Tuesday 28th January 2025 at 2:30pm at Cley Village Hall
Alterations to Blakeney church in the medieval period
Chris Wheeler
Chris is a retired Chartered Surveyor with a fascination for the history of buildings. He is a member of Blakeney’s Parochial Church Council and Fabric Officer for St Nicholas’s Church, Blakeney.
He has become increasingly interested in the early history of Blakeney church, particularly in relation to the East tower and the pre-1435 nave. John Wright, another illustrious member of BAHS has already done some excellent work on the early church and its relationship with the Carmelite Friary at Blakeney. Chris is expanding on that work using the visual architectural evidence available. He will also share his theories around the nave and the mystery of the East Tower.
Recent highlights of Historic England’s work in Norfolk
Sarah Poppy
Sarah has worked for Historic England for the previous 12 years, initially dealing with scheduled monuments in the East of England, but more recently advising on the role of heritage in farming and countryside government policy. Historic England is the government’s advisor on the historic environment in England, championing historic places and helping people to understand, value and care for them.
Tuesday 25th February 2025 at 2:30pm at Cley Village Hall
Excavation of a new Anglo-Saxon site in Norfolk
Lilly Hodges
Tuesday 25th March 2025 at 2:30pm at Cley Village Hall
Exploring Norfolk’s Deep History Coast
Dr John Davies
This talk will introduce you to the concept of Norfolk’s Deep History Coast; a place where unique discoveries of international significance have been made, which have transformed our understanding of the earliest human occupation of northern Europe. It will take you on a journey through time, looking at the archaeology, geology, natural landscape and the creatures that have inhabited the area, and provide an introduction to some of the fascinating and beautiful historic sites around Norfolk’s coast.
John was Chief Curator for Norfolk Museums Service and Keeper of Archaeology until December 2018. Prior to retiring, he was Project Director for the major project to redevelop the historic Norman keep at Norwich Castle – the largest museum heritage project in the UK. He previously led the Interreg European project ‘Norman Connections’, linking historic sites in Normandy and southern England. He has worked as an archaeologist in Norfolk since 1984 and is a highly experienced museum professional.
Tuesday 29th April 2025 at 2:30pm at Cley Village Hall
The Real Margery Kempe
Susan Maddock
Margery Kempe of Lynn was an independent-minded woman who provoked extreme reactions in her lifetime (c. 1373-c. 1440) and still does. Her book – the earliest autobiographical text in the English language – records her transformation from a young wife who married for ‘fleshly lusts and inordinate loves’ and gave birth to 14 children into a chaste, but still married, woman given to intense religious devotion.
During wide-ranging travels in England and across Europe, she had some intoxicating experiences and made many friends, but was also arrested and imprisoned more than once, shunned or abandoned by fellow travellers, and traumatised by a storm at sea.
A former archivist in the Norfolk Record Office, Susan Maddock was responsible for King’s Lynn’s borough archives for more than 30 years. Now an honorary research fellow at the University of East Anglia, and author of several articles on late medieval Lynn, her research focuses on the social milieu of Margery Kempe’s home town, including her family and other connections. In this talk, she explores some of what we know about the historical Margery Kempe in the light of the latest research.eople to understand, value and care for them.