Govan Old Parish Church, Glasgow

Historic church may become visitor centre and museum
Glasgow Herald
September 1, 2008

PLANS to save a historic Christian worship site, by turning it into a museum, are being investigated by church and heritage officials. Govan Old Parish Church has been awarded cash for a study into the options for the building, its ancient burial ground and collection of early medieval sculptures. Proposals include a museum, a visitor centre and performance venue and a visitor centre with business accommodation in an adjacent new building.

The importance of the church site has been compared to Iona, Whithorn and St Andrews having been a place of continual worship for 1500 years. Its burial ground dates back to the fifth century and is home to a collection of 31 sculptures and the Govan Sarcophagus dating from between the ninth and 11th centuries.



Last year three parishes began a merger to become New Govan Church, leaving Govan Old Parish Church available for a new use. A study costing GBP 31,000 will investigate the three possible uses to discover the most viable option to secure the future of the historic site.

The local development agency, Govan Workspace, is leading the study with heritage consultants and architects. Pat Cassidy, Govan Workspace managing director, said: "Our overriding concern is that the church and its early medieval sculpture should survive as an entity in Govan where they belong. We believe this is a priceless treasure that's been seriously undervalued. If treated with imagination and sensitivity, it has the potential to bring great benefits to Govan and the local community. But the challenge for us s to come up with a proposal that's viable."

Hangman Blind, by Cassandra Clark

Hull Daily Mail
September 1, 2008

November. The dead month... the fields like vast lakes under a sullen sky." Cassandra Clark's novel begins amid the dripping gloom of medieval Holderness.

As it unfolds, this strange tale - set in 1382 against the turmoil of Richard II's reign - offers a compulsive glimpse of a violent, divisive time in our history. And given its haunting imagery, including the "crow-stripped" corpses that swing from the gibbets, it comes as little surprise that inspiration arrived while its Cottingham-born writer was asleep.

"It came to me in a dream," said Cassandra, who describes herself as a Yorkshire "exile" living in London. "I had been going through a bad time - my dad was ill, and I was coming up to Yorkshire to look after him. It had got to the point when I wondered whether I would ever get around to writing the book I wanted. Then one night, I had this dream about an abbey and I wrote it down immediately. It was a case of taking the jokes out, as the dream - as they often tend - was rather comic."

Given Cassandra's childhood fascination with Meaux Abbey, the now vanished religious site near Beverley, the East Yorkshire setting followed on naturally. At its centre is Hildegaard, a young woman who has given up her marriage for a life at an abbey at Swyne. Hangman Blind follows her mission to establish a new "grange" for herself and her fellow nuns - beginning with a journey through a Yorkshire landscape littered with corpses.

Following a long process of research - which included leafing through library-held chronicles dating back to the late 1300s - the book offers a compelling picture of the jostle and stench of medieval life. It all seems a long way from the fragrant romance of Cassandra's other prose - the Mills And Boon novels she wrote during the 80s and early 90s.

"It's not something I've really mentioned before," she said rather coyly. "At the time, I was a member of a writing circle, where someone happened to mention the books to me. I went down to WH Smith's the next day and bought a copy. Writing for them is a particular skill and one which requires you to put yourself in a particular mind-set. The first one I wrote they edited about 20,000 words out - I'd done so much research it was a bit over-burdened with fact."

It was a trait which was wrong for the bodice-rippers, but right for the dark historical novels with which she is now making her name. Hangman Blind by Cassandra Clark is published by John Murray. The paperback, costing pounds 7.99, is released on Thursday.

Hengoed medieval hall to be open to the public

Liverpool Daily Post
September 1, 2008

AN OLD farmhouse which is believed to contain the oldest timber recorded in any building in the British Isles is to be open to the public.

Hengoed, an early 15th century cruck hall house has been dated as having been constructed between 1438 and 1447 but was only "discovered" in 2005. The wood used in the construction, however, was about 500 years old at that time.

For over 100 years the old hall on the outskirts of Ruthin had been used an agricultural building, the main residence having been moved across the farmyard to the site of the present farmhouse. That is one of the reasons why it is so well preserved.

Externally little of the original hall has survived but the significance of the building lies in its internal timber structure. following the end of Though it is not known who built it, it was clearly erected in a period of relative prosperity following the end of Owain Glyndwr's rebellion.

The building, which still retains its five cruck trusses and four bays, will be opened to the public on September 14 as part of Denbighshire's Heritage Weekend. Conducted tours will be held at 10am, 12 noon, 2pm and 4pm, but must be booked in advance.

To read the article about the discovery of this building, click here.

Saints and Sinners: a tephrochronology for Late Antique landscape change in Epirus from the eruptive history of Lipari, Aeolian Islands

Scientists at University of East Anglia report research in archaeological science
1 September 2008
Health & Medicine Week

According to recent research published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, "Assessing the impact of past human activity on landscape change in the Mediterranean has always presented challenges, requiring sound chronological frameworks for observed environmental change. The current research, focused on the environs surrounding the ancient city of Butrint (southern Albania) during Late Antiquity, c. 4th-6th Century AD, establishes a tephra-based chronology for landscape change through the discovery of ash horizons from a little known eruption on the island of Lipari (Aeolian Islands)."

"Recovered glass shards were geochemically fingerprinted to a 6th Century AD event on the island, dated through local archaeological sequences and corroborated by hagiographic evidence. The presence of this marker horizon at Butrint shows a continuation of open water, estuarine conditions throughout Late Antiquity and the Early Medieval period (during which time Butrint ceases to function as an urban centre), disproving the widely held notion of increased soil erosion/deposition as a result of post-Roman landscape degradation. The study also shows that it is following the medieval revival of the town in the 13th Century that marked environmental change takes place, as estuarine areas silt, giving rise to marsh and wetland," wrote D. Bescoby and colleagues, University of East Anglia.

The researchers concluded: "The study highlights the importance of using a range of dating techniques to constrain landscape change, while the presence of the 6th Century Lipari tephra in Epirus, derived from an eruptive event larger than previously suspected, provides a useful regional dating marker for future landscape studies."

Bescoby and colleagues published their study in the Journal of Archaeological Science (Saints and Sinners: a tephrochronology for Late Antique landscape change in Epirus from the eruptive history of Lipari, Aeolian Islands. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2008;35(9):2574-2579).

For additional information, contact D. Bescoby, University of East Anglia, Institute World Archaeol, 64A Close, Norwich NR1 4DH, Norfolk, UK.

The publisher's contact information for the Journal of Archaeological Science is: Academic Press Ltd. Elsevier Science Ltd., 24-28 Oval Rd., London NW1 7DX, England.

Dering Roll - roll of arms from the reign of Edward I

RARE ROLL OF ARMS BOUGHT BY BRITISH LIBRARY
By Lucy Bogustawski
2 September 2008
Press Association National Newswire

The oldest existing roll of arms that is vital for the study of medieval knighthood has been bought by the British Library. Bought with funds raised by donations from heritage organisations and individual supporters, the British Library raised the £194,184 necessary to obtain the Dering Roll.

It was bought at Sotheby's at auction last December for £192,500 but a temporary export bar placed on the roll by Culture Minister Margaret Hodge enabled the Library to purchase it. It is a painted roll of arms depicting 324 coats of arms, around a quarter of the English baronage during the reign of King Edward I and, the Library says, is vital for the study of knighthood in medieval England.

Dr Noel Denholm-Young, a medieval history scholar, said it provided a list of the knights owing feudal service - military obligations - to the Constable of Dover Castle. The Library said the "extremely rare" roll was believed to have been produced in Dover in the late 13th century.

Beginning with two of King John's illegitimate children, Richard Fitz Roy and William de Say the parchment roll contains 324 coats of arms arranged in 54 rows, with 6 shields assigned to each line. Above each shield is written the knight’s name in English cursive script, with the exception of five shields where the names have been omitted or erased.

Other fascinating details include an attempt by the notable 17th Century antiquary and politician Sir Edward Dering (1598–1644), who acquired the roll during his years of service as lieutenant of Dover Castle, to use it to forge his family history. Dering erased a coat-of-arms on the roll and replaced it with a coat-of-arms that bore the name of a fictional ancestor, Richard fitz Dering.

Beyond the 17th century forgery the roll is a key document for the study of medieval English knighthood, made at a time when a knight’s political allegiances and his status in feudal society were of paramount importance.

Painted on a green background, the coats of arms are arranged in 54 rows, with six shields assigned per line and a knight's name with each. Claire Breay, head of medieval and earlier manuscripts at the British Library, said: "The Library holds an extensive collection of outstanding historical and heraldic manuscripts and the acquisition of the Dering Roll provides an extremely rare chance to add a manuscript of enormous local and national significance which will greatly strengthen and complement its existing collection."

Carole Souter, chief executive of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, said: "The Roll is the Who's Who for medieval knights and unusually gives two illegitimate royals pride of place."

The Dering Roll was acquired with £100,000 donated by the National Heritage Memorial Fund, £40,000 from The Art Fund, £10,000 from Friends of the British Library and £10,000 from Friends of the National Libraries. The remainder of the £194, 184 was made up by donations from individual supporters, the Library said. It is now on display in the Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library.

Festival for St. Edmund's Day on November 20th

The landing of a medieval martyr king on Norfolk's shores will be re-enacted as...
2 September 2008
Eastern Daily Press

The landing of a medieval martyr king on Norfolk's shores will be re-enacted as part of a special day of celebrations. Children from Hunstanton will storm the town's cliffs on November 20, to kick off a festival to commemorate St Edmund, the Christian monarch who came ashore at Hunstanton in 855 AD to claim his throne. During his short rule, he earned the reputation of being kind to his subjects. But after bravely attempting to resist a Viking invasion in 869, he was defeated at the battle of Hoxne, near Diss, and taken prisoner by the Danish.

He refused to renounce the Christian faith so was tied to a tree and shot to death with arrows, before being buried at Beadoriceworth - today better-known as Bury St Edmund's. The festival, christened Edfest, will kick off with breakfast and end with a hog roast supper, served up by pages and wenches in period costume, at the town hall.

Visitors to the town can see the ruins of the St Edmund's chapel, which was built to celebrate his arrival, and the Hunstanton town sign bears a picture of the famous saint. Lisa Powell, secretary of the Feast of St Edmunds Committee, said: “He's our patron saint, he's the only one we've got so we should really celebrate him. We want to make it a fun community festival."

The idea came after a fish and chip supper in celebration of St Edmund last year was a sell-out. A culinary twist to the day will include a baking competition to see who can make the best St Edmund cake - believed to be named after the saint. St Edmund cakes are made with almonds, so any cake recipe with almonds is welcomed in the contest.

A local brewery will also be making an ale brewed specially for the occasion, to wash it down with. The Edfest will be taking place on November 20, for bookings or more information go to the website or ring Margaret Hunter on 01485 533424 .

Epigonion - ancient musical instrument

Ancient Musical Instruments Play Again Through Astra Project
3 September 2008
M2 Presswire

Ancient musical instruments can now be heard for the first time in hundreds of years, due to a new computer modelling project. ASTRA (Ancient instruments Sound/Timbre Reconstruction Application) has recreated the sounds of the harp-like Epigonion musical instrument from Ancient Greece and has performed one of the oldest known musical scores dating back to the Middle Ages. To achieve this it used the advanced GeANT2 and EUMEDCONNECT research networks to link high capacity computers together, sharing information to enable the computer-intensive modelling of musical sounds.

Knowledge of the Epigonion musical instrument, dating back from the Ancient Greek era, is based on archaeological findings, historical pictures and literature. Using this archaeological data as an input, it was then transformed by a complex digital audio rendering technique to model the actual sound of the instrument. This advanced physical modelling synthesis creates a virtual model of the instrument and reproduces the sound that the instrument might have made by simulating its behaviour as a mechanical system. The Epigonion is a wooden string instrument that musicians have likened the sound to something similar to a modern harp or a harpsichord. The ASTRA team have compiled the sounds of four Epigonion instruments to recreate a medieval musical piece, making this the first time that these instruments have been heard performing together. Samples of the Epigonion and the musical piece can be accessed at http://www.astraproject.org/examples/dufay.mp3

"This is an exciting project for us and for musicians and historians around the world. For the first time we can actually hear the musical sounds of the past, using modelling techniques rather than guesswork," says Professor De Mattia, Director of the Conservatory of Music of Salernoand Co-ordinator of the ASTRA project. Recreating the sound of the Epigonion instrument and the compilation of this musical piece is a great achievement and is the first step towards our goal of constructing a full orchestra in the future."

"The combination of the high speed GeANT2 and EUMEDCONNECT networks and grid computing infrastructures provide the immense computing power vital for this exciting project," commented Dr La Rocca, Co-ordinator of ASTRA gridification. "Previously the amount of computing power needed to recreate ancient music was unobtainable, but the use of high capacity research networks provides us with the ability to turn our research into reality."

The physical modelling process needs extreme amounts of computing power - taking about four hours for a high powered computer to correctly reproduce a sound lasting only 30 seconds. To bring together sufficient power and to share information the ASTRA project is using the GILDA and EUMEDGRID grid computing infrastructures, which link computing resources across the Mediterraneanat high speed (up to 2.5 Gbps) through the GeANT2 and EUMEDCONNECT research networks.

"The success of the ASTRA project demonstrates how high speed networking technology can underpin research collaboration across a wide range of subjects and allow the academic world to work together across multiple locations," said Dai Davies, General Manager, DANTE. "This unique project is delivering a fascinating glimpse into the music of the past for the benefit of the students and researchers of today - we look forward to hearing more music as ASTRA develops."

The benefits of the collaborative approach used in this project are far reaching. ASTRA not only makes it possible to recreate instruments that previously would have been either too expensive or too difficult to manufacture by hand, it also allows any model and its associated data to be accessed by our collaborators. Research data can therefore be shared around the world, making it a truly international project of immense value to working archaeologists and historians.

Archaeological digs at Smarden

Village digs deeper to discover hidden past
4 September 2008
Kentish Express

SMARDEN'S hidden history is about to be unearthed. More than 20 teams of amateur archaeologists will be descending on the village this weekend hoping to uncover some historical secrets in what is being called The Big Smarden Dig. Organiser Alex Ferris said: "This all began about three years ago when English Heritage came to Smarden and took village children out for some fieldwork. They picked up about 400 historical artefacts in a ploughed field."

This led to curious English Heritage experts to examine a map of the village to try and ascertain what it may have once looked like. Mr Ferris continued: "There has long been this unproven theory the Romans were here. In the parish, people are starting to find iron workings which are Roman. That rewrites the history books in a way because old history books tell you that nobody lived here then."

The groups, mainly comprising Smarden schoolchildren and parents, will be overseen by Carenza Lewis, from the department of archaeology at Cambridge University and a former member of Channel 4's Time Team. Mr Ferris added: "We will also have a pottery expert from Sussex University. The school will be the place where finds will be brought back."

The digs - mini test pits 3ft wide and 3ft deep - will mainly be located in 15 gardens of homes situated opposite the Chequers pub. Mr Ferris said: "We will try to trace the village's development from medieval and perhaps even Saxon times. If we find anything Roman, that's a bonus. We're most likely to find medieval artefacts. Someone in the village has already found some coins."

Remains of Ancient Jerusalem wall found

Experts unearth more than 2,100-year-old Jerusalem wall
3 September 2008
Agence France Presse

Israeli archaeologists said on Wednesday they had rediscovered rare remains of the wall that surrounded Jerusalem more than 2,100 years ago after locating the site of a 19th century dig.

The Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologists said they also discovered at the same site a section of the city walls dating from the later Byzantine period between the 4th and 7th centuries AD.

The earlier findings include a 3.2-metre (10-foot) tower and parts of the wall built during the second century BC under the Hasmonean dynasty and that was destroyed together with the Jewish Second Temple by the Romans in 70 AD.

The two important finds were at a large excavation on Mount Zion outside the limits of today's Old City, whose Ottoman-era walls date from the 16th century. "The city had never been as big as it was during those two periods," the director of the excavations, Yehiel Zelinger, told a news conference. "In the Second Temple period the city, with the temple in its centre, was a focal point for Jewish pilgrimages from all over the ancient world and in the Byzantine period it attracted Christian pilgrims," he said.

The site for the dig was determined from a map drawn by British archaeologists of the Palestine Exploration Fund who first excavated the area at the end of the 19th century. The lost site, whose shafts and tunnels had since been filled and covered with soil, was rediscovered by cross-referencing the plans of the old excavation with updated maps of the area, Zelinger said. The Israeli archaeologist discovered "souvenirs" left behind by the British excavators 120 years ago -- including a shoe, the top of a gas light and fragments of beer and wine bottles.

The Central Convent of Hospitallers and Templars: History, Organization, and Personnel (1099/1120-1310)

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Call for Papers: International Medieval Congress in Leeds, 2009

The next International Medieval Congress (IMC) in Leeds (UK) is going to held on 13-16 July 2009. The annual IMC seeks to provide an interdisciplinary forum in the heart of the United Kingdom for the discussion of all aspects of medieval studies. Papers and sessions on any topic or theme in the European Middle Ages are welcome. Each Congress has one particular special thematic strand on an area of interdisciplinary study in a wider context. However, this strand is not intended to be an exclusive and submissions from all spheres of medieval research, in any major European language, are welcome. Successful and popular sessions at this year's IMC, including a session sponsored by the Medieval Logistics Group, discussed military logistics, technology and communications. We still felt, however, that much more could have been offered in these traditionally neglected subject areas which are only recently receiving the attention they deserve. It is hoped that a session/strand provisionally entitled 'Military Logistics, Technology and Communication' will provide another fruitful opportunity for researchers in these fields to discuss their work. Those interested in presenting their research should note that sessions usually consist of three papers of 20 minutes duration each with 10 minutes of discussion per paper. Proposals for sessions have to be submitted to Leeds by 30 September 2008, so please send provisional paper titles and a very brief abstract to Jason T Roche (jtr@jasonroche.orangehome.co.uk) by Friday 19 September. Further information, including bursary details, can be found at www.leeds.ac.uk/ims/imc/imc2009_call.html