Archive

Posts from December 2021


  • 30th December 2021
Printing on Ice: Worcester’s ‘frost fair’

Frost fairs are more commonly known to have been held on the River Thames, the most recent example being in London in 1814. Examples of provincial frost fairs include one held in Shrewsbury in 1739. A printed souvenir held within the archives from 1855 has led us to investigate whether there is any evidence of...

  • 27th December 2021
Snow scenes in photo collection

These wonderful photos of snowy Worcester are within a collection deposited by a local photographer. Philip Ruler passed on several volumes of photographs, mostly from the 1990s, to add to the Archives. These have recently been catalogued by Tom, our Trainee Archivist. With his role we are giving him a range of work to provide...

  • 20th December 2021
Iron Age Discoveries on the Upton A38 Roundabout Scheme

An Iron Age enclosure dating from about 2,250 years ago has recently been excavated by our archaeologists. We have excavated many Iron Age settlements over the years, but this one differs from other sites we’ve worked on. The location is on the site of a new roundabout being constructed by Worcestershire County Council at the...

  • 10th December 2021
Calne excavation highlights

A hint of Saxon archaeology, medieval town plots, a lime kiln, pits, ditches and more – a fair wishlist for any town centre excavation! We’ve recently excavated an area in the medieval core of Calne, in north Wiltshire, on behalf of Orion Heritage and Churchill Retirement Living. Now fieldwork is finished, finds and environmental analysis...

  • 8th December 2021
Walking With Animals: Along Drove Roads & Ancient Byways

Walking through the landscape – a pastime for some and lifestyle for others. Drawing on excavations of an Iron Age site, our Environmental Archaeologist Liz Pearson continues our exploration of prehistoric landscapes. In this blog, she traces the footsteps (and hoof prints) of ancient herders from the past to present day. A stream of animals...

  • 1st December 2021
World AIDS Day

After providing an introduction to the Archive Service for a student, we were asked to raise awareness of World Aids Day, https://www.worldaidsday.org/ We were also asked about records covering sexual health, in order to advocate its importance amongst fellow students, particularly those who are LGBTQ+.   This got us thinking, since many records we hold...