Medieval Spices

[this is a virtual event presented via Zoom]

Presented by:  Eve Bacon

Bio: Eve lectures frequently to groups, at least before Covid, on a range of historical rather than archaeological subjects. Eve runs a historical interpretation business with her husband.

Summary: The ‘Medieval Spices’ lecture reviews the range of spices available in England during the High Middle Ages, i.e. Post Norman invasion, and how they were used in religion, medicine and cooking.

In Memoriam: Robin Vowels

Robin was a long-time stalwart of CLASP in the early years who aided and abetted his wife Beryl in organising and developing the important first stage of our archive. Due to their efforts, it was a tremendously successful task and one to which we owe a great debt to for their dedication, perseverance and single mindedness.

Ever present during the research excavations of the Roman Villa Estate at Whitehall Farm, his many skills and range of talents, support and friendship are greatly missed by those who worked with him. I always found him to be an enthusiastic and dependable volunteer of whom I have very fond memories, particularly regarding erecting the tent city before the annual season of excavation. Margret Macintosh remembers ‘when we were trowelling away on the surface at the Villa, conditions could be extreme – from baking hot to dealing with the effect of a sudden rainstorm. Robin’s gear would match the occasion – Foreign Legion kepi and all-over waterproofs turning him into a “green being”! Nothing would stop him in the pursuit of the archaeology. He never complained about being given a particularly tough area to work and his attention to detail gave the rest of us something to aspire to.’