Calendar

Library open upstairs on the 1st floor.

Speaker: David Mercer

Mrs Armitage (1841-1931) was a pioneer archaeologist and historian in the field of castle studies. Her book The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (1912) is credited with establishing the principle that the motte-and-bailey castle was an early Norman innovation; rejecting the idea that mottes were of Anglo-Saxon date. With over a century of research into castles following this seminal thesis it is time to reassess Armitage’s legacy and provide context for the earliest castles in England.

David Mercer read archaeology at St John’s College, Cambridge. His doctoral thesis looked at the historical development of ideas in castle studies. Since then, he has been an active member of the Castle Studies Group.