Peterborough Heritage

Heritage Workshops & Lectures:

Spring 2014

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Kick off 2014 by learning something new! Vivacity Heritage is delighted to offer an exciting programme of workshops at Peterborough Museum and Flag Fen Archaeology Park. The workshops are suitable for complete beginners and all materials will be provided. Tea and coffee are included.

Roman Pottery Handling

Peterborough Museum Tutor: Dr Stephen Upex 8 February, 10am-12noon 15 After an introduction to the local Roman pottery industry and techniques, youll get the chance to handle original local and regional material under the guidance of Dr Stephen Upex - arguably the preeminent authority on the Romans in the East of England! Perfect for anyone interested in the Roman period, and for local archaeological groups.

coiling to make your own mortarium - probably the most important vessel in the Roman kitchen. Richard Gibson, MA has over 20 years of experience as a practising ceramicist and regularly teaches workshops. Pottery will be fired after the workshop.

Roman and Medieval Herbs

Flag Fen Archaeology Park Tutor: Chris Carr 1 March, 10am-4pm 50 Discover how our ancestors used herbs and spices for healing and in the home including some outlandish treatments used in bygone times. Have a go at making ointments for the skin, shampoo, insect repellent bags and more to take away with you. Plus enjoy an authentic Roman lunch! Chris Carr is a Living Historian with a wealth of knowledge about everyday life in Roman and Medieval times. She will guide you through making your own remedies, as well as which plants to avoid.

Calligraphy
Peterborough Museum Tutor: Christine Robinson 15 March, 10am-4pm 55 Join experienced tutor Christine Robinson to discover the fundamental principles of calligraphy. Learn the foundational script using a dip pen and ink, and explore how to construct letters through demonstrations and individual practice. With personalised support, by the end of the day youll have designed and created a bookmark, greetings card or short quotation. Plus take home all the equipment youll need to put your new calligraphy skills into action! Lunch is included.

Basket Weaving
Peterborough Museum Tutor: Sue Kirk 16 March, 10am-5pm 60 Spend the day making a small, round, stake and strand basket using willow. Learn traditional techniques including pairing, waling, randing, slyping and how to finish the basket with a rod border. Basket weaving dates back thousands of years and recent excavations suggest that tools and techniques have remained remarkably similar. Wellknown local tutor Sue Kirk has 15 years basketry experience and uses Somerset and locally grown willow. Lunch is included.

Bronze Sword Casting

Flag Fen Archaeology Park Tutor: Dave Chapman 22-23 March, from 10am 290 Expert bronze forger Dave Chapman returns to Flag Fen to offer this opportunity to make and take home your own bronze sword. Set amongst the atmospheric surroundings of roundhouses and fenland, the workshop will include the casting, cleaning, finishing, sharpening, and finally the hilting of the finished blade. Participants undertake all handwork themselves, so this workshop is not for the faint-hearted! Please note that safety is our priority and as such, use of power tools and hot metal pouring will be undertaken by workshop facilitators. Lunch is included on both days.

Bookbinding: How to make a notebook

Peterborough Museum Tutor: Barry Brignell 15 February, 10am-12.30pm or 1.30pm-4pm 30 Use the traditional art of hand bookbinding to create your own hardback notebook. Under the expert tutelage of Barry Brignell, of Cambridgebased Brignell Bookbinders, learn how to collate sections, sew French-style using a needle, tip on ready-made endpapers, glue the spine, stick on head and tail bands, line up the spine, cut out boards, cover the boards in cloth and case the book in.

Roman Pottery Making

Peterborough Museum Tutor: Richard Gibson 8 February, 1pm-4pm 45 Discover how the Romans created pottery by combining different processes to produce a single piece. Try your hand at these techniques by completing an earthenware amphora, using a handpowered centrifugal throwing wheel and using moulds and

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Retelling the story of Roman Peterborough...

The Roman town of Durobrivae lay to the west of the modern city. Located on a major trade route, archaeological discoveries suggest it was a focus of enormous wealth and status, with current research still revealing surprises. New project Romans Revisited aims to establish a centre of excellence in Peterborough for the interpretation of Roman heritage across multiple sites. These lectures will explore our local Roman story and its wider context.

The Roman Villa at Itter Crescent & the Fane Road Heritage Lottery Project
John Clare Theatre, Central Library Speakers: James Drummond-Murray & David Crawford-White 24 February, 7.30pm 3, 2 concs & Heritage Pass holders Recent excavations by Oxford Archaeology East uncovered a spectacular Roman villa hidden under Peterborough allotments! An unexpected discovery, learn how this archaeological investigation has given an insight into how the better half lived in Roman times. The talk will also introduce new community heritage project The Romans of Fane Road and how you can get involved.

A load of old pot! The local Roman pottery industry

John Clare Theatre, Central Library Speaker: Dr Stephen Upex 3 March, 7.30pm 5, 3 concs & Heritage Pass holders Roman Peterborough expert Dr Stephen Upex will explore the Nene Valley pottery industry, including local production workshops. The talk will also emphasise the industrys importance both locally and nationally. Dr Upex returns to Peterborough following his well-received talk on the Water Newton Fort last year. Best known locally for his extensive work at Durobrivae, he lectures widely in the UK.

Londinium calling: The story of Roman London... now with added chapters
John Clare Theatre, Central Library Speaker: Caroline McDonald 17 March, 1pm 3, 2 concs & Heritage Pass holders This talk will explore the founding of Londinium on the banks of the Thames 2,000 years ago and some of its most significant excavations including recent work and the amazing discoveries on the site of the lost Walbrook river. Caroline McDonald is the Senior Curator of Prehistoric and Roman collections, Museum of London.

The Dangers of Powerful Women? Rome and Britain in the time of Nero
John Clare Theatre, Central Library Speaker: Professor Catharine Edwards 30 April, 7.30pm 8, 5 concs & Heritage Pass holders Roman writers contrast the masculine rule of their empire with the dangerously powerful role of women such as Boudicca amongst some of their barbarian subjects. What role did women have in the power structures of the Roman empire? Catharine Edwards is Professor of Classics and Ancient History at Birkbeck, University of London and presenter of BBC4s 'Mothers, Murderers and Mistresses: Empresses of Ancient Rome'.

The Romans in Fiction

John Clare Theatre, Central Library Speakers: Ruth Downie, Manda Scott, and Ben Kane 12 March, 7pm 5 (4 concs, Heritage Pass holders and reading group members) Thanks to The Historical Writers Association, find out how bestselling authors bring Roman life to their novels. Ruth Downie is the author of

mysteries featuring a reluctant Roman Army sleuth, Manda Scott follows up her bestselling Boudica series with 'Rome' which features an assassin and spy, and writer of the Hannibal and Rome series Ben Kane has also written a series on Spartacus. Tickets available from Waterstones Peterborough and Peterborough Libraries as well as Peterborough Museum.

Pompeii and Herculaneum bringing the exhibition to the British Museum

John Clare Theatre, Central Library Speaker: Paul Roberts 24 March, 7.30pm 8, 5 concs & Heritage Pass holders In AD 79 Pompeii and Herculaneum, two cities at the heart of the Roman Empire, were buried in a catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius. But their rediscovery from the 1700s has given us

unparalleled insight into Roman life. In 2013 an exhibition in the British Museum brought together over 400 objects from jewellery to cooking pots, from furniture to beautiful frescoes, which showed aspects of the lives of ordinary Romans. Exhibition curator and Head of Roman collections at the British Museum, Paul Roberts will give the inside story in this exciting lecture.

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Excavations in 2011-12 at the Must Farm quarry in Whittlesey uncovered an amazing assemblage of eight Bronze Age and Iron Age boats, as well as hundreds of beautifully preserved objects. These finds provide a unique and detailed view of life 3,000 years ago. As research yields more about this lost landscape, these lectures focus on what is known so far and its significant national context.

A Lost Landscape Reborn

Flag Fen Archaeology Park Speaker: Louise Rackham 5 February, 7.30pm 3, 2 concs & Heritage Pass holders Whittlesea Mere was once the largest lake in England, south of the Lake District. Learn about this last piece of wild fenland and the complexities and conflicts involved in draining the mere. A fascinating story on the toils and tribulations of a lost landscape about to be reborn with an internationally recognised restoration project The Great Fen.

Logboats, Pile Dwellings & Causeways: Bronze Age Must Farm & Flag Fen in context
Flag Fen Archaeology Park Speaker: Mark Knight 12 February, 7.30pm 5, 3 concs & Heritage Pass holders New analysis of evidence from Must Farm is shining fresh light on the Bronze Age occupants of the Flag Fen Basin. Archaeologists are beginning to understand the magnitude and sophistication of second millennium BC settlement, and the integral role of the River Nene as a communication corridor. Widely acclaimed as one of Britain's leading prehistoric and wetland field archaeologists, Mark Knight returns to Flag Fen with the latest on the Must Farm excavations.

The Mary Rose

Flag Fen Archaeology Park Speaker: Dr Eleanor Schoeld 20 February, 7.30pm 8, 5 concs & Heritage Pass holders The salvage of the Mary Rose, Henry VIIIs Tudor warship famously wrecked in the Solent, is one of maritime archaeologys great successes. Remarkably preserved, the hull was recovered in 1982 and its subsequent conservation process forged the techniques used to conserve the Must Farm boats today. Still undergoing active conservation, hear the latest news from Dr Eleanor Schofield, Conservation Manager for the Mary Rose Trust.

The reconstruction of the Dover Bronze Age Boat

Flag Fen Archaeology Park Speaker: Richard Darrah 26 February, 7.30pm 5, 3 concs & Heritage Pass holders In the 1990s, fragments of a Bronze Age boat were discovered in Dover - one of the oldest seagoing vessels ever recovered. Now in Dover Museum, ancient timber specialist Richard Darrah will explain the science behind the reconstruction of the boats original shape. Plus learn what the building of a half-scale replica tells us about Bronze Age boat building.

Conserving one log boat is bad enough, but having to deal with eight all at once is a daunting prospect...
Flag Fen Archaeology Park Speaker: Ian Panter 2 March, 7.30pm 5, 3 concs & Heritage Pass holders The Must Farm boat assemblage represents one of the largest finds in the UK. The decision to recover each vessel intact, instead of cutting them into smaller sections, has been integral to their conservation. Since April 2013, they have been stored at a bespoke conservation facility at Flag Fen and are undergoing detailed condition assessments. Join Ian Panter, Principal Conservator for York Archaeological Trust who designed the conservation strategy for the boats, to hear what the future holds.

Enjoy action-packed events for less! With a Vivacity Heritage Pass the whole family can enjoy great value days out with FREE or discounted entry to a multitude of exciting events, exhibitions, talks and walks throughout the year. Plus enjoy FREE visits to Peterborough Museum, Flag Fen and Longthorpe Tower for a whole year!

Family Pass 25 (2 adults and up to 3 children) Individual Pass 10

Available to buy from all three sites. Simply ask a member of staff for full details, call 01733 864 663 or email museum@vivacity-peterborough.com

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Peterborough Museum
Priestgate, Peterborough PE1 1LF Car parking available nearby at Peterborough Railway Station, Queensgate Shopping Centre and Car Haven near to the Town Hall.

Flag Fen
The Droveway, Northey Road, Peterborough PE6 7QJ Plenty of FREE car parking available on site.

John Clare Theatre

Peterborough Central Library, Broadway, Peterborough PE1 1RX Car parking available nearby at Market Car Park and Dickens Street.

Booking information
Pre-booking for workshops is essential. Tickets for all lectures and workshops are available through Peterborough Museum, call 01733 864 663 or email museum@vivacity-peterborough.com.

Stay in Touch!
To be kept up to date with the latest news across our heritage sites visit our website vivacity-peterborough.com, sign up to our e-newsletter or nd us on /peterboroughmuseum or @Vivacity_Museum #TryHeritage

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Peterborough Heritage

Photo by Cambridge Archaeological Unit