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Birmingham and Warwickshire Archaeological Society |
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The Society was founded in 1870 (with 190 subscribers, only 5 of whom were women) as the Archaeological Section of the Birmingham and Midland Institute. The Inaugural Lecture by the President, Samuel Timmins, reviewed what was then known about the history of Birmingham, concluding that ‘we ... should, and could, and ought, and must know more.... Our clear duty, then, is to gather up the fragments that nothing be lost ; to note down old facts which illustrate our history ; to collect and preserve old papers, prints, plans, directories, books, pamphlets, handbills, caricatures, &c., which, seemingly worthless now, may contain some scraps of facts eagerly devoured by a succeeding age’. Few then could have foreseen how the discipline of archaeology itself would develop and the rich body of tangible evidence it would uncover, much of it described in subsequent volumes of the Society’s journal. Papers were being presented monthly while sessions were being held. Many of the early published papers were historical in nature, covering the better known industrialists and the history of the diocese, but archaeology was creeping in, with surveys of prehistoric fortifications and other ‘early earthworks’, abbeys and churches, castles and country houses. Excursions were being arranged from the start—to Hereford, Kenilworth and the Malvern Hills in the first summer and early autumn. (Over 100 travelled to Kenilworth by train but as the last was a ‘walking excursion’ it was felt that ‘only a few ladies could be expected to join’—in the event, ‘several ladies’ were present.) In June, 1871, a party of about 70 travelled by train to Ludlow by ‘a necessarily roundabout journey through Shrewsbury’, Ludlow ... reached ‘a little later than London might have been’; the same number visited Combe Abbey in September and in June, 1872 ‘proceeded by special train’ from Snow Hill to Much Wenlock, before continuing by train to Buildwas Abbey. In August an excursion to Tewkesbury was made by 51 ‘members’ and 31 ‘ladies’, the group proceeding ‘by rail to Worcester, and thence by steamer to Tewkesbury’, mainly to visit the church and abbey, a few also taking the steamer to see the church at Deerhurst. 1873 saw a two-day excursion to Gloucester Cathedral and various churches, including a day trip by carriage to Berkeley Castle; an excursion to churches near Leamington; another to Hartshill Castle and Merevale; and one to Broughton Caste and Compton Wynyates, visiting numerous churches and Wroxton Abbey as well,—the latter excursion described as ‘a long summer day’s work’ (nearly 50 members travelled by train to and from Banbury and then on by and carriage). The hundredth volume of the Society’s Transactions was published in 1996 with a review of the archaeology of Warwickshire—from prehistoric to recent times. Birmingham itself featured little in this volume but specific sites in the city have featured in most other volumes and attempts are being made to cover all the most important archaeological excavations in both the city and the county, together with investigations into notable standing buildings. |