© CAHS & contributors 2016-9
Registered Charity 287289
Reports of our lectures held
during 2015-6
If you would like to
write up a report
on a particular
future talk, contact
a committee
member as early in
the season as
possible, as we
arrange a rota to
ensure that every
talk is reported.
We have reported
our lectures in the
Wilts and Gloucestershire Standard for many
years. Each year for some years we have
gathered these together at the end of each
season and published them in late summer as
one of our newsletters. If you should look
through our past Lectures page or our
publications pages, you can find which
Newsletters have reports in them. Back copies
of some of our Newsletters may be available on
request from our editor. A copying charge may
be made. Since 2014 we now only publish these
reports online. We will keep paper copies solely
for archive purposes. In general reports will
appear online about a month after they have
appeared in the Wilts & Glos Standard.
Reports from September 2015 to
A Literary Tour of Gloucestershire By
Mary Moxham on 9 March 2016
Mary Moxham, a Blue Badge Guide for
Gloucestershire, gave a fascinating armchair
Literary Tour of Gloucestershire, a guide to the
county’s rich literary connections, covering all
areas and introducing some unexpected
associations. It is believed that Shakespeare,
though not a native of the county, visited
Gloucestershire on several occasions and his
references to shepherds, sheep shearing and
shearing parties in The Winter’s Tale are
probably based on witnessing these near
Dursley. Berkeley Castle features in Richard III as
does the view from Stinchcombe Hill.
Ledbury was the birthplace of John Masefield
and he later returned to the area. He was
inspired by the clump of trees on May Hill. This
area is noted for its wild daffodils which were
taken by train to London daily. Masefield was
visited by the poet Edward Thomas whose train,
returning to London, made an unscheduled
stop at Adlestrop. This inspired his poem ‘I
Remember Adlestrop’. The railway remains but
there is no station today.
A group of poets who lived or visited the area
around Dymock in the years preceding the First
World War, known as ‘The Dymock Poets’,
published a journal called ‘New Numbers.’
Contributors included Robert Frost (‘The Road
Less Travelled’), Rupert Brooke (‘The Soldier’),
John Drinkwater, Eleanor Farjeon (‘Morning has
Broken’) among others.
Tewkesbury has connections with Daniel Defoe
and Dickens’ characters in ‘The Pickwick Papers’
visited hostelries there on their journey from
Bath to Birmingham. Much ale was consumed
there. The novel ‘John Halifax: Gentleman’ by
Mrs. Craik is based in Tewkesbury.
The author and conservationist John Moore
(1907-1967) wrote about the countryside and
was a founder of the Cheltenham Literature
festival in 1949. A house in Broadway, now The
Lygon Arms, was owned by an actress, Mary
Andersen, and her husband. It was frequently
visited in the pre-WWI years by John Singer
Sergeant, Elgar, J M Barrie, Hugh Walpole,
Francis Brett-Young and others. Barrie rented
Stanway House each summer and William
Morris was a frequent visitor. Nearby, at Aston-
sub-Edge, T S Eliot drew inspiration from the
Burnt Norton gardens for one of his ‘Four
Quartets’. Graham Greene lived for a while at
Chipping Campden.
Nearer to home, the poet Alexander Pope is
associated with the layout of Cirencester Park
through his friendship with the first Earl
Bathurst. He is commemorated by the folly
known as Pope’s Seat.
In more recent times the Slad Valley has become
famous through Laurie Lee’s novel ‘Cider with
Rosie’. But perhaps the most widely-known
literary reference to the county is through
Beatrix Potter’s ‘The Tailor of Gloucester’. Mary
Moxham told us the true story which inspired
this delightful tale.
This report by Kathleen Lindesay was published in
Wilts & Glos Standard, 31 March 2016
The King under the Car Park - Cotswold
Archaeology: the Mick Aston Memorial
Lecture
By Richard Buckley 16 March 2016
The free annual lecture sponsored for some
years by Cotswold Archaeology with the support
of the Bingham Hall Trustees is held in memory
of Prof Mick Aston, a great supporter of
archaeology in and around Cirencester and a
former trustee of CA, now one of the largest
independent archaeological units in the UK.
This year’s subject was the story of the discovery
of the remains of King Richard III in a car park in
Leicester in 2012 and was given by the project
leader, Dr Richard Buckley of the University of
Leicester. The national and international press
interest this aroused and the challenges the
team faced to authenticate the burial as that of
the last Yorkist king of England was a key theme
of the talk. Dr Buckley found himself in the
spotlight throughout and enjoyed recounting
the experience to his large and appreciative
audience.
Richard III was King of England from 1483 until
his death in August 1485, at the age of 32, in the
Battle of Bosworth Field in Leicestershire. He
was the last of the Plantagenet dynasty and the
last English king to die in battle.
Just a year ago, more than 500 years after his
death and less than three years after his bones
were found, he was laid to rest in Leicester
Cathedral where his tomb can be viewed today.
A Dynasty, Death and Discovery visitor centre
tells the story of the remarkable project of
archaeology and scientific investigation.
Much mythology surrounds Richard, the man
and the king. Shakespeare portrayed him as a
hunchbacked toad-like creature but the skeleton
shows that this was not the case. Richard would
have been about 5ft 8in tall without his scoliosis
of the spine, about average for a medieval man.
His scoliosis would have reduced his height to
below 5 feet.
Richard Buckley showed in detail how the
skeleton was examined, via a variety of scientific
analytical processes, including DNA, and
revealed the striking facial reconstruction which
concluded the project to dramatic effect. His talk
was set in context of medieval Leicester and the
significance of his burial place in the church of
the Greyfriars, home of the Franciscans in the
town. A fascinating subject well told by its
acknowledged expert.
This report by David Viner was published in Wilts &
Glos Standard, 07 April 2016
Investigating the Landscape – Recent
Archaeological Projects Wednesday
27th April 2016
Student Presentations from Cirencester
College & the Royal Agricultural
University
The Society’s April meeting was the third in a
series giving students their chance to show off
their archaeological skills. This year Cirencester
College A Level students were joined by
students from the new RAU foundation course
to give us three presentations. Aiden Scott, their
enthusiastic tutor, introduced the mechanics of
the A level course and showed us some new
field finds by the group before introducing the
individual studies.
Joe White introduced us to Dry Heathfield
barrow near Crickley Hill and a neighbouring
barrow about 100m away, asking if it is a long
barrow and not a round barrow. Searching the
literature he found that it had been excavated in
1845 and 1860 when a number of bodies were
found. On site he found the barrow much
reduced by cultivation, and the second barrow
not visible. Joe got permission from the
landowner and English Heritage and made a
resistivity survey of a large area, not without
interference from the horses sharing the field.
This showed both barrows with undisturbed
ground between making it probable that it was
never a long barrow.
Alice Austin studied a field at Buscot Wick on the
banks of the Coln. The literature showed slight
evidence of a Neolithic cursus (a large linear
structure) running down towards the riverbank,
with a ring barrow nearby. No previous
excavations were found. A fieldwalk was done at
which very little was found, a few worked flints,
and a little Roman pottery. A resistivity survey of
the area clearly shows one of the cursus ditches
and a small part of the other. Alice surmised
how the ancient people would have found and
used the open landscape.
The five RAU students including Alice then took
turns to describe their group investigation in
Bushy Hay field, just behind the buildings at
RAU’s new Harnhill Centre. After a large area
resistivity survey, they chose a potentially
interesting area at the junction of two walls not
visible on the ground today to excavate. A
strange cobbled area was found, unfamiliar
even to experts, and large numbers of animal
bones. More questions than answers as they
continue their studies.
At the end of the evening a prize of a £50 Book
Token was awarded to Joe White for best A level
study this year.
This report by Peter Watkins was published in the
Wilts & Glos Standard 16 May 2016
Stand and Deliver! Gloucestershire
Highwaymen By John Putley 25 May
2016
The Society’s final lecture before the summer
break was given by John Putley from
Gloucestershire Archives who gave an
entertaining and informative talk entitled Stand
& Deliver! Gloucestershire Highwaymen.
John explained that the image of highwaymen
as Gentlemen of the Road and as romantic
heroes was far from the truth as the reality was
that they were thieves and criminals. Highway
robbery traces back to the 14th century, with
the golden age being the 17th century when
travel by coach increased, providing greater
opportunities for robbers.
Highwaymen came from many groups including
Royalist officers ruined after Charles 1 was
defeated in the English Civil Wars, jealous
footmen and servants and young men from
wealthy families. A number of women also
became highway robbers dressing in men’s
clothes as a disguise.
Highwaymen were ruthless thieves carrying and
using flintlock pistols, preferring to operate in
groups, with stolen horses, and they would
target lone travellers as easy prey. Information
on expected coaches was often learned from
landlords at coaching inns and great advantage
was gained by staying within their local area
which made ambushes and escape relatively
easy. The robbers would always hope to steal
money as rings and jewellery had to be sold on
and this was a potential risk.
Hounslow Heath was a particularly bad area,
being the route travelled by the wealthy to
Windsor and the West Country. Main coaching
routes were popular and active Gloucestershire
blackspots are recorded around Andoversford
and Birdlip.
The highwaymen could gain large rewards,
however the risks were high with the possibility
of being shot or convicted and hanged.
As roads improved and the speed of coaches
increased, mail coaches started carrying guards
with blunderbusses, rich travellers with armed
escorts and with the growth of police forces the
demise of the highwayman quickly followed.
This report by Alan Strickland was published in
Wilts & Glos Standard, 16 June 2016
Left to right: Victoria Vizard(RAU), Aiden Scott, Joseph White
(CC), Trevor Rutherford(RAU), Alice Austin(RAU ex CC), Thomas
Gower(RAU), Rosie Nagle(RAU)
All RAU students were in the 1st year of a Foundation Degree
in Archaeology and Historic Landscape conservation.
Feb 2016 - Croome Lecture -
Ron Hutton
Richard Buckley
Apr 2016 - College Students
Prize Evening