Post-Medieval Books

Archaeology and Development

by Chris Dalglish and Stephen T Driscoll

With contributions by Irene Maver, Norman F Shead and Ingrid Shearer

This survey gives an accessible and broad-ranging synthesis of the history and archaeology of Govan, and aims to inform conservation guidance for future development.

Situated on the south bank of the river Clyde, just to the west of Glasgow, Govan to most people is synonymous with shipbuilding and social deprivation. Govan is, however, a remarkable place, with a history stretching back to the fifth or sixth century AD when it was a seat of royal and religious power. The church of Govan Old stands upon one of the oldest Christian sites in western Scotland. A key factor in its history has been its location at a major river crossing, where the Kelvin joins the Clyde, and the book also considers the role of Partick on the opposite bank in the medieval period.

Infernal Traffic

Excavation of a Liberated African Graveyard in Rupert’s Valley, St Helena

Andrew Pearson, Ben Jeffs, Annsofie Witkin & Helen MacQuarrie

Britain’s abolition of the slave trade in 1807 did not end the traffic of human beings across the Atlantic. Indeed, for many decades to come, hundreds of thousands of enslaved Africans continued to be shipped into slavery. From 1840 to 1872 the remote South Atlantic island of St Helena played a pivotal role in Britain’s efforts to suppress the slave trade, and over this time it received over 25,000 ‘liberated Africans’, taken from slave ships by Royal Navy patrols. Conditions aboard the slavers were appalling, and many did not survive the journey. Rupert’s Valley therefore became a graveyard to many thousands of Africans – ‘a valley of dry bones’ in the words of a visiting missionary.

The New Antiquarians

50 years of archaeological research in Wessex

Edited by Rowan Whimster

For many people, Wessex means Stonehenge, Avebury and the other iconic monuments of prehistory. In reality its chalkland landscapes have played host to a far longer and richer sequence of communities – from Palaeolithic hunters to Iron Age farmers and Roman citizens; from Anglo-Saxon settlers and medieval merchants to the navvies who built the Kennet & Avon Canal and the Australian soldiers who trained for the trenches of the First World War.

Renewed Life for Scottish Castles

by Richard Fawcett and Allan Rutherford

Castles, both ruined and occupied, are amongst the most deeply evocative buildings in the Scottish landscape. This book considers the history of the conservation and restoration of a number of those buildings against the background of what the idea of the castle has meant to Scots over the centuries.

Laying the Foundations

A history and archaeology of the Trent Valley sand and gravel industry

by Tim Cooper

The aggregates industry is perhaps the quintessential industry of the 20th century, quite literally shaping our world, but its history and archaeology have arguably been neglected. In this ground-breaking new book, the author Tim Cooper attempts to redress the balance with an in-depth but accessible study of the sand and gravel industry of the Trent Valley in the English Midlands.

Houses and the Hearth Tax

The later Stuart house and society

edited by PS Barnwell & Malcolm Airs

The Hearth Tax (1662–89) is the only national listing of people between the medieval poll taxes and the 19th century census returns. It was a property tax, assumed to approximate to the householders’ wealth, measured by the number of their fireplaces.

War Art

Murals and graffiti – military life, power and subversion

by Wayne Cocroft, Danielle Devlin, John Schofield and Roger JC Thomas

This book presents in accessible and visual form the diversity and significance of modern military wall art, largely in Britain, but set within its wider geographical and historical context.

Beaches, Fields, Streets, and Hills

The anti-invasion landscapes of England, 1940

by William Foot with a foreword by Professor Richard Holmes

RR144 Beaches This book presents the results of a two-year project funded by English Heritage to examine the 1940/41 anti-invasion landscapes of England.

The Vernacular Workshop

From craft to industry, 1400–1900

edited by PS Barnwell, Marilyn Palmer and Malcolm Airs

This research report examines the material evidence for the historical development, architectural characteristics and diverse uses of vernacular workshops.

Thomas Telford's Holyhead Road

The A5 in north Wales

by Jamie Quartermaine, Barrie Trinder and Rick Turner

This highly readable and well-illustrated volume will provide the first comprehensive survey of the spectacular Welsh section of Thomas Telford’s London to Holyhead Road.

Early Post-Medieval Vessel Glass in England

Early post-medieval vessel glass in England: c. 1500–1670

by Hugh Willmott

This illustrated guide is the first comprehensive classification of vessel glass found in England between 1500–1670. During the early post-medieval period, vessel glass was transformed from a rare luxury item to a medium that was used by the wider population.

Archaeology and Conservation in Ironbridge

by Richard Hayman, Wendy Horton and Shelley White

The Ironbridge Gorge is the physical embodiment of the profound technological and social changes that underlie the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries.

Grave Concerns

Death and burial in England 1700–1850

edited by Margaret Cox

In April 1997, a group of archaeologists, historians, anthropologists and social scientists came together at a conference at Bournemouth University to discuss death and burial in England between 1700 and 1850. This report, based on the conference, is the first publication to look at this subject using a wide range of sources and investigative approaches.

Info: 276pp, 128 illustrations
OUT OF PRINT

Industrial Archaeology

A Handbook

by Marilyn Palmer, Michael Nevell and Mark Sissons

IA cover The Council for British Archaeology was the first organisation to use the term ‘Industrial Archaeology’, over 50 years ago. This new book, the latest in the CBA’s popular Practical Handbook series, celebrates our commitment to Industrial Archaeology.

Recording and Analysing Graveyards

by Harold Mytum

This book aims to help everyone appreciate graveyards, cemeteries, and their monuments, but it is also intended to inspire and encourage action in the form of recording and analysis.

20th Century Defences in Britain

An introductory guide

Handbook of the Defence of Britain Project (Revised edition)

edited by B Lowry

During the First and Second World Wars, Britain’s landscape was transformed by a wide variety of military constructions – pill boxes, anti-tank obstacles, coastal batteries, bombing decoys, radar stations, airfield, and many more.

Fixture and Fittings

Fixture and fittings in dated houses 1567–1763

by NW Alcock and Linda Hall, drawings by Linda Hall

This well illustrated handbook is dedicated to the dating and cataloguing of fixtures, fittings and decorative details.

Churches and Chapels

Investigating places of worship (Revised edition)

by David Parsons

This handbook is a ‘must have’ for church visitors and students who like to reach their own conclusions about the history and development of a church building.

Recording a Church

An illustrated glossary (Revised edition)

by Thomas Cocke, Donald Finley, Richard Halsey and Elizabeth Williamson, with drawings by George Wilson and David Rust

A comprehensive glossary, giving brief definitions of over 500 terms used to describe church architecture and furniture, amply illustrate with simple and clearly labelled drawings, this handbook will be an invaluable aid to anyone with an interest in the subject.

Medieval Urbanism in Coppergate

Refining a townscape

by RA Hall and K Hunter-Mann

Excavation of four medieval properties in Coppergate, a street known to be particularly prosperous in the 13th–15th centuries, has revealed the most extensive archaeological view of an 11th- to 17th-century secular townscape ever recovered in York.

St Mary’s Abbey and The King’s Manor, York

The Pictorial Evidence

Barbara Wilson and Frances Mee

St Mary’s was the foremost Benedictine Abbey in the North of England.

St Mary's cover After the dissolution of the monasteries the Abbot’s Lodging, now known as the King’s Manor, became headquarters of the King’s Council in the North; it is now part of the University of York.

Modern Military Matters

Studying and managing the twentieth-century defence heritage in Britain: a discussion document

by John Schofield

This book provides a concise statement of the state of knowledge and future research priorities relating to twentieth-century military remains in Britain – an emerging area of intense archaeological investigation.

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