Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Rob Hedge

@robhedge.bsky.social

1.4K followers 470 following 220 posts

Archaeologist. PhD research at University of Leicester: peasant perspectives and medieval settlement in the Severn Valley. Freelance artefact analysis, education & illustration. Scribbles a lot. MCIfA 🏺 https://incurablearchaeologist.wordpress.com/

incurablearchaeologist.wordpress.com

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 1d

Lack's paper has more detail about Sutton's connection to St James and Compostela, e.g. funding pilgrim roof bosses in St Andrew's bell tower. So I think the 'pilgrim' ID is fair, but you've got a point - some elements in the grave could equally mark his profession.
drive.google.com/file/d/1rr07...

A Dyer on the Road to Saint James An Identity for The Worcester Pilgrim .pdf

drive.google.com

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 1d

The report by Helen Lubin has quite an extensive discussion of the shell, but there is still some uncertainty. It's an old booklet, but there's a wonky scan available online: www.nederlandsetinvereniging.nl/wp-content/u...

www.nederlandsetinvereniging.nl

1 1

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 1d

Could also be that the shell was a more personal memento. But as the old archaeologists' maxim goes, the dead don't bury themselves. And it was likely that his pilgrim days were behind him. Might have been a readily available substitute for a scallop that had been lost/buried/used as an offering?

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 1d

...and a nod to his profession. And this was probably done in funeral preparations, not whilst it was in use during his lifetime. So perhaps both staff and shell contain multiple symbols. Unfortunately we're missing the head: it was on the headwear that scallop shells/badges were often worn.

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 1d

Excellent point and a sound suggestion. In favour of the cockle being a symbol of pilgrimage are its position in the grave - next to the top of the staff with a lace end, suggested it was tied to the staff. But the staff itself has multiple cues: it's painted purple with kermes, an expensive dye...

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 1d

#ArchInk 2: shell; 3: residue; 6: horn; 7: textile; 8: stratigraphy
#inktober #medievalsky #skystorians 🏺🏛️🗃️
Combining a few prompts to tell the story of Worcester Cathedral’s Cockleshell Pilgrim.

#ArchInk
Ink and graphite sketch of a grave. Accompanying text labels read:

The Cockleshell Pilgrim
In 1986-7, Excavations within Worcester Cathedral uncovered the body of a man wearing woollen clothing and leather boots, and artefacts suggesting an association with pilgrimage. Research by Katherine lack points to his identity: Robert Sutton, c15th Worcester dyer

6: horn
Decayed remnants of a horn tip were found at the top of a 1.55m wooden staff buried next to the body.

8:stratigraphy
The burial post-dates construction of the choir wall in 1374. The head and neck were missing: cut by a brick wall that truncated the west end of the grave.

3: residue
Remnants of soft tissue, skin, spinal cord, ligaments and muscle were found on the spine and pelvis.

2: Shell
Next to the Staff, and a bronze lace end, was a 5cm cockle shell, pierced at the top. Shells were a common Symbol of
pilgrimage, but usually Scallop Shells
associated with St James'Shrine at Santago de Compostela.
The cockle is therefore odd - it may have been intended as a general SymboLof pilgrimage

7: textile
He was buried wearing an undershirt and a fine cloak made from a type of woollen cloth called 'worsted'
They were of good quality, but plain and undyed -Befitting a pilgrim.

Sutton's 1454 will contained a wish to be buried “before the image of StJames in the cathedral.”
The man was in his sixties, at least - but had been fit and active before arthritis set in.

After anillustration by Helen Lubin, 1990

1 2 17

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 3d

#ArchInk 1: pigment
#inktober #medievalsky #skystorians 🏺🏛️🗃️

Not sure how much I’ll be able to contribute this year, but I’ll try to chip in when I can.

Ink and graphite sketch showing a woman in medieval dress, holding writing implements in each hand and an expression of intense focus, sat in front of a writing desk with an open manuscript.
Text reads:

# archink I: pigment
Medieval writers and artists used a huge range of compounds & colours - you can find out more abort their techniques at fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/illuminated. The staple of the medieval manuscript was the deep purple-black of iron gall ink, made by mixing iron sulfate with tannic acid, usually sourced from fermented oak galls.

MARIE DE FRANCE, LATE CI2th WRITER
After a late c13th illustration of her from BnF Arsenal Library, MS 3142 fol 256

1 8

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 4d

Had a grand time this afternoon chatting to students in Orlando, Florida about the advantages and limitations of tech in #archaeology. Give ‘em a few years and I’m sure one of them will crack my request for a portable C14 robot…
Enthusiastic kids & doesn’t take too much of your time… get involved! 🏺

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 18d

Welp here we are again, fresh out of Archaeologists for Skype a Scientist matches.

This fall, we have matched 248 groups with Archaeologists for online Q&As. I have 38 more groups who need a match, but I'm out of Archaeologists!

Archaeologists! Please volunteer
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html

a woman is smiling and holding a cup that says help me .

Alt: a woman is smiling and holding a cup that says help me .

media.tenor.com

3 7 32

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 8d

Keen eyed observers might draw a link to the news back in the summer that History is one of a number of study areas under review at Leicester. This thread gives some background: bsky.app/profile/robh...
🏺🗃️🏛️

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · Jun 30

Hate to be the bearer of more grim HE news, but things are afoot at the University of Leicester. History is one of a number of subjects currently in 'pre-change engagement'.
What does this mean? Cuts.
Of what magnitude? We won't know until the Autumn. #skystorians 🗃️🏺🏛️
le.ac.uk/news/2025/ju...

Leicester responds to sector financial pressures | News | University of Leicester

le.ac.uk

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 8d

Panel 8/8

Panel from comic strip: 8 Image of Len Garrison as a young man, on a residential street, dressed in a suit and tie, opening the door of a blue Ford Anglia. Text reads
LEN GARRISON, FOUNDER OF THE BLACK CULTURAL ARCHIVES, STUDIED FOR AN MA IN LOCAL HISTORY AT LEICESTER.
HIS WORK - COLLECTING, WRITING AND SHARING STORIES OF BLACK BRITISH LIVES - WAS CRUCIAL IN EDUCATING THE NATION IN BLACK HISTORIES AND INSPIRING BLACK VOICES.
THE CENTRE FOR REGIONAL AND LOCAL HISTORY OFFERS MA SCHOLARSHIPS IN HIS NAME.
HISTORY AT LEICESTER TEACHES PEOPLE FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE AT ALL STAGES OF UfE. BECAUSE THE KEY TO OUR PRESENT LIES IN OUR PASTS.
BY ROB HEDGE, UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER HISTORY PAD STUDENT

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 8d

Panel 7/8

Panel from comic strip: 7 Top right: image of three young South Asian women, striking workers at the Imperial typewriter factory in 1974. The woman on the left holds a megaphone. Bottom left: three Sikh men at a Vaisakhi procession, 2006. Text reads:
HISTORY AT LEICESTER
REFLECTS THE CITY.
TELLS STORIES THAT NEED TO BE HEARD. ASKS THE DIFFICULT QUESTIONS.
WE ARE CITIZENS OF CHANGE.
VAISAKHI, 2006
FROM A PHOTO
BY COLIN HYDE
STRIKING WORKERS AT THE IMPERIAL TYPEWRITER FACTORY,
LEICESTER, 1974
HISTORY AT LEICESTER
IS THE HOME OF THE EAST MIDLANDS
ORAL HISTORY
ARCHIVE, WHICH COLLECTS, PRESERVES AND STUDIES THE STORIES OF THOSE WHOSE VOICES DESERVE TO BE LISTENED TO.

1 1

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 8d

Panel 6/8

Panel from comic strip: 6 Top left: Image of 'Shoes on the Danube Bank', a Holocaust memorial in Budapest Bottom right: image of KS Ranjitsinhji, posing in cricket whites and pads at the crease. Text reads:
IN 1990, AUBREY NEWMAN ESTABLISHED THE STANLEY BURTON CENTRE -THE FIRST DEDICATED RESEARCH FACILITY IN BRITAIN FOR HOLOCAUST AND GENOCIDE STUDIES.
SHOES ON THE DANUBE BANK, BUDAPEST

HISTORY AT LEICESTER HAS ALWAYS MADE GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
-FROM BUCKLERS EARLY
CRITIQUE OF COMPANY
COLONIALISM TO PRASHANT KIDAMBI'S
WORK ON POLITICAL UNDERTONES OF ANGLO-INDIAN SPORTING RELATIONSHIPS.
KS RANJITSINHTI

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 8d

Panel 5/8

Panel from comic strip: 5 image of historian Joan Thirsk, in wartime uniform. Text reads:
JOAN THIRSK'S WARTIME WORK AS A BLETCHLEY PARK INTELLIGENCE ANALYST INSPIRED HER INTEREST IN CAUSATION. AT LEICESTER IN THE 1950S AND 1960s, HER CLOSE ANALYSIS OF REGIONAL PATTERNS REVOLUTIONISED AGRICULTURAL HISTORY. HER METHODS INFLUENCEO GENERATIONS OF HISTORIANS OF EVERYDAY LIFE, INCLUDING LEICESTER'S CHRIS DYER & RICHARD JONES.
HER FOCUS ON THE UNWRITTEN
LIVES OF ORDINARY WOMEN WAS
TRAILBLAZING, AND IS CARRIED FORWARD BY TODAY'S LEICESTER SCHOLARS LIKE ANGELA MUIR &
ELIZABETH HURREN

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 8d

Panel 4/8

Panel from comic strip: 4 Image of WG Hoskins, in front of a rural landscape, holding papers, dressed in a jacket and tie. Text reads:
WG. HOSKINS CAME TO LEICESTER IN 1931. A CHAMPION OF THE ORDINARY AND OVERLOOKED, HE FOUNDED THE COUNTRY'S FIRST DEPARTMENT OF LOCAL HISTORY HERE IN 1947.
A PIONEERING LANDSCAPE HISTORIAN, HOSKINS' 1954 BOOK 'THE MAKING OF THE ENGLISH LANOSCAPE' WAS A KEYSTONE OF THE DISCIPLINE AND CONTINUES TO INSPIRE.

1 1

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 8d

Panel 3/8

Panel from comic strip: 3 Image of historian Rosalind Hill in her later years, wearing a green cardigan. Text reads:
LEICESTER'S REPUTATION GREW IN THE
1930s, ATTRACTING BRIGHT YOUNG SCHOLARS. AMONG THE FIRST WOMEN TO TEACH HISTORY WAS ROSALIND HILL, WHO HAD A PROFOUND EFFECT ON HER STUDENTS:
"SHE WAS VERY YOUNG AND NERVOUS... YET SHE MANAGEO TO BRING THE MEDIEVAL WORLD ALIVE. SHE KNEW THE PROBLEMS IT WAS VITAL FOR A YOUNG HISTORIAN TO KNOW ABOUT "
JOHN H PLUMB

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 8d

Panel 2/8

Panel from comic strip: 2 Image of historian FW Buckler in academic dress
FW BUCKLER WAS LEICESTER'S FIRST HISTORIAN.
HE WAS ONE OF THE UNIVERSITY'S FIRST TWO
PERMANENT
LECTURERS IN 1922.
BORNIN GROBY...
"A SCHOLAR
OUT Of HIS TIME" -T.R.
TRAUTMANN
... MADE IN CHENNAI.
BUCKLER WAS A BOLD, RADICAL CHOICE HE HAO TAUGHT IN
INDIA...
...AND IN 1922, HE SHOCKED THE ROYAL HISTORICAL SOCIETY WITH A LECTURE - 'THE POLITICAL THEORY Of THE INDIAN MUTINY'- EMPHASISING INDIAN PERSPECTIVES, WITH A SHARP CRITIQUE OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY.

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 8d

Panel 1/8

Panel from comic strip: 1 Image of the appearance of 'University College Leicester' in the 1920s Text reads:

THE UNIVERSITY OF LEICESTER WAS FOUNDED IN 1921. INITIALLY A COLLEGE OF THE UNIVERSIM OF LONDON, IT WAS INTENDED TO BE A LIVING MEMORIAL TO THOSE THE CITY LOST IN THE GREAT WAR.

FOR OVER A CENTURY, LECESTER'S HISTORIANS HAVE HONOURED THAT LEGACY, RESEARCHING THE EVENTS, PEOPLE AND FORCES THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD, COMMITTED TO

THE UNIVERSIM 'S MOTTO: UT VITAM HABEANT
"SO THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE"

1 1

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 8d

A new comic: A brief history of History at the University of Leicester.
You can download the originals and find links to further reading on my blog: incurablearchaeologist.wordpress.com/2025/10/02/l... #skystorians 🏛️🏺🗃️
Individual panels are threaded below:

An 8-panel comic illustrating the history of teaching and research in History at the University of Leicester since the university's foundation in 1921

1 1 1

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 9d

Brian Patten has died. Thawing Frozen Frogs was given to me as a small child: the first poetry I really *got*. The fact that I had to fish this dog-eared volume out of my son’s bedroom is testament to his gift: surreal, silly, funny, and moving. Sometimes all at once.

Photograph of a tattered Puffin paperback edition of Brian Patten’s ‘thawing frozen frogs’.

2 3

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 11d

…So forgive the shonky phone footage, accompanied by 5yo singing gently to the ‘spotty iris’. First time I’ve seen them in Worcestershire.

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 11d

Family walk around NT Croome yesterday. “What are those birds, daddy?” Glossy ibis, right in front of us! Inevitably, I’d left my camera at home… #worcsbirds

Photograph showing back of head of small child standing on a path at bottom right. In centre left of image are two glossy ibis feeding in the shallow margins of a lake. One is just taking off.

1 11

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 18d

Photograph of a cast of the skull of Ninjemys oweni, a giant horned turtle that would have weighed circa 200kg. One of many impressively oddball megafauna species that roamed Pleistocene Australia. And yes, it is named after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 19d

Still buzzing from Worcestershire’s #OneDayCup triumph last night. Took the boy to Trent Bridge, spent the day dodging the rain. Skies cleared for just long enough to witness an all-time classic. Stands full of friends, family and the grassroots #cricket community 🏏

Two small girls in Worcestershire cricket shirts. One holds aloft a home-made sign reading ‘Go Rapids’.

Photograph of a cricket pitch. Hampshire Bowler is in his follow-through. Worcestershire batter Ethan Brooks punches the ball square on the off-side

Photograph of Worcestershire batter Henry Cullen hitting his first ball behind square on the leg side to win the match.

Photograph of a celebrating group of Worcestershire players: Henry Cullen and Ben Allison, wearing blue match shirts, applauding. In front of them, injured club captain Brett D’Olivera wearing green training kit applauds, crutches dangling from his forearms.

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · 21d

It’s been quite a week (+month, year etc), so here’s a little #FindsFriday / #FlintFriday treat for your timelines: a gorgeous little Mesolithic ‘mèche de foret’ (drill bit) from my desk. Retouched edges abraded to a smooth sheen by repeated use. 🏺🏛️

Photograph of a honey-coloured flint artefact, a blade about 22mm long with the two long edges retouched to form a point. It is balanced on the photographers index finger. In the background are a set of calipers and an open notebook.

7 32

Rob Hedge @robhedge.bsky.social · Sep 7

Incredible, wasn’t it? Luckily the first flash of lightning came as we reached the trig point on the final hilltop (Chase End), so we could drop down to the side paths on the way back. Still, I almost enjoyed it after this summer - better than overheating!

1 1