Your local History/Archaeology

I'm from Essex not East Anglia :) .
In Essex Past and Present issue 7, the author of the article on the Prittlewell Prince writes that
'while our 'Prince' may not have been a king, he was probably a member of the royal family, buried in his principal estate. He was an early convert to Christainity, accompanied by objects that announced to the community his status in life. The discovery of the 'Prince of Prittlewell' is sur eto raise more questions about the symbolism of high status burials, c9onnections betweeen high status individuals within the kingdom of Essex and between Esssex, Kent and the Franks, and the place of Christainity in the lives, and deaths of these people'.

I think that even if burial with gravegoods wasn't or isn't a Christain practice, an early convert would certainly wish to be buried with his crosses to ensure safe passage to heaven in the same way that a warrior would wish to be buried with his sword, as an early convert would still hold alot of pre-Christain beliefs. The early monks and priests (would have) used a lot of pagan symbolism that iron age Britain would understand (am being very general as I don't know alot :eek: .)

This burial was found in Southend (half hour train journey in one direction, and half an hour train journey in the opposite direction is London.) There's also, as you may suspect, alot of history to see in London. I pass through Fenchurch Street and Tower Hill quite alot. There you have the remains of a Roman wall, the Tower of London, London Bridge and a war memorial thing. A couple of years ago I went to Barbican (in London) and saw the remains of the Barbican (obviously ... doh.) That was wierd for me, 'cos obviously such an old city must once have had actual city defences ... but it always reminds me of Anhk-Morpork and it's city defences (read Jingo.)
 
"in flanders fields, where the poppies grow..."

the things in my backyard are mostly related to WWI (and II), there Ypers is five miles from where I live. I usually find some gunshells, but a lot of farmers find bombs and ammo. Some say a train got of the rails in our backyard during WWI; it had gold, ammo and paintings abort, to prevent thosefrom falling into german hands. I might take a shovel one day and go for a bit of exploration ...
 
Esioul said:
The arts and crafts style houses look interesting, any photos?

I don't have any photos (or a scanner, for that matter), but here is a link to a website about one of the greatest and most famous houses designed in that style, so you can get an idea. (The local examples are somewhat less spectacular.)


http://www.gamblehouse.org/photos/index.html
 
It's worth a visit if you haven't been there. I think it's better then stonehenge. I attended a druid wedding there a couple of years ago precided over by the traditional "green man". Quite an experience. It's meant to date to about 2500BC (but who knows). The site is still a mystery however, which is much more fun. It's aligned to Silbury Hill (again worth a visit) and a number of churches. There are only 27 stones left standing but old drawings show up to 100. If you are going it's worth visiting the nearby longbarrow too. The whole area is fascinating. As for the history, your guess is probably as good as anyones.
 
Avebury is great, Stone Henge is ok although you can't get very close to STone Henge. Silbury hill is good. I've neevr seen West Kennet Long Barrow.

Kelpie, those buildings do look rather spectacular!
 
There are hundreds of barrows in the UK Esioul.

Long barrows, saucer and bowl barrows and bell barrows. And all I can do is to read about them at the moment!!!:)
 
Wouldn't it be fun to excavate one and find some really good stuff? ;)
 
Well, I live in Salisbury which is just jam-packed with historical sites and it has a very interesting history.

My partner was born and bred here and people who live here can sometimes take their surroundings for granted but I get to walk through the Cathedral Close almost every day and it never fails to take my breath away - it's an absolutely stunning building and has in it's walls one of the only surviving copies of the Magna Carta and one of Britain's first clocks.

www.salisburycathedral.org.uk

There are also some stunning churches in and around Salisbury dating back as far as the 12th and 13th centuries, my personal favourite being St. Lawrence’s which is where I had my son's Thanksgiving ceremony. Such a beautiful little church set in a little village called Stratford-sub-Castle, so called because it's just down the road from Old Sarum, which is the remains of an iron-age fort/castle and was the original site of the Cathedral.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/oldsarum/visit_old_sarum/index.asp

http://stratfordsubcastle.org.uk/StLawrencePlan.htm

Another famous church in Salisbury is St. Thomas’ Church in the Town Centre, which has one of the only surviving Doom Paintings. My mother-in-law is a member of St. Thomas' Parish and she, unlike me, prefers it to St. Lawrence's!

http://www.eluk.co.uk/parishes/salisbury/salisbury/st_thomas/history.htm

There's also Stonehenge and Avebury (both worth a look although, no, you can't touch the stones at Stonehenge anymore due to a few that obviously had no respect for the ancient circle and defaced the stones). It also doesn’t help it’s case that it’s situated in the middle of a motorway!

They also believe that there is a path that leads from the Avebury Stone Circle to Stonehenge (the Kennet Avenue) which has Burial Mounds dotted along the way. They believe the Burial Mounds were placed there because the path was so significant!

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.876

http://www.prehistoric.org.uk/wiltshire/avebury.html

So, you see, I’m never short of a humble lesson or two living around here, it’s a gorgeous city and I would recommend that should you get the opportunity, to visit Salisbury, it’s a truly wonderful place and I love living here!

xx
 
Have any of you ever walked the Ridgeway ? Have a look here if you're interested; http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/ridgeway/text.asp?PageId=2

It's Britains oldest road dating to Pre-Historic times. Along the route (which includes Avebury), there are lots of old barrows, iron age hill forts and other odds and ends of interest like the White Horse at Uffington. It's 43 miles long, so not exactly a case of popping out for a five minute stroll. Took me several dozen walks over a period of about three years, but it was great fun. :)
 
I live in Windsor, England, which is pretty historical. The main thing is the castle that William the Conquerer started building in 1066, and which has been expanded and improved over the years, so is now a mixture of a number of different periods. There's also lots of other historical buildings in Windsor because of the castle.
 

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