Society of Antiquaries of London

You may have seen on the news today about the sad death of the famous oak tree, Major Oak, in Sherwood Forest. According to local folklore, it was the shelter of Robin Hood and his Merry Men.

Soldier and antiquary Major Hayman Rooke FSA was an ardent fan of this oak tree and in 1790 wrote, "I think no one can behold this majestic ruin without pronouncing it to be of very remote antiquity; and might venture to say, that it cannot be much less than a thousand years old". The Major Oak was thus named in his honour and in recognition of his writings and love of Sherwood Forest.

This image is of one of his drawings of objects found in Sherwood Forest, these ones being Roman antiquities.

Did you know William Blake was apprenticed to the Society’s engraver James Basire from 1772 for seven years?

He was sent out to old buildings and monuments to make drawings; in particular Westminster Abbey. Blake sketched many of the medieval royal tombs in preparation for engravings for Richard Gough’s 'Sepulchral Monuments in Great Britain' (pt. 1, published 1786; pt. 2 in 1796) and the Society’s 'Vetusta Monumenta' (1789). Blake’s experience copying the Gothic monumental effigies had a profound influence on his later aesthetic.

Seven of our nine drawings were engraved for 'Vetusta Monumenta' to illustrate Joseph Ayloffe’s essay 'An Account of some Ancient Monuments in Westminster Abbey'. Though they are not autographed by Blake himself, the linear style of these drawings indicate these were executed by Blake during his apprenticeship (Ayloffe comments they were conducted ‘under the inspection of Mr. Basire’). Writing in 1806, Blake’s first biographer, Benjamin Heath Malkin, lists many Westminster Abbey monuments amongst Blake’s first studies, including the tombs of Henry III, Queen Eleanor, Queen Phillipa, Edward III and Richard II. It is likely Blake also engraved some or perhaps most of his sketches.

As an apprentice to Basire, Blake learnt the techniques necessary to become a copy engraver. This would have included using engraving and etching tools, preparing copperplates, learning mirror writing, preparing and inking plates, preparing paper for printing, and using copperplate-rolling presses. From Basire’s teaching of relief-etching, Blake later devised his own method which he called ‘illuminated printing’.

It's International Archives Day! Our own archives include collections of historical manuscripts which date from the 10th century onwards. They contain Books of Hours, wardrobe and household accounts, chronicles, inventories, deeds, pedigrees, armorials, devotional books, treatise, and much more!

Pictured here is one of our Archive highlights, our Royal Charter. This charter arguably saved the Society from extinction in the mid-eighteenth century. Before this time, the Society existed without a permanent meeting place with inconsistent attendance. Membership was small and became more socially exclusive and whilst a few noblemen such as Lord Coleraine were active members, the Society lacked the kind of aristocratic or royal patronage to subsidise or fund any activities.

The threat of disbandment was very real, until a bequest of drawings and engravings from Lord Coleraine in 1749 prompted an important change. As it was not incorporated, the Society could not legally hold property, deeming this and any future bequests invalid. To overcome this, a charter of incorporation was obtained. Incorporation created a sense of public responsibility amongst new Fellowship, and the Society was seen to be taking its national role more seriously, establishing its position to where it stands today.

The Domesday Survey ordered by William the Conqueror did not include London or Wi******er (Latin name, Winton). However, the royal properties in Wi******er were recorded around 1110, and the whole city was surveyed for Bishop Henry of Blois in 1148.

The two resulting manuscripts, written in Latin, survive in a single volume, bound about 1150.
They form the earliest and most detailed descriptions of any European town of the early Middle Ages.

Pictured here is the volume passed down through the family of a former Dean of Wi******er, which was exhibited at one of the Society’s meetings in 1756, and was purchased by the Society’s treasurer, John Topham FSA, at an auction in 1790 for five guineas.

The brown tanned-leather covers of the original binding are exceptionally well preserved and have been mounted on a later calf binding. Blind impressions made with ten different tools depict such figures as birds with human heads, dragons, running deer and feeding animals

It may be a dreary day outside, but it's always cosy in our Library.

Did you know, our Library at Burlington House is the largest antiquarian library in the country, with an outstanding collection amassed over 300 years! With a focus on the history of material culture, the Library covers British and Northern European archaeology, architectural history, heraldry, book and collecting history, art history and the decorative arts, antiquarianism, British local history – and many other related subjects besides.

We have the best reading nooks in central London to while away a rainy afternoon.

If you'd like to enjoy our Library for yourself, why not become an Affiliate Member and you'll have access to this space, the printed book collections, and you can borrow up to 4 books! Find out more at sal.org.uk/affiliatemembership.

Our online display, 'A Magna Carta Miscellany', is now live!

Our 2025 exhibition 'Magna Carta 1225' marked 800 years since King Henry III reissued what most historians consider to be the definitive version of the famous legal charter.

Now, this online display responds to questions that emerged during the exhibition run. Discover more about Magna Carta, together with highlights from across the Society’s collections that explore and uncover fascinating stories relating to social hierarchy, rights and freedoms, the role of women, and the enduring legacy of the Charter in popular imagination.

This project was produced by an amazing team of volunteers working with the Society’s Learning and Outreach Manager and Assistant Librarian to research, write, and curate 'A Magna Carta Miscellany'.

To take a look at the online display, follow this link https://stories.sal.org.uk/magna-carta-1225.

This painting of Pentre Ifan (the largest and best-preserved Neolithic dolmen in Wales) was done by Richard Tongue (1795–1873) in 1835.

Pentre Ifan chambered tomb, in Pembrokeshire, dates from the Neolithic Period and is of the classic closed portal types. The chamber was erected in a large pit cut into the hillside, and the load-bearing structure consists of a sloping capstone, 5m long, weighing over 16 tons.

Richard Tongue was a self-taught amateur artist with an interest in prehistoric monuments. He painted a series focused on prehistoric monuments, or ‘Celtic antiquities’ as they were described at the time, and precariously balanced rocks said to have Druidic associations.

It's a hot bank holiday in the UK, but is it as hot as it was standing around in the crater of Mount Vesuvius in 1775 before the great eruption of 1769?!

This illustration comes from 'Campi Phlegræi: Observations on the Volcanos of the Two Sicilies', by Sir William Hamilton. Over the course of three Society meetings from 26 January 1775, the diplomat, archaeologist, volcanologist and antiquarian Sir William Hamilton FSA communicated an account of the recent discoveries at Pompeii. His papers were illustrated with a series of gouache paintings by Pietro Fabris, a painter of English and Italian descent.

These are drawings of a statue exhibited by Rev Edmund Ferrers at the Society of Antiquaries meeting of 4 May 1797. The minutes for that meeting describe it as 'a most curious Idol, male on one side and female on the other, with an inscription under each'.

An anonymous explanation of the inscription on the Man's side, states that, it is 'a short but clear description of the name, residence, qualification, learning, employment, office, and dignity of Lord Samy, of Mathartera, the sublimely learned Theologist, Philosopher, Astronomer, and the Grand Ruler or Superintendant and Governor of the Nilometer and of the Sluices and Water Courses of Egypt.'

An explanation of the inscription on the Woman's side was sadly not given.

The cultural affinities of this statue have not been identified yet, do you have any guesses? Some have said the original statue may have been a fake, which is why it hasn't been properly identified.