Tag Archives: Archaeology

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

New work: Kingston upon Thames revisited

Posted on August 5, 2018 by Robert J S Briggs

Nowadays, you’ll find me in Kingston upon Thames maybe four times a week as it’s my main place of work. However, save for a driving lesson in 2003 when I passed through but didn’t actually set foot in the town, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Archaeology, Charters, Folklore, History, Landscape, Latin, Old English, Place-Names, Pottery, Ritual, Thames, Topography, Trade | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Surrey Medieval, the rest of 2018 edition

Posted on July 21, 2018 by Robert J S Briggs

Last week was by most metrics a horrendous week. Just as you thought it couldn’t get any worse, so it did. Day after bleeding day. I’m glad to report this week was a bit better, but didn’t undo any of … Continue reading →

Posted in Being organised, News, Politics, Travel | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

New work (in progress): Bassishaw and Basinghall

Posted on April 23, 2017 by Robert J S Briggs

A few weeks ago, I attended a seminar given by Prof. Andrew Reynolds (my primary thesis supervisor, if I haven’t mentioned that before) in which he revisited a paper on the Anglo-Saxon archaeology of the City of London first delivered at a conference … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Archaeology, Charters, Dating, History, London, Old English, Place-Names | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Is it a castle? Is it a causeway? Further adventures in historical field-names

Posted on April 3, 2017 by Robert J S Briggs

Everyone likes castles, right? They’re one of the things that make the medieval period what it is in many people’s eyes. Of course, not every castle looks like Bodiam (yes, that one that’s on the cover of pretty much EVERY … Continue reading →

Posted in Castle, Causeways, Field-names, Godalming, History, Landscape, Middle English, Place-Names, Surrey | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Not in my name or theirs: in defence and celebration of the diversity of what I study

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Robert J S Briggs

In my previous post, I attempted to underline that medieval studies nowadays finds itself in a position of having an unusually high level of political relevance. Not through any moves obviously engineered by academic medievalists, rather through the rise in Europe and the US … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Annals, Archaeology, Bede, Charters, Coins, Dating, History, Language, Latin, Literature, Old English, PhD, Place-Names, Politics, Twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

On trying to be a better medievalist (and make the world a better place)

Posted on February 27, 2017 by Robert J S Briggs

I spent a large chunk of the first few weeks of the new year away from this blog working on a funding application for my PhD research. Consequently, of late, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I study, … Continue reading →

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, Annals, Archaeology, History, internet, Language, Literature, News, Old English, PhD, Place-Names, Politics, Publishing, Soapbox, Twitter | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Inexpertly handled (learning from 2016)

Posted on December 4, 2016 by Robert J S Briggs

Last weekend I was a bit-part player in a lengthy Twitter back-and-forth about a coin, culture, and the communication of complex concepts in no more than 140 characters at a time. In many ways it was a debate about nothing of any … Continue reading →

Posted in Coins, Language, Place-Names, Politics, Soapbox, Twitter | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

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