Society of Antiquaries of London

Society of Antiquaries of London We support conservation & scholarship related to material culture.
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The Society of Antiquaries of London focuses on the 'encouragement, advancement and furtherance of the study and knowledge of the antiquities and history of this and other countries'. It supports an elected Fellowship of 3,000 academics, professionals, researchers, scholars and others working with material culture. It also supports conservation and grant programmes, a Public Lecture Series, an academic lecture series for Fellows, and a conference and seminar programme. It manages an important research library and a museum at Burlington House as well as a historic property, Kelmscott Manor in Oxfordshire, that was the former Cotswold retreat for William Morris and his family.

It's the week of the annual Open House Festival, a London-wide festival that examines the city's built environment, so l...
18/09/2026

It's the week of the annual Open House Festival, a London-wide festival that examines the city's built environment, so let's celebrate our building!

Looking at our Library, which is the largest antiquarian library in the country, it has an outstanding collection amassed over 300 years. The Society acquired its first book in 1720: Strype’s edition of Stow’s Survey of London, which we still have!

Electric lighting was installed in the principal rooms between 1887 and 1891, and in the ceiling of the main library you can still see the original gasoliers, which apparently were better at producing heat than light. The glass roof and windows were damaged in an air raid in 1941 (the London Library was destroyed in the same blast) and had to be replaced.

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.

Thomas Kerrich, collector, antiquarian and artist, was passionate about recording antiquities and created a large number...
15/09/2026

Thomas Kerrich, collector, antiquarian and artist, was passionate about recording antiquities and created a large number of drawings. This one reproduces the tiles depicted in the 15th-century 'Life of St Etheldreda' panels, which are currently on loan to the exhibition 'Living by the Rule: Contemporary meets Medieval' at the Sainsbury Centre until 4 October.

Maintaining the original scale and colour of the panels, Kerrich depicted the second panel’s pavement as red and green, as opposed to the 1864 assessment conducted by the watercolourist and antiquarian George Scharf, who reproduced them as red and black.

This drawing is one of many in our display 'The Fabric of Britain: Landscapes, Legends & Legacies' which is on until early 2027 and celebrates the geographic breadth of the British Isles, bringing together hidden gems from our library, archive, and museum collections.

Please note: This display is available to be seen on the Ground Floor by Fellows and Affiliate Members during our regular Library opening hours (Monday to Friday, 10am-5pm) and by members of the public who are coming to the building as part of an event which they have booked for. https://www.sal.org.uk/events/the-fabric-of-britain/

As we've got a conference on relics taking place today, here's a look at an item in our collections which has its own li...
11/09/2026

As we've got a conference on relics taking place today, here's a look at an item in our collections which has its own link to relics, the Bosworth Cross.

It is known as the 'Bosworth Cross' due to its recorded place of discovery in Leicestershire. It was presented to the Society by James Comerford FSA in 1881, and was published by the historian John Nichols FSA in 1811, who, quoting a Mr Sharp of Coventry, described it among other finds as being ploughed up on the Field of Bosworth about 1778.

The Bosworth Cross has the unique feature of a hinged metal ring about the base which would have held a cloth wrapped around the shaft or a tassel, and Nichols noted that the decaying remains of a wooden staff which had traces of paint and gilding were found with it, supporting the suggestion that this cross was lost in its processional mode, and might have been abandoned on the battlefield.

Recent reassessment of the Cross has suggested that it may have been a Catholic relic that came through the Fortescue family of Husbands Bosworth since at least the 1530s, as opposed to having been discovered in 1778 in Market Bosworth. The sunburst symbols on the reverse of the cross's roundels have been interpreted as the Yorkist sun emblem, and are known on two other examples of English processional crosses of this kind.

Stonehenge was obviously the place to pose for photos in 1881, as shown by the figures relaxing at the site. 1881 saw th...
08/09/2026

Stonehenge was obviously the place to pose for photos in 1881, as shown by the figures relaxing at the site.

1881 saw the first documented case of intervention to prevent stone collapse at Stonehenge. This intervention was made up of a wooden scaffold erected to support lintel 107, which was balanced on stones 6 and 7. The figures in the photos were probably part of the team working on planning this intervention.

In the winter of 1902, timber props were placed against stones 30, 1 and 6, and one against Stones 29 and 7, which we can see example of in the two other photos shown.

Created by an unknown artist, this icon shows John the Baptist in full length, facing the viewer against a featureless g...
04/09/2026

Created by an unknown artist, this icon shows John the Baptist in full length, facing the viewer against a featureless gold background.

Various artistic details allow us to infer information about the period and maker of the work: St John’s unkempt hair and beard are depicted in the stylised manner typically adopted for paintings of the Baptist by Cretan artists. The presence of areas of lighter tone on his face, suggesting paler skin, was a technique introduced into post-Byzantine paintings.

It was probably made in the second half of the sixteenth century, and it was given to the Society in 1938 by Gordon McNeil Rushford FSA.

Feet washed, grapes ready to be trampled! September, here we come!Part of the Book of Hours (use of Rouen), these pages ...
01/09/2026

Feet washed, grapes ready to be trampled! September, here we come!

Part of the Book of Hours (use of Rouen), these pages depict the occupation of the month and accompanying star sign. September is for grape harvesting and treading, all under the watchful gaze of Virgo for most of the month.

This book was written in France c.1500 and contains a sequence of gospels, psalms and prayers, pages of miniatures showing religious scenes, activities for each month, star signs, and calendars.

This gilded bronze cruciform brooch from Rothley, Leicestershire, was found in 1785. It was then presented to the Societ...
28/08/2026

This gilded bronze cruciform brooch from Rothley, Leicestershire, was found in 1785. It was then presented to the Society by Thomas Babington in 1788. It's been on long-term loan to Charnwood Museum since the 1940s. A beautiful watercolour of it was also created, to make a visual recording of the original.

The etching shows a plan of part of a Roman building at Haceby, Lincolnshire, with mosaic floors and also some pottery a...
27/08/2026

The etching shows a plan of part of a Roman building at Haceby, Lincolnshire, with mosaic floors and also some pottery and a column base found there.

The artist, William Fowler (1761-1832), was an architect and builder at Winterton, Lincolnshire. He drew and engraved separate plates of antiquities, including mosaic pavements, which were sold and distributed individually.

This manuscript contains a large collection of coats of arms, mostly in colour, relating mainly to the Holy Roman Empire...
24/08/2026

This manuscript contains a large collection of coats of arms, mostly in colour, relating mainly to the Holy Roman Empire, but also including arms of other European sovereigns and nobility as well as a selection of fictitious arms. The page shown here depicts the Arms of the Emperor Maximilian (d. 1519).

It was probably written in south west Germany or Switzerland and the volume is a compilation, written on at least two kinds of paper, trimmed, and bound partly out of order. Several sections are unfinished or incomplete and there is some repetition. There are also a number of blank printed or pen shield outlines, maybe meant to have been completed at a later date.

At first glance, this object might not look like much, but it has an interesting story behind it.This Roman altar from B...
21/08/2026

At first glance, this object might not look like much, but it has an interesting story behind it.

This Roman altar from Benwell, Northumberland, was found over three feet underground around 1751-1752, during the building of the road we now use as the A69. This altar was presented to the Society in 1759 by Judge Heneage Legge FSA.

The inscription ‘Lamis Tribus’ translates as ‘to the three witches.’ This unusual dedication is thought to represent an instance of Roman soldiers adopting local religious beliefs and combining these with their own rituals; a custom widely practised in many provinces throughout the Roman Empire and easily recognised in the language of and attitudes towards contemporary religious practice today.

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