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Reports of talks
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Programme 2008-9
The programme for the year is completed.
This page serves as a record, and gives links in some cases to the speakers or
more information on the subject. Reports can now be found below each talk. If
you would like to report on a future talk, please mention this to a committee
member as early as possible. We try to get all talks reported in the local
press, who prefer a maximum length of about 350 words.
Wednesday
24 September 2008
Recent
Excavations at Horcott Quarry, Fairford
Ken
Welsh
This
talk presented the results of recent excavations by Oxford Archaeology
at Horcott Quarry near Fairford. A long sequence of occupation was revealed in
the first dig, stretching from the Neolithic to the Saxon period, including a
large Late Roman cemetery. The results of the second stage of excavation
proved to be equally exciting.
Report
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Wednesday
15 October 2008
5o
years of Archaeology in Cirencester: a review and celebration
Tim
Darvill, Alan McWhirr, Chris Gatting & Neil
Holbrook
From
Cirencester Excavation Committee to the Cotswold Archaeology Trust, they
covered the activities over the past 50 years, describing many of the
activities and many of the people involved in this period. Many of them
started at the bottom (of the hole), and a surprising number are now at the
top of their profession.
A
Bingham Hall centenary celebrations public lecture.
Report
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Wednesday
22 October 2008
Bingham
& Beyond – a
Cirencester celebration
David
Viner
Daniel
George Bingham’s legacies to Cirencester are considerable and justifiably
celebrated. In this talk, town historian David Viner reviewed the evidence
of people, places and buildings which still have relevance to town life today,
including of course the Bingham Hall itself, opened in 1908.
A
Bingham Hall centenary celebrations public lecture.
Report
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Wednesday
26 November 2008
Cotswold
Barns
Tim
Jordan
This
illustrated talk covered the design, construction methods, materials and
changing patterns of use of Cotswold barns together with their place in the
rural economy and landscape. Tim gave a historical record of a
rapidly disappearing feature of our architectural and agricultural heritage.
Report
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Wednesday
28 January 2009
How
Old is Your House?
Averil
Kear
Local
historian Averil Kear’s talk
showed us how to trace the history of our house. Using an example of a
house in Cirencester, she looked at the architecture of houses and maps
showing what sort of area the house was in, together with a wealth of other
documents available at Gloucestershire Archives to help solve our puzzles.
Report
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Wednesday
25 February 2009
Croome
Lecture –Berkeley Minster and the Anglo Saxon Church in Mercia
Mark Horton FSA was Head
of Archaeology at the University of Bristol between 2001 and 2006. Whilst
directing excavations at Berkeley for the last four years he and his team from
the University have been making increasingly important discoveries about the
Saxon history of the site - a documented minster, monastery and nunnery
between the 8th -10th century. His talk revealed publicly for the first
time the detail of the discoveries and set them within what we know about
Saxon life in Mercia.
Annual
joint lecture with Cirencester Civic
Society.
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Wednesday
11 March 2009
Isotopes in
Archaeology: from dating cave art to reconstructing past diet
Isotopes
have properties that are extremely useful in understanding the past. Some,
like Radiocarbon (14C) are radioactive and can be used for dating. Others are
stable, but enriched by biological processes which allow the tracing of
certain food groups through the food
chain, and the reconstruction of past diet. Some vary in the soils and
drinking water from location to location which allows the identification of
human and animal movement
in the past. Alistair outlined some of the recent applications of isotopes to archaeology, and
results of recent research by the Bristol Isotope Group.
Annual joint
lecture with Cirencester Science & Technology Society
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Wednesday
18 March 2009
Cotswold Archaeology
Annual Lecture
A
rich resource: studying Cirencester’s historic buildings
David Viner
Contributing
an essay to the latest volume of Cirencester Excavations encouraged
local historian David Viner to review the evidence of building recording,
interpretation and preservation activity as a specific contribution to fifty
years of archaeology in the town.
Report
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Wednesday
22 April 2009
John
Jefferies & Son – The History of the Royal Nurseries
Martin
Portus
John
Jefferies and Sons was a plant nursery supplying exotic plants and seeds to
many of the great estates in the Cotswolds during 19th and 20th
centuries. The Jefferies family were well known in the region and played an
important role in the development of Cirencester. This talk charted a brief
history of the firm and in particular the last generation of Jefferies
brothers who ran the business.
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Wednesday
27 May 2009
Rodmarton
Manor
Simon
Biddulph
Rodmarton
Manor (1909 to 1929) 100 years on. What was behind the idea to build and
furnish such a big house and how did they achieve it? The Manor’s owner,
Simon Biddulph, outlined how the house and garden were designed, using
illustrations to show what the house was like then and what is it
like now.
Report
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page last updated 04 November, 2009
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