hugh-willmott.bsky.social
Archaeologist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Sheffield
Archaeologyđș monasteries âȘ and the occasional cat đââŹ
https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/hpdh/people/history-staff/hugh-willmott
https://www.hugh-willmott.co.uk/
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7945-7796
63 posts
2,838 followers
407 following
Regular Contributor
Active Commenter
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Congratulations!
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As I was just telling Helen, I grew up in the shadow (metaphorically) of your fabulous monuments!
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There are clear caveats basing an interpretation on a single illustration, but this horse just doesnât strike me as something cut in the 17th century; one can point to the legs, tail and emphasis placed on his manhood. Indeed did it even start life as a horse? We probably will never know đ€·ââïž (4/4)
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Mr Gee is said to have overlaid and replaced a smaller horse, and a single surviving illustration from 1772 shows it was very different. Conventional wisdom is that this horse dates from the late 1600s, but Iâm just not sure... (3/4)
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The current design is said to have been cut by a Mr Gee in 1778 and a depiction from 1885 shows that it was largely similar to todayâs horse, with subtle differences. The steepness of the hill meant that the horse degraded quickly and had to undergo repeated repair. But it wasnât the first⊠(2/4)
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Unfortunately the area is largely covered by trees today, meaning that for the foreseeable future it will hard to have another look to see what, if anything, was really there. Only Lethbridge knew what he actually saw, and he died in 1971.
Perhaps that's what makes the site so intriguing! (5/5)
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Furthermore, there are credible historical accounts of giant figures at Wandlebury, the earliest dating from 1605, and from this time on the spot was known locally as Gogmagog Hills, or variations thereof (4/5)
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But he was an experienced, albeit slap-dash, excavator and Keeper of Anglo-Saxon Antiquities at the Cambridge University Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. So not the von DĂ€niken type figure he is sometimes made out to be today (3/5)
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Whilst I don't believe for a minute the full 'montage' he published, I can't help thinking that somewhere behind this is a kernel of reality. Lethbridge was certainly a very unorthodox character both professionally and personally; he was an advocate of dowsing and a believer in parapsychology (2/5)
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I appreciate putting "my favourite pub carpet" in a post is pretty niche...
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So sorry Flint that youâre now going through this, I know from bitter experience at my institution all the tricks that management employ đ«
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My boy got one in his armpit up there last summer and I was worried he would be scared/disgusted/angry. But no, his only reaction was "Look dad, you can see its legs wiggling!!"
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And very ticky unfortunately đȘł
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I'm sorry, it's not a true bingo winner unless "lasers from space" were used to find something that has always been clearly visible on the first edition OS map (or equivalent elsewhere in the world)...
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Or REF...
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I love the idea of it being a scented candle! But I think normally tallow (beef) was used?
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đ„°
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Thanks!
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There again he is looking particularly shiny today, so maybe thereâs something in it.
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Yes, the lack of an apostrophe is utterly appalling and a searing inditement of how far our country has fallen
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Simply put, for governments it's not a vote winner. There's a perception amongst certain sections of the public (propagated by the press & some politicians) that universities just teach Mickey Mouse courses, there are too many of them & the tax payer is footing the bill- all completely untrue
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I can see many similarities, but in the 1530s Cromwell actually had a plan, much of the public cared about the monasteries, and the (compliant) religious received pensions for life rather than just 3 months severance...
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Call me biased, but yes;
50% of media focus = Stonehenge
99.999999% of actual archaeology â Stonehenge đ€
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Sending extreme jealousy vibes... But well done!
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Am I the only one who glanced quickly at this whilst scrolling and thought 'ooo a velociraptor', before realising it was Roman and a tile... đ€Š
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And you DON'T DO DINOSAURS!!! Sorry that Playmobil set always winds me up!!!
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More like c. 1277 and rather tastier if you ask me!
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Yup, spot on!