The Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle upon Tyne, the oldest provincial

antiquarian society An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifacts, archaeological and historic si ...

in England, was founded in 1813. It is a

registered charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

under English law. It has had a long-standing interest in the archaeology of the

north-east of England In modern contexts Northumbria usually refers to the region of England between the Tees and Tweed, including the historic counties of Northumberland and Durham, but may also be taken to be synonymous with North East England. The area correspo ...

, particularly of

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

, but also covering prehistoric and medieval periods, as well as

industrial archaeology Industrial archaeology (IA) is the systematic study of material evidence associated with the industrial past. This evidence, collectively referred to as industrial heritage, includes buildings, machinery, artifacts, sites, infrastructure, doc ...

. It has also maintained an interest in the traditional music of the north-east of England, and particularly the

Northumbrian smallpipes The Northumbrian smallpipes (also known as the Northumbrian pipes) are bellows-blown bagpipes from North East England, where they have been an important factor in the local musical culture for more than 250 years. The family of the Duke of Nor ...

. The Society maintains several important collections. Its archaeological collection is held at the Great North Museum; its bagpipe collection, based on the collection assembled by William Cocks, is held in the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum; its collection of manuscripts is held at the

Northumberland Record Office Northumberland Archives holds the archives for the county of Northumberland. The archives are held at Woodhorn and Berwick-upon-Tweed and run by Northumberland County Council Northumberland County Council is a unitary authority in North East ...

. Its journal is ''Archaeologia Aeliana'', first published in 1822, and now published annually. The Great North Museum is also home to the Society's library, holding over 30,000 books, with a particular focus on local history and Roman Britain. Until 2013, the Society managed Newcastle Castle Keep and Black Gate, having leased the Keep in 1848 and the Gate in 1883 from the City, where they kept their library and, until 1960 when they were moved to the

Museum of Antiquities The Museum of Antiquities was an archaeological museum at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It opened in 1960 and in 2009 its collections were merged into the Great North Museum: Hancock. History The museum was originally ope ...

, their collection of artefacts. Since 1886 the society, along with its sister society The Cumberland and Westmorland Antiquarian and Archaeological Society, has organised the Hadrian's Wall Pilgrimage.

Membership

Membership of the society is open to anyone with an interest in history and archaeology, and provides access to monthly lectures as well as to the journal. A discounted student membership is also offered, running September to August to match the academic year. As of 2019, the Society has over 700 members. A number of notable figures involved with the archaeology and history of northern England have held memberships of the Society, such as

John Collingwood Bruce The Reverend John Collingwood Bruce, FSA (1805–5 April 1892) was an English nonconformist minister and schoolmaster, known as a historian of Tyneside and author. He co-operated with John Stokoe in compiling the major song collection ''North ...

John Clayton John Clayton may refer to: Arts and entertainment Writing *John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer *John Bell Clayton and Martha Clayton, John Bell Clayton (c. 1907–1955), American writer *John Clayton (sportswriter) ( ...

and

Ian Richmond Sir Ian Archibald Richmond, (10 May 1902 – 5 October 1965) was a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of the Archaeology of the Roman Empire at the University of Oxford. In addition, he was Director of the British School at Ro ...

List of presidents

* 1813 Sir John Swinburne * 1861–1878 Henry Thomas Liddell * 1879–1898

Henry George Liddell Henry George Liddell (; 6 February 1811– 18 January 1898) was dean (1855–1891) of Christ Church, Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1870–1874), headmaster (1846–1855) of Westminster School (where a house is now named after ...

* 1931–1932 Frederick Walter Dendy * 1933–1934 Robert Carr Bosanquet * 1935–1936 Charles Henry Hunter Blair * 1937 Robert Cecil Hedley * 1940–1941 Lt-Col George Redesdale Brooker Spain * 1948–1950 Canon Thomas Romans * 1951–1953 Sir Ian Richmond * 1954–1956 William Percy Hedley * 1957–1959

Eric Birley Eric Barff Birley, Brian Dobson * 1996–1998 Barbara Harbottle * 2004 Beryl Charlton * 2005–2007 Grace McCombie * 2008–2010

David Breeze David John Breeze, OBE, FSA, FRSE, HonFSAScot, Hon MIFA (born 25 July 1944) is a British archaeologist, teacher and scholar of Hadrian's Wall, the Antonine Wall and the Roman army. He studied under Eric Birley and is a member of the so-called ...

* 2011–2013

Lindsay Allason-Jones Lindsay Allason-Jones, is a British archaeologist and museum professional specialising in Roman material culture, Hadrian's Wall, Roman Britain, and the presence and role of women in the Roman Empire. She is currently a visiting fellow at Ne ...

* 2014–2015 Derek Cutts * 2016–2018 Richard Pears * 2019–2022 Nick Hodgson * 2022–present David Heslop

''Archaeologia Aeliana'' journal

Since 1822 the society has produced a journal which acts as a forum for the publication of research on the history, archaeology, and culture of the

North East of England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authority ...

. The journal is named ''Archaeologia Aeliana'', after the family of the Roman Emperor

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...

, the Aeli. This name is also present in the Roman name for the settlement at

Newcastle-upon-Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

Pons Aelius Pons Aelius (Latin for "Aelian Bridge"), or Newcastle Roman Fort, was an auxiliary castra and small Roman settlement on Hadrian's Wall in the Roman province of Britannia Inferior (northern England), situated on the north bank of the River Ty ...

. The journal is particularly noted for its publications of excavations and research on

, and Roman archaeology more generally. Most of the past issues of the journal are available open access via the

Archaeology Data Service The Archaeology Data Service (ADS) is an open access digital archive for archaeological research outputs. It is located in The King's Manor, at the University of York. Originally intended to curate digital outputs from archaeological researcher ...

website. The journal is published annually, and submissions of article is open to researchers whatever their professional affiliation.

Traditional music

In 1855, the Society set up an Ancient Melodies Committee, with the object of collecting and preserving the characteristic songs and pipe music of the county. Its members were William Kell, John Clerevaulx Fenwick, and Robert White, together with John Collingwood Bruce a Secretary of the Society, appointed ''ex officio''. In 1857, the Committee delivered a preliminary report to the Duke of Northumberland, with the pipers William Green and James Reid both providing musical illustrations. However, they were reluctant to publish at this stage, considering that the question of distinguishing Northumbrian tunes from Scottish or southern English ones deserved more work. In the same year Thomas Doubleday wrote an open letter to the Duke, criticising the slow progress of the Committee's work. He also made some observations on the characteristics of the unkeyed

, with its distinctive closed fingering, which gives the instrument a brilliant staccato sound; he also lamented the tendency of some players to attempt inappropriate music, such as waltzes, on the newer keyed instrument. The Committee's work seems to have stalled after the deaths of White and Kell, and Fenwick's move to London, but the Society published the '' Northumbrian Minstrelsy'' in 1882, edited by Rev.

and John Stokoe. This played a significant role in supporting the traditional instrumental music and song of the north-east of England.Northumbrian Minstrelsy, reprint, with foreword by A.L. Lloyd, Hatboro, Pennsylvania, 1965. https://archive.org/stream/ACollectionOfTheBalladsMelodiesAndSmall-pipeTunesOfNorthumbria/NorthumbrianBallads_djvu.txt However, many of the smallpipe tunes they published were drastically simplified, in particular dropping the variations found in the collection of John Peacock, which they had used as a source. They also used very few of the tunes in the William Vickers manuscript, which was in their possession. Though primarily a fiddler's tunebook, it does contain many local pipe tunes. They also ignored the playing of contemporary traditional pipers such as Old Tom Clough and Thomas Todd. Despite these shortcomings, the book was very significant in the revival of wider interest in the smallpipes and its music.

References

External links

*
Digitsed copies of the journal
via the

Digitised copies of the proceedings
via

Dropbox Dropbox is a file hosting service operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, U.S. that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and client software. Dropbox was founded in 2007 ...