I’m attempting to bring a little positivity to our collective self-isolation by recalling some of my site visits over the last 20+ years as an archaeologist.
I’ll be uploading a post every single day to the Triskele Heritage website and also Tweeting from @jpwarchaeology using #VirtualSiteVisit– come join me on the ride…
Warkworth Castle, Northumberland
A few weeks back we had St Lawrence’s church in Warkworth for #VirtualSiteVisit today we have gone for the building that has rightfully put this Northumbrian village on the map. The Percy marcher lords added a great tower to the castle at a debatable date. Some have argued that the structure was erected as early as the mid-fourteenth century or as late as the mid-sixteenth century. Personally, I would opt for the 1390s.
Dyffryn, Glamorgan; Winchester City Mill, Hampshire; The Vyne, Hampshire & Knole, Kent
I’ve been a tad lax with #VirtualSiteVisit this week. Mainly due to impending parenthood I have been taking it easy and enjoying some downtime. To get back in the saddle, I thought it a good idea to group together four sites owned by the National Trust. I’ve worked on several NT properties over the years and they are always brilliant clients who allow such privileged access to some of the most incredible buildings in the land. Here we have Dyffryn – the most recent site I have worked on, Winchester City Mill – where we got sore necks recording the floor frames from below, The Vyne – where I was amazed to discover that the roof is almost entirely built from re-used timbers and Knole… the building with the most complicated archaeology in England!
Creswell Crags, Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire
The Millward Brook marks the boundary between Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire, so both counties can lay claim to Creswell Crags. Renowned as the location of the only prehistoric cave art in Britain and the most northerly example in Europe, this limestone gorge was a focus of occupation through the Ice Age and beyond. It was also the findspot, in 1876, of a bone carving known as the Ochre Horse, a piece of portable artwork dated to around 10,000BC.
St Mary’s Guildhall, Boston, Lincolnshire
I do a surprisingly large amount of work in Boston. Most people know the ‘Stump’ – the parish church that is visible for dozens of miles in the fenland landscape. However, the real pride of the town has got to be this hidden gem. A mediaeval brick and stone guildhall built in the 1390s and still housing its stunning crown-post timber-framed roof.
Queen’s House, Tower of London
I took this detail whilst surveying the Queen’s House in 2015. It shows a mortise and tenon joint in cutaway as a result of conservation work to the timber. The simplest and sturdiest method of connecting two pieces of wood in a building. Been used for centuries. The timbers in this #VirtualSiteVisit were felled in 1538-9 and were built into the accommodation for the Lieutenant of the Tower on the orders of Thomas Cromwell in 1540. It was almost the very last thing he commissioned before his arrest and execution.
Buckden Towers, Cambridgeshire
Right at the close of the fifteenth century the bishop of Lincoln commissioned this extraordinary piece of architecture in the Cambridgeshire fens. Buckden was a palatial residence for the clergy, but the great tower was essentially a miniature version of an older secular fenland site, to the north, at Tattershall. Really clear example of how existing buildings influenced mediaeval builders.
Nine Stones Close, Derbyshire
Derbyshire’s tallest manmade standing stones are a tad anomalous – there are now only four Bronze Age stones at Nine Stones Close and antiquarian Thomas Bateman only recorded seven when he excavated the site in the mid-nineteenth century! However, this #VirtualSiteVisit located between Stanton Moor and Youlgreave is a well-known place – particularly to walkers and film-buffs as the outcrop in the background famously appeared as a location in the cult movie The Princess Bride.
Newark Castle, Nottinghamshire
In a cheeky callback to yesterday’s #VirtualSiteVisit there is also dirty great latrine shaft visible in today’s trip to Newark as well. This is the gatehouse built for Alexander the Magnificent, bishop of Lincoln, in the 1130s. It is also very possibly the specific location where King John died of dysentery in 1216. Those garderobes may well have come in handy that year…
Bolingbroke Castle, Lincolnshire
Everyone loves a good garderobe, right? RIGHT! Well this splendid example of a latrine shaft can be found at the Kitchen Tower of Bolingbroke Castle. Famous as the birthplace of Henry IV, this castle was originally built for Ranulf de Blondeville, earl of Chester, Lincoln and Leicester in the 1220s. It is one of the first castles in England to be built without the architectural focus of a great tower, probably as a result of designs that de Blondeville had seen whilst fighting in France and the Holy Land. Instead it consists of a circuit of curtain wall studded with incredibly strong D-shaped towers.
Bayleaf, Weald and Downland Museum, West Sussex (formerly Chiddingstone, Kent)
It may have come to your attention by now that I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for fifteenth century buildings. This #VirtualSiteVisit is ultimately one of my absolute favourites – Bayleaf, originally from Chiddingstone (Kent) but moved in 1968 to make way for the Bough Beech Reservoir. It was brought to the Weald and Downland Museum where it became the core of their collection. Built in the early fifteenth century (dendrochronology dating is 1405-30) this is a classic Wealden house with entry passage, services, hall (double-height open to the roof) and parlour downstairs and bedchambers upstairs. If I could ever afford to live in a historic property it would be one very much like this.
Bridge Inn, Topsham, Devon
There have been precious few pubs in these #VirtualSiteVisits – perhaps an unconscious decision as we all collectively mourn their closure during lockdown? Anyway, I was thinking about coastal pubs whilst hunting for examples which claim to have the inevitable legend of ships timbers in them for my new book. The Bridge at Topsham is mostly an eighteenth century cob and stone building, but does have the dubious honour of claiming to be the first ever pub that Elizabeth II ever officially visited – in 1998. What HAD she been wasting her time doing previously?
Redemore, Leicestershire
After some phenomenal archaeological survey work by Glenn Foard and the Battlefields Trust, the location of the battle of Bosworth was finally pinpointed within the landscape. Its odd to think that a figure as huge in English history as Richard III probably died somewhere within this #VirtualSiteVisit The view is looking back towards Ambion Hill from where Richard and his bodyguard charged in their attempt to kill Henry Tudor.
Gainsborough Old Hall, Lincolnshire
One of the most important mediaeval buildings in the east midlands (and beyond) due to just how intact and untouched it is, Gainsborough Old Hall is a hidden gem. Built in the 1460s for a royal councillor by the name of Sir Thomas Burgh, the great hall has a magnificent arch-braced roof. In this #VirtualSiteVisit we’re looking from a observation window in the solar block back down towards the services.
Broadmarsh Tannery, Nottingham
Spent a bit of this evening writing about subterranean Nottingham, so for #VirtualSiteVisit we’re staying super local to home for me. The city is known for having literally hundreds of manmade underground chambers cut into the bedrock. In the ninth century a Welsh monk called Asser even referred to the settlement as Tig Guocobauc (House of Caves). This is the remains of a mediaeval tannery which was cut into the cliff under what is now the Broadmarsh chopping centre. It was still in use as late as 1639 and is now part of the City of Caves exhibition.
Day 59: Thursday 14 May 2020
Historic Graffiti from England
An alternative to the usual picture for today’s #VirtualSiteVisit – instead it is a link to the audio slideshow of the introduction to historic graffiti talk that was mentioned yesterday. This covers sites from the length and breadth of the country – enjoy!
St Mary’s, Happisburgh, Norfolk
Spent the day laboriously recording a version of my intro to historic graffiti talk and uploading it to Youtube. I’ll post a link eventually, but for now just want to soak up the haunting beauty of this gorgeous daisywheel graffito from Happisburgh. One of my favourite finds for this #VirtualSiteVisit
Strelley Hall, Nottinghamshire
I was lucky enough to be at the right place at the right time in 2006 and ended up digging an unfeasibly large hole in the grounds of Strelley Hall which went down 4.5 metres to the base of a lost mediaeval moat that stood to one side of a fortified manor house built for Sir Sampson de Strelley in the mid-fourteenth century. The moat was backfilled sometime in the late sixteenth century after the manor partially burned down. Eventually the de Strelley family were so impoverished that they had to sell the property to pay off their legal debts . The present building was constructed at the end of the eighteenth century but incorporates part of the mediaeval house within its walls.
Baddesley Clinton, Warwickshire
As the country moves into a decidedly uncertain period in the fight against the Coronavirus, we’ve taken the prudent decision to maintain social-distancing so #VirtualSiteVisit will be continuing for a good while yet. Sticking with a Warwickshire theme today and considering the lockdown led me to the moated manor house at Baddesley Clinton. Originally built in the mid-fifteenth century, the site was remodelled quite a bit during the early modern period. It is perhaps best known for its priestholes used to hide Jesuits with connections to the Powder Treason of 1605.
22 High Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
Having to play catch up this morning as I missed posting #VirtualSiteVisit yesterday due to getting lost in my writing. I’m really taken with the interaction of good quality modern buildings with the historic environment. Take a look at how the architect of the building on the right avoided the visual traps of an inappropriate brutalist design or a mediaeval pastiche. Instead, they opted for a post-modern building which referenced the roofline, gables, storey heights, jetty and bays of the late sixteenth century houses/shops to the left (themselves rebuilt after a catastrophic fire in Stratford).
Fishponds, Colwick Woods, Nottinghamshire
Continuing to think about the history of my immediate area and what better place for a #VirtualSiteVisit than one literally on my doorstep. Colwick Woods represent the surviving vestige of the deer park attached to nearby Colwick Hall. Formerly owned by the Byron family, the current hall is a mid-eighteenth century structure but in the woods opposite lies a trace of a much older mediaeval system of fishponds created by damming a narrow valley fed by natural springs between two hills.
Ashby Castle, Leicestershire
Received word yesterday that I have been commissioned to write a book looking at persistent myths relating to mediaeval buildings. So today I started canvassing online for stories of secret underground passages – real or imagined! To say that my feed has been inundated would be an understatement. So for today’s #VirtualSiteVisit we have a shot of the tunnel connecting the great tower with the kitchens at Ashby Castle – almost certainly constructed by the Royalist garrison during the English Civil War.
Prehistoric Animal Sculptures, Crystal Palace Park, Greater London
Some of the more unusual grade I listed structures for this #VirtualSiteVisit to Crystal Palace Park. Made from pre-cast stonework by the sculptor Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, to designs by the controversial palaeontologist Sir Richard Owen, the statues were created between 1852-5. Pictured are two Iguanodons, part of a collection of sculptures which represented the very first attempt to recreate what dinosaurs may have looked like. Historic England have designated them: ‘Of exceptional historic interest in a national and probably international context.’
Newcastle Castle, Tyne & Wear
One of my favourite castles in the country for today’s #VirtualSiteVisit – Newcastle was originally built after the Norman Conquest on the site of an Anglo-Saxon churchyard. The standing remains of the great tower (right) date from the 1168-78 rebuilding for Henry II by Maurice the Engineer and the Black Gate (left) was built in 1247-50 for Henry III. The latter was heavily remodelled as multiple slum residences in the post-mediaeval period and the whole site was divided up by the 1840s railway viaduct. Highly recommended for a visit after lockdown – the interpretation/presentation by Newcastle City Council is spot on.
St Albans Cathedral, Hertfordshire
Fifty (50!) days of self-isolation lockdown. I’m sure we can all relate to this mediaeval graffito of a cat licking its own butt…
Thornton Abbey, Lincolnshire
I restarted work on my PhD thesis on Tattershall Castle today. This led me to think about vast brick buildings in Lincolnshire for #VirtualSiteVisit Thornton Abbey really is the grand-daddy of the lot. Built during the 1380s (with early sixteenth century additions) this was a real power statement intended to display the prestige of the abbots who used the first floor as an audience chamber. The use of brickwork was unusual at this point in time and it was originally rendered over to look like stone. This would have matched the turrets and niches which still contain mediaeval sculptures of saints including the Virgin Mary, St John the Baptist and St Augustine.
The Almonry Museum, Evesham, Worcestershire
One of the quirkiest small museums in the country for this Sunday’s #VirtualSiteVisit The Almonry is a fourteenth century limestone and timber-framed building from which charity was dispensed from the third largest monastery in the country. After the Dissolution it became home to the last abbot, probably saving it from destruction, but since then it has been a pub, tea room and private home before opening to the public in 1957.
Oxnead Hall, Norfolk
Working on edits of some drawings of another Norfolk building today (Bacon’s House in Norwich – we’ve already had it as a #VirtualSiteVisit ) which reminded me of an intriguing trip to Oxnead last year. A really complicated structural history – with a huge portion of the house no longer standing only making interpretation even more difficult. The property has recently been subject to a major reappraisal by me owd mucker Matthew Champion. The range in this picture is possibly part of an early-mid sixteenth century build for the Paston family.
Old Net Loft, Polperro, Cormwall
Sited precariously on a rocky promontory on the edge of Polperro Harbour, today’s #VirtualSiteVisit is one of the National Trust’s more unusual acquisitions. Built in the early nineteenth century on the site of a much older, fourteenth century chapel, the Old Net Loft was originally used for boat building and repairs to fishermen’s nets. Today the building has yet to find a current use, but was fully conserved in 2015-16.
Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire
A quiet, sleepy and unassuming village in rural Northamptonshire that is imbued with such BIG history for today’s #VirtualSiteVisit. The Norman motte and bailey castle was the birthplace of Richard III and the site of execution or Mary, Queen of Scots. Meanwhile, the collegiate church in the background is the burial site of Edward of Norwich, killed at the battle of Agincourt and Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, who vied for the throne during the Wars of the Roses… but also lost his life in battle at Wakefield.
Old Wardour Castle, near Tisbury, Wiltshire
Easily one of my favourite PhD research site visits was the tower-house at Old Wardour in September 2018. I was reminded of it this afternoon whilst putting in a quote for a post-lockdown project in Wiltshire, so it has now become a #VirtualSiteVisit Originally built in the 1390s for John, 5th Lord Lovell, this incredibly innovative building was later given a makeover by that titan of Elizabethan architecture – Robert Smythson. After partial-destruction during the English Revolution, Henry, 8th Lord Arundell had the site transformed by designer Richard Woods into a idiosyncratic Picturesque landscape.
Green’s Mill, Sneinton, Nottinghamshire
Been writing a lecture today on researching local history online, which I’m been kindly commissioned to do by my trade union Prospect. Given that I’m using my hometown as a case study I figured that our most famous landmark should be the #VirtualSiteVisit Built c1807 Green’s Mill operated until 1860 and will be forever associated with the physicist George Green (he created the first mathematical theory of electricity and magnetism). Sadly the building partially burned down in 1947 but was reopened as a museum and working flour mill in 1986.
St Bertram’s Well, Illam, Staffordshire
Sticking with north Staffordshire for a second day of #VirtualSiteVisit (stop judging me – I grew up in this area!). A natural spring in the Manifold Valley which has close associations with the eighth century Saint Bertram (Beorhthelm) – his fourteenth century shrine still survives in the adjacent church of the Holy Cross. In the mid-nineteenth century the industrialist Jesse Watts-Russell rebuilt Illam Hall and incorporated the well into his Picturesque-style parkland which subtly framed awe-inspiring views of the natural landscape.
Lud’s Church, Staffordshire
An altogether different church to #VirtualSiteVisit this Sunday – Lud’s Church, a natural chasm in the millstone grit of the Staffordshire Moorlands. Reputed to have been a secret meeting place for heretical Lollards in the fifteenth century this hidden beauty spot is perhaps most famous for its literary connections. The anonymous author of the late fourteenth century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight included much of the north Staffordshire and south Cheshire dialect in the verses (almost certainly a local lad) and the descriptions of the Chapel of the Green Knight bear a strong resemblence to this mysterious spot high on the hill above Gradbach.
St Michael, Laxton, Nottinghamshire
40 days and 40 nights since we started lockdown in Sneinton – sounds a bit Biblical doesn’t it!? That said, Jesus allegedly went OUT into the desert where he was tempted by the Devil. Meanwhile we’re all trapped INSIDE with our own demons 😉 Anyway, for #VirtualSiteVisit here is a charming little devil from the fifteenth century rood screen at Laxton – a church that is absolutely full of demonic carvings.
The Bailhouse, Lincoln
This #VirtualSiteVisit is to a hotel that we have used many times over the years. It lies on Bailgate – right in the heart of Lincoln’s historic core. From the outside it looks like a fairly regular Georgian building. Inside though, is a whole world of excitement for the buildings archaeologist with a penchent for mediaeval timber-framing. Lurking within is this spectacular mid-14th century crown post roof of a former open hall. Only managed to snag the room with this in it once. Probably for the best as I kept knocking my head on that arch brace…
Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire (Again. Its the subject of my PhD – don’t judge me!)
Our national saint’s day is a bit of a puzzle for #VirtualSiteVisit The English revere a Near Eastern soldier (that conceivably never existed) who fought for the Roman Empire until they persecuted him for his belief in a Jewish cult. The story was brought back to these shores by ex-Viking Norman-French overlords in order to replace an indigenous Anglo-Saxon saint (Edward the Confessor) and used the pre-existing cult of St Michael (pictured) to graft on a story about him killing a dragon.
Holme Pierrepont Hall, Nottinghamshire
Lying just 3 miles from where I type this, Holme Pierrepont Hall is one of Nottinghamshire’s most intriguing buildings. The gatehouse range is a superbly preserved late mediaeval survival that was probably built for Yorkist veteran Sir Henry Pierrepont in the dying days of the fifteenth century. He survived both Towton and Bosworth – no mean achievement. The timber-framed roof structure within is arguably the finest in Nottinghamshire from the period…. can you tell that I am itching to get back into this amazing site!?
Newark Torc, Nottinghamshire
Not a site as such, but an artefact, for today’s #VirtualSiteVisit – and I am literally not allowed to tell you exactly where the Newark Torc was discovered by a metal detectorist in 2005 either! Suffice to say that this late Iron Age torc caused quite a stir when it was found and subsequent excavations (involving yours truly) revealed that it had been buried close to a ploughed out ring-ditch of indeterminate age. Recently it has even been proposed that the golden neck ornament may even have been deposited by marauding ninth century Vikings after being looted from elsewhere. Anyway, a great find and one that was originally on display at the British Museum before finally ending up at the National Civil War Museum – close to where it was discovered in Newark.
Tewkesbury Abbey, Gloucestersire
Visited Tewkesbury several years ago in relation to my fairly long-lived obsession with the Wars of the Roses. The battle fought here in 1471, between the Yorkists and Lancastrians, was fairly pivotal. The house of Lancaster were soundly thrashed and Henry VI’s only son and heir – Prince Edward – was killed in action. Many of his supporters rushed into the nearby abbey in the hope of claiming sanctuary. The Yorkists were in no mood for mercy and the Lancastrians were forcibly removed and executed. After the battle, Edward was buried in the centre of the abbey choir and the Yorkists remodelled the fourteenth century vaulting to include their own personal badge of the sun-in-splendour directly over the defeated prince’s tomb.
Southwell Minster Churchyard, Nottinghamshire
I’m sure we can all get behind this sentiment from 400 years ago right? #VirtualSiteVisit
St James’s Street, Westminster, Greater London
Spent the day working on a report for a property in St James’s . Took me right back to the first building that I ever worked on in London for our #VirtualSiteVisit The area has always been very exclusive. Initially, the royal palace at the bottom of the street was laid out on land seized by Henry VIII from what had been a Leper Hospital. Subsequently, the streets and square were laid out in the late seventeenth century by property speculator Henry Jermyn, 2nd Earl of St Albans. After that it saw a rash of elite clubs such as White’s and Boodle’s, many of which are still open to this day.
Old Engineering Building, University of Nottingham
A whole month gone since we started #VirtualSiteVisit … What an odd time it has been! Today I had to head over to the health centre at the University of Nottingham. So after I took the opportunity to take a short walk and found myself on all that remains of the Old Engineering Building. Originally built as the contractor’s offices during the 1920s construction of the nearby Trent Building, these steps must be known to many generations as those which once led into the University Museum, Trent & Peak Archaeology and the Department of Classics and Archaeology. Fortunately all are still going – just in separate buildings these days.
St Wystan’s, Repton, Derbyshire
This is a deeply atmospheric #VirtualSiteVisit – a place where the tangibility of history really comes close to the surface and causes genuine shivers. The ninth century crypt of the kings of Mercia and former shrine to St Wystan lies beneath the east end of the parish church at Repton in Derbyshire. The building was later used as a winter fort by the Viking army in 873 and has been included in a lot of really significant archaeological projects for many decades. I was fortunate enough to be able to spend part of an afternoon completely alone down here last year. Not the first time that I have been to this site, but certainly the most memorable.
Red Tower, York, North Yorkshire
I had an utterly miserable day at work yesterday and missed #VirtualSiteVisit as a result. To try and put this into perspective, whilst I play catch up, I’m recalling the bad day suffered at the Red Tower by the bricklayer John Patrik in 1491 who was murdered by stonemasons – William Hindley and Christopher Homer – jealous that the tilers guild got the contract to build a new tower on York’s famous city walls. So powerful were the masons that they were acquited of the killing and the tilers were never invited to build any more of the walls. Truly a bad day.
Bramall Hall, Stockport, Greater Manchester
When I’m working in the office I tend to listen to music (I like both kinds – rock and roll). And I really mean listen – I’ll have the same album on repeat constantly. Today I’ve been looping numbers by Rich Ragany and the Digressions and Ryan Hamilton and the Harlequin Ghosts for around nine hours – totally getting lost in the tracks. So the #VirtualSiteVisit really had to represent the history of music. Here is an incredibly rare survival – two courtly musicians painted onto the walls of the solar of Bramall Hall sometime in the 1530s.
Avebury, Wiltshire
Happy St Lubbock’s Day! Not heard of John Lubbock? Shame on you! Sir John Lubbock (1834-1913) was an MP, banker, archaeologist, scientist (he was Charles Darwin’s best friend) and social reformer. One of his most long-lasting achievements was the 1871 introduction of the first four Bank Holidays into the British calendar – including Easter Monday. This led to high praise in the press for having: “added – substantially added – to the sum of human happiness, and has carried rays of hope and joy into humble households so great as to rank him high as a public benefactor.”
His altruistic intention was that people could use the paid time off to improve their knowledge of science and heritage at places such as today’s #VirtualSiteVisit – the prehistoric henge monument at Avebury (Picture Source: Historic England). Lubbock himself bought part of the site to protect it from development and introduced the 1882 Protection of Ancient Monuments Act to discourage damage to prehistoric remains. Definitely one of my greatest archaeological heroes!
Belas Knap, Gloucestershire
High on a hill in the Cotswolds lies the extraordinary Neolithic long barrow (dating to c 3000BC) known as Belas Knap. For an Easter Sunday #VirtualSiteVisit this prehistoric funerary monument with its false portal, perhaps to deter grave robbers or act as a spirit door, seemed apt. The actual burial chambers are located in the sides of the mound and contained the remains of at least 31 individuals.
St Mary Magdalen, Newarok-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire
I was originally going to post about a big chantry tomb of the mediaeval elites for #VirtualSiteVisit on Easter Saturday. Then I was reminded that for most people even a tombstone was unaffordable until relatively recently. So instead we have a really touching memorial to John Glover, who probably died in the sixteenth or seventeenth century (judging by the script), and was presumably memorialised by a loved one with a graffiti inscription in the retro-choir of Newark’s St Mary Magdalen.
Leiston Abbey, Suffolk
Between the car park and the ruins of the mediaeval abbey is his fantastic crucifix which seemed perfect for a #VirtualSiteVisit on Good Friday. The abbey was originally founded c1183 at a marshland site which was repeatedly flooded until it was moved wholesale to the present location in 1363. Today the ruins are owned by English Heritage but are managed by the Pro Corda Trust who have a facility on site to train chamber musicians.
Haddon Hall, Derbyshire
With the long Easter weekend upon us, I’m going to try and make #VirtualSiteVisit link up to each day of the religious festival. As today is Maundy Thursday – the time of the Last Supper – I’m taking us to the stunning mid-fourteenth century dining hall at Haddon in the Peak District. Both the high table and adjacent bench date to c 1400 and were probably purpose built for that stone dais. Whilst this is a remarkable survival, I gotta say that my favourite thing about Haddon Hall is that it was a major filming location for The Princess Bride 🙂
All Saints, Oakham, Rutland
Feeling rather grimly fiendish today (yes, I am a fan of The Damned) – a real sense of black humour all around. So for today’s #VirtualSiteVisit I’d like to take us to the fourteenth century carvings in the nave at Oakham. In particular, these two characters who can be found laughing despite being consigned to the flames of Hell. The chap on the left is technically known as a ‘mouth-puller’ and is probably a visual reference to Isiah 57:3-5 “Against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood.”
St Peter’s, Sibthorpe, Nottinghamshire
Have had to take a much needed self-care day. Trying to work every moment to ensure that I actually get paid in the face of zero government help just isn’t sustainable. Fondly recalling these two sleeping guards on the fourteenth century Easter Sepulchre at Sibthorpe. So today’s #VirtualSiteVisit is a tribute to all those that just need a bloody good rest right now!
Guy’s Tower, Warwick Castle
Just finishing up a heritage project in Warwickshire today, which led me to recollect for #VirtualSiteSite that the first professional work I did in the county was at none other than Warwick Castle! However, long before that – when I was a very young kid – I had the Ladybird Books biography of Richard Neville, known to history as Warwick the Kingmaker. My parents took me on a trip to see Warwick Castle off the back of that. I seem to recall being a tad obsessed with mid-fourteenth century Guy’s Tower. Although I probably didn’t appreciate that it was built long before the Kingmaker was alive, it was a real thrill to be charging around with my plastic sword and shield in a place where he might have trodden…
P.S. In more recent times, I have researched the life of Richard Neville more closely and have come to the conclusion that he was a unpleasantly disagreeable individual- beware who your boyhood heroes are, kids!
St George’s Island (formerly St Michael’s Island), Looe, Cornwall
Another religious site linked to isolation from the world for this Sunday’s #VirtualSiteVisit This time it is the breathtaking St George’s Island off the coast of Looe in Cornwall. We took a boat trip over here in the summer of 2017 and learned all the twin chapels built either side of the sea channel (in the foreground of the picture and on the island itself) by monks from Glastonbury Abbey in the 1190s. Today the island is managed by Cornwall Wildlife Trust.
Perry Mill, Redditch, Worcestershire (now at Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings)
I’ve been writing a report on a West Midlands late eighteenth or earlier nineteenth century agricultural building today. Can’t share that due to client confidentiality, but it did put me in mind of this amazing contemporary perry mill which I photographed last summer during a trip to Avoncroft. This #VirtualSiteVisit fits in quite nicely with Saturday night as well – definitely time for some well-earned booze…
Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem / Nottingham Castle
I’ve just finished doing a phone interview with the BBC about the history of Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham. Now I am moving on to help a pal out with his daughter’s homework on castles. Seemed like only the one choice for #VirtualSiteVisit but I thought that I’d use a historic image from around 1900 when the little known Gate Hangs Well pub was still standing adjacent. There’s a lot of guff talked about which is the oldest pub in Nottingham. It’s possible that the seven manmade caves at the Trip were used as the mediaeval castle’s brewhouse, but the timber-framed building is late seventeenth century. The Salutation and Bell have sixteenth and fiftenth century (respectively) fabric in situ. The date of 1189AD painted on the side of the Trip is entirely arbitrary.
Picture Source: Nottinghamshire History
Tattershall Castle, Lincolnshire
Slightly surprised that it has taken so long to get around to posting Tattershall for a #VirtualSiteVisit given that it is the subject of my (so very nearly complete) PhD thesis! However, today I have just handed over the final edits of a new guidebook on the site to the National Trust. The castle is a massively important building for many reasons, but the focus of the new book will be the construction of an innovative power house for Ralph Lord Cromwell in the fifteenth century, coupled with the story of Lord Curzon’s dramatic acquisition of the site and the ensuing conservation project by architect William Weir in the 1910’s.
27-28 Esplanade, St Helier, Jersey
We had a big grocery delivery this morning and the anxieties around obtaining food put me in mind of the former Co-Operative Wholesale Society potato warehouse on the Isle of Jersey for our #VirtualSiteVisit. Initially, this historic building survey was not the most exciting or glamorous commission. However, it turned out that the building (which began life in the 1890s as a saw mill) had been the focus of incredible conflict in 1944-5 between the Bailiff of Jersey, Alexander Coutanche, and the occupying Third Reich Platzkommandant Major Heider. German forces had requisitioned the warehouse to feed their troops, cut off after the D-Day landings, at the expense of the local population’s rations. Odd to think that such an unremarkable building created such fierce wartime tensions.
Rollright Stones, Little Rollright, Oxfordshire
I woke up last night at 4.30am with a burning question for my wife: “Of all the sites we have visited, what have been your favourites that I can post for #VirtualSiteVisit ?” (Welcome to the semi-conscious mind of the average archaeologist.) Her response was the smaller, out of the way prehistoric sites like Nine Stones Close, Dorset; Doll Tor, Derbyshire or Rollright Stones, Oxfordshire (AKA how to kick a mediaevalist when he is down). After rummaging in my photo archives I realised that I now only have shots of Rollright – England’s most easterly surviving stone circle. Dating to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age (c 2000 BC) many legends are attached to the stones – most famously that it is impossible to count them. There are 77 stones. English Heritage even published that in the 80s (Lambrick 1988, 41-2).
Oxburgh Hall, Norfolk
Spirits are a little low today, here in Nottingham, so it was great to receive a jolly email from the National Trust curator at Oxburgh Hall to discuss similarities between this late fifteenth century brick house and Tattershall Castle (the subject of my PhD research). Both buildings have seriously impressive staircases with countersunk handrails, but the cut-brick vaulting at Oxburgh is just something else to behold! #VirtualSiteVisit
Salisbury Cathedral, Wiltshire
Described by my friend Steve Dunn as: “The finest sight in England” (as head guide there he rather has to say that!), the nave of Salisbury Cathedral seems an appropriate #VirtualSiteVisit for a Sunday. Built of contrasting dark Purbeck and light Chilmark limestones the main body of the cathedral was completed in a single construction campaign between 1220 and 1258. I’ve never worked on the cathedral itself, although I have given a lecture at the museum in the surrounding Close.
Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel, London
There was very little opportunity to take an attractive photograph of today’s #VirtualSiteVisit – the East Wing of the Royal London Hospital. However, it was a really important building which is reflective of my thoughts today on the generosity of strangers and the importance of healthcare. This is the location where Joseph Merrick (popularly known as the Elephant Man) spent the last four years of his life – 1886-90 – after Frederick Treves and Francis Carr Gomm’s efforts finally found a safe home where he could receive the treatment he needed. I led the historic building recording here in 2012 and was forever touched by their story.
Cork Stone, Stanton Moor, Derbyshire
After waking up to the news that I am not eligible for self-employed government financial assistance (for various frustrating reasons), I got thinking about the vulnerability of workers in the past. As a former stonemason my mind was drawn to the quarriers who worked out the sandstone on our #VirtualSiteVisit to Stanton Moor. The quarry behind the natural wind-eroded pillar known as the Cork Stone was worked between 1879 and 1897.
Bacon’s House, Norwich, Norfolk
Today I am bringing us to mediaeval Norwich for #VirtualSiteVisit as I’ve spent the day preparing floor plans of Bacon’s House for a forthcoming publication by Dr Chris King of the University of Nottingham. The building has a complex archaeology starting in the fifteenth century with sixteenth and seventeenth century additions/remodelling. Named after Henry Bacon, twice mayor of Norwich, whose merchant’s mark appears over one of the doorways to the house.
Fox Wood, Woodborough, Nottinghamshire
Using our government-sanctioned daily walking allowance we (very safely) headed to Fox Wood – Nottinghamshire’s only genuine Iron Age hillfor – to bring today’s #VirtualSiteVisit. I worked as a supervisor on the 2005 community excavation of the truncated ditches extending out from the surviving woodland in the background of this picture (right of the tree). A footpath now runs along the ridge adjacent to the enclosure and marks the ancient parish boundary between Woodborough and Calverton – this tree sits on the summit of that hill.
Sackville House, East Grinstead, East Sussex
It’s my birthday today (42) and the #VirtualSiteVisit is the location of a three day residential party held for my 40th. Sackville House is an incredibly well-preserved early sixteenth century town house which is now let out by the Landmark Trust. Really special place to go into lockdown revels with close friends!
Hermit’s Cave, Dale Abbey, Derbyshire
With us all self-isolating it led me to consider hermits who voluntarily chose to shield themselves from mediaeval society. Immediately decided that Dale Abbey had to be the #VirtialSiteVisit – such an atmospheric site. Even though it’s real close to major urban centres, dropping down into this secluded valley always feels like entering another world. Which is pretty much what must have attracted the twelfth century hermit and the monks that later followed his example.
Moor Pond Wood, Papplewick, Nottinghamshire
Been out for a walk out in the countryside today and returned to Moor Pond Wood for the first time in about 15 years for our #VirtualSiteVisit Worked here as a community archaeologist over about 18 months helping the local community to understand the remains of George Robinson’s innovative, eighteenth century, water management systems which powered cotton mills on the River Leen.
Chalgrove Manor, Oxfordshire
Been working on a timber-framed house in the midlands today. Was transported back to a week long residential course many years ago run by English Heritage at Oxford University. So today’s #VirtualSiteVisit is Chalgrove Manor – the late mediaeval building that we used as a case study on that course. Its a fairly well-known building that has appeared in several episodes of Midsomer Murders, including the one where actor Oliver Ford-Davies gets improbably trebuchet-ed to death with wine bottles!
Stopham Bridge, Pulborough, West Sussex
It’s homebrewing day here at our house in Sneinton (I know right – who knew that archaeologists had a reputation for loving beer!?)… which got me thinking about great historic sites where you can have a pint. Gotta be the Grade I Listed, late mediaeval, Stopham Bridge for today’s #VirtualSiteVisit The adjacent pub (out of shot) is the White Hart, also a listed building, does ruddy good booze!
St Mary, Halford, Warwickshire
It’s those incredibly unexpected treasures that I’m missing today during my #VirtualSiteVisit Whilst out doing a site visit for a client on a fairly regular post-mediaeval agricultural building (which I am drawing up today) I called in at the local church of St Mary, Halford, Warwickshire… only for my jaw to hit the ground at this staggering angel carved c 1125-30 and described by Pevsner as ‘the best piece of Norman sculpture in the county’. Absolutely love moments like that.
Knole, Sevenoaks, Kent
After yesterday’s post about Sudeley Castle, I’m gonna try and do a #VirtualSiteVisit every day that we are in lockdown. Today I’ve been thinking and reading about my dearly beloved Knole. Easily my favourite site that I have ever worked on. Also, without question, the most complicated buildings archaeology of them all. So much so that my mind still shies away from it – so lets look at the deer herd instead….
Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire
If I’m forced to stay home then I’ll damned well keep my brain exercised with a #VirtualSiteVisit Been trying to work out if this little lot was actually built for the lad that would become Richard III or not. Whilst the jury is out, I’m edging towards a “possibly maybe”…
