A Roman whodunnit? Curse tablets from Roman Britain in the East Midlands

Speaker: Frank Bagshaw

Frank has been volunteering at the Tramway Museum since 1961 when he was still at school. He will give an illustrated talk on why they built a tram museum in an old quarry up a hill in the middle of Derbyshire and how it has developed to the present day.

Organised by the Local History Section
DAS Library is also open from 1000-1200

PLEASE NOTE:
There is an Autumn Fair happening at Strutts on the day of this talk with an admission charge.
You do not need to pay this charge to attend our talk or library, but the car park may be very busy.

Speaker: Mike Kingman

Nowadays brick is an unexciting and mundane material. This talk demonstrates that before mass production it was a source of great prestige and considerable social value - an obvious external expression of wealth and status. In 1705 Mrs Brayne of Beaumanor reported that her daughters had built 'a brick house and had a new carriage, they refused all offers of marriage as they were able to support themselves'! When brick was introduced in the C15th, it's acceptance was a slow and hesitant process, hindered by legislation, poor transport, the fuels available and its cost. The speaker particularly emphasises the colour which red brick brought to the landscape and in this context examines the impact of brick on Derby. Dr Mike Kingman is a local historian and the author of many articles on the Midland landscape.

Organised by the Industrial Archaeology Section

Speakers: Christopher Kennedy and Aidan Ridyard

Richard Twentyman (1903-1979), the brother of the sculptor Anthony Twentyman, was a successful West Midlands architect based in Wolverhampton, known particularly for the thirteen churches and chapels he designed between 1937 and 1973. In this talk based on their research into Twentyman’s life and career, the speakers select a sample of his churches and the art within them to illustrate his distinctive architectural evolution from an early monumental phase, to more modernistic approaches and later innovative design. They suggest the British and European influences on Twentyman’s work and locate his architecture in the changing social, economic, and religious contexts of this period.

Chris Kennedy, a former Birmingham University professor in applied linguistics, subsequently developed his interests in design and architecture by gaining postgraduate qualifications in Design and Architectural History from Oxford University. He stumbled across a church designed by Twentyman and set out to find more about him. Aidan Ridyard is Managing Partner at Burrell Foley Fischer Ridyard Architects, a member of RIBA with Conservation Accreditation, with several notable public buildings to his name in the UK and overseas. A chance meeting between Chris and Aidan at a meeting of the Twentieth Century Society revealed their shared interest in Twentyman (Aidan’s father was vicar at Twentyman’s All Saints, Darlaston), resulting in a self-published book on Twentyman and his churches.

Their book is available for purchase at richardtwentyman.com and at the talk at the reduced rate of £20. If you don’t have cash on the evening, you can still take a copy away with you, and send payment by bank transfer.

Organised by the Architecture Section

Speaker: David Rudling

The Ouse valley is a key communication route from the Channel coast, via the Downs to the wide expanse of the Weald. It traverses and encompasses landscapes and archaeological sites of both local and regional importance - all connected by the river Ouse and its valley. David will review the archaeological fieldwork that has been undertaken in the valley to investigate and record Roman-period settlements and land-use. He will look at the emergence and fates of sites such as the native settlement at Bishopstone, the villas at Newhaven, Beddingham, Barcombe and Plumpton, and the nucleated settlement at Bridge Farm, Barcombe Mills. He will also consider the main Roman roads in the valley, and the iron working sites north of Barcombe.

Dr David Rutling is the Academic Director at the Sussex School of Archaeology, having previously been Senior Lecturer in Archaeology at the Centre for Continuing Education at the University of Sussex, and Director of Archaeology South-East which is part of University College London. He has directed a wide range of fieldwork on sites of various periods throughout Sussex, notable sites including Roman villas and tile kilns, Romano-Celtic temples, a Middle Bronze Age settlement site and various medieval urban sites in Hastings, Lewes and Winchelsea. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, a Member of the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists, a trustee of the Council for British Archaeology South-East, and Chairman of the Brighton and Hove Archaeological Society.

Image above - Barcombe villa c AD 150 (drawing by Andy Gammon)

Speaker on Zoom

Speaker: Jennifer Browning

A new Roman villa was discovered during lockdown in Rutland in 2020, prompting a series of archaeological investigations, carried out primarily by the University of Leicester and Historic England. This extraordinary site is famous for the widely publicised figured mosaic, which depicts scenes from the mythical Trojan War. Having completed fieldwork in September 2022, work on the finds from the site is now underway. This talk will place the mosaic in its context within the villa estate, based on the evidence to date. It will also discuss the artwork of the mosaic and its significance.  Jennifer is a Project Officer with the University of Leicester Archaeological Services. She directed the University of Leicester excavations at the Rutland villa site and also co-directed the Historic England excavations.

Speaker: Robert Mee

A look at the history and use of village lockups - once a common feature in our communities. The talk begins with looking at the background to the subject, concentrating on evidence from Derbyshire and then a look at all known lock ups in the Midlands.

Organised by the Local History Section

Speaker: Colin Merrony

Castleton is a popular tourist destination in north Derbyshire and is well known for Peveril Castle around which the village is believed to have developed from the late 11th century. Fifteen years ago the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with the Castleton Historical Society, began to investigate the development of Castleton at first by investigating the site of the medieval hospital by the road between Castleton and Hope. Over the years this project has developed into one exploring the wider landscape of the upper Hope Valley from the Roman period right through to the 19th century. This talk will focus primarily on the discoveries around Castleton, including evidence of settlement there before the arrival of the Normans and the construction of Peveril Castle.

Colin Merrony has worked in the Archaeology Department at the University of Sheffield for the last 35 years and in that time has been involved in many of the University's projects in the local area. Even though the Department has now disappeared into the new School of History, Philosophy and Digital Humanities, Colin continues to undertake archaeological fieldwork in Derbyshire, South Yorkshire and further afield.

Organised by the Archaeological Research Group

Speaker: Richard Sheppard

A ‘behind-the-scenes’ look at Bolsover Castle by an archaeologist who spent a good part of his career investigating the site, from its medieval beginnings to its 17^th century heyday, and beyond to the time it came into the possession of the Ministry of Works and later English Heritage.

Richard is a ‘retired’ archaeologist who was a one-time illustrator, projects manager and buildings’ surveyor for Trent & Peak Archaeology (now renamed as part of York Archaeology). Between 1990-2012 he undertook a series of watching briefs and targeted investigations at Bolsover Castle for English Heritage; this included a lot of activity during a major re-vamp to the property in 1998-2000. Like the historian and TV pundit Lucy Worsley, who was an English Heritage Inspector responsible for the site during that time, Richard retains a fondness and a high regard for Bolsover Castle, considering it to be one of the most important, if somewhat quirky, historic monuments we have in the Midlands.

Organised by the Architecture Section

Speaker: Stephen Rodgers

The historic town of Southwell in Nottinghamshire is home to what some archaeologists believe to be the largest Romano-British ‘villa’ site in the East Midlands.  The development of an Anglo-Saxon church and then the Norman Minster may be linked to the religious significance of this site.  Southwell Community Archaeology Group (SCAG) have been active in trying to trace the history of Southwell and especially in uncovering the Medieval development of the town.  King Charles I spent his last night of freedom in what is now known as The Saracen’s Head, a former coaching inn with rooms containing examples of Elizabethan wall paintings. SCAG worked with professional conservators trying to understand more about these paintings.

Dr Stephen Rodgers is secretary of SCAG and this talk will explore some of the archaeology of Southwell, much of which is now hidden.

Organised by the Archaeological Research Group

Speaker: James Clark

Professor Clark has been working with the National Trust and their team at Hardwick Hall, on the ex-monastic, mediaeval vestments (more than 100 pieces) collected by Bess of Hardwick, some of which almost certainly originated at religious houses in the county which attracted the patronage of the Talbots. Some of what has been found in this work will feature in the talk together with other aspects of Derbyshire’s dissolution story.

Professor Clark is the Director of the Societies and Cultures Institute at the University of Exeter and his historical interests are focused on the period between the Black Death and the Break with Rome, exploring religion, learning and book culture in England. He is a regular contributor to TV, Radio, News Media and online coverage of medieval, Reformation and early Renaissance themes. He has been an historical consultant for TV documentaries such as Tudor Monastery Farm for BBC TV, for film dramas and has contributed to a two-part documentary on Thomas Cromwell and the Henrician Reformation presented by Tracy Borman for Channel 5.

His book The Dissolution of the Monasteries – a New History was published in 2022 and his publisher Yale University Press will offer paperback copies at a 20% discount at the time of the lecture.