Archaeology Study Tours

Study Tour to Normandy: Day 7

2010-06-07T10:12:00.008+02:00

The canonical church at Eu dedicated to Notre-Dame and St Laurence O'Toole who died in Eu in the 12th century.

William the Conqueror had been a constant theme in this study tour, so it was fitting that the last visit should be to St-Valéry-sur-Somme, where William’s fleet set sail for England. The area surrounding the memorial stone is cleverly arranged: the pathway represents the English Channel with the major rivers leading into it; the rectangular blocks represent the major places involved in the story of the Conquest. In effect, a birds-eye view of the situation.

Study Tour to Normandy: Day 6

2010-06-07T10:04:00.009+02:00

Étretat (exterior / interior); Fécamp (exterior / interior); Veulettes-sur-Mer (exterior / interior); Sainte-Marguerite-sur-Mer (exterior / interior).

Study Tour to Normandy: Day 5

2010-06-04T07:44:00.004+02:00

Carentan; Tollevast, Cherbourg-Octeville (exterior / interior); Portbail; Coutances Cathedral; la-Barre-de-Semilly

Study Tour to Normandy: Day 4

2010-06-02T23:48:00.006+02:00

Jublains: The Fortress; The Theatre; The Temple.

Mayenne - The Château - exterior; features from the Charolingian palace surviving in the wall in the wall.

Falaise the Château.

Study Tour to Normandy: Day 3

2010-06-01T22:54:00.012+02:00

St-Vigor Abbey at Cerisy-la-Forêt (external / internal); Bayeux Cathedral (Oddo's crypt / 12th century nave); Abbaye d’Ardenne (church and domestic buildings).

Study Tour to Normandy: Day 2

2010-05-31T18:29:00.008+02:00

Caen: Abbaye aux Hommes; Abbaye aux Dames; Château de Caen: remains of the 11th century keep and the curtain walls of c. 1200.

Study Tour to Normandy: Day 1

2010-05-31T18:25:00.006+02:00

Notre-Dame Jumièges
St-Pierre Jumièges
St Wandrille
St Catherine Honfleur

Unfortunately, owing to restoration work, both Notre-Dame and St-Pierre were partly covered with scaffolding.

Social Networks for Archaeology

2010-04-18T12:35:00.000+02:00

The power and importance of social networks are growing all the time, not least in the field of archaeology.

I thought that it would be useful to compile a list of these sites for archaeology. The list as it stands at the moment can be found here….

Obviously, this list is very incomplete at the moment, so if you know of any archaeological social network site that should be added, please give details on the form here…

Photos from the EMAS Easter Study Tour

2010-04-10T18:56:00.000+02:00

You can find photographs from this year’s EMAS Easter Study Tour and other earlier trips at: www.archaeology.eu.com/slideshow

EMAS Easter Study Tour – Day 6

2010-04-07T10:13:00.003+02:00

We left Chesterfield and drove to Lincoln.

Here we visited the Cathedral, with its wonderful Angel Choir. Walking from west to east in the cathedral is a visual demonstration of the progression from Early English to Decorated Gothic.

We then visited the Bishop’s Palace, and then down the aptly-named Steep Hill to see the two excellent 12th century buildings: the Norman House and The Jews House.

Then Lunch and the drive back to London.

EMAS Easter Study Tour - Day 5

2010-04-06T00:49:00.008+02:00

A Day of Anglo-Saxon churches, or architectural fragments thereof,

We started the day with a visit to Repton church, with its wonderful 8th century crypt. The vicar and his wife were very friendly and allowed us to visit their garden – the site of the mass grave excavated by the Biddles.

We then went to Bredon on the Hill. Here the earliest surviving parts of the church are Norman, but there is a wealth of Anglo-Saxon sculpted stone set into the walls of the later church.

After a superb lunch in the Bull’s Head, Repton, we went to Stanton-by-Bridge Church – here most of the visible fabric is Norman, or later, but the long and short quoins at the east of the nave suggest an Anglo-Saxon date for the original church.

Finally, we went to Hough on the Hill. This church has a fine Anglo-Saxon west tower with an interesting round stair turret.

EMAS Easter Study Tour – Day 4

2010-04-04T23:32:00.005+02:00

Today’s itinerary had a variety of different types of sites. We started at Mattersey Priory – the remains of a Gilbertine Priory founded in 1185. This is a charming site, although most of the remains are from the 13th century frater. We then visited Gainsthorpe Medieval Village – a DMV that has impressive earthworks from c. 30 house platforms, a large courtyard building and two dovecotes. We then went on to St Peter’s Church, Barton-upon-Humber, with its famous Anglo-Saxon tower. Finally, we visited Tattershall Castle – originally a stone-built 13th century castle, but mostly famous for its brick great tower, which was built in 1434 for Ralph, first Lord Cromwell.

EMAS Easter study tour - Day 3

2010-04-03T19:23:00.006+02:00

We started the day at Wirkworth Church with its superb Anglo-Saxon sarcophagus. This is probably of late 7th century date (the date is based on the crucifixion scene which shows an Angus Dei on the cross instead of Jesus – a motif which was banned by the church in 692) and shows 8 scenes: Christ washing the feet of the disciples; the Crucifixion; the burial of the Virgin; the Presentation in the Temple; the descent into hell of the worst sinners; Christ ascending to heaven; the Annunciation; The Virgin holding Christ as a baby who holds a scroll in one hand and points to Peter with the other, indicating that the Word should be spread through him.

Next to Tides Low Neolithic barrow which is in a rather sorry state of preservation.

We then visited Peveril Castle – a Norman keep in a superb situation, well worth the rather steep climb to get to it.

Finally, we visited Roche Abbey, a Cistercian abbey founded 1147, although the surviving buildings date to c. 1170.

EMAS Easter study tour - Day 2 Afternoon (2)

2010-04-03T08:37:00.003+02:00

Finally, we visited Bakewell Church with its two Anglo-Saxon crosses and its superb collection of sculpted stone.

EMAS Easter study tour - Day 2 Afternoon

2010-04-02T23:31:00.003+02:00

Of course, the weather changed when we headed for the open country!

Our visit to the sites of Arbor Low Henge and Gibb Hill Barrow were in pouring rain with a very strong wind.

Needless to say, soon after we left the site, the rain eased off!

EMAS Easter study tour - Day 2 Morning

2010-04-02T23:22:00.007+02:00

We began the day with a memorable visit to Creswell Crags. The new visitors’ centre is very well designed and the staff are very friendly.

We took the Rock Art tour and had an excellent guide – Becky (the one in the yellow helmet).

I can certainly recommend a visit to this site. There is also a very nice small museum with some first class computer graphics showing the rock art.

At this point the weather was reasonably good – i.e. overcast with occasional showers.

Two more pictures from Thursday's Visits

2010-04-02T08:17:00.004+02:00

The EMAS Peaks and Fens Study Tour: Day 1

2010-04-01T23:47:00.002+02:00

The weather was much kinder than promised and we got off to a good start. An early departure from Baker Street, and we were at our first stop, Rushton Triangular Lodge at 11:00.

The building is an amazing structure. It was planned by Thomas Tresham (d. 1605) when he was in prison and is a celebration of his Catholic faith. The triangular shape and the trefoils that decorate each group of three triangular windows not only reflect the Trinity, but also Tresham’s nickname of Tres. The walls are 33 feet long and 3 Latin texts, each 33 letters long, run around the building on each façade.

After lunch at the Anne of Cleves in Melton Mowbray, we drove on to Rufford Abbey, a Cistercian monastery, founded by Gilbert de Gant in or about 1147, and colonized with monks from Rievaulx abbey.

Finally, arrival at Chesterfield which will be our base for the trip.

EMAS Easter Study Tour

2010-03-31T19:54:00.003+02:00

Those of you not fortunate enough to be on the EMAS (University of London Extra-Mural Archaeological Society) Easter study tour to the Peaks and Fens area, can follow the trip here on the Archaeology Study Tours Blog.

The study tour runs from 1 – 6 April.

Photographs of Previous Study Tours (Again!)

2010-03-29T15:35:00.000+02:00

I have finished putting all the pictures for study tours back to 2001 on the Web. There are a sample 20 pictures from each study tour.

Many of the pictures do not yet have captions, but I am working on it!

I’ll get down to it after the EMAS study tour to the Peaks and Fens.

You can find the pictures here…

Photographs of Previous Study Tours

2010-03-24T18:19:00.001+01:00

I have started putting photographs from previous study tours up on the web.

It will take a little time before all the previous tours are represented, but some are already there, and others will be appearing in the near future.

You can find the photographs here…

EMAS Study Tour to the Peaks and Fens

2010-03-23T11:59:00.004+01:00

With just one week to go before the start of the EMAS Study Tour to the Peaks and Fens, booking for this trip has now closed.

We are already planning next year’s Easter field trip, which will be to Denmark.

Prices are not yet available for this study tour, but the itinerary for the tour can be found here... .

If you go to the application page of the website, you can leave your email address to ensure that you receive notification as soon as full details are available.

Archaeological Study Tour to Normandy

2010-03-21T14:59:00.002+01:00

There are still a few places available on the spring study tour to Normandy, which runs from 29 May to 5 June 2010.

If you are interested, then please apply as soon as possible, because of the difficulty in securing hotel rooms.

You can find full details of this study tour here…