Syon Park Excavation – The Gardener’s Tale: How ‘Little Syon’ was re-discovered

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Following on from our blog posts And he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down… and At the first sign of trouble, find out what else has been happening at Syon Park. 

The existence of Sir Richard Wynn’s house (Little Syon) has been carefully brought back to light through the hard work of Simon Hadleigh-Sparks, a gardener at Syon Park. In his spare time he spends hours in Syon’s archive uncovering the wealth of documentary evidence kept there. Here he tells us how he first stumbled across Sir Richard Wynn’s House: 

Little Syon was a grand private house situated on London Road, that is now within the grounds of Syon Park land, and that has sadly been forgotten about over time. Many locals and Syon workers will not be at all aware of its existence, even though it played an important part of Syon and Brentford history for 226 years. 

I first heard about the house when I was doing some research on the internet, looking-up another project, when I saw the Little Syon painting (see below; image courtesy of London Metropolitan Archives). I took it upon myself to discover what I could about this little known part of Syon’s history.

Painting of Little Syon, courtesy of London Metropolitan Archives

Painting of Little Syon, courtesy of London Metropolitan Archives

 You will see from this painting that the frontage has a striking resemblance to Syon House (below) which may explain how it came to be known as Little Syon. 

Syon House

Syon House

What first sparked my interest was of course the name ‘Little Syon’ and also that it was the only section of land not owned by the Syon Dukes for most of the building’s lifetime. It’s a bit of a mystery why the Little Syon site was separate; a possible reason is the land was given to the Nuns when Mary 1st wanted to rebuild the abbey at Syon (which was dissolved under Henry VIII in 1539). The plot was eventually rejoined with the parkland in 1818 AD, but the house itself was demolished shortly afterwards. 

Even now very little is known of the building and its history but I am honoured that my research and discoveries to date are being used by the Museum of London team and my initial research has been the driving force behind the archaeological project for this year. 

I have done most of my research online and looking through the Duke of Northumberland’s archives and records held here at Syon. It is a treasure trove of information from which I hope to discover more (for example this map of the house, below).

Map of the house © the Collections and Archives Department at Alnwick Castle

Map of the house © the Collections and Archives Department at Alnwick Castle

I also hope to obtain some more info from the Duke’s Alnwick Castle archives, as they now hold a large amount of Syon’s records. Plus the results of excavation are invaluable! 

Researching Little Syon has only fuelled my interest in Syon Park and the unknown aspects of its history. I will continue to explore and research the parkland, and look forward to my future discoveries! 

Simon Hadleigh-Sparks

Simon Hadleigh-Sparks

Bring your Grandparents Day

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              Museum of London Docklands held their first ’ Bring your Grandparents Day’ on Saturday 5th May. Here’s what the visitors thought.
Laila is 8. ‘I came with my whole family. My grandmother is called Cathy. We had a family vote on what to do today. This is my favourite museum. I like the dark street upstairs (Sailortown.) I’m going to take her in there when we finish this embroidery. I expect she’ll be really scared but there are little animals for you to protect and guide through so that you feel less scared. My brother, who’s 5, will want to take her into Mudlarks and show her how to play with the water. He likes damming it up.’
Cathy herself said, ‘It’s a lovely idea to have a day to say thanks to grandparents, after all we do a lot of caring. We’ve brought a packed lunch to eat in the picnic room but just found out that there’s 20% off in the café if you produce a grandparent so we might have to treat ourselves to a cake.’
‘I’m only 37 but I’m a grandmother,’ said Linda from Kent. ‘I wondered what to expect but I needn’t have worried. I’ve done jewellery making, Bengali embroidery, felt-making and seen a hilarious performance from an East End Gran who refuses to grow old.’
Mike from Shadwell said, ‘It’s great to see a place with so many buggies. You never feel like the grandchildren are in the way. I’ve been before and we came today specially for this. I’ve had a lovely waltz down memory lane, singing some old songs and we even danced ‘Knees-up Mother Brown. More please.’

The problem with family albums

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Following on from her blogs about William Raban’s film Nightwalks and the key objects within our Dickens and London exhibition, this week PhD student, Joanna Robinson, asks if we can find out more about Dickens’ relatives through the characters in his books than by looking at photographs of them. Joanna is a PhD student working collaboratively with the Museum of London and the English department at King’s College, London.

As you walk into Dickens and London, the first artefacts to greet you, and ease you into a Dickensian state of mind, are a range of photographs of Dickens’ close family and friends. His private life, particularly his scandalous treatment of his wife during his affair with a much younger woman, has been a feature of numerous biographies in recent years. Even the jolly TV programmes on Dickens shown over Christmas 2011 saw presenters referring to this era of his life again and again, and sending the message that the public are not willing to forgive him. Such topics will inevitably be the first thing on people’s minds as they gaze upon the opening images in the exhibition, so that the wall of photographs feels almost like a line-up from a nineteenth century version of Hello magazine. And, similarly to Hello magazine, there is a real sense that these photos do not tell us the full story.

Ellen Ternan © Charles Dickens Museum

Ellen Ternan © Charles Dickens Museum

There is something eerie in this wall of ghostly faces, and I believe that this is partly because of the way they have been arranged for the exhibition. The problem with the length of Dickens’ career is that it is difficult to tie down any consistent arguments across his texts, and so his friendships can often be better traced through their influence upon his work. For instance, not only is Hard Times dedicated to Thomas Carlyle, but Carlyle’s thinking seems to have significantly shaped the novel. However, Carlyle’s voice does not pervade the whole of Dickens’ oeuvre. By having Dickens’ associates arranged in a line-up it is difficult to differentiate between the contexts in which he knew them, and their various impacts upon his writing career. This sea of faces, with their captioned biographies, is eerie because of their dislocation both from Dickens and each other. I find it helpful to imagine them on a pin board in the style of a police investigation, with different bits of string connecting the dots – but, to be fair, this would not look as nice as the way the exhibition has presented them.

Dickens with his daughters Mary and Kate in the garden at Gad’s Hill Place, 1865 © Charles Dickens Museum

Dickens with his daughters Mary and Kate in the garden at Gad’s Hill Place, 1865 © Charles Dickens Museum

Photographs are so misleading, as they can only freeze a single moment, and do not take into account changes across a person’s life. I certainly hope that none of my close friends become famous authors – I would just want the ground to open up under me if in years to come my fourteen-year-old self was preserved in an exhibition line-up! I wonder if any of Dickens’ friends would have insisted on being taken from their good side, just in case. Therefore, although I do not claim that it is uninteresting to be able to apply a face to a name, and it certainly is a nice, gentle introduction into Dickens’ world, I think that we can learn more about his friends from the novels.

Dickens shamelessly uses portraits of real people to inspire his characters, and their extreme caricature elements only highlight his sharp eye for the ridiculous in people. Moreover, we can track his changing responses to his friends far more easily in his writing than in photographs, even if our conclusions make us equally unsympathetic to Dickens himself. Poor Maria Beadnell (his first love)! How humiliating to appear first as Dora Spenlow in David Copperfield, then (after they had been reintroduced many years later and she was a middle aged widow) as Flora Finching in Little Dorrit. Personally, I’d be far more offended to be cast as Dora! Although the humour endures, Flora is much more sympathetically drawn than Dora. His portrait of Flora is thus not only revealing about his changing feelings towards an ageing Maria, but also shows his perspective as an older man. We get so much of Dickens’ own story from his tales about others, and they are insights that a family album will just not provide.

You can view portraits of Dickens family within the Dickens and London exhibition at the Museum of London until 10 June 2012.

So then Jennifer, you’d like to know a little more about Steampunk?

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Victorian hip hop artist, Professor Elemental, takes us through a brief history of Steampunk in advance of his performance at The alternative Diamond Jubilee at the Museum of London Docklands on Thursday 31 May.

Martin Scorcese is doing it, Justin Beiber had a bit of it and Philip Pullman is riddled with it. It’s Steampunk. Pretty much what all the kids are into these days. Well, not these days exactly, more in Victorian days…make-believe Victorian days.

Professor Elemental - www.professorelemental.com

Imagine, if you will, that the British Empire never crumbled and steam powered innovation paved the way to the future. Imagine a world where science fiction is woven into historical fancy and where afternoon tea is served in elaborate flying steamships by a robotic butler with a perfect moustache. In this world, there are rivet-studded jet packs, pirates, corsets and a great deal of politeness. There is even, on the odd occasion, a monkey butler with a hat made of bits of old clock.

Steampunk as a genre is relatively new, although its influences trace back to Victorian literature, particularly that of H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. Over the past few years it has been embraced by nerds, like myself, at shows and conventions around the world. Consequently (as with most things that us nerds enjoy), the mainstream has seized upon it. Now it seems that Steampunk’s well-oiled pistons are in everything from The Simpsons to Sherlock.

But don’t fear – the Steampunk fraternity at the heart of the genre are universally lovely, imaginative folk, who have formed a genuine community that spans around the world. Some people take it very seriously indeed and gather regularly to play in an elaborate homemade universe of fantasy, wearing cyborg legs and complicated hats. For others, it is simply a big fancy dress party, a world of whimsy where one can visit an altogether more imaginative time.

Both sides of the coin are lovely, and I think there’s even space for a few more variations in the mainstream. For every cringe-heavy Justin Beiber video, there’s a film like Scorceses’ Hugo.

Oh, and there’s good music too – quite apart from my Steampunk hip hop frivolities, there is authentic punk (The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing), ‘proper’ science meets music (Sarah Angliss) and rich gothic fantasy (Abney Park).

So do head out there into the steamy world of imaginary Victorian London, you’ll meet fine people and you’ll see and hear some amazing things. But don’t forget your top hat, ideally one covered in bits of old clock.

(c) Paul Alborough 2012

You can catch Professor Elemental at The alternative Diamond Jubilee at the Museum of London Docklands on Thursday 31 May, 6.45-9.45pm. Book in advance £6 (concs £5).
Celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and party like it’s 1897! Be astonished by shows of burlesque and Victorian style hip hop, marvel at illusionists, and delight in steam punk-themed craft workshops. Dress code: fin de siècle finery and steampunk chic.

Connecting to Dickens – Desk vs. Manuscript

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Having looked at William Raban’s film Nightwalks last week, PhD student, Joanna Robinson takes a closer look at two of the key objects currently on display in our Dickens and London exhibition at the Museum of London. Joanna  is a PhD student working collaboratively with the Museum of London and the English department at King’s College, London.

Tonight, in the blue corner – a real heavyweight on loan from a private collector – Dickens’s desk from Gad’s Hill Place! Aaand in the red corner – on loan from the V&A, and complete with annotations – the manuscript of Bleak House! Both contenders promise to pack a punch with the public… or do they? Perhaps the first question we should ask is can you have an exhibition on a well known literary figure without featuring these kind of artefacts? Dickens’ true heritage is his writing, yet how do you begin to structure an exhibition around something that is so intangible and subjective? In a way, desks and manuscripts seem to provide concrete proof of Dickens’ worth, and so justify his place in the canon and the existence of the exhibition itself. Yet even though they are clearly an expected facet of any display of this sort, it is difficult to know what it is they actually say about Dickens other than, “oh yes, he must have written something then.”

Dickens desk in Dickens and London at the Museum of London

Nevertheless, so many of the people I speak to on their way out of the exhibition mention the desk in particular as their favourite display. The desk seems to give some people the feeling of a personal, even spiritual, connection to Dickens, and they see the desk as providing an insight into his writing process. Being a literature student, it came as a great surprise to me that the desk seemed to win round one against the manuscript – I certainly spent more time pouring over the famous opening from Bleak House, defaced by Dickens’s squiggly annotations, than gazing at the desk. I don’t mean to suggest that people weren’t impressed by the manuscript, yet the desk certainly seemed to have more impact. Of course, this might have something to do with how the display has been arranged. The desk is on a raised platform, under a spotlight, while the manuscript rests in an unobtrusive case along the back wall. If the exhibition were Camden Market, the desk would be a brightly coloured dress hung on the outside of a stall, which makes you stop even though you really don’t need a dress. Whereas the manuscript would be the great second hand book stall at the back of the Stables.

Dickens's Manuscript for Bleak House © V&A images and Victoria and Albert Museum

Dickens's Manuscript for Bleak House © V&A images and Victoria and Albert Museum

However, the responses from the public made me wonder whether I was missing something by thinking, “it’s a nice desk – but it is just a desk.” I am tempted to reach for Walter Benjamin as I try to understand its power over the imagination. Perhaps its literary associations have created an aura around it that gives it a palpable sense of uniqueness. One could claim that the desk has more impact because it is not reproducible, whereas Dickens’ words (even samples of his plans and annotations, if you get a good edition) are constantly replicated. Yet I am inclined to believe that its appeal may be even simpler than this. When Victorians emigrated they would take souvenirs to remind them of loved ones, finding a tactile comfort in these objects. The souvenir would somehow lessen their acute awareness of a human-shaped void even though they knew that they would probably never see their loved one again. The desk seems, to me, to constitute a kind of literary souvenir, and similarly provides a physical link between us and someone who is completely out of reach.

I do not mean to conclude that, after all, the desk should come out on top in this contest. Personally, I think the result is a tie. But it is interesting to see how many people yearn for a sense of connection to Dickens, which reading his work alone cannot satisfy. Not only does this reveal, if more proof were needed, the public demand for exhibitions like Dickens and London, but also how potent the Victorian souvenir culture still is.

You can catch Dickens’ desk and his manuscript for Bleak House within the Dickens and London exhibition at the Museum of London until 10 June 2012. Let us know which is your favourite object in the comments section below!

Dickens Book Club May – David Copperfield

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Elizabeth Singleton, Host at the Museum of London, introduces our our final Dickens Book Club book for May, David Copperfield.

Hello all, my name is Elizabeth and I work as a Host at the Museum of London.  I must admit that Dickens has always been on the periphery of my literary life. Sure, I have always been acquainted with his work – from the multiple adaptations I have seen on screen and stage – but I have yet, until today, actually delved into the original work.

David Copperfield © Museum of London

And what better way to start than with the novel the writer described as his ‘favourite child’, David Copperfield. In the preface to the book Dickens writes that the novel was a result of a two year ‘imaginative task’, and how, having at last finished it, he is so torn between pleasure and regret at its end – his pleasure deriving from  ‘the achievement of a long design’ but his ‘regret in the separation from so many companions’.  I do so love this idea, as I have often felt the same way as a reader at the end of a particularly enjoyable read; I have found that I have lamented the parting of such characters that have taken such an active part in my imagination, but find I am forever grateful to have met them in the first place. This, I believe, is the best thing about starting a new book – the promise of new characters you will meet along the way as the adventure unfolds.

And what a book this is! My first thoughts, I must admit, centred around the sheer size of the novel – ‘blimey, quite an adventure there’ – but delve into it I will! I have no idea what I will find, as I know very little about the story, only that the author is said to have drawn inspiration from his personal life. So, let’s see who I’ll meet…

If you would like to join Elizabeth and our Dickens Book Club in reading David Copperfield, our friends at Foyles are offering Dickens Book Club followers an additional 10% discount for online purchases of the novel here. Simply enter ‘MOLBC’ at Checkout to activate this discount.

Don’t forget to share your thoughts and insights on Facebook and Twitter throughout the month.

A History of London in 10 Archaeological Objects: Object 4

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The LAARC has celebrated a great achievement the past month by being announced as the largest Archaeological Archive in the World! As part of my series of exploring London’s history explicitly through archaeology, this month it’s the Saxons (or is it?) and an object associated with archaeology’s ability to sometimes completely rewrite the history books.

Our historical knowledge of Saxon London until the 1980s was scant. No contemporary histories of the period exist until the writings of the Venerable Bede, an English Monk, in the c.730s AD who mentions the city of Lundenwic: “Its [the province of the East Saxons] chief city is London, which is on [the river Thames] and is an emporium for many nations who come to it by sea and land” (Historia Ecclesiastica). It was considered that this wic or emporium would have been situated within the walls of the old Roman city; however, little evidence was forthcoming. This is reflected in the paucity of the Museum of London’s core collection of Saxon objects from the city, which only number some 700 artefacts. Excavations at Jubilee Hall in 1985 proved new theories by archaeologists Martin Biddle and Alan Vince that Middle Saxon (650 – 850AD) Lundenwic actually existed west of the Roman city, in the modern area of London’s Strand/Covent Garden.

This fourth object will hopefully emphasise how new archaeological discoveries are constantly changing our understanding of London’s history and the difficulties associated with interpreting transitional periods in the archaeological record.

Object 4

Early Saxon (Late C6th AD) Amber Bead Necklace

These 19 individually polished, red amber beads were excavated from one of the earliest graves belonging to a Saxon Londoner, on site of the London Transport Museum in 2003. This object was one of several grave goods accompanying a somewhat enigmatic burial. The skeleton itself could not be aged or sexed and exhibited no pathology that could be interpreted.

As such we know virtually nothing of this person other than that which can be interpreted from the goods chosen to accompany the body in burial (always a tricky business). A shield-on-tongue buckle could be of Kentish manufacture or an import – the garnet keystone brooch pre-dates any ‘Kentish’ known examples. Two ‘Roman’ artefacts – a glass vessel rim and copper-alloy terret – suggest some form of historical curation by the Saxons, but muddy the picture of this particular Saxon’s ethnic and cultural identity.

The amber beads have been highlighted from this assemblage because of all the grave goods they are the most ‘exotic’, having been sourced and traded from the Baltic. Amber was especially popular in the C5th and C6th and favoured in the Anglian and Saxon regions of England (versus Kent). Despite this popularity, this specific jewellery type is the first excavated from the London region, making it unique. On a broader perspective we can see, despite the end of the Roman Empire, London persists as a centre of trade.

Continuation of Roman practice is also evident through location of this pre-wic Saxon cemetery where Roman burials and the re-use of sarcophagi have been discovered. The burial itself is also telling as it is believed inhumation was a Saxon practice inherited from the Romans. However, the positioning of the body – head orientated to the west – may suggest a Christianizing influence.

The unusual Amber beads from this burial are only one piece of a puzzle that epitomizes how archaeology often asks more questions of its material than it can ever answer. All we can tentatively suggest of our Saxon in question is that she was an adult female and clearly of status.

In the last 25 years our knowledge of Saxon London has changed dramatically and in the last twelve years excavations, such as at sites LGC00 and SMD01, have allowed archaeologists to refine the stratigraphic framework and related chronology of this period. Having located where Saxon London was, perhaps in another 10 years we will be far closer to understanding who our Early Saxon Londoners were. Only archaeology will tell…

Following William Raban – is voiceover the future for Dickens adaptation?

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Inspired by William Raban’s film Nightwalks, currently showing in our Dickens and London exhibition, PhD student, Joanna, explores the implications of voiceover in retelling Dickens’ stories for a modern day audience. Joanna Robinson is a PhD student working collaboratively with the Museum of London and the English department at King’s College, London.

Lurking in a dark corner of the Dickens and London exhibition, I bide my time. Ready at a moment’s notice to spring forth and pounce upon some unsuspecting member of the public, brandishing a questionnaire. William Raban’s film, The Houseless Shadow, is the exhibition’s final flourish and clearly makes an impact – I know because everyone stays seated throughout, exiting en masse when the film finishes and sending me into a questionnaire-touting frenzy!

River still from The Houseless Shadow © William Raban and Museum of London

The Houseless Shadow aims to expose links between the city of Charles Dickens and life in our modern metropolis by overlaying Raban’s film of the city at night with Dickens’ famous essay, Night Walks. Those kind enough to put up with a few questions from me were all impressed by the film, and had been convinced that Dickens’ topicality endures. Londoners in particular felt a peculiar affinity with the film, in a similar way to the old maps of London – almost as if these artefacts allowed them to reclaim a close relationship with Dickens through the city, despite the distance of two centuries. Yet although the film helped to create a sense of ownership over the city through voyeurism, and brought some people to Dickens through this, a London postcode was not a limiting factor. Everyone wanted a piece of Dickens! It was fascinating to witness how people looked for a personal or family connection to Dickens in the exhibition, yet whether through a familiarity of place, or a concern with continuing social issues, most people found this through the film.

This made me wonder whether Raban’s film could start a new breed of Dickens adaptations.  I am as easily pleased by extravagant costumes and a happy ending as the next person, but let’s face it most of Dickens has been done to death.  And despite this somehow the adaptation never seems to approach the brilliance of Dickens’ writing! Of course, the original has authority by default, and it would be impossible (and dull) to try to attempt a word for word adaptation. Earlier this year I attended a talk by Simon Callow, where he suggested that the reason adaptations fail, and similarly why Dickens’ writing for the stage was so awful, is because they exclude his narrative voice. This is certainly necessary – any attempts I have seen to include Dickens’ voice always make me cringe.  Like when the BBC’s most recent version of Bleak House had Denis Lawson look moodily out of a window as he soliloquised: ‘Dead, your Majesty. Dead, my lords and gentlemen…’ etc, I could only reply ‘oh why, Denis, why?!’  Could it be that a voiceover could solve this problem?

Shop window sleeper still from The Houseless Shadow © William Raban and Museum of London

Although voiceovers in movies are generally scorned by film buffs, the narrative voice in Raban’s film allowed people a novel perspective on Dickens that was (in my brief survey) universally well-received. People at the exhibition praised its freshness, and the new relevance it brought to Dickens’ work. Raban’s success in bringing Dickens into conversation with the modern city undoubtedly influences these favourable reviews, yet The Houseless Shadow is also striking for reintroducing Dickens’ narrative voice to film. Night Walks features some of Dickens’ finest writing, so it could be argued that this mode would not translate well across all of his oeuvre – but imagine how much better a voiceover would have been than just putting Dickens’ words into the mouth of a character! Others may argue that voiceovers would detract from the realism of adaptations, but to them I say – this is fiction. It is Dickens’ unique voice that keeps us reading him today, so why shouldn’t it keep us watching him too?

You can catch Nightwalks by William Raban within the Dickens and London exhibition at the Museum of London until 10 June 2012.

> Find out more about the exhibition
> Watch the trailer for Nightwalks by William Raban

Protecting the bodies of the dead

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On 19 October 2012 the Museum of London will open Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men, which will explore the early 19th century history of human dissection and the trade in dead bodies. Osteologist and exhibition curator Jelena Bekvalac talks about the work currently being undertaken for this major exhibition.

In 2006 archaeological excavations by Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) took place on site at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel revealing an area of burial ground – used for a short period of time from c.1825-1840 – which had long since been forgotten. Significantly the passing of the 1832 Anatomy Act took place during this period, a pivotal point in time that had enormous implications in medical and social history that continues to resonate into the 21st century. The discoveries from the excavation are the basis of our forthcoming exhibition Doctors, Dissection and Resurrection Men. 

The skeletal material recovered from the burials was extraordinary with the discovery of individuals who had undergone post mortems and dissection, as well as comparative anatomy and teaching preparations. Being in the context of a hospital it is not perhaps unexpected to find evidence like this but it is an unusual archaeological assemblage. It provides a unique snapshot into a past era of a functioning hospital treating patients, as well as one of the earliest established medical teaching schools, founded in 1785 by surgeon Sir William Blizard.

London in the 19th century was rapidly developing as an industrial and urban metropolis with a growing population. Scientific investigation was flourishing and with the ascendancy of the surgeon anatomists demand for dead bodies was rising and needed a good supply. The poor were vulnerable both in life and death. Conditions of the cemeteries in the 19th century were dire with high mortality rates and an ever increasing number of burials. Burials of the poor were particularly vulnerable to the manoeuvrings of the resurrection men (body snatchers) who would enter cemeteries under cover of darkness, having with them spades and sacks to dig up the bodies of the dead and sell for a high price to anatomy and medical schools for dissection.

Iron coffin - St Bride’s Church on Fleet Street

Iron coffin - St Bride’s Church on Fleet Street

One of the prevailing Christian religious fears of the time was the horror of being taken from your grave and dissected. Measures were taken in attempts to safeguard the dead but the resurrection men were resourceful and skilled in their grisly task. The wealthy were able to pay for more secure means of burial, including paying someone to watch over you after death until too decomposed to be of use to the resurrection men. There were also some extreme and bizarre innovations created to protect the dead. Lead coffins (triple shell) were a standard format for burial of the wealthy at this time but for a short period, at the height of the fear of resurrection men, iron coffins were offered by undertakers as the ultimate deterrent. These would have been very expensive and, therefore, the sole preserve of the wealthy.

With fear of body-snatching gripping 19th century Londoners, you might expect that there would be a number of iron coffins discovered during excavations but this is not the case. In all of the many excavations by MOLA not a single iron coffin has been found, making the iron coffin from St Bride’s Church on Fleet Street, which will feature in our exhibition, unique. The coffin has been on display for over 50 years in the crypt of the church. Continued investigations are under way as to whether the coffin was used for an interment or a patent model. The inclusion of this coffin in the exhibition illustrates the fear of the resurrection men and the world in which they moved and traded. In the following months leading up to the exhibition launch, the iron coffin will undergo conservation to expose and learn about its construction and decoration, revealing details to add to the history of iron coffins. The findings from this work will be posted here by our conservationists so watch this space.

Our conservationists taking the iron coffin to the Museum

Our conservationists taking the iron coffin to the Museum

Syon Park Excavation – And he huffed and he puffed and he blew the house down…

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Following on from Monday’s Syon Park blog post, Kath Creed gives an update on the dig so far.

The first trial trench worried us.

Syon Park - Trial trench

Those of you familiar with archaeology will notice that not very much is going on in that trench. Can you see the line of red in the side? That’s the ‘foundation’ for part of Sir Richard’s house. I’d be slightly concerned if my lovely manor house was just sitting on the surface as that spread implies!

However two more trenches revealed slightly better remains. Trial trench 2 showed a lovely brick debris spread along one of the wall lines…

Syon Park - Trail trench

Syon Park - Trail trench

…and trial trench 3 shows (possibly) the lines of the back walls of the house.

Syon Park - Trial trench

Our plan is to join these second two trial trench together to make a large L shaped trench to explore this summer.

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