it was a beautiful day on the Mendips today. This is the view looking southwest from Deer Leap across the Levels. The white buildings on the horizon, directly above the trig point on the next hillside, is Hinkley Point power station.
Churches never used to have pews. Everybody stood. It was the introduction of sermons by the Anglican church which led them being installed.
It is the John Speed map of 1611. I think he produced a number of maps of town. I have Martin Biddle's set of maps of Winchester which came out 2 years ago which charts the evolution of Winchester since the Iron Age. (Based on archaeological evidence.) This Southampton map is fascinating. I noticed the archery butts near the site of Owen Owen but it is also fascinating to see that all of the medieval wall is in place, including that element which abutted the sea. The castle is still visible and you can see the bowling green in the south-eastern corner. What most people consider to be the town centre did not exist with the Bargate representing the northern most extremity. That part of town now occupied by the High Street was countryside and I believe there was a hospital for lepers in the park where the cenotaph now stands.
For some reason, I am seeing metal sculptures, by an American Sculptor, on my Facebook page. The artist is called David Krakov, and this is one example from his website, called the Book of Life. Not advertising for him, just sharing the beauty and skill.
Richie Thanks for posting the photo of the coins which is not only interesting from a historical perspective but also makes me wonder if you are the bloke I sit next to at St Marys who does metal detecting and has some of the finds displayed in Salisbury museum? I would love to know what those coins are. The larger, more perfectly rounded ones look "modern" and the two that are particularly interesting to me are the very small brown and "green" coins which look like the might be Roman. The former appears to have the letters "SP???" written on them. I like seeing medieval coins but the Roman ones are particularly interesting because they can tell you so much more beyond simply being used for dating purposes. One of the skills i wish I had was the ability to understand and identify Roman coins. Back in the autumn I visited Chedworth villa in Gloucester and was so disappointed in the quality of information in the museum that I bought a guide on line which was much more comprehensive. The coins found on this site are one of the few elements of any use from the archaeology because of the haphazard fashion that site was excavated in the 1800s. (So bad that most of the iron artifacts were thrown away at the time as they were no considered to be of interest with the result that the construction of the villa is less understood.) Like all economies, the Roman one fluctuated over the years and the scarcity of particular coins issued by the Emperors help explain periods of boom and bust. You can also learn a lot about the quality of the metal the coins are made from which, like the quantity of coins available, also tells us something about the state of the economy when the Romans struck these coins. All in all, the chapter about coins in the book about Chedworth was the most interesting element of the book albeit the site is largely 4th century and most of the coins date from this time. There are some earlier coins which have been found which suggest earlier occupation. The chapter is very clear and offers a very good overview of Roman coins. Most of the coins found in digs are low value pieces which are the equivalent of us losing loose change. Larger value coins were not used for every day exchanges. There are also instances where coins were scarce and therefore what gets discovered can also be Roman forgeries. There are periods when coins tell you a lot about the politics of the time and I have just finished reading Guy De La Bedoyere's book about Roman Empresses which employs a lot of evidence from coins where particularly dominant women had their images struck on the reverse of coins or even alongside the emperor themselves. Some of the later Roman coins are distinguishable because they show the head of the emperor with rays of sunshine projecting from their crown to signify their glory. These coins are known as "radiates". The most interesting thing about Roman coins in the small piece in Winchester museum which was struck in Lyon, a city I visit each year and where I broadly know where the mint which struck this coin was located. It would be great if you could post an update once you have some more information about these coins. Cheers Ian
Hi Ian, glad you liked the picture, unfortunately I copied this from Facebook. Maybe someone like @Beddy or @St. Luigi Scrosoppi could shed some light for you.
Not that good on coins.........Looking at the picture the brownish coin looks like a queen Mary coin also by its side and slightly above maybe a King George one. A modern 20pence piece and maybe add old 5 pence coins perhaps. Not sure about the roman suggestion they don't look quite big enough to me. Also just spotted which looks like an old 3 penny piece maybe. Sorry only suggestions though!