The St Helens Iron Foundry

Abstract

Initial documentary research undertaken by Lancaster University Archaeological Unit (LUAU) in 1995 for 'The Hotties Science & Arts Centre Ltd.' (hereafter The Hotties) revealed the existence of a former iron foundry on part of the development site for the wider The World of Glass Project which will portray the technical development and heritage of the glass industry in St Helens. Between January 1996 and November 1997 LUAU were commissioned by The Hotties to undertake a range of archaeological works resulting in the excavation of a smithy complex. Known as the St Helens Iron Foundry, and latterly owned by the Daglish family, the site had an international reputation for the casting and building of steam pumping and winding engines for the mining industry. It was particularly successful during the mid-19th century producing locomotives and bridges for the expanding railway network. The foundry was in continuous production from 1798, until its decline and eventual demolition in 1939.     

Reconstructing Kilmainham: the topography and architecture of the chief priory of the Knights Hospitaller in Ireland,c.1170–1349

ABSTRACT

For almost 400 years the Knights of St John of Jerusalem – the Knights Hospitaller – maintained a priory in Kilmainham, Co. Dublin, as their principal residence in Ireland. Nothing survives of it above ground. The priory's early history and topography are mainly shrouded in mystery, but a fourteenth-century registrum illuminates the workings of its community and the character of its members, and provides valuable evidence relating to the appearance of its architecture and layout when it was at the peak of its prosperity. Yet the registrum has never been subjected to detailed scrutiny. Recent research on the Hospitallers in Ireland on the one hand, and on the organisation of domestic space in medieval contexts in Ireland on the other, has prompted this comprehensive appraisal of the evidence in Kilmainham's registrum.     

The Baimoral Bridge of I. K. Brunel

Abstract

A considerable number of I. K. Bruner's railway bridges are still operational, varying in size from the great Royal Albert Bridge over the Tamar to a host of small masonry bridges for accommodation roads over or under his broad-gauge main lines and subsidiary routes like the Taff Vale Railway. There were, however, few bridges built by him apart from his railway works, and it could have been safely assumed that all such bridges which survive would have been clearly recognized as having been built by him. Yet this has not been so with one particular road bridge, for which Bruners responsibility has been either doubted or ignored, even though it survives in excellent working order. The bridge in question is that over the River Dee at Balmoral.     

Rainton Bridge South Waggonway

Abstract

The waggonways of the north-east of England represented one of the earliest widespread forms of early railway technology; they were in time to evolve into the modern railway as it was adopted worldwide. However, there has been comparatively little opportunity to carry out detailed archaeological examination of specific sites. Recently, Pre-Construct Archaeology Limited has been able to record the remains of an 18th-century waggonway at Rainton Bridge South, Houghton-le-Spring, which has added significantly to understanding of how these systems evolved and how their archaeology survives.     

On Crystals of Augury

Abstract

Salisbury cathedral is usually seen as a ‘one period’ building, a ‘complete’ 13th-century cathedral. As a result, the later medieval work at Salisbury has rarely been considered in its own right. This neglect has been compounded by the subsequent loss of many of its most important elements: the two eastern chantry chapels, St Osmund’s shrine and half the library. The aim of this paper is to redress this imbalance. Salisbury’s original appearance was transformed dramatically in the early 14th century by the construction of the high tower and spire, and in the later 15th century, following the canonisation of St Osmund, when the east end was substantially remodelled. As at other great churches, the interior was continuously adapted to enable the cathedral to meet the spiritual needs of late medieval society. These were principally the performance of the liturgy, the commemoration of the dead, the augmentation of devotional cults and the promotion of learning. These themes are explored in the discussion of the new library, major monuments, the shrine of St Osmund and the construction of four new chantry chapels. Thus the cathedral evolved significantly in the two and a half centuries after Bishop Ghent’s consecration in 1297.     

A Donkey (Equus asinus L.) Partial Skeleton from a Mid-Late Anglo-Saxon Alluvial Layer at Deans Yard Westminster,London SW1

Abstract

A domestic donkey (Equus asinus) partial skeleton has been recovered from a mid-late Anglo-Saxon alluvial deposit situated below the present Westminster School at Deans Yard, Westminster, London. The remains have been radiocarbon dated to the 8th-9th century AD and, therefore, pre-date both the abbey of Edward the Confessor and the earlier foundation of St Dunstan. The skeleton is of particular importance as it is the only well dated specimen of its species recovered thus far in England from the Anglo-Saxon and Medieval periods.     

The Railways of Britain: An Unstudied Map Corpus

ABSTRACT

Railway mapping, a distinctive genre of cartography, came into existence with the invention of railway transport in Britain. The planned route for the first public railway, the Stockton & Darlington Railway, was surveyed by 1820 as a statutory requirement for the Act of Parliament that was necessary before construction could proceed. The Stockton & Darlington Railway was granted its Act in 1821 and opened in 1825. From then on, an abundance of maps, plans, diagrams and technical drawings were created to enable railways to be planned, constructed and operated; to be changed, developed and regulated; to attract business and passengers; and to provide railway staff with a range of specialist tools. Today, Britain probably has the largest surviving corpus of such material, but owing to the essentially private nature of the preparation and use of railway maps, it remains largely unstudied and therefore scarcely evaluated in terms of its historical worth. This paper summarizes the archival history of Britain's railway maps and describes eleven broad categories of railway cartography that collectively form a coherent body of maps covering much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and which await better access and comprehensive study. It also underlines the urgency of ensuring the preservation of the railway map archive from further loss and destruction.     

Probable Fibres from Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) in Bronze Age Scotland

Abstract

Diameter measurements of bast fibres from cloth and string with a hoard of bronze age metalwork found in St Andrews, were different from those of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) but comparable with those of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) leading to the suggestion that hemp was used as a textile fibre in Britain much earlier than has been thought.     

Tracing the Roots of Municipal Archaeology in St Augustine,Florida: The Story of How ‘The Oldest City’ Connected Archaeology,Local Government,and the Public

Abstract

This article explores the history of public archaeology in St Augustine, Florida, and identi?es lessons that may be useful for archaeologists looking to develop a stronger relationship with the public. The City of St Augustine has developed an archaeology ordinance, it keeps an archaeologist on staff, and it boasts a grassroots non-pro?t organization dedicated to supporting archaeology in the city. This framework is the result of a conversation that has been taking place within the community since the 1930s. As public archaeologists seek new ways of establishing long-term relationships with community groups, this exceptional programme, which only exists because of community support, provides insights into how to build those relationships on a solid foundation.     

Determining the use of Late Archaic shell rings using lithic data: “ceremonial villages” and the importance of stone

ABSTRACT

Late Archaic shell rings have been the focus of archaeological research for decades, yet their history, use, and function are debated. Relying on an evidentiary line rarely used in shell ring studies – the analysis of stone tools and debitage – we test prevailing theories and find that models describing the rings as circular dams intended to hold freshwater are incorrect. Instead, by tracing the origins of stone and its distribution within two shell rings on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, we posit that shell rings were places of both daily residence and intermittent gatherings. Because they have proven useful in interpreting the St. Catherines Island shell rings, we suggest archaeologists shift their sampling and recovery techniques so that representative lithic assemblages can be attained from other rings, thereby providing a better understanding of ring-builders and the Late Archaic occupation of the South Atlantic coastline.     

The identification of the medieval church of St Sabas in Jerusalem in the light of new documentary evidence

ABSTRACT

For over a century the church that the Greek monks of Dayr Mar Saba are known to have possessed inside the walls of Jerusalem in the twelfth century has usually been associated with a chapel surviving inside the Disy family house opposite the police barracks south of the Citadel, while the Zāwiyyat al-Shaykh Ya?qūb (Ya?qūbiyya), on the east side of Christ Church, has been identified as having originally been built in the twelfth century, possibly by Monophysites, as a church dedicated to St James the Persian, or the ‘Cut-up’ (Intercisus). New documentary research, however, now makes it appear more likely that Mujīr al-Dīn was correct in attributing the building of the Ya?qūbiyya to the Greeks and that it was also the church referred to by pilgrims in the twelfth century as that of St Sabas. This means that the identity of the church in Dār Disy, if indeed it was a church, remains to be determined.     

‘St Peter in Volders’ and related base metal figurines resembling the famous statue in the Vatican Basilica

Abstract

The reappraisal of an old find from Volders near Innsbruck, Austria, prompted new research on a group of base-metal statuettes that are miniature copies of the famous bronze statue of St Peter in the Vatican Basilica in Rome. Their age has been the subject of debate. This paper examined several examples of such statuettes to solve the issue with the help of archaeometric analysis. The analysis of the manufacturing technique and alloy composition provided important clues on the dating of the statuettes and allowed the historical interpretation of the group as a whole.     

Evolution of the Territorial Coverage of the Railway Network and its Influence on Population Growth: The Case of England and Wales, 1871–1931

Abstract

The introduction of the railway network brought with it an unprecedented improvement in accessibility. In this work, the authors analyze the evolution of the territorial coverage of the railway network and its influence on the uneven distribution of population. To carry out this research, they used comparable data on total population obtained from census records relating to civil parishes of England and Wales, taken at 10-year intervals from 1871. The hypothesis that they wished to test was that good access to a railway station was related to significant increases in population. This exercise provides a better understanding of regional variations in population growth and allows the authors to identify current differences between urban and rural areas that have resulted from their historical evolution.     

J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion and intellectual history

ABSTRACT

Recent thinking about Intellectual History has moved beyond studying only verbal texts, to encompass other kinds of visual and aural texts that can be vehicles for generative thought. Where might music fit into this expanded conception? If ideas are defined purely as concepts that can be expressed in words, music can be no more than an “epiphenomenon”, a consequence or representation of ideas that lie behind it, but not capable of embodying those ideas in itself. Yet to many musicians, it seems obvious that music can function as a way in which ideas are developed and worked out. What kinds of knowledge might be embodied in music, then, and how do its meanings change over time? In this paper, I examine some of these issues through consideration of one of the key texts of Western art music, J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, exploring how it was conceived in a liturgical context in Bach’s time, how its meaning changed when transposed to the very different milieus of concert performance in nineteenth-century Berlin and colonial Sydney, and as it has been re-imagined in a variety of recent staged and recorded versions.     

Anglo-Norman Parks in Medieval Ireland

Abstract

Lincoln Cathedral's Angel Choir was built in the second half of the thirteenth century to house the shrine of St Hugh of Lincoln, canonised in 1220. Although he was never a major saint, the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln sought to emulate the settings newly created for more venerable saints by constructing a completely new building to house his shrine. Despite considerable study of the Angel Choir the site of the shrine has not been established, neither has the site of the original burial. This is perhaps the more surprising when it is considered that contemporary documentation survives to describe the events of St Hugh's death and burial. There is sufficient evidence within the cathedral to reconstruct the sites of the original burial and the later shrines and this is supported by documentary evidence, so far overlooked, that is presented here.     

RAILWAYS AND MINING: THE ROLE OF THE TRAIN IN THE EXPLOITATION OF THE CERRO MURIANO MINE (CÓRDOBA,SPAIN)

Abstract

Since its inception, the railway has been intimately connected with mining. On one hand, the arrival of trains permitted the large-scale development of numerous mines far from the sea, with the railways facilitating supply delivery to the mine as well as the transport of its products to ports or industrial centres and other interior points. On the other hand, railways depended on the mines being provided with raw materials and fuel. Thus, during the 19th and 20th centuries, a close relationship was established between the two industries, often reflected in the capital invested. In this article, we study this relationship using the example of the British-worked Cerro Muriano mine (Córdoba, Spain).     

Medieval Britain in 1976

Abstract

The Hospital of St Mary Magdalen, Partney has seen the first major excavation of a minor rural hospital. Existing by c 1115, it was amongst the earliest hospitals founded in Britain after the Norman Conquest and is one of a class of about 60 sites that were run as cells of larger religious foundations. Excavations uncovered the hospital chapel and its burial ground, as well as timber buildings. Monks/priests and lay people, possibly from the monastic estate, may have been interred in separate locations with different burial rites. Of particular note was a burial in a locked coffin or chest. Partney had ceased to function as a hospital by 1318, when it formed an administrative cell of Bardney Abbey. It was abandoned and robbed in the mid-15th century when the area was given over to agriculture.     

Smoking and health in London's East End in the first half of the 19th century

Abstract

The harmful effects of smoking are now proven, but to what extent can tobacco use be identified in 19th-century skeletal remains? The full osteological analysis of 705 individuals from the cemetery of St Mary and St Michael (open 1843–54) in Whitechapel, London, revealed a high prevalence of pipe smoking amongst the male population. In addition to a lower life expectancy, the smokers were found to have increased levels of skeletal evidence for lung disease when compared to the remainder of the sample. This has implications for the health, social structure and cohesion of this Irish migrant population.     

Teresa's experiences

ABSTRACT

In this article, I examine the notion of personal experience in relation to mysticism. I observe that St. Teresa of Jesus includes both her ordinary and extraordinary experiences in her writings on prayer, and I argue that these experiences are essential to her theology.     

Honorary Secretary’s Report for 1964

Abstract

The glazing scheme of the chapter-house at York Minster contains the best preserved ensemble of narrative glass of its period in England, and is the only one to survive in any of the great polygonal chapter-houses. Although it is frequently mentioned in general works on the Minster and its glass, there has been no sustained attempt to reconstruct the sequence of the panels or to consider the iconography of the scheme in relation to its setting. This study aims to highlight the significance of the scheme as a whole by focusing on just one of its seven windows: that in the north-west corner, which features a life of St Katherine of Alexandria. Using unpublished antiquarian sources alongside textual versions of Katherine's vita, it outlines a possible sequence for the window's disordered panels. It then goes on to analyse the window and its iconography within the context of the chapter-house, considering how it constructs its own particular version of this highly popular narrative. The results suggest that the scheme as a whole is a high-status product which employs complex narrative strategies. It is an important testament to the sophistication of glazed narratives in the period as well as to the ambitions of York's chapter.