Library news: August 2008
by Tony Cooper
Recently acquired books include:
The illustrated chronicles of Matthew Paris
Observations on thirteenth century life. Translated and edited, and with an introduction by Richard Vaughan. Alan Sutton Publishing, 1993.
Charters of St Albans.
Edited by Julia Crick. (Anglo-Saxon charters vol. xii) Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 2007.
The "Old Albanian" roll of honour, 1899-1902
by Charles H Ashdown. [St Albans School] 1904.
Provides brief details of the military careers of 23 "Old Albanians" who served in the Boer War, including five who died. Also contains the names and addresses of all the old boys whose details could be traced, and of the 103 pupils registered in 1904.
Excavation of the Iron Age, Roman and medieval settlements at Gorhambury, St Albans,
by David S Neale, Angela Wardle and Jonathan Hunn, with others. Archeological Report No 14. English Heritage, Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England, 1990.
Marshalswick: the story of a house and its estate,
by Brian Adams, Clare Ellis, Elizabeth Gardner and Helen Leiper. Clare Ellis, 2008.
Includes references, extensive bibliography and a description of a Marshalswick Heritage Trail.
Recent journal articles:
Herts Past & Present, No 1. Spring 2008, pp3-15.
Hidden histories: Hertfordshire, the slave trade and its abolition, by Jill Barber.
Reports on the impact of wealth from the slave trade on Hertfordshire, how Afro-Caribbean people became part of its communities, and the role of Hertfordshire people in the campaign for abolition.
Herts Past & Present, No 1. Spring 2008, pp 16-21.
The Haughton Clarkes of Oakhill, East Barnet; their links with the slave trade, by Gillian Gear.
Oakhill, now a theological College, was once owned by a family owning sugar plantations in Jamaica.
Herts Past & Present, No 1. Spring 2008, pp 22-27.
Some Hertfordshire gargoyles and grotesques, by Nicholas Connell
Herts Past & Present, No 1. Spring 2008, pp 28-30.
A short journey on the St Albans caravan, by Gerard MsSweeney.
A contemporary letter describes an uncomfortable journey in a'caravan,' a wagon converted to carry passengers.
CBA Mid-Anglia Region Newsletter, Spring 2008, pp 5-8.
Excavations at Church Field, Norton (Herts) August 2007, by Keith J. Fitzpatrick-Matthews.
Norton forms part of Letchworth. Excavation showed three phases of activity on the site, Bronze Age, High Medieval, and Post-Medieval.
British Archeology, No 100, May-June 2008, pp 30-37.
The lost royal cult of Street House, Yorkshire, by Stephen J. Sherlock. The excavation of a unique Anglo-Saxon cult cemetery.
British Archeology, July August 2008, pp 10-27.
In the copper age, by Stuart Needham and others.
Discusses the suggestion that Britain had a Copper Age, between the Stone and Bronze ages, around 2450-2150 BC. Five archeologists and scientists offer their views.
London Archeologist, Summer 2008, vol.12, no 1, pp19-22.
Roman stone building, ditches and burials along Watling Street, by Paul Thrale.
Investigation of a site on the Old Kent Road revealed a possible Roman mausoleum.
Hertfordshire People, No 105, June 2008.
Journal received; short articles, too numerous to detail here.