The new merged body to replace the Royal Commission for the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAMHS) and Historic Scotland will be called Historic Environment Scotland. The latest details for the merger are available via the two organisations' joint newsletter at http://rcahms.cmph.org/o/bRYMgEgqU9g, along with details of Heritage Lottery Funding for the new Scotland's Urban Past five year project from RCAMHS.
(With thanks to RCAMHS/Historic Scotland)
Chris
Now available for UK research is the new second edition of the best selling Tracing Your Family History on the Internet: A Guide for Family Historians, whilst my new book British and Irish Newspapers is also now out. And FindmyPast - please reinstate the original Scottish census citations on your new site.
Showing posts with label RCAMHS. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RCAMHS. Show all posts
Friday, 11 July 2014
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Home Front Legacy 1914-18 - Scotland
News of the Scottish contribution to a WW1 archaeology project:
VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT ACROSS SCOTLAND TO HELP FIND FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Communities across Scotland are being urged to play their part in a vital project which will unlock the secrets of the First World War and ensure their place in history is recorded for future generations.
This week sees the start of Home Front Legacy 1914-18, a project on which the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), Historic Scotland, English Heritage, Cadw and partners across the UK are working together to record the physical remains of the war on home territory.
The project is calling on volunteers from across Scotland to step forward to help survey, research and record buildings and sites which played a key role before, during and after the conflict. This is the only community engagement project recording physical remains from the First World War, working with partners across the heritage sector in the UK.
Home Front Legacy 1914-18 will allow communities across Scotland to build on a desk-based audit of all existing First World War records undertaken by Dr Gordon Barclay for Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS).The audit was an extremely valuable piece of work and saw almost 1,000 records of buildings and places created or updated. This was more than triple the number expected at the outset, with previously unknown information around strategic defences, buildings and structures coming to light.
The audit, available at www.rcahms.gov.uk/firstworldwar, provides greater detail than before about the part played by communities across Scotland a century ago. We hope the Home Front Legacy project will encourage volunteers to build on the audit by visiting, surveying, recording and researching these sites more fully, as well as discovering other buildings and sites associated with the First World War.
Dan Snow, President of the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), called for volunteers to join up for the Home Front Legacy campaign. He said: “Our aim is to record and preserve vulnerable sites, buildings and structures – camps, drill halls, factories and observation posts for example, before they and the stories they bear witness to are lost forever. Our volunteers will be scouring the nation’s towns, villages, countryside and beaches to track down local First World War places that are just not in the records. They’ll upload observations on what they find to a specially designed app along with photographs and historic documents which will appear on an online map to open up the impact of the war on our landscape for everyone.”
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs said: “I welcome the Home Front Legacy campaign as it will increase our understanding of the vital role Scotland’s communities played in the conflict. We hope it will also encourage people to engage with the physical heritage from that period that still surround us.
“Even though much of the First World War is well documented, we know there is still a lot to learn from the conflict and the role our communities played in it and I believe this campaign will go some way to completing our picture. I would urge as many people as possible get involved in this campaign and help us to continue unlocking the secrets of Scotland’s places during this period.”
Eila Macqueen, Director of Archaeology Scotland which is also participating in the project, added: “This is such a valuable and exciting project which will increase our existing understanding of the sites and buildings connect to the First World War. As we prepare to remember the events of 100 years ago there has never been a more appropriate time for communities across the country to get involved in this part of our history. We look forward to working with the other project partners in making Home Front Legacy a success.”
How to Get Involved
Sign up on the Council for British Archaeology’s Home Front Legacy website to access the online recording toolkit, guidance and resources, including an app for recording sites in the field and a map and photo gallery of newly recorded sites. www.homefrontlegacy.org.uk Twitter @homefrontlegacy
Facebook Home Front Legacy Flickr.com Home Front Legacy
(With thanks to Paul Spence)
Chris
My latest genealogy books are Tracing Your Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, and Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet. My next Pharos course is Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs, which commences May 14th 2014, 5 weeks, price £45.99.
VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT ACROSS SCOTLAND TO HELP FIND FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR
Communities across Scotland are being urged to play their part in a vital project which will unlock the secrets of the First World War and ensure their place in history is recorded for future generations.
This week sees the start of Home Front Legacy 1914-18, a project on which the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), Historic Scotland, English Heritage, Cadw and partners across the UK are working together to record the physical remains of the war on home territory.
The project is calling on volunteers from across Scotland to step forward to help survey, research and record buildings and sites which played a key role before, during and after the conflict. This is the only community engagement project recording physical remains from the First World War, working with partners across the heritage sector in the UK.
Home Front Legacy 1914-18 will allow communities across Scotland to build on a desk-based audit of all existing First World War records undertaken by Dr Gordon Barclay for Historic Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS).The audit was an extremely valuable piece of work and saw almost 1,000 records of buildings and places created or updated. This was more than triple the number expected at the outset, with previously unknown information around strategic defences, buildings and structures coming to light.
The audit, available at www.rcahms.gov.uk/firstworldwar, provides greater detail than before about the part played by communities across Scotland a century ago. We hope the Home Front Legacy project will encourage volunteers to build on the audit by visiting, surveying, recording and researching these sites more fully, as well as discovering other buildings and sites associated with the First World War.
Dan Snow, President of the Council for British Archaeology (CBA), called for volunteers to join up for the Home Front Legacy campaign. He said: “Our aim is to record and preserve vulnerable sites, buildings and structures – camps, drill halls, factories and observation posts for example, before they and the stories they bear witness to are lost forever. Our volunteers will be scouring the nation’s towns, villages, countryside and beaches to track down local First World War places that are just not in the records. They’ll upload observations on what they find to a specially designed app along with photographs and historic documents which will appear on an online map to open up the impact of the war on our landscape for everyone.”
Fiona Hyslop, Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs said: “I welcome the Home Front Legacy campaign as it will increase our understanding of the vital role Scotland’s communities played in the conflict. We hope it will also encourage people to engage with the physical heritage from that period that still surround us.
“Even though much of the First World War is well documented, we know there is still a lot to learn from the conflict and the role our communities played in it and I believe this campaign will go some way to completing our picture. I would urge as many people as possible get involved in this campaign and help us to continue unlocking the secrets of Scotland’s places during this period.”
Eila Macqueen, Director of Archaeology Scotland which is also participating in the project, added: “This is such a valuable and exciting project which will increase our existing understanding of the sites and buildings connect to the First World War. As we prepare to remember the events of 100 years ago there has never been a more appropriate time for communities across the country to get involved in this part of our history. We look forward to working with the other project partners in making Home Front Legacy a success.”
How to Get Involved
Sign up on the Council for British Archaeology’s Home Front Legacy website to access the online recording toolkit, guidance and resources, including an app for recording sites in the field and a map and photo gallery of newly recorded sites. www.homefrontlegacy.org.uk Twitter @homefrontlegacy
Facebook Home Front Legacy Flickr.com Home Front Legacy
(With thanks to Paul Spence)
Chris
My latest genealogy books are Tracing Your Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, and Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet. My next Pharos course is Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs, which commences May 14th 2014, 5 weeks, price £45.99.
Sunday, 9 March 2014
ScotlandsPlaces - new records update
ScotlandsPlaces (www.scotlandsplaces.org.uk) has added three new collections to its site, as follows:Inhabited House Tax 1778-1798 - from the site:
Duties on inhabited houses were first imposed in 1778. The resulting tax schedules (E326/3/1-65), drawn up by the Exchequer, were bound by counties, with royal burghs included under their respective counties. An exception is the burgh schedules for 1786-87 and 1789-90, which were found several years after the above arrangement was made and which have been bound in alphabetical order for each year (E326/63-64). The schedules for 1793-94, 1795-96 and 1796-97 are entirely wanting, except for the 1793-94 schedules for Inverness-shire and Inverness burgh (vol. 21). After 1798 this duty was incorporated in the comprehensive Assessed Taxes Schedules.
RCAHMS Inventories 1909-1992 - from the site:
Initially, RCAHMS recorded all buildings and monuments of note until the year 1707. This was later updated to 1805. The findings were published in a series of inventories. Changes in what constitutes a construction "of note", plus developments in how the public could access this information, led to the abandonment of the inventories after publication of the last Argyll volume in 1992. Consequently, only approximately half of Scotland was covered by this method.
Alexander Curle 1908-1913 (diaries) - from the site:
Alexander Curle was the RCAHMS secretary between 1908 and 1913. Little did Alexander Curle realise as he penned the words 'Having started on my course of inspection of the ancient monuments of Scotland I have deemed it advisable to keep a journal wherein I may record my various experiences and adventures as such may from time to time befall me', that his 'Private journal of a wandering Antiquary' would be treasured today as one of the initial items in the RCAHMS collections. Please note that the 1st Curle diary which covers 1913 to 1953 will be added in the coming months.
I note also that the first eight volumes of Aberdeen burgh records have been added to the site. Some blurb on this also:
The first eight volumes of Aberdeen burgh registers, which cover the period 1398 – 1511, are included in the UK Register of Important Documentary Heritage, part of the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. The 5,238 pages of the first eight volumes represent the earliest and most complete body of surviving records of any Scottish town. Alongside the Exchequer Rolls and the Register of the Great Seal held by the National Records of Scotland, these records are the only surviving near-continuous record for Scotland in the fifteenth century which give an unrivalled insight into the political and social life of the Scottish medieval town. Aberdeen's medieval city council functioned both as a policy making unit and as a legal court and usually met twice a week. The early council records contain not only documents of detailed council discussions of policy, but also of the council's more routine concerns, such as legal decisions in hundreds of disputes between citizens, either at the instigation of individuals or the council's own officials.
Full details on these are at www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/digital-volumes/burgh-records?class=county&name=Aberdeenshire&id=1
Chris
My latest genealogy books are Tracing Your Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, and Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet. My next Pharos course is Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs, which commences May 14th 2014, 5 weeks, price £45.99.
Wednesday, 2 October 2013
RCAMHS, aerial archaeology and one place studies
The BBC is running a story today about RCAMHS's use of laser technology in the field of aerial archaeology at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24358106. The new technique, employing the LIDAR scanning system (used in the past by the RAF amongst others), uses sound waves to create images of a landscape which can be manipulated on a computer in 3D, and then lit in certain ways to help reveal hidden physical features in the landscape, long abandoned across time.
Aerial archaeology is something I just happen to know a wee bit about, as I helped to create a TV series utilising the concept a decade ago for BBC2, which ran for 2 series (it was called Time Flyers), and on which I directed three episodes. For the pilot programme, we were initially going to do a story based on crop marks found within the Yorkshire Wolds in England, but were defeated by the foot and mouth epidemic ongoing at the time (the programme was subsequently made when the series was commissioned). The story chosen for the pilot was therefore one based at Castle Menzies in Perthshire - and it was inspired by an RCAMHS aerial archaeology find. A crop mark to the east of the main castle, which looked like a tennis court, was later discovered to in fact be part of a formal garden which was destroyed during the Forty Five rebellion by the Duke of Cumberland. Crop marks form when features buried beneath the ground mean that there is less soil above them than in the surrounding terrain where the soil is undisturbed, therefore less moisture for the crops, affecting their growth rate (or if a ditch has been filled in, there's more soil above it, meaning more mositure for the crops above it). Bottom line is that the growth rate of the crop above the feature is different, meaning that you get a relief image of the feature, especially when the ground is parched of water in a dry period. See http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/84804/details/castle+menzies/ for the image of the crop mark
In another instance, I recently used the site to look up a place in the parish of Dores in Invernessshire. I had found a farm there bearing the name of a settlement my family lived in at the middle of the 17th century, but the aerial image actually revealed some deserted settlements in an adjacent field, meaning that the modern building may not necessarily be the actual one the family stayed in. All useful contextual stuff!
RCAMHS is absolutely stuffed with aerial images via its CANMORE database, but I thought I'd take this opportunity to point out one of the best things about Canmore - it's interactive. You can actually upload your own images to the site. In this case, as a pay back for RCAMHS image we used in the Time Flyers pilot (which was not broadcast as we made changes to the presentation team) I uploaded a couple of images to show the details found in the excavation of the Castle Menzies site - you can see these on the same page quoted above, by clicking on the Public Contributions, Photos link that shows the number 2.
I've uploaded other material to the site - see http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/28432/contribution/perth+priory+chapel+and+hospital+of+st+leonard/ for example, where I have added an old postcard image of a place called Carr's Croft in Perth, along with two pages of text from a dissertation describing various land transactions on the site in the 19th century.
If you are doing a one place study, RCAMHS may well be a brilliant source of info - and you can also add to the database to build up a truly impressive national resource for Scotland!
NB: For other resources for land and house based research in Scotland (where the law has historically been very different to elsewhere in the UK), don't forget my book Discover Scottish Land Records, available in print format from http://www.gould.com.au/Discover-Scottish-Land-Records-p/utp0283.htm or in ebook format from http://gen-ebooks.com.
Chris
My latest book, Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, is now available from http://www.gould.com.au (print) and http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html (ebook), whilst Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet is available at http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-History-on-the-Internet/p/3889/. My next Pharos Scottish course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs, starts Nov 13th - see http://pharostutors.com.
Aerial archaeology is something I just happen to know a wee bit about, as I helped to create a TV series utilising the concept a decade ago for BBC2, which ran for 2 series (it was called Time Flyers), and on which I directed three episodes. For the pilot programme, we were initially going to do a story based on crop marks found within the Yorkshire Wolds in England, but were defeated by the foot and mouth epidemic ongoing at the time (the programme was subsequently made when the series was commissioned). The story chosen for the pilot was therefore one based at Castle Menzies in Perthshire - and it was inspired by an RCAMHS aerial archaeology find. A crop mark to the east of the main castle, which looked like a tennis court, was later discovered to in fact be part of a formal garden which was destroyed during the Forty Five rebellion by the Duke of Cumberland. Crop marks form when features buried beneath the ground mean that there is less soil above them than in the surrounding terrain where the soil is undisturbed, therefore less moisture for the crops, affecting their growth rate (or if a ditch has been filled in, there's more soil above it, meaning more mositure for the crops above it). Bottom line is that the growth rate of the crop above the feature is different, meaning that you get a relief image of the feature, especially when the ground is parched of water in a dry period. See http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/84804/details/castle+menzies/ for the image of the crop markIn another instance, I recently used the site to look up a place in the parish of Dores in Invernessshire. I had found a farm there bearing the name of a settlement my family lived in at the middle of the 17th century, but the aerial image actually revealed some deserted settlements in an adjacent field, meaning that the modern building may not necessarily be the actual one the family stayed in. All useful contextual stuff!
RCAMHS is absolutely stuffed with aerial images via its CANMORE database, but I thought I'd take this opportunity to point out one of the best things about Canmore - it's interactive. You can actually upload your own images to the site. In this case, as a pay back for RCAMHS image we used in the Time Flyers pilot (which was not broadcast as we made changes to the presentation team) I uploaded a couple of images to show the details found in the excavation of the Castle Menzies site - you can see these on the same page quoted above, by clicking on the Public Contributions, Photos link that shows the number 2.
I've uploaded other material to the site - see http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/28432/contribution/perth+priory+chapel+and+hospital+of+st+leonard/ for example, where I have added an old postcard image of a place called Carr's Croft in Perth, along with two pages of text from a dissertation describing various land transactions on the site in the 19th century.
If you are doing a one place study, RCAMHS may well be a brilliant source of info - and you can also add to the database to build up a truly impressive national resource for Scotland!
NB: For other resources for land and house based research in Scotland (where the law has historically been very different to elsewhere in the UK), don't forget my book Discover Scottish Land Records, available in print format from http://www.gould.com.au/Discover-Scottish-Land-Records-p/utp0283.htm or in ebook format from http://gen-ebooks.com.Chris
My latest book, Discover Scottish Civil Registration Records, is now available from http://www.gould.com.au (print) and http://www.gen-ebooks.com/unlock-the-past.html (ebook), whilst Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet is available at http://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-History-on-the-Internet/p/3889/. My next Pharos Scottish course, Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs, starts Nov 13th - see http://pharostutors.com.
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