Click here for Research Grant Application Form [84 KB PDF file]
The Society has limited funds to support archaeological and historical research in Bristol, Gloucestershire and South Gloucestershire, arising from bequests from the late Miss Irene Bridgeman, Mr. H Gordon Williams and Mrs S C F Wills. Applications for grants should be made to the research committee, care of the Honorary General Secretary. Grants are normally awarded in April; applicants will be advised of the result during May. Grants will not normally exceed £1000 but may be larger in exceptional circumstances. The grants are intended to cover out-of-pocket expenses such as travel, photography or a contribution towards specialist reports. Grants will not be awarded for expenses already incurred and will normally be payable in two equal instalments at the beginning and end of the project.
Applicants will be asked to supply receipted invoices on completion of the project. Applications will only be accepted if they are made on the official application form which may be obtained from the Honorary General Secretary. Each application must be accompanied by details of the project and written estimates of the costs to be met by the grant. In the case of applications relating to archaeological projects the accompanying details should include an 8-figure national grid reference and a summary of known information from, for example, the Historic Environment Record. The accompanying details should not exceed 600 words in length and should be supplied on single-sided A4 paper.
It is a condition of the award of a grant that the results of the research shall be offered for publication in the Society's Transactions. The article or report must conform to the house style of the Transactions as set out in the Editor's Note of Guidance. The article or report must be submitted to the Editor of the Transactions within 12 months of the completion of the project. If, however, the research forms part of a wider project for which another form of publication is preferable this condition may be waived at the discretion of the Research Committee. In whatever form the report is published it is an absolute condition of an award that the assistance of the Research Fund is acknowledged on the title page of the article or report. Each grant will be made in the name of one of the donors and the acknowledgement should record this.
Applications must be received by the Research Committee not later than 1 February in each year. Applications received after 1 February will be considered in the following year.
Recorded Crime in Gloucestershire and Bristol 1770 to 1830
Tony Langley is examining the nature and causes of recorded crime in Gloucestershire and Bristol between 1770 and 1830 for his PhD thesis at Oxford Brookes University and a grant has been awarded to him to cover some expenses in travel and accommodation in London whilst researching at the National Archives and in Bristol at the Bristol Record Office.
Analysis of skeletal material from Kingsholm, Gloucester
Carolyn Heighway is carrying out a review of the evidence for Gloucester in the post-Roman period and this includes a re-examination of the cemetery evidence and in particular material from the late cemetery at Kingsholm including burial I excavated in 1972. This burial was of a male aged 25-30 and the grant will enable an analysis of skeletal material to be carried out to provide information about childhood origin and about diet.
Geophysical Survey at Bagendon
Dr Tom Moore is leading a team from Durham University in carry out a geophysical survey inside the Late Iron Age Bagendon oppidium complex. This is part of a wider project to contextualize the earlier, partial investigation of sites inside the Bagendon oppidium within a wider understanding of the nature of activity in the complex. The grant will cover expenses for the 7 day field season of geophysics.
The Catholic Question in Bristol Public Life 1820-29
John Stevens is writing an article on the above subject with a view to it being published by the Society and the grant is being used to cover the photographing of portraits/engravings of some of the leading men involved.
Berry Hill, Forest of Dean
Stephen Yeates is working on a project to establish a context for the establishment of the extra-parochial village of Berry Hill in the Forest of Dean. Preliminary research indicates that Berry Hill is a planned village built between 1680 and 1760 on extra-parochial land in the forest of Dean. This grant will cover expenses on more detailed research.
Wiggold Prehistoric Landscape Project, Lower Ampney Enclosure
The starting point of excavations at Wiggold carried out by Bournmouth University, under the direction of Professor Timothy Darvill in 2006 was the Little Ampney enclosure. This formed the centre-piece of a field school run in 2007 and 2008 for which a grant was awarded in 2008. Work is now in hand to complete the final report on the excavations at Little Ampney and the present grant will be used for the preparation of maps, plans, sections and diagrammes to illustrate the report
Tar Barrows Project, Cirencester
A settlement around Tar Barrows to the north-east of Cirencester was recently discovered and Dr Peter Guest of Cardiff University and Matthew Reynolds of Cirencester College will be organising a fieldwalking survey this year of approximately 5 days by undergraduates from Cardiff University and Archaeology A-Level students from Cirencester. The grant will cover some of the expenses in identifying the material collected and the preparation of a report describing the Tar Barrow material
Wiggold Excavations near Cirencester
Professor Timothy Darvill of the University of Bournmouth is leading archaeological digs at Wiggold near Cirencester. The aim of the Wiggold project is to develop a narrative understanding of a typical section of east Cotswold landscape from early post-glacial times through to the 20th century. The project will run for between 5 and 10 years and already many objects including flint, bones and pottery have been discovered which require scientific analysis. This grant will enable this analysis to be undertaken.
Roman Mosaics in Britain
Dr Stephen Cosh and his colleague David Neal have for many years been recording Roman mosaics in Britain and commenced publishing, through the Society of Antiquaries, a four-volume corpus of which 2 volumes have already appeared. Volume 4, due to be published in 2009, will cover Gloucestershire and the grant will go towards some of the costs of photography and research.
WWII Anti-invasion defense network
Philip Rowe, a PhD student at the University of Bristol, is writing his thesis on the WWII anti-invasion defence network in Great Britain and asks the question; would the defence network setup by Southern Command between 1940 and 1942, as part of a national network of anti-invasion measures, have halted an invasion force? The grant will be used to obtain copies of aerial photographs taken in 1948 covering the ‘stop line green’ from Highbridge, Somerset to Framilode, south of Gloucester
Landscape and Society at Hazleton, Gloucestershire
Professor Christopher Dyer and David Aldred have for some years been carrying out a programme of field work and documentary research on Hazleton township with the aim of defining the changes in the historic landscape from the earliest times until the present day. This work will result in a substantial article for the Transactions and the grant will be used to provide a number of illustrations including maps and plans.
Bristol and Gloucestershire personal names to 1362
Cornelia Carnes will be using original manuscripts such as Lay Subsidy Rolls, Jurors’ Lists, and many smaller charters found in local archives offices, the British Library and the National Archives, etc to establish the distribution, phonology, etymology and syntactical forms of Middle Ages person names in Gloucestershire.
Late Saxon pottery at Berkeley Castle
During excavations at Berkeley in 2005 an important assemblage of late Saxon pottery was recovered. Dr Stuart Prior of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol wishes to establish the source of this pottery and thin section analysis and inductively-coupled plasma spectroscopy will enable comparisons to be made with samples from Gloucester and from Wiltshire. The grant will contribute towards the cost of this analysis.
Northleach Parish Church
Mrs Selina Balance has been awarded a grant to help her publish her new findings on how and when Northleach parish church was built. She has been researching Northleach parish church for several years. Her work will explain the building sequence of the church by careful examination of the masonry and from contemporary descriptions by visitors. She will also describe the various ways in which the furnishings and internal layout of the church have changed over the last four hundred years.
Clay Pipes in the Stroud area
Dr. Allen Peacey aims to establish a typology for some clay pipes whose origins can be identified. This will enable many previously unidentifiable pipes to be recognized for the first time. In the late 17th century pipes were being supplied to the Stroud area from various Wiltshire makers and from Bristol, Gloucester and Broseley. The aim of the project is to sample products known to come from these centres, collected from the Stroud area. The grant will be used towards the chemical analysis and thin section tests to establish if possible a definitive character for each.