JOURNAL of the ARCHAEOLOGY & HERITAGE GROUP
14th-century interior, Beeston-near-M i leham, Norfolk See page 3 Mike Trendell FRPS
Qasr al Abid, , 'Castle of the Slave , Amman, Jordan See page 4 Ken Woolverton ARPS
AUTUMN 2010
Archaeology & Heritage Group Chairman R. Keith Evans FRPS 7 Grassy Lane Sevenoaks Kent TN13 1PN Tel 01732 743943 Secretary Jim Tonks ARPS Earlton 174 Chairborough Road High Wycombe Bucks HP12 3HW Treasurer Ernie Gates 4 Pine Dean Great Bookham Leatherhead Surrey KT23 4BT Committee Eric Houlder LRPS (Archaeology Editor) Len Johnson LRPS Ken Keen ¡ FRPS Gwil Owen ARPS Dr Mike Sasse (Webmaster) John Spence ARPS Rodney Thring LRPS
PERSPECTIVE With the RPS 'Think Photography' weekend now behind us, together with the conclusion of most of 20 lO's activities for our Group, we can look back with satisfaction, I believe, to another successful year. I was pleased to meet a number of you at 'Think Photography', and to learn of your continued interest in and appreciation of our programme of visits and meetings . With just the annual Christmas Lunch still to take place, 2010 has seen nine A & H Group events , including six visits to places of great photographic interest, a well-attended Leatherhead Conference and, for the first time, our annual Print Day combined with the AGM. This latter , you will . recall , was due to the print day, normally held in January, being postponed because of the heavy snows of that month; in fact combining it with the AGM in May proved a success , and we plan to make this a regular event. For me, two of the year's visits were noteworthy. First, a day spent exploring and photographing five or six of the remarkable churches in the Romney Marshes of eastern Kent; and second our visit to an active archaeological site at Piddington, near Northampton, where we were made welcome by the resident team of professional and volunteer archaeologists and able to photograph both the Roman villa site and adjacent new excavations, and also many of the Roman artefacts discovered there over the past 30 years, now displayed in the excellent local museum. For some members, a further highlight of the year was an afternoon of photography at London's Geffrye Museum , whose room s span almost four centuries of English interior design. The Group 's Print Exhibition, which I mentioned in our last issue , took place in May and June. In the past this has been an annual event, but due to the rising cost of staging such an exhibition, in two different venues to enable it to reach the greatest practicable number of visitors , your committee has decided to hold it less frequently in the futur e. To some extent our twiceyearly Herita ge Photograph y journal fulfils the role of showcasing member s' work, and I very much hope that you will continue to submit pictures and articles which reflect our broad remit of 'heritage' picture-making. Enclosed with this issue is our 2011 Programme of Events. Your programme committee has finalised dates for most of these ; for those undated you will be able to find the latest details on our website , or in the pages of Membership Matters in the RPS Journal. As in 2010, we plan six visits to notable places of interest , so book in good time. I look forward to meeting you during the year.
R. Keith Evans, Chairman.
Published by the Archaeology & Heritage Group of The Royal Photographi c Society, October 2010 Copyright in all text and photograph s is held by the credited authors, or as otherwise stated . No part of this publication may be reproduced , transmitted or stored in any form without prior written permission of the Publi sher. ISSN No. 0-904495-00 -0
The drawing-room of a typical 1830sfamily town house, one of the many interiors which members were able to photograph during the Group's visit hi the Geffrye M11se11min September 2010.
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English parish churches from the Saxons to the 20th century For the past two years, Mike Trendell FRPS has been photographing English churches as part of a project covering their art and architecture over a period of ten centuries. My aim has been to show that craftsmanship and beauty are found in each period of time, making a unique contribution to our English heritage. To produce satisfactory pictures of church interiors I spent some time working out a method of using the High Dynamic Range (HDR) method. I have found that exposures from highlight to shadow areas usually cover a range of 5 stops. Typical exposures would be 100'\ 50 th , 25'\ 10th and 5th second at f5.6 and ISO 100.
The shots, all in Raw mode, are brought together in the HDR image-processing program Photomatix. Using sliders, care is taken to ensure that colours are correct and that the full range of exposures is covered. The resultant file is then brought up in Lightroom, where minor alterations are made to density and detail brought out with a slider entitled Clarity. There is also a useful sharpening facility. Finally the file is moved to Photoshop in preparation for printing.
Above: The Fire of London led to the rebuilding of many of the city churches. The first designed by Wren was St Stephen, Walbrook, a Baroque church of 1665. With its Roman dome and architectural features such as the Corinthian columns it is said to be Wren's model for St Paul's. Top right: Many medieval parish churches were altered by the Victorians. Brant Broughton in Lincolnshire was sympathetically improved by the Rector and his architect, Bodley, who roofed the chancel with this lierne-ribbed vault. Lower right: 'Queen of the Marshlands', Walpole St Peter is a Perpendicular Gothic church of around 1400 whose treasures include this pew end in the chancel . The wolf is holding the head of Edmund , East Anglia 's king and martyr killed by the Vikings. Front cover: Beeston-near-M .j.leham, Norfolk, a Decorated Gothic church of c1350. The east window has net-like reticulated tracery, and in the interior are 14th and 15t1, century parclose screens and 15t1,century nave pews.
HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
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Off the tourist Many historical sites in Jordan are I attractions, Petra and the Roman ci other less spectacula
Text and pictures by The term ' desert castle ' is used to describe various buildings in the desert area east of the capital, Amman. Two are of particular interest , Qasr al Amra and Qasr al Kharanah. The first is not a defen sive castle at all. It was most probably used as a hunting lodge and baths; indeed the frescoe s in the domes and over every inch of the walls show hunting scenes. The building was constructed between AD705 and 715 , during the reign of Caliph Walid I, and is one of the best preserved monuments of its kind - due no doubt to the fact that it has been rava ged neither by climate nor by conquest. Qasr al Kharanah, on the other hand, truly is defensive . It is an imposing , four-square fortress with a round tower at each corner. The only entrance is from the south. All the rooms are arched or vaulted and spa n two floors . There is a difference of opinion as to the date of the castle, some suggesting it to be pre-Muslim, but a Kufic inscription over the door of one upper room has the date 92AH (AD7 ll). This equates with the year of the Prophet 's flight from Mecca to Medin a. About 2 km to the south-we st of the castle is a magnificent Upper Palaeolithic-Mesolithic site where the ground is covered with thousands of flint instrum ents and flakes - several now in my own collection.
Roman sites ... These abound in Jordan, some in rather obscure places. About 64BC Pompey imposed order in Syria and Jordan, restoring all the ancient Greek cities which had been destroyed by the Jews and creating the 'Deca polis ' leag ue of states . Jerash was one of these , as were Damas cus and Philadephia (present-day Amman) . A lesse r known state was Pella in the Jordan valley, prominently situated overlooking the river Jordan . Thi s extensive site, only partly excavated since World War 2, sits among luxuri ant scenery covered in wild flowers in spring.
From top: The Roman theatre at Umm Qais. Jethro's mosque and supposed tomb nearMahis. 'Desert castle' fortress of Qasr al Kharanah.
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track in Jordan :tie known or visited. While the main of Jerash, are magnificent, there are sites of great interest.
~enWoolverton ARPS Perhaps the most unusual of the Roman c1t1es is Umm Qais , better known as Gadara through its biblical association with the Gadarene swine . Once boasting a university producing some famous writers of their day, it lies close to the Syrian border and overlooks the Sea of Galilee. All that remains of any consequence are the piazza and two small Roman theatres, but what makes it so unusual is the extensive use of basalt stone whose dark, almost black , appearance gives to Umm Qais a sombre, eerie, feel.
... and biblical connect ions There are clear references in the Bible to places traversed in the Exodus. One of these is Madaba, close to Mount Nebo where the Israelites were said to have first viewed the ' promised land' and where, allegedly , Moses is buried. Of interest to us in Madaba today is a Greek Orthodox church with a mosaic floor dating from the 6 th century, part of which shows one of the earliest known maps of Jerusalem . There are many other early mosaics in Madaba, some in situ and some which have been transferred to the museum . A diversion off the road from Amman to the Jordan valley takes us to Jethro's mosque and tomb, near Mahis. Jethro was father-in-law to Moses , and it is claimed that Moses worked as a shepherd for Jethro for 40 years before returning to Egypt to lead the Hebrews to Canaan. Whether Jethro is in fact buried here is in some doubt, since he is recorded as living near Aqaba in what is now Saudi Arabia. Araq al Amir On the western outskirts of Amman lies Araq al Amir , and here we find Qasr al Abid , 'Castle of the Slave ' . It is not a Qasr or castle at all, but rather a luxurious villa or palace dating from the 4 th-5'h centuries AD . It is, however, an adaptation of what had been a castle of white stone dating from 187-175BC. It is a magnificent building, well preserved and distinguished by carvings of animals set into the stonework. See also 'The Antiquities of Jordan' , by G. Lankester Harding .
From top: The hunting lodge of Qasr al Amra. TJie Roman Decapolis city of Pella. Mosaic map of Jerusalem at Madaba.
HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
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Timber-framed, colour-washed cottages line Castle Street. Some were originally Wealden hallhouses, now divided .
Away-day to ... SAFFRON WALDEN Having exhausted the photographic possibilities of Arras (described in our Spring 2010 issue), this time R. Keith Evans FRPS explores a historic town closer to home - Saffron Walden in northwest Essex. Originally Chipping Walden, the town 's name was changed in the 16th century to reflect the importance of England 's saffron crocus industry, of which it was the centre . Saffron was by then widely used as a spice, medicine and dye, and it was the wealth from this which made possible the town's fine 16th-century timber-framed houses and the largest parish church in Essex , St Mary the Virgin , completed in 1525. A castle and a Benedictine Priory had been built in the mid-1 lth century; during the Dissolution of the Monasteries the latter became Audley End House - today a notable photographic subject in its own right.
Explore on foot With its church , museum , castle ruins and numerous Grades I and II* listed buildings, Saffron Walden is most rewarding photographically when explored on foot: the tourist information centre in the Market Place offers a useful Town Trail map and guide . You can't get lost - the town 's grid pattern of streets centred on the church and market place dates from the 13th century, a fine example of early town planning . Walk up Market Hill from the market place - where on Tuesdays and Saturdays you will have enjoyed photographing the busy
Dating from 1490, this home/shop was at one time a malting - note the sack hoist. 6
St Mary's church; its imposing size reflects the town's one-time wealth. The nave roof bosses (lower picture) are in the form of gold-painted saffron flowers.
market - and at the crossroads with Church Street you will find timber-framed buildings on all four corners. One is the Old Sun Inn , a range of Grade I listed shops and homes built in the 1300s, and with fine plaster-work external decoration which includes the legendary giants Gog and Magog. Continuing up Museum Street (the museum itself contains such eclectic items as mammoth tusks and an early Tudor bed!) , you will reach Castle Street with its many timber-framed houses dating from around 1500 . They include some unusual Wealden hall-houses of the type usually associated with Kent, many subsequently divided into smaller cottages. A particularly good example stands on the corner of King Street and Cross Street, a late 15th -century house compri sing three separate elements with the highroofed hall at one end. Also on Cross Street are some well-preserved Tudor shop windows , with shutters opening to serve as both counters and canopies.
St Mary's church ... Dating in part from 1250 , most of this imposing church was built in perpendicular style between 1430 and 1525. Its size reflects the town's wealth at the height of the saffron trade over 180ft in length and with a spire 193ft high. There are some fine stained-glass windows , Norman arches into the north and south chapels , and a restored 1824 organ with rare 'royal trumpet' pipes pointing down the nave. Appropriately , the church's nave roof bosses depict the saffron flower for which the town was re-named .
... and other notable sights If we turn ea st along Castle St, in ste ad of west towards the church, we shall find the remains of Geoffrey de Mandevill e 's castle, built around 1130-1140. The flint and mortar ruins of the keep tower are all that survive today. From here , a stroll down Castle Hill brings us to The Common , a meadow on which the town 's re sidents enjoyed gra zing rights and which still boasts Europe's largest remaining turf labyrinth or maze. The path through the turf winds for about a mile within a circle 35 yards in diameter. A mile or so west of Saffron Walden is the great house of Audley End , one of England 's fine st stately homes , with some 30 lavishly decorated room s - many by Robert Adam - and set in parkland designed by ' Capability' Brown. Finally, if time permits on your drive home, make a small detour south west to enjoy one of the county 's many attractive villages - Wendens Ambo (once Wend en Magna and Parva ), with its much-photographed church and cottages.
GETTING THERE Saffron Walden is some 40 miles north of London. From whichever direction you t~avel, follow the M11 as far as Exit 9, then B184 southeast , which in about two miles becomes Brid_ge Street in Saffron Walden .
HERITAGE PHOTOGRAPHY
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Mahee Island and the monastery of Nendrum Nendrum monastic site is a place of rare beauty and tranquillity hidden off the shores of Strangford Lough, near the town of Comber, County Down. Roger Bradley takes us on a tour of the historic remains.
Top-to-bottom: Overlooking Whiterocks Bay from the top of the monastic site.
Nendrum is an excellent example of a pre-Norman island monastic site, which dates back to the 5th century and had remained lost to us until its rediscovery in 1844. Later, in 1922, H C 'Lawlor oversaw excavations and restoration work at the site under the auspices of Belfast Natural History and Philosophical Society. A monastic community was founded here by the Irish Saint Machaoi (anglicised today as St Mahee); he is said to have been baptised by St Patrick, who appointed him abbot of Nendrum. St Finian, who built an abbey in the nearby town of Newtownards , and St Colman were said to be two of his disciples. The island monastery was documented in papal taxation records as a parish church in 1306; however by the 15th century it had become abandoned when the parish was moved to Tullynakill on the mainland. The site became lost until it was rediscovered in 1844; subsequent restoration work following excavations in the 1920s restored the site to its present condition. The site consists of three dry-stone walls defining an inner area, which contains a church ruin (the most notable feature of which is a sundial), a graveyard and the remains of an Irish Round Tower. In the middle enclosure, remains of the foundations of huts and workshops can be found, but little is known about the third enclosure defined by the remains of the outer wall. From the inner enclosure there is great opportunity for photographs taking in the views across Whiterock and the drumlins of County Down.
Remains of the church and the base of the round tower, within an outer wall. The reconstructed sundial, with the round tower beyond. A new chapter in industrial archaeology In relatively recent times a further discovery was made. What was believed to have been a fishpond was in reality evidence of a stone-built tidal mill from the early Christian period, around 790AD. The keen eye can identify its features on the foreshore of Mahee Island. The mill has been dated to 619AD and was undoubtedly associated with the adjacent monastic site; it still shows the remains of a landing stage for boats arriving with grain for milling. What makes this discovery of particular interest is that tidal mills previously discovered had vertical wheels, while the Nendrum example provides evidence of the first horizontal tidal mill to be found in the British Isles. It opens a new chapter in early Christian industrial archaeology. Other man-made rock deposits are what is left of the dam for holding back the tidal waters. Nendrum is a site well worth visiting and it is remarkable that it is not better known - access is via Killinchy Road , Comber. There is a Visitor Centre with a small museum in which one can view various artefacts and a multimedia presentation. Other artefacts associated with the site are kept in the Ulster Museum .
IN THE NEXT ISSUE In the footsteps of the Czars Recording our maritime heritage A tour of England's outdoor museums
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To be published in April 2011
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