Abbreviation | LAMAS |
---|---|
Formation | 1855 |
Type | Learned society |
Purpose | The study of archaeology and local history within the City of London, Middlesex, and the Greater London area |
Location |
|
Region served | Greater London |
President | Vanessa Harding |
Chair of Council | Harvey Sheldon |
Website | http://www.lamas.org.uk/ |
The London and Middlesex Archaeological Society (LAMAS) is a society founded in 1855 for the study of the archaeology and local history of the City of London and the historic county of Middlesex. It also takes an interest in districts that were historically in Surrey, Kent, Essex and Hertfordshire, but that now lie within Greater London. The Society receives support from the Museum of London, and works in close association both with the Museum and with Museum of London Archaeology. It acts to some extent as an umbrella organisation to support smaller archaeological and local history societies in the Greater London area. It hosts an Annual Conference of London Archaeologists and an annual Local History Conference.
The Society was established in 1855 "for the purpose of investigating the antiquities and early history of the Cities of London and Westminster and the Metropolitan County of Middlesex". [1] The inaugural meeting was held on 14 December 1855 at Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate. [2] The primary instigators were George Bish Webb (who was already honorary secretary of Surrey Archaeological Society, established the previous year, and who became the first honorary secretary of LAMAS); and Rev. Thomas Hugo, curate of St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate (who became the first chairman of LAMAS). [3] Other founder members included Charles Boutell, Henry Christmas, George Gilbert Scott, and Charles Roach Smith. [2] Boutell served as honorary secretary from 23 July to 27 November 1857, but was dismissed for what was termed "improper" bookkeeping involving the disappearance of £56 15s received in subscription fees. [4] [5] Also active in the early decades were John Gough Nichols and Edward Brabrook (the latter eventually serving as President from 1910 to 1930). [5] Sir Thomas Phillipps was another early supporter, but allegedly withdrew on learning that Hugo had expressed a wish to see the restoration of the monasteries. [6]
Individual membership in the Society is open to all. In the early years, and until the late 1870s, membership seems to have stood at around 400. The total subsequently started to decline, falling to 277 in 1891, 163 in 1905, and 132 in 1911. It then began to recover, rising to 232 in 1939, 350 in 1950, and nearly 500 in 1955. [2] The figure was 662 in 2004; [7] 675 in 2010; [8] and 608 in 2018. [9]
Any archaeological or local history society in the Greater London area may become an Affiliated Society of LAMAS. As of 2024, there were 43 such affiliate members. [10]
The Society's journal is entitled Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society. It is published annually, and is issued free to members.
The historic numbering of the volumes of Transactions may cause confusion. The first volume was published in three parts between 1856 and 1860, and the final part of volume 6 appeared in 1890: these six volumes form what is now known as the "first series". The next volume was completed in 1905, and was numbered as volume 1 of the "new series". This new series continued to volume 11 (dated 1952). The decision was then taken to revert to the original scheme of numbering, and so the next volume, dated 1955, was numbered volume 18 (the numbers 12–17 having been omitted). Volume 73 is dated 2022.
All volumes of Transactions to volume 70 (2019) have been digitised, and are freely available to download from the Society's website. [11]
Since 1976, the Society has also published occasional monographs or collections of essays in its "Special Papers" series. The 17th volume in this series was published in 2014. The first 16 volumes have been digitised, and are available to download from the Society's website. Three additional volumes of Special Papers, dealing with excavations in Southwark, Lambeth and Staines, have been published jointly with the Surrey Archaeological Society. [12]
The Society publishes a Newsletter, which is produced three times a year and sent to all members. It is also available in digitised form on the Society's website. [13]
The Society is joint sponsor and organiser (with the Merchant Taylors' Company) of the regular Stow Memorial Service, held in the church of St Andrew Undershaft in the City of London. This commemorates the antiquary John Stow, author of the Survey of London (1598; second edition 1603), who is widely revered as the founding father of London history. The service is normally held close to the anniversary of Stow's death on 5 April, and includes an address by a respected London historian or archaeologist, and the replacement of the (real) quill pen held by Stow's effigy on his monument in the church. [14] The service was first held in its present form in 1924, and was then held annually until 1991, including the years of the Second World War. [2] [15] [16] No services could be held in 1992 or 1993 because of damage to the church caused by the Baltic Exchange bomb of 1992. The service was revived in 1994, but from 1996 to 2017 was held only once every three years. [17] [18] The service due to be held in 2020 was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, [19] and the next service took place in April 2024. [20]
The Society awards small grants (envisaged as totalling approximately £3,000–£5,000 per annum) to support research into the archaeology and history of London and Middlesex. The grants are available to all full individual members of the Society. The scheme was inaugurated in 2005 to mark the Society's 150th anniversary. [21]
The Society's device or logo comprises a monochrome pseudo-heraldic coat of arms, combining elements of the authentic arms of the City of London, the City of Westminster and the county of Middlesex, as they normally appeared in the mid 19th century. The shield is quarterly, with the first and fourth quarters occupied by the arms of the City of London, the second by those of Westminster, and the third by those of Middlesex. The crest and supporters are taken from the arms of the City of London: a "Muscovy hat" surmounted by a dragon's wing charged with a cross, for the crest; and two dragons charged on the wings with crosses for supporters.
The first version of this device was introduced at the Society's foundation in 1855, and was engraved by Orlando Jewitt (one of the original members). This showed the combined arms presented as if on a medieval seal, and surrounded by the legend +LONDON⋅AND⋅MIDDLESEX⋅ARCHÆOL⋅SOC⋅ESTAB⋅MDCCCLV.
By the mid-20th century, Jewitt's design was considered "perhaps a little crowded", and, to mark the Society's centenary year, Kenneth Ody was asked to redraw it to "represent the taste of 1955". [22] Ody's version displays simply the arms, without the background of the "seal". The only heraldic variation is that, whereas Jewitt had shown the supporters as two-legged wyverns, in Ody's design they appear (more correctly) as four-legged dragons. Beneath the arms, a motto scroll reads "1855". [22] In Ody's full design, the arms were set within an oval border bearing the words "London and Middlesex Archaeological Society", but the border was often omitted, and was abandoned entirely in the early 1990s.
The following have served as presidents of the Society: [2]
Middlesex is a historic county, a former post county, and a former administrative county in South East England; it is now mainly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouring ceremonial counties. The county's boundaries largely followed three rivers: the Thames in the south, the Lea to the east and the Colne to the west. A line of hills formed the northern boundary with Hertfordshire. The county was the second smallest of the historic counties of England, after Rutland.
John Stow was an English historian and antiquarian. He wrote a series of chronicles of English history, published from 1565 onwards under such titles as The Summarie of Englyshe Chronicles, The Chronicles of England, and The Annales of England; and also A Survey of London. A. L. Rowse has described him as "one of the best historians of that age; indefatigable in the trouble he took, thorough and conscientious, accurate – above all things devoted to truth".
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of England, and was dedicated to Queen Victoria. In 2012 the project was rededicated to Queen Elizabeth II in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee year. Since 1933 the project has been coordinated by the Institute of Historical Research in the University of London.
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The Lorteburn or Langbourne is a lost stream or river, which ran in the east of the City of London, arising near to Aldgate, flowing south near to the Tower of London, and discharging into the River Thames. The stream appears to have been covered over or dry by the early 14th century but its course has been discovered during archaeological digs in the area and the watershed can be traced in the street level contours of that part of the city as mapped by Kelsey in 1841. The stream gave its name to the Langbourn ward of the city. The river is seldom included on maps or lists of London's lost rivers, and its existence is denied by Nicholas Barton, in his 1962 book Lost Rivers of London, but in more recent work David Bentley argues for its existence.
Arthur Haygarth was a noted amateur cricketer who became one of cricket's most significant historians. He played first-class cricket for the Marylebone Cricket Club and Sussex between 1844 and 1861, as well as numerous other invitational and representative teams including an England XI and a pre-county Middlesex. A right-handed bat, Haygarth played 136 games now regarded as first-class, scoring 3,042 runs and taking 19 wickets with his part-time bowling. He was educated at Harrow, which had established a rich tradition as a proving ground for cricketers. He served on many MCC committees and was elected a life member in 1864.
St Peter upon Cornhill is an Anglican church on the corner of Cornhill and Gracechurch Street in the City of London of medieval, or possibly Roman origin. It was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666 and rebuilt to the designs of Sir Christopher Wren. It lies in the ward of Cornhill.
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The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) was a government advisory body responsible for documenting buildings and monuments of archaeological, architectural and historical importance in England. It was established in 1908 ; and was merged with English Heritage in 1999. The research section and the archive are now part of Historic England.
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Neil Stratford FSA, a London born medievalist and Keeper Emeritus of Medieval and Later Antiquities at the British Museum, is recognised as a leading authority on Romanesque and Gothic art and sculpture. He was one of the founding members of the Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland and is the Herbert Franke Chair at the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres where he is an elected foreign member.