The Society arranges a programme of excursions and lectures in Gloucester, Cheltenham and Bristol

Annual General Meeting on Saturday 29 March 2008 (NOTE NEW DATE) at Newman Hall, Grange Court Road, Westbury-on-Trym commencing 2.15pm and followed by the Presidential address by Carolyn Heighway on Reading the Stones: archaeological recording at Gloucester Cathedral.

BRISTOL SECTION

All meetings will be held in the Apostle Room in the basement of Clifton Cathedral, Pembroke Road, Clifton, at 7.45 pm. £1 charge per person per meeting – to include coffee served at the conclusion of meetings. Monday 22nd October 2007

Turning a blind eye: where did the archaeology go on Broadfield Down? – Vince Russett, Planning & Environment, Weston-super-Mare
This lecture will draw attention to the archaeology of Broadfield Down (the area within which Bristol Airport is located). In the 19th century, antiquarians remarked on the rich archaeology of Broadfield Down, and even as late as the 1940s, local historians were remarking on the number of standing stones in Winford parish. Archaeological work has yielded a group of previously unrecorded late prehistoric enclosures, a large Roman building with evidence of lead and bronze working, mines, abandoned farmhouses, field systems and limekilns.

Monday 26th November 2007
The Topography of medieval and early modern Clifton: an archaeological perspective - Professor Roger H Leech, PhD, FSA, MIFA, University of Southampton
Roger will talk about the survey which he has been undertaking on behalf of the City Planning Department, supplying an enhanced record for the Bristol UAD and SMR to underpin the planning process and the preservation of Bristol’s archaeology. This study is modelled on those for the City of Bristol now published by the Bristol Record Society (vols. 48 & 52), and will draw especially on the two maps of Clifton (one a detailed map of the Hotwell’s Road/Jacobs Wells Road area) by Jacob de Wilstar made in c1746, accompanied by schedules of the properties shown on the maps, also on the survey of 1625 of the smaller manor of Clifton, until 1536 the possession of the College of Westbury upon Trym.

Monday 28th January 2008
The Bird People of St. Kilda – Charles Martin, Traveller, Lecturer and ornithologist
St. Kilda, Britain’s most remote island archipelago, lies out in the Atlantic, 50 miles west of the Outer Hebrides. For centuries a small community sustained a precarious existence there, dependent for survival upon the vast colonies of gannets, fulmars, puffins and other seabirds nesting on the cliffs and outlying stacs. In 1930, however, the remaining 36 inhabitants were evacuated to the mainland, having finally succumbed to pressures that had become unendurable. Combining archaeology, anthropology and ornithology, Charles will be talking about the unique lifestyle of the St. Kildans and their last years on the island. His talk will be accompanied by slides from his time on the island as a member of a National Trust of Scotland archaeological work-party and from the archival collection of the Trust.

Monday 25th February 2008
The Roman Archaeology of the Bristol Region in Context – Neil Holbrook, BA, FSA, MIFA
The lecture will look at the Roman archaeology of the Bristol region and examine how this fits into broader patterns of Roman settlement both north and south of the Avon. It will also adopt a broad chronological perspective, taking in the later Iron Age and post-Roman periods.

Monday 31st March 2008
Boats and Ships of the Severn Sea – Nigel Nayling, BA, MA, MIFA
Archaeological finds of boats and ships in the Severn Estuary have been varied and prolific. Recent discoveries have highlighted the huge potential of the area and provided an insight into the range of shipbuilding traditions on the western seaboard of Britain. This talk will review the evidence dating from the Bronze Age to the medieval period with particular emphasis on the Newport Ship. This find represents the most substantial medieval ship find from Britain and is the subject of a major ongoing programme of recording and research.

Monday 28th April 2008
Relations between south-west England and Ireland in the late middle ages – Dr Brendan Smith, FSA, FRHist.S  Reader in History, University of Bristol
South-west England, south Wales, and south-east Ireland have throughout history enjoyed close political, cultural and economic ties. This talk explores these ties in a period which has attracted relatively little scholarly interest: the 14th & 15th centuries. Which bonds were broken and which remade as the Black Death transformed the economy of the region, and as its political patterns were reshaped by the Wars of the Roses?

R H Jones, Hon. Secretary for Bristol
Tel. 0117 9830719 e-mail: roberthjones@blueyonder.co.uk

£1 charged per person per meeting

Summary of Meetings 2008

The President’s Spring Meeting Gloucester Saturday 12 April 2008 We will be welcomed to Gloucester by the Right Worshipful the Mayor of Gloucester together with the Sheriff and Deputy Mayor at North Warehouse where we will be able to see the many ceremonial and other objects. We will then proceed to Blackfriars and a conducted tour followed by free time to have lunch and perhaps explore the Docks. In the afternoon we will visit St Mary de Crypt, the Roman and Medieval East Gate and finish with a guided tour round the Gloucester Museum and tea. Details will be circulated with the Spring Newsletter in March.

Overseas Meeting to Italy – Sunday 18 May to Sunday 25 May 2008

Members will fly to the Piedmont in Italy. Visits will be made to Turin and also towns and villages situated in the hills and valleys north and south of Asti where many well-known wines are produced including Barolo and, of course Asti Spumante. Hopefully a visit to an enotechia to taste some can be arranged! The area is notable for some early churches and for castles and for the palaces of the Kings of Savoy. Lunches will be arranged.

UK Residential Meeting to Swansea – Thursday 18 September to Monday 22 September 2008 (note change from 25-29 September)

This meeting will be based in Swansea, now much changed from its industrial past, in a hotel close to the marina. The opportunity will be taken to visit notable sites on the way to Swansea including the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans. Visits in West Wales will include a number of castles and abbeys of Carmarthenshire and West Glamorgan but also some of the houses and, especially, the gardens of Aberglasney. The Gower will also be in the programmes.

The President’s Autumn Meeting Bristol Saturday 11 October 2008 Professor Roger Leech, President for 2008/9, will lead a tour round Bristol town houses. Details will be circulated nearer the time.

Details will be sent out when they have been finalised, but if you require more information now please contact the Hon. Meetings Secretary, David Bartlett, 4 Cotley Place, Heytesbury, Warminster, Wilts BA12 0HT, Tel 01985 840624