Warning: The nature of running a programme of events and publicising it, often months in advance, has its dangers such as a change of venue, change of lecture etc. Prior to any event, please check here that the details you have are up to date. If you are a member or have requested information emails and we have an email address for you then the Society will email a reminder a few days before a meeting.
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Start Times
The times quoted below are the start times for lectures so please arrive about fifteen minutes before or login to Zoom at least five minutes before the start. Some other websites list our events. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the information they provide so please check here.
Zoom Meetings
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Free Entrance… but donations requested
Whether attending in person or on Zoom the Society currently doesn’t charge for meetings. With hire charges, speakers’ fees and equipment costs meetings run at a loss. If possible please make a donation to help defray these costs. At meetings you may make a donation by card, cheque or cash. Otherwise, please pay by bank transfer. Details are TSB Bank, Account Blakeney Area Historical Society, Sort code 30-94-34 and Account no. 18327968.
Printable List of Talks for 2023-24
Click here for printable list
Tuesday 26th September 2023 at 7:30pm
Cley Village Hall & Zoom
Clandestine Operations at RAF Sculthorpe in the 1950s
The RAF Sculthorpe Heritage Centre tells the stories of the 1st USAF Atomic base outside of America and the only atomic USAF base in Norfolk. It was the largest USAF base during the fifties, being on the front line of the atomic deterrent against the Soviet Union for a decade. At one point the base had over 10,000 personnel stationed on base.
Ian Brown, RSHC Curator
Tuesday 31st October 2023 at 2:30pm
Cley Village Hall
Religion and the Iceni: new excavations at the Roman temple at Caistor-by-Norwich
While many people are familiar with the site of the Roman town at Venta Icenorum, few are aware of the huge Roman temple complex that lies around 800 m to the north-east of the town. This talk will introduce the results of new research at the temple by the Caistor Roman Project, which has shown that the site has a long and complex history that included the construction of the largest Roman temple building in the region. The research suggests that the temple was a religious focal point in the landscape from the Iron Age onwards and has shed further light on the religious practice of the Iceni.
Will Bowden, Professor of Roman Archaeology, Faculty of Arts, University of Nottingham
Please note this talk will not be on Zoom.
Tuesday 28th November 2023 at 2:30pm
Cley Village Hall & Zoom
Sir John Fastolf: Our Norfolk Knight
Followed by the AGM
In 1429, Sir John was to cross paths with Joan of Arc, and what were those dubious connections to Sir John Falstaff, the fictional character who appears in three of Shakespeare’s plays? Dale will look at the factual legacy of Sir John Fastolf, and his Norfolk roots.
Dale Wiseman
Tuesday 30th January 2024 at 2:30pm
Cley Village Hall & Zoom
Talks by Members
Two interesting finds from Blakeney and Salthouse
Roger Bland
Two interesting objects have recently been found in our area. The first is a silver seal matrix (a stamp for sealing documents), found by metal detector user Steve Lancaster at Salthouse in April 2022, with the name of Robert of Kellingge (Kelling). The first rector named on the board of rectors in Kelling church is Robert. This has now been acquired by Norwich Castle Museum.
The second find, made by Mr and Mrs Bould in their garden in Blakeney, is a very worn religious medal showing St Peter and St Paul. It was struck for the Holy Year of 1750 inaugurated by Pope Benedict XIV. We will probably never know for certain how it came to be lost our village, but Italian Prisoners of War were based locally during the Second World War.
Second Talk: To Be Added
Tuesday 27th February 2024 at 2:30pm
Cley Village Hall & Zoom
Whaling from Norfolk
This is the story of Norfolk’s “Greenland Fishery”, the annual fishery for whales which took boats from Yarmouth and Lynn into Arctic waters hunting for whales from as early as the 17th Century. When did it start?, which ports were involved?, how was it conducted?, when and why did it end?, and what evidence for this industry still survives in the county.
Charles Lewis
Tuesday 26th March 2024 at 2:30pm
Cley Village Hall & Zoom
Crisis Before the Shipwreck: The Gloucester and Oliver Cromwell’s Western Design, 1654-1656
The discovery of the Gloucester warship off Great Yarmouth in 2007 by Norfolk divers Julian and Lincoln Barnwell has captivated the nation. An important warship to both British and global history, when the Gloucester sank in 1682, it was transporting the future King James II to Scotland. This talk considers the wider career of the Gloucester by focusing on its first expedition as part of Oliver Cromwell’s Western Design in the Caribbean, 1654-1656. Accounting for the ship’s involvement in assaults on Spanish colonial holdings including Jamaica, Dr Benjamin Redding will also explore the experiences of the Gloucester’s crew, revealing how they faced extreme physical and mental hardships in an unforgiving environment.
Dr Benjamin Redding, Senior Research Associate in Maritime History, University of East Anglia
Johan Danckerts’ painting of the Gloucester wreck held by Royal Maritime Greenwich & Ben Redding
Tuesday 30th April 2024 at 2:30pm
Cley Village Hall & Zoom
The Norwich Architects: Edward Boardman & George Skipper
Details to be added.
Susan Riddle