## **Annual Report by David Roberts, Chairman** 

**For year ending 31 December 2024** 

**Presented at the AGM on April 26, 2025** 

## **Report** 

The Friends of Roman Aldborough offered members a programme of talks and visits. 

## **Talks** 

Our programme of talks continued to be well received by members. Talks were mainly face to face with two being held via Zoom. With permissions in place, these were all recorded and posted on YouTube for a limited time for access by members only. The most popular talks received around 50 views on YouTube. 

## **Our talks included:** 

Eastfield Roman Villa - Paula Ware 

North Yorkshire and the Grand Tour - Gail Falkingham 

The Knaresborough 1864 Hoard of Roman vessels: new discoveries and interpretations - Dr James Gerrard 

Civitas Towns of Roman Britain - Prof Richard Hingley 

‘He who is waiting’ : Roman slavery in Aldborough and Beyond - Dr Eva Mol 

The Richness of Roman Britain - Dr Richard Hobbs (held at Dunesforde Vineyard) 

The Excavations at Magna Roman Fort - Dr Andrew Birley 

Digging Deeper at Isurium Brigantum - Prof Martin Millett 

The Musical Romans - Music made and inspired by the Romans - Andrew LawsonTancred 

Recent finds from excavations at Roman Aldborough - Dr Stephen Greep, Roman Finds Group and Vida Rajkovaka, University of Cambridge. 

## **Visits** 

Once again we enjoyed special tours led by leading archaeologists and museum curators. This year we made another visit to London where we were given a guided tour 




of The Society of Antiquaries by Martin Millett as President of the Society This was followed by a visit to the British Museum to see the ‘Legion : Life in the Roman Army’ exhibition. 

Shirley Everett, local geologist and mine historian gave a guided tour of Coldstones Cut and Greenhow lead mines, highlighting links with lead processing at Aldborough. 

Following his work on the ‘York Beneath the Streets' project Martin Millett led a guided walk around Roman York. There was also an opportunity to visit Rose Ferraby’s latest Soundmarks exhibition based on the project. 

A visit to The Great North Museum in Newcastle was made where Andrew Parkin, Keeper of Archaeology gave a tour of the Roman section. 

## **Education Group** 

Five schools’ visits were made to the site. 

They were: 

Meadowside Academy, Knaresborough 

Boroughbridge Primary (also visited the dig and the mural at Dunesforde Vineyard) All Saints, Bradford (3 visits) 

The school staff were ably supported by a team of FORA Education Volunteers 

The current economic situation and rise in transport costs means that schools continue to find visits difficult. A bid to the Mukherjee Fund was successful. This will cover the cost of transport to the museum and the dig for both a local school and one from an urban setting each year for the next 5 years. A donation from Dunesforde Vineyard helped to support school visits. 

## **Roman Garden Project** 

The Garden Group continues to be very active.  Once again, beds have been planted with the herbs and vegetables that Romans would have used. Visitors to the site have been interested in learning about their uses in cooking and medicine. The garden now has a shed for storage and running water. A bench and noticeboard have been kindly donated by FORA members. 




## **Cambridge University Roman Town Project** 

The team from the University of Cambridge, led by Dr Rose Ferraby and Professor Martin Millett conducted a smaller scale dig in the annex to the north of the town. The dig took place between August 24 and September 14, 2024. Together with an enthusiastic team of volunteers, students from local schools and Cambridge University were able to participate in the dig. An Open Day was held and was well attended. 

## **Outreach talks** 

Outreach talks were given to four local groups and organisations. 

## **Guided tours of the English Heritage site** 

These were organised by EH using their guides.  Many of the guides are FORA members. The visitor feedback from the site is very positive and visitor numbers continue to grow. 

## **FORA/ EH meetings** 

FORA and EH met for one update meeting. 

Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees: 

|**Signature**|**Name**|**Date of**|
|---|---|---|
|||**Approval**|
||||
||Patricia Jane||
||Barber||
|||April 26, 2025|
||||
||||
|Secretary|||



Sent from my iPhone 



RC)AIAN
ALDRCIRO(IGH
tJo
E4
AL
111111111111
rd¢¢
*z/7/z.*-