Category Archives: Architecture

Kingston upon Thames, the Coronation Stone, and digging a bit deeper to get past the nonsense

Posted on December 23, 2018 by Robert J S Briggs

Not for the first time, what started as a modest but interesting idea that popped into my head and that I thought could be fleshed out a little through a “quick blog” has ballooned into something much, much larger. So, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Archaeology, Architecture, Folklore, History, Landscape, Place, WPLongform | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

410-1066 CE: What should we call the period (at least so far as Surrey is concerned)?

Posted on April 10, 2017 by Robert J S Briggs

Midway through last month, I finished editing my first Surrey Archaeological Society Medieval Studies Forum Newsletter. I’m pretty proud of the finished product, if I do say so myself! You’ll have to join the Forum to enjoy the whole thing, but I … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Archaeology, Architecture, Dating, History, Language, Middlesex, Soapbox, Surrey, Sussex, Viking | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Just how old is Puttenham church?

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Robert J S Briggs

In March 2015, the Medieval Studies Forum of the Surrey Archaeological Society held a study day of two halves: one part dedicated to moated sites, the other to church sites. I prepared a paper discussing the siting of Puttenham church … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Architecture, Barrows, Church, Dating, Folklore, Landscape, Photography, Place, Place-Names, Pottery, Puttenham, SMPCW, Topography | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Hidden in plain sight: a fifteenth-century grave-slab rediscovered in Puttenham church

Posted on November 1, 2016 by Robert J S Briggs

(So, in the end, Puttenham Church Week got away from me! Only one post done and dusted within the week, but stacks of work done on the three – yes, three – others I had planned. They were all more … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Architecture, Church, Puttenham, SMPCW | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

It’s Surrey Medieval’s Puttenham Church Week! An introduction to the parish church of St John Baptist

Posted on October 24, 2016 by Robert J S Briggs

Every so often, I elect to make my life a little bit difficult by devising and binge-writing a week’s worth of posts under the banner of a “Surrey Medieval … Week”. So far I’ve done some of the simplest statistical analyses … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Church, History, Puttenham, SMPCW, Talk | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

What’s the point of it all?

Posted on February 25, 2014 by Robert J S Briggs

You’ve got to bear with me on this post as I’m not all that sure where I’m going with it, but safe to say the title in no way should be taken too literally. I’m fine. Today I took in … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Design, Landscape, London, Nottingham, Phenomenology, Soapbox, WPLongform | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A weekend at Land’s End

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Robert J S Briggs

The other day, WordPress told me that Surrey Medieval had reached the ripe old age of two. Born on an uncomfortable leatherette sofa in a terraced house in Liverpool (that wasn’t meant to sound so graphic), I suppose if this … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Architecture, Art, Castle, Cornwall, Landscape, Phenomenology, Place-Names, Religion, Sea | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The enduring lure of dressed blocks of stone

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Robert J S Briggs

My first real love in medieval history and archaeology was ecclesiastical architecture. Time has passed and my tastes have shifted, to the point where I found it a little tricky to do justice to my reinterpretation of the early fabric … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, Church, graffiti, History, Peper Harow, Place | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment