The Bayeux Tapestry is perhaps the most recognisable piece of early medieval art – and, almost 1,000 years after the brutal events that it depicts, rather friendlier relations between England and France have seen the famous embroidery travel to the British Museum for a hotly anticipated exhibition. Carly Hilts visited to learn more about what its images can tell us about life in the 11th century.
The cemetery – defined as a burial ground without an attached primary church or chapel – is a place where artistic, architectural, horticultural, historical, and literary interests are combined. Many were planned as places of botanical and geological instruction, while the epitaphs, extolling the moral virtues of the deceased, were intended to encourage emulation by the living. Appreciating their great value is a vital step towards ensuring that these spaces do not succumb to neglect and decline, as Chris Catling reports.
Mining is rooted in Cornish heritage and woven into the fabric of Cornwall’s historic landscape, and so it seems fitting, as we mark the 20th anniversary year of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape becoming a UNESCO World Heritage…
Simone Petacchi explores the often fragmentary evidence for women’s voices in ancient Egypt’s written culture.
Hilary Wilson shows how the ancient Egyptians were paid in food and drink.
In our high-speed modern world, it can be easy to forget that the ancient world was experienced at a slower speed. Rubina Raja shares the insights that can spring from exploring the edges of the Roman world on foot.
Sometime in the 1st century AD, a crass graffiti artist carved a 2m-long graffito into the wall of a stairwell within the House of Julia Felix at Pompeii. The mudslinger didn’t mince words. In it, they mocked a man who…
Does ‘balti’, the Birmingham-created curry named after the steel bowl in which the dish is cooked and served, count as part of the UK’s intangible heritage?
This appears to be a relatively ordinary cosmetic container, probably dating to sometime between the end of the 19th century and early 20th century. Inside, however, is a sinister note that may have been intended to ‘curse’ the owner of…
The Imperial War Museum (IWM) has acquired the complete Second World War archive of Britain’s most famous wartime entertainer, Dame Vera Lynn. She was nicknamed ‘The Forces’ Sweetheart’ after winning a 1940 newspaper poll for British servicemen’s favourite musical performer,…
It is said that reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body, so as well as trying (but not always succeeding) to keep the body trim by going for a short run every day, Sherds also (more successfully) sets aside time to spend with a book in the evening.
Food plays an important role in cultural identity, and can be used in archaeology to identify patterns of migration and assimilation. The early medieval inhabitants of Scandinavia are known to have had a marine-focused diet, but the extent to which…
A site as intensely studied as Deir el-Medina, with its wealth of written sources, has produced a huge literature – the navigation of which is immeasurably eased by the present volume. Originally published in the Dutch Egyptologische Uitgaven series in…
Temperance halls, hotels, coffee houses, memorials, and drinking fountains blossomed in the 19th century under the influence of the burgeoning teetotal movement. Most have now been converted to other uses, but they are still there – if you know where to look. A new Historic England book by Andrew Davison draws our attention to this forgotten heritage, as Chris Catling reports.
The walls of Pompeii are littered with messages left behind by the city’s inhabitants two millennia ago. Recent research is shedding new light on one of the richest concentrations of these ancient inscriptions.
Through her TV work and writing, Professor Alice Roberts is a powerful and effective advocate for archaeology in the public realm. In Domination, she extends her coverage to explore Christianity in Late Antiquity, unpicking the intimate connection between the spread of…
Excavations by York Archaeology on the site of a former hospital at Clifton Ings have shed light on the institution’s origins as a Victorian asylum, offering insights into how approaches to mental health care have changed over the centuries. Anne Jenner and Katherine Bradshaw report.
Are letter boxes, postage stamps, Christmas and birthday cards, love etters, thank you notes, pen pals, and postcards all destined to become archaic curiosities, like telephone kiosks? Denmark’s national postal service, PostNord, ended traditional letter delivery on 31 December 2025,…
Excavations in Wapping, east London, have uncovered tangible traces left by Victorian schoolboys, as well as illuminating glimpses of a diverse dockyard community. CA reports.
REVIEW BY MARC DeSANTIS Romans were hypocritical about gladiators. Typically slaves, criminals, or prisoners of war, they were seen by the upper crust as sitting squarely among the dregs of society. Yet they were admired, ogled, and cheered across the…
A newly published statue found at Gisr el-Mudir (Saqqara) in 2021 has revealed an unusual family portrait. The 100cm-high limestone figure depicts a nobleman standing in a typical Old Kingdom stance with his left foot forward, but also includes images…
Currently on the Historic England Heritage at Risk Register and described as being in ‘very bad’ condition, the Woolwich Rotunda is supported by a web of scaffolding and faces an uncertain future. Chris Catling reports on a new book that tells the story of this remarkable 200-year-old building – constructed as a ballroom and then repurposed as a military museum – and explains why it must be saved.
During the Black Death of 1347 to 1352, doctors wore bird-beaked masks filled with various herbs that were designed to protect the wearer from breathing poisoned air – or so we have been led to believe.
Blue plaque unveiled for Reverend Wilbert Awdry Historic England has unveiled a National Blue Plaque honouring children’s author and creator of Thomas the Tank Engine, the Reverend Wilbert Awdry. The plaque is located at 30 Rodborough Avenue in Stroud, on…
In his speech of thanks for the dinner that was given to mark his 70th birthday in 1927, the architect and designer C F A (Charles) Voysey (1857-1941) declared: ‘my work was never popular, therefore you must all see how…
Following on from CA’s review of the golden age of the chain store (CA 426), Chris Catling looks this month at the accommodation built in the Victorian and Edwardian eras for single working women: hostels, houses, and chambers that were designed to protect their morals but also gave a first taste of freedom and independence to the growing class of businesswomen and ‘bachelor girls’.
REVIEW BY KK The title of this book explains it all. Reading it is like stepping into a dimly lit, 19th-century hall of curiosities, with various unusual artefacts covering every available surface. By giving a tour through this bizarre exhibition,…
REVIEW BY ROGER FORSHAW Michelle Middleman’s new book presents a well-structured and perceptive exploration of how individuals attained administrative positions during Egypt’s early dynastic era. Focusing primarily on tomb biographies from the Sixth Dynasty, Middleman uses these inscriptions as a…
A well-worn joke goes that archaeologists find their careers in ruins. This is sometimes literally true: at least since the 1970s, and in cities on all inhabited continents, crises sparked by deindustrialisation, decay, and dereliction have been an assured portent of large-scale excavations. It is not just that when business goes down, archaeology goes in.
An exhibition at the Archaeological Park of Pompeii explores what life was like for Roman women.
Excavations at Eaton Socon, near St Neots, have revealed illuminating traces of a rural hamlet and the experiences of its working-class inhabitants over the course of more than a century. Isobel Woolhouse outlines some of the key findings.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the publication of a special edition of the prestigious Architectural Review. The June 1955 supplement was devoted to a now-famous single essay called ‘Outrage’, Ian Nairn’s critique of the ways in which Britain’s towns and cities were being rebuilt from the rubble and ruins of the Second World War.
What can the famous papyrus corpus tell us about the ordinary people of late-ancient Egypt? Richard J Britton investigates.
In her new book about High Street heritage, Kathryn Morrison takes us on a trip down memory lane and reminds us that design quality was once a proud part of a retailer’s branding and public appeal, shaping our shopping experiences and the appearance of our historic town centres. Some claim that the High Street is in decline, but the best shops from the past provide a legacy on which to build a bright future, as Chris Catling reports.
REVIEW BY CH Packed with more than 300 illustrations, this wide-ranging book is as much a feast for the eyes as it is a fascinating exploration of humanity’s relationship with food. Throughout history and across cultures, one thing that unites…
REVIEW BY PAULINE RIPAT Roman legends stressed the importance of babies in the foundation of Rome and its destiny to dominate. The unlikely birth of the twins Romulus and Remus from a Vestal Virgin, and their even more improbable survival…