Burn Marks in Historic Buildings

Are burn marks in historic buildings the result of careless accidents or deliberate rituals?

The second in the Triskele Heritage 2021-22 Winter Series of talks will also be our Christmas Lecture!

Following on from the popular Lockdown Lectures which, ran from January to May 2021, this new series of monthly lectures by buildings archaeologist James Wright will examine commonly held myths about the mediaeval period.

Have you ever noticed strange, tear-shaped scorch marks on timbers in historic buildings? Most people tend to assume that they were left their by the unattended candles of careless occupants. Based on fieldwork survey, research and experimental archaeology this talk investigates a school of thought that suggests such marks are evidence of a number of ritual practices in the mediaeval and early modern periods linked to a desire to bring good luck and avert evil…

The speaker, James Wright (Triskele Heritage), is an award winning buildings archaeologist. He has two decades professional experience of ferreting around in people’s cellars, hunting through their attics and digging up their gardens. He hopes to find meaningful truths about how ordinary and extraordinary folk lived their lives in the mediaeval period. He is the author of the popular Mediaeval Mythbusting Blog.

All you need to do is register via Eventbrite and – when the time for the talk rolls around – grab your favourite beverage of choice, get comfy and enjoy.

The event will take place at 17:00GMT on Thursday 30 December 2021 .

Booking is now available via Eventbrite.

Due to our licensing agreement with Zoom tickets for each event will be limited to 495 places. If you cannot make it after booking, please do return your ticket so that someone else can enjoy the talk instead.

Please note that this live event will not be recorded and made available online afterwards.

If you have a question about the event – in the first instance please see our FAQs section. The answer will almost certainly be in there.

*** If you have any problems accessing this event please email with your booking reference to james@triskeleheritage.com ***