WAG with Time Team at Bitterley. Please click here
| WAG Activities | |
| Meetings and Activities | Digs |
| . | 20/5/2012 Severn Valley Railway |
| . | 27/5/2012 Severn Valley Railway |
| 30/5/2012 Ian George Cultures of SW America | . |
Sat July 14th. Field Trip. Four castles and a Manor House.Another grand mystery tour led by Chris Robinson. Please keep this date free (and come along). | . |
| Carole Griffith's Archaeology for Schools classes. | Our Sister Societies |
| Dunsley Hall Tea Rooms, Kinver recommended. | |
| Help. Do you know this church furniture? Please click here to view. | |
| Read our Project Reports at the Open Archive. Please click here. | |
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Bottom left Adrian discusses the dig with the public. Bottom right The dig was buzzing!
| Chairman: | Clive Westwood | email Clive | Contacts: | Sue Foster Jan/Martin Holland | 07790 837096 01902 562568 |
Social Secretary: | Jan Holland | email Jan | Treasurer: | Jan Holland | email Jan | Publicity: | Sue Foster | email Sue | Research: | Sue Foster | email Sue | Webmaster: | Martin Holland | email Martin | Schools education project: | Carole Griffiths | email Carole |
The Wolverhampton Archaeology Group aims to support and encourage the practice
of archaeology in and around the City of Wolverhampton.
There are regular meetings which are detailed under the "events" section and
archaeology projects which are undertaken by group members.
WAG News
August 16th, Visit to the Wodehouse, Wombourne.
The first of 2 Summer events organised by Jan. Some of us have been to the open garden days but this was an opportunity to have a tour of this 11th century house. It has seen many additions and alterations in its long history and has never been sold but passed down through the family. It is a lovely old house lovingly cared for by its current owners. We had a fascinating and very enjoyable time. Thank you Jan for organising this.
July 11th WAG Field Trip led by Chris Robinson
Another highly succesful and enjoyable Field Trip led by Chris. We started at Tong church and discovered some old floor tiles hidden under rugs. Tong chuch boasts a "virtual grave" for Little Nell. We offered to excavate it but it fell on deaf ears.
The next place was Boscobel House where we had a very good guided tour by a senior member of staff there. Notable were the Indian running ducks whose shape was unlike "normal" English ducks.
Then on to White Ladies priory where we found others had been illegally excavating. We assessed the trenches, took photographs and alerted Boscobel house to the activity.
The final port of call (for an airfield?) was the Cosford aerospace museum where you could get up close and personal to the aircraft. They aren't half big close up. Half way through the hangars were cleared so we could watch a lone Lancaster make a Battle of Britain memorial fly past.
Yet another great day out. Thank you Chris.
June 29th, Maureen Kassem. Prehistoric Art
Maureen always gives a top quality talk and this was no exception. Her talk was mainly about prehistoric rock art, amply supplemented with pictures. It seems that prehistoric art was done in remote cave areas by shamans and they used features of the rock to incorporate into their drawings as a way of making the animal actually part of the rock itsdelf.
June 10th to 11th, Penn History Fair.
The Penn History Fair has many interesting stand illustring local history and WAG was there, of course. It is a pity that attendance by the general public is not as good as it could be.
May 11th, Graham Worton. Black Gold under the Red Rock
This was a tale of Henry Johnson, an 18th century geologist who thought that there were large coal seams under the sandstone. At that time, it was thought that the coal only extended up to the sandstone and would soon run out. His idea was highly speculative but he persisted and raised enough capital to start drilling. After many setbacks he eventually found a thick coal seam underneath the sandstone. This new source of coal was found country wide and greatly extended the life of the coal industry and iron making. It extended the life of the industrial revolution. He had problems with the Bailey brothers, geologists hired by the owner of the land. Graham ended the talk by reading extracts from letters between Henry Johnson and the Bailey brothers. These were highly entertaining and demonstrated the art of genteel defamation by understatement! Eventually it was clear that the Bailey brothers' professional integrity was in danger and the editor published an apology blaming a reporter. Amazing what money can do and how nothing changes.
April 27th, Ian George on Emnglish Heritage.
Ian described how English Heritage has evolved over the years and how it now looks after sites of historic importance. His talk created a record number of questions and a very good discussion.
Mar 30th, AGM and Glynn Barratt on St Kilda.
Glynn stayed on St Kilda for a while as an archaeologist. His photos showed St Kilda as a wild, rugged and very beautiful place. There are remains of circular stone buildings but their significance is unsure. A highlight was his video sequences of the wild birds.
Feb 16th, Adrian Durkin. A personal view of Egypt's artefacts.
Adrian gave his usual excellent talk on some of Egypt's artefacts. He started with a time line which put Egypt's history into context and then talked about the beginnings of the Pharaonic age starting at Saqqara and the need for mummification to preserve the bodies and shabtis to do all the work in the afterlife. Then (topically) a run through of the Book of the Dead.
Jan 26th, Philip Jones. The Millfields Explosion.
Philip talked about an explosion at the Millfields iron works. A boiler blew up and killed several workers. The problem was poor quality joints in the wrought iron boiler (which heated water using the flue gases from the furnaces), when a better quality steel was introduced, boilers were safer. He continued to talk about the workers and their families who were affected which put the archaeology into a social history context and brought it to life.
Nov 24th 2010, The History of RAF Cosford. Sqdn Leader Graham Lee.
A great piece of local history illustrating the role RAF Cosford played during the war and afterwards. It is still in the throes of political intrigue so its long term future is insecure, but it has a past to be proud of.
Oct 20th 2010, What did the Egyptian Medics do for us? Stuart Williams.
Not a lot, apparently. Their knowledge of the human body was poor, they did not know about the circulatory system and were obsessed with their bowels (hence their term for a proctologist, herdsman of the anus). They were good at practical things like healing wounds, broken bones and snake bites. Stuart delivered the talk with wit and good humour and has been asked to return in 2012.
Sept 20th 2010, The making of the English Landscape. David Vodden.
August 13th 2010, Visit to Bank's Brewery, Jan Holland.
We enjoyed a visit to Bank's brewery and it was good to see the art of brewing is still alive and well. Marmite and Bovril are also by products. Afterwards we relaxed in their bar and enjoyed a drink (but not of Bovril!). Thanks Jan, must do it again.
July 17th 2010, Field Trip, Chris Robinson
A great day out around Shropshire ending up at the Battle of Shrewsbury site and a good farm shop. Thanks Chris.
June 30th 2010, Upstairs Downstairs. Patricia Boyd
Probably the best talk of the year, if not the decade. With no projection facilities, just a few teatowels, Patricia gave a fascinating and most entertaining talk about life upstairs and downstairs in Victorian England. We have asked her to return next year with her sequel "What the Butler saw".
May 18th 2010, Milestones. Terry Keegan.
Terry, from the Milestones Society, described the natural history of milestones from Roman times right up to the 2nd World War (when many were removed to confuse the invading Germans, if not the locals). His society is doing some valuable work in restoring milestones which are deteriorating. Looking for milestones is not without risk, Terry was nearly in trouble with the law for loitering (without intent, I may say) close to a VIP's house when searching for a reluctant milestone.
April 28th Annual General Meeting and talk on Egypt.
After the AGM, Martin gave a talk "A Postcard from Egypt". He and Jan had just returned from an EES Heineken tour of Egypt (reached the parts that other tours cannot reach). After waking the audience up with a postcard showing a circumcision scene from a 3rd dynasty tomb (to illustrate what the Egyptians wanted from the afterlife) the tour continued from Alexandria through Cairo, the Fayyum, Amarna and a desert quarry.
March 31st 2010 Inn Signs, Alan Rose.
Alan has collected many thousands of Inn Signs over the years ranging from the Romans to the Man in the Moon. "The Bush" is a direct descendant of vine leaves used for a Roman hostelry.
The first of 2 Summer events organised by Jan. Some of us have been to the open garden days but this was an opportunity to have a tour of this 11th century house. It has seen many additions and alterations in its long history and has never been sold but passed down through the family. It is a lovely old house lovingly cared for by its current owners. We had a fascinating and very enjoyable time. Thank you Jan for organising this.
July 11th WAG Field Trip led by Chris Robinson
Another highly succesful and enjoyable Field Trip led by Chris. We started at Tong church and discovered some old floor tiles hidden under rugs. Tong chuch boasts a "virtual grave" for Little Nell. We offered to excavate it but it fell on deaf ears.
The next place was Boscobel House where we had a very good guided tour by a senior member of staff there. Notable were the Indian running ducks whose shape was unlike "normal" English ducks.
Then on to White Ladies priory where we found others had been illegally excavating. We assessed the trenches, took photographs and alerted Boscobel house to the activity.
The final port of call (for an airfield?) was the Cosford aerospace museum where you could get up close and personal to the aircraft. They aren't half big close up. Half way through the hangars were cleared so we could watch a lone Lancaster make a Battle of Britain memorial fly past.
Yet another great day out. Thank you Chris.
June 29th, Maureen Kassem. Prehistoric Art
Maureen always gives a top quality talk and this was no exception. Her talk was mainly about prehistoric rock art, amply supplemented with pictures. It seems that prehistoric art was done in remote cave areas by shamans and they used features of the rock to incorporate into their drawings as a way of making the animal actually part of the rock itsdelf.
June 10th to 11th, Penn History Fair.
The Penn History Fair has many interesting stand illustring local history and WAG was there, of course. It is a pity that attendance by the general public is not as good as it could be.
May 11th, Graham Worton. Black Gold under the Red Rock
This was a tale of Henry Johnson, an 18th century geologist who thought that there were large coal seams under the sandstone. At that time, it was thought that the coal only extended up to the sandstone and would soon run out. His idea was highly speculative but he persisted and raised enough capital to start drilling. After many setbacks he eventually found a thick coal seam underneath the sandstone. This new source of coal was found country wide and greatly extended the life of the coal industry and iron making. It extended the life of the industrial revolution. He had problems with the Bailey brothers, geologists hired by the owner of the land. Graham ended the talk by reading extracts from letters between Henry Johnson and the Bailey brothers. These were highly entertaining and demonstrated the art of genteel defamation by understatement! Eventually it was clear that the Bailey brothers' professional integrity was in danger and the editor published an apology blaming a reporter. Amazing what money can do and how nothing changes.
April 27th, Ian George on Emnglish Heritage.
Ian described how English Heritage has evolved over the years and how it now looks after sites of historic importance. His talk created a record number of questions and a very good discussion.
Mar 30th, AGM and Glynn Barratt on St Kilda.
Glynn stayed on St Kilda for a while as an archaeologist. His photos showed St Kilda as a wild, rugged and very beautiful place. There are remains of circular stone buildings but their significance is unsure. A highlight was his video sequences of the wild birds.
Feb 16th, Adrian Durkin. A personal view of Egypt's artefacts.
Adrian gave his usual excellent talk on some of Egypt's artefacts. He started with a time line which put Egypt's history into context and then talked about the beginnings of the Pharaonic age starting at Saqqara and the need for mummification to preserve the bodies and shabtis to do all the work in the afterlife. Then (topically) a run through of the Book of the Dead.
Jan 26th, Philip Jones. The Millfields Explosion.
Philip talked about an explosion at the Millfields iron works. A boiler blew up and killed several workers. The problem was poor quality joints in the wrought iron boiler (which heated water using the flue gases from the furnaces), when a better quality steel was introduced, boilers were safer. He continued to talk about the workers and their families who were affected which put the archaeology into a social history context and brought it to life.
Nov 24th 2010, The History of RAF Cosford. Sqdn Leader Graham Lee.
A great piece of local history illustrating the role RAF Cosford played during the war and afterwards. It is still in the throes of political intrigue so its long term future is insecure, but it has a past to be proud of.
Oct 20th 2010, What did the Egyptian Medics do for us? Stuart Williams.
Not a lot, apparently. Their knowledge of the human body was poor, they did not know about the circulatory system and were obsessed with their bowels (hence their term for a proctologist, herdsman of the anus). They were good at practical things like healing wounds, broken bones and snake bites. Stuart delivered the talk with wit and good humour and has been asked to return in 2012.
Sept 20th 2010, The making of the English Landscape. David Vodden.
August 13th 2010, Visit to Bank's Brewery, Jan Holland.
We enjoyed a visit to Bank's brewery and it was good to see the art of brewing is still alive and well. Marmite and Bovril are also by products. Afterwards we relaxed in their bar and enjoyed a drink (but not of Bovril!). Thanks Jan, must do it again.
July 17th 2010, Field Trip, Chris Robinson
A great day out around Shropshire ending up at the Battle of Shrewsbury site and a good farm shop. Thanks Chris.
June 30th 2010, Upstairs Downstairs. Patricia Boyd
Probably the best talk of the year, if not the decade. With no projection facilities, just a few teatowels, Patricia gave a fascinating and most entertaining talk about life upstairs and downstairs in Victorian England. We have asked her to return next year with her sequel "What the Butler saw".
May 18th 2010, Milestones. Terry Keegan.
Terry, from the Milestones Society, described the natural history of milestones from Roman times right up to the 2nd World War (when many were removed to confuse the invading Germans, if not the locals). His society is doing some valuable work in restoring milestones which are deteriorating. Looking for milestones is not without risk, Terry was nearly in trouble with the law for loitering (without intent, I may say) close to a VIP's house when searching for a reluctant milestone.
April 28th Annual General Meeting and talk on Egypt.
After the AGM, Martin gave a talk "A Postcard from Egypt". He and Jan had just returned from an EES Heineken tour of Egypt (reached the parts that other tours cannot reach). After waking the audience up with a postcard showing a circumcision scene from a 3rd dynasty tomb (to illustrate what the Egyptians wanted from the afterlife) the tour continued from Alexandria through Cairo, the Fayyum, Amarna and a desert quarry.
March 31st 2010 Inn Signs, Alan Rose.
Alan has collected many thousands of Inn Signs over the years ranging from the Romans to the Man in the Moon. "The Bush" is a direct descendant of vine leaves used for a Roman hostelry.
We enjoyed a visit to Bank's brewery and it was good to see the art of brewing is still alive and well. Marmite and Bovril are also by products. Afterwards we relaxed in their bar and enjoyed a drink (but not of Bovril!). Thanks Jan, must do it again.
July 17th 2010, Field Trip, Chris Robinson
A great day out around Shropshire ending up at the Battle of Shrewsbury site and a good farm shop. Thanks Chris.
June 30th 2010, Upstairs Downstairs. Patricia Boyd
Probably the best talk of the year, if not the decade. With no projection facilities, just a few teatowels, Patricia gave a fascinating and most entertaining talk about life upstairs and downstairs in Victorian England. We have asked her to return next year with her sequel "What the Butler saw".
May 18th 2010, Milestones. Terry Keegan.
Terry, from the Milestones Society, described the natural history of milestones from Roman times right up to the 2nd World War (when many were removed to confuse the invading Germans, if not the locals). His society is doing some valuable work in restoring milestones which are deteriorating. Looking for milestones is not without risk, Terry was nearly in trouble with the law for loitering (without intent, I may say) close to a VIP's house when searching for a reluctant milestone.
April 28th Annual General Meeting and talk on Egypt.
After the AGM, Martin gave a talk "A Postcard from Egypt". He and Jan had just returned from an EES Heineken tour of Egypt (reached the parts that other tours cannot reach). After waking the audience up with a postcard showing a circumcision scene from a 3rd dynasty tomb (to illustrate what the Egyptians wanted from the afterlife) the tour continued from Alexandria through Cairo, the Fayyum, Amarna and a desert quarry.
March 31st 2010 Inn Signs, Alan Rose.
Alan has collected many thousands of Inn Signs over the years ranging from the Romans to the Man in the Moon. "The Bush" is a direct descendant of vine leaves used for a Roman hostelry.
"New Inns" are actually the oldest. Queen Elizabeth 1st decreed there should be a pub every 19 miles (a day's travel for a donkey and about the same distance between motorway service stations although the donkeys travel much faster now).
"The Talbot" refers to an old breed of hunting dog, originally pure white with a curly tail.
A fascinating talk which gave rise to much discussion afterwards. For more information, see the Inn Sign Society http://www.innsignsociety.com
February 24th 2010 Sutton Hoo. Maureen Kassem.
Maureen gave an excellent talk on Sutton Hoo. She described the excavations at the site, the ship burial and some of the artefacts found there. It is clear that this site was in continuous use from the Bronze Age (possibly even the Neolithic) right up to Christian times. Was it a protest against the spread of Christianity from Kent? Of particular interest was a comparison with some of the items found in the Staffordshire Hoard. Was there a workshop here which made items common to both or were they all imported from Sweden?
January 27th 2010,The Archaeology of the Cinema. Ned Williams.
Ned explained that the history of the cinema began in 1910 with the Cinematography Act which regulated how films could be shown to the public. However, the archaeology began in 1895 with the discovery of the cinematographic process by the Lumiere brothers. This was rapidly taken up by travelling fairs which could adapt their facilities for showing magic lantern shows to show them. He continued by showing some examples of early films and described how these had been found in the vault of a old film maker and had been rescued. (So that is where they dig up those old B movies :-)).
November 25th 2009 Project Reports
Martin started by describing the work done at the Priory, Dudley, in which geophysical evidence for a 20 by 30m building had been found.
Clive continued with his excavation of a putative dwelling place at Wrottesley.
Sue followed whith recent excavations at Hardwick and showed photographs of some of the finds. THe current trench contained two dark linear features which may be shadows of wooden beams.
The evening finished with Martin describing pseudosections. These show a vertical slice of resistivity and he described how a series of these could be put togetgher to produce a pseudoplan.
October 21st 2009, Dawley's Industrial History, Malcolm Peel
Malcolm showed, using photographs, how Dawley developed in the 18th century. <>/h3>
September 30th 2009, The Glories of Classical Greece. Adrian Durkin
A fascinating talk in which Adrian put Classical Greece into its historical context with pictures and artefacts.
July 18th 2009, Field Trip to Ludlow and Titterstone Clee led by Chris Robinson
This year the rain held off. After an early start we went straight to Ludlow and spent some time visiting the castle. The next place was an Elizabethan house close to the castle. We had seen this the last time we were here but did not have time to visit. It was well worth it. After lunch we drove home via Titterstone Clee where we admired the views from the top. Another very enjoyable field trip, thanks to Chris for organising it.
June 24th 2009 Home grown. Clive and Martin.
We had to fill in for a speaker who had double booked. Clive showed slides of our recent trip to Ireland. Martin showed a video of Newgrange and also gave a presentation on ancient Irish symbols.
May 20th, 2009 Analytical techniques in Archaeology. Kate Farr and Rachel Smith.
Kate described some of the methods we can use for dating sites such as radiocarbon dating and pollen. Rachel then showed how she was measuring the temperature of the eath in prehistoric times from peat bog core sampkes. She was hoping to verify the recent mini ice ages.
April 29th AGM
Afterwards, Martin gave a talk on the Priory project.
March 25th, 2009 Metal Detecting. Jim Wall
Jim took us through some of the work that his team of metal detectorists has done.
February 25th, 2009 The Bayeux Tapestry. Maureen Kassem.
Our favourite speaker gave an excellent talk on the Bayeux Tapestry. I did not realise that it was such an important historical document as it depicted in embroidered scenes, the history leading up to the Battle of Hastings.
January 28th, 2009 Kinver Rock Houses. David Bills.
An entertaining talk by David who mentioned that Kinver was once known as the Switzerland of the West Midlands. His wife runs the Pharmacological Garden in Kinver which is open to the public.
WAG Meetings
Wolverhampton College
Paget Road
Wolverhampton
Time 7.00pm,
Entrance fee £2.00 (non-members).
Contact: Jan on 01902 562568.
2011
Jan 26th Philip Jones. The Millfields Explosion.
Feb 16th Adrian Durkin. A personal view of Egypt's artefacts.
Mar 30th AGM followed by Glynn Barratt on his year at St Kilda.
Apr 27th Ian George. The work of an English Heritage inspector.
May 18th Graham Worton. Black Gold under the Red Rock.
Jun 29th Maureen Kassem. Prehistoric Art.
Jul 16th Field trip (Saturday), details to be announced.
August social event to be arranged.
Sep 28th Patricia Boyd. What the Butler saw (back by popular demand).
Oct 12th John Everall. Archive Conservation.
Nov 30th Project Reports.
Dec 14th WAG Christmas meal.
2012
Jan 25th Stuart Williams The discovery of Egypt.
Feb 29th Adrian Durkin Medieval Food and Cookery.
Mar 28th Anthony Perry The Folds of Wolverhampton.
Apr 25th AGM Patricia Boyd Watch your language.
May 30th Ian George SW USA.
Jun 27th Steve Wallis Viking Grave in Dorset.
Jul 14th Field Trip.
Aug Summer event.
Sep 26th Alan Peace Himley Hall.
Oct 24th Graham Worton TBA.
Nov 28th Project Reports.
Dec 19th Christmas meal.
Useful Web Sites
- Archaeology Societies and Groups
- Archives and Museums
- The British Library
- The British Museum
- Current Archaeology
- Historic Monuments Commission
- Museum of London
- Public Record Office & Virtual Museum
- Virtual Library of Archaeology
- Egyptology
- The British Museum Ancient Civilisations site
- 5000 years of Egyptian History
- University of Cambridge Egyptology site
- The Theban Mapping Project
- Genealogy
- Local History
- BUBL Information service
- Institute of Historical Research
- Local History magazine
- Wolverhampton Community website
- Wolverhampton History & Heritage website
- Sites