Researchers of museum collections owe a great debt of gratitude to those responsible for curating the collections; however, staff may frequently remain innocently unaware of significant contents within the accessions. Such is a group of flint artefacts in Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire, which were found in 1860 on the outskirts of the city. The collection was rediscovered during unrelated archaeological research and comprises a series of blades, which include refitting components, demonstrating that the artefacts came from undisturbed prehistoric contexts. The blade blanks had been removed from opposed platform cores, using careful core preparation and soft hammer percussion. These characteristics can be most closely paralleled by Upper Palaeolithic Federmesser industries in Europe, which date from the end of the Last Glaciation. The existence of the Upper Palaeolithic was unrecognised at the time the artefacts were found, since when two other contemporary sites have been identified in the River Avon valley as well as others across the country. The newly recognised addition extends the distribution of Upper Palaeolithic activity further up the River Avon valley to Salisbury, where five rivers congregate, providing a convenient point for further dispersal. The finding also mirrors patterns of occupation on well-drained terrace bluffs overlooking the floodplain. Research results have yielded significant data, 160 years after the collection’s discovery, expanding current knowledge of the Upper Palaeolithic in the River Avon valley and demonstrating the continued value and potential of collections in our museums.

Glass bangles are found in southern England and Wales from the mid-first century ad and become common in the north of England and southern Scotland in the late first century, before their numbers decline a century later. British bangles develop at a time of change, as Roman glassmaking practices were introduced across large areas of Britain, and as blown, transparent, colourless and naturally-coloured glassware became increasingly popular. In many communities, however, there was still a demand for strongly coloured opaque glass, including for bangles, and glassworkers devised ways of extending their supplies of opaque coloured glass. This study is based on over one hundred and fifty analyses of bangle fragments from sites in Wales, northern England and southern Scotland, spanning this transitional period. The bangle makers recycled coloured glass from imported vessels, and probably beads and bangle-making waste, to supplement supplies of fresh coloured glass. The novel methods used to modify and extend the coloured glass may derive from pre-Roman bead-making industries, and made use of widely available materials, including smithing hammerscale and possibly plant ashes. The results show the shifting balance of indigenous and Roman influences on different bangle types, depending on when and where they were made, and by whom.

This paper sets out to interpret the archaeological evidence of the five known Roman fortlets on the Yorkshire coast in a novel way, especially as to the structure and appearance of the sites, and how they were used. In particular it examines the use of stylobate blocks and vertical posts, and makes some comparisons with contemporary small forts and burgi on the Rhine and Danube frontiers, and with maritime defences in Wales. It also looks at evidence for barrack accommodation within the enclosure. The evidence comes from a detailed examination of excavation reports and local histories. Finally, it considers the nature and status of the troops that formed the garrisons here.

This paper discusses the significance of a fragment of stone sculpture built into the north wall of the churchyard at Carisbrooke, Isle of Wight. The sculpture depicts an open right hand that is larger than life-sized and is probably of late Anglo-Saxon date. The size and character of the sculpture favours a manus dei (hand of God), forming the upper element of a large rood assemblage. The authors consider allied sculpture in which such a hand appears on Anglo-Saxon grave markers and in similar low relief depictions where Christ is figured on the Cross. At Carisbrooke, this architectural sculpture would have formed a significant feature of an Anglo-Saxon minster church that was rebuilt in the early Norman period. The siting of this building and the extent of its parochia is briefly considered. Supplementary material reviews the probable significance of the sculptural use of Quarr stone at Carisbrooke and elsewhere.

The church of St Michael and All Angels, Averham, is largely constructed of counter-pitched rubble and has long been interpreted as being of the early Norman period. Recent archaeological investigations by the authors have revealed conclusive evidence that the date of part of the fabric is pre-Conquest and that the west tower was originally a possible two-storey porch. Ground-based remote sensing has further revealed complex anomalies in the south and east walls of the tower.

Lord Frederick Campbell Charter xxi 5 is the only surviving English document that still has an authentic, legible, pre-Conquest seal attached to it. The text purports to be a writ of Edward the Confessor (1003x5–1066) granting a slew of rights to Christ Church Cathedral, Canterbury. We examined the writ using multispectral imaging to recover layers of erased text.

Many scholars have noted that the text of the writ was altered on at least one occasion. Now, multispectral imaging confirms that there were multiple layers of erasures, even more than previously anticipated. The original writ may have been inscribed on reused parchment. This can be used as evidence for the conditions (and even the immense quantity) in which writs were produced during Edward’s reign. Alternatively – or additionally – the writ’s multiple alterations could suggest that it was rewritten repeatedly after the Conquest, during various phases of Canterbury’s post-Conquest property disputes. The results confirm Nicholas Brooks’ hypothesis that at one stage the text was altered from referring to the rights to the archbishop alone (in the singular), to instead refer to the whole community at Christ Church (in the plural). Taken together, these results reveal shifts in legal thinking in Canterbury between 1066 and 1100, while demonstrating the enduring authority of Edward the Confessor’s seal. These results also show the potential for using multispectral imaging to illuminate – literally – the history of manuscript production.

The Chapter of Winchester Cathedral, in conjunction with biological anthropologists and other specialists, are currently studying the contents of the cathedral’s well-known ‘mortuary chests’. It is clear that they contain the jumbled remains of many more people than the eleven kings and bishops named on the surviving chests, which date from c 1525 and the 1660s. In this paper the archaeological and documentary evidence for earlier arrangements for housing the cathedral’s royal and episcopal bones is examined, identifying up to twenty-five possible occupants of the chests. This will establish the context for the continuing analysis and identification of the skeletal material.

The five most complete royal buildings remaining from the post-Conquest period in Britain have exterior decoration resembling that at churches. It is widely appreciated that the scale of royal buildings demonstrated the earthly power of the Norman kings, but their decoration, largely overlooked, can be shown to proclaim that the power of God was also present there. The sacred power of the king was explicit in the coronation rite at the anointing, and the subsequent investiture with regalia was re-staged by the crown-wearing practised in varying degrees by the Norman kings.

This article deals with the iconography of a unique fourteenth-century capital, situated near the one-time tomb of St John of Beverley in the nave of Beverley Minster, Yorkshire. The capital features two hybrid creatures, part animal, part human. Both creatures hold a severed bird’s claw. This article argues that these severed bird’s claws, resembling drinking vessels, are likely to be griffin claws. This interpretation allows for a reappraisal of the meaning of these figures and their use in the church.

In 1998 a massive gold signet ring was found by metal detecting in the parish of Raglan, Monmouthshire (Gwent), close to Raglan Castle. Now generally known as the Raglan ring, it is a remarkable example of late medieval goldsmiths’ work. This paper considers its motifs, legend, date and stylistic affinities. Its findspot is close to the castle-building programme at Raglan continued by William Herbert (executed 1469), who projected his position as premier supporter of the House of York in a variety of ways. Possible ownership is discussed, as is its wider context (including newly discovered signet rings from Wales).

The relationship between text and image in later medieval art is complex and has a growing literature. Wall paintings in two churches in South Wales suggest ways in which text could inspire sophisticated programmes of paintings. At Llandeilo Talybont, a sequence telling the story of the Crucifixion through the Instruments of the Passion relates to medieval devotions to the Instruments and to readings from the Holy Week liturgy. At Llancarfan, a medieval satirical poem on fashionable clothing and a verse translation of the life of St George suggest links between the wall paintings of Death and the Gallant, the Seven Deadly Sins and St George. Apparently random collections of wall paintings may therefore reflect a process of interaction between public art and public knowledge of texts.

In a paper on the north aisle of St James, Biddenham, Bedfordshire, published in The Antiquaries Journal in 2015, in a related paper on the west tower of Bolney, West Sussex, and in a recent book, Church Building and Society in the Later Middle Ages, Gabriel Byng has questioned the typicality of church-rebuilding single-handedly directed and financed by wealthy individuals such as the Sussex knight Sir William de Etchingham. In a close study of Bolney and Biddenham, Byng argues instead that church-rebuilding ‘was run and financed by comparatively wealthy groups of peasants or townsfolk’. The case rests on Byng’s assessment of unusual surviving sources, a series of informal accounts for Bolney and a draft contract for Biddenham. This paper offers a rather different reading, and questions Byng’s claim. The decisive role at both was played by the lords, John Bolney at Bolney, and Sir William Butler at Biddenham.

Critical analysis of the quire stalls in the Augustinian priory in Christchurch has revealed that they are an important set of early all’antica styled stalls that were created by ‘alien’ craftsmen, no earlier than c 1520. Many traces of Continental joinery techniques, not then used in England, particularly the use of lamination, support this view. It has long been thought that they were cobbled together from sets of stalls of various dates, but they are all of one period. Much has been lost and many of the parts have been replaced, especially so among the dossiers. The idea that many of the misericords are missing can be discounted because the design of the stalls disproves this. This important set of quire stalls represents one of the last made prior to the Reformation – but they are much misunderstood.

William Cecil’s interests in heraldry and genealogy, and his particular concern for the antiquity of his own pedigree, are well known, but it is often presented as a personal hobby. This paper explores the means by which William Cecil used printed heraldic treatises, kings of arms and even domestic decoration to make his private genealogical research public. Rather than using genealogical study as a refuge from the world, Cecil actively used print, the office of arms and architecture to publicise his pedigree far more widely than other new men who sought the legitimacy of antiquity.

This analysis of the despoilation of monumental brasses and tombs in London during Edward vi’s reign is based on evidence provided by contemporary inventories of church goods and churchwardens’ accounts, supported by fieldwork and discoveries of recycled brasses during conservation. It reveals how the Reformation impacted the fortunes of the London marblers producing brasses, describes how plundered memorials were sold and provides evidence on their fate. Estimates, based on volumes of metal sold, create a potential range of 700–812 brasses lost from possibly forty-three London churches over 1548–53. After c 1550, marblers engraved 2mm thick hammered plate (cast from despoiled latten church goods, such as candlesticks and crucifixes) to sustain production when supplies of looted brasses diminished. The trade in plundered brasses ended after the accession of Edward’s Catholic half-sister, Mary, in August 1553.

The defaced and probably unfinished Easter sepulchre at St Mary’s Church, Tarrant Hinton, in Dorset is exceptional in its scale and sophisticated renaissance decoration, in comparison to other sixteenth-century structures associated with contemporary Easter liturgy. Previous notice of it has been impeded by failure to assess properly the upper part of the monument, which new photography now renders accessible. This demonstrates a remarkable resemblance between its (defaced) angels and the bronze angels by Benedetto da Rovezzano being prepared at Westminster in the late 1520s for the tomb of Cardinal Wolsey; while the lower part of the structure displays influence from contemporary French decoration.

This structure is assessed in the contexts of other monuments of the early sixteenth century intended to support a temporary Easter sepulchre and of what can be reconstructed of the career of the minor but wealthy cleric who was responsible for its erection. Thomas Wever MA (d. 1536) made additions to two of his rectories besides building substantial extensions on the north side of Tarrant Hinton church. It is suggested that both his building there and the Easter sepulchre itself are unfinished and were abandoned at his death as a result of his continued indebtedness. The sepulchre itself suggests a direction that English church decoration never took.

Sir Henry Spelman, a founding member of the Society of Antiquaries of London who may be considered the doyen of English antiquaries, made a substantial contribution through his many publications, particularly his Glossarium of 1626, his Concilia of 1639 and, together with his son John, the Psalterium Latino-Saxonicum of 1640. He pioneered the methodical study of historical documents, compiling a guide to the abbreviations and contractions found in medieval manuscripts, and, because some of the documents are in Old English, he made a plan to prepare an Anglo-Saxon grammar and established a lectureship in Anglo-Saxon at the University of Cambridge. After his death his books and papers were dispersed in stages, many of them being bought by subsequent antiquaries. The printed part of this paper surveys the history of his books and papers, with particular attention to his letters, which have never been listed or presented in an organized form despite calls for this to be done since 1930. The supplementary part (online) offers a conspectus of the letters in chronological order with indications of where they are found and of their more important contents. They throw considerable light on how he worked and on his relationship with those who helped him. Themes running through the letters include Spelman’s publications and the preparations for them, the Glossarium, the Concilia and the Anglo-Saxon Psalterium, the reading and transcription of Anglo-Saxon manuscripts, the preparation of an Anglo-Saxon grammar and dictionary and various scholarly enquiries.

In 2018 unpublished archaeological evidence was discovered recording a doorway and passageway concealed inside the Romanesque wall of Westminster Hall, near the south-east corner. Although commemorated by a bronze plaque in situ, their existence had largely been forgotten. Further investigations revealed an access panel in the 1951 cloakroom fittings in adjoining St Stephen’s cloister: this was located, and the space accessed, seemingly for the first time since c 1952. The many features of interest found within included the doorcase and soffits of a great doorway and iron pintles for the doors; Purbeck flagstones on the floor; complex masonry and plaster from several different eras; graffiti by masons from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; a still-functional Osram lightbulb dating from the early 1950s; and wooden joists supporting the masonry of the ceiling. Isotope dating of the timbers produced a date of 1659, and works accounts showed that the doorway and passageway were created in 1660–1, to form a ceremonial route for the coronation of Charles ii. Further archaeological and historical investigations have enabled the authors to establish a full chronology for the changing fabric and uses of the doorway and passageway from the seventeenth to the twenty-first century, and to trace the masons who walled in the space in 1851. They have also established why the brass plaque in Westminster Hall marking the space erroneously ascribes it with Tudor origins: that ‘fake history’ was created by an over-enthusiastic late-nineteenth century Clerk of the House of Commons.

This paper examines the story, hitherto neglected by scholarship, of the antiquarian artist and architect John Buckler (1770–1851) through a remarkable cache of his letters at the Bodleian Library. Most of the letters relate to Buckler’s attempts to be elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Having twice been blackballed in 1808 and 1809, he canvassed Britain’s leading antiquarian figures for support. With the blackballing of the architect James Wyatt in 1797 frequently alluded to, Buckler’s blackballing was the result of a cabal against him led by Sir Joseph Banks and Samuel Lysons, which had to do with both factionalism – ie his closeness to the preservationist faction led by Richard Gough and John Carter, termed the Carter school – and the Society’s onslaught against professionals. His eventual success in 1810 institutionalised his practice, allowed him entry into polite society and brought him closer to aristocratic patronage. The remainder of the Bodleian letters relate to Buckler’s topographical work recording medieval buildings across the UK, showing how he took on the revisionist medievalist project promoted by the Carter school. The article will explain Buckler’s role in the developing discourses of antiquarianism and the Gothic Revival, and how his association with the Carter school laid the foundations for the work of the Buckler dynasty. Over three generations, in line with the family name (meaning ‘to protect’), they sought to embody the idea of the architect-antiquary as a protector.

Billy Smith and Charley Eaton were mudlarks in London. In 1857 they began to manufacture counterfeit antiquities. Their creations displayed many significant errors and anachronisms, and some archaeologists were immediately sceptical. Nevertheless, other leading experts were convinced that Billy and Charley’s supposed discoveries were authentic archaeological finds. The ensuing debate resulted in an inconclusive court case. Eventually a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London used subterfuge to expose the fraud. Even after this, Billy Smith and Charley Eaton continued producing forgeries for another decade. This paper explores how the forgeries were made, why they generated controversy, how the fraud was detected and how Billy Smith and Charley Eaton could produce their forgeries over such a long time-span.