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December 2005: The original site of the
grave of King Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey has
been found. For more information ,visit the official Abbey's
site by clicking
here. |
|
December 2005: The original site of the
grave of King Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey has
been found. For more information ,visit the official Abbey's
site by clicking
here. |
|
April 2006 Peter Yeoman FSA, Senior Archaeologist of Historic Scotland, writes to inform Fellows that the Whitehorn collection of early medieval sculptured stones has been given a makeover. The pride of the collection is the country's earliest surviving Christian memorial, the Latinus Stone, carved some time around AD 450 to mark the grave of a man called Latinus and his unnamed four year old daughter. That stone is one of sixty early grave markers and crosses in the new display, the majority of which were created in the decades around 1000 during the heyday of the Whithorn School, when local carvers established a distinctive style of ring-headed crosses with interlaced decorated shafts. Historic Scotland felt that the cultural significance of the collection was not matched by the quality of the old display, and indeed had become overshadowed by the new archaeological displays created next door by the Whithorn Trust, hence the decision to create something more fitting. The new display, partly funded with a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, restores something of the sense of winder medieval pilgrims would have felt for the crosses when visiting St Ninian's shrine. Special visits can be arranged to the newly displayed museum by contacting Peter Yeoman - Peter.Yeoman@scotland.gsi.gov.uk April 2006 The Sunday Express included an article about former BBC journalist Graham Phillips who claims that William Shakespeare was born in Stratford, East London. He also claims that the only evidence linking the Bard to Stratford-upon-Avon is the monument overlooking his (sic) grave but this was not erected until 1748 although an illustration of the original monument exists in Dugdale's Antiquities of Warwickshire, which shows another Shakespeare altogether with his hands on a sack, indicating he was a grain merchant. Professor Wells of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust believes Mr Phillips's theories are rubbish. April 1st did not fall on a Sunday this year! June 2006 The Salisbury Journal of 1st June reports: 'A bronze statue valued at more than £30 000 has been stolen from the church-yard of St Leonard's Church at Semley - for the second time. The 5ft-high statue of a first world war soldier on horseback was previously stolen in April 2000, then mysteriously returned. It is the work of Henry A Peagram and celebrate the life of Lieutenant George Delaware Irving Armstrong of the Sherwood Foresters, who spent the later years of his life in Semley. Cutting equipment was used to remove the statue from its plinth on Saturday night or the early hours of Sunday. Anyone with information is asked to contact Tisbury police on 0845 408 7000 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. Information from Revd Ben Elliott, Society Member December 2006 The Guardian Newspaper of December 15th reports the thefts last months of six bronze busts - including that of Georges Bizet (1838-1875), the composer of Carmen - from Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. The busts date from the second half of the 19th century and were made by well known artists of that time. These thefts are considered to be the work of an expert and probably carried out to order by a collector. It is also reported that there is a thriving black market for items from French graveyards. Père-Lachaise, the oldest cemetery in Paris, is a major tourist attraction with over two million visitors per year. It contains the graves - among others - of Oscar Wilde, Molière, Marcel Proust, Edith Piaf, Maria Callas, Chopin and Jim Morrison. It is difficult to police as there are five gates open to the public and easy for a potential thief to hind. Other monuments have been vandalised in the past. 10.1.07 The Guardian In the G2 section there is a photograph of the newly erected headstone in Edinburgh's Grange Cemetery marking the grave of politician Robin Cook who died in 2005. This is a simple rectangular stone with a curved top. The lettering is bold and simple and gives his dates and names his family. The epitaph reads: "I may not have succeeded in halting the war but I did secure the right of Parliament to decide on war." This was chosen from the former Foreign Secretary's memoirs by his family. The words are much criticized by the writer of the article. (Stephen Moss) 21.3.07 The Guardian In the G2 section is the photograph of a tomb stone in St Lawrence Church, Oxhill, Near Stratford-upon-Avon which reads: 'Here Lyeth the Body of Myrtilla Negro Slave to Mr Tho Beauchamp of Nevis.' She died in 1705. In this 200th anniversary of the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade, Barbara Willis-Brown is researching the life of Myrtilla, why she should have been brought from the small Caribbean island of Nevis, where Thomas Beauchamp was thought to have owned a sugar plantation, and why she should have been buried with a memorial just outside the church door. If anyone has any information, Ms Willis-Brown may be contacted at bwillisbrown@hotmail.com 12.04.07 The Independent, Compiled by Ian Irvine '12 April 1948. James Lees-Milne, working for the National Trust, writes in his diary:"After breakfast I motored Eddy to Salisbury and then, parting with him regretfully, continued up to Wilton. Picked up Mrs Esdaile and drove her to Stourhead. Never have I been in closer contact with a more unkempt female; yet she is an old pet. Her stockings hang in folds, covered with stains; her face and fingers are yellow with cigarettes. She is rather vague now and walks with difficulty. Yet at Stourhead she plodded gallantly round the house and told us what she knew about each sculpture, which was everything.[She]kept prattling about a monument she wished to see in a church three miles from Stourton.'A stunner',she called it. It was by Van Nost, she assured me of a Windham. We took a look at it. I admit it was a splendid affair, dated 1684, full-blooded Charles II Baroque, standing in the face of the open door'. supplied by member Michael Fitzgerald 24.07.07 The Guardian Meav Kennedy reports that BBC History Magazine has launched a search for the nation's most curious, touching or enigmatic gravestone epitaph, inspired by the concern of Richard Smart, director of the National Archive of Memorial Inscriptions, that many will be lost for ever. The public are invited to send to the magazine - www.bbchistorymagazine.com - their favourite magazine by September 1st, including a photograph, location and transcription September 07 BBC History Magazine There are two separate articles in the September edition both relating to Westminster Abbey. In the News Section (page 8): Secrets of Westminster Abbey's Mosaic by David Keys recounts how new research suggests that mosaics - made in the 1260's - were almost certainly made from stones looted from ancient buildings in Rome. Although this article concentrates on the mosaic pavement positioned before the high altar, it is also relevant to stones used for several late C13th monuments in the Abbey. In the Footsteps Section (page 98); Britain's Crowning Glory by Megan Palmer also refers to Westminster Abbey. There is a good photograph of 'Poet's Corner' but the short account of the exhumation of Oliver Cromwell's remains is sanitized and inaccurate. His body was indeed removed from the Cromwell Vault (still marked) in the Abbey but several others bodies were also removed, not only those who had taken part in the opposition to Charles I or the republican governments but also family members such as Elizabeth Cromwell, the Protector's mother. A large floor slab in their memory was set by Dean Stanley in the 19th century but this is now covered by a carpet. Most of the remains were buried in a common grave nearby and there is a modern plaque on the outside wall of St Margaret's, Westminster listing their names as well as a brass inside the church in memory of General-at-Sea Robert Blake. However such disgraceful treatment of the dead was clearly not good enough for Charles II and his government when it came to the treatment of Oliver Cromwell himself, John Bradshaw, the trial judge, and Cromwell's son-in-law Henry Ireton, arguably the architect of the republic. Their remains were hanged from the gallows at Tyburn (now Marble Arch), and then beheaded (hardly 'executed' as the article says!), their bodies buried at Tyburn (not at Westminster as again the article states) and their heads set on Westminster Hall. Cromwell's head blew down in a gale, possibly in 1703, and was allegedly sold by a sentry for a shilling to a passer-by. After various changes of hand, it became a family heirloom until it was eventually buried in Sidney Sussex College Cambridge in 1960, where Cromwell had been a student; a modern wall plaque on the wall of the vestibule to the chapel recounts this event. For further details click here. There is also an article about Katherine Swynford, mistress and third wife of John of Gaunt, with a reproduction of a drawing of the brass that was formerly on her tomb and a photograph of her tomb in Lincoln Cathedral (pp 49, 51) although it is not indicated which of the two tombs photographed belongs to her. October 07 BBC History Magazine .There is an article about King Henry III - The King, The Saint & Parliament which includes a photograph of his tomb in Westminster Abbey (with Edward the Confessor's shrine in the foreground) and a separate photograph of the head of his monument. The results of the tombstone competition, which was mentioned in an earlier reference, are announced in Mysterious Memorials Unveiled. The article describes the winner - which is in the Old Rectory Museum, Loughborough - and the four runners up in some detail. September 18th 2008 Rutland & Stamford Mercury The following article by Gary Vyse appeared: 'A 400-year-old church monument which has pulled in crowds from across the world over the years is being given a much-needed spruce up. The William Cecil monument, a landmark found in St Martin's Church, Stamford, is being intricately restored after the Burghley House Preservation Trust pumped in thousands of pounds to tidy up the memorial. Made of marble and alabaster, the monument sits in the church's chapel and features the figure of William Cecil, first Lord Burghley who was chancellor to Queen Elizabeth I. Around the figure, which is lying down, are marble pillars, archways and inscriptions. Robert Fogell, who runs St Leonard's Gallery in Stamford, is carrying out the restoration with this son Sam. His experienced hands have worked on historical monuments in buildings such as Westminster Abbey and he says that the memorial is just as significant. He says: "It's so important because of who William Cecil was and the quality of the monument is one of the best of its type. We're giving it a thorough clean." Mr Fogell says the memorial, with its hand-carved features, needs to be treated delicately. Light brushes are used to clean out dirt, while a wax finish will be used to give it some gloss. "We're taking it stage by stage If you work at it too rough then you're going to chip bits off," he said. The cleaning-up project is likely to be completed by Friday next week and may also include some colour restoration. The monument is open to the public and it is hoped the sprucing up may attract some new visitors to the land mark.' July 17th 2008 The Guardian (Main Section). This short article appeared verbatim in this newspaper: Bayeux Tapestry villain cleared after 200 years More than a century after her death, the English woman accused of vandalising the Bayeux Tapestry has been cleared. Archaeologist Michael Lewis has named the 19th-century artist Charles Stothard as the real villain who snipped a souvenir fragment from the border if the priceless textile more than 200 years ago, not his wife, author Anna Elizabeth. Lewis unveiled his findings at an international conference at the British Museum in London earlier this week after studying records on the embroidery, which charts the downfall of Harold, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England, in 1066. Maev Kennedy April 2008 BBC History Magazine. In this month's magazine there is a photograph of the chapel and tomb of Prince Arthur (eldest son of Henry VII) illustrating a short article on page 6. On page 26 there is another of the gilt-bronze effigy of Edward the Black Prince in Canterbury Cathedral, illustrating an article on the Middle Ages. There is a photograph on page 35 of the head of the alabaster effigy of King Edward II from Worcester Cathedral, illustrating a short article on the monument. There is nothing new here but it's good to see monuments used to illustrate articles and even a short article about an actual monument. May 2008 BBC History Magazine. The magazine has an interesting regular section of very short features, quizzes etc called Diversions; this itself contains the regular compilation 10 of ... . This month are listed 10 Kings of England since 1066 who were not buried at Westminster or Windsor, compiled by Julian Humphrys. Although logically strictly correct - it does indeed list 10 kings who were not buried in those places - it is somewhat misleading as there are others who are not included. To put the record straight (using 3a... etc to complement the list and keep it in chronological order) these are: 3a Stephen (died 1154) Faversham Abbey, Kent 4a Richard I (died 1199) Fontevraud Abbey, France (the article uses the alternative but rarer spelling Fontevrauld); there is also a heart burial at Rouen, France and another effigy (of different appearance) there. The same magazine in Out & About: Footsteps refers to Kirkmadrine Church, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland, which, although built only in 1889, houses three of the earliest Christian monuments in Britain, predating AD500. The two largest are over six feet in length and carved with the early Christian symbol of the Chi-Rho cross. The oldest commemorates two local bishops, Viventius and Mavorius; the second a priest Florentius; and the third smaller stone reads INITIVMET FINIS. The stones were removed from what is said to be the original graves in 1850; the larger pair were used as gates posts to the church until 1860 and the third was discovered over 50 years later by a stone mason repairing a gate post a mile away. Other stones in the church date from the 8th to 12th centuries. March 13th 2009 The Guardian Vampire Discovered Italian researchers believe they have found the remains of a female 'vampire' in Venice, buried with a brick jammed between her jaws to prevent her feeding on victims of a plague which swept the city in the 16th century. Matteo Borrini, an anthropologist from the University of Florence, said that the discovery on the small island of Lazzatetto Nuovo in the Venice lagoon was linked to the old belief that vampires were behind the spread of plagues such as the Black Death. 'This is the first time that archaeology has succeeded in reconstructing the ritual of exorcism of a vampire,' Borrini said. Reuters Rome April 2009 : BBC History Magazine Strife after Death In the Q&A section a reader asks what happened to the body of King James IV of Scotland after he was killed at the Battle of Flodden. Rupert Mathews replies in summary thus. The King's body was identified the next day on the battlefield and sent by the English General, the Earl of Surrey to London. The Queen, Katherine of Aragon, wanted to send the body to King Henry VIII in France but was prevented from doing so by the nobles who refused to treat the body of a King in such a way. The nobles tried to have James buried in London but he had been excommunicated by Pope Julius II for invading England in support of Louis XI of France, the Pope having supported Henry's invasion to prevent the French from meddling in Italy. The priest therefore refused to bury the dead King in consecrated ground but the nobles would accept nothing else. On his return to England King Henry wrote to the new pope, Leo X, asking for permission for James to be buried in consecrated ground. The messenger was delayed because of snow but eventually permission was granted and James was buried in Sheen Abbey in 1514. The tomb was destroyed at the Dissolution of the Monasteries and the King's bones scattered. Aidan Dodson in The Royal Tombs of Great Britain adds to this story in writing that James's body was embalmed on Henry's orders and that the Sheen had been a Charterhouse monastery founded by King Henry himself. He further adds that James's head was cut from his trunk when the tomb was disturbed and this was then buried in the Church of St Michael, Wood Street, City of London. This church was demolished under the Union of Benefices Act 1897 but no head was found during the excavations at this time. November 2009: BBC History Magazine Wolf at the Door A letter includes a photograph of the tomb of Edward and Elizabeth Skinner in Ledbury Church. The letter states that the tomb records the death of Edward in 1631. Below the kneeling parents keel five adult males and five adult females while between them lies a baby. The church guidebook records the legend that this baby was killed by the last wolf in the district. This is in reply to an earlier articles which mentions that the wolf was generally thought to have become extinct in England in the early 16th century. |