Library news: May 2010
by Tony Cooper
It is pleasing to record that the society’s new website, and the more prominent presence on it of the library, has resulted in more email enquiries, some from the wider world. We have recently provided information on Verulamium excavations to someone in Germany, and on Vice-Admiral Henry Killigrew and the 1705 election to a student at University College Dublin. Other more local people have sought information on Pimlico Place, Harpenden, the St Albans Benefit and Annuity Society, and the Fisk family. We have also helped several people who had noted something on the website and visited in person to follow up their interest. Other visitors had seen the exhibition of maps we mounted for the Residents First weekend in January, and wanted to look more closely at maps or to find out more about the library and its resources. Preparation of the exhibition involved a good deal of work, so it is gratifying to have some positive feedback from the community. If any members of the Society would like to make an exploratory visit, we would be very pleased to welcome them.
Books recently added to stock
Cathedral shrines of medieval England,
by Ben Nilson. Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 1998. 276pp, illus, tables, bibliog.
Aims to illustrate the nature and importance of shrines in the greater churches of medieval England, and in particular the major shrines in English cathedrals.
Hertfordshire churches and other places of worship,
by Jeffery W.Whitelaw.Harpenden, Oldcastle Books, 1990. 143pp, b/w photos.
A historical, architectural and religious guide. Pp.79-133 consists of a gazetteer.
Bernard’s Heath and The Great War,
extracts from the diary of H R Wilton Hall. Compiled by David Lapthorn. Privately published, 2009. 40pp.
The extracts are from Wilton Hall’s "Notes and Memoranda relating to St Saviour’s Church, St Albans, 1909-1922". News stories from the Herts Advertiser are reproduced on pages 25-40.
An historical and topographical description of the municipium of ancient Verulam; the martyrdom of St Alban; foundation of the monastery; other religious houses thereon dependent; and an abridged biography of the several abbots, including information on the early ecclesiastical history of the kingdom, from the records of this primary monastery,
by Frederick Lake Williams. St Albans, William Langley, 1822. In two parts, 203pp, and 230pp, plan, illus, index (to part two only).
Part two includes notes on civic life in St Albans at about 1822, and on Gorhambury House, with a list of the most noteworthy paintings hung there.
On the parish? The micro-politics of poor relief in rural England c.1550-1750,
by Steve Hindle. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 2004. 521pp, bibliog.(pp456-500), index.
Includes several references to several Hertfordshire towns and parishes.
St Albans 948 Millenary 1948 Pageant.
St Albans, 1948, 68pp.
Souvenir programme for the celebrations held 21st – 26th June 1948.
Branch lines around Hertford and Hatfield,
by Vic Mitchell and Keith Smith. Midhurst, Middleton Press. Pages unnumbered, photos, maps.
Four county maps of Hertfordshire: Seller 1676; Warburton 1749; Oliver 1695; Bryant 1832.
With an introduction by Donald Hodson. Hertfordshire Publications, 1985, 26pp.
A topographical map of Hartford-shire, from an actual survey…
by Andrew Dury and John Andrews. Hertfordshire Publications, 1980, 40pp.
A reprint of the original, published in 1766.
Domestic architecture in St Michaels village through five centuries,
by John Bethell. Privately published, 2010. 25pp, photos.
A collection of photographs from John Bethell’s exhibition, first shown at Kingsbury Barn over the Heritage Weekend, 11-18 September 2009.
Recent journal articles
In British Archaeology March-April 2010
Pp 16-21 410 2010: Rome and Britain, by Sam Moorhead. The Goths sacked Rome in 410, but was it also the end of Roman Britain? The issues likely to be debated in 2010 are discussed.
Pp 22-27 Barcombe Roman villa, by David Rudling, Chris Butler and Rob Wallace. Excavations have focussed on a villa and bath-house, but have extended further in 11 seasons of fieldwork.
In Current Archaeology April 2010
Pp 37-39 Late Roman Verulamium, by Sheppard Frere. The author responds to the article in the December issue in which Neil Faulkner and David Neal re-dated the end of Verulamium.
In The Alban Link Spring 2010
Pp 4-6 St Albans Cathedral copes, by Helen and Bob Francis. Describes the series of copes designed by Jackie Binns.
Pp 7-9 Angels in the Abbey, by Julie Reeves. Angels, in stained glass, embroidery, painted or carved, are described.
Pp10-12 St Albans and Magna Carta, by Julian Rawlins. A brief history of the Great Charter, and explanation of the St Albans connection.
Pp16-17 Birthe Kyolbe-Biddle, 1941-2010: a tribute, by Margaret Taylor. The archaeologist, with her husband Martin Biddle, led excavations of the Chapter House site from 1978.
In Herts Past and Present, Spring 2010
Pp 3-14 The Hertfordshire Primrose league in 1901, by Philip Sheail. The Primrose League was the most successful of the associations set up in the late 19th century by political parties. This article looks at the Hertford branch of the Conservative Primrose League, and seeks to show its aims were accomplished by examining the social background of its officers and executive council.
Pp 15-22 Merchant Taylors School at Ashwell, 1669-2001; the good, the bad and the absent, by David Short. Relates the struggles of schoolmasters to make a living, against a background of tension between clergy and schoolmaster, neglect, beating and corruption.
Pp 23-31 The Landed Gentry, by Lionel Munby. Lecture notes, left by the late author, on some of the county’s landed gentry, who came from backgrounds in brewing, banking, trade and law, newcomers to Hertfordshire, and their acceptance in county society.
In British Archaeology May-June 2010
P. 49 A rosy future for grey reports, by Stuart Jeffrey. The Archaeological Data Service hosts OASIS, an online archaeological event recording system, and the Library of Unpublished Field Reports. The latter are normally difficult to find and access. This new free, searchable service makes reports available to all.
Journals received
Current Archaeology
March 2010
History Today
February 2010.
Research News
(English Heritage) Winter 2009/2010
Hendon and District Archaeological Society Newsletter
March 2010
Hertfordshire People
March 2010
Bricket Wood Society Newsletter
March 2010
Landscape History
Vol 30, no 1, 2009
Conservation Bulletin
(English Heritage) Spring 2010
London Archaeologist
Spring 2010
Currrent Archaeology
May 2010