Looking to dig this summer? It's not too late to join the Magdalen Hill Project

From alumna Kate Weikert:

The hospital site of St Mary Magdalen, Winchester, located about one mile to the east of the city, provides centuries of occupational and usage evidence. The timeframe starts with the unexpected pre-Conquest leper burials, supplying verification that the site is Britain’s oldest known hospital while also challenging the previously-held conventional wisdom that hospitals were a Norman innovation in Britain. Beyond those early evidences, documents show that the hospital was “founded” in the mid-twelfth century by the Bishop of Winchester, Henry of Blois, and “refounded” and rebuilt in the fourteenth century. In the sixteenth century the masonry structures were demolished for brick-constructed buildings, and in the seventeenth century the location was used as a base for troops in the Civil War and later as a camp for Dutch prisoners during the early Anglo-Dutch Wars. By the late 1700s the buildings on site were ruinous and demolished on the order of the Bishop of Winchester (though some of the material was placed in other locations and still survive today, such as the stonework of a doorway previously in the hospital chapel now seen in St Peter’s Catholic Church, Jewry Street, Winchester.) Finally, in the early 20th century, the entire area was a part of the largest World War I military base in Hampshire. Today, nothing survives above ground.

The Magdalen Hill Archaeology Research Project (MHARP) began life in 2000 with a limited excavation by the Channel Four television show Time Team, wherein inclement weather prevented any extensive excavation regardless of the promising geophys results. In 2007, Dr Simon Roffey and Dr Phil Marter of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Winchester reviewed the Time Team data as well as further evidence from survey and documentary sources, ascertaining the existence and location of structures on site such as the medieval chapel, almshouses, master’s lodge, and gatehouse, providing the framework for an excavation programme of the site.

In its third year, the 2010 excavations were focussed in two areas, trench 14 which was to the north of the chapel in the areas of the master’s lodge, hospital buildings, and the Anglo-Saxon burials, and trench 11 to the east of the main site, at the location of the World War I cinema. Highlights of the season included the excavation of a large post-medieval hearth and industrial area, the Tudor latrine with a wide variety of interesting artefacts, further evidence of the fourteenth century buildings and possible twelfth century aisled infirmary, and the “hole,” currently uninterpreted though working theories consider it a well, bathing tank, storage, or cellar for an Anglo-Saxon tower such as the one excavated at Bishopstone, East Sussex. Post-excavation work continues outside the excavation season at the University of Winchester under the direction of Dr Julie Wileman, and several third year archaeology students are completing their final year projects on aspects of the material remains such as the metalwork and glass.

Excavations for 2011 will run from August 22-September 16, and the focus this season will continue to be on the Anglo-Saxon aspects of the site including the structures and burials.

Rachel L. talk about her semester at Harlaxton

Ten Archaeology and Art History majors are studying at Harlaxton College in the spring 2011 semester. Here junior Archaeology major Rachel L. talks about her experiences.

Harlaxton has been a truly wonderful experience. It’s an adventure, full of exploration and challenges. Travelling taught me to stand on my own more so than I do, because if something goes wrong, you have to know exactly what your next plan of action is.


Rachel with Boudicca’s monument in London.

London is my favorite place so far, although I’m guessing my upcoming visit to Rome will change that. There is so much to see and do in London that it was a bit difficult to see it all in a few days. All of the places I’ve seen have been great, and I’ve had the chance to see Hadrian’s Wall in Scotland, the Catacombs of Paris, the alleged location of King Arthur’s grave, Stonehenge, walk along medieval walls, drink liquid chocolate straight from the vat at Cadbury World, and loads more. It has been incredible to see and, in some cases, touch what I’ve learned about. It will be sad to see this experience end, but I can promise you that I am returning to England.

Rachel at Stonehenge.

Alumna Profile: Marika M. R. ('10) in London

I graduated from UE with a BA in Art History and a minor in Business Administration, and following commencement in May 2010, I moved to England to start my career in the arts. The education I received from the brilliant staff in the Department of Archaeology and Art History, as well as the experience I gained as an intern while attending UE, fully prepared me to find a position within the art world. After a month in England, I found an opportunity to start gaining experience in gallery work.

My current position is Gallery Assistant at the Idea Generation Gallery in Shoreditch, London. Shoreditch is a trendy art area in downtown east London. The gallery is fairly new, having been open now for two years, and it is part of a PR company for the arts. The gallery exhibits mostly photography, and photographers including John ‘Hoppy’ Hopkins, Robert Altman, Nat Finklestein, and Mick Rock have exhibited at the gallery. My role at the Idea Generation Gallery has included assisting with print sales, performing networking and social media for the gallery, and doing research for new exhibitions. For our recent exhibition, Mick Rock: Rock Music, I participated in the Launch Party for the exhibit and the closing event with the artist, and I helped with marketing the event, print sales of the work, and an auction preformed by the artist.

While at UE I took advantage of the opportunity to complete an internship for course credit at the Evansville Museum, where I assisted the Registrar with the set-up of five exhibits, completed condition reports and numbered objects, and updated the museum database.  This experience definitely helped me land my current position in London.

My classes at UE and the professors that helped me on the way to graduation also helped me get where I am today.  Dr. Heidi Strobel advised me throughout my university career.  She is dedicated to her students and continually pushes students to be better.  She encourages thought-provoking class discussions and critical thinking, engaging her students.  I took my senior seminar class with Dr. Ebeling, and in this class I learned the skills needed to get out into the real world.  She gave her students the last push in helping us to decide what we are doing after we graduate and gave us all the information and training on how we can get there.  In her class we were given the individual attention we needed.  Dr. Thomas also gives students individual attention.  The knowledge the Archeology and Art History department faculty possess is enthusiastically passed on to its students.

Life in London is treating me well!  I have been in love with the never-ending cultural things to do, museums to see and galleries to visit.  The city is fast-paced and full of diversity.  England wasn’t much of a culture shock- it is very similar to the US, but with so much more history (yay)- although I have managed to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road and in manual while also being left-handed.  It is truly favorite city thus far and I love having the opportunity to visit other European countries and art around the world.  In the future I plan to take on other roles within the art world in order to gain more experience with exhibition and curation, and I am planning to attend graduate school for museum curation.

Alumna Profile: Julie C. ('07) in California

At UE, my passion for historical interpretation and the protection of historic sites and collections was solidified. After graduating in 2007, I spent a summer interning with the Department of Prehistory and Europe at the British Museum in London. I was a member of the “Etton Registration Project” team, which was charged with cataloging a decade’s worth of archaeological material from the prehistoric site of Etton, UK. In addition to photographing, sorting and storing human and animal remains, as well as more flint than one can possibly imagine, I was allowed rare access to the museum’s largest storage facility, Blythe House, which it shares with the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Science Museum. For instance, I saw the Vindolanda tablets up close, I learned the BM’s newest conservation methods for textiles and Iron Age artifacts, and I witnessed the restoration of Egyptian temple reliefs. I cannot even mention some of the stuff they have locked away in the basement!

Julie in the gardens at Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford, UK

It was a few tube stops away at the Victoria and Albert Museum that I developed a new, but deep appreciation for the art of South Asia, particularly the religious art of India. After doing a bit of research and, ironically, just walking a few blocks away from the British Museum, I discovered the School of Oriental and African Studies, part of the University of London. It was there in the fall of 2008 that I began my MA in the History of Art and Archaeology specializing in the art of South Asia. In my Master’s dissertation I was able to merge my love for the city of London and my interest in Hindu art by examining how modern British Hindus have had to adapt urban secular spaces to become temples for lack of space and creative license due to cultural and governmental controls. The centerpiece of my study was Bhaktivedanta Manor, a Tudor-style manor house on the outskirts of London that devotees have converted into a temple with multiple shrines both inside and on the grounds. It was gifted to the Hare Krishna movement by George Harrison, which I like to think made my dissertation a tad bit more rock ‘n’ roll than the rest!

California Oil Museum, Santa Paula, CA

Today, I am the Assistant Museum Educator at the California Oil Museum in Santa Paula, CA (follow us on Facebook!). As assistant to the museum’s director, I am responsible for creating marketing materials, such as press releases and posters, installing exhibitions whose contents range from fossils to paintings, and ensuring the day-to-day running of the museum. As assistant educator, I give tours to the public and to school groups and am currently developing new activities for students that meet state curriculum standards while utilizing the history of our building, the second story of which retains its appearance and contents from the late 19th century. On the weekends, I am a docent at the Malibu Lagoon Museum and Adamson House in Malibu, CA where I guide visitors through a 1930s-era Spanish Colonial Revival-style beach house and also get to enjoy a wonderful view of the ocean! My degree in archaeology and art history from UE has allowed me to view some rare and spectacular sights/sites and has definitely imbued in me a unique way of looking at the world. I cannot wait to see where it takes me next!