© CAHS & contributors 2016-9
Registered Charity 287289
Reports of our lectures held
during 2016-7
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.
If you would like to write up a report on a
particular talk, contact a committee member as
early in the season as possible, as we arrange a
rota to ensure that every talk is reported.
March 2017
Victoria County History comes to Cirencester c1540-1945 -
Francis Boorman
Our talk on March 8th was by Dr Francis Boorman from the
Victoria County History (VCH) research team in Gloucester.
VCH is so-called as it started work in Victorian times to
research the history of every town and parish in England,
checking original documents. This herculean task is divided
into small chunks. Francis showed how little of
Gloucestershire has yet been studied. Religious houses in the
County, including our Abbey, were written up 110 years ago.
Francis is leading a team studying Cirencester from 1547-
1945.
Francis chose to tell us about the changing political culture
during this period. Cirencester was a so-called “potwalloper”
borough – all male heads of household could vote, which was
unusual. It sent two MPs to Westminster until 1867. In the
16th and 17th centuries, these were mostly members of the
Poole and Master families. Often there was no contest
requiring an election. When the Bathursts arrived in the 18th
century, if an election was called, the Bathurst family
appointed the Returning Officer. In 1712 the electorate was
about 600 males from a population of about 3600 males.
Until 1754, Bathurst and Master families were regularly
returned. When elections occurred, the turnout was 72-82%.
No doubt there was some chicanery. In 1784, three deaths
from drinking to excess at an election toast were recorded.
Secret balloting was not introduced until 1872. Before that it
was common for the poll to be open for several days – until
the right result?
The 1832 Great Reform Act, aimed at getting rid of “rotten
Boroughs” required the head of household to own land
worth £10, which reduced the electorate from 731 to 261,
though those who previously had the right to vote, kept that
right until death. Political party was hardly mentioned on
posters until the beginning of the 20th century. The Liberals
came on the local scene in the mid-19th century. In 1859
there was a court case about the abduction of voters.
The constituency was enlarged to form East Gloucestershire-
roughly the area of the current District- in 1885, and enlarged
further to be Cirencester and Tewkesbury 1918, being a safe
Tory seat ever since, even though Tewkesbury is now lost.
Francis rounded off the evening by telling us of much bad
feeling occurring between Parish Clerk and Sexton, as
recorded in Vestry books from 1613-1836. This eventually
eased as civil local government gradually evolved.
This report by Peter Watkins was originally published in the Wilts
and Gloucestershire Standard in March 2017
March 2017 The Mick Aston Lecture for Cotswold
Archaeology
Animals and Society in the Roman Cotswolds - Dr Mark
Maltby
To Follow
April 2017 Joint meeting with Cirencester Science &
Technology Society
The Map which Changed the World - David Vessey
At the annual joint lecture with Cirencester Science &
Technology Society on April 12th, David Vessey BSc delivered
a fascinating talk on the work of William Smith who is
credited with producing the first geological map of England
and Wales.
William Smith (1769-1839) born the son of a blacksmith, was
an intelligent boy who was fascinated with rocks, fossils and
the structure of the Earth.
In 1787, he became assistant surveyor to Edward Webb, of
Stow-on-the Wold, quickly learning his trade before moving
to Somerset as surveyor to the Somerset coalfield and coal
canal.
His survey work greatly assisted his understanding and
knowledge of geology. His travels round the UK recording
various soils and stone types enabled him to build a picture
of the rock strata which he used to interpret the different
landscapes.
This knowledge was needed to help identify locations for
coal, iron ore, clays and other raw materials.
Using agricultural map design principles, Smith made a
detailed, coloured map of the Bath area and in 1815, he
produced the first geological map of England and Wales. This
is remarkably similar to modern such maps.
Problems with business ventures and the victim of plagiarism
of his geological map, Smith found himself in a debtor’s
prison. After his release, he continued working as a surveyor
and was responsible for building the Rotunda Geological
Museum in Scarborough.
When Smith produced his ground-breaking map in 1815, he
was overlooked by the scientific community as a commoner.
However, in 1831, his achievements were finally recognised
by the Geological Society of London with the first Wollaston
medal conferred on him by the Society. The Society President
referred to him as “The father of English Geology”.
This report by Alan Strickland was published in the Wilts and
Gloucestershire Standard in April
May 2017
Exploring Sisters Longbarrow - Tim Darvill
At the May meeting Professor Tim Darvill of Bournemouth
University gave an update on the on-going excavations at
Sisters Longbarrow on Abbey Home Farm.
Depositing and honouring the dead in the Cotswold/Severn
area 6000 years ago involved a particular tradition of
constructing substantial monuments in the landscape which
we now call longbarrows.
These huge trapezoidal mounds of stone and earth hide
various patterns of chamber and passageway containing
human bones covering three or four generations. Many of
these sites, for example Belas Knap are well known to those
interested in our local Neolithic ancestors, the earliest
Cotswold farmers.
Occasionally, as is the case with Sisters Longbarrow, new
sites are discovered through survey and observation. Thanks
to the support of the owner, Will Chester-Master, Tim and his
team of archaeology students and enthusiastic local
volunteers have begun to uncover the long, low mound in his
field and much information has been discovered.
The barrow is a complex one built carefully with a framework
of ancient stone walling. Emerging evidence challenges some
received wisdom on longbarrow types and has thrown fresh
interest on neighbouring sites. The bones from one of the
round barrows investigated and removed when Chedworth
airfield was constructed in WW2 can now be dated as
Neolithic.
Could the unusual construction of Sisters turn out to be
evidence for an original round barrow ‘modernised’ 6000
years ago into a more fashionable long shape? Adult and
child bones have been discovered stuffed into an entrance
passageway. Are they related? Were they born locally?
Cultural links with similar sites in Brittany and Normandy add
more complexity to the mix. Once again more questions are
raised than answers but modern scientific techniques are
coming to the rescue.
The dig continues this August and is open daily except
Mondays from 9th – 23rd, between 9am and 5pm. Please see
The Organic Farm Shop website for details.
Report by Anne Buffoni
June 2017
CORN HALL, CIRENCESTER MARKET PLACE
Cirencester Abbey – Digging into the Past
A significant contribution to the Abbey 900 celebrations in
Cirencester was successfully delivered to an appreciative
audience in the Corn Hall, in the form of an evening of talks
and presentations from the town’s main archaeological and
historical bodies.
Organised by the Society jointly with Cotswold Archaeology,
Digging the Past focussed on what is known and is still being
discovered about the site and history of the Abbey of St Mary,
which is now of course the town’s much-loved Abbey
Grounds public park.
Speakers each developed a theme, ably chaired by Tim
Darvill, who is well-known as an archaeologist on the national
stage and was here acting as Chair of Cotswold Archaeology,
one of the evening’s sponsors.
Martin Watts described the excavations of the 1960s, much
admired in their day, which firmly established the location of
the abbey, and its earlier Anglo-Saxon church. The building
outline is now marked out in the park.
Carolyn Heighway and Richard Bryant from Past Historic
emphasised the significance of the study of the Abbey
stonework and the quality of what survived its demolition at
the Reformation in the mid-16th century.
Beth Hartland from the Victoria County History team
currently studying Cirencester showed the value of historic
research on surviving medieval documents and produced
some very people-friendly stories of daily life.
Tim Darvill weaved the story together, from the foundation of
the Abbey in 1117 (hence Abbey 900 celebrations this year)
right through to the drama of closure and dispersal some 400
years later.
The Corn Hall proved to be an excellent venue, generously
supported by Wildmoor Properties, a pleasure to hold such a
public gathering in this historic venue again.
As Abbey 900 continues its programme through 2017, this
evening of celebration provided some firm historical
framework on which the celebrations can be enjoyed.
This report by David Viner was published in the Wilts and
Gloucestershire Standard on 3 Aug 2017
Feb 2017 - Croome Lecture -
David Robinson
Mar 2017 - Francis Boorman
Mar 2017 - CA Lecture - Mark
Maltby
Cirencester Abbey
Page last updated 10 August 2017