Food and Drink in the Past: Trade

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archaeology, education, food and drink, Leicestershire, Loughborough, medieval, post-medieval, prehistory, WEA

In our last session, we discussed the importance of trade to what ends up on our plate. This short animation from TED-ed explains the significance of the Silk Road to the global exchange of goods and ideas.

We looked at some of the food stuffs that results from this exchange, one of which was chocolate. Chocolate was considered a great Georgian luxury, with only the most fashionable drinking the rich, dark delight. George I and George II enjoyed it so much they had their own private chocolate maker preparing the King’s chocolate in a private kitchen in Hampton Court Palace.

There is also an interesting cook-along for that most luxurious of Georgian chocolate drink, Chocolate Port:

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Food and Drink in the Past: Feasting

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archaeology, education, food and drink, Leicestershire, Loughborough, medieval, post-medieval, WEA

In our last session we looked at luxury and feasting as it related to food and drink, examining how this can be seen in different time periods and places, one of which was medieval and Tudor England. This video clip from Historic Royal Palaces shows Henry VIII’s kitchens at Hampton Court Palace. These are the largest surviving Renaissance kitchens in Europe. Occupying nearly one third of the ground floor of the Palace, 36,000 square feet, they have become internationally famous as the home of Tudor food.

Those who are interested in Tudor food may also enjoy watching Historic Royal Palace’s cookalong videos on Youtube including this one about how to make Sauge – a truly Tudor way to finish up those Christmas dinner leftovers:

Meanwhile those who are interested in celebratory food in the Victorian era may be interested in English Heritage’s series of videos on Youtube about ‘The Victorian Way’ including this one on how to make a Christmas cake:

Food and Drink in the Past: Hunter-Gatherers

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archaeology, education, food and drink, Leicestershire, Loughborough, medieval, post-medieval, prehistory, stone age, WEA

In the last session we listened to a short podcast called ‘Chasing Down Dinner’ produced by PBS Nova.  This interviewed Dan Lieberman, an evolutionary biologist at Harvard University, to discover why evolving an ability to run long distances might have been key to survival for early humans.

We also looked at how the conception of hunting from a necessary survival skill changed to one relating to social status through time. If you are interested in reading more about this topic, you may wish to check out the links below:

– Hunter-Gatherer (Wikipedia)
– Why ‘Bushman banter’ was crucial to hunter-gatherers’ evolutionary success (Guardian)
– What a hunter-gatherer diet does to the body in just three days (CNN)
– Hunting (Wikipedia)
– Medieval Hunting (Wikipedia)
– Medieval and Renaissance Hunting (Victoria and Albert Museum)

Scotland’s World Heritage Site Bucket List

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archaeology, Edinburgh, Heritage, medieval, Orkney, Places to Visit, post-medieval, prehistory, Properties, Roman, Roman Britain, Scotland, stone age

Heading to Scotland for your holidays this year? If so, and if you’re interested in archaeology and heritage, then you may be interested in the new Bucket List Challenge launched by Dig It 2017 which encourages people to visit Scotland’s six UNESCO World Heritage Sites, which between them cover over 5,000 years of history from stone to steel. Check out their website for more information.

Heritage Sundays in Leicester

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archaeology, England, Leicester, Leicestershire, medieval, Places to Visit, post-medieval

On the last Sunday of every month the Magazine Gateway, Leicester Castle and Wygston’s House are open to the public, with visitors invited to explore the buildings on their own or book onto a guided tour with one of the Blue Badge guides.

Heritage Sundays provide a wonderful opportunity to discover some of Leicester’s historical treasures right in the heart of the city, including two buildings that are normally closed to the public.

Tours are not suitable for small children and suitable footwear must be worn. General admission to the sites is free. Pre-booking of tours  is essential, contact the Visit Leicester centre, Gallowtree Gate on 0116 299 4444 or online via www.goleicestershire.com

Each Tour lasts one hour at a cost of £2.50 per tour or you can book for all three buildings on the same day for the discounted price of £6.

Guided Tours:
The Magazine, Oxford Street, Leicester: 11am
Wygston House, 12 Applegate, Leicester LE1 5LD: 1pm
Leicester Castle, Castle Yard LE1 5WH: 2.30pm

Breedon-on-the-Hill Church, Leicestershire

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archaeology, Britain, England, Heritage, Leicestershire, medieval, Places to Visit, post-medieval, Properties

Howard Williams is an archaeologist based at the University of Chester. His blog ‘archaeodeath’ recently took a look at the church at Breedon-on-the-Hill, Leicestershire, it’s history and the memorials there.

• Breedon-on-the-Hill 1: Early Medieval Stones
• Breedon-on-the-Hill 2: Modern Memorials

 

London Evolution Animation

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archaeology, Britain, England, Great Fire of London, London, medieval, post-medieval, Roman, Saxon

The London Evolution Animation (LEA) shows the historical development of London from Roman times to today, using georeferenced road network data brought together for the first time. The animation also visualises (as enlarged yellow points) the position and number of statutorily protected buildings and structures built during each period. The LEA was developed by The Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (UCL), as a partnership project between English Heritage, The Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction (University of Cambridge)/Dr Kiril Stanilov and Museum of London Archaeology (with the Mapping London and Locating London’s Past projects), and was initiated and directed by Polly Hudson (PhD).

Ralph Tailor’s Summer: A Scrivener, his City, and the Plague

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archaeology, Black Death, Britain, education, England, Plague, post-medieval, WEA

Those on the ‘Black Death’ course may be interested in a book by Keith Wrightson called ‘Ralph Tailor’s Summer: A Scrivener, his City, and the Plague‘ (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2011), which has recently been reviewed at the Contagions blog. This focuses on what happens to one man when the plague comes to Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1635-6.

Digital Flythrough the Streets of 17th century London

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archaeology, Britain, Great Fire of London, Great Plague of London, London, Plague, post-medieval

A team of six students from De Montfort University taking part in the Crytek Off the Map project  have built a 3D representation of 17th century London before The Great Fire of 1666. Whilst it is conjectural, they have used street maps of the time and details from contemporary documents like Samuel Pepys’ diary to make it as accurate as possible. It’s a fascinating clip and also very useful for helping to visualise the London of the Great Plague in 1665.

Where can I visit in Nottinghamshire?

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archaeology, Heritage, medieval, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, Places to Visit, post-medieval, Properties

There are plenty of places around the country that can enhance the learning experience by providing an up-close-and-personal look at the past. We often think first and foremost of the big national museums such as the British Museum, but there are some local gems too that we should also make the most of. In this post I’m going to list a few that I think are worthy of a visit in Nottinghamshire, perhaps as part of a family day out, but since this clearly cannot be an exhaustive list, if anyone has any other suggestions please leave them in the comments.

1. Galleries of Justice Museum, Nottingham: also known as the Shire Hall, this is an independent museum in the Lace Market area of Nottingham. The courtrooms date back to the 14th century and the gaol dates back to at least 1449. The prisons are still there. There was also a working police station from 1905 to 1985, and the courts closed in 1986. A joint ticket is available which includes the City of Caves beneath the Broadmarsh Shopping Centre.

2. Holme Pierrepont Hall, Nottingham: A grade I listed medieval hall that is open to the public on a limited basis.

3. Newark Castle and Gardens, Newark: Tours of the castle, ruined during the Civil War, are available. The Gilstrap Heritage Centre is a free-admission museum in the castle grounds about the history of the town of Newark.

4. Nottingham Castle, Nottingham: houses most of the City of Nottingham’s fine and decorative art collections, galleries on the history and archaeology of Nottingham and the surrounding areas, and the regimental museum of the Sherwood Foresters. Ticketing for the museum is now combined with admission to the Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard located nearby in five 17th-century cottages at the bottom of the castle rock.

5. The Workhouse, Southwell: A National Trust property, this is one of the most complete workhouses still in existence.

6. Wollaton Hall, Nottingham: This 16th century country house now contains the Nottingham Natural History Museum with the Nottingham Industrial Museum in the outbuildings.

7. Mr Straw’s House, Worksop: A National Trust property, this shows how a grocer’s family would have lived in the 1920s.

8. Rufford Abbey, Ollerton: The best-preserved remains of a Cistercian abbey west cloister range in England, dating mainly from around 1170. Incorporated into part of a 17th century and later mansion, set in Rufford Country Park.

9. Mattersey Priory, Mattersey: The remains, mainly the 13th century refectory and kitchen, of a small monastery for just six Gilbertine canons – the only wholly English monastic order.