Colchester YAC: January meeting at Roman Circus House

Yesterday (17th January), the Colchester Young Archaeologists’ Club held their first meeting of 2015 here at Roman Circus House.

Colchester YAC organiser Barbara Butler writes: ‘… Yesterday, fourteen members of the Colchester YAC met in the circus centre at Roman Circus House, to renew their annual membership and to take their time line on into the Tudor period. We started our meeting by introducing ourselves and saying which period of history was our favourite. It was surprising how many of us chose the Tudor period! We had to discuss the pivotal Battle of Bosworth Field of 1485 first, so – looking at pictures of Henry Tudor and Richard III, which we held up – we had to decide which of them looked the most trustworthy and which one we would be likely to support in battle. We then worked out which of the two had the biggest army.

Our next activity was conducted by Don Scott. Don introduced us to William Gilberd of Colchester, who was educated at Colchester grammar school and then at the University of Cambridge. Gilberd was the physician of Tudor queen Elizabeth I. Don explained and demonstrated the experiments Gilberd had done in electromagnetism. He showed us how lode stones worked in navigation and how the earth has its own magnetism. He showed us how we could electrically charge materials such as amber to attract other objects and how the charge could be transferred so that the objects would be repelled. He explained how powerful magnets could be made of iron, and demonstrated that our modern coins are magnetic, but that coins minted in the first half of the 20th century were not.

We divided up into two groups after this. One group learned how to identify pottery finds with Trust and YAC volunteer Gillian Brown while the other tried the experiments in electro-magnetism for themselves. Before we went home, we discussed how Henry Tudor won the Battle of Bosworth Field. After a description of the battle, the young people were asked which of Richard III and Henry Tudor they thought was the bravest. Almost all of them voted for Richard III …’

The next meeting of the Colchester YAC is in February.

The images show Don Scott talking to the group and Gillian Brown showing some of the group how to identify pottery finds.

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If you are aged under 17 and interested in joining the Young Archaeologists’ Club in Colchester, then please contact Barbara Butler on 07808 968766 or at barbara[at]peterbutlerdesign.co.uk or Barbara Butler, Colchester YAC Branch, c/o the Colchester Archaeological Trust, Roman Circus House, off Circular Road North, Colchester, Essex CO2 7GZ.

The National Young Archaeologists’ Club web-site is at www.yac-uk.org/

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