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‘OUT OF HIS ELEMENT’: MR JOHNSON, SIR JOSEPH BANKS AND TATTERSHALL CASTLE

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2014

Julian Munby
Julian Munby*
Affiliation:
26 Oakthorpe Road, Oxford OX2 7BE, UK. Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

During research for the Tattershall Castle Conservation Plan for the National Trust, a set of framed drawings of the castle was found in the storeroom of the great tower. Examination of the Curzon correspondence deposited by the National Trust in the Lincolnshire Record Office revealed that these had been commissioned in 1783 by no less a person than Sir Joseph Banks (of nearby Revesby Abbey), President of the Royal Society and Council member of the Society of Antiquaries. With the help of the Sir Joseph Banks Archive Project, and piecing together materials in Aberystwyth, Cambridge, Lincoln, London and New Haven, Connecticut, a story has emerged of antiquarian endeavour in the 1780s when, amidst a frenzy of scientific activity, rampant balloon mania and the care of an ailing turtle, Sir Joseph commissioned the most detailed survey yet undertaken of a medieval monument in the British Isles, entrusting the task to the hitherto unremarked J L Johnson, surveyor and draughtsman, a figure who deserves belated recognition and a place in the history of medieval archaeology for his pioneering efforts.

Résumé

Lors des recherches réalisées pour retrouver le plan de conservation du château de Tattershall pour le National Trust, une série de dessins du château encadrés ont été trouvés dans le débarras de la grande tour. Un examen de la correspondance de Curzon déposée par le National Trust au Lincolnshire Record Office a révélé que ces dessins avaient été commandés en 1783 par Sir Joseph Banks lui-même (de l’abbaye de Revesby voisine), président de la Royal Society et membre du conseil de la Society of Antiquaries. Avec l’aide du Sir Joseph Banks Archive Project, et en rassemblant des documents provenant d’Aberystwyth, Cambridge, Lincoln, Londres et New Haven (dans le Connecticut), les historiens sont parvenus à reconstituer une entreprise archéologique des années 1780. À cette époque d’activité scientifique frénétique, de déploiement exubérant de montgolfières et de soins apportés à une tortue souffrante, Sir Joseph avait commandé l’étude la plus détaillée jamais effectuée d’un monument médiéval dans les îles Britanniques, confiant la tâche à J L Johnson, géomètre et dessinateur jusqu’à présent peu connu, personnage qui mérite une reconnaissance tardive et une place dans l’histoire de l’archéologie médiévale pour son travail de pionnier.

Zusammenfassung

Im Zuge der Nachforschungen zum Konservierungsplan für Tattershall Castle für den National Trust wurde ein Satz gerahmter Zeichnungen des Schlosses im Abstellraum des großen Turms gefunden. Eine Prüfung der Curzon-Korrespondenz, die vom National Trust im Archiv von Lincolnshire deponiert worden war, zeigte, dass die Zeichnungen 1783 von niemand Geringerem als Sir Joseph Banks (von der nahegelegenen Revesby Abbey), dem Präsidenten der Royal Society und einem Ratsmitglied der Society of Antiquaries in Auftrag gegeben wurden. Mit Hilfe des Sir Joseph Banks Archive Project und dem Zusammenfügen von Material in Aberystwyth, Cambridge, Lincoln, London und New Haven, Connecticut, hat sich eine Geschichte über seine antiquarischen Unterfangen nach 1780 ergeben, als Sir Joseph inmitten einer frenetischen wissenschaftlichen Tätigkeit, zügellosem Ballonfieber und mit einer kränkelnden Schildkröte in seiner Obhut die ausführlichste Studie in Auftrag gab, die je zu einem mittelalterlichen Baudenkmal auf den britischen Inseln durchgeführt worden ist. Der Auftrag ging an den bis dahin unbeachteten J L Johnson, einen Landvermesser und Bauzeichner, einen Mann, der für seine bahnbrechenden Bemühungen eine verspätete Anerkennung und einen Platz in der Geschichte der mittelalterlichen Archäologie verdient.

Type
Papers
Information
The Antiquaries Journal , Volume 94 , September 2014 , pp. 253 - 289
Copyright
© The Society of Antiquaries of London 2014 

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