Construction History Society

Will it be online at all?

“Ouvriers chinois à Kenge-Lemba,” reproduction of a photograph by Dr. Élie-Joseph Étienne, published in A.-J. Wauters, ed., Le Congo illustré, vol. 2 (1893).

Please join us at the Harvard Center for the next Tea Talk with Idriss Fofana,who will be discussing 'Abolitionist Liberalism and its Others: Regulating Labor Migration on the South China Coast and in the Senegal River Valley in the Nineteenth Century'. 4.30pm, 23 Feb 2026, CGIS K262.

Bronze drain strainer, circular disc, displayed on a museum stand against a light beige background with subtle shadows. The strainer features intricate radial patterns of small perforations forming concentric circles and mesh-like sections around a central open hole.

Have you ever seen a Roman plumbing device that is both genius and gorgeous? Just look at this bronze drain strainer, found in the Roman baths at Weißenburg, Germany, dating2nd/3rd century AD!

📷 me

🏺 #archaeology #findsfriday

CHS Magazine and Newsletters CHS Magazine, the regular publication of the Construction History Society. Informative illustrated articles, news, and reviews. Free to CHS members.

The Construction Historian loves a bit of plumbing. The magazine would be delighted to get SHORT articles on plumbing methods, materials and people of any historic period.
Next deadline end of May 2026.
www.constructionhistory.co.uk/publications...

Robert Burns' family home to be recreated in Ellisland Farm restoration Burns designed and built Ellisland Farm near Dumfries in 1788 and it is largely unchanged.

"The aim is not to transform Ellisland, but to make it more like the place Burns created," said Robert Burns Ellisland Trust project director Joan McAlpine.
#RobertBurns #Dumfries 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
#SocialHistory #LocalHistory
#farming
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Marbling is quite a boring job, so you can forgive the painter who gets carried away…

📸 from Aphrodisias 2025 field season report.

Women are far from invisible. Women’s activities in seventeenth-century St Andrews investigated using a broad range of archival sources including wills, guild records, court books, and church records.
#archives #Fife #LocalHistory #genealogy #herstory #skystorians 🗃️ 📚 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Here we are in this very interesting map, in edges of the cloud of British Academic Historians. CHS is a mixture of practitioners in many construction/preservation fields and academics from all round the world.
bluesky-map.theo.io

Cover of the construction historian showing a roughly-hewn baulk of timber on the ground with an axe.

contents

The latest Construction Historian magazine is thudding through our members' letterboxes. If this is the kind of thing that interests you, you might like to join the society!
www.constructionhistory.co.uk/membership/

And it isnt even 1st April yet....😀

The Workshop of the Final Day of Construction in a Luxurious Seaside Villa Discovered in Herculaneum The terminal violence of Mount Vesuvius’s eruption in 79 AD, which encapsulated in a geological instant the life of Pompeii and Herculaneum, not only buried daily bustle but also, as is now confirmed,...

The Workshop of the Final Day of Construction in a Luxurious Seaside Villa Discovered in Herculaneum
www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2026/02/t...

YouTube video by The London Archives Barbican, 1969: The development of the Barbican Estate following World War II

You might have seen an excerpt of this 1969 film on social media recently with the interior of a Barbican flat. Here’s the full video. Enjoy!

Close-up of the join between sandstone bricks with mortar between them.

What can bricks teach us about ancient empires?

Analysis of mudbricks and mortar from the walls of Carthaginian centre Qart Hadasht found the materials were sourced kilometres away from each other, showing the complex infrastructure of Punic Spain.

🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...

🏺 #Archaeology

I hope you will be wearing sandals throughout?

Roman Brick and Tile Podcast Episode · Build Like a Roman · 03/02/2026 · 23m

As I'm presently doing my MRes in Archaeology focus on:

What the Romans built, what they used, and who did the work

So, I thought I'd do something useful, and created a new account:

@buildlikearoman.bsky.social

And a Podcast

Please do have a look if Roman materials are of interest

Hill House (Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret Mackintosh) being restored under cover as it dries out following years of water ingress. From a fascinating visit with iconichouses.org and @n-t-s.bsky.social

I am fortunate to be part of the team bringing the event together with our partners Historic England, and so I get to see the abstracts as they are coming in and believe me there are some fantastic and ground breaking talks. Joining details for the day will released in the next coupe of weeks.

YouTube video by The Cultural Historian: Dr RGST The Famous Forgotten Square, Lansingburgh, Troy, NY

#please #subscribe The Famous Forgotten Square, Lansingburgh, Troy, NY
youtu.be/dDb31rd1I1A?... @workingclasshistory.com @historyfiles.bsky.social @constructionhist.bsky.social

YouTube video by The Cultural Historian: Dr RGST #Shadows #of a #Former #Adirondack #Turnpike #Railway #Hub #railwaystation #history #culture

Shadows of a Former Adirondack Turnpike Railway Hub
youtu.be/K-qoL0ig32g?... @railmag.bsky.social @dariaphoebe.com @dariaphoebe.com @constructionhist.bsky.social @workingclasshistory.com @historyfiles.bsky.social

Coloured flyer promoting the call for papers for the 26th Annual Cambridge Heritage Symposium. The top of the flyer is filled by an image of a silver globe shot through with gold resting in a silver bowl and held by a pair of hands. The text below describes the theme, key dates and location of the symposium plus the organising and sponsoring institutions.

CfP: 26th Annual Cambridge Heritage Symposium.

Theme: The Role of Heritage in Shaping Ontological Security in the Contemporary World.

Submissions Deadline: 15 February 2026.

Full details: www.heritage.arch.cam.ac.uk/files/media/...

Nurole | The Brooking - Trustees <p class="mb-2" dir="ltr"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">The Brooking is seeking to appoint two committed and dynamic Board members who can support the charity through an exciting period of tran...

Want to join our trustee board at this exciting time for The Brooking?

app.nurole.com/roles/6964e1...

Our Book of the Week is ‘Architecture and Artifice’ by Christine Casey from @yalebooks.bsky.social

The book uses archival material and insights from architectural conservation to consider the materials and craftsmanship that shaped 18th-century architecture in Britain & Ireland.

Old-School PreFab Words in Space is the work of Shannon Mattern.

I'm also talking about tent-pitchings and barn-raisings as forms of gathering, and I'm remembering the time I joined my grandparents — both now passed — for a barn-raising at the Stoltzfuses'

"[Barn] raisings are a model for examining the entirety of building as a relational practice, and the ways architectural work is embedded in, dependent on, and facilitated by structures of the economy, family, labor, and risk."

This piece is great. For all I’m pleased that castle studies has broadened its field of operation to beyond art history and architectural history, there is something to be said for dwelling a lot more on the building site.

There really is. If anyone cares to write an academic article for our Journal or a short less-formal piece for our Magazine on the topic of building sites, do message us.

Are those doocots (dovecots, pigeonholes) above the lefthand arched window?

Orange-covered issue of the International journal of the Construction History Society from 2017

Cover of the most recent member's magazine. Photo of a long piece of rough timber with an axe.

Our members will soon get the Construction Historian magazines thudding through the door.
The next issue of the Journal, however, could do with 1 more article so that it too has full 'thudding' potential! 📖⚖️

If you have an article that might suit us: www.constructionhistory.co.uk/submit-paper/

Collecting Scottish Heavy Ceramics Tue Jan 13 2026 Ian Suddaby To be honest, the term ‘Heavy Ceramics’ is not one I’ve ever used so it seemed like a good idea to consult Google at an early stage. Apparently, bricks and tiles are included in this category, alongside heavier items like industrial pipes, troughs and decorative pieces for home and garden. For the purposes of this summary, I’m going to exclude ‘light’ items like standard sized bricks and tiles although some of those can weigh over 6kg. Included will be larger refractory special shapes and the above range of products. Most are made from fireclay, with some being salt glazed. A few are made from surface clay deposits. Special Shapes more at: https://www.mining-landscapes.org/blog

Loyal followers may recall that the Construction Historian loves old bricks. #TIL from @mininglandscapes.bsky.social that these are part of the "heavy ceramics" category:
www.mining-landscapes.org/blog

Definitely on the Construction Historian's List of place to visit. CH likes an aerodrome and the added attraction of nice old buildings too.