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INDUSTRIAL A SPRING 2(Jo2 THE BULLETIN OF THE ASSOCIATION FOR INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY f 1.25 FREE TO MEMBERS OF AIA What is industrial archaeology? When compiling an industrial archaeology engineering, science or technology is highly gazetteer just what constitutes an entry? What relevant. lt is difficult to understand many industrial soft of things do you put in7 How do you draw processes or for instance how a prime mover works INDUSTRIAL the boundaries? ln practice this can be quite a without a knowledge of the relevant chemistry and problem. What do you put in a gazetteer and physics etc. ARCHAEOLOGY what do you leave out? lt is hoped that these Nonetheless industrial archaeology is highly personal views will generate discussion. interdisciplinary and people from a variety of NEWS LzO backgrounds can and do make a viable contribution Robert Carr to the subject. Local historians, architects, schoolteachert librarians, engineers and artists, are Honorary President First we must distinguish between archaeology and often to be found among the active members of Prof Angus Euchanan history; both are concerned with the past. industrial archaeology societies. In studying the built 13 Hensley Road, Bath BA2 2DR Archaeology is the study of surviving remains environment many skills and viewpoints are Chairman - required. Mike Bone considering artefacts and ecofacts, lt does not Sunnyside, Avon Close, Keynsham, Bristol 851 8 1 LQ necessarily involve'digging things up'. History is the Jhe term industrial archaeology was officially Vice-Chairman study of written documents; minute bookt diaries, invented in Birmingham around the mid-l950s. Prof Marilyn Palmer letters and so on. Archaeology is the study of the However under the name historical geography a School of Archaeological Studies, The University, industrial Leicester [El 7RH past through other suruiving remains such as good deal of what is essentially Secretary buildings, machinery manufactured productt etc. archaeology had been going on in university David Alderton Archaeology is the business of studying geography departments for many years before that. 48 Street, Halesworth, Suffolk lPl9 8EY Quay artefacts (man made) as distinct from ecofacts One of the best books on the Port of London was Treasurer (naturally occurring). For early archaeological written by a geographer James Bird (see lhe Michael Messenger - 144 Lake Road East, Roath Park, Cardiff CF23 5NQ periods it is not always easy to distinguish between Geography of the Port of London, Hutchinson, lA Review Editor the two but for the industrial period the distinction 1957). Dr David Gwyn is usually obvious. Although not industrial archaeology, associated Gwynedd Archaeological Trust, Craig Beuno, However archaeology also makes use of written activities such as collecting and displaying industrial Fford y Garth, Bangor, Glvynedd LL57 2RT or orinted sources to illuminate material finds if remains in museums, perhaps even retaining most lA News Editor Dr Peter Stanier relevant. This will often be the published work of of the original industrial complex as a museum, 49 Breach Lane, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8LF historians but may include a study of primary have been going on for about thirty years. Regional Affiliated Societies Officer sources, e.g. rate books or insurance plans. For the industrial museums such as those at lronbridge and Prof Ray Riley most recent period industrial archaeology can also Beamish were systematically set up from about the 8 Queen's Keep, Clarence Parade, Southsea, Hampshire PO5 3NX make use of oral history - for instance when mid-l970s and nearly all the ambitious schemes of Sales Officer studying a factory it is possible to talk to people who that decade came to fruition. Looking back now we Roger Ford used to work there. perhaps see this as something astonishing, Barn Cottage, Bridge Street, Bridgnorth, Shropshire History established highly Another activity associated with industrial WVl5 6AF is a long and respected pursuit. by archaeology is the study of industrial biography; the Librarian and Archivist academic Archaeology is John Powell comparison a relative newcomer and to Some lives of great engineers and industrialists. Jhe most do IGMT, lronbridge, Telford, Shropshire TF8 7AW extent challenges the view of historians. lt might be notable contribution in this field is that of Samuel Conference Secretary considered a corrective to the lack of a balanced Smiles in the nineteenth century but later the Tony Parkes documentary record. Primary sources are usually writing of L T C Rolt, published from the 1940s, had 60 School Lane, Hill Ridware, Rugeley WS1 5 3QN written by the powerful and successful and seldom a tremendous effect in changing public opinion Conference Booking Secretaries Tony & Mary Yoward reflect the plight of downtrodden losers. Sometimes towards taking an interest in the work of the 4 Slipper Mill, Emsworth, Hampshire P010 8XD written accounts can even be deliberately falsified, engineer and preparing the ground for the great Recording Awards Officer perhaps for fraudulent financial purposes. upsurge of interest in industrial archaeology which Dr Victoria Beauchamp a took place in the early 1 970s. 3 Parsonage Court, Parsonage Crescent, Walkley, Again those in authority very often create Sheffield S5 5BJ powerful mythology to justify their position. This upsurge was of course essentially brought Honorary Vice-Presidents Material facts can often prick the bubble of about by the physical facts themselves - the very Sir Neil Cossons John Hume 0retence. visible dead and dying remains of traditional British Stuart B Smith Archaeology can present objective facts that industry which could be seen everywhere. These Council Members destroy views formerly historians who years were in some sense a golden age of industrial Dr Robert Carr Dr Paul Collins (co-opted) held by John Crompton Mike Hanison (co-opted) before only had incomplete or biased written archaeology when it was still possible to visit the David lyne Dr Mary Mills accounts. DNA techniques and dendrochronology last working examples of many industries just Philip Monis Peter Neaverson are powerful new tools which in the hands of before the final closures took olace. At that time Liaison Officer lsabelWilson archaeologists are replacing opinions by hard facts. industrial visits were welcomed in a way AIA 0ffice, School ofArchaeological Studies, Thus our view of the past is changing significantly. inconceivable today. University of Leicester, Leicester LEI 7RH Archaeology was once seen as an upstart The study of and participation in industrial I 0116 252 5337, Fax:0l16 252 5005 e-mail:AlA@le ac uk activity, scarcely respectable and not of academic archaeology is very much a hands-on activity Website: merit, ln the nineteen seventies some mainstream dealing with 'real reality'. Although books and wr,vw.industrial-archaeology.org uk archaeologists regarded industrial archaeology with periodicals are impoftant, personal experience and disdain - only fit for amateur amusement. the joys of discovery in the field are great incentives COVER PICTURE It should be made clear that industrial to its practitioners. In taking an interest in industrial Midland Railway Sheet Stores, c1925, showing the archaeology is not just a part of archaeology, e.g. a archaeology one gains a different and distinctive size of a typical wagon sheet, and how sheets were specialism. In fact a qualification in mainstream view of the world and begins to take considerably hung up to dry Each sheet was numbered and dated to ensure it was regularly returned for inspection and archaeology is not very useful in industrial more notice of the sunounding environment. How ronair Go nano I O archaeology. Industrial archaeology is almost a and why was that thing made can become a Photo: National Railway Museum DYl367l separate subject. Having a background in preoccupation. 2 INDIJSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY NEWS 120 We might try at this stage to define just what Even leaving definition 1 aside we might (for Industrial archaeologists tend to be relatively industrial archaeology is. We can give several now) have to accept that there is at least a well educated and come from the better-off social definitions. Industrial archaeology is:- (preposterous!) 'duality'involving 2 and 3. lf we are classes. The desire to investigate what the 'lower 1. the archaeological study of how people to to take this step it might then perhaps be more orders' used to do is in part curiosity - exploring earn or earned a living - that is work sensible to accept a 'plurality', adding either 1, 4 or forbidden fields that parents say forty plus years ago archaeology, both. would have tried to keep from their children. 2. the archaeology of industrial processes However in practice industrial archaeology does Doubtless for some the practice of industrial including engineering and technology back not, at least yet, entirely live up to its definitions, archaeology has given opportunities to make up for to pre-history Jhere are inconsistencies and blind soots or areas of things'missed' as children. 3. the archaeology of the industrial period, omission. For instance if we take definition 3, But will industrial archaeology 'roll forward'? say after c.1 700 to date, the archaeological industrial archaeologists should be interested in all Will it embrace Modernism; reinforced concrete, period study that follows post-medieval material objects post c.1700. But it seems industrial high-rise flats, motonruays, big sheds.