Part 1 of my study achieves a few useful new things (at least I hope it does), chief among which is making Surrey in the 7th—9th centuries a little smaller than it’s been understood as being in previous scholarship. It’s an ongoing area of research for me, on which I hope to publish again one day.

22.10.2025 17:05 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Text of the first page of the pamphlet History of Farnham published in 1925

What’s especially pleasing for me (and frankly no-one else but I’m) cool with that) is how it’s appeared 100 years to the month after the opening part of the last attempt at a comprehensive published study of the #Farnham charters; an enterprise that continued the following year but never completed…

22.10.2025 17:05 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Text of first page of article titled Farnham in Early Charters, Part 1: Seventh to Ninth Centuries

Front cover of Surrey History journal, Volume 24 for 2025, with detail of a historic map depicting fields, a village and a river

Feeling really rather pleased to see the first half of something I’ve worked on for a number of years out in the wild today — namely my article on the earliest medieval charters relating to Farnham in #Surrey, newly published in the Volume 24 of Surrey History journal @surreyarch.bsky.social

22.10.2025 17:05 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Folded deed from the 17th century with original writing, archival stamp and several red wax seals attached to it

Yesterday I made it through 22 post-medieval deeds (plus a few others that were too faded to be of use) looking for field-name spellings in under 4 hours. Surely some kind of record? For someone of my middling palaeographical skills anyway.

Here’s a pic of the most fun one from the outside.

16.10.2025 14:16 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Thanks for these tips. I’m now 140 pages in, not yet at the Adventus chapters proper, so an apt time to become aware of his John Morris stan account (I jest of course but having known Mees’ work through a brace of Roman-period epigraphy articles it’s good to be aware of his thinking re other things)

16.08.2025 09:51 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Book cover of The English Language Before England, by Bernard Mees, partly illuminated by sunlight and lying on a wooden table

What I’ve read of this so far has been informative and enjoyable. Runes etc. are very much outside of my immediate research interests but relevant to a little big project I’ve had simmering on a low heat for the past couple of years.

Anyone else read it? (I’m only 50 pages in so no spoilers pls)

08.08.2025 10:12 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

There are oodles of them about this year, feel like I see one here in London almost every day (and every time get my hopes up it’s a Painted Lady butterfly that’s made the trip from NE Africa)

25.07.2025 17:04 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Large hardback book with the title Chartulary of St Thomas’s Hospital and two semifinal crests on its cover. The book sits on a desk in front of a slender reading lamp. Behind are well-stocked bookshelves

Few things I love more than a fruitful trip to a research library (in this case @wellcomecollection.bsky.social Library). Found further testimony for a lost placename I’m investigating but can only confirm it is what I think it is by consulting the original manuscript. Bodleian here I come, I guess…

25.07.2025 17:01 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Man standing in public square, head turned away from camera towards the historic Sherdor Madrassa in Samarkand, which is illuminated by electric light at dusk

Most definitely missed that first wave of positivity on here but…

My name’s Rob and, among other things, I’m writing a book about Surrey in the 4th—12th centuries, meaning I’ll have questions (mostly pdf requests)

And yes I did once go to Samarkand and yes I did cry at the beauty of the Registan

22.07.2025 15:52 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0