Pathways to History

We are excited to be able to post about a new landscape history project that we will be running over the course of the year.

Pathways to History aims to investigate the history of public rights of way in Norfolk. The antiquity of the footpath network has never been fully researched and we are interested in a number of questions:

• How old are footpaths and green lanes in Norfolk?

• How has the number of public rights of way changed in the past?

• Do footpaths and green lanes have a distinct archaeological character?

• What were footpaths and green lanes used for in the past?

• Are there any local names or traditions associated with them?

• How do footpaths and green lanes relate to the wider landscape?

We are looking for volunteers from across the county to take part in the project – to help us carry out surveys of footpaths and green lanes and to carry out archival research into their history. We will be able to provide help, advice and training on fieldwork and research to both individuals and community groups.

We hope that surveying the physical character of footpaths and green lanes will help us to understand more about their history and development. Very old lanes and paths are often characterised as being deeply sunken or eroded, with species rich hedges and distinctive flora like bluebells, primroses and dogs mercury. On the other hand, unbounded footpaths are not always so clearly physically defined. How does this relate to the history and development of green lanes and footpaths? We are also interested in trying to trace the changing number of footpaths and lanes in Norfolk – many parishes were affected by processes like Parliamentary enclosure, so what impact did this have on the footpath network?

We will be running a series of introductory training sessions towards the end of May, and can also run training sessions with community groups who are interested in taking part.

More details are on the project website – http://www.uea.ac.uk/history/pathways

If you are interested in getting involved then please contact Dr Sarah Spooner by email or telephone – s.spooner@uea.ac.uk

01603 592663

A day at Orford Ness

Last week we visited Orford Ness in Suffolk for a meeting to discuss the Cold War Anglia project. The isolated and atomospheric shingle spit on the coast at Orford has a long history of military activity dating back to the First World War, and has primarily been associated with experimental work. From the 1950s until the 1970s it was used by the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment to carry out various environmental tests on nuclear weapons and their components. For the Cold War Anglia project Dr Richard Maguire and team will be researching the history of Orford Ness during this period, with a view to digitally reconstructing part of the site as it would have looked during the Cold War.

 

 

You can find out more about the history of Orford Ness and the AWRE in Wayne Cocroft and Magnus Alexander’s recent report for English Heritage, which can be found online here. Since 1993 the site has been owned and managed by the National Trust. If you fancy visiting then there are more details on the NT website, though check carefully before you go as it’s not open every day. Many thanks to Duncan Kent and Grant Lohoar from the National Trust for making us all so welcome on the day.

 

…and cover, presumably.

 

Landscape History at UEA – a former student writes

Guest blog from Felix Mayle, former landscape history student (2009-2012)

I graduated from UEA in the summer of 2012, with a BA in History and Landscape Archaeology. Since graduating I have worked for English Heritage’s Gardens and Landscapes team as a paid intern and, since 2^nd April, as Heritage Project Officer for Heritage Lincolnshire and the Lincolnshire Wolds Countryside Service.

When I started at UEA in 2009, I can safely say that I had little or no idea what I wanted to do after leaving university, and subsequently had no plan in place for life after graduation. I was originally enrolled to read a degree in Modern History but by the end of my second year I had decided to change my degree course over to Landscape Archaeology. Having taken several modules within the Landscape History area as free choices, I had been captivated by the enthusiasm of the lecturers, the rich, diverse content and multi-disciplinary nature of the course and the wonderful field trips!

A Landscape Special Subject field trip to Audley End, Essex (May 2012).

 

Around the time of changing my degree and throughout my final year, I felt that I would like to enter into a career within the heritage sector. Having done some research into the sector, through the UEA careers service and talking with the landscape history lecturers, it became clear that to be employable in heritage, experience would be invaluable. With this in mind, it was fantastic news to hear that the landscape history team were running a new module for the 2011/2012 academic year – Working in the Historic Environment, a work placement module carried out over the summer between second and third year and backed up with seminars in the spring semester.

Belton House, Lincolnshire.

 

With help from the landscape team, I was able to arrange a placement to work with the National Trust at Belton House in Lincolnshire. The experience I gained from this placement has been integral in helping me to get both of my post university jobs. The project management, report writing and hands on work are skills I regularly use on a day-to-day basis. The icing on the cake was when the Channel 4 show Time Team asked to use the report I wrote for the project as part of their research for one of their episodes, a welcome bonus to my CV!

Examining the remains of a First World War machine gun training camp in the park at Belton (JULY 2011).

 

During my third year, in the spring semester I also undertook a voluntary work placement with a local authority – Breckland District Council where I was able to put into practice all of the skills I had gained from my degree into action: presentations, research and analytical skills, project management and writing for different audiences.

I began to look for graduate jobs towards the end of the Spring Semester in 2012, after a seminar where we looked at all of the places that heritage orientated jobs might be advertised online. Although I did not seriously begin to look for graduate jobs until after I had finished my final pieces of work and exams in my final year. Between finishing the exam period and graduation day, I applied for one or two jobs that came up but had been unlucky and began to think that I should broaden my horizons and apply for graduate schemes in other sectors.

Once I had received my final degree result, it was a massive confidence boost in applying for jobs and as graduation loomed, the ideal job came up in the form of the intern position at English Heritage. Reading the job specification was like reading and ticking off a checklist of skills I had developed from studying the landscape history course at UEA. The landscape history team were extremely supportive in helping me with my application, they looked through my CV and covering letter and once I had been offered an interview, they helped me with my preparation for it by offering me interview tips and guidance.

The knowledge and skills they imparted were also invaluable as I applied for and successfully got the job I an now doing. You can find out more about the project I’m currently working on here – http://www.down-your-wold.co.uk/

Bridleway to NormanBY-Le-Wold (© Copyright Kate Nicol)

 

East Anglia and the Public Stage

This week the Centre of East Anglian Studies winter lecture series continues with Professor Helen Cooper from the University of Cambridge.

Helen has been Professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at Magdalene College since 2004, and her research interests range from early medieval Romances, to Chaucer and his legacy, and to Shakespeare and other medieval and early modern pastoral literature and romance. Her recent book, Shakespeare and the Medieval World, examined the ways in which medieval culture and literature infused Shakespeare’s life and work.

Her lecture this week will deal with drama and stagecraft in East Anglia in the long sixteenth century.

Thursday 21st February
Vernacular Stagecraft: East Anglia and the public stage in the long sixteenth century
Professor Helen Cooper, University of Cambridge
Lecture Theatre 1, UEA, 7:15pm

All welcome and free entry – no need to book.

Centre of East Anglian Studies – Winter Lecture Series 2013

The Centre of East Anglian Studies winter lecture series will begin in February, with lectures from Dr Carenza Lewis, Professor Helen Cooper and Dr Jessica Sharkey.

Our first lecture, by Carenza Lewis, will present the results of more that 1,000 excavations conducted in rural villages, hamlets and small towns across the eastern region by members of the public, and consider the new light that the results throw upon the impact of the Black Death on the region.

Dr Carenza Lewis is an archaeologist based at the University of Cambridge. She is widely recognised for 13 years spent on the innovative, long running and award-winning Channel 4 archaeological series Time Team, and more recently for her involvement in Michael Wood’s The Great British Story. Outside of her television appearances, Dr Lewis has long-standing research interests in settlement development in medieval England. Since 2004 she has developed and run the Access Cambridge Archaeology programme  at the University of Cambridge. This aims to enhance educational, economic and social well-being through active participation in novel, important, fun and challenging archaeological activities. Members of the public, including school children, make new discoveries about themselves and the world around them, develop new skills and confidence,efficacy of ACA programmes, while the results of more than 1,000 Access Cambridge Archaeology excavations in rural villages, hamlets and small towns are providing important new evidence about medieval society and economy.

We do hope you will be able to join us on Thursday 7th February, at 7:15pm in Lecture Theatre 1 at the University of East Anglia.

All lectures are free, and open to all.

January 2013 – Winter at UEA

The view from our office, Tuesday 15th January 2013

 

A belated Happy New Year to everybody. We’ll be gradually updating and adding to the blog over the next few weeks – we have a number of projects in the pipeline and hopefully numerous field trips to report on. Tomorrow we ought to have been enjoying the sights of Catton Park (Repton’s first commission) but once again the weather has intervened. Still, at least when it starts to thaw all of those earthworks will show up beautifully…

Autumn in Norwich

After 12 years in Norwich we still take great delight in wandering around the city, particularly on sunny autumnal afternoons. We’ll usually set off with a vague plan of ‘heading for the Cathedral’ and see what takes our interest. Today it was a chance to finally go and see the Jarrold Bridge across the Wensum, a ‘J’ shaped footbridge close to St James’ Mill, as well as revisiting a number of old favourites.

Trinity United Reformed Church, Unthank Road, Norwich. Designed by Sir Bernard Feilden.

St Giles, Norwich. Repair work currently being carried out on the tower.

Norwich Cathedral.

Repairs and repointing at Pulls Ferry.

Norwich Cathedral and the Great Hospital, seen from the riverside path along the Wensum.

Jarrold Bridge. A small but rather wonderful new footbridge across the Wensum designed by Ramboll.

Quay Side, River Wensum. Middle Saxon Norwich got going here (and on the other bank). They’d have probably enjoyed a J-shaped bridge too.

Upcoming Events

CEAS Research Seminars

This week sees the start of the Centre of East Anglian Studies research seminar series. The series kicks off on Thursday 8th November with a paper by Margaret Bird on ‘Drunkenness and Debt: the struggle of Norfolk innkeepers under the brewer’s yokr 1770-1810′. Margaret’s research is based largely on the detailed diaries of Mary Hardy, a brewer’s wife from Coltishall in Norfolk.

A more detailed synopsis of the paper, and more information on the Mary Hardy project itself is available on the project website.

The seminar will take place on Thursday, at 6:30pm in Room 2.16 of the Arts II building at the UEA – all are very welcome to attend.

A Celebration of Archaeology in West Norfolk

On Saturday 24th November Sarah Spooner, Jon Gregory and Rob Liddiard will be giving papers at a one day conference in Kings Lynn to celebrate 45 years of the West Norfolk and Kings Lynn Archaeological Society. Other speakers include Dr Richard Hoggett on the Anglo Saxon period in west Norfolk, Dr John Davies on the Iron Age and Roman period and Dr Clive Bond on prehistoric west Norfolk.

The conference is free and all are welcome, but booking is essential. All the details are in the conference poster, which can be downloaded by clicking on this link – WestNorfolkArchaeologyConference_121124[1]

Hope to see some of you there!

Sail and Storm – Book Launch

Yesterday was the official launch of the book we have been working on with the Aylsham Local History Society. Sail and Storm – The Aylsham Navigation explores the history and landscape of the navigation along the River Bure from the late eighteenth century onwards.

The launch event in Aylsham saw all the members of the research team come together – the volunteers who researched and wrote the book, and our team from UEA.

The event kicked off with a guided walk around the former staithe in Aylsham, now mostly filled in and  covered in private housing – but the research done by the Society enabled nearly 100 members of the local community to rediscover the forgotten elements of the Navigation which have survived since its closure.

In the Town Hall, many people came to look around an exhibition of images and documents relating to the Navigation, as well as being able to watch locally made films about the river. In the Heritage Centre members of the Norfolk Wherry Trust were on hand to discuss wherries, the distinctive vessels which carried goods up and down the Navigation.

Our own Professor Tom Williamson rounded things off with a short talk about the interlinked nature of the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions which was underpinned by improvements in transport infrastructure, like the Navigation itself.

The book itself is available from local bookshops, and online from the Aylsham Local History Society.

The cover is from an original painting by Norfolk artist Kerry Buck.

The book launch in the Eastern Daily Press.

We will all really miss working on the Aylsham Navigation project after 18 months – but we have lots more community heritage projects in the pipeline over the coming year.

The Great Flood

Exactly a century ago, on the 26th and 27th of August 1912 Norfolk suffered one of the worst floods in its history, now known as the Great Flood. Unlike other catastrophic floods, like those of 1953, the flood of 1912 was caused almost entirely by heavy rainfall – up to 8 inches fell in some places.

The damage was widespread – particularly in Norwich where the lowest lying parts of the city were inundated, including the City Station and the Bullard brewery at Coslany. Carrow and Trowse were also badly affected, as were parts of Lakenham.

The Bure valley was also badly affected and the Aylsham Navigation, along the course of the Bure between Aylsham and Coltishall, was damaged beyond repair.

The floodwaters cascade across the road near the Anchor of Hope Inn in Lammas, near Buxton.

The railway bridge near Buxton, with the floodwaters almost up to the height of the tracks.

This is the same railway bridge, taken from the path next to the river, which shows the depth of the floodwaters at this point.

A train full of holidaymakers from the Midlands was trapped by the floodwaters in Aylsham station, and the passengers had to be rescued by a local fishing boat. One unnamed passenger spoke to reporters from the Eastern Daily Press:

I shall never forget the sight. It was terrible; nothing but water with wrecks of huts and gardens and trees floating, and it was as deep as the sea.

On the Navigation, all of the locks were effectively destroyed and many bridges collapsed. It took several years for all of the bridges to be repaired, and some bridges were still only temporary structures until the 1920s. The Navigation itself was officially abandoned in 1928.

We have been working with the Aylsham Local History Society to investigate the history of the Aylsham Navigation from its inception in the late eighteenth century to its end in August 1912. One of the main outcomes of the project is a publication written by members of the Society and other volunteers, and the book was finished and printed just in time for the centenary of the Great Flood.

This weekend, the local community came together in Coltishall to remember the Great Flood of August 1912. The event was organised by the Bure Navigation Conservation Trust which aims to promote our understanding of this stretch of the River Bure.

The restored wherry Albion came up the Bure from the Broads, and was greeted by a flotilla of sea scouts in canoes. The scouts left Aylsham at 8am that morning to travel down the course of the Navigation, which is no longer accessible to larger vessels. It took them about 6 hours to make the 9 mile journey.

The book published as part of this project will be officially launched next month, but this centenary weekend was a fitting moment to end our project and celebrate the history of the Navigation.