This month’s cover feature takes us back to the time of the Crusades, telling the story of the Knights Hospitaller, a military religious order that became a powerful political and economic force in England and Wales. Only one preceptory (administrative centre) associated with the Hospitallers has ever been excavated in detail in England, but Time Team have been working to redress the balance at Halston in Shropshire.
From there, we move further south-west, to explore the architecture of Cornwall. This is a county that I have recently returned from myself, partly on CA business – watch out for site visits and an exhibition review in future issues – and partly to support my other half and the ‘Wellington Wailers’ (www.thewellingtonwailers.com) at the International Sea Shanty Festival in Falmouth. From prehistoric quoits and settlements to nonConformist chapels, there is a host of diverse and distinctive structures to explore. Masonry also forms the focus of our next feature, which takes us to the heart of Roman London. By the 3rd century, the settlement was ringed with an imposing stone circuit that ran around all three landside edges and along the Thames foreshore. As this summer has seen the opening of a new museum showcasing a section of the landward wall and a mighty bastion, as well as three portions of the riverside wall gaining scheduled status, we explore what is known about Londinium’s defences.
Finally, we travel to the North Channel between south-west Scotland and Northern Ireland to learn more about the regionally distinctive Neolithic burial monuments that developed within this area, and how archaeologists are tackling the challenge of presenting often abstract ideas to a younger audience.