Promoting awareness of the archaeology and history of north Devon
Promoting awareness of the archaeology and history of north Devon
A New Member's Tale - Bob Shrigley (Newsletter No 14 2007/08)
A year has passed since I retired and joined NDAS and our chairman has invited me to say something about my background and what I have been up to during the last twelve months. My entire career was spent working in the archive profession as a conservator, first at the Public Record Office, (now the National Archive), and finally at the Surrey Record Office. My work involved the repair of material dating from medieval times to the last century, which had been ravaged by mould, insects, the effects of acidity and general mis-handling. This included paper and parchment documents, seals, books and maps.
Over the years repair materials, methods and equipment changed. For example, long-fibred Japanese papers and tissues began to be used on documents in order to produce more light and flexible repairs. We even profited from the Cold War when 'leafcasting' technology came to the West by way of a Bulgarian emigrant to Israel. This involved the used of a machine in which liquid paper pulp was used to infill missing areas in paper documents. The job also changed with greater emphasis on preservation matters such as climatic storage conditions, packaging and disaster planning. Strategies also had to be developed for the long-term care of the newer record media eg. photographs, sound recordings and digital material.
The highlight of my career was my involvement in the relocation of the Surrey Record Office to the new Surrey History Centre at Woking. This was a £6.2 million development grant-aided by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Along with others, I helped battle to ensure that the majority of this money went into fitting out the reading rooms, storage areas, workrooms and offices, and not into producing an architectural edifice as had happened elsewhere in building new record offices.
Right Lunch break for the Hartland surveyors, author to the right
Having joined the Surrey Archaeological Society at the tender age of 13, one of my objectives in retiring to Devon, was to revive my past interests, which had been overtaken by such things as family and a career, I have been to most of NDAS's evening talks and other events but have devoted all outdoor activities to the Hartland Project, as! live reasonably near at Northam. What immediately struck me is how archaeology has changed with the use of newer technologies to 'read the land'. I have been assisting Stephen Hobbs and the Exeter University's Xarch Project Team with geophysical survey work.
At The Warren this has involved setting out 20-metre grid-squares and helping with magnetometry data gathering. Although there is very little to see on the surface, the scans have shown up a fascinating wealth of information indicating the possible existence of barrows, a trackway and field systems etc. There is still a lot more survey work to be undertaken here and in the adjoining fields, and if the current results are anything to go by, it is hoped that even more 'good' archaeology will be revealed. I have also helped with GIS work at the Swannery below St Catherine'sTor in which computer and satellite technologies are used. It is hoped that once a 3D survey picture is produced, it will assist in the interpretation of the area which contains many intriguing banks and ditches.
I am indebted to the Exeter University team, Stephen Hobbs and many other
NDAS members
who have been helping me to get up to date with today's new archaeological
practices and for
imparting their wealth of knowledge on the history of the North Devon
Area.