This is an enjoyable film chosen by club member, Nick. It is by Terry George of the Norwich Society about the undercrofts of Norwich. Do you know what an undercroft is and how differs from a crypt? There are 80 undercrofts in Norwich but where are they, when were they built and who built them? To find the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link and press play:
Tuesday, 19 January 2021
Wensum Park
Here is an interesting article about Wensum Park with some excellent photographs. Originally purchased by the City Council in 1907, two bathing pools were constructed but then in 1910 the work ended, but what was it used for then? Which famous Norwich parks designer and constructor further developed the park in 1921 for it’s official opening in 1925? When was a paddling pool constructed? To find the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link:
Collecting COVID 19 Artefacts in Norfolk
Rachel at the Norwich Heritage Centre has reminded us that we should continue to collect artefacts relating to the current COVID 19 pandemic. I do remember sending out a similar email request some months ago and some of you sent some photos through to me which I sent on to Rachel. These artefacts can consist of letters/diaries/photos etc which Rachel is requesting that we continue to collect and retain for now, however, if we have anything in digital form i.e. photos, then please send these through to me or direct to Rachel.
Plough Monday
I hadn’t heard of the term Plough Monday until I read this article suggested by Maggie. So when is Plough Monday and what did the farm labourers do to celebrate this day? To find out the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link:
Sutton Hoo at 80 - When Suffolk Amazed the World!
Here is a related article about the discovery of Sutton Hoo by Basil Brown. It was described at the time as a discovery "as important in this country as the finding of the tomb of Tutankhamen to Egypt”. Do you know who funded the excavation? What were the tensions during the excavation? What were the treasures that were discovered? To find the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link:
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/how-anglo-saxon-treasure-was-found-in-suffolk-2595694
Basil Brown - Beyond Sutton Hoo
This is an article suggested by Colin. The article comes from the Suffolk Heritage Explorer site which Colin recommends. You may be aware that Basil Brown discovered Suttion Hoo on the eve of the Second World War but do you know about his life and other achievements? Brought up on a farm, Basil would spend a lot of his time either digging or gazing at the stars. He had a passion for geography geology and astronomy and a thirst for knowledge. His initial fame was publishing an atlas but then he spent more time on archaeology, but where was his first excavation? To find the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link:
https://heritagesuffolk.wordpress.com/2021/01/08/basil-brown-archaeologist/
Norfolk Museums Service needs you!
The Norfolk Museum Service is looking for assistance in reviewing a series of short films to bring some of their wonderful collections and stories to life online. All you need to do is review a 20 minute film and complete a short survey. If you are interested please respond to Jenny Caynes at: Jenny.caynes@norfolk.gov.uk
Wedding Traditions
I’ve also found this related article. So what are the origins of wedding rings and why are they worn on the fourth finger of the left hand? Did you know that common law weddings or “jumping over the broom weddings” were quite common up until the 18th century until the legal restrictions were tightened and required couples to get married in a church by an ordained clergyman. Where did white wedding dresses originate? Marriage vows, as couples recite them today, date back to 1549 and Thomas Cranmer, the architect of English Protestantism. Cranmer laid out the purpose for marriage and scripted modern wedding vows in his Book of Common Prayer but when did they take more legal significance? To find the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link:
Christmas Weddings
I attended a Magdalen Walks presentation on this subject on Saturday and I thought a related article would be of interest. So why did Victorians get married on Christmas Day? When were Bank Holidays introduced? What were Penny Weddings? There was a resurgence in Christmas Weddings in the 1940s but what was the reason? To find the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link:
https://www.findmypast.com/blog/history/christmas-day-weddings
Medieval Consecration Crosses
Colin has brought this short talk by Matt Champion about medieval church consecration crosses to my attention, hopefully you will find it of interest. Matt Champion is the pioneer of medieval graffiti archaeology and has been a speaker at the club in the past. Please access the film by selecting the following link and press play:
Five Ancient New Year’s Celebrations
In this article you can learn why the Babylonians stripped their monarchs of their regalia, slapped them and dragged them by their ears to celebrate New Year! When did the Egyptians celebrate New Year and what act of nature signified this? What are the origins of Chinese New Year? Who was Nian? Why do the Chinese clean their houses at New Year? What are the origins of Nowruz and where is it celebrated? To find the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link:
https://www.history.com/news/5-ancient-new-years-celebrations
The History Of New Year
I thought an article related to New Year would be of interest. So where did it all begin? How many days did Julius Caesar add to the Julian calendar to align it with the sun? Caesar instituted January 1 as the first day of the year, partly to honour the month’s namesake: Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, but how did the Romans celebrate? In Spain they eat grapes on New Year’s Eve but what does this signify? What do pigs represent in some countries? Where did New Year’s Resolutions originate? They drop a ball in Times Square at midnight but how much does it weigh? To find the answers to these questions and more related information please select the following link:
Sunday, 3 January 2021
A Fragment of Roman Life: pottery at Venta Icenorum
During a recent walk around the site of Venta Icenorum (Caistor St Edmund, south of Norwich) I checked out one of the Roman period ‘middens’ (waste tip) where the rabbits regularly dig out lots of material. Over the years I have found a wide range of artefacts here, including coins, tesserae, oyster shells (loads of them!), worked bone and pottery. On this day, I was pleased to find a fragment of Roman ‘Samian Ware’ pottery made in sites like La Graufesenque in Gaul (modern-day southern France) on an industrial scale (as many as 40,000 pots in a single firing!).
The smooth orange-coloured outer surface was produced by dipping the unfired pot into the ‘slip’. Around the rim I can see some small irregular lines produced by the potter’s finger nail as the pot was being turned on a wheel. These vessels would normally be stamped with the maker’s name - something to look out for. Lifting this from the rabbit’s ‘spoil’, I was mindful of the thought that the last hand to have touched this belonged to a Roman citizen or slave living in the ‘lost’ regional capital of Venta Icenorum. Then - prompted by the ‘whoosh’ of a passing train in the distance - it occurred to me that, if the life of that long dead person living in a long gone town is almost unimaginable to me, then my life and times would have been completely inconceivable to them - and, yet, we tend to experience our little lives as ‘ordinary’/‘workaday’/‘humdrum’ - they are not
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