Take a look at Past Preservers – a heritage and media creative hub!

Past Preservers is the creative hub between the heritage and media worlds. We provide expert consultancy, casting and talent representation.

Past Preservers has established a media consulting team with the sole purpose of producing quality history-based non-fiction programming.

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According to their website:

Our boutique talent management agency is comprised of presenters who are simply the best in their fields.

Our projects include work for major networks, such as the History Channel, the Discovery Channel and the National Geographic Channel.

Our comprehensive database of heritage professionals, a crucial and exclusive resource for our clients, includes specialists of historical and scientific research in a wide array of fields.

We connect our clients to the historical world, provide research, story development, casting and production assistance.

Our mission is to develop exciting and original formats for television, radio and film.

Perhaps your summer excavation could become their next project?

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BALH First World War Local Studies: a rolling listing of recent publications

The centenary of the First World War has brought an upsurge in local studies of all aspects of the impact of the war on people and places throughout Britain. From 2014 BALH has been collecting information on these studies. This is the basis of this rolling listing of publications, in print or web form. The aim is to give recognition and access to new work, both generally and locally published, and to help assess the contribution local history is making to understanding the First World War.

The list groups publications by category – general, English region, Ireland, Scotland or Wales. The list will be updated every three months. To suggest a publication for inclusion send details, including how copies may be obtained, to mail@balh.co.uk with the message title ‘FWW publication’. The listing is complemented by in-depth reviews of selected titles in BALH’s journal, The Local Historian, and by material elsewhere on this website and in BALH’s quarterly newsletter, Local History News.

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Littlemore Priory: Oxford archaeologists find 92 skeletons at medieval church site

Ninety-two human skeletons have been found on the site of a medieval church in Oxford.

Archaeologists made the discovery near Abingdon during an evaluation which was carried out as part of a planning application for a new hotel.

Paul Murray, from John Moore Heritage Services, described the discovery of the burials as "amazing".

The Benedictine priory of Littlemore appears to have something of an uncertain early history, but was probably founded by Robert de Sandford, one of the knights of the abbot of Abingdon, in 1176.

 

Apparently by 1445 there were only seven nuns in the priory, the building was in a state of collapse and the nuns were not behaving as expected - they were eating meat every day, three lay women were boarding at the priory, and a Cistercian monk frequently visited and drank with the prioress!  Over the next 80 years a variety of other scandals were uncovered including unauthorised priestly visits, illegitimate children, embezzlement and violence. In 1525 the prior was dissolved.

History, of course doesn’t record details of the good things which were accomplished by the nuns during the Priory’s 400 years – but I imagine that, on balance, they out-weigh the bad things!

The priory became a farmhouse (Minchery farmhouse) and then a pub (The Priory), which closed in 2013.

Gillian Argyle, from Oxford Civic Society

Back in 2014 a campaign was launched to save the building which was once again in a state of near collapse with responsibility for the lease lying with the owners of a nearby football stadium.  It seems that a plan is now a-foot to develop the site.

According to the recent excavations, some of the burials are unusual and include a woman found in a face down position, another who was a victim of blunt force trauma to the back of the head, and a stillborn child – all of which matches with the descriptions above of inappropriate behaviour!

All of the skeletons will eventually be re-buried in consecrated ground.

Further information on Littlemore Priory can be found by following these links:

http://abarothsworld.com/Places/Littlemore%20Priory.htm

http://www.oxford.gov.uk/Library/Documents/Sites%20and%20Housing/SH%20DPD%20CD%208.17.7.96%20Appendix%203%20Minchery%20Farm%20History.pdf

http://www.oxford.gov.uk/Library/Documents/Planning/Oxford%20City%20and%20County%20Archaeology%20Report%20-%20January%202015.pdf

https://www.archeox.net/sites/minchery?order=title&sort=asc&

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