UK

Exhibitions, events, and heritage from home across the UK

As autumn approaches, there are many fantastic opportunities to get involved in history, heritage, and archaeology around the UK, including new exhibitions, events, and conferences. There are also still plenty of online resources available if you’re looking for ways to get your heritage fix at home, ranging from new virtual museums to podcasts, TV shows, and more. Amy Brunskill has put together a selection of some of the options available.

LEFT The Lost King is a new film about the rediscovery of Richard III’s grave in 2012. Here, Sally Hawkins is shown as Philippa Langley, the amateur historian who spearheaded the search, and Harry Lloyd appears as Richard III. He wears armour based on pieces from the Wallace Collection, where a temporary exhibition about arms, armour, and the last Plantagenet king is now running.

The Lost King: imagining Richard III at the Wallace Collection

A finely crafted suit of armour can be as much a work of art as it is a carefully honed piece of military technology. Carly Hilts visited the Wallace Collection to explore a new temporary exhibition that showcases its internationally important holdings of arms and armour, tying into a new film about the search for Richard III’s grave.

Finds tray – medieval staff terminal

This is the terminal of a medieval staff, which was recently discovered by a metal-detectorist near St Mary in the Marsh, Kent. Many similar objects have been identified over the centuries across England – including several examples recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Medicine cabinet (2) © National Museums Scotland.

Exhibitions, events, and heritage from home this autumn

There is a fantastic selection of historical and archaeological events on offer over the coming months, ranging from exhibitions exploring medieval armour and 19th-century anatomical study to local society conferences and symposiums. There are also still many different ways to get involved in history and heritage at home, with virtual tours of historical sites, podcasts, games, apps, and much more. Amy Brunskill has put together a summary of some of the options available.

Above This 18th century image shows the loss of ships including HMS Northumberland during the Great Storm of 1703. It is held by the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich: www.rmg.co.uk/collections/ objects/rmgc object

HMS Northumberland: diving a victim of the Great Storm of 1703

When HMS Northumberland sank off the Kent coast in 1703, the wreck remained lost for almost three centuries – until erosion of the sandbank shielding its remains brought the ship to light once more. Daniel Pascoe told Carly Hilts how archaeologists are now racing against time and tide to record as much of the site as possible before it deteriorates.

LEFT Stromness Museum is home to a temporary exhibition exploring some of the latest finds from The Cairns in Orkney.

The Cairns and the Newark Project, Orkney

This summer, CA Editor Carly Hilts travelled to Orkney to catch up on recent archaeological research in the islands (watch this space for future features). While there, she also visited exhibitions showcasing discoveries from two more excavations, at Stromness Museum, and the Orkney Museum in Kirkwall.

Growing up human: the evolution of childhood

Review by Joe Flatman. Growing Up Human examines the history of childhood in the broadest sense, from reproductive options through conception and eventual transference into adulthood, by way of gestation, birth, early years, childhood, and adolescence. The book was, clearly,…