Jeffrey Radley (13 October 1935 – 22 July 1970) was a British archaeologist and poet.

Career

Radley was an archaeologist, particularly interested in

Prehistoric archaeology Prehistoric archaeology is a subfield of archaeology, which deals specifically with artefacts, civilisations and other materials from societies that existed before any form of writing system or historical record. Often the field focuses on ages s ...

. He was also a poet, having a collection of poems published posthumously titled ''Scarred Temple...''.

Death

Radley was killed on 22 July 1970 during excavations on the

Anglian Tower The Anglian Tower is the lower portion of an Early Medieval tower on the city walls of York in the English county of North Yorkshire. It is located on the south-west (interior) face of the City walls, currently in the grounds of York City Librar ...

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

. He had reportedly climbed down into the trench during a lunch break when it collapsed on top of him. He had been directing the excavations commissioned by the

Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England The Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) was a government advisory body responsible for documenting buildings and monuments of archaeological, architectural and historical importance in England. It was established in 19 ...

. A plaque on the site, unveiled by

Lord Salisbury Robert Arthur Talbot Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury (; 3 February 183022 August 1903) was a British statesman and Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom three times for a total of over thirteen y ...

, commemorates his death: :This plaque is erected to the memory of Jeffrey Radley M.A. F.S.A. who carried out the excavation of the tower and was tragically killed in a subsequent accident at the site on July 22nd 1970.

Notes

:a. For a full list of Radley's archaeological publications on the ADS, se
here

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radley, Jeffrey Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London 1935 births 1970 deaths British archaeologists Accidental deaths in England 20th-century archaeologists People of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England