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Salon: Issue 398
12 December 2017

Next issue: 23 January 2018


The Society of Antiquaries of London Online Newsletter (Salon) is a fortnightly digest of heritage news. It focuses on the activities of the Society and the contributions that the Society's Fellows make to public life. A copy of Salon’s editorial policy can be found on the Society’s website.

Please send news, comment and feedback for publication to the Editor, Mike Pitts, at Salon Editor

Salon does not review books, but the Editor is pleased to receive details and front cover images of new titles written by Fellows. Scholarly publications are reviewed in The Antiquaries Journal: for details see Publications.

Fellows may occasionally find they do not receive email notification of a new Salon. There are suggestions for solving this here, but failing all else there is an online archive where new editions go live at the same time as the mailing. Every Salon lists the publication date of the next edition at the top.
Lamp flame

Inside this issue

From the Desk of the General Secretary

Happy Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year

This past year has been an exciting one at Burlington House and Kelmscott Manor. We wanted to take just a moment to tell our Council members, Fellows, Funders, Staff and Volunteers how much we've appreciated everything you've helped us accomplish in 2017. Please enjoy our brief video below (opens in a new window) that gives a summary of just some of the exciting things you've helped the Society achieve at Burlington House alone - not to mention the amazing accomplishments we've seen at Kelmscott Manor! The "soundtrack" on the video is a recording of 'Masters in This Hall', which was one of the delightful carols (organised by our Librarian Harriet Hansell) that those who attended our Christmas Miscellany and Mulled Wine Reception on 7 December enjoyed.



If you missed the Miscellany Meeting, which featured updates from Hon Curator Peter Cormack and Architect Paul Richold on the Kelmscott and Morris: Past, Present and Future project, you can watch recordings on our website. Find out more about the project online as well.

We look forward to working with all of you again in 2018.

Remembering Pamela Tudor-Craig FSA

'It is with great sadness that the Society has received the news that Pamela Tudor-Craig, Lady Wedgwood, died on Tuesday, 5 December 2017, at the age of 89. Next year would have marked not only Pamela's 90th birthday, but the 60th anniversary of her Election to our Fellowship. She was a distinguished scholar of later Medieval art. Her fascination for the lives of the saints, the lives and burials of our sovereigns, and the work of antiquarians and collectors, was at the heart of the Society's role in the academy. She worked on all forms of production, from buildings to manuscripts, from panel paintings to liturgical objects, and in later years grasped with both hands the contribution of new means of their investigation through technology. The results of her endeavours appeared in all media, in books and articles, on television and in exhibitions, most notably the National Portrait Gallery's Richard III in 1973. For more than half a century, Pamela cherished the ambition of the publication of a catalogue of the Society's paintings and finally, with the help of successive officers of the Society and the vital contributions of Fellows Jill Franklin and Bernard Nurse, Pamela's work on the catalogue came to fruition in 2015. The year before this, as the book went to press, she was awarded the Society's Medal. Throughout her powerful entries, from the subject of St Etheldreda to Mary I to the Protestant Reformers, and in her key essay on our benefactor Thomas Kerrich, Pamela's recording of the Society's and the nation's history was finally set down. Her presence, and her example, in the world of scholarship will be sorely missed.' 

The above was kindly written on behalf of the Society by Maurice Howard OBE Hon VPSA. Richard Foster's obituary appears below under ‘Fellows Remembered’. The photo was provided by Derrick Chivers FSA and was taken on the occasion of the presentation of Lady Wedgewood's Society Medal.

Welcoming a New Communications Manager in the New Year

As previously reported, the Society's Communications Manager of five years, Renée LaDue, will be leaving the post in mid-January to take up a role at the Clothworker's Company.

The Society is delighted to announce that we have appointed Amelia Carruthers to the post. Amelia has a Master of Arts (Honours) in History of Art from St Andrews University as well as a Master of Philosophy in Modern History from Bristol University. She is leaving her current role as Associate Marketing Manager of Global Online Products at Oxford University Press (OUP). She has worked in different roles at OUP since 2015, and before that also worked as an editor, writer, researcher and freelance arts blogger. Amelia will join the Burlington House team on 8 January, and will luckily be able to train with Renée before the latter's last day on 19 January.

We hope everyone will join us welcoming Amelia to the team.

The Antiquaries Journal Has Gone to Press!

Volume 97 of  the Antiquaries Journal has officially gone to press and should be shipped to Fellows before Christmas!

If you are eager to read it, check out the latest paper to be available via FirstView, which looks at a remarkable design for Gothic window tracery, scored into ashlar by a medieval hand and then lost to view for hundreds of years until revealed by recent building work. In ‘Incised Design for Gothic Window Tracery, Wymondham Abbey, Norfolk’, Roland Harris FSA shares with us this exciting discovery. Illustrated throughout, the paper examines the discovery’s significance in our understanding of medieval masons’ drawings and suggests that Wymondham Abbey, like its nearby sister priory at Binham, may have been at the forefront of the development of bar tracery in England in the mid-13th century.
 
Visit the 'Library Resources' page in the Fellows' Area of our website and follow the link for the Antiquaries Journal to access FirstView articles.

Supporting Kelmscott Manor


The Kelmscott Manor Campaign Committee is delighted with progress toward our fundraising goals, and is exceptionally grateful to those Fellows who have made donations and pledges since we launched the campaign in May this year. If you have contributed recently – thank you! For those of you who have not already made a commitment, we hope that you might consider supporting the project. Your donation, at whatever level you feel comfortable, would be greatly appreciated.
 

Supporting William Morris’ ‘Heaven on Earth’


Screenshot of Unlocking our Collections video
 
MAKE A DONATION TODAY >

Where Stands Britain?


This was the question asked by Picture Post shortly after the end of the Second World War, with a famous wintry photo of Stonehenge taken by Bill Brandt. According to Terence Meaden, who has guest-edited an edition of the Journal of Lithic Studies (of which Clive Bonsall FSA is Managing Editor), the question might better have been framed as, When stands Britain? His answer, in ‘Stonehenge and Avebury: Megalithic shadow casting at the solstices at sunrise,’ is at midsummer. Or, as the Sun headlined its online story on 11 December, ‘ROCK HARD TRUTH: Stonehenge’s naughty secret “revealed” – experts believe it was built to cast willy-shaped shadows.’
 
The Mail Online said Stonehenge 'was built to cast phallic shadows in summer'. The Telegraph, source of the press stories (‘Stonehenge built with sex in mind,’ The West Australian), said Meaden said the builders of Stonehenge and other megalithic circles ‘had created a “play without words” in which one special stone cast a growing phallic shadow which penetrated the egg-shaped monument before hitting a central “female” stone symbolising fertility and abundance.’
 
Tim Darvill FSA, said the Mail, thought ‘it was difficult to prove the theory but added that many clay penises had been found at Neolithic sites, which suggest a fertility link.’ ‘Bonkers’, said Mike Parker-Pearson FSA.
 
Salon is taking a midwinter break, and will return on 23 January. In the meantime, please write with news of Fellows or things that might interest Fellows, and I look forward to seeing you again in 2018.
 

Wall to Wall

 


In February 2017 Humphrey Welfare FSA, Chair of the Hadrian’s Wall World Heritage Site Partnership Board, accepted an invitation from the British Council to speak on the conservation and management of Hadrian’s Wall at seminars in Beijing and Xi’an, as part of the UK-China High-Level Dialogue on Cultural Heritage. British and Chinese colleagues were impressed by the presentations (China’s were ‘truly astounding’, writes Welfare). The Great Wall and Hadrian’s Wall were both inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987. What could they learn from each other’s experiences, and how could they share best practice in future?
 
On 5 December John Glen, the Heritage Minister, announced that the two Walls were to sign a unique agreement concerning research, education and tourism. ‘Representatives from the two World Heritage Sites’, he said, ‘will work together to examine the challenges and opportunities of managing large and complex archaeological remains and explore the potential tourism growth in both countries.’ Duncan Wilson FSA, Chief Executive of Historic England, said he looked forward ‘to a fruitful collaboration between Historic England and the Chinese Academy of Cultural Heritage (CACH) with the signing of the Wall to Wall agreement.’
 
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed in London between Historic England and CACH. This is ‘the formal beginning of a formal relationship,’ says Welfare, ‘not the announcement of a fixed programme.’ A professional seminar will take place in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 2018.
 

Meanwhile Welfare has convened a small group of people from Hadrian’s Wall with experience of working with China, to identify opportunities for increasing public engagement and awareness of the two Walls. The Society of Antiquaries Public Lecture on 31 October 2018 will be on The Great Wall, and exhibition ideas (here and in China) are being aired.
 
In Westmianster, Mary Glindon MP has formed a new All-Party Parliamentary Group for Hadrian’s Wall. Its aim is ‘To promote the World Heritage Site and associated tourism and to explore ways of increasing the importance of the WHS as an economic and cultural asset.’
 
Glen launched his Heritage Statement in a speech at the Royal Society of Arts. His key announcement was that a new Heritage Council would be formed, ‘to emphasise value of historic environment, building consensus and ensuring greater coordination across government’. Wilson commented, ‘We look forward to delivering a new place-marker scheme to enable local communities to identify, mark and celebrate the events, people and places that are important to them along with eight new Heritage Action Zones which will help to revive towns and cities that are rich in heritage.’
 
The Wall to Wall project drew more attention, however. Writing in the Guardian, Patrick Barkham emphasised differences between the two walls. ‘[H]heritage experts in Northumberland’, he said, ‘expressed surprise that the government had forged ahead with a bilateral agreement when Hadrian’s Wall is actually part of a multinational Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, a greater part of which runs through … European countries, as well as North Africa and the Middle East.’ Asked to comment, Andrew Birley FSA, Chief Executive of the Vindolanda Trust, said, ‘While we absolutely welcome the chance of working with colleagues from China, I’m surprised that this announcement is even possible when it is covering a very small part of a very large World Heritage Site.’
 
David Breeze FSA, who was in the group which created the Frontiers of the Roman Empire World Heritage Site, told Salon that 'It is ironic that while British officials were travelling to China, the coordinator for the Hadrian's Wall part of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire WHS was not present at the meeting of the Frontiers of the Roman Empire Management Group last month in Germany, owing to the rules of the organisation, Northumberland County Council, for whom he now works following the demise of the Hadrian's Wall Trust, which do not permit him to travel abroad.'

Photos Historic England (top) and Wikipedia.

Home Office tells BM Employee: No Need to Work Abroad




On 15 November the Home Office announced that it was going to double the number of visas available to ‘leading figures and individuals who show promise in technology, science, art and creative industries’:
 
‘As part of its ongoing commitment to welcome talented people from across the globe, and in recognition of the importance of these innovative industries to the UK, the number of visas available through the Tier 1 (Exceptional Talent) route is increasing from 1,000 to 2,000 a year.’ The move, said the Home Office, ‘is a further demonstration of the government’s dedication to the global mobility of individuals who will help make sure that the UK remains at the forefront of these world-leading industries.’
 
Such largesse does not appear to extend to archaeologists or museum staff. The Home Office’s same department, UK Visas and Immigration, had not long before suggested to a British-born citizen, Sam Nixon, that he should emigrate if he wishes to stay with his wife Jennifer Wexler, a US citizen in continuous residence in the UK for 11 years. Immigration says she has exceeded the number of days she is permitted to be outside the UK, and should go for good. They are both distinguished and hard-working archaeologists with full-time jobs.
 
Wexler, a specialist in European prehistory and digital heritage, came to Britain in 2001 to study for her MA at the Institute of Archaeology UCL. Her CV details what to me look like an exhausting number of research and field projects, going back (in the UK) to 2002 as Excavation Assistant, Thames Intertidal Rescue Project. Other posts include Director of Fieldwork in a survey of prehistoric tombs in Sicily (2006–09); Project Assistant, Olympic Programme, British Museum (2012); cataloguing Maltese Phoenician pottery in the Horniman Museum (2013); Bronze Age Index Manager, Micropast Project, BM-UCL (2014–16); and, now, Digital Research Project Producer for the African Rock Art Image Project at the BM.
 
Nixon is a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Archaeology and Heritage at the Sainsbury Institute, University of East Anglia, where he is Co-Investigator on an Arts and Humanities Research Council-funded project, Global Perspectives on British Archaeology. Wexler and Nixon both received their PhDs from the Institute of Archaeology UCL.
 
They have been married for three years, Wexler tells Salon, but this does not give her automatic residency. The route from a partner visa, to renewal, to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) and finally to Citizenship, would cost at least £6000–7000, plus any legal fees. Instead, Wexler applied for ILR (Long Route): with over 10 years of legal status in the UK, her immigration record already qualified her for ILR. Her status after her PhD (note the Home Office announcement at the top) was, as known then, a Tier 1 Highly Skilled Worker/Entrepreneur (as a heritage consultant).
 
For ILR (Long Route) you cannot have left the country for more than 540 days over 10 years. Wexler had spent more than 700 days abroad. Of these, 310 were explicitly related to archaeological research – for which she had received a Society of Antiquaries Tessa and Mortimer Wheeler Memorial Travel Fund grant – and work affiliated and sanctioned by UK institutions; and the Home Office had given her permission to leave.
 
It's all very complex and illogical (oddly, a five-year route would have entitled her to 900 days abroad) and the processing – and disputing – must consume much Civil Service time. David Richardson, Vice-Chancellor of the University of East Anglia, has said, ‘The way Sam and Jennifer have been treated by the Home Office is the very stuff of a Kafkaesque nightmare. One of the regrettable consequences of this case is that it reinforces the perception that the UK has in some way become closed off to people of talent, skill and intelligence.’
 
Wexler says that she finds it ‘truly bizarre how in the last week the government has been promoting attracting overseas students and talent/academics, yet on the other hand is making it extremely difficult for people like me who have an established life in the UK to actually stay. I have been told now on multiple occasions by the government that my work is not “valid” and that I did not need to do any work or research abroad, even though I was being sent by UK institutions as part of my job or PhD research. The whole thing is ludicrous!’
 
Her Member of Parliament is Jeremy Corbyn, Leader of the Labour Party and of the government Opposition. ‘He and his team’, says Wexler, ‘have been really supportive. He has been writing letters to the Home Office enquiring about my case for a few months now with no response.’
 
Frustrated, they spoke to Maev Kennedy FSA, a Special Writer for the Guardian who covers arts and heritage, who put them in touch with Amelia Hill. Hill’s piece was published on 4 December. ‘Jeremy Corbyn has accused the Home Office of putting the UK’s global reputation for higher education and research at risk’, she wrote, ‘by refusing visas to foreign academics married to British citizens.’ The next day Wexler and Nixon were interviewed by Mark Ashdown for BBC TV London News (the clip has been posted on YouTube by Daniel Pett FSA, a BM colleague of Wexler’s). ‘Fundamentally,’ said Nixon of the experience, ‘it really just suddenly challenges your idea of what it is be a British citizen, what status that means?’

‘I have friends and colleagues who have had exactly the same issue over the last few years,’ says Wexler. ‘This is a change, because previously if you could provide paperwork to support any extra time away, it was generally accepted to be sufficient. Now they are looking for any excuse to fail you. For my case, it is doubly bad because I am married to a British citizen.’
 
As I write, they are preparing an online petition. They are waiting to hear from the Home Office.

• On 5 December Universities UK, a group of vice-chancellors and principals, published a statement warning that ‘Life-changing research carried out in the UK could lose some of its brightest minds, unless they receive long-term clarity from the Brexit negotiations.​’ They say 17% of academic staff and 6% of professional services staff at UK universities (a total of more than 46,000 people) are from other EU countries.
 
Photo at top from BBC TV London News shows Nixon and Wexler with a letter from Corbyn.
 

English Heritage Running out of Money

 

Prospect, a trade union for professionals, has warned that up to 90 jobs could be lost from English Heritage, most of them professional, management and specialist roles within visitor operations management, marketing and curatorial teams. Other teams affected by the proposed cuts include estates, development and commercial. Consultation about the changes ends on 15 December.
 
Nearly 160 English Heritage roles are said to be at risk. The government has said the charity, which was split off from Historic England in 2015, must be financially independent by 2022/23. English Heritage says without changes it will be £21.2 million short of the target. Restructuring is necessary to ensure financial sustainability.
 
Proposals will cut the number of collections curators and on-site curators at properties and archaeological stores, and remove roles with specific responsibility for managing and overseeing volunteers.
 
Judith Plouviez FSA, Chair of Rescue, had earlier written an open letter to Kate Mavor, Chief Executive of English Heritage asking for clarity about rumours of job losses.
 

Museum Changes: Free to Look, Pay to Print

 

When museums charge researchers who wish to reproduce images of historic paintings, prints and drawings, a common reaction is similar to that of hospital visitors being charged to park their cars. It feels wrong and the institutions risk accusations of greed, but the policies are symptoms of a world where ambitious goals and high expectations come up against the realities of having to pay for everything.
 
The debate about the charging policies of UK national museums began with a letter to the Times from Bendor Grosvenor and several Fellows, strongly objecting to any charges, and Salon has published supportive views. On 28 November the Art Newspaper reported that ‘legal experts’ said the museums do not hold the copyright to license new photographs of historic works of art in their collections. Lionel Bently, a professor of intellectual property law at the University of Cambridge, referred to a European Court of Justice ruling that a photograph ‘must be original in the sense that the photographer has exercised creative choices’ for it to be protected by copyright. On the other hand, Simon Stokes, author of Art and Copyright, ‘is more circumspect, warning that the UK’s interpretation of the European ruling remains untested in the courts’.
 
Heather Rowland, Head of Library and Collections at the Society, has kindly written a statement for Salon about the Society’s own policy:
 
‘I read with interest the article Pricy Pictures in Salon on 14 November and the further comments on 28 November, and thought it would be helpful if I explained the Society’s policy on charging for reproduction of images. Our policy which was approved by Council and the Library and Collections Committee, is available to read online.
 
‘In keeping with the Society’s commitment to the dissemination of knowledge and wider public engagement, the policy includes several exemptions where images may be supplied free of charge for non-commercial use. We provide images free of charge for academic publications where there is no remuneration for the author and where the print run is less than 1,000. We also supply images free of charge for teaching purposes, for inclusion in a lecture where the speaker will not receive a fee, and for inclusion in a dissertation or thesis. In 2017 50% of the images we supplied were not subject to charges.
 
‘Our image reproduction charges were drawn up in line with charges levied by other comparable institutions, and we also looked at the charges of the nationals such as the British Museum and National Gallery. But as a small independent museum and library that does not receive any public funding, the Society is different to the national museums, galleries and libraries. During 2017 we have dealt with more than 300 requests for images. Only a fraction of our objects, manuscripts, prints and drawings have been photographed, and some images may not be of good enough quality to be reproduced, so often we must commission new photography. Processing and supplying these requests takes up a large amount of staff time, and sometimes also requires staff to carry out research to identify and locate the item that needs to be photographed. Our charges barely cover the costs to the Society of providing an image request service. On a positive note the increasing number of image requests we receive is a reflection of the increased awareness of the richness of our collections, which we are keen to encourage.’
 
• Oliver Harris (‘Not actually a Fellow,’ he writes, ‘merely a Salon subscriber’) has some interesting thoughts on the matter. He is a researcher on the Bentham Project at UCL, Faculty of Laws.
 
‘It may be worth noting that the claiming of rights in faithful copies of out-of-copyright two-dimensional originals is illegal in the United States, following the judgment in the case of Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. (1999). The Wikipedia article on that case (and I emphasise that I have no serious legal knowledge – Wikipedia is as deep as I go) includes a section on “Relevance to UK law” that makes clear that, while the US precedent is not, of course, binding on this side of the Atlantic, the legal position here is still somewhat murky, and the issue remains to be tested in the courts (a point also indicated by the authors of the letter to the Times). The American law professor Jason Mazzone, in an article of 2006 and a book of the same title of 2011, coined the term “copyfraud” to describe spurious and unfounded claims of copyright, and again there's an interesting Wikipedia article on that topic. One target of Mazzone's criticism was the American Antiquarian Society, which in 2015 reversed its position and now allows free use of its images.
 
‘This transatlantic divide could arguably be set against that other divide of the much-vaunted policy of (in the UK) free admission to national museums and some other institutions, contrasted with (nearly everywhere else) the strict imposition of entry fees. UK museums, libraries and archives do tend to have rather fewer opportunities to generate income than their overseas counterparts, and perhaps one of the few areas in which an income stream can be relied on is that of reproduction fees. I'm sure that the amounts raised – as a proportion of institutional running costs – are in fact minuscule; but one is left with the impression that the purposive scholarly researcher is being asked to subsidise the casual visitor.
 
‘My own experience as an author (and therefore payer of fees) is that many UK institutions do in practice build a fair degree of flexibility into their charging policies, and are prepared to reduce or waive fees for scholarly or not-for-profit publications. What I find frustrating, however, is that these arcane policies are rarely spelled out, and I constantly come away feeling that had I understood the rules of the game better, and had I known the right form of words or the right ear to bend, I might have been able to negotiate a more advantageous deal. I would appreciate a lot more transparency and consistency. I have, for example, learned from experience (but have never seen laid down in writing) that the British Library – in respect of images made by its in-house photographers, and already purchased – imposes reproduction fees for their use in books, but waives them for use in scholarly journals. Which sounds fair enough (a book author probably expects to derive some income from it; a journal article author doesn't) – except that I find that chapters in edited volumes (which to me as an author are little different from journal articles, and certainly don't pay) are treated as “books”, and charged at full rate. Would the BL be prepared to bend on that if I kicked up a fuss? I've never dared try, so I don't know.
 
‘For several years, and until very recently, the BL's online “Permission to reproduce” application form included a box in which one was asked to provide one's “Imagining Services order number” [sic] – which rather reinforced the impression that the level of fees, and the conditions under which they were imposed or otherwise, were being plucked out of thin air.’

Nicholas Rodger FSA writes from All Souls College, Oxford. He is also interested in the legal position: in his experience, he says, ‘it is not as well understood as it ought to be.’
 
‘Institutions providing photographs of manuscripts, prints and the like are entitled to charge for their time and trouble – but in my experience they are accustomed to add to the cost of photography considerably steeper copyright fees which in many cases are not justified at all.
 
‘To charge a copyright reproduction fee, an institution must be able to show that whatever they are copying is still in copyright (ie never published, or published less than 70 years ago), that the institution itself owns the copyright as well as the article itself (they do not necessarily go together), or that the photograph they supply is not a “slavish copy” (ie a facsimile) but embodies original artistic input.
 
‘On a number of occasions I have dealt with national museums and galleries which attempted to charge me reproduction fees for facsimile photographs of manuscripts, engravings and suchlike which were either long out of copyright, or whose copyright did not belong to them. In every case, when challenged they dropped the attempt with great speed, being very anxious not to have their day in court. I know from conversation with directors and senior curators that the institutions in question are well aware that they derive a large and precious income from practices which, to put it no more strongly, would probably not survive legal challenge. As Fellows we may have sympathy with the institutions, but as a scholar I feel no compulsion to pay these fraudulent charges.’

• Writing in the Financial Times (1 December), Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A, says museums ‘have the right and indeed obligation to prevent the overt commercialisation of our collections, but not disavow the wisdom of crowds’. His piece is about the challenge of digital copies, ‘in an era of relentless reproduction’. For museums, he says, ‘much of this is a conversation around letting go. The era of mass digital reproduction starts to separate authority from authenticity, as online communities gain the means to manipulate scanned images and 3D prints for their own ends.'

My photo at the top shows a visitor at Tate Britain’s recent David Hockney exhibition.
 

Fellows (and Friends)


Peter Woodward FSA, archaeologist and museum curator, died in November.
 
David Crossley FSA, industrial archaeologist, died in December.
 
Pamela Tudor-Craig FSA, art historian, died in December.
 
Appreciations appear in Fellows Remembered below. The section also contains a further notice on the late Roger Lockyer FSA.
 
Michael Mitchell, known to several Fellows as a typographer, designer and publisher, died on 17 November aged 78. Libanus Press, which he founded as a letterpress workshop, produced high quality illustrated books and exhibition catalogues.
 
*

Devon Hewitt, Finance Officer at the Society of Antiquaries, has ascertained that next year the Society will be joining the following distinguished Fellows as they celebrate the 50th anniversary of their election:
 
Ann Birchall FSA       
Dennis Britton FSA   
Graham Connah FSA
Sir Neil Cossons FSA 
Colin Franklin FSA
Jeremy Gibson FSA
John Harris FSA
Georgina Herrmann FSA    
Ceri Lewis FSA
Colin Renfrew, Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn FSA
Kenneth Rogers FSA 
Christopher Taylor FSA
John Peter Wild FSA 
 
On 24 November Richard Reece FSA, ‘Cirencester archaeologist extra-ordinaire’ and distinguished numismatist, was presented with a book at Corinium Museum by Neil Holbrook FSA (right and left in the photo respectively). Holbrook is Chief Executive at Cotswold Archaeology, and the book, by him and colleagues, describes the excavation of a major Roman cemetery at the former Bridges Garage in Cirencester. ‘Born and bred in Cirencester,’ says the book’s citation, Reece ‘single-handedly salvaged precious information on the cemetery during development in 1960. Without his efforts, all knowledge would have been lost. It was appropriate that Richard was present on the site again on 25 February 2015 when a Roman lady of quality called Bodicacia re-emerged into the digital age'. Bodicacia was the dedicatee of a tombstone found on the site, described by Kevin Hayward FSA and Martin Henig FSA, and transcribed by Roger Tomlin FSA.

Joanna Sofaer FSA, Professor in the Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, has been appointed Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) Knowledge Exchange (KE) and Impact Fellow for the period December 2017–April 2020. ‘This is a prestigious and high-profile post,’ writes Sofaer, ‘leading knowledge exchange and impact across Europe for the HERA scheme, working with 24 Humanities Research Councils across Europe and engaging in advocacy for the Humanities at the highest levels. Appointing an archaeologist at this critical time provides a unique voice for the discipline, positions it at the vanguard of KE and impact, and highlights the important relationships between UK and European research.’ She will be working with Tony Whyton, Professor of Jazz Studies from Birmingham City University School of Media as a joint Fellow.
 
Mark Whittow FSA has been elected as Oriel College’s next Provost, to succeed Moira Wallace when she reaches the end of her term in August 2018. He is University Lecturer in Byzantine Studies, and a current Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was Senior Proctor of the University in 2016–17, and has a long association with Oriel College as Lecturer in History. Helen Whittow, his wife, is a practising QC and Deputy High Court Judge, and will join him at Oriel. In a press release, Whittow said, ‘Oriel College is a vibrant and exciting community, which seems only to go from strength to strength. It is a great privilege to have been entrusted with the task of leading such a historic institution whose aims of promoting teaching and research at the highest level are more important than ever.’

The Archie Walls Archive was given to the Khalili Research Centre at the University of Oxford by Archie Walls FSA in 2014. It contains over 23,000 records, mostly image files, as well as around 200 PDF files, after the Centre spent a number of years digitising images and adding metadata to records. It is hoped the archive will be a useful record for researchers interested in the architectural traditions of the Middle East and wider Islamic world. Images include photos, sketches, paintings, architectural drawings, and letters and other correspondence. The PDFs include teaching notes, presentations, articles, book chapters, and Walls’ doctoral thesis. Subjects include the analysis of historic buildings in Israel and Palestine, Bahrain and Zanzibar.
 
Simon Jenkins FSA wrote about railways in his Guardian column on 29 November. Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport, had announced plans to re-open a few lines that had been closed in the 1960s. ‘Most of the lines on Grayling’s list’, he writes, ‘have little to do with the overcrowding he wants to solve … I suspect Whitehall is under pressure from the rail companies and unions not to let leisure railways slide into the hands of the voluntary sector.’ By contrast, says Jenkins, ‘the contribution of the heritage rail sector’ is ‘sensational’. ‘There are now 150 such railways, big and small, flourishing in the voluntary sector.’ Jenkins’ new book, Britain’s 100 Best Railway Stations, was reviewed in the Times on 9 December. ‘[H]however spectacular the book’s photographs,’ writes Richard Morrison, ‘it’s the author’s prowess as a phrase-maker that keeps you turning the pages. London’s armies of commuters may trudge grimly through Battersea Park and Baker Street stations each morning without so much as a glance upwards, but to Jenkins the former is “an extraordinary pocket palazzo” and the latter “the fountainhead of middlebrow suburbia”.’

As noted in an earlier Salon, Westminster City Council had been asked by conservation bodies to reject demolition of an Edwardian  former Royal Mail sorting and delivery office at Paddington, London, to make way for Renzo Piano’s Paddington Cube (on left in the image). On 29 November the High Court dismissed a legal action by SAVE Britain's Heritage which challenged the Secretary of State over his refusal to call in the proposals for public inquiry. In a release, Marcus Binney FSA, Executive President of SAVE, said, ‘In this case, scandalously, a published policy to give reasons, announced to Parliament, has been overlooked and seemingly changed by civil servants without informing ministers. SAVE is giving serious consideration to the grounds for appeal to the Court of Appeal provided by our lawyers.’
 
The Birgittines of Syon Abbey by Susan Powell FSA considers the only house established in Britain by the Birgittine Order of nuns. Founded by Henry V in 1415, Syon Abbey was peopled by daughters of the most influential English families, and some of the most learned and intellectual English priests, who formed the complementary brotherhood. Powell focuses on the later 15th and early 16th centuries, the most fruitful period of Birgittine outreach, when the printing press had opened up new opportunities of mission and transmission. It considers the community’s response to the teachings of St Birgitta, for which Syon was nationally famous, as well as their authorship of manuscript and printed works. It also examines the relationship between Syon and nearby Carthusians of Sheen and London.
 
Three British museums have been nominated for the 2018 European Museum of the Year Award. The Science Museum in London (Group Director and Chief Executive, Ian Blatchford FSA), the Mary Rose Museum, Portsmouth (whose Trustee Directors include Robert Bewley FSA, Christopher Brandon FSA, Sir Barry Cunliffe FSA, Alan Lovell FSA, Janet Owen FSA and David Starkey FSA), and the Design Museum, London, are in a shortlist that includes two museums in Dublin and the International Centre for Cave Art at Lascaux, France. The winner will be announced in May 2018 at the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, Poland, which won the award in 2016.
 
Art, Passion & Power: The Story of the Royal Collection, by Michael Hall FSA, traces the history of what is described as the last great collection formed by European monarchies to have survived into the 21st century. Containing over a million artworks and objects, the Royal Collection reflects the monarchy's response to changing attitudes to the arts and sciences during the Enlightenment and the democratisation of art in the modern world. The author, says the blurb, has had unprecedented access to the royal residences of St James' Palace, Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace. Charles II: Art & Power has just opened at the Queen's Gallery, London, to be followed in the new year by Charles I: King and Collector at the Royal Academy, and a BBC TV series (and talks at the Antiquaries on 27 March, see Other Forthcoming Heritage Events below).

The British Museum and the University of Reading announced on 1 December that a significant new collection storage and research facility is to be built at the university. The British Museum Archaeological Research Collection will hold sculptures, historic casts and important archaeological assemblages from Britain and across the world. Study rooms will give students, academics and members of the public access to the collections, and the BM plans to work closely with local museums. Hartwig Fischer FSA, Director of the BM said, ‘This will be a cornerstone of the Museums masterplan.’ The museum is having to move large collections out of Blythe House in London, so the government can sell the building. No planning consent has yet been obtained in Reading.

Hillary Clinton was in London in mid-October to promote her book about the last US presidential election, What Happened? On 2 December the Guardian published a transcript of a conversation she had with Mary Beard FSA. ‘… the chemistry between them crackles,’ writes Decca Aitkenhead, ‘and Clinton conveys the impression of someone keen to see what she can learn from the academic.’ ‘Mary,’ asks Clinton, ‘what do you think the moment was when you won the debate with Johnson?’ (In 2005, Beard and Boris Johnson MP debated the respective cases for ancient Rome and Greece.) ‘It was when I said’, replies Beard, ‘“Boris has been claiming that Roman literature really wasn’t worth reading. But a leading politician said of Book IV of Virgil’s Aeneid, on the death of his lover Dido, that it was: ‘The best book of the best poem of the best poet.” Who do you think that was?” And Boris had to say: “I think that might have been me.”’ ‘Reading your book,’ Beard says to Clinton, ‘what was so interesting was that women in public life – and I’m happily removed from that – you’ve got to look the part and you’ve got to be authentic. And that’s impossible.’

Archaeologist, sheep-farmer and expert on toy farm vehicles, Peter Wade-Martins FSA has written A Life in Norfolk’s Archaeology 1950–2016. Norfolk has long been a distinctive place in the national archaeological landscape, often being ahead of the rest of the country in thinking and never short of significant discoveries. Wade-Martins, who was County Field Archaeologist from 1973 to 1999, and then the first Director of the Norfolk Archaeological Trust, describes a formative era for the profession, covering the rise of field archaeology, efforts to conserve the archaeological heritage against a tide of countryside destruction up to the 1980s, the impact of planning controls, pioneering work with detectorists and ground-breaking conservation projects. Some of his own work concerned significant Anglo-Saxon settlement. With many photos.
 
It has emerged that Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi, sold in 1900 by one Fellow to another and a few weeks ago for $450 million to an anonymous buyer, has been acquired by Louvre Abu Dhabi. How it got there is not entirely clear. On 6 December the New York Times reported it had been bought by Saudi Arabian Prince Bader bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan al-Saud, a friend of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The next day the Wall Street Journal reported that the buyer was the Crown Prince himself, while the United Arab Emirates’ new gallery mysteriously tweeted – in Arabic, French and English – ‘Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi is coming to #LouvreAbuDhabi.’ Two days later, Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism said it had acquired the painting for Louvre Abu Dhabi. The earlier claim by Jean-Luc Martinez, President and Director of the Louvre, that the Salvator Mundi would come to a Leonardo exhibition in Paris in 2019, now looks credible.

Lavinia Porter, the Society's Publications Manager and Editor of the Antiquaries Journal, tells Salon about ‘an interesting way to recycle old monuments’ she spotted in the Guardian (6 December). The Revenue Office in Bolzano, northern Italy (1939–42), displays a frieze featuring Benito Mussolini and the slogan ‘CREDERE OBBEDIRE COMBATTERE’ (believe, obey, fight). Rather than seek its removal or protest its historic legitimacy, the town invited in artists to re-interpret it. A jury, which included a history professor, a museum curator, an architect, an artist and a journalist, chose Arnold Holzknecht and Michele Bernardi from 486 hopefuls. They have projected the phrase ‘Nobody has the right to obey’ in Italian, German and Ladin. Curiously, this is said to be a misquotation of the original (‘Kein Mensch hat bei Kant das Recht zu gehorchen’), attributed to Hannah Arendt in conversation on the radio in 1964 – ‘Nobody has the right to obey Kant’. Beware slogans. Photo IDM.
 
Tracing History Through Title Deeds: A Guide for Family and Local Historians by Nat Alcock FSA explains how old title deeds – perhaps the most numerous, he says, and certainly one of the most neglected sources of historical evidence – can be used for local and family history research. The main chapters examine why they are so useful, where they can be found, and how the information they provide can be extracted and applied. The book is a new version of Alcock’s out-of-print Old Title Deeds (2003).

Charlotte Higgins FSA has written a long, informed piece for the Guardian (2 December) about the state of the Houses of Parliament. ‘As politicians dither over repairs,’ reads the subheading, ‘the risk of fire, flood or a deluge of sewage only increases. But fixing the Palace of Westminster might change British politics for good – which is the last thing many of its residents want.’ Her article focuses on the difficulties of getting politicians to face up to the urgent need for major restoration and modernisation. In January, she says, MPs will debate whether to set up a delivery authority to oversee works: ‘It will be the first time the question of the palace renovations has come before parliament.’ In response, Tim Tatton-Brown FSA and I separately wrote to the paper to highlight the current work at Westminster Hall (my photo right). ‘The hall roof fiasco,’ says Tatton-Brown, ‘must make everyone worry about what might happen when the far larger restoration and renewal project happens.’ See ‘Repairing Parliament’ (Salon January 2017) and ‘Westminster Hall’ (Salon October 2017). Tatton-Brown has written about the Hall for the new edition of British Archaeology.
 
On 29 November US President Donald Trump retweeted three inflammatory and disingenuous videos from a small, British far-right group. Conservative MP Tim Loughton FSA joined Labour MP Yvette Cooper on Channel 4 News to echo international critics condemning the President’s tweets, and his failure to apologise. ‘He has given the oxygen of publicity to a group that has been peddling all sorts of vile hate,’ said Loughton. His ‘crass meddling in UK domestic matters … is making it really difficult for us to roll out the red carpet’, referring to a controversial invitation extended to Trump by the Prime Minister to visit the UK.
 
The Moated Medieval Manor and Tudor Royal Residence at Woking Palace: Excavations between 2009 and 2015, by Rob Poulton FSA, Senior Archaeological Advisor at Surrey County Council, describes the fruits of a community project. Richard I granted the manor to Alan Basset, who created a moated residence. By 1300 the complex included stone buildings that remained at the core of the site. An aristocratic lifestyle is shown by stonework in Sussex marble, patterned floor tiles, grisaille window glass, and the consumption of swan and deer. In 1485 Lady Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII, embarked on major construction work in brick. Henry claimed the manor in 1503, replacing the great hall. It was granted to Sir Edward Zouch in 1620: he promptly demolished it.

The Heritage Alliance (THA) and Institute of Fundraising (IoF) created the Giving to Heritage programme with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Arts Council England and the DCMS. £750,000 of grant funding, the organisations say in a press release, has helped train over 1,700 people from over 800 heritage organisations, and the programme has helped heritage projects raise £3.15 million. Loyd Grossman FSA, Chairman of THA, said, ‘The GTH programme has successfully helped the heritage sector become more self-sufficient. We would welcome new investment to continue to allow GTH to spread best practice in the heritage sector.’
 
Cliff Webb FSA noticed this little portrait of John Bathurst Deane FSA (1797–1887), which is to be auctioned by The Saleroom on the day this Salon goes out (12 December). Deane was on the Society’s Council, and was one of the founders of the British Archaeological Association (1843) and of the Royal Archaeological Institute (1844). He wrote The Worship of the Serpent (1833), which found connections between India, China, Phoenicia and Mexico. Born at the Cape of Good Hope, he was educated at Merchant Taylors' School and Pembroke College, Cambridge. He was ordained a deacon at Exeter in 1821 and a priest in 1823, and combined the church and teaching in his career. The watercolour on ivory in a gold frame shows him as a young boy, and locks of hair and gold wire on mother of pearl are visible through glass on the reverse. The auction begins at 11 am, with an estimate of £200–300; bids can be taken online.
 
These two books were published to coincide with the 2017 Australian Archaeological Association Conference in Melbourne (6–8 December). Between the Murray and the Sea: Aboriginal Archaeology in South-eastern Australia, by David Frankel FSA, was launched at the conference by Ian McNiven FSA. It explores the Indigenous archaeology of Victoria and parts of South Australia, looking at many sites from a mosaic of varied environments. Frankel considers what the evidence reveals about Indigenous society, economy and technology over many thousands of years. He looks at how an understanding of the changing environment, combined with 19th-century ethnohistory, can inform understanding of archaeology and the diversity of Aboriginal responses. Victorian Aboriginal Life and Customs Through Early European Eyes, edited by Frankel & Janine Major, brings together over 700 extracts from a wide variety of documents left by European settlers, government officials and missionaries who observed the everyday lives of the people they were displacing. Within two generations of the first European settlement of Victoria, traditional Aboriginal society was almost entirely destroyed. This title can be downloaded for free from the La Trobe University Library Ebureau.
 
The British Museum’s latest blog is by Bettany Hughes FSA, on ‘warrior women’: Boudica (‘represented, and thus perceived, as a kind of gorgeous, anti-superhero. Her extra-specialness was promoted as the reason she gave the Romans a run for their money’), Amazons (‘real, flesh-and-blood female fighters from the tribes of Scythia and Sarmatia’) and warrior graves in Georgia. Earlier Eileen Murphy FSA, a bioarchaeologist at Queen’s University Belfast, wrote about how examining human remains from burials can help us understand more about the Scythians.

Bettany Hughes has just presented Eight Days That Made Rome on Channel 5, with one episode about Boudica’s revolt; I had to tick a box saying I was over 16 to watch it. Native rebellion will feature in yet more dramatic mode in Sky Atlantic’s Britannia, scheduled for 2018. The series will follow the Roman army as they arrive ‘to crush the Celtic heart of Britannia, a mysterious land led by warrior women and powerful Druids who claim to channel the powerful forces of the underworld.’ The script is written by Jez Butterworth, and Mackenzie Crook plays the Druid leader.

Current Archaeology has announced shortlists for its annual awards, which are voted for by the public online. The three candidates for Archaeologist of the Year 2018 are Fellows: Timothy Darvill FSA, Hella Eckardt FSA and Jim Leary FSA. Other awards are for Book of the Year (almost all on the shortlist seem to have been written by Fellows), Research Project of the Year and Rescue Project of the Year. Voting closes on 5 February 2018.
 
The Council for British Archaeology and the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists have published a briefing on their advocacy positon on the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, which is currently being debated in Parliament. They identify five key issues: weakening of environmental principles enshrined in the European treaty; loss of supranational jurisdiction to provide opportunities to bring legal challenges on environmental principles; uncertainty over the status of case law referring to EU principles not transcribed in the Bill; uncertainty over how government will amend technical aspects of the EU law when transposed; and uncertainty over how previously-held EU powers brought back to the UK after Brexit will be reserved or devolved to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Memorials to Fellows


George Somers Clarke FSA (1841–1926, elected 1869, resigned 1902), an ecclesiastical architect articled to George Gilbert Scott, has at least two distinctive memorials. Robert Harding FSA has spotted one on Flickr, an apparently loose slab in Archangel Michael's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Aswan. Somers Clarke built himself a mudbrick multi-domed house in Egypt, writes the photographer, Howard Middleton-Jones, which still stands beside the Nile south of Luxor. He also built railway stations, adds Middleton-Jones, the first Anglican Cathedral of Aswan, and extensions to Coptic monasteries substantially, or entirely, of mudbrick.
 
His Times obituary reported that Somers Clarke ‘assisted in the repair of several ancient temples’ in Egypt. He was Surveyor of the Fabric, St Paul's Cathedral (from 1897), and Architect to the Dean and Chapter, Chichester Cathedral (1900–22). He retired to Upper Egypt in 1922, and was buried in a tomb built to his own design at Al Mahamid.
 

Somers Clarke was born in Brighton, the son of a solicitor and clerk to the vestry of Brighton of the same name. He was responsible for various restorations at St Nicholas Church, Brighton, notably raising the roof to allow clerestory windows to be added, where a beam is dedicated to his memory (photo above by Tony Mould).
 

Fellows Remembered


Peter Woodward FSA died on 16 November aged 70. He was elected a Fellow of the Society in March 1995. His wife Ann Woodward FSA has written this obituary:
 
‘After a long illness, Peter J Woodward FSA died peacefully at home. Peter was born and brought up in Smethwick, Birmingham and trained as an architect at the University of Bristol. However, whilst designing schools for Bristol City Council he became rather disillusioned and, after working on a dig in Milton Keynes, he was seduced into a new career in archaeology.
 
‘Working in Bedfordshire with Alison Taylor FSA he was one of the first to develop the technique of systematic fieldwalking which is now a standard component of commercial archaeology. In 1977 he moved to Dorset and, working for Wessex Archaeology, he undertook substantial projects in Purbeck and in and around Dorchester. These included the excavation, in 1984, of the largest, published urban site within a Roman town in the country – at Greyhound Yard, beneath the Waitrose store in Dorchester (Durnovaria) – and sites along the route of the Dorchester bypass. His archaeological green fingers led to the discovery of two Neolithic sites of outstanding importance: part of the circular ditched enclosure at Flagstones (next to Thomas Hardy's house, Max Gate), for which the closest parallel is the early Stonehenge; and the massive timber-post circle under Greyhound Yard and Charles Street, which is similar to the one recently explored beneath Durrington Walls, near Stonehenge.
 
‘He spent the later years of his working career as Archaeology Curator at the Dorset County Museum, where he designed galleries, inspired a loyal group of archaeology volunteers working in the stores and archives in All Saints Church, ran lecture series and assisted many a research student working on the hugely important archaeology collections; he was also Chairman of the Dorset Archaeological Committee. He was able to bring into the museum a working traction engine, which he drove with great aplomb at the Great Dorset Steam Fair, and set up a Traction Engine Group which included local farmers and landowners.
 
‘Peter's long list of publications includes the following major monographs: Romano-British Industries in Purbeck (1987, with Nigel Sunter FSA), The South Dorset Ridgeway (1991), Excavations at Greyhound Yard, Dorchester 1981–4 (1993, with Sue Davies FSA and Alan Graham) and Excavations Along the Route of the Dorchester By-pass, Dorset, 1986–8 (1997, with Mike Allen FSA, Ian Barnes FSA, Frances Healy FSA, Elaine Morris FSA and Roland Smith FSA). His latest project was the updating of the archaeological introduction and parish entries for the revised edition of the 'Dorset Pevsner', on behalf of Yale University Press, due for publication in 2018. This utilised to the full his encyclopaedic knowledge of Dorset archaeology.
 


‘Peter loved drawing and painting and his artwork featured in the award-winning archaeology gallery at the Dorset County Museum, opened in 1984, and on the front covers of several Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society monographs (above is from The South Dorset Ridgeway). In retirement, Peter also became an accomplished potter. Trained by Bill Crumbleholme in Upwey, he worked on location with the Ancient Wessex Network, demonstrating prehistoric potting techniques. He loved the outdoors: walking, camping and especially gardening, for which he gained an award from the Dorset Wildlife Trust. He leaves his wife and four daughters.’
 

• With his long career in a collaborative profession that often works in large teams, Woodward was known to many archaeologists, who will be mourning his loss while celebrating his achievements. He was also a familiar public figure, as a speaker and guide. On one occasion in 1999 he took the Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society around Dorchester Museum, the town, and the hillfort at Maiden Castle. Out there within the vast, grassy ramparts, he talked about excavations and archaeology, wrote John Oswin at the time, ‘and “flew a few kites” about the occupation of the hilltop'. While he talked, 'his daughter flew her kite in the breeze'.

*

David Crossley FSA died on 3 December aged 79. He was elected a Fellow of the Society in March 1970. Five Fellows have remembered a former colleague for Salon. First, Marilyn Palmer FSA, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Archaeology at the University of Leicester, writes:
 
David Crossley FSA, Honorary Reader in the Department of Archaeology in the University of Sheffield, was one of the first generation of industrial archaeologists although he would not have described himself as such. Beginning his career as an economic historian, it is not surprising that his growing interest in archaeology led him to concentrate on the post-Medieval and industrial periods, retaining his interest in the crucial importance of documentary sources for the later periods of archaeology.
 
‘Like many of us in the 1980s, he ran evening classes in industrial archaeology and many of his group took part in the production in 1989 of Water Power on Sheffield Rivers, using both historical documents and fieldwork on some of the rivers which formed the original basis of Sheffield’s iron and steel industry. He played his part in contributing to national organisations, serving as Vice Chairman of the Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust and a Trustee of the Ironbridge (Telford) Heritage Foundation and the Association for the History of Glass, as well as chairing the Industrial Archaeology Advisory Panel of English Heritage. He worked extensively on the excavation of iron and glass furnaces, writing with Henry Cleere FSA a definitive study, The Iron Industry of the Weald (Leicester University Press 1985). At one time he edited both Post-Medieval Archaeology and Historical Metallurgy, and wrote Post-Medieval Archaeology in Britain (1990), again published by Leicester University Press and really the first book of its kind on this period of archaeology in the UK.
 
‘David was very keen that industrial archaeologists should regard excavation as part of their skills portfolio. In a review of the Historical Association pamphlet by Michael Rix which first popularised the term “industrial archaeology”, David wrote in 1967 that: “there is a growing feeling that much is being lost in industrial studies by the inability or unwillingness of Industrial archaeologists to appreciate the benefits which a training in excavation techniques would bring them”. He approved of the amount of archaeological work on industrial sites now carried out by contract archaeologists.’
 
Peter White FSA, former Secretary of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales (RCAHMW) writes:
 
‘David Crossley will appropriately be remembered as a leading industrial archaeologist, though he was never comfortable with the term “industrial archaeology”. An economic historian, he spent his working life at Sheffield University, and gained an international reputation for his research on and understanding of the metal and glass industries.
 
‘He began his academic career in the mid-1960s when industrial archaeology was developing as a movement, rather than as a discipline, and he quickly recognised that accepted methods had to be applied if valuable evidence was not to be lost.
 
‘By the late 60s he was a pioneer in the scientific excavation of iron-working sites, which were at that time being robbed of their deposits in much the same manner as an earlier generation had attacked Bronze Age burial mounds. His work in 1967–68 with the Wealden Iron Research Group on the iron blast furnace at Panningridge, in the Sussex Weald, showed how it should be done. In this standard-setting work he found kindred spirits among the Historical Metallurgy Group and as a founder member of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, both of which he served in a number of capacities. He was active too on a broader canvas, serving a term as Reviews Editor of the Antiquaries Journal.
 
‘David was the very opposite of an ivory tower academic. In his adopted city, through his extra-mural classes, he built on an existing awareness of a rich but fast disappearing industrial heritage – the Sheffield Trades Historical Society had been founded in the 1930s – by organising the recording and documenting of the cutlery trade. In the 1960s many “little mesters” workshops were still active in tenement blocks in the heart of the city, with the components of the knives and scissors carried from place to place for each part of the process by lads on cycles. A day spent with David following the pieces as they were forged, annealed, ground and sharpened was memorable. So too was a walk down one of the river valleys to their confluence in the heart of the city inspecting the numerous water-powered sites. Notable sites which have been preserved, at Abbeydale and Shepherd Wheel, are still there today thanks in part to David’s perseverance. He was active in the Sheffield hinterland too, at Wortley Forge, and Rockley blast furnace. A more recent success was to secure the preservation of Ken Hawley’s remarkable collection of hand tools.
 
‘David possessed the particular gift of understanding industrial processes and he travelled widely in Europe and America among a network of colleagues to inform himself. At one point he was particularly interested in the attempts of early ironmasters to provide the blast for their furnaces with no bellows or moving parts, by displacing a column of air with water under pressure – the trompe. Inevitably this quest led to France, and to a remote location in Haute-Savoie, where French colleagues had discovered a potential site. The verdict on the structure was inconclusive, but the day trip from Lyon resulted in the host’s car engine blowing up, following some over-enthusiastic driving to fit in as many sites as possible for David’s opinion on them. Recounting this tale David’s rarely expressed wry humour showed through; as a very practical person whose hobby was restoring and rallying vintage cars, he was clearly surprised that his host’s car had managed to survive for most, but not quite all of the trip.
 
‘David was a very quiet person, and if his contribution to discussion was sometimes sparing, it was always very well informed. His conscientious chairmanship of the English Heritage Industrial Archaeology Panel was widely appreciated, and particularly his recognition of the importance of the work of the Ancient Monuments Laboratory in the sector. He also served a term as a Commissioner of the RCAHMW. Until earlier this year and even as his health was failing, he continued to participate actively as a trustee of the Ironbridge Heritage Foundation. There, as in the many other areas where he was active, he will be sorely missed.’
 
Jonathan Coad FSA, a former Inspector of Ancient Monuments, writes:
 
‘David Crossley, who read history at Keble College Oxford where he was influenced by the teachings of Eric Stone, pursued an academic career as a Lecturer in Economic History at Sheffield University. David was one of the pioneers of the scholarly study of post-Medieval industrial sites. Employing rigorous standards of excavation and documentary research in his chosen fields of the iron industry of the Sussex Weald and early glasshouses in the Midlands, he produced a series of exemplary reports with commendable speed. The Iron Industry of the Weald, written jointly with Henry Cleere, remains the bible for students of this industry, and was to play a significant role in awakening a wider interest in an almost-forgotten and little understood phase of our industrial history and in encouraging the Department of the Environment to schedule as ancient monuments more of the most notable sites. David was a very practical man, with a wide range of interests. Behind a seemingly reserved exterior he had a fund of interesting stories and a delightful dry sense of humour.’

Harold Mytum FSA, President of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology, writes:
 
‘David Crossley was a key figure in the establishment of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology (SPMA). Along with Lawrence Butler FSA, he provided the academic perspective to complement that from the professional dimension of figures such as John Hurst FSA and R J Charleston.
 
‘He was a member of the small steering committee formed in 1966 that undertook the groundwork leading up to the SPMA’s foundation the following year, after which he served on its Council. He was Vice-President in 1971 and 1972, and again in 1976–78, having held the post of President in the intervening years. David became the journal’s third Editor in 1978, a post he held till replaced by John Kenyon FSA in 1989, making him the longest-serving editor in the SPMA’s over 50-year history. He contributed to SPMA conferences and had several key articles published in the journal, and was an active member of the team that produced the period research priorities for the Department of the Environment during the 1970s. He saw the importance of integrating industrial archaeology within post-Medieval archaeology, and his seminal volume, Post-Medieval Archaeology in Britain (1990, with a second edition in 1994), was the book which enabled the subject to become accessible to a much wider audience. From the perspective of the Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology’s members, he was a founding father of our sub-discipline and we all owe him a great debt.’

Justine Bayley FSA, who worked for English Heritage at the Ancient Monuments Laboratory and edited the Historical Metallurgy Society’s journal with Crossley from 1990, writes:
 
‘David Crossley was one of the founder members of the Historical Metallurgy Group (later Society) and was a long-term Council member, serving terms as Secretary, Chairman and President in the 1970s and 80s before becoming joint editor on Ronnie Tylecote’s death, a role he only relinquished in 2016. He also organised several conferences for HMS and master-minded a memorable trip to Varrenne, Forge d’Aube and other iron-working sites in Normandy which he knew well from early cycling holidays. He was also Treasurer of the Association for the History of Glass and organised several meetings for them that ensured their coverage of glass production extended into the post-Medieval and modern period; here he was able to draw on experience of his own excavations and current work by others he was advising too.
 
‘To say that David was proud that his excavations were fully published and their archives deposited would be overstating the case. However, the speed and thoroughness of his reports, and his inclusion of scientific investigation of finds in a period when that was unusual, are an example that others would do well to follow. Many of his publications were ground-breaking and helped to set standards and define new areas of interest across a range of disciplines and periods. They will continue to be used and quoted – a fitting tribute to a man who was approachable, well-organised and quietly competent in all he did. He will be sorely missed by his many friends.’

Bayley’s photo at the top shows Crossley by a waterwheel at the open air museum at Kommern in the Ruhr, Germany.

*

Pamela Tudor-Craig FSA died on 5 December aged 89 after a long illness. She was elected a Fellow of the Society in May 1958, a few months short of 60 years ago. Richard Foster FSA has written this obituary:
 
Pamela Tudor-Craig, Lady Wedgwood FSA was a doyen of Medieval art history. Her talent was recognised from the very beginning of her career.
 
‘While preparing for a doctorate on English stiff-leaf sculpture under the supervision of Anthony Blunt FSA at the Courtauld Institute, she was excused from her studies for a year by request of the Society of Antiquaries of London. Anthony Blunt was no Medievalist, and not in the habit of encouraging his students to look quite so far back. One woman who wanted to study Medieval art was persuaded to change her mind. “No future in it!,” Blunt declared. When Pamela expressed the same ambition, he muttered “But of course,” and quickly passed on to the next student. Perhaps he sensed something of her steely resolve. Many years later Pamela wrote to Blunt, by then in disgrace, to thank him for the split-second decision that decided her professional career.
 
‘Blunt was probably happy to have this determined Medievalist out of his hair for 12 months. At the Society of Antiquaries, Pamela joined the committee organising the 1951 exhibition celebrating the bicentenary of the Society's Royal Charter. The 23-year-old soon learned to hold her own among what she later called “a galaxy of scholars at Burlington House”. Seven years later she was elected a Fellow of the Society and began compiling a catalogue of the Antiquaries' collection of paintings – a voluntary project that would occupy her periodically for the rest of her life. The 413-page volume, examining 83 paintings in forensic detail, was finally published in 2015 (Catalogue of Paintings in the Collection of the Society of Antiquaries of London, with Jill Franklin FSA and Bernard Nurse FSA). For this feat of endurance and dedication, the Antiquaries awarded Tudor-Craig with the Society Medal for outstanding service.
 
‘Born on 26 June 1928, Pamela was the daughter of the orchestral conductor, Herbert Wynn Reeves, who was deputy to Sir Thomas Beecham at Covent Garden. Wynn Reeves appears in Alfred Hitchcock's 1934 classic The Man Who Knew Too Much, conducting the orchestra in the Royal Albert Hall during the film's dramatic climax. In 1955 Pamela married James Tudor-Craig, some years her senior. The couple lived at Ickworth House in Suffolk where “Jamie” was appointed the National Trust's custodian. Inevitably, the house became the object of Pamela's indefatigable curiosity. Before long she had uncovered the identity of its builder, hitherto unknown, and much besides. It was here their only child, Lil, was born in 1960. Nine years later, Jamie died unexpectedly. Although she had taken a more than equal part in the running of Ickworth House, the National Trust denied Pamela the post of custodian on the grounds of her gender. She was obliged to leave with her daughter, a bank overdraft, and little else.
 
‘Now living in Hampstead, and with 11 minor exhibitions under her belt, Tudor-Craig's profile was raised significantly when she curated Richard III at the National Portrait Gallery in the summer of 1973. Exhibits were chosen to illustrate the changing view of the king through the ages. It was a triumph: the event of the year according to Sir Roy Strong FSA, then director of the gallery, who remained a firm friend. Turning working relationships into life-long friendships was one of Pamela's many gifts. Richard III also brought Tudor-Craig to the small screen. In 1984, Channel 4 mounted a television trial of the king for the murder of the princes in the tower. Pamela appeared as a witness for the defence, confronted by David Starkey FSA among others standing for the prosecution.
 
‘Pamela had married again two years earlier, this time to Sir John Wedgwood of the pottery dynasty. They met at one of her lectures. Having listened intently to her exposition of a succession of important paintings, Sir John approached Pamela at the end of the evening. He had one just question. She had omitted a significant fact about each painting: “How much was it worth?” They were married in Westminster Abbey, where Pamela served as art historian on the Fabric Committee. To mark the occasion they presented the abbey with a white altar frontal. The bride's unusual going-away outfit of frock-coat and knickerbockers would later become familiar to a wider public.
 
‘Television beckoned again in 1985. Now as Lady Wedgwood, she stepped in at less than 24 hours' notice to a BBC programme being filmed at the church of St Lawrence in Little Stanmore, famous for its 18th-century wall paintings and its association with George Frideric Handel. Hard-bitten electricians, sitting in ranks on the lighting scaffold, listened with rapt attention as she extemporised. Reaching for a comparison between Baroque painting and Baroque music, she held the perspective trick of di sotto in sù to be the equivalent of “the swell on your organ”. They wanted to laugh. But they dare not. Pamela's world sometimes floated a few feet above the common ground.
 
‘This bravura performance gained Lady Wedgwood her own television series: The Secret Life of Paintings billed as “journeys through the landscapes of meaning hidden in five well-known paintings”. In a night-time dark gallery, she materialised from a cloud of smoke wearing that frock-coat and those knickerbockers. “Paintings were never meant to be the captives of museums,” she reminded us before escaping into one through the then innovative use of video effects. The producer of the series likened Lady Wedgwood to a Catherine wheel, with ideas flying out like sparks in all directions. She had the ability to make connections through imagination and intuition, rather than cold data, drawing on a deep reservoir of knowledge. Facts to support these conjectures often surfaced later.
 
‘During this time Pamela and her husband were living at Little Gidding, an Anglican religious community in Huntingdonshire, founded in the 17th century. Pamela had been educated by nuns at a French convent school, and the Christian faith remained a constant companion. It gave her an empathy with the Medieval ways of thinking that lay behind the paintings and buildings she studied. Christianity, particularly the teachings of St Francis, also informed her own life. She saw virtue in simplicity and could never be persuaded to extravagance or ostentation. Generosity counted too. Academics are often apt to guard their territories jealously, but Pamela was always joyful in sharing her knowledge and experience. Many benefitted from her lecturing and teaching.
 
‘After her unceremonious departure from Ickworth House in 1969, she had begun teaching under the auspices of the United States International University. American students were enthralled by Pamela's “Britishness” as she shepherded them on private tours of the great buildings of England with what seemed to be aristocratic grandeur. She continued teaching art history in USA study-abroad programmes through the 1990s. At Harlaxton Manor in Lincolnshire, the British campus of the University of Evansville, Pamela inaugurated the much respected four-day Harlaxton Symposium, which continues to attract top-flight speakers from both sides of the Atlantic.
 
‘Pamela had a deep concern for the conservation of cathedrals and churches. When she had been Anthony Blunt's student, he once showed her photographs of Hagia Sophia, commenting that he looked forward to the day when all cathedrals would be museums. “And I shall be prepared,” she replied defiantly, “to give whatever I may have to prevent that from happening.” Pamela lived up to her word, spending 15 years on the Cathedrals Advisory Committee, 19 on the Architectural Advisory Panel for Westminster Abbey, and other spells on fabric committees at Wells, Exeter, Peterborough and Southwell Cathedrals. In 1982, she founded the Cambridgeshire Historic Churches Trust, which has since raised more than £2 million. Her work has included the commissioning of new sculpture and stained glass, especially from younger artists.
 
‘When Sir John grew increasingly frail, the Wedgwoods moved from Little Gidding to nearby Leighton Bromswold, where Pamela counted their 16th-century cottage as her most wonderful home. After his death in 1989, Pamela took up residence in Lewes, where she was quickly absorbed into the intellectual and religious communities of the town. Her house became the venue for polite parties and erudite debates, a cross-roads of artists, musicians and writers. In another life Pamela Tudor-Craig would have been the grande dame of a Paris salon – though she would probably say she would prefer the modest country life of a Jane Austen, her favourite author.
 
‘Even in her last decades, Pamela Tudor-Craig's pen was seldom still: she never quite mastered the mysteries of Microsoft Word, which she regarded with the same suspicion a Medieval monk must have looked upon a printing press. Major achievements such as ‘Old St Paul’s’: The Society of Antiquaries’ Diptych, 1616, published in 2004, and a chapter in 2010 on sculptural decoration in Westminster Abbey Chapter House, were carried along on the flood of regular articles for History Today magazine and conference papers for the British Archaeological Association, the Harlaxton Symposium and British Archaeological Reports. Her final contribution, written in her hospital bed, is her annual Christmas article for the Church Times. Pamela did not like untied ends.
 
‘She is survived by her daughter, the artist Lil Tudor-Craig.’
 
• An appreciation of her work and a bibliography of her publications (up to 2003) appears in The Medieval English Cathedral: Papers in Honour of Pamela Tudor-Craig, edited by Janet Backhouse for ‘the scholar who initiated the Harlaxton Symposium in 1984 and who has ever since supported and encouraged it with imagination and enthusiasm’. Most of the contributors were Fellows. She co-authored a book with Richard Foster, The Secret Life of Paintings (1986), to accompany the BBC2 TV series.

Photo at top by Richard Foster, other courtesy BBC Television.

*

Roger Lockyer FSA, who died in October, is described in a Guardian obituary as ‘a truly lovely man, with a disarming mixture of sharp intelligence, utmost courtliness and a sprightly and wicked sense of humour’. Scholarships to King’s College school, Wimbledon and Pembroke College, Cambridge, writes Jane Caplan, ‘transformed his life, propelling him from struggling petty bourgeois respectability to middle class comfort [his father was a clerk in Croydon]'. After graduating with a first in 1951, he taught at schools in France and the UK, including Haileybury and Lancing. His marriage to Percy Steven, a theatre director, ‘turned them into unlikely gay icons’, adds Caplan, a ‘distinction late in life which may have given him as much satisfaction as his scholarly career.’
 

The Wisdom of Fellows 




Nat Alcock FSA writes about a couple of pictures featuring buildings he hopes Fellows might be able to identify. The first (above) is a watercolour by John Varley (1778–1842), which, he says, seems to show a Romanesque building, presumably in England.
 
The watercolour by Samuel Hieronymus Grimm (1733–94, right), is clearly an aisled building, says Alcock, also probably but not definitely in England. It has been suggested that this might show the hall of a Medieval hospital.
 
Please tell Salon if you can throw light on either of these (at SalonEditor@sal.org.uk), or you can write direct to Alcock at n.w.alcock@warwick.ac.uk.
 
And don't forget we have some other pictures in earlier Salons that might benefit from your informed eyes, including two 19th-century watercolours in the Society’s library showing excavations at an Anglo-Saxon cemetery, and a watercolour of a church in Sussex (possibly).
 
*

Adding details of Nat Alcock’s Tracing History Through Title Deeds to the Fellows (and Friends) section above, I was reminded that when we bought the house where I now live, the deeds were destroyed by the Registry Office, despite my having asked our solicitors to request them, which we were entitled to do (I suspected the request was not passed on). Our house has late Medieval origins, and appears to have had connections with a Non-Conformist school; a window pane bears the signatures of Cornelius Winter, a follower of John Wesley, and a pupil, Dawson Warren. What might the deeds have told us? How many are aware of the possibilities of such destruction? Has anyone suggested the Registry Office’s default positon should be to return deeds, rather then shred them?

*



In the last Salon, Chiz Harward wondered if any Fellows could help with reading plaster fragments bearing letters, excavated at the parish church of Holy Trinity, Minchinhampton, Gloucestershire.
 
Stuart Blaylock FSA replied at some length to Harward, having been interested in painted texts in churches since a recording programme on 17th-century paintings and texts at St Mary’s Church, Bratton Clovelly, Devon in 1993. The church had a number of panels with texts, set-piece painted scenes of David and Goliath and Abraham sacrificing Isaac, and a frieze above with Old and New Testament figures.
 
Blaylock’s study was published at the time as a technical report by Exeter Museum Archaeological Field Unit, but he hopes one day to produce ‘a more rounded account of these paintings and their connections’. In the meantime, he has been able to collect many other examples of painted text decoration in churches, and some in houses. Typically, he says, they are verses from the Bible, with some interest in the choice of texts. ‘It is fair to say’, he writes, ‘that this form of decoration was once pretty common in churches, and only gave way to more sanitised interiors in the course of the 18th century.’
 
Harward’s fragments, says Blaylock, ‘look very crisp and clear, not a bit like the fragmentary and over-painted traces I am used to seeing in situ [the illustration is a detail of a text in Bratton Clovelly, on the wall, left, and reconstructed]. But they are very small, and unless you can get pieces to join into meaningful letters or groups of letters, I fear the chances of deciphering them will be pretty remote.’
 
 *

On November 25 the Times reported that Neil Holmes hoped to raise £8 million to buy a prehistoric monument, with an estate and house attached. ‘Templecombe House’, say Knight Frank and Savills, ‘is approached up a long tarmacadam driveway with the paddock to the left, with a handsome and practically situated gate lodge at the drive entrance. … There is a good selection of flora, fauna and wildlife within the grounds, including deer. Originally forming part of what we believe to be a listed parkland setting, the Druids Altar is a collection of ancient stones that is Grade II Listed.’ Holmes, a Jerseyman, would like the stones to return to Jersey.
 
They are Listed by Historic England as The Druid Temple, Wargrave (the house being sold is modern). They were presented in the 1780s to Field-Marshal the Honourable Henry Seymour Conway by the inhabitants of Jersey when he was Governor of that island, where the monument was found on the Mont de la Ville near St. Helier: the present arrangement looks more recent than neolithic (bottom left in Knight Frank and Savills' photo above), and includes a stone with an inscription in French.
 
‘There are compelling arguments why this monument should remain on the Oxfordshire estate,’ responded Peter Saunders FSA in a letter to the Times (30 November). ‘First, it was lawfully gifted by the people of Jersey to him in thanks for his service: it was not plundered, nor has it attracted controversy such as always surrounded the Elgin Marbles. Then, in paying for its transport and re-erection on his estate in 1788, Conway effectively preserved the megalith for posterity when its fate, like others, might have been reuse as building stone. Further, since Jersey has many fine dolmens in situ, repatriation seems un-imperative. This antiquity is not easily portable, would require listed building consent to be moved and, with the unique later historical tale it has to tell, surely has a strong claim to stay where it’s been curated for two centuries.’
 
Paul Stamper FSA has a pair of engravings which claim to show the dolmen in situ. ‘I've had them for upwards of 30 years’, he writes, ‘and no idea where I got them. However, in typical Stamper fashion there is a label I made stuck on the back (done with a manual typewriter which puts it pre-Amstrad 8256) which says “Mont de la Ville/St Helier/Jersey/From F. Grose, Antiquities of England and Wales (1787), vol. 8, p.163.” Plate 1 is annotated Published by S. Hooper Feb 15th 1787, and Plate 2 Pub. 12 March 1787 by S. Hooper.’

Conway exhibited a model of the remains at the Society of Antiquaries in 1787 (Archaeologia 8, 386–88). ‘The present temple’, he wrote, ‘remained intirely covered with earth till the summer 1785; having the appearance of a large barrow or tumulus … It then happened that the colonel of the St Helier’s militia wanting to level the ground for the exercise of his corps, the workmen soon struck on the stones, and the temple thus discovered was afterwards cleared as it now stands.’

*

An error gives me the opportunity to remind Fellows that they can read every edition of Salon online, on the Society’s website. Though correctly dated and numbered in the index, in the files the past three editions (395–97) are all headed 395, my apologies.
 

Forthcoming Events for Fellows


You can catch up on meetings you've missed by watching our lecture recordings (visit the events page and filter the results list by choosing 'past events'). Our programme of Ordinary Meetings has concluded for 2017. It will resume in February 2018.

Ordinary Meetings of Fellows


Ordinary Meetings will return in February 2018!

1 February 2018: 'William Galloway and the Viking Boat-Burial at Kiloran Bay', lecture by Professor James Graham-Campbell FSA.

8 February 2018: 'Charles Forster Hayward FSA and the Bookcases Commissioned by John Jones (V&A),' lecture by Max Donnelly FSA.

15 February2018: 'Our Cell at Spalding: The Spalding Gentlemen's Society and the Society of Antiquaries, 1710-1755', lecture by Dr Dustin M. Frazier Wood

22 February 2018: 'The Times of Their Lives: Histories for the European Neolithic', lecture by Alex Bayliss FSA and Alasdair Whittle FSA.

Interested in proposing a lecture? Please download and complete the Lecture Proposal Form, and email it to Renée LaDue, the Society's Communications Manager (rladue@sal.org.uk). Please note that lecture programmes are planned between 6 and 12 months in advance.

Introductory Tours for Fellows

Not just for newly-elected Fellows! If you've never visited Burlington House or had an introduction to the Library and Collections, please join an introductory tour. You'll meet the Society's professional staff, learn about your Fellowship benefits, and discover more from the collections at Burlington House. Coffee is served at 10.45; tours begin at 11.00. 

1 February: Tours are free, but booking is required.

19 April: Tours are free, but booking is required.

28 June: Tours are free, but booking is required.

Burlington House Holiday Closing

Please note that the Society's apartments (including the Library and the Fellows' Room) will close for the Christmas and New Year's holidays at 16.00 on Friday, 22 December and re-open to Fellows on 3 January.

Forthcoming Public Events


Public Lectures

Public Lectures are held from 13.00 to 14.00 on Tuesdays. These lectures are very popular, so advance booking is advised to be sure of a place. Details of forthcoming lectures can be found on the 'Events' page of the Society's website.

16 January: 'Chinese Art for Western Interiors, c. 1650-1850', by Colin Sheaf FSA.

27 February: 'The Domestication of the Dromedary Camel', by Peter Magee FSA.

6 March:
'Editing Aubrey: The Antiquary and the Material Text' by Dr Kate Bennett FSA.

Click here for more information on our public lectures. We also run public tours of our building and collections (£10 per person) preceding the lectures above.
 

Regional Fellows Groups

 

South West Fellows

8 March: 'Feeding Anglo-Saxon England,' (an Out of London Ordinary Meeting of Fellows, held in Exeter). Find out more online.

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
 

Welsh Fellows

22 March: 'The Legionary Fortress at Caerleon,' (an Out of London Ordinary Meeting of Fellows, held in Cardiff). Find out more online.

Want to join the Welsh Regional Fellows Group? If you would like to receive email updates about forthcoming meetings, email Bob Child at bob.child@ntlworld.com.
 

York Fellows

20 February: Join us at Bar Convent (Nunnery Lane, York YO23 1AA) to hear from David Jennings FSA, the Chief Executive of York Archaeological Trust, on the challenges and opportunities of the Jorvik Viking Centre re-development project. Refreshments at 18.00, lecture at 18.30. Contact Ailsa Mainman FSA for reservations or questions.

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 Forthcoming Heritage Events

15 December 2017: Goods for the Colonies: British Tobacco Pipes Made for the Atlantic Trade, c 1600–1850 (London)
The Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology’s Geoff Egan Memorial Lecture 2017 will be given by David Higgins (National Pipe Archive and University of Liverpool) at the Society of Antiquaries of London, Burlington House. The lecture will look at how British pipe makers at coastal locations responded to the opportunities offered by the Atlantic trade before 1850. In particular it will consider certain pipes made specifically for export market during the 17th and 18th centuries. These are well known as Bristol products, but this paper will show that manufacturers from as far apart as London and Glasgow were also attempting to take a share of the transatlantic trade, and the lecture will be relevant to historical archaeologists from Newfoundland to the Caribbean and beyond. Details online.

17 January 2018: London Merchants and Their Residences (London)
Simon Thurley FSA, Visiting Gresham Professor of the Built Environment at Gresham College, talks about London at the Museum of London. This is the second of two lectures with the theme Merchants, Money and Megalomania. Details online.

20 January: New Insights into 16th- and 17th-Century British Architecture (London)
The eighth conference in its series, organised by Claire Gapper FSA and Paula Henderson FSA, takes place at the Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House. Speakers include Paul Holden FSA (the Lanhydrock Atlas 1696), Pete Smith FSA (the English Country House and the Civil War) and Adam White FSA (the Banqueting House and Grotto at Skipton Castle). Details online.
 
2–4 February: Places of Worship in Britain and Ireland 1990–2020 (Oxford)
This is the last in an annual series of chronologically arranged weekends at Rewley House on Places of Worship in Britain and Ireland. Starting in the 1990s, when members of many of the more recently arrived faiths and Christian denominations began to build permanent, purpose-designed, places of worship, contributors will discuss the proliferation of buildings, discussing their distinctive features, and the ways in which they are used for worship. An overall picture will emerge of how religious diversity is reflected in physical reality and in the contemporary landscape. Speakers include Sharman Kadish FSA and the Director of Studies is Paul Barnwell FSA. Details online.

6 February: Henry VIII and Luther: A Reappraisal (London)
David Starkey FSA, author of books on Henry VIII and the Tudor court and well known as a regular contributor to radio and television, will talk at the Lambeth Palace Library in association with the University of London seminar on the Religious History of Britain 1500–1800. Details online, or email juliette.boyd@churchofengland.org.
 
17 February: Norman Oxford (Oxford)
Before the development of the University, Oxford was one of the most important urban centres in England. This day school will examine recent work on the city from 1050 to 1200 and review the impact of the Norman Conquest on its architecture, topography and economy. Details online.
 
19 February: The Forests of Essex (London)
This day conference at Gilwell Park, held in memory of Oliver Rackham FSA, will explore the cultural and natural heritage of the forests of Essex, and issues of the understanding, management and future of trees, woods and forests in the county. The conference will include a keynote session by Tom Williamson and contributions from Charles Watkins FSA. Details online.
 
7 March: St James’s and the Birth of the West End (London)
Simon Thurley FSA, Visiting Gresham Professor of the Built Environment at Gresham College, talks about London at the Museum of London. In the first of two lectures with the theme Buildings in the West End of London: Palace, Park and Square, he looks into the ingredients that went into making a court quarter there and the way it formed a blueprint for the new West End of London. Details online.
 
17 March: Interpreting Medieval Monuments: Iconography and Meaning (London)
A Church Monuments Society conference in Senate House. The speakers will include Sally Badham FSA, Brian Gittos FSA, Moira Gittos FSA, Nicola Jennings FSA and Sophie Oosterwijk FSA. See online for details.

27 March: Charles I: King and Collector (London)
Reuniting an illustrious royal art collection, the exhibition Charles I: King and Collector marks the Royal Academy of Arts 250th anniversary. In celebration of this landmark event, Martin Randall Travel, a specialist in cultural tours, is holding an exclusive Charles I study day with lectures at the Society of Antiquaries. Hear from Per Rumberg, Curator at the Royal Academy, Desmond Shawe-Taylor, Surveyor of The Queen’s Pictures, and historian Leanda de Lisle, author of the forthcoming book White King: Charles I – Traitor, Murderer, Martyr. The talks are followed by a two-course lunch at a nearby restaurant and an afternoon visit of the exhibition. Details online.

18 April: The Birth of Modern Theatreland: Covent Garden and the Two Theatres Royal (London)
Simon Thurley FSA, Visiting Gresham Professor of the Built Environment at Gresham College, talks about London at the Museum of London. In the second of two lectures with the theme Buildings in the West End of London: Palace, Park and Square, he looks at the significance and impact of theatres on the development of London. Details online.

19 April: An Evening with Lambeth Palace Library Conservators (London)
An opportunity to view the Lambeth Palace Library conservation studio and discuss techniques and treatments with the Library’s conservation staff. Please note that the studio is reached by a Medieval spiral staircase. Numbers will be limited, please book in advance with juliette.boyd@churchofengland.org or phone 020 7898 1400.

28 April: Ancient to Modern: The Changing Landscape of Sussex (Lewes)
A day conference offering a broad overview of the changing relationship between the Sussex landscape and the people who lived there, from the earliest arrivals. The emphasis will be on how new ideas resulted in significant changes in the use of the Sussex landscape. Speakers, specialists in their periods, include Sue Berry FSA, John Manley FSA, David Martin FSA and Matt Pope FSA. Details online.

8 May: ‘Mysteries’ Demystified: The Making and Meaning of the Lambeth Articles (1595) (London)
Nicholas Tyacke FSA, whose books include Altars Restored: The Changing Face of English Religious Worship 1547–c 1700, will talk at the Lambeth Palace Library in association with the University of London seminar on the Religious History of Britain 1500–1800. Details online, or email juliette.boyd@churchofengland.org.
 
5 June: New Perspectives on Seventeenth-Century Libraries (London)
This event at Lambeth Palace Library will showcase some recent research on library formation, public and private, in the 17th century. Three short talks, among them Jacqueline Glomski FSA on ‘Religion and Libraries in the Seventeenth Century’, will deal with patterns of book selection and acquisition as revealed by individual practice and in 17th-century theoretical writing on bibliography. The presentations will discuss the potential for research and the application of digital methods. In association with the University of London research seminar on the History of Libraries. Details online, or email juliette.boyd@churchofengland.org.

Call for Papers


23–25 March 2018: Post-Medieval Archaeology Congress 2018 (Bristol)
The Society for Post-Medieval Archaeology is holding its annual Post-Medieval Archaeology Congress at the University of Bristol and SS Great Britain. The congress is open to all researchers at any stage of their career, whether academics, students, commercial or community archaeologists, to report recent research on any aspect of post-Medieval/later historical archaeology. We encourage contributors to offer 15-minute papers which will be grouped by the organisers into themed sessions, or posters for display during the conference. Please send paper and poster proposals (title and abstract of up to 150 words) to conference@spma.org.uk by 18 December 2017. Details online.
 
June 2018: Ceramics in Circulation (Brussels)
The Medieval Pottery Research Group will hold its next annual conference at the University of Brussels. The examination of patterns of pottery distribution forms a major part of ceramic studies. For Medieval and post-Medieval periods, pottery distribution has informed discussion of trade and production, the transmission of cultural influences and technical knowledge, and patterns of discard. This conference aims to explore the dynamics behind the movement of pottery. How and why do pots end up where they are found? And what does that tell us about the societies in which they were circulating? The committee invites 20-minute papers addressing any aspect of the circulation of ceramics in north-west Europe and beyond, in Medieval and post-Medieval times. Please submit an abstract of no more than 150 words to Lorraine Mepham FSA, MPRG Meetings Secretary, by 1 February 2018: l.mepham@wessexarch.co.uk.

Vacancies

The Society of Antiquaries is currently recruiting for volunteers for our Journal Collection Review. The project will be of particular interest to students and recent graduates of Library and Information Studies, as well as subjects relating to History, Archaeology and the History of Art. This project is long-term, offering long- and short-term volunteering opportunities. More information is available on the website.


Lincoln Cathedral wishes to appoint a Cathedral Archaeologist in succession to Philip Dixon FSA. Deadline for applications Friday 26 January 2018.
 
This is a challenging role as the Cathedral embarks on a major HLF-funded Project, Lincoln Cathedral Connected. Applications are invited from suitably qualified and experienced individuals, for a five-year contract beginning 1 March 2018. Details can be obtained online or from Will Harrison, Interim Chapter Clerk and Administrator, on 01522 561604 or at chapterclerk@lincolncathedral.com. Applications should include proposals for fee structures and services, and shortlisted applicants will be interviewed in Lincoln on Friday 9 February 2018.

Propose a Lecture or Seminar


Please download and complete the Lecture Proposal Form, and email it to Renée LaDue, the Society's Communications Manager, 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). We welcome papers based on new research or 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 download and complete the Conference Proposal Form, and email it to Renée LaDue, the Society's Communications Manager, if you are interested in helping us organise such an event.

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