Thursday, 24 September 2015

Monday, 21 September 2015

Coronation at Bath

Edgar the Peaceful sits aboard a barge manned by eight kings, as it moves up the River Dee.

Edgar was crowned at Bath and anointed with his wife Ælfthryth, setting a precedent for a coronation of a queen in England itself.^[10] Edgar's coronation did not happen until 973, in an imperial ceremony planned not as the initiation, but as the culmination of his reign (a move that must have taken a great deal of preliminary diplomacy). This service, devised by Dunstan himself and celebrated with a poem in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, forms the basis of the present-day British coronation ceremony.

The symbolic coronation was an important step; other kings of Britain came and gave their allegiance to Edgar shortly afterwards at Chester. Six kings in Britain, including the King of Scots and the King of Strathclyde, pledged their faith that they would be the king's liege-men on sea and land. Later chroniclers made the kings into eight, all plying the oars of Edgar's state barge on the River Dee.^[11] Such embellishments may not be factual, and what actually happened is unclear.^[12]

Hanham Court once belonged to the monks of Keynsham Abbey.

Complete with fish ponds and dovecote, stately Hanham Court once belonged to the monks of Keynsham Abbey.

Did a long tunnel under the river, as legend has it, once connect the two?

Unfortunately for a good story there is no evidence that one ever existed.

Historians think that there must have been some kind of house here, possibly a wooden structure, as far back as late Saxon times.

The strangely named Earnulf de Hesding was named as the owner at the time of the Domesday survey.

Yet another legendary story relates how John, the last of the Keynsham abbots, pronounced a curse on the property as he was thrown out by King Henry’s henchmen during the Reformation.

Whether true or not, Henry Creswicke, who bought the court in 1638, certainly had his share of troubles.

Although this wealthy merchant had a town house in Bristol’s Small Street, the country property remained in family hands for the next 200 years.

Sir Henry, who was Bristol’s Mayor in 1660, was knighted by the newly restored monarch, King Charles II, for remaining loyal to him throughout the bitter Civil War.

Despite this honour the family were frequently in dispute with their neighbours, the Newton’s of Barr’s Court, over manorial rights and boundary issues.

The ensuing lawsuits eventually led to a bitter hatred springing up between the two families.

Things came to a head in 1685 when the Duke of Monmouth and his rebel followers, who were defying the King’s troops and moving towards Bristol, camped nearby.

Sir Francis Creswicke, quite naturally, decided to ride out and see what was happening on his land.

But after being spotted talking to the rebels by one of the Newton’s servants he was arrested and flung into Gloucester jail, somewhere he would remain for the next two years.

With his innocence finally proven (in fact by Lord Grey, one Monmouth’s men) King James II arrived to pardon him in person and share a roast deer under an oak tree by the church.

An acorn taken from that very tree, now long dead, has been planted in exactly the same spot.

In 1704 Sir Francis was in trouble again, this time for stabbing Queen Anne’s Attorney General after a quarrel, an act that put him back in prison for another nine years.

Aged 89 when he died in 1732, the old jailbird lies buried in Bitton church.

In later years the court became so heavily mortgaged that it was lost to the Crewicke’s forever.

Finally, after marrying a Keynsham publican’s daughter, the very last member of the family went off to live in Canada.

Was there a curse on the court? Who knows.

Although the west wing and stately tower are Elizabethan the gargoyles that adorn it are medieval (reclaimed) and the pointed roof added in Victorian times.

The Arts and Crafts kitchen wing was added in about 1900 but the adjoining barn, complete with massive walls and buttressed tower, date back to Norman times.

The church, however, is 15th century.

Although the court is privately owned it’s possible to visit the beautifully restored gardens when they are open to the public during the summer months.

Read more: http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/Footsteps-History-Hanham-Court/story-11308807-detail/story.html#ixzz3mO7CjGcy
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EIGHT HUNDRED and SIXTY THREE YEARS BEFORE CHRIST

Labels: Kaerbadum or Caervaddon (Bath)

EIGHT HUNDRED/SIXTY THREE YEARS BEFORE/CHRIST

In its final form Bladud was sent by his father to be educated in the liberal arts in Athens. After his father’s death he returned, with four philosophers, and founded a university at Stamford in Lincolnshire, which flourished until it was suppressed by Saint Augustine of Canterbury on account of heresies which were taught there. Supposedly he ruled for twenty years from 863 BC or perhaps 500 BC, in which time he built Kaerbadum or Caervaddon (Bath), creating the hot springs there by the use of magic. He dedicated the city to the goddess Athena or Minerva, and in honour of her lit undying fires, whose flames turned to balls of stone as they grew low, with new ones springing up in their stead: an embellishment of an account from the fourth-century writer Solinus of the use of local coal on the altars of her temple

Amesbury in Wiltshire confirmed as oldest UK settlement

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Amesbury in Wiltshire confirmed as oldest UK settlement

Amesbury – including Stonehenge – is the UK’s longest continually-occupied settlement
Continue reading the main story

Historic Wiltshire

Stonehenge: Wiltshire’s most famous historic site built 2500BC
Avebury: Stone circle is thought to date back 4,000 years
Silbury Hill: Europe’s largest artificial prehistoric mound
West Kennet Long Barrow: One of the largest Neolithic chambered tombs in Britain
Westbury White Horse: Cut in the hillside in the 16th Century

“It provides evidence for people staying put, clearing land, building, and presumably worshipping, monuments.
“The area was clearly a hub point for people to come to from many miles away, and in many ways was a forerunner for what later went on at Stonehenge itself.
“The first monuments at Stonehenge were built by these people. For years people have been asking why is Stonehenge where it is, now at last, we have found the answers.”
Mr Jacques said the River Avon, which runs through the area, would have been like an A road with people travelling along it.
“They may have had the equivalent of local guides and there would have been feasting,” he added.
“We have found remains of big game animals, such as aurochs and red deer, and an enormous amount of burnt flint from their feasting fires.”
Site of the Amesbury dig

The dig unearthed the largest haul of worked flints from the Mesolithic period
Previously, Thatcham in Berkshire, 40 miles from Amesbury, held the record for the longest continuous settlement in the country.
The dig in Amesbury also uncovered 31,000 worked flints in 40 days as well as animal bones such as frogs’ legs.
Mr Jacques said our ancestors were eating a “Heston Blumenthal-style menu”.
Continue reading the main story

Amesbury facts

Queen Eleanor of Provence – consort to Henry III – is buried at the town’s former abbey
Amesbury residents get a free visitors’ pass to Stonehenge each year
In 1965, the Beatles stayed at the Antrobus Arms Hotel whilst filming Help!
The area’s most famous resident – Police frontman Sting – lives in nearby Wilsford cum Lake

The find was based on a report by fossil mammal specialist Simon Parfitt, of the Natural History Museum.
Andy Rhind-Tutt, the founder of Amesbury Museum and Heritage Trust, said there was “something unique and rather special about the area” to keep people there from the end of the Ice Age, to when Stonehenge was created and until today.
“The fact that the feasting of large animals and the discovery of a relatively constant temperature spring sitting alongside the River Avon, may well be it,” he said.
The dig was filmed and made into a documentary by the BBC, Smithsonian, CBC and others to be screened later in the summer.
The project was led by the University of Buckingham.

More on This Story

From other news sites

Daily Express UK’s OLDEST town revealed: Amesbury dates back more than TEN millenia 14 hrs ago
Guardian.co.uk Britain’s oldest settlement is Amesbury not Thatcham, say scientists 15 hrs ago
Telegraph Stonehenge discovery rewrites history books 16 hrs ago
Wiltshire Gazette and Herald Britain’s oldest town is in Wiltshire, say archaeologists 18 hrs ago
Western Daily Press Amesbury named oldest UK settlement 19 hrs ago
About these results

Around the BBC

BBC Nature – Frogs and toads

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broadcast nationwide from Monday, 29 April at 20:30 BST on BBC Four.

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Stonehenge general manager sought 20 APRIL 2013, UK

Amesbury clues to Stonehenge’s pastWatch 19 APRIL 2013, ENGLAND

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BBC One – The Flying Archaeologist

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Eldad and Medad are said to have predicted a war with Gog and Magog

Eldad and Medad are said to have predicted a war with Gog and Magog

Athelney

Athelney in SomerMid

KING ALFRED AND THE DANES. KING ALFRED AND THE DANES.
sea in long open boats, high at prow and stern, anl moved by sails and oars. When they landed, the] threw up an intrenchment to defend their boats, an! then they seized all the horses they could find, an< galloped over the country, burning and pillaging fa and wide.

5. King Egbert did his best to beat off these pira tes but he died in 839, and the kings who succeeded hin were not so strong or so skilful as he was. Con sequently the Danes grew bolder. In 855 they passem a winter in the Isle of Sheppey; and from that time forward they began to settle in the country. Thai was the first step in the Danish conquest of Englani
6. Alfred was then a child. He was born in 84| the fourth son of King Ethelwulf, who succeed! Egbert. From his childhood he showed great lov of learning, but his early life was too active for hill to learn much from books.

7. Alfred’s three elder brothers were all kings I England in turn; and with the third of them, Ethii] red, Alfred shared the government. By this time tlfe Danes had practically conquered the north and eivfl of England, and it was all that Alfred and his broth* could do to defend Wessex against them. In H7| they fought nine great battles with the Danes.
8. Next year Ethelred died, and Alfred became sol king at the age of twenty-two. He had a heavy before him, for his kingdom was reduced to the wen led half of Wessex, while fresh swarms of Danes will constantly landing in England. For seven years kept up a gallant struggle, but in 878 he was fori to take refuge in the marshes of Athelney in SomerMid and was almost driven to despair.
n 1111111*m looked worst, however, Alfred i i lluil, in which he was nobly sup-,11 Wessex, and he won a decisive III.’ DiuiiHh host at Ethandun, in up I lie victory by blockading
sea in long open boats, high at prow and stern, ar moved by sails and oars. When they landed, the threw up an intrenchment to defend their boats, an then they seized all the horses they could find, an galloped over the country, burning and pillaging fa and wide.
5. King Egbert did his best to beat off these pirates but he died in 839, and the kings who succeeded him were not so strong or so skilful as he was. Con sequently the Danes grew bolder. In 855 they passep a winter in the Isle of Sheppey; and from that time forward they began to settle in the country. Thai was the first step in the Danish conquest of England

6. Alfred was then a child. He was born in 849 the fourth son of King Ethelwulf, who succeeded Egbert. From his childhood he showed great lot of learning, but his early life was too active for him to learn much from books.
7. Alfred’s three elder brothers were all kings of England in turn; and with the third of them, Ethe red, Alfred shared the government. By this time the Danes had practically conquered the north and east of England, and it was all that Alfred and his brother could do to defend Wessex against them. In 870 they fought nine great battles with the Danes.
8. Next year Ethelred died, and Alfred became sole king at the age of twenty-two. He had a heavy l a before him, for his kingdom was reduced to the western half of Wessex, while fresh swarms of Danes were constantly landing in England. For seven years he kept up a gallant struggle, but in 878 he was forced to take refuge in the marshes of Athelney in Somerset and was almost driven to despair.

just when looked worst, however, Alfred
R mighty effort, in which he was nobly sup-ported,by the men of wessex and he won a decisive battle ,he beat the host at Ethandun, in wiltshire and followed up the victory by blockading

Battle of Dyrham .did 10,000 die here?

Battle of Dyrham –

did 10,000 die here

The remains of the old extension of Dunsdown Lane, that ran past Hinton Fort and was the route that Ceawlin took to capture and defeat the Britons at the Battle of Dyrham

Battle of Dyrham

This year Cuthwin and Ceawlin fought with the Britons, and slew three kings, Commail, and Condida, and Farinmail, on the spot called Deorham, and took from them three cities, Gloucester, Cirencester, and Bath.”

Sunday, 20 September 2015

The occurrence of Romano-British artefacts at Stonehenge

Roman (c 43–410 AD) The occurrence of Romano-British artefacts at Stonehenge itself shows that the monument was visited and used at that time; recent excavations have shown that a ‘shaft’ was dug into the monument during this period. However the pattern of these artefacts suggests that Stonehenge was already partly ruinous. Farmsteads and small un-enclosed towns of the Roman period are known across Salisbury Plain. Within the WHS itself, a small Roman building interpreted as a rural shrine has been excavated near to the Cuckoo Stone and a short distance to the south a Bronze Age barrow became a focal point for Roman burials. At Avebury a Roman ladder settlement of 2nd to 3rd century date lay immediately south of Silbury Hill close to Swallowhead springs and the Winterbourne and beside the Roman road running west from Cunetio to Bath.

The settlement’s size and location, together with the presence of a series of shafts containing what may be votive deposits, suggest something more than a mere farming settlement. Geophysical survey has revealed what may be either a mausoleum or a shrine of the period. Evidence also exists of substantial buildings and at least one burial on the western slopes of Waden Hill beside the Winterbourne. To the east on Overton Hill rare Roman barrows were built beside the road of the same period. Saxon (c AD 410–1066) There is evidence of an early Saxon settlement at Avebury itself, on the site of the current visitor car park, together with pagan Saxon barrows and other burials reusing the Bronze Age cemetery on Overton Hill. From the late Saxon period onwards there is documentary as well as archaeological evidence of the development of the landscape. Saxon charters provide evidence of the estates which came to form the medieval parishes and identify various features which the boundaries followed or crossed, including the Ridgeway which cuts across the prehistoric and Roman field systems on Overton Down. Green Street leading out of Avebury to the east was probably part of an important east-west route at this period if not before.

Evidence for the Saxon origins of Avebury church is still apparent in its fabric. In the late Saxon period the summit of Silbury Hill was remodelled and a wooden fortification constructed, possibly to serve as a lookout post. Amesbury was the centre for a widespread royal estate during the Saxon period, and the abbey was founded in AD 979. It is probable that the town itself grew up around these establishments but little is known of the way in which the surrounding landscape was utilised. However, the remains of several Saxon sunken-featured buildings were revealed at the Countess East site which may have been an early Saxon settlement which later shifted to the town of Amesbury. Stonehenge itself may have become an execution site during this period; a decapitated Saxon man was buried around AD 645 at the monument. It is even possible that the name, Stonehenge from the Saxon stone and heng may refer to this function, or may mean that, to Saxon eyes, the great stone trilithons resembled a gallows. Alternatively it may simply refer to the extraordinary hanging lintels of the Stone Circle. Medieval to Modern (AD 1066 onwards) In the 12th century the alien cell of a Benedictine priory was established at Avebury, probably on, or close to the site of the present Avebury Manor. A documented run of bad harvests in the early 14th century, which resulted in the desertion of the downland farmstead on Fyfield Down, followed by the Black Death later marked the end of early medieval expansion. Marginal arable reverted to pasture and there is evidence of settlement contraction or shift in most of the settlements along the Kennet, including Avebury itself and Avebury Trusloe. From the 14th century onwards the practice of stone burial reduced many of the Avebury megalithic settings significantly. This process accelerated during the post-medieval period with Stukeley recording a period of particularly rampant stone destruction in the 1720s; though archaeological evidence suggests that the destruction may have started as early as the late 15th century. The earliest surviving parts of Avebury Manor date to the mid-16th century. It is at about this time and during the 17th century that parts of the common downland pasture on West Hill, Windmill Hill and Knoll Down were enclosed. Most of the open fields were not enclosed until the 18th century, but a notable exception, still extant, was the enclosure of an area just east of the West Kennet Avenue. Parts of the meadowland along the valley floor at Avebury were enclosed in the 17th century, and at various points along the floor of the valley, at Avebury and around the foot of Silbury Hill. At West Overton and Avebury there are the earthworks of managed water meadow systems some probably originating in the 17th century and surviving in use until the 19th or early 20th century. Parliamentary enclosure occurred in 1795 at Avebury and in 1813 to 1814 at Winterbourne Monkton and the Overton group of parishes, resulting in the creation of large rectangular fields, many bounded by quickset hedges, alongside the more limited areas of old enclosure. The Napoleonic Wars saw a re-expansion of arable, and this became even more marked

Saturday, 19 September 2015

Fomalhaut

Fomalhaut
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This article is about the star. For the extrasolar planet, see Fomalhaut b.
Fomalhaut

DSS image of Fomalhaut, field of view 2.7×2.9 degrees.
Credit NASA, ESA, and the Digitized Sky Survey 2. Acknowledgment: Davide De Martin (ESA/Hubble)
Observation data
Epoch J2000 Equinox J2000
Constellation
Piscis Austrinus (Fomalhaut A+B), Aquarius (Fomalhaut C)
Fomalhaut
Right ascension
22^h 57^m 39.0465^s^[1]
Declination
−29° 37′ 20.050″^[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)
1.16
TW Piscis Austrini
Right ascension
22^h 56^m 24.05327^s^[1]
Declination
−31° 33′ 56.0351″^[1]
Apparent magnitude (V)
6.48^[2]
LP 876-10
Right ascension
22^h 48^m 04.47^s^[3]
Declination
−24° 22′ 07.5″^[3]
Apparent magnitude (V)
12.618^[3]
Characteristics
Spectral type
A3 V / K5Vp / M4V^[4]^[3]
U−B color index
0.08 / 1.02 / ?^[5]
B−V color index
0.09 / 1.10 / 1.683^[5]^[3]
Variable type
None / BY Draconis / ?
Astrometry
Fomalhaut
Radial velocity (R_v)
+6.5 km/s
Proper motion (μ)
RA: +328.95^[1] mas/yr
Dec.: −164.67^[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)
129.81 ± 0.47^[1] mas
Distance
25.13 ± 0.09 ly
(7.70 ± 0.03 pc)
Absolute magnitude (M_V)
1.72^[6]
TW Piscis Austrini
Radial velocity (R_v)
+6^[2] km/s
Proper motion (μ)
RA: −331.11^[1] mas/yr
Dec.: −158.98^[1] mas/yr
Parallax (π)
131.42 ± 0.62^[1] mas
Distance
24.82 ± 0.09 ly
(7.61 ± 0.04 pc)
Absolute magnitude (M_V)
7.08^[6]
Details
Fomalhaut
Mass
1.92±0.02^[6] M_☉
Radius
1.842±0.019^[6] R_☉
Luminosity
16.63±0.48^[6] L_☉
Surface gravity (log g)
4.21^[7] cgs
Temperature
8,590^[6] K
Metallicity [Fe/H]
−0.03^[8] to −0.34^[9] dex
Rotational velocity (v sin i)
93^[7] km/s
Age
(4.4±0.4)×10⁸^[6] years
TW Piscis Austrini
Mass
0.725 ± 0.036^[4] M_☉
Radius
0.629 ± 0.051^[4] R_☉
Luminosity
0.19^[6] L_☉
Temperature
4,711 ± 134^[4] K
Rotational velocity (v sin i)
2.93^[4] km/s
Age
4.4 × 10⁸^[6] years
Other designations
Fomalhaut: α Piscis Austrini, α PsA, Alpha PsA, 24 Piscis Austrini, CPD −30° 6685, FK5 867, Gl 881, HD 216956, HIP 113368, HR 8728, SAO 191524
TW Piscis Austrini: Fomalhaut B, TW PsA, Gl 879, HR 8721, CD -32°17321, HD 216803, LTT 9283, GCTP 5562.00, SAO 214197, CP(D)-32 6550, HIP 113283
LP 876-10: Fomalhaut C, 2MASS J22480446-2422075, NLTT 54872, GSC 06964-01226
Database references
Fomalhaut
SIMBAD
data
Exoplanet Archive
data
ARICNS
data
Extrasolar Planets
Encyclopaedia
data
TW Piscis Austrini
SIMBAD
data
ARICNS
data
Fomalhaut (Alpha Piscis Austrini, Alpha PsA, α Piscis Austrini, α PsA) is the brightest star in the constellation Piscis Austrinus and one of the brightest stars in the sky. It is a class A star on the main sequence approximately 25 light-years (7.7 pc) from Earth as measured by the Hipparcos astrometry satellite.^[10] Since 1943, the spectrum of this star has served as one of the stable anchor points by which other stars are classified.^[11] It is classified as a Vega-like star that emits excess infrared radiation, indicating it is surrounded by a circumstellar disk.^[12] Fomalhaut, K-type star TW Piscis Austrini and M-type star LP 876-10 constitute a trinary system.^[13]
Fomalhaut holds a special significance in extrasolar planet research, as it is the center of the first stellar system with an extrasolar planet candidate (Fomalhaut b) imaged at visible wavelengths. The image was published in Science in November 2008.^[14] Fomalhaut is the third brightest star known to have a planetary system, after Pollux and the Sun.

Contents
[hide]

1 Fomalhaut A

1.1 Properties

1.2 Debris disks and planet

2 Fomalhaut B (TW Piscis Austrini)

3 Fomalhaut C (LP 876-10)

4 Etymology and cultural significance

5 See also

6 Notes

7 References

8 External links

Fomalhaut A[edit]

Dust ring around Fomalhaut from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA)^[15]
At a declination of −29.6°, Fomalhaut is located south of the celestial equator, and hence is best viewed from the Southern Hemisphere. However, its southerly declination is not as great as that of stars such as Acrux, Alpha Centauri and Canopus, meaning that, unlike them, Fomalhaut is visible from a large part of the Northern Hemisphere as well. Its declination is greater than that of Sirius and similar to that of Antares. At 40°N, Fomalhaut rises above the horizon for eight hours and reaches only 20° above the horizon, while Capella which rises at approximately the same time will stay above the horizon for twenty hours. From England the star never appears much brighter than magnitude 2.2 due to it being so close to the horizon, and from southern Alaska or Scandinavia it never rises above the horizon at all.^[16] Fomalhaut can be located in these northern latitudes by the fact that the western (right-hand) side of the Square of Pegasus points to it. Continue the line from Beta to Alpha Pegasi towards the southern horizon: Fomalhaut is about 45˚ south of Alpha Pegasi, with no bright stars in between.^[17]

Properties[edit]

The debris disk around the star
Fomalhaut is a young star, for many years thought to be only 100 to 300 million years old, with a potential lifespan of a billion years.^[18]^[19] A 2012 study gave a slightly higher age of 440±40 million years.^[6] The surface temperature of the star is around 8,590 K (8,320 °C). Fomalhaut’s mass is about 1.92 times that of the Sun, its luminosity is about 16.6 times greater, and its diameter is roughly 1.84 times as large.^[6]
Fomalhaut is slightly metal-deficient as compared to the Sun, which means it is composed of a smaller percentage of elements other than hydrogen and helium.^[7] The metallicity is typically determined by measuring the abundance of iron in the photosphere relative to the abundance of hydrogen. A 1997 spectroscopic study measured a value equal to 93% of the Sun’s abundance of iron.^[8]^{[nb 1]} A second 1997 study deduced a value of 78% by assuming Fomalhaut has the same metallicity as the neighboring star TW Piscis Austrini, which has since been argued to be a physical companion.^[6]^[20] In 2004, a stellar evolutionary model of Fomalhaut yielded a metallicity of 79%.^[7] Finally, in 2008, a spectroscopic measurement gave a significantly lower value of 46%.^[9]
Fomalhaut has been claimed to be one of approximately 16 stars belonging to the Castor Moving Group. This is an association of stars that share a common motion through space and have been claimed to be physically associated. Other members of this group include Castor and Vega. The moving group has an estimated age of 200±100 million years and originated from the same location.^[18] Unfortunately more recent work that has found that purported members of the Castor Moving Group appear to not only have a wide range of ages, but their velocities are too different to have been possibly associated with one another in the distant past.^[13] Hence, “membership” to this dynamical group has no bearing on the age of the Fomalhaut system.^[13]

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