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Cirencester Archaeological and Historical Society
Home Up Programme 2008-9 Programme 2009-10

 

Reports 09

The first talk was a new departure- the Inaugural Lecture for Cirencester Heritage Open Days was held on Friday September 11th sponsored by our Society.  All the availablereports can be seen by clicking the Reports 09 tab to the left. If you would like to write a report of a future meeting please contact the Vice-Chairman.

  Friday 11th September 2009

  Heritage Open Days Public Lecture- sponsored by CAHS

The Salvation Army Hall - David Grace

Local historian David Grace discussed the history of a very important building in Thomas Street, namely the Salvation Army Citadel and its former life as the Temperance Hall. There was a display of items to tell the story of the Salvation Army’s local presence including the Citadel Band’s instruments

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Wednesday 23rd September 2009

Corn Hall Excavations - Laurie Coleman

Recent excavations carried out by Cotswold Archaeology during the refurbishment of the Corn Hall revealed the presence of Roman shops. Laurie Coleman discussed their findings which give a new insight into Roman Corinium. He was able to show us a number of items discovered during the dig, which the audience enjoyed handling.  

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 Wednesday 28th October 2009

The  Purton Ships Graveyard - Paul Barnett

A site stretching 1.5km to the north of Sharpness New Dock entrance is the final resting place of 81 vessels which formerly sailed on Gloucestershire waterways. Paul discussed how his research revealed the site, now thought to be the largest of its kind in the UK and give examples of the ships  such as Severn Trows, forming this wonderful, but currently unprotected, maritime legacy.

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Wednesday 25th November 2009

The Wiggold Project: from early prehistory to the present day,

Professor Tim Darvill

Wiggold  is a small hamlet at the centre of Abbey Home Farm, on the northern edge of Cirencester. Bournemouth University's fieldwork over the last four years has established that this Cotswold upland landscape is exceptionally rich in sites and monuments. Dating from the first settlement of the area, prior to 4000 BC, these include a Neolithic causewayed enclosure, Bronze Age and Iron Age field boundaries and enclosures, Roman and medieval settlement, more recent buildings, fields and woods.

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No meeting in December

Wednesday  27th January 2010Kelmscott Manor

7.30 at the Ashcroft Centre, Ashcroft Road Cirencester

William Morris and Kelmscott Manor

Tristan Molloy and Jane Milne, Property Managers

Kelmscott Manor, a grade 1 Listed Tudor farmhouse adjacent to the River Thames, was built in the late 1500s, with an additional wing added in about 1665. William Morris chose it as his summer home, signing a joint lease with the Pre-Raphaelite painter Dante Gabriel Rossetti in the summer of 1871. The house - perhaps the most evocative of all the houses associated with Morris - contains an outstanding collection of the possessions and works of Morris, his family and associates (Benson, Burne-Jones, Rossetti and Webb amongst them), including furniture, original textiles, pictures, carpets, ceramics and metalwork.

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The organ of St John's Cirencester in September 2009Wednesday 24th February 2010

Croome Lecture -Jointly held with the Cirencester Civic Society. 

The Ongoing Refurbishment of the Parish Church of St John the Baptist

Malcolm James

The Parish Church is currently still undergoing refurbishment as part of an ongoing conservation project. This illustrated talk dealt with several key aspects of this refurbishment; namely the interior work, the organ and the South Porch area. The future challenges and past restorations were discussed.  

Malcolm donated his fee to the funding campaign. The societies donated visitor income for this meeting. To contribute to the campaign visit http://www.cirenparish.co.uk/campaign.htm 

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Wednesday 10th March 2010

Joint lecture with the Cirencester Science & Technology Society.(CSTS)

Current Approaches to Conservation Management in Historic Properties

Sarah Staniforth, Head of Conservation in the National Trust

The speaker is Head of Conservation for the National Trust and looked at challenges facing the organization in managing its extensive estate, emphasising various extreme weather events that have afflicted numerous properties in recent years as evidence of climate change. She described meaures to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change and other risks.

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Wednesday 31st March 2010 Cotswold Archaeology Public Lecture

The birth of a capital? Becoming Roman in the Gloucestershire Cotswolds

Tom Moore, University of Durham

Cotswold Archaelogy invited us to join them at their annual public lecture. Tom Moore reported on recent fieldwork and asks what we really know of the massive earthworks at Bagendon, long perceived as the site of the capital of the Dobunni tribe.

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Punch and JudyWednesday 28th  April 2010

Punch & Judy - Alix Booth

For over thirty years Alix Booth has worked with Mr Punch. Punch was first recorded by Samuel Pepys in 1662, but most of the story has been developed in the period from1760-1830. Punch is the common man fighting his small battles with life. The characters in the traditional show are just the ones that would have beset him during this time. The illustrated talk featured her popular puppet cabaret with a contemporary twist.  

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Wednesday  26th May 2010

Summer Meeting and AGM.

Magic Lantern Show - Patrick Furley

We watched an entertainment from before the days of cinema and television with this marvelous magic lantern show and learned the history of this fascinating medium which many of our grandparents will have watched.  

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Page last updated 23 July 2010