• A page from an old book: The Remonstrance of St Albans, 1648
    Lectures

    April 8: Successes and dead ends – researching the military history of the Civil Wars in western Hertfordshire

    January 28, 2024 - By 

    In 2021, John Morewood started researching the events of the 1640s in St Albans and Western Hertfordshire as they applied to the struggle between King and Parliament. Looking at archives and publications of the period, he uncovered how important the area was to Parliament, so much so that Parliament sent the leading Dutch engineer to fortify St Albans.

    This has led to a project to find the lost fortifications, as well as seeking to explain why the preliminary steps which would lead to the execution of King Charles I began in St Albans. John will talk about his journey, discoveries and frustrations along the way, and next steps.

    Dr John Morewood is President of St Albans Architectural and Archaeological Society. He specialises in the 18th and early 19th centuries but has a strong interest in the Civil Wars – his ancestors fought for Parliament and sat on the governing committee for Derbyshire. He is co-authoring a book on St Albans and the 17th century Civil Wars.

    All welcome. Please book your place (it’s free!) via Eventbrite.

  • An ornate gold and garnet cross found with the bones of a 7th century teenage girl near Cambridge in 2012
    Exhibitions

    Beneath Our Feet: Archaeology of the Cambridge Region

    January 15, 2024 - By 

    Until April 14, 2024 at the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Cambridge

    This exciting exhibition explores what local archaeological discoveries can tell us about the lives of those who walked this landscape centuries before us.

    It includes objects from the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology’s collection, as well as loans from: The British Museum, the Fox family, Girton College, Cambridge, Museum of Cambridge, Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, Oxford Archaeology, Cambridgeshire County Council and Robert Law.

    Material on display includes Neolithic axes, textile fibres which are remarkable survivors from the Bronze Age, a mysterious Roman lead tank which continues to baffle experts, the stunning burial goods of a teenage girl from the early medieval period, evidence of one of Cambridge’s medieval friaries, a 17th century Germanic Bellarmine jug (which were often reused as so-called witch bottles) and much more!

    The exhibition features results of the latest scientific research, particularly the isotopic analysis of the bones and teeth of a 7th-century teenage girl, whose burial was discovered in 2012. The analysis revealed not only her European origins, but also her approximate age when she moved to Britain and the state of her health prior to her death. When excavated by Cambridge Archaeological Unit, she was found to have been buried lying on a bed, one of only 18 so-called bed burials discovered in the UK. For the first time, a forensic artist’s likeness of the mysterious girl will be on display alongside the grave goods she was buried with. These include the gold and garnet Trumpington Cross, another rare discovery. For more information about the Trumpington Cross and what scientific research has revealed about the life of its owner, click here.

    Until April 14 at the Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3DZ.