Lecture Programme 2023 – 24
Introducing the Birmingham & Warwickshire Archaeological Society Lecture Programme for 2023 – 2024. Our lectures are open to members and non-members alike.
Our lectures are FREE for members and members of affiliated societies. Members do not need to book tickets.
Non-member tickets are available for £5 (+booking fee). You will find links to book tickets on Eventbrite below.
All lectures commence at 7pm unless otherwise stated.
Attendees under 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Children who are covered by a BWAS Family Membership must be accompanied by an adult from the same membership.
Tuesday 3rd October 2023
I met a traveller from an antique land: travels of an archaeologist in Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Iraq
The tales of a traveller in antique lands, from the colossal memorials of Ramses II in Egypt through Jordan and Syria to the heartland of ancient civilisation in Iraq. Pella, Petra, Ain Ghazal, Kadesh, Tell Sheikh Hamad, Abu Salabikh and beyond. Sites, monuments, excavations and excavators, ancient and modern - all human life was here.
Speaker: Dr Ellen McAdam
Venue: The Wellington Pub
Tuesday 7th November 2023
Birmingham’s Buildings at Risk
Birmingham has nearly 1800 listed buildings ranging from medieval churches to 1970s office blocks, while most historic buildings in the city are used and cared for, some do become ‘at risk’ of decay and dereliction due to a variety of factors. The talk will look at the reasons why buildings become at risk and what is being done to save them looking at a range of cases from across the city.
Speaker: Chris Patrick
Venue: The Wellington Pub
Non-member tickets: Buy now
Tuesday 5th December 2023
NEW LECTURE TO BE CONFIRMED
This lecture will be preceded by the Annual General Meeting.
Speaker: Mark Roberts
Venue: The Wellington Pub
Non-member tickets: On sale soon
Tuesday 16th January 2024 (12pm - 2pm)
Encounters with Achilles: The Discovery of a Trojan War Mosaic in a Rutland Field
In 2020 a Rutland landowners walk across fields during the pandemic lockdown led to the discovery of one of the most exciting Roman mosaics in over a century. The unique example of ancient art featured scenes of Achilles and his battle with Prince Hector of Troy as told by Homer in his epic Trojan War poem The Iliad which were the first of their kind from Roman Britain. John Thomas will describe the discovery of the mosaic and its imagery and will talk about further work by University of Leicester Archaeological Services & Historic England that has revealed the wider setting of the mosaic, within an extensive villa complex.
Speaker: John Thomas
Venue: The Wellington Pub
Non-member tickets: Buy now
Tuesday 6th February 2024 (12pm - 2pm)
The progression of patronage and of the display of status: examples from the Collegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick
St. Mary's Warwick is one of the finest parish churches in England, the product of the patronage of the earls of Warwick for over three hundred years. The lecture will explore how successive earls became increasingly determined and innovative as they strove to define their legacy through building, architecture, and art, culminating in the magnificent and stunning Beauchamp chapel. Attendees are invited to join Tim for a visit to St Mary's Warwick after the lecture. The church is a 10 minute walk away from the venue.
Speaker: Tim Clark
Venue: Warwick Quaker Centre
Non-member tickets: Buy now
Lecture Programme 2022 - 23
Introducing the Birmingham & Warwickshire Archaeological Society Lecture Programme for 2022 – 2023. Our lectures are open to members and non-members alike.
Our lectures are FREE for members and members of affiliated societies. Members do not need to book tickets.
Non-member tickets are available for £5 (+booking fee). You will find links to book tickets on Eventbrite below.
All lectures commence at 7pm unless otherwise stated.
Attendees under 16 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Children who are covered by a BWAS Family Membership must be accompanied by an adult from the same membership.
Tuesday 4th October 2022
A view from the planning department; recent work and future challenges for Birmingham’s historic environment
The talk will look at recent archaeological and conservation projects that have taken place in the city whilst looking ahead to future priorities and challenges that face Birmingham’s historic environment in a time of social, climate and economic change.
Speaker: Chris Patrick
Venue: University of Birmingham Guild of Students
This lecture has now taken place.
Tuesday 1st November 2022
Coleshill Hall, Moats and Gardens: wealth, treason, war and pleasure
A talk on Warwickshire’s answer to Hampton Court Palace
Between 2018 and 2022, Wessex Archaeology have carried out extensive excavations within the original grounds of Coleshill Hall, between the M6 in the south and the M42 in the north.
Archaeologists discovered a nationally significant site which contained the best-preserved 15th & 16th century gardens ever found in the UK and remains of the Coleshill Hall, moats, and gatehouse.
Speaker: Stuart Pierson
Venue: University of Birmingham Guild of Students
This lecture has now taken place.
Tuesday 6th December 2022
The 12th-century church and sculpture at Ansley, Warwickshire, and its context
The church of St Laurence at Ansley in north Warwickshire typifies many ordinary rural churches of the twelfth century in its context, plan and form, but in the chancel there survives an unusual and not readily paralleled sculpture. The church has previously been dated to mid-late twelfth century, but it is here proposed that this should be revised to much earlier in the century. The context, patronage, and development of the twelfth century church will be discussed and the iconography and significance of the sculpture considered. It will be suggested that it combined generic and more specific meanings and reflects Saxo-Norman influence.
This lecture will be preceded by the Annual General Meeting.
Speaker: Dr John Hunt
Venue: University of Birmingham Guild of Students
This lecture has now taken place.
Tuesday 10th January 2023 (12pm - 2pm)
Discovering Architecture in Black Country. Writing a Pevsner volume covering the West Midlands conurbation.
This talk by Andy Foster covers the Pevsner architectural guide to Birmingham and the Black Country, including parts of ancient Worcestershire such as Dudley, Stourbridge, Halesowen and some of the Birmingham suburbs. He will talk about writing the book and some of the buildings he discovered.
Speaker: Andy Foster
Venue: Birmingham and Midlands Institute
This lecture has now taken place.
Tuesday 7th February 2023 (12pm - 2pm)
Roman Warwick
We are proposing a presentation centring on Roman Warwick, which, up to this point there has been relatively scant evidence for. Archaeology Warwickshire have excavated two sites within Warwick and a third very close by which all have varying scales of Roman occupation.
Speaker: Matthew Jones
Venue: Warwick Quaker Centre
This lecture has now taken place.
Tuesday 7th March 2023
Re-thinking the bog bodies of later prehistoric Europe: evidence for trauma and physical injury in context
Bog bodies are the preserved remains of humans found in peat bogs. Whilst examples have been found from a broad range of periods, those dating to later prehistory have drawn the most attention. One of the reasons for this is signs of trauma, often interpreted as evidence of human sacrifice. This talk will examine the physical injuries displayed on later prehistoric bog bodies, and will consider the extent to which these support such interpretations. It will also consider the context of the bodies, as ‘scenes of crime’ to understand the final moments of these individuals and to determine whether there are patterns in the macabre behaviours during the period.
Speaker: Professor Henry Chapman
Venue: University of Birmingham Guild of Students
This lecture has now taken place.