Justin Colson
@justincolson.bsky.social
(Digital) historian of fifteenth and sixteenth century cities, communities, trade, guilds, maps
Reposted by Justin Colson
We have more Skills Training in Archival Research (STAR) workshops coming up!
Join staff at The London Archives for a hands-on workshop designed to help postgrad students and researchers make the most of archival collections.
📍 The London Archives
📅 1 April + 3 June
🕛️ 1-4:30pm
Join staff at The London Archives for a hands-on workshop designed to help postgrad students and researchers make the most of archival collections.
📍 The London Archives
📅 1 April + 3 June
🕛️ 1-4:30pm
Skills Training in Archival Research (STAR) Workshop
Join us for a hands-on workshop designed to help postgraduate students and researchers make the most of archival collections.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
February 10, 2026 at 8:45 AM
We have more Skills Training in Archival Research (STAR) workshops coming up!
Join staff at The London Archives for a hands-on workshop designed to help postgrad students and researchers make the most of archival collections.
📍 The London Archives
📅 1 April + 3 June
🕛️ 1-4:30pm
Join staff at The London Archives for a hands-on workshop designed to help postgrad students and researchers make the most of archival collections.
📍 The London Archives
📅 1 April + 3 June
🕛️ 1-4:30pm
Reposted by Justin Colson
W towers of parish churches of Boston (1420s-1510s), St Michael Coventry (1370s-1440s) and Cirencester (1400s-20s).
Latter was built with squinches to take an octagonal stage/spire but was aborted after they had to put massive flyers through the aisles to stop the W side falling apart from thrust.
Latter was built with squinches to take an octagonal stage/spire but was aborted after they had to put massive flyers through the aisles to stop the W side falling apart from thrust.
May 11, 2025 at 10:10 PM
W towers of parish churches of Boston (1420s-1510s), St Michael Coventry (1370s-1440s) and Cirencester (1400s-20s).
Latter was built with squinches to take an octagonal stage/spire but was aborted after they had to put massive flyers through the aisles to stop the W side falling apart from thrust.
Latter was built with squinches to take an octagonal stage/spire but was aborted after they had to put massive flyers through the aisles to stop the W side falling apart from thrust.
Reposted by Justin Colson
Exploring the itineraries of King Edward I 🤓
February 4, 2026 at 12:12 PM
Exploring the itineraries of King Edward I 🤓
Reposted by Justin Colson
Network Rail + ACME’s latest plans are on the planning portal at the City of London. The way to combat this is to object by 9th February on that planning portal. Our easy Guide to writing your own objection is on the link on our bio. Along with a link to our fundraiser. #SaveLiverpoolStreetStation
February 5, 2026 at 8:18 AM
Network Rail + ACME’s latest plans are on the planning portal at the City of London. The way to combat this is to object by 9th February on that planning portal. Our easy Guide to writing your own objection is on the link on our bio. Along with a link to our fundraiser. #SaveLiverpoolStreetStation
Reposted by Justin Colson
For anyone interested in our 18-month post in British Studies please follow the link below. @ihr.bsky.social
www.jobs.london.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
www.jobs.london.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
Jacob Price Fellowship in British Studies (18 month FTC):London Senate House - Hybrid
The University of London is both the UK’s largest provider of international distance and online learning and the convenor of a federation of 17 renowned higher education institutions.
www.jobs.london.ac.uk
February 4, 2026 at 6:59 PM
For anyone interested in our 18-month post in British Studies please follow the link below. @ihr.bsky.social
www.jobs.london.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
www.jobs.london.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai...
Presentation I gave for the Warsaw Spatial Humanities Seminar on Layers of London @layersoflondon.bsky.social as an example of applied Deep Mapping is now live on Vimeo vimeo.com/1161792658
#WarSHum12
This is a video recording of a lecture "Deep Mapping in Practice: ‘Layers of London’ and Participatory Experiential Mapping" delivered by Justing…
vimeo.com
February 4, 2026 at 6:32 PM
Presentation I gave for the Warsaw Spatial Humanities Seminar on Layers of London @layersoflondon.bsky.social as an example of applied Deep Mapping is now live on Vimeo vimeo.com/1161792658
🧵amazing results we've had using Gemini #AI to work with #Medieval #London primary sources: but also clear illustrations of how limited and flawed LLMs are as research tools. Transcriptions from 1980s handwritten index cards, and annotations were next to perfect, but flaws exposed in process (1/9)
February 4, 2026 at 12:00 PM
Reposted by Justin Colson
Catching an Uber, #Bridgerton style? This remarkable 1783 pocket #map of #London, in the collection of @ihrlibrary.bsky.social, shows the Hackney Coach fare between key destinations in the city. A great guide to getting around - and avoiding getting ripped off! More info in AltText.
February 2, 2026 at 4:46 PM
Catching an Uber, #Bridgerton style? This remarkable 1783 pocket #map of #London, in the collection of @ihrlibrary.bsky.social, shows the Hackney Coach fare between key destinations in the city. A great guide to getting around - and avoiding getting ripped off! More info in AltText.
Reposted by Justin Colson
Gen A.I. barons want us talkinge alone on our phones to a demon thei created, and not goinge places and being wyth each othir yn art and joy and communitye. Thei want cinemas to shut downe and broadwaye to go darke. Thei want wryteres to stop writinge. Thei want to build hell and have us pay for it.
January 28, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Gen A.I. barons want us talkinge alone on our phones to a demon thei created, and not goinge places and being wyth each othir yn art and joy and communitye. Thei want cinemas to shut downe and broadwaye to go darke. Thei want wryteres to stop writinge. Thei want to build hell and have us pay for it.
Reposted by Justin Colson
Great to see our new IHR Discovery Course on 'Historic Maps: Interpreting Stories of Place', led by @justincolson.bsky.social, getting off to a brilliant start this morning. A full room, lots of treasures from @ihrlibrary.bsky.social, + a fascinating few days of lectures, workshops and visits ahead!
January 28, 2026 at 10:18 AM
Great to see our new IHR Discovery Course on 'Historic Maps: Interpreting Stories of Place', led by @justincolson.bsky.social, getting off to a brilliant start this morning. A full room, lots of treasures from @ihrlibrary.bsky.social, + a fascinating few days of lectures, workshops and visits ahead!
I've just submitted my objection to the Liverpool Street planning application - please add your voices! Regular user of the station, I know l that claimed need for redevelopment is nonsense - the concourse is less crowded now that the Elizabeth line is open, but total numbers being used to deceive!
📢 The City of London Planning Sub-Committee will be considering Network Rail and Acme's plans for Liverpool Station on Tuesday 10th February.
🚂 The way to make your voice heard is to write an objection. Here's our helpful Guide: bit.ly/4jLWsim 🧵
🚂 The way to make your voice heard is to write an objection. Here's our helpful Guide: bit.ly/4jLWsim 🧵
January 27, 2026 at 1:11 PM
I've just submitted my objection to the Liverpool Street planning application - please add your voices! Regular user of the station, I know l that claimed need for redevelopment is nonsense - the concourse is less crowded now that the Elizabeth line is open, but total numbers being used to deceive!
Our new short courses are a great way to learn about using different kinds of sources for researching and writing history. Whether you're researching one place, or something broader, this is the ideal introduction to using the built environment in history!
Want to learn more about how we look at townscapes as a tool to understand urban & human histories of place?
Join us on 4-6 March with expert guidance on a range of themes, exploring sources, what statutory protection means and how it works and access to the resources of @ihrlibrary.bsky.social. 🗃️
Join us on 4-6 March with expert guidance on a range of themes, exploring sources, what statutory protection means and how it works and access to the resources of @ihrlibrary.bsky.social. 🗃️
Townscape and Architecture in History
Discovery Course 2
www.history.ac.uk
January 20, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Our new short courses are a great way to learn about using different kinds of sources for researching and writing history. Whether you're researching one place, or something broader, this is the ideal introduction to using the built environment in history!
Final day for bookings for my Historic Maps course next week! We'll explore the history of surveying and cartography, colonial map making and tithe maps. We'll also get hands on with physical and digital historic map collections!
The IHR Discovery Courses are designed to be accessible for anyone interested in history - family and local historians, students and academic researchers are all welcome! 28th-30th January 2026 - sign up here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
Historic Maps: Interpreting Stories of Place
Discovery Course 1
www.history.ac.uk
January 20, 2026 at 1:34 PM
Final day for bookings for my Historic Maps course next week! We'll explore the history of surveying and cartography, colonial map making and tithe maps. We'll also get hands on with physical and digital historic map collections!
Reposted by Justin Colson
What’s this? A second new book in two days?
Towcester Hundred is the eighth VCH volume for Northamptonshire, including the town of Towcester and its rural neighbours.
Available soon from @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social and @ihrlibrary.bsky.social.
#Skystorians #LocalHistory
Towcester Hundred is the eighth VCH volume for Northamptonshire, including the town of Towcester and its rural neighbours.
Available soon from @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social and @ihrlibrary.bsky.social.
#Skystorians #LocalHistory
January 7, 2026 at 3:23 PM
What’s this? A second new book in two days?
Towcester Hundred is the eighth VCH volume for Northamptonshire, including the town of Towcester and its rural neighbours.
Available soon from @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social and @ihrlibrary.bsky.social.
#Skystorians #LocalHistory
Towcester Hundred is the eighth VCH volume for Northamptonshire, including the town of Towcester and its rural neighbours.
Available soon from @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social and @ihrlibrary.bsky.social.
#Skystorians #LocalHistory
It really shouldn't be so difficult to change a battery in a toothbrush! When this Oral B brush stopped holding charge, I was determined not to give in to planned obsolescence. Took a £5 NiMH battery, and re-soldering 9 joints - clearly designed deliberately to discourage you from sustainability!
January 12, 2026 at 11:44 PM
It really shouldn't be so difficult to change a battery in a toothbrush! When this Oral B brush stopped holding charge, I was determined not to give in to planned obsolescence. Took a £5 NiMH battery, and re-soldering 9 joints - clearly designed deliberately to discourage you from sustainability!
Reposted by Justin Colson
Astonishing. The development of ship design and capacity is something our analysis of London's medieval customs accounts may illuminate. @justincolson.bsky.social @ebenbow.bsky.social @histgrove.bsky.social
December 29, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Astonishing. The development of ship design and capacity is something our analysis of London's medieval customs accounts may illuminate. @justincolson.bsky.social @ebenbow.bsky.social @histgrove.bsky.social
Did medieval people buy each other Christmas gifts? New Year's Day was the main gifting day, but little is known about everyday people's present giving. Our project on London's customs records has uncovered a wealth of affordable items imported around this time: gloves and hats to toys and rattles🧵
Medieval Londoners’ cheaply imported mass-produced Christmas gifts look surprisingly familiar
We often imagine medieval life as dull, dirty and short, with little in the way of material comfort or decoration. However, medieval Londoners were importing toys, treats and trinkets by the boatload ...
theconversation.com
December 22, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Did medieval people buy each other Christmas gifts? New Year's Day was the main gifting day, but little is known about everyday people's present giving. Our project on London's customs records has uncovered a wealth of affordable items imported around this time: gloves and hats to toys and rattles🧵
Reposted by Justin Colson
Don't steal pies this Christmas.
December 16, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Don't steal pies this Christmas.
Reposted by Justin Colson
We’ll be running our introduction to manuscript studies again in June 2026. There’s an early bird discount if you book this month, but if students are interested please encourage them to book early as this course has limited places 👇 📚📖✏️💻
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
Introduction to Palaeography and Manuscript Studies
This course introduces students to key skills for the study of medieval manuscripts, from the making of parchment to reading text and imagery
ies.sas.ac.uk
December 4, 2025 at 1:38 PM
We’ll be running our introduction to manuscript studies again in June 2026. There’s an early bird discount if you book this month, but if students are interested please encourage them to book early as this course has limited places 👇 📚📖✏️💻
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
Reposted by Justin Colson
Can’t get to London for summer school? In Jan we are running online courses. Forget the cold by exploring medieval manuscripts. Classes are small so book now! 👇
@ies-sas.bsky.social @warburginstitute.bsky.social @senatehouselib.bsky.social @ihr.bsky.social #MedievalSky
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
@ies-sas.bsky.social @warburginstitute.bsky.social @senatehouselib.bsky.social @ihr.bsky.social #MedievalSky
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
IES: LIPS & LRBS Winter School | 2026
ies.sas.ac.uk
December 5, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Can’t get to London for summer school? In Jan we are running online courses. Forget the cold by exploring medieval manuscripts. Classes are small so book now! 👇
@ies-sas.bsky.social @warburginstitute.bsky.social @senatehouselib.bsky.social @ihr.bsky.social #MedievalSky
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
@ies-sas.bsky.social @warburginstitute.bsky.social @senatehouselib.bsky.social @ihr.bsky.social #MedievalSky
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Justin Colson
📣Booking is now open for the London International Palaeography School 2026 📣
We are running five 5-day courses, from practical hands-on 'making medieval manuscripts' to an introduction to Arabic manuscripts - don't miss out!
10% discount if you book before 23 Jan!
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
We are running five 5-day courses, from practical hands-on 'making medieval manuscripts' to an introduction to Arabic manuscripts - don't miss out!
10% discount if you book before 23 Jan!
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
London International Palaeography School
The London International Palaeography School is a series of intensive courses in Palaeography and Manuscript Studies.
ies.sas.ac.uk
December 3, 2025 at 10:13 AM
📣Booking is now open for the London International Palaeography School 2026 📣
We are running five 5-day courses, from practical hands-on 'making medieval manuscripts' to an introduction to Arabic manuscripts - don't miss out!
10% discount if you book before 23 Jan!
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
We are running five 5-day courses, from practical hands-on 'making medieval manuscripts' to an introduction to Arabic manuscripts - don't miss out!
10% discount if you book before 23 Jan!
ies.sas.ac.uk/study-traini...
This is so rarely mentioned, but incredibly important. Universities seem determined to spend virtually unlimited cash with the same few publishing/outsourcing firms, for deeply flawed, frustrating, and atrophied software. Anything to avoid the "risk" of having to manage your own systems, it seems!
'One solution is to move away from costly proprietary software and to invest in our own people to build community-led hardware and infrastructure solutions with open source software.' Some European governments have started to do so already. 3/3
December 3, 2025 at 10:05 AM
This is so rarely mentioned, but incredibly important. Universities seem determined to spend virtually unlimited cash with the same few publishing/outsourcing firms, for deeply flawed, frustrating, and atrophied software. Anything to avoid the "risk" of having to manage your own systems, it seems!
Reposted by Justin Colson
'One solution is to move away from costly proprietary software and to invest in our own people to build community-led hardware and infrastructure solutions with open source software.' Some European governments have started to do so already. 3/3
December 3, 2025 at 9:34 AM
'One solution is to move away from costly proprietary software and to invest in our own people to build community-led hardware and infrastructure solutions with open source software.' Some European governments have started to do so already. 3/3
Reposted by Justin Colson
The King has commanded that the Greater London Authority (GLA) shall be allowed to use the coat of arms that once belonged to its predecessor, the GLC.
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the...
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the...
The King grants the Mayor of London permission to use the GLC’s historic coat of arms
The King has commanded that the Greater London Authority (GLA) shall be allowed to use the coat of arms that once belonged to its predecessor, the GLC.
www.ianvisits.co.uk
December 2, 2025 at 7:25 PM
The King has commanded that the Greater London Authority (GLA) shall be allowed to use the coat of arms that once belonged to its predecessor, the GLC.
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the...
www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/the...