For the second year running this one-day event will see buildings archaeologist Dr James Wright (Triskele Heritage) attempt to deliver six consecutive hour long talks (each followed by questions and answers sessions) on mediaeval architecture in one, somewhat foolhardy, 12 hour session.
The talks will be given via Zoom and attendees are invited to join for as much or as little of the day as they wish. The lectures include 2 brand new talks (marked below with an asterisk *) and will be as follows:
1 0.00-12.00: Understanding Mediaeval Houses *
A brand new presentation which will outline the different spaces, and their uses, in the mediaeval house. Once thought to be a rare asset, survey work has demonstrated that we have a surprising number of mediaeval houses surviving in the British landscape. Building on work by Triskele Heritage and others this bespoke talk will analyse how we can identify mediaeval houses, what features we might expect to see, and explain who would have used the different spaces and for what purposes.
1 2.00-14.00: Ship Timbers in Historic Buildings
A visit to almost any timber-framed building in the land will elicit a story that the structure was re-used from a wrecked ship. The tale is often elaborated to add a layer of enigma and romanticism by mentioning the Spanish Armada or battle of Trafalgar. Are these just harmless folktales intended to hook in the tourists, or can we genuinely find the timbers of lost ships in the rafters of ancient buildings?
1 4.00-16.00: Uncovering Mediaeval Roofs
Attics are dark and enigmatic places. Yet in ancient buildings they offer the chance of illumination when trying to understand the historic development of a structure. Roofs are often the least altered element of a building and retain more of their original fabric than any other part of a property. For researchers they offer a hugely significant repository of data which can be understood and interpreted. This talk will open the attic hatch on the lost, hidden and fascinating world of mediaeval roofs. We will look at how roofs are constructed, the changes in design across time and place, the functions of roof spaces in the past, and some of the startling archaeological discoveries that are made up in the rafters.
1 6.00-18.00: Investigating the Mediaeval Village *
Sometimes the opportunity arises to investigate an entire village for evidence of ancient buildings. This brand new talk will relay a case study of one particular project which studied the mediaeval settlement of Collingham in Nottinghamshire between 2020 and 2022. The project was a collaboration between Triskele Heritage and Collingham & District Local History Society. It attempted to identify and map mediaeval and early modern buildings within an East Midlands village. The results were somewhat startling and demonstrated that significant numbers of previously unidentified ancient buildings were hidden in plain sight.
1 8.00-20.00: Burn Marks on the Walls
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 demonstrates that 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…
2 0.00-22.00: Garderobes & Gongfermors: Mediaeval Latrines
Going to the toilet is an everyday event for literally everyone that has ever lived. However, there has been a prudish reticence among architectural specialists to research and present the archaeology of this apparently ordinary practice. Despite this, there is a wealth of data which can be drawn upon to explain the latrinal habits of people in the mediaeval period. This data is not just limited to the functional – Where in the building were the privies located? What did they look like? How they were kept clean? There are a whole host of other considerations: What were the mediaeval attitudes towards going to the toilet? Who was allowed to access the garderobe? What were the social implications of doing so? How were privies used to promote notions of elite prestige? This talk will plumb all of these depths…
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 on Zoom between 10.00 and 22.00 on Saturday 13 January 2024 via Zoom. Each talk talk will be approximately 1 hour long and will be followed by a questions and answer session lasting around 30-45 minutes. There will be breaks of 15 to 30 minutes between each presentation.
Booking is now available via Eventbrite:
This event is crowdfunded through donation. It will include the debut of a two new bespoke talks. There is no minimum donation so its possible to contribute as little or as much as you want. Your donation is your ticket and you will be sent a link to access the event by Eventbrite.
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.
Eventbrite recommend using the most up to date version of Google Chrome to access the meeting.
If you have any problems accessing the event please email james@triskeleheritage.com – this address will be monitored throughout the event.
