2004 the Government’s intention to ratify the 1954 Hague Convention as soon as Parliamentary business allowed. This claim has been repeated by every relevant Minister since. In November 2011, Jeremy Hunt, then Secretary of State at DCMS, made a joint UK Government and British Red Cross Society pledge “to make every effort to facilitate the UK’s ratification… and to promote understanding of the principles and rules of the Convention within the UKâ€. Ratification has cross-Party support and the support of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; the Department for Overseas Development; and the Ministry of Defence. Professor Eleanor Robson, Chairwomen of the British Institute for the Study of Iraq, added: “ISIS current rampage across northern Iraq and Syria is drawing urgent international attention to the plight of cultural heritage in times of war. By ratifying the 1954 Hague Convention, the UK Government would send a clear signal of its commitment to protecting civilian communities and their histories if it should ever intervene in this conflict or others, and provide the armed forces a clear mandate to do so.â€
'For its campaign to be successful, the UKBS needs everybody who values cultural heritage in all its forms to write to their MP urging them to ask the Government to pursue this pressing matter. A template letter (which can be adapted as necessary) and a fact sheet on the UKBS and the 1954 Hague Convention can be downloaded here. If anyone does not know the name of their MP or how to contact them, that can found here.
'If you are still unsure of the need for the UK to ratify the 1954 Hague Convection, you may want to watch this three-minute film Protecting Cultural Property During War.'
The UKBS is an entirely voluntary organisation comprising academics and heritage professionals from a wide range of disciplines and backgrounds. You can stay up-to-date with its work and the progress of its campaign by following it on Twitter and Facebook. If you require any further information or have any outstanding queries, please do not hesitate to contact Philip Deans, Campaign Assistant for the UKBS, at philip.deans@ncl.ac.uk. Finally, to help the UKBS keep track of the campaign, it is also asked that when anyone does write to their MP, would they please let the UKBS know by emailing Philip..
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News of Fellows
Fellow Chris Woolgar (Professor of History and Archival Studies) has collaborated with colleagues at the University of Southampton to put together a free online course (a 'MOOC', massive open online course) on Wellington and the Battle of Waterloo, based around the papers of the first Duke of Wellington, which are in the University of Southampton Library. The course runs from 8 June for three weeks and participants can sign up via Future Learn. Marking the bicentenary of the event, the course traces the origins of the conflict that was to lead to Waterloo, the battle itself and aftermath, and the ways in which the heroes of the conflict were commemorated.
Chris is also giving a lecture in Southampton on 18 June (Waterloo Day), in support of the university's exhibition Wellington and Waterloo: The tale is in every Englishman's mouth. The lecture is free, but booking is required.
William Poole, FSA, is Fellow Librarian of New College, Oxford, and has an interesting offer for Fellows: The college wishes to dispose of several of its journal runs, as hard copies exist in duplicate or triplicate in nearby departmental or university libraries. Among these runs are extremely reputable sets of Archaeologia, The Antiquaries Journal and Liverpool's Annals of archaeology and anthropology. Any FSA or reader of Salon who would like a set for free, and is willing to collect it from the college, is welcome to do so by contacting the college librarian Naomi Vanloo.
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Lives Remembered: Kate Taylor, FSA
 City historian Kate Taylor died aged 81 at home in Pinders Grove on May 5.
The author and researcher will be laid to rest next Friday.
She was an active member of Wakefield Historical Society and the city’s civic society, and heavily involved at Chantry and Westgate Chapels. Members of those organisations remembered Kate fondly to the The Yorkshire Post.
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Memorials to Fellows
Fellow Norman Hammond sent us this image of a memorial to Edward Blore, FSA FRS (1797-1879). Blore was a British landscape and architectural artist, architect and antiquary – responsible for completing John Nash's design of Buckingham Palace and more!
The brightly coloured marble memorial (pictured below) is to Richard Woolfe FSA FRSL (died 16 December 1877, aged 55) and can be found on the wall of the south aisle of the nave in Worcester Cathedral. It was given in acknowledgement of Woolfe’s services as Clerk of the City (until 1872) and as a magistrate. The Society holds two boxes of loose papers relating to the Woolfe family and to Worcester [SAL MS 693 B 1, Boxes I & II]. Woolfe was also described on the inscription as ‘Registrar of the English Langue of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem’.
Thanks to Fellow Richard Busby for sending this is and relating it to our collections!
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Call for Papers
Percy Manning: The Man Who Collected Oxfordshire
Proposals are needed for a book celebrating the life and work of the Oxford antiquary Percy Manning (1870-1917). The work will be published by Archaeopress in the series Archaeological Lives early in 2017, on the centenary of his death. Proposals should be based on research into the life of Manning; into his collections in the Ashmolean and Pitt Rivers museums and the Bodleian Libraries. Proposals for original contributions of 8,000-12,000 words must be received by 31 July 2015. Please address any queries and send proposals to Michael.heaney@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.
New Insights into 16th- and 17th-century British Architecture
This is a call for papers for a conference to be held at the Society of Antiquaries on Saturday, 23 January 2016. Proposals in the form of short abstracts (up to 250 words) are invited for papers of 30 minutes in length. While the emphasis remains on new research in architecture, we welcome proposals on related themes, such as decorative arts, gardens, sculpture and monuments. The proposals should be submitted by mid-August and the final programme will be announced in September. For further information, please contact Fellows Paula Henderson or Claire Gapper.
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Forthcoming Heritage Events
2 June 2015: 'Archival Afterlives: Life, Death, and Knowledge-Making in Early Modern Scientific and Medical Archives,' (Conference, Royal Society of London)
Further information and registration details available online.
4–5 June 2015: 'Heraldry and Piracy in an Age of Chivalry...' (Conference, Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter)
For details, download the information sheet. To register, please email n.ramsay@ucl.ac.uk.
5 June 2015: 'New Approaches to Historic Urban Landscapes' (ICOMOS-UK and ICOMOS Ireland Joint Summer Meeting and Conference, Edinburgh)
In its 50th anniversary year, ICOMOS-UK is exploring one of the great world heritage cities, Edinburgh, in partnership with ICOMOS Ireland. Visit the website for details.
13 June 2015: 'Virtuosity and Variety: Silver Research and Patronage Today' (Seminar, The Silver Society, London)
Several Fellows will be speaking at this seminar during the Art Antiques London summer fair. Download this PDF for details.
26 June 2015: 'Gold Boxes: Manufacture and Marketing From the 18th Century to the Present Day: A Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection Study Day (The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge)
This day conference is by ticket only (£10). Details available on the attached PDF.
24-26 July 2015: Seminar for Arabian Studies (British Museum)
Visit the seminar's website, to download the registration form, which should be completed and returned to seminar.arab@thebfsa.org.
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Feedback
In the previous issue of Salon (342), we misidentified our featured 'Memorial to Fellows' to Peter Hoare, FSA – who is very much still alive! The memorial was to 'Prince' Hoare.
A few issues ago, we misspelled the name of Antti Matikkala, FSA, who wrote Perspectives on the Honours Systems: Proceedings of the Symposiums Swedish and Russian Orders 1700–2000 & The Honour of Diplomacy. When we tried to correct it, we reassigned gender ('her' should have read 'his'). Sadly, this wasn't even the first time we've made this error. Our apologies for our mistakes, Antti!
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Propose a Lecture or Seminar
Please email Renée LaDue, the Society's Communications Officer if you are interested in giving a lecture at one of the Society's Ordinary Meetings (Thursday evenings at 17.00) or as part of our Public Lecture series (occasional Tuesday afternoons at 13.00). When proposing a lecture, it is helpful to provide a working title, a few sentences about the topic and its significance, and how you will make it relevant and accessible to the entirety of the diverse Fellowship. We welcome papers based on new research on themes related to the Society's field of interest: the study of the material past. You can view our current lecture programme in the Events section of our website.
Fellows are also encouraged to propose topics or themes for conferences or seminars that bring scholars and professionals from a variety of disciplines together to explain, discuss and debate our material culture. Please email Renée LaDue, the Society's Communications Officer, if you are interested in helping us organise such an event.
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