Historic Buildings Mythbusting by Dr. James Wright FSA

Event Description

Uncovering Folklore, History and Archaeology

Go to any ancient building and there will be interesting, exciting, and romantic stories presented to the visitor. They are commonly believed and widely repeated – but are they really true? These stories include those of secret passages linking ancient buildings, spiral staircases in castles giving advantage to right-handed defenders, ship timbers used in the construction of buildings on land, blocked doors in churches which are thought to keep the Devil out and claims to be the oldest pub in the country.

James Wright will explain the development of such myths and investigate the underlying truths behind them. Sometimes the realities hiding behind the stories are even more interesting, romantic, and exciting than the myth itself…

The speaker, James Wright (Triskele Heritage), is an award-winning buildings archaeologist. He has two decades professional experience of ferreting around in people’s cellars, hunting through their attics and digging up their gardens. He hopes to find meaningful truths about how ordinary and extraordinary folk lived their lives in the mediaeval period. He is the author of the popular Mediaeval Mythbusting Blog and his book Historic Building Mythbusting will be released via The History Press on 6 June 2024.

This event is part of the Leicestershire and Rutland Festival of Archaeology 2024.

The talk will take the format of a 45-60 minute presentation illustrated with a Microsoft Powerpoint slideshow. This will be followed by a questions and answers session with the audience. Finally, there will be the opportunity to pick up copies of the book which James will be happy to sign for those in attendance.

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