On Dilwyn Church

Abstract

The stone castle was probably begun in the first quarter of the 13th century by Alan, the king's steward, or his son, Walter. Bute had only recently been wrested from the kingdom of Man and the Isles, whose overlord, King Håkon IV of Norway, sent two expeditions to retake it in 1230 and 1263. When Bute returned to Scottish control in 1266, the castle was strengthened by the addition of four rounded projecting towers and a gatehouse facing the sea. Rothesay played little part in the Wars if Independence from 1290 onwards. The marriage of Walter III Stewart with King Robert the Bruce's daughter, Marjorie, however, eventually resulted in the Stewarts obtaining the throne in 1371 through Marjorie's son, Robert.

Both King Robert II (1371–90) and his son Robert III (1390–1406) spent time at Rothesay Castle and carried out minor building works. James IV (1488–1513) also took a personal interest in it, and in August 1498 appointed his kinsman, Ninian Stewart, as captain and keeper. He also began construction of the large residential gatehouse, called le dungeon, that was added on to the earlier gatehouse; this work was finished under James V in 1540–42.

In 1685 the castle was burnt by the duke if Argyll, and the keeper's family abandoned it as a residence. In 1816–18, the second marquess of Bute had the courtyard cleared of vegetation and rubble; and in 1871–9, the third marquess cleared the moat and engaged the architect William Burges to carry out restoration of the masonry. The gatehouse hall was also rebuilt in 1900.     

On Bosses of Roman Shields Found in Northumberland and Lancashire

The paper presents and analyses 46 new radiocarbon measurements undertaken at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit with the aim of critically evaluating the existing chronology for Bronze Age metalwork. Samples chosen, from both old museum collections and more recent finds, were all organics in immediate physical contact with various types of bronze object; indeed the great majority were in direct functional association. Contextual integrity was further monitored by the identification of wood species and the estimation of growth stage, which was found consistently to be modest. The scientific procedures employed allowed the generation of dates with good precision and cross-referenced through control samples to the dendrochronological master curves.

Although one of the first attempts in Europe to radiocarbon date Bronze Age metalwork systematically, the results have yielded a coherent picture which confirms the broad outline of the traditional sequence. However, calibration followed by statistical analysis does point to the need to stretch the chronology of the middle—late bronze age metalwork assemblages backwards, by varying amounts, revisions which were in part anticipated from recent dating research on the continent. Re-dating has been most dramatic for Wilburton metalwork, the dating of which had not been shifted since 1979. For clarity the newly proposed chronology is pegged to a series of single dates each marking the fulcrum of a transition between assemblages. While the current data set suggests that assemblage overlaps were not prolonged, more data will be needed if durations are to be estimated better. The existing results do, however, already show the potential for establishing more subtle trends in the development of Bronze Age metalwork.     

On Early Church Windows

Abstract

Anglo-Saxon garnet cloisonné composite disc brooches form a small but important group of jewellery, representing an extremely high level of design and craftsmanship. While a good deal has been written about them in various contexts, this paper sets out to analyse the brooches in terms of their construction. All eighteen known examples (with the exception of one now lost) were examined in detail, from a practical manufacturing point of view, and a number of their components classified: cloisonné work, rims, back-plates, brooch fittings and general construction. On the basis of this examination, clear distinctions could be drawn between two groups — those with gold cloisonné work and those with copper-alloy. Within these groups, it is further possible to draw parallels between three sets of brooches (two pairs with gold cloisonné and a trio with copper alloy) which appear likely to have had a common manufacturing source.

Very little is known of the Anglo-Saxon jewellers, but there can have been only a small number of them. Because of this, and the high level of skill needed to make both types of brooch, it would not be safe to assume that the copper alloy cloisonné examples necessarily represent a degenerate form of the gold. The Sarre brooch illustrates levels of accomplishment comparable with that seen on many gold cloisonné brooches.     

Sepulchral Brasses,and Incised Slabs

A Middle Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Chesterton Lane Corner, Cambridge, has been radiocarbon dated to the seventh to ninth centuries with its floruit in the eighth century and evidence that many of the individuals buried there were executed. Intriguingly, there is also a Late Roman decapitation burial at the site. The evidence for Middle Anglo-Saxon Cambridge is reviewed and the relationship between justice and central places is considered.     

Adversarial Map-Making in Pre-Reformation Lancashire

Abstract

'Adversarial Map-Making in Pre-Reformation Lancashire'. A map in the National Archives dated to 1531 showing part of the Fylde in Lancashire has been published on several occasions; but its relationship to another map in the National Archives has not previously been recognised. These two maps were made by the opposing parties in a dispute before the court of the Duchy of Lancaster, and may be the earliest examples of adversarial map-making in a case before an equity court. The case concerned land which had apparently long been regarded as intercommon, but which was now being claimed to be in exclusive ownership. The newly recognised map was made to illustrate recently acquired documentary evidence as to the ownership of the land in question. This map appears broadly trustworthy, and was accepted as such by the court; but the defence map seems rather to have been designed to mislead. In recent years the defence map has been regarded as evidence for the appearance of the locality concerned in the 1530s, but this study shows that it was in fact regarded by the court as unreliable, thus highlighting the need to treat all maps other than those actually commissioned by the courts themselves as partial and therefore suspect.     

On Anglo-Saxon Remains in Iver Church,Bucks

The presence of the remains of a Tudor cupboard displayed at Cotehele (Cornwall) has for many years been explained by the marriage of Catherine, the widow of Sir Gruffydd ap Rhys (the son of Sir Rhys ap Thomas, a leading figure in south Wales during the reigns of both Henry VII and Henry VIII) to Sir Piers Edgcumbe in 1523; thus dating this piece of furniture to the 1520s. By contrast, costume experts have always considered that the piece should date to the middle or later sixteenth century. This paper links the Cotehele cupboard to other pieces of carved work from the Welsh March in Shropshire—at Lower Spoad Farm, near Clun and in the church at Llanfair Waterdine—suggests an association with two of the major landowners there, the earls of Arundel and Shrewsbury; and places the cupboard in the context of Queen Mary's reign.