Gloucester’s High Cross, as shown in the 1455 Gloucester rental
Every year, on New Year’s Eve, Gloucester residents gather at ‘The Cross’ to celebrate the coming of the New Year. The vast majority of them believe that The Cross is so-named because it is where the four ‘Gate’ streets meet in the middle of the city. Not so! It is named after the original stone memorial cross that stood at the junction for hundreds of years.
Having lived close to the Dorset border for more than twenty years, one is inclined to take an interest in the works of Thomas Hardy. For me the ‘Mellstock Quire’ going their Christmas rounds is a memorable image, and even better is the same cast of characters who appear in a short story, leading the singing in church, then falling asleep during the sermon, and waking up to find themselves playing a dance-tune instead of the final hymn, being thrown out of church for ever by the squire, and replaced by a barrel organ. It is funny and poignant, with scarcely any of the accustomed Hardyesque melancholy.[1]
We’re delighted to announce the Heritage Lottery Fund is giving us £1.1 million towards our “For the Record” partnership project.
This means we can now access extra funding from key partners, trusts and foundations, as well as generous donations from the public. Finding out before the holidays gives us even more reason to celebrate all the project has achieved so far!
For the last of our archaeological blogs, we’re looking at what the results of the excavations might mean in terms of what was happening here in the past.
In broad terms, the results from the trenches that were dug can be summarised as follows Continue reading
Robert Raikes Snr is best known as the father of Robert Raikes Jnr, one of Gloucester’s most famous sons, who founded the Sunday School movement. Yet the elder Raikes (1683-1757) is equally worthy of recognition for the role he played in developing the regional newspaper industry with his pioneering Gloucester Journal in the early part of the 18th century. Continue reading
Gloucestershire Archives 