One Man Conference: Discovering Ancient Houses

For the third year running this one-day event will see buildings archaeologist Dr James Wright (Triskele Heritage) attempt to deliver six consecutive hour long talks (each followed by questions and answers sessions) on mediaeval architecture in one, somewhat foolhardy, 12 hour session.

The talks will be given via Zoom and attendees are invited to join for as much or as little of the day as they wish. The lectures include 2 brand new talks (marked with an asterisk *) and will be as follows:

10.00 - 12.00: Hidden Historic Houses

The vast majority of historic buildings have never been researched. Many well-known or high-status structures have not been studied in depth. There are literally thousands of mediaeval and early modern timber-framed buildings which are hidden in plain sight. This talk will use buildings archaeology to open the doors of ordinary-looking houses standing in towns, villages and the countryside to show how there is a fabulous wealth of unknown or unidentified historic buildings standing in virtually every settlement. We will look at why so many ancient buildings have gone unnoticed, the evidence for later facades masking much earlier fabric and how to date historic structures.

12.00 - 14.00: The Secrets of Ancient Walls *

We live in houses surrounded by walls... but do we ever think about them? Ancient walls can be constructed from many different fabrics including mud, brick, stone, timber and terracotta. The design of a wall can tell us much about the intended status of a building or room. Walls can be decorated using paint, plaster or hangings. Walls offer spatial divisions for functional, security and social reasons. Walls provide venues for written and drawn expressions of human hopes, fears and desires. Walls tell stories.

14.00 - 16.00: From Fortified Manor to Farmyard - Greasley Castle

The enigmatic remains of Greasley Castle (Nottinghamshire) are now buried deep within a post-mediaeval farmyard. They include traces of the great hall, curtain wall and corner towers of a mid-fourteenth century courtyard castle, built for Nicholas, 3rd Baron Cantelupe. This talk outlines the findings of a buildings archaeology survey by Triskele Heritage. The story of the castle is one of the meteoric social rise of the Cantelupe family, the loss of the site by one of Richard III’s captains after Bosworth and its gradual transformation into a working farm.

16.00 - 18.00: The Secrets of Ancient Doors

We might think of doors as purely functional – a way to ensure privacy and to get from one space to another. In some ways this is entirely accurate. However, the study of ancient doors can reveal so much more. This talk will literally open the door on how doors are constructed, how we can understand how old a door is, and how doors were used in the past. It will also delve deeper to look at what the design of a door can tell us about the status of the room beyond, who was able to use certain doors but not others, and something of the folk beliefs surrounding doors.

18.00 - 20.00: Mediaeval Servants

This talk offers a little-regarded alternative viewpoint of life in English mediaeval life: that of the ordinary folk. Using archaeological evidence gleaned from historic building survey, contemporary literature, artistic representations, graffiti and architectural history we will look at the story of the cooks, clerks, and stable-hands at mediaeval great houses. Instead of studying towers, gatehouses and great halls here we delve into the kitchens, stables, staircases, cellars and garderobes to uncover evidence of the non-elite life in elite buildings.

20.00 - 22.00: The Secrets of Ancient Floors *

We are used to archaeologists digging deep into the ground to uncover buried evidence of life in the past, but do we ever consider the floors in our homes and what may lie beneath them? By first taking a detailed look at the various ways in which floor surfaces are built we will then think about how those floors effect the ways in which buildings and rooms are used. The very fabric of a floor surface can tell us a great deal about the social status of the people that walk on it. Then what happens if we look beneath the flagstones, tiles or floorboards? What secrets can lie beneath the floors of our houses?

The speaker, James Wright (Triskele Heritage), is an award winning buildings archaeologist. He has two decades professional experience of ferreting around in people’s cellars, hunting through their attics and digging up their gardens. He hopes to find meaningful truths about how ordinary and extraordinary folk lived their lives in the mediaeval period. He is the author of the book Historic Building Mythbusting (The History Press, 2024).

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All you need to do to attend is register via Eventbrite and – when the time for the talk rolls around – grab your favourite beverage of choice, get comfy and enjoy.

The event will take place on Zoom between 10.00 and 22.00 on Saturday 8 March 2025. Each talk talk will be approximately 1 hour long and will be followed by a questions and answer session lasting around 30-45 minutes. There will be breaks of 15 to 30 minutes between each presentation.

This event is crowdfunded through donation. It will include the debut of a two new bespoke talks. There is no minimum donation so its possible to contribute as little or as much as you want. Your donation is your ticket and you will be sent a link to access the event by Eventbrite. Additionally, 20 minutes before the event begins, a direct link will be sent out via email by the organisers .

Please note that this live event will not be recorded and made available online afterwards.

Eventbrite recommend using the most up to date version of Google Chrome to access the meeting.

I f you have any problems accessing the event please email james@triskeleheritage.com - this address will be monitored between sessions throughout the event.

Event organiser is Triskele Heritage.