East Riding Archaeological Society

Hopefully members will have received their Autumn newsletter giving details of the lecture programme from September 2023 through to April 2024. Lectures are also published on our events page. We are grateful to everybody who has agreed to give up their time and expertise to present their work to our members.

All lectures take place in LT1, Wilberforce Building, The University of Hull, Cottingham Road, Hull. Entry is free for ERAS members and £2 for visiting guests.

We also stream the lectures digitally but this is available to ERAS members only. An email will be sent before the lecture with the relevant code needed to view the presentation so please make sure we have an up to date email address.

We very much look forward to seeing you all at our first lecture on Wednesday 20 September at 7.30 pm.

Our next Field Studies trip is to Scorborough Iron Age Square Barrow cemetery on Wednesday 2 August. The landowner has been kind enough to allow us access to these important and impressive funerary monuments. Hopefully the weather will be kind to us as the late sunlight of a Summer evening will highlight the upstanding earthworks perfectly! If ERAS members would like to join us we are meeting at 7.15 on the Scorborough Lane off the A164, parking on the verges beyond Scorborough church. Please dress for the expected weather conditions and wear sturdy footwear.

Following the success of our last field studies outing, July’s Field Studies will again be an away visit - a guided tour of Beverley Westwood.

Did you know that Beverley Westwood has quite an interesting past, ranging from prehistoric barrows to WW2 training trenches?  If you fancy learning more then please join us for a guided tour of the Westwood kindly hosted by Richard Lamb.  The tour will take pace on Wednesday 5^th July at 7:30pm (fingers crossed for nice weather!)

Please meet at the footbridge (located at the bottom of the cinder path).  The terrain is very uneven with inclines etc., so please wear suitable footwear.  In addition, please be aware that this tour involves a lot of walking.  Wear appropriate clothing for the weather conditions.

The number of attendees for the tour is limited to 30 people so please book your place(s) with Matt Walker our Field Studies Officer at [email protected] (note there is an underscore _ between the r and 1) so that we have a good idea about numbers planning  to attend.  Alternatively, you can contact us via FB messenger, or by comment via our Facebook post.

The visit replaces our usual Field studies evening normally held at St Nicholas Parish Centre in Beverley. 

For our next Field Studies session we are going on a road trip to Southburn Archaeological Museum. ERAS members are invited to come along on Wednesday 7 June at 7.30 pm and enjoy the exhibits on display in the JSR farm buildings on Green Lane, Nafferton near Driffield.

The museum was officially opened in farm buildings in Southburn village in 2008 to house the archaeological finds painstakingly collected by Brian Hebblewhite over many years during his time as a tractor driver on the farm. The collection also contains metal detecting finds recovered from the farm in later years. The finds span the early prehistoric to 20th Century military occupation - with everything in between. The artefacts on display really do reflect the history of one landscape over time - and it is absolutely fascinating!

The museum was later relocated to its new site in Nafferton and continues to develop as a cultural and educational space. Currently on long term display is a replica of the Wetwang Chariot, on loan from the British Museum, and also more recently  a replica of the Kirkburn Warrior Iron Age grave and it's contents. The museum is completely volunteer led and hosts themed publicised events throughout the year. Visit is by appointment only most of the time though - so don't miss this opportunity to visit this gem on the Wolds. Entry to the museum is free - but we would respectfully request that you consider leaving a donation.

Visit https://www.samatsouthburn.co.uk/visiting-and-access to find for details on how to get there and maybe also look at the website for additional information. There is ample parking on site.

Please register your interest with Matt Walker our Field Studies Officer at [email protected] so that we have a good idea about numbers planning to attend. Any questions relating to the visit please contact either Matt or Angela Fawcett at [email protected].

This visit replaces our usual Field Studies evening normally held at St Nicholas Parish Centre in Beverley.

Due to the visit to the current Skipsea Castle excavations our normal Field Studies meeting will not take place. We hope you can attend the visit to Skipsea - but if not we will see you on Wednesday 7 June at 7.30 pm.