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November meeting – Mystic Beasts – David Wollweber

For our last meeting of 2019 we turn again to our Secretary Dave Wollweber who came across some strange carvings above the Ancient House in Halesworth when he was researching his book about the de Argenteins, whose story he told us back in January.

Dave explains “The carvings above an old house in Halesworth’s Thoroughfare had long been associated with the family, and I thought I knew their story and meaning based on work by local historians in the past.

Little did I know….

My investigations took me on a strange voyage of discovery, through Greek legends to the stories of Reynard the Fox; From Medieval bestiaries to the work of Victorian author Edward Bulwer-Lytton, from bench-ends to misericords in churches, from paint analysis to heraldry, from medieval medicine to the tangled imagery of the Reformation and the Lollards.

The conclusion was that the carvings were not what people thought they were…and historians and archaeologists sometimes see what they want to see rather than what’s actually there…

The talk is not just about the carvings and understanding their meaning, but also how research in itself takes you in fascinating and unexpected directions.”

This promises to be a fascinating talk, so please do come along, all welcome. We’re meeting at Needham Village Hall, High Road, Needham, IP20 9LB on Saturday November 16th at 2.00pm, members £2.00, non-members £3.00.

A happy Christmas and New Year to all our members and friends. Our first meeting of 2020 will be on Saturday 18th January, when we welcome Sarah Cassell who will tell us about the angel roof churches of East Anglia.

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