Historic environment and heritage management projects, resources, commentary and analysis by Professors Ian Baxter (Heriot-Watt University) & David Gill (Kent/UEA)
A cross disciplinary study day will be held at UCL on the career and impact of the curator and classical archaeologist, Charles Thomas Newton (1816 – 1894). Newton was involved with the acquisition of the architectural sculptures from the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos, and sculptures from the sanctuary at Branchidai. He was a key figure in the foundation of the Hellenic Society and the British School at Athens.
Date: 12 June 2023, UCL
This event is free and has been made possible by a partnership between the Institute of Classical Studies, UCL History and the British Museum. More details on the link.
ALVA has released visitor figures for 2022. The 10 most visited museums in London have shown an increase since the pandemic: 22.3 million visits in 2022. This is down from 36.6 million visits to the same museums in 2019 (but including the National Portrait Gallery).
ALVA has released the visitor numbers for 2022. The top 10 National Trust properties attracted 4.5 million visitors: the same 1o attracted 3.9 million in 2021, and 5 million in 2019. The top 20 National Trust sites for 2022 attracted 7.8 million visitors against 8.1 million visitors for the same 20 in 2019.
ALVA has released the data for visitor numbers for 2022. The top 10 most visited sites for the National Trust for Scotland attracted 1.9 million visitors: the same ten properties attracted 1.1 million visitors in 2021. This is only slightly down on the numbers for 2019, 2 million (although some visitor figures were not available for St Abbe’s Head for that year).
Data for the top 20 properties in 2022 show a slight increase from 2019.
Note that data prior to 2018 are not available for all the 10 / 20 properties and this has distorted the presentation.
ALVA has released visitor figures for 2022. The Cambridge University Museums, including the Botanic Garden, attracted 1 million visitors against 534,191 in 2021. This is just below the pre-pandemic number of 1.3 million visitors in 2019. The Fitzwilliam Museum exceeded its 2019 number.
ALVA has released the visitor figures for 2022. The top 10 English Heritage sites attracted 2.6 million visitors against 1.6 million for the same 10 sites in 2021. This is down from the 3.4 million visitors who went to the same ten sites in 2019 prior to the pandemic. Stonehenge has seen the largest recovery from 334,087 in 2021 to 977,316 in 2022: this is still down from 1.6 million in 2019. Clifford’s Tower had record number in 2022 well above the pre-pandemic levels.
ALVA has released the visitor figures for 2022. The top 10 most visited Historic Environment Scotland sites attracted 2.7 million visitors: the same 1o locations attracted 830,177 visitors in 2021 (though the actual top 10 attracted 855,626). This is still below pre-pandemic numbers: 4.4 million visitors to the same top ten in 2019. Iona Abbey is down from 2019 (63,884 / 55,256), but there is still a gap for major sites: Edinburgh Castle is down to 1.3 million from 2.2 million in 2019.
Several amphitheatres are known from Roman Britain. Remains of the one in London includes a dramatic reconstruction that helps visitors to understand the space.
One of the most dramatic examples can be found at Cirencester, with another at Silchester. Amphitheatres are also known from the legionary fortresses at Caerleon and Chester.
The Hawkedon gladiatorial helmet from Suffolk and now in the British Museum is suggested by some to have been derived from the Roman colony at Colchester, and a gladiator carved from bone and now in the British Museum is also said to come from Colchester.
The so-called ‘Colchester Vase’, decorated with gladiatorial scenes, was discovered in a cemetery off the Lexden Road in 1848. This is the subject of a report (Dalya Alberge, ‘Startling’ new evidence reveals gladiators fought in Roman Britain. The Observer (London) March 4, 2023; James Fitzgerald, ‘Gladiator fights were staged in Roman Britain, evidence suggests‘, BBC News March 6, 2023) that claims ‘Gladiator fights were once staged in Roman-occupied Britain’. Alberge notes a forthcoming ‘research paper’ by Glynn Davis of Colchester Museum and John Pearce of King’s College London. The new research presumably has as its focus a re-interpretation of the pot and its decoration.
The House in the Clouds at Thorpeness on the Suffolk coast has celebrated its Centenary (see BBC). It formed part of the coastal resort created by Glencairn Stuart Ogilvie just before the outbreak of the First World War (see here). The house was originally intended to serve as a water tower for the new village but has now been converted into accommodation.
A consultation is underway over the future of the status of five key museums in Greece (“Museums set to go it alone under new law“, ekathimerini.com 17 January 2023). There are concerns that these key museums, including the National Archaeological Museum in Athens and the Herakleion Museum, will be expected to act more independently and be responsible for part of their revenue creation. Some have suggested that the move will prepare the way for some future privatisation and will see a break with the rest of the Archaeological Service.
Heritage Futures 