Yes / Chests were a ubiquitous part of medieval church furniture across Britain and Europe. Late 19th and early 20th century scholars believed that one type, the dug-out chest, was devoid of technical skill, and as such, confined to the earliest period of chest chronology. Perhaps as a result of the ‘primitive’ label, dug-outs remain relatively under-studied in relation to other types of chests and surprisingly few attempts have been made to validate ideas about their early origin through scientific dating. The current study uses dendrochronology to directly date a selection of dug-out chests, almost doubling the number of dated chests of this type in England and producing the earliest absolute dates for their construction. Five dug-out chests from the case-study counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire returned dates ranging from the 13th-16th century, showing that they are not chronologically confined to the ‘earliest’ period. This research also demonstrates how analysing extant saw-marks, along with the different methods of attaching chest lids, can assist in dating a chest’s construction. By understanding the tools and processes of construction, this research challenges the existing accepted framework that dug-outs are the ‘crudest’ and ‘most primitive’ type of church chest in the medieval period. Together these findings offer a new methodology and framework for studies of church chests in Britain and Europe. / This paper is based on research undertaken by Rachel Sycamore, as part of a Master’s by Research, at the University of Worcester (Sycamore, 2021). Funding for the dendrochronology was provided by the Regional Furniture Society.

The routine consumption patterns of ordinary consumers in the first half of the nineteenth century, particularly those in the provinces, have been neglected. This thesis sheds light on this area by investigating one particular commodity, clothing. To undertake this, a range of archival sources, visual evidence and surviving dress relating to the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire have been examined. The data has enabled an analysis of the consumption of clothing in different locations within the two counties, including county towns, industrial regions and villages, to be carried out. The results have highlighted the many different methods of clothing supply available to the non-elite consumer, which included shop retailing, itinerant selling, illicit networks and clothing distributed via the Poor Law and charity. The thesis demonstrates firstly that the non-elite consumer could obtain clothing from a variety of outlets, using different acquisition methods. Secondly, it shows that this clothing varied in both style and the way it was manufactured, often depending on the supply network utilised. The thesis questions assumptions about the availability of ready-made clothing, the nature of retailing clothing in rural areas, the decline of hawking and peddling, the non-elite use of clothing shops and non-elite consumers’ relationship with fashion. It emphasizes that non-elite consumers had a complex relationship with their clothing, influenced in part by personal preference, gender, economic circumstances and stage in the life-cycle. This thesis shows the multifarious ways non-elite, provincial consumers acquired and wore their clothing.

In an attempt to discern the prevalence of British place-names with a Scandinavian origin this paper is a small linguistic study on place-names in Herefordshire, Cumbria and the areas along rivers Trent and Ouse. Based on modern maps place-names were included in the study. Older forms of the place-names were retrieved, and these old forms were analysed in order to understand the modern versions of the place-names. Place-name elements were grouped and their frequencies calculated in an attempt to understand the distribution of elements in each area. 1300 place-names were categorised based on their presumed origin, though some lacked the necessary information. Several place-names were given new possible derivations based on their categorisation and the elements they contained. Modern place-name elements/features hinting at a possibly Scandinavian place-name in the past were identified and described. Possible geographical patterns of Scandinavian place-names were found in central Herefordshire, in south-eastern Cumbria and in north-western Yorkshire. Possible implications of the place-names and their geographical concentrations were considered, yielding a hint on an area that might have been pivotal in the evolution of Old English. / I ett försök att urskilja utbredningen av brittiska ortnamn med ett skandinaviskt ursprung är denna uppsats en liten språkvetenskaplig studie av ortnamn i Herefordshire, Cumbria och längs floderna Trent och Ouse. Utifrån moderna kartor i en viss upplösning inkluderades alla synliga ortnamn i områdena. Äldre versioner av ortnamnen samlades in, och dessa gamla former analyserades i syfte att undersöka bakgrunden till de moderna ortnamnsvarianterna. Ortnamnens delar grupperades och deras frekvenser beräknades i syfte att förstå hur dessa fördelades i de olika områdena. 1300 ortnamn kategoriserades utifrån deras förmodade ursprung, men några ortnamn saknade den nödvändiga information undersökningen krävde. Flera ortnamn fick nya tänkbara betydelser baserat på den kategori de tilldelats och de ortnamnsdelar de innehöll. Moderna ortnamnsdelar som skulle kunna indikera en forntida nordisk ortnamnsvariant identifierades och beskrevs. Tänkbara geografiska nordiska ortnamnsmönster upptäcktes i centrala Herefordshire, i sydöstra Cumbria och i nordvästra Yorkshire. Tänkbara implikationer av ortnamnen och deras geografiska koncentrationer betraktades, vilket resulterade i upptäckten av ett område som kan ha påverkat fornengelskans utveckling i väldigt hög utsträckning.