This paper publishes for the first time two apparently unprovenanced Westland cauldrons in the collections of the Society of Antiquaries of London. An argument is made that these vessels are two of the three cauldrons from the lost Halkyn Mountain hoard found c 1760.

Three late medieval inventories of the chapel surrounding the shrine of St Edward the Confessor at Westminster Abbey, London, record the presence of a number of books and pamphlets among the relics and liturgical paraphernalia. This article discusses these books, their significance and the reason for their maintenance at the shrine, and offers possible identifications with several surviving manuscripts.

This essay explores two texts in a fifteenth-century manuscript from Thetford Priory, Norfolk (now ms 329 in the Parker Library, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge). The first is an account of Marian miracles leading to the building of the Lady Chapel in the thirteenth century, and the second is an account of the formation of its relic collection in the twelfth century, which would be housed inside a statue of the Virgin Mary. The destruction of Thetford Priory at the Dissolution lends them a special significance since they offer evidence of a minor Marian cult that would be otherwise lost to us. The texts also highlight the interactions of aristocratic patrons – the Bigod family – and their Cluniac foundation. This essay explores the texts for the first time, offers a transcription and translation of them and considers their place in the cult of the Virgin at Thetford and in England generally.

The expeditions removing and excavating antiquities at the site of Xanthos in Lycia (1841–4) have been highlighted by scholars as setting a new precedent for whole-sale collection from a single site, and the support – through the national museum and the Royal Navy – of the British government for archaeological endeavours. Questions remain, however, regarding the failure of the first mission to remove the antiquities. According to the current narrative, the blame rests on the navy officer assigned to support Charles Fellows. Based on archival research, this article presents the concerns that Commander Thomas Graves had with the undertaking. His perspective sheds new light on how ill-planned the initial attempts were, and consequently how much was learned. The obstacles encountered in the first Xanthos expedition spurred developments in archaeological practice, introduced by people of non-academic professions.

This article focuses on Bramshill, Hampshire, one of the most important country houses of the early modern period. From 1605 Bramshill was the home of Edward la Zouche (1556–1625), 11th Baron Zouche – a major courtier during the reigns of Elizabeth i and James i – and was reworked in phases up to and just beyond his death. Based on rare-surviving documents from the 1630s as well as analysis of the house’s fabric, this article reconstructs Bramshill’s plan and interiors as they existed in the late Jacobean and Caroline years. It reveals the arrangement of two significant state apartments – for king and queen – and also the lodgings of the owner, his family and guests, as well as service areas. The rich source material additionally allows the furnishings to be analysed. By using Bramshill as an example, the article aims to shed light on English country houses of similar size and date. The early modern period is important as representing an apogee in the history of country house building – reflecting the ambition of owners such as Lord Zouche and the popularity of the royal progress. Visitors to Bramshill in the early seventeenth century included James i, Charles i and Queen Henrietta Maria.

The Palaeolith collection of the antiquarian Dr Tom Armstrong Bowes was the founding component of Herne Bay’s first museum and became one of the larger and more significant collections in the British Palaeolithic record. Its value to debates on the British Palaeolithic, however, has been limited by a stark lack of contextual data. Previously unstudied museum archives have now begun to unlock the lost provenance of this large collection so that it once again can contribute to long-standing regional questions on Acheulean typologies.

Although the practice of human sacrifice in the British Iron Age is mentioned by multiple authors, both ancient and modern, physical proof of such activity in the archaeological record is comparatively rare. At Winterborne Kingston, in Dorset, the skeletal remains of a young adult female found face down near the base of a cylindrical storage pit provides clear evidence of violent death in the later Iron Age. Analysis of the skeleton suggests an individual who led a hard-working life and who, having suffered an act of violence a few weeks before death, was killed, possibly with her hands tied, by a blade incision to the neck. Placement of the body further suggests that killing was enacted within the pit, execution as spectacle forming the final act in a larger ceremony involving the creation of an animal bone stack or platform.

A battle-axe made of picrite from the Cwm Mawr rock source, near Hyssington, Powys, UK, was discovered during the archaeological excavation of two Early Bronze Age barrows at Church Lawton, near Alsager in Cheshire, UK, in 1982–3. It had been subjected to intense heat and then placed in a pit, next to the cremated remains of an adult, possibly a female. The heating has radically altered the appearance of the axe. Originally very smooth and dark grey-green, it now has a more granular and dusty feel, together with a mottled orange-reddish appearance. The Church Lawton battle-axe is particularly notable as it is among a small number of such artefacts in Britain to have been recovered from a barrow excavation conducted according to modern standards, as well as being directly associated with an interment dated by radiocarbon: 1893–1740 cal bc (3490 ± 29 bp). It is also the first implement from the Cwm Mawr rock source to be dated in this way. An initial examination of the battle-axe was conducted in the 1980s. A more exacting analysis of the object has now been undertaken, focusing on its petrology in relation to the rock source, its manufacture and use, and its heating. The new examination included the use of stereoscopic and metallographic microscopes. This paper details the new work and provides an enhanced understanding of the implement’s history and significance, emphasising the likely connections between the Early Bronze Age community at Church Lawton and others in the wider region.

This study documents three chapel furnishings dating from around 1500 belonging to the Edgcumbe family at Cotehele, Cornwall, south-west England, and discusses their survival during the Protestant Reformation and beyond. The textiles were exhibited to the Society of Antiquaries of London by W H St John Hope, FSA and the text of his presentation was published in the Proceedings of the Society in 1912–13. The present article brings together the numerous other historic writings concerning the textiles. Their possible origins are explored and assessed in context with pieces of similar date. Observations of their original making and later changes are recorded, while interpretations by historians of this period are put forward for consideration. The rarity of survival of the textiles and their documented history is acknowledged.