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Monday 30 November 2015

Book now for our Christmas lecture: Uncovering Wallpaintings—the Lost Art of Medieval Murals






Wallpainting of the Mocking of Christ St. Teilo's Church, Llandeilo Talybont. NPRN: 94698



People are often surprised to discover that our ancestors lived and worshipped in buildings full of colour and intriguing designs. The Royal Commission’s archive has a fascinating collection of domestic and religious wallpaintings of all periods. The images include medieval paintings imitating tapestries, mysterious portraits, and the unique medieval murals discovered by the Royal Commission in the 1980s at St Teilo’s Church, Llandeilo Talybont, Glamorgan, and beautifully restored at St Fagan’s National History Museum near Cardiff.

Royal Commission’s reconstruction of an angel wallpainting in St. Teilo's Church, Llandeilo Talybont. NPRN: 94698


Richard Suggett will be exploring this extraordinary archive at the Royal Commission’s Christmas lecture at 5.30pm on Wednesday 2 December. For further details, please contact Nicola Roberts, nicola.roberts@rcahmw.gov.uk,  Tel: 01970 621248.




St Teilo's Church, Llandeilo Talybont, abandoned before restoration at St Fagan’s National History Museum in Cardiff. NPRN: 94698


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Friday 27 November 2015

Integrated Survey for Community Engagement





Wessex Archaeology and the Churches Conservation Trust have undertaken a joint project to assess the value of combined digital survey to engage local communities in heritage assets.

The project was carried out at the Old Church of St Nicholas, Uphill, a site not often open to the public, during the Heritage Open Days 2015. The aim was to carry out archaeological investigation using a combination of laser scanning, Total Station Survey, Reflectance Transformation Imaging, excavation and geophysics to inform the CCT about the building, but also to encourage local volunteers to participate in the survey and be trained in survey and excavation techniques. Processing of the raw data was carried out on site allowing the volunteers to see the products of their work and a selection of this work formed an exhibition on the final open day.


Paul Baggaley and Damien Campbell Green will be at Digital Past to discuss the project and whether such an approach can lead to sustained engagement.


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Wednesday 25 November 2015

Ordnance Survey Large Print Collection at the National Monuments Record of Wales





Our first blog requesting assistance in identifying the location of one of our Ordnance Survey large prints was solved by one of our Facebook followers in a little more than 24 hours. The second puzzle was solved in only 46 minutes from when the item was posted on-line - an amazing result.


Our latest brain-teaser may take a little longer. The photograph is of a rural area, with a small collection of houses on a main road. A few farms can be seen, and in the top-right portion of the frame there is a sharp bend in a river.

Can you identify where this is? If so, please let us know.

By Medwyn Parry


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Thursday 19 November 2015

Uncovering wallpaintings: the lost art of medieval murals





Royal Commission Christmas Lecture
Uncovering wallpaintings: the lost art of medieval murals
Richard Suggett

Wednesday, 2 December, 5.30pm

  • Christmas books offer: selected new titles half price or less. The perfect Christmas gift!
  • Viewing of original archive material
  • Festive refreshments



Crown Building, Plascrug, Aberystwyth SY23 1NJ
Booking advisable. Phone: 01970 621200

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Wednesday 18 November 2015

Knit Your Own Aqueduct! Inspirational Archives





Pontcysyllte Aqueduct NPRN: 33410 (DI2008_0375)

My knitting obsession started as soon as I learnt to knit. One New Year’s Eve, seven or eight years ago, I finally cracked it, having just been shown how to cast on in a way I actually understood.

One very long scarf later, I was ready for new challenges. My projects became increasingly ambitious, the needles thinner, and the yarn, finer.

Stranded (also known as Fair Isle) knitting is one of my favourites. I’ve enjoyed making hats, cowls, mittens and other things using this technique. When I saw the old painting of Pontcysyllte aqueduct, I thought that the elegant lines and the repeating arches would make a fantastic pattern for a cowl (which, to the uninitiated, is a tube-shaped thing worn instead of a scarf; sometimes it is referred to as a snood).


I simplified the image and, using graph paper, turned it into a chart for knitting. If it appears somewhat stretched vertically, it is because the knit stitch is wider than it’s tall and an allowance must be made for that, otherwise the finished design would appear squashed.

Are you ready? It’s time to get technical.

INSTRUCTIONS

The pattern is designed to be knitted in 4-ply (or fingering weight) yarn, on thin needles, 3mm or even less. Only stocking stitch is used, and only two colours are used at a time, except at the top where the first two rows of bridge detail (in black) have to be embroidered (duplicate stitch) on the finished piece. The pattern repeat is 14 stitches, and it repeats 16 times in each round.

Some floats are quite long and will have to be caught as you knit.

You should understand about yarn dominance in stranded knitting before you begin. There is a good explanation here: http://paper-tiger.net/blog/13911317/colordominance.

The blue/white vertical stripes are there to help count stitches, nothing else. The pattern repeat is outlined in red on the right hand side of the chart.

The only abbreviations used are: sts – stitches; MC – main colour; CC – contrast colour.

NB. The pattern has not been test-knitted.

You will need:

  • Blue yarn to represent the water (CC1)
  • Green/brown yarn for the land (something variegated with a long repeat, like Noro Kureyon Sock shade S236, would be ideal) (CC2)
  • Light blue yarn for the sky (CC3)
  • Grey yarn for the aqueduct (make sure the colour stands out against the background) (MC)
  • Black yarn for bridge detail. (CC4)

Or you could knit it in bright and entirely unnatural colours; the choice is yours!

Cast on 182 sts in CC1 using the long tail method. Join in the round.

Work 1x1 rib for at least 5 rows, or longer is you like.

Switch to CC2 and MC until first red line. Work chart in Stocking Stitch, making sure to catch the floats and paying attention to yarn dominance (MC should be the dominant colour throughout).

Switch to CC3 and MC. Work until the second red line.

Switch to CC4 and MC. Switch yarn dominance to CC4 for this section. Work to next red line.

Switch back to CC3 and MC. Resume MC yarn dominance and work 1x1 corrugated rib to last row.

Work the last row in CC4 only.

Cast off. Embroider (duplicate stitch) the missing black details of the bridge in the two rows before the second red line. Tidy up the loose ends.

Congratulations! You can now wear the World Heritage Site.

By Ania Skarzynska

 
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Friday 13 November 2015

Inspirational Archives, 18 November, 2015





This year, as part of our Explore your Archive campaign we are running an Inspirational Archives event on 18 November 2015, 12pm to 7pm. There will be lectures on photography and demonstrations of LiDAR, GIS, reconstruction drawing and digital 3D modelling, to illustrate different ways of looking at the world. Three artists will be in residence for the day, running workshops to help inspire you to create something of your own using copies of material from our archives.
Mixed media picture created by The Mad Mountain
 Stitchers, inspired by the photograph of miners in Coity Pits.

 Miners in Coity Pits, from the John Cornwell Collection , NPRN: 433.

Even if you can’t join us, take a look at Coflein, our online site database and catalogue. Here you will find thousands of amazing images that will inspire you to bake a cake, write a poem or paint a picture. Make a digital copy of your creation and submit it to us by 17 January 2016. All submissions will be put in a gallery on People’s Collection Wales and a selection will be published by Planet magazine. We will also be showcasing your work later in 2016 at Ceredigion Museum.

Follow the link to find out more about the event and how to submit your creations inspired by the archives of the Royal Commission.

http://www.rcahmw.gov.uk/HI/ENG/Our+Services/Outreach+/Inspirational+Archives/

We look forward to seeing how you have been inspired!
Cake made by Sue Fielding, inspired by the Royal Commission drawing of Bryndraenog.

 Bryndraenog, Beguildy, NPRN: 81056.


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