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One of the extraordinary Edwardian machines during practice for the S F Edge Trophy at the 74th Members' Meeting, Goodwood
This photo has just won Manchester Student Photographer of the year!
This took many many goes to capture, but my patience paid off. A tiny drop of water splashing back up off the hard stone floor.
I am going to make 10 limited edition prints of this photo.
They will be professionally printed, mounted, packaged, numbered and signed.
Each photo will be 6″x8″ with a 10×12 border/mount.
Each print will cost only £15, which includes Postage & Packing, as well as a £3 donation to Tearfund.
First come first serve.
Please go here to find out more/buy:
setyoursights.wordpress.com/2009/04/10/limited-edition-pr...
Alternatively, just send me a message or email me at doi_bray@hotmail.com
Thanks
Includes teams from Brookings, SF Lincoln, SF Roosevelt, RC Central. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
©2021 SDPB
Another cold, but bright sunny Winter's day. The water was very still on the this morning - at the peak of the high tide
I thought it would be nice to include some pictures using the Altamura Jenny Gift, which many have. Hope you enjoy!
Body & Head: Altamura: "JENNY" Gift Bento Fullbody available from London City
Skirt: JellyRoll - Maitreya Calliope Maxi Skirt MP Sale 1L$
Top: Paper.Sparrow Blueberry Diesel Girl Tank - Maitreya
Hair with hat: NO.MATCH_NO.REALLY. (female) Group Gift
Shoes: ALB LALITHA flats D ballerina - SLink MP Gift
Necklace: Belle Epoque Cameo Necklace from the Summer Hunt
Bracelet: Eudora3D Eos Bracelets Fameshed Gift
Rings: *YC* yulia89 ring1 & ring2 L$20 each
Pose: an lar [poses] The Inka Series - One
Location: Breath of Nature
Includes: dark blue jacket and classic panths, pink shirt, vest is variable. Suitable for Iplehouse EID man (superhero type) and dolls with same sizes. Available for order in various colours and configuration.
17/8/16 #1325. Ponies on the beach near Lancing Sailing Club after a gallop in the sea on a beautifully calm and warm Summer's evening
Horses #40 for the treasure hunt
From a wander along the Adur at high tide. I'm told that this is a Rock Pipit. It was fluttering around near the beach end of the Ferry Bridge
Queen Anne’s Lace.
The Wild Carrot, Daucus carota, whose common names include wild carrot, bird's nest, bishop's lace, and Queen Anne's lace (North America), is a white, flowering plant in the family Apiaceae, native to temperate regions of Europe and southwest Asia, and naturalized to North America and Australia. Domesticated carrots are cultivars of a subspecies, Daucus carota subsp. sativus.
The plant is a herbaceous, somewhat variable biennial plant that grows between 30 and 60 cm (1 and 2 ft) tall, and is roughly hairy, with a stiff, solid stem. The leaves are tripinnate, finely divided and lacy, and overall triangular in shape. The leaves are bristly and alternate in a pinnate pattern that separates into thin segments. The flowers are small and dull white, clustered in flat, dense umbels. The main identifier is the hairy stem of the wild carrot.
Scientific name: Daucus carota subsp. L.
Taxonomy -
Class: Equisetopsida Subclass: Magnoliidae Superorder: Asteranae
Order: Apiales Family:Apiaceae Genus: Daucus
Common name( s): wild carrot, carrot, Queen Anne’s lace, bird’s nest, devil’s plague
Synonym (s): Carota sylvestr is (Mill.) Rupr., Caucalis carnosa Roth more here
Conservation status: Widespread and not considered to be threatened.
Habitat: Rough grassland, coastal cliffs and dunes.
Key uses: Food and drink.
Known hazards: Wild carrot has some medical properties and is similar in appearance to poisonous species such as poison hemlock (Conium maculatum), water hemlock (Cicuta maculata) and fool's parsley (Aethusa cynapium).
Taxonomy Class: Equisetopsida
Subclass: Magnoliidae Super or der : Asteranae
Order : Apiales Family: Apiaceae
Genus: Daucus (source for the above - Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, London UK - more information - www.kew.org/plants-fungi/Daucus-carota.htm) picture - Deutschlands Flora in Abbildungen, Jacob Sturm und Johann Georg Sturm (1796) Original Description Echte Möhre, Daucus carota.
The Wild Carrot (Daucus Carota) (a.k.a.Queen Anne's Lace) is thought to have originated on the Iranian Plateau (an area which now includes Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran). It is abundant in temperate regions across the globe, particularly Western Asia and Europe, and is widely distributed across much of the United States whereCarrot Now and then - wild and domestic it is often found along roadsides, abandoned fields, and pastures.
Cultivated plant species and their sexually-compatible wild relatives often overlap in terms of geographic proximity and phenology. This overlap provides the opportunity for gene flow between crops and their wild relatives. Farmers and breeders are often concerned with the potential for wild allelic contamination into agricultural fields, which can hinder production efficiency.
In many carrot producing regions throughout the world, wild carrot populations can be found growing in close proximity to cultivated carrot fields.
Wild carrot is the progenitor of the cultivated carrot, D. carota subsp. sativus, and the two subspecies are sexually compatible. The cultivated carrot was likely domesticated in Central Asia roughly 1,100 yr ago and is grown worldwide from both open pollinated and hybrid seed.
Wild Carrot mainly occurs in free-draining and slightly acidic soils on rough grassland, coastal cliffs and dunes. It frequently naturalises in fields and gardens.
It is one of many umbelliferous plants to be found growing around the world. Wild carrot appears in many temperate regions of the world, far beyond its Mediterranean and Asian centres of origin where this plant displays great diversity. It is quite possible that ancient cultures in those regions used wild carrot as a herb, and it is also quite likely that the seeds were used medicinally in the Mediterranean region since antiquity (Banga 1958).
Almost certainly the wild and early forms of the domesticated carrot were first used as a medicine before they were used as a root vegetable in the conventional sense of that term today. There is good genetic evidence that wild carrot is the direct progenitor of the cultivated carrot (Simon 2000). Selection for a swollen rooted type suitable for domestic consumption undoubtedly took many centuries.
Both the wild and the cultivated carrots belong to the species Daucus carota. Wild carrot is distinguished by the name Daucus carota, Carota, whereas domesticated carrot belongs to Daucus carota, sativus. As a member of the carrot family it has a long taproot and lacy leaves. Dig up and crush a Wild Carrot root and you will find that it smells just like a carrot.
It is yellowish or ivory in colour, spindle-shaped, slender, firm and woody; a pernicious weed in some areas. It is edible when young but the root (especially the centre) soon gets tough and woody due to the high content of xylem tissue. The domestic carrot is a relative that lacks most of this tissue. The wild carrot has finely divided leaves like that of the domesticated carrot. The leaves, petioles and flower stems may be densely hairy or have no hair. The leaves on the stem are arranged alternately. Flowering wild carrot may grow four feet tall. At the end of the stem is a primary umbel (seed head) made up of numerous individual white flowers and possibly a purple flower in the center together with drooping, narrow bracts on the underside . Plants also may have many secondary umbels produced at any node on the stem below the primary umbel.
Each flower on the umbel produces two seeds. After seed set, the umbel closes upward. Once the seeds have turned brown, they are mature. The roots of wild carrot are typically white. The characteristic odour of carrot is present when any part of the plant is crushed. Spent umbels curl inwards forming a depressed cup. The fruits are covered in hooked spines, which aid dispersal by clinging to the fur of passing animals. Flowering period (in England) is from June to August and the native biennial can reach a height of 90 centimetres.
Wild Carrot is also known as Queen Anne's Lace, Birds Nest Weed, Bees Nest, Devils Plague, garden carrot, Bird's Nest Root, Fools Parsley, Lace Flower, Rantipole, Herbe a dinde and Yarkuki. Herbe a dinde derives from its use as a feed for young turkeys-dinde.
"Daucus" comes from daukos, name given by the Greeks to some members of the Umbelliferae family and it seems to derive from "daîo" : I overheat . Carota means carrot in Latin.
Can you eat carrot flowers? - Yes at your won risk! - Your best bet is to read up on survival or self sufficiency foods, a good source from people who have tried and lived to tell the tale!
As I recall from reading such a survival book, wild carrot flowers (and many others ) are edible. The big caveat is, and I cannot emphasise this too much - be absolutely sure it is Wild Carrot as it is very similar to poison hemlock (which killed Socrates!).
Deep fried carrot flower is supposed to be a delicacy - www.altnature.com/gallery/Wild_Carrot.htm
So on that basis domestic carrot flowers should be edible too.
My friend from What's Cooking America has a useful guide for you - whatscookingamerica.net/EdibleFlowers/EdibleFlowersMain.htm
And another guide for you - www.herbsarespecial.com.au/self-sufficiency/edible-flower...
The Mystery of the Purple Floret
Queen Anne’s Lace is common in North America, Europe and Asia. In the summer it produces beautiful compound flowers that form a carpet of hundreds of tiny white florets. Strangely, quite often you will find a single darkly coloured floret just off center, standing tall above the rest. No one knows why.
Botanists have debated the mystery of the coloured floret in Daucas carota (also known as “Queen Anne’s Lace,” “Wild Carrot,” “Bishop’s Lace,” and “Bird’s Nest”) for at least the last 150 years. Back then some of the most learned botanists believed that the floret was a genetic oddity that provided no service to the plant. Many modern botanists disagree. Some suspect that the coloured floret tricks flying insects into thinking that a bug is already sitting on the flower.
Perhaps this attracts predatory wasps to land hoping to snatch a quick meal. Perhaps the presence of one insect is a signal to others that there is something on this flower worth having. If so, then the floret might entice flying insects to land and thereby help pollinate the plant.
The research that’s been done so far on this question has produced contradictory results. Some naturalists argue that they have found evidence that favours the idea that the dark floret is an insect mimic. Others have presented data that suggests that the floret does nothing to help the plant increase the number of viable seeds it produces, and therefore does nothing to help it propagate its species.
By solving the great debate of its function, new knowledge about the central dark spot and its possible role as an insect attractant could lead to future developments in cultivation as well as in methods for improving agricultural processes in cultivated carrots.
The wild carrot is an aromatic herb that acts as a diuretic, soothes the digestive tract and stimulates the uterus. A wonderfully cleansing medicine, it supports the liver, stimulates the flow of urine and the removal of waste by the kidneys. An infusion is used in the treatment of various complaints including digestive disorders, kidney and bladder diseases and in the treatment of dropsy.
An infusion of the leaves has been used to counter cystitis and kidney stone formation, and to diminish stones that have already formed. Carrot leaves contain significant amounts of porphyrins, which stimulate the pituitary gland and lead to the release of increased levels of sex hormones.
The plant is harvested in July and dried for later use. A warm water infusion of the flowers has been used in the treatment of diabetes. The grated raw root, especially of the cultivated forms, is used as a remedy for threadworms. The root is also used to encourage delayed menstruation.
The root of the wild plant can induce uterine contractions and so should not be used by pregnant women. A tea made from the roots is diuretic and has been used in the treatment of urinary stones.
An infusion is used in the treatment of oedema, flatulent indigestion and menstrual problems. The seed is a traditional 'morning after' contraceptive and there is some evidence to uphold this belief. It requires further investigation. Carrot seeds can be abortifacient and so should not be used by pregnant women.
Ancient folk lore said that to cure epileptic seizures you should eat the dark coloured middle flower of Queen Annes Lace. The flower is also used in ancient rituals an spells, for women to increase fertility and for men to increase potency and sexual desire!
A warm water infusion of the flowers has been used in the treatment of diabetes. The grated raw root, especially of the cultivated forms, is used as a remedy for threadworms.
The root is also used to encourage delayed menstruation. The root of the wild plant can induce uterine contractions and so should not be used by pregnant women.
A tea made from the roots is diuretic and has been used in the treatment of urinary stones. The seeds are diuretic, carminative, emmenagogue and anthelmintic.
An infusion is used in the treatment of oedema, flatulent indigestion and menstrual problems. The seed is a traditional ‘morning after’ contraceptive and there is some evidence to uphold this belief. It requires further investigation. Carrot seeds can be abortifacient and so should not be used by pregnant women.
Queen Annes Lace is the wild progenitor of the domesticated carrot. Although native to the Old World, these white lacy umbels are a familiar sight in the United States and Canada. The medicinal properties of Queen Annes Lace are many. More detail is given below. Its seeds may be collected, dried and used for tea. It is interesting to note that this plant is the closest living relative (on the basis of family and medicinal activity) to Silphion, which was picked and used by the Romans as a culinary spice and contraceptive until it became extinct in the first century AD. Apparently it was extremely effective. Supposedly Nero was given the last remaining root.
In the late 1980s scientists began studying Queen Annes Lace and found that (in mice at least) it blocked the production of progesterone and inhibited fetal and ovarian growth. Check out thecontraception page of the Museum.
Queen Anne's Lace is quite an aggressive plant. It is a biennial, so lives only 2 years, thus never forms a big root mass like daisies or other perennial wildflowers. However, it is such a prolific seeder, it does spread rapidly, and is almost impossible to eradicate. It is an alien, but one of the ones that's been in the US since colonial times. It came across the ocean in sacks of grain, probably with the Pilgrims. It's now established in every State. It's beautiful in the wildflower meadow I am not so sure in the garden.
If you want to plant it, easiest way is to gather a handful of the seeds from a plant dying down in the fall. They seem to be everywhere. But there is also another option. Try an annual named Ammi majus. It's the flower common in the cut flower trade as "Queen Anne's Lace", and is also sometimes called "Bishop's Flower." The two look very similar, but the latter doesn't last in your soil forever as Daucus does.
Today, in some parts of rural United States, this herb is used as a sort of morning-after contraceptive by women who drink a teaspoonful of the seeds with a glass of water immediately after sex. The seeds are also used for the prevention and washing out of gravel and urinary stones. As they are high in volatile oil, some find them soothing to the digestive system, useful for colic and flatulence. Be very, very sure that if you do decide to harvest any part of Queen Annes Lace for consumption that you have the correct plant. It is similar to Hemlock (Conium maculatum), a herb which was used medicinally but is now seldom used because of its high toxicity.
The Wild Carrot is still very much prevalent, particularly in the US where it was introduced from Europe and is the genetic source of edible carrots. Wild Carrot is found in sandy or gravelly soils and in wets areas. It is abundant west of the Cascades in Oregon and Washington where it is classed as a Class C noxious weed. Wild Carrot causes problems in pastures, hay fields, Christmas tree farms, grass seed fields and most other open areas that are not tilled annually. It is an especially serious threat in areas where carrot seed is produced because it hybridizes with the crop and ruins the seed.
Washington state has gone so far as to quarantine the plants to prevent any further escapes into its wildlands and agricultural regions. It is illegal to transport, buy, sell or distribute seed there. The penalty is a $5,000 fine.
Wild Cwild carrot and rosettearrot is easy to grow, it prefers a sunny position and a well-drained neutral to alkaline soil. Considered an obnoxious weed by some, it can spread very quickly. Its root is small and spindle shaped, whitish, slender and hard, (tender when young), but soon gets tough, with a strong aromatic smell. Harvest entire plant in July or when flowers bloom, and dry for later herb use. Collect edible roots and shoots in spring when tender. Gather seed in autumn (the fall).
There is no record of wild carrot toxicity in the US but in Europe wild carrot has been known to be mildly toxic to horses and cattle. A high concentration of wild carrot in hay is potentially a problem because livestock eat hay less selectively than green forage. Sheep appear to graze wild carrot without any harmful effect. Find out about some of the myths as to why Queen Annes Lace is so called click here.
wild carrot plantThis plant is a biennial which grows, in its second year, from a taproot (the carrot) to a height of two to four feet. The stems are erect and branched; both stems and leaves are covered with short coarse hairs.
The leaves are very finely divided; the botanical term is tri-pinnate. When a leaf is composed of a number of lateral leaflets, it is said to be pinnate or feather-like; and when these lateral divisions are themselves pinnated, it is said to be bi-pinnate, or twice-feathered. The leaves of this plant are like that but some of the lower leaves are still more divided and become tri-pinnate. The lower leaves are considerably larger than the upper ones, and their arrangement on the main stem is alternate. All of these leaves embrace the stem with a sheathing base.
wild carrot flowerThe attractive two to four inch "flower" is actually a compound inflorescence made up of many small flowers. The umbels of the flowers are terminal and composed of many rays. The flowers themselves are very small, but from their whiteness and number, present a very conspicuous appearance. The central flower of each umbel is often purple.
During the flowering period the head is nearly flat or slightly convex, but as the seeds ripen the form becomes very cup-like; hence one of the popular names for this plant is "bird's nest." The seeds are covered with numerous little bristles arranged in five rows. For more photos click here.
Like their domestic cousins, wild carrot roots can be eaten. However, they are only edible when very young. After that, they are too tough and woody. The flowers are also edible. Flower clusters can be french fried for a carrot-flavoured, quite attractive dish.
Shoreditch London City Road Closed Silicon Roundabout Major Road Works. This cycle lane change is a three-year project. The road is the inner ring road for London. They have blocked one of the tube entrances which includes the underpass. Ironically, cyclist do not even use this route since they blocked off the backstreets to traffic. They are trying to sabotage London. The situation is disgusting.
Schweiz / Berner Oberland - Lauterbrunnental
seen from Männlichen
gesehen vom Männlichen
Lauterbrunnen is a village and municipality in the Interlaken-Oberhasli administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. The municipality comprises the other villages of Wengen, Mürren, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg, and Isenfluh, as well as several other hamlets. The population of the village of Lauterbrunnen is less than that of Wengen, but larger than that of the others.
The municipality comprises the Lauterbrunnen Valley (German: Lauterbrunnental), located at the foot of the Bernese Alps. It is notably overlooked by the Eiger, Mönch, Jungfrau and many other high peaks. The valley, drained by the White Lütschine, comprises the Soustal, the Sefinental and the upper Lauterbrunnen Valley with Untersteinberg. The valley includes several glaciers. Together with the adjacent valley of Grindelwald, the Lauterbrunnen Valley forms part of the Jungfrau Region of the Bernese Oberland, between Interlaken and the main crest of the Bernese Alps.
Similarly to Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen has become a major tourist destination. It is connected to Interlaken by the Bernese Oberland Railway and is the start of the Wengernalp Railway, leading to Kleine Scheidegg. The latter resort is the start of the Jungfrau Railway, the highest railway in Europe and a gateway to the Jungfrau-Aletsch protected area.
Toponymy
Lauterbrunnen was first mentioned in 1240 as "in claro fonte", a Romance language place name meaning "clear spring". By 1253, it was known to German speakers as Liuterbrunnon; the town had an alternate spelling of Luterbrunnen by 1268. While the meaning of brunnen is undoubtedly spring or fountain, there is some dispute about the meaning of lauter. Some translate it as clear, clean or bright (which compares to the earlier Romance language meaning of the place mentioned above), while others translate it as "many" or "louder". A local explanation is that the name Lauterbrunnen means "many springs", using a modern meaning of the word lauter in German; however, this could be an example of a folk etymology.
History
The oldest trace of a settlement in the area is a single Roman coin which was discovered in the Blumental.
When the Lauterbrunnen Valley first appears in the historic record, during the 13th century, it was owned by the Freiherr of Wädenswil. In 1240 the Freiherr of Wädenswil sold the Sefinen Valley to Interlaken Monastery. Over the following century, the monastery and other local lords began to expand their power in the Lauterbrunnen and neighboring valleys. However, around 1300, the Lord of Turn began to settle his Walser-speaking people in the nearby Lötschen Valley and into the highlands of the Lauterbrunnen Valley. By 1346, the Walser villages of Lauterbrunnen, Gimmelwald, Mürren, Sichellauenen and Trachsellauenen all had village governments and a certain amount of independence from the monastery. Three years later, much of the Bernese Oberland unsuccessfully rose up against monastery. When the monastery suppressed the rebellion, the Walser villages bore the brunt of the monastery's wrath.
By the 15th century, the villages of the valley were part of the large parish of Gsteig bei Interlaken (now part of Gsteigwiler). Between 1487 and 1488, the villagers in Lauterbrunnen built a filial church of the parish. In 1506, the parish appointed a full-time priest for Lauterbrunnen. In 1528, the city of Bern adopted the new faith of the Protestant Reformation and began imposing it on the Bernese Oberland. Lauterbrunnen joined many other villages and the monastery in an unsuccessful rebellion against the new faith. After Bern imposed its will on the Oberland, they secularized the monastery and annexed all the monastery lands. Lauterbrunnen became the center of a new Reformed parish.
Mines were built in the Trachsellauenen area in the upper valley beginning in the late 16th century. An iron smelter was built in Zweilütschinen (now part of Gündlischwand) in 1715 to process the iron ore from Trachsellauenen. Most of the money from the mines went to the noble landowners, and the villagers remained poor. In the 17th and 18th centuries the poverty was so widespread that many of the villagers joined mercenary regiments or emigrated. Many emigrants moved to the Carolinas in the United States.
Beginning in the late 18th century, foreign mountain climbers began to use Lauterbrunnen as a starting point for their expeditions into the nearby Alps. Initially the climbers stayed in the village rectory. However, as Lauterbrunnen's fame grew and with the completion of a road from Interlaken in 1834 and the 1890 Bernese Oberland Railway, more hotels were needed for tourists. As new hotels were built, other tourist infrastructure was also built in the village. Cable cars were built to Mürren in 1891 and to Wengen in 1893. But the most significant piece of infrastructure was the Jungfrau railway, which was built in 1912. The Jungfrau rack railway runs 9 km (5+1⁄2 mi) from Kleine Scheidegg to the highest railway station in Europe at Jungfraujoch. The railway runs almost entirely within a tunnel built into the Eiger and Mönch mountains and contains two stations in the middle of the tunnel where passengers can disembark to observe the neighboring mountains through windows built into the mountainside.
In 1909, the English brothers Walter and Arnold Lunn popularized skiing, curling and bobsledding at Lauterbrunnen. These winter sports provided a whole new group of winter tourists and converted the summer tourist industry into a year-round business. The tourist economy of Lauterbrunnen was devastated by World War I and II and the Great Depression. However, following the end of World War II, tourism rebounded. Many new vacation homes and chalets were built along with ski lifts, chair lifts and a heliport.
On 1 January 1973, the former municipality of Isenfluh merged into the municipality of Lauterbrunnen. On 31 December 2009, Amtsbezirk Interlaken, the municipality's former district, was dissolved. On the following day, 1 January 2010, it joined the newly created Verwaltungskreis Interlaken-Oberhasli.
In May 2024, it was reported the local authority had initiated a working group to explore solutions for over-tourism, drawing inspiration from Venice's trial entry fee for day trippers. One proposed measure is the introduction of a 5 to 10 Swiss franc entry fee, applicable to visitors arriving by car for the day, excluding those with pre-booked accommodations or arriving by public transport.
Geography
Lauterbrunnen lies at the bottom of a U-shaped valley that extends south and then south-westwards from the village to meet the 8-kilometer (5.0 mi) Lauterbrunnen Wall. The Lauterbrunnen Valley (Lauterbrunnental) is one of the deepest in the Alpine chain when compared with the height of the mountains that rise directly on either side. It is a true cleft, rarely more than one kilometer in width, between limestone precipices, sometimes quite perpendicular and everywhere of extremely steep. In places the cliff walls are up to 1,000 m (3,300 ft) high. It is to this form that the valley owes the numerous waterfalls from which it derives its name. The streams descending from the adjoining mountains and, on reaching the verge of the rocky walls of the valley, form cascades so high that they are almost lost in spray before they reach the level of the valley. The most famous of these is Staubbach Falls, less than one kilometer from the village of Lauterbrunnen. The 297 m (974 ft) high Staubbach is the highest free-falling waterfall in Switzerland. Also near Lauterbrunnen is the highest waterfall in Switzerland, the 417 m (1,368 ft) Mürrenbach Fall. Finally, the Mattenbachfall (cascade waterfall) with a height of 930 meters is Europe's highest waterfall and the third highest in the world.
The Weisse Lütschine river flows through Lauterbrunnen and overflows its banks about once a year. The source of the river comes from melting snow high in the mountains, thus making it a very pure and clean source of water. Trümmelbach Falls is 3 km (1.9 mi) from Lauterbrunnen, connected by bus from the station.
Notable waterfalls in Lauterbrunnen
Staubbach Fall
Trimmelbach Falls
Mirrenbach Fall
Spissbach Falls
Sefinen Fall
Staldenbach Falls
Holdri Falls
Talbach Fall
The valley also includes many glaciers, such as the Tschingelfirn and the Rottalgletscher.
The municipality of Lauterbrunnen extends a considerable distance beyond the village and valley, with an area of 164.51 km2 (63.52 sq mi). It reaches as far as the peaks of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau to the east, the Gletscherhorn, Mittaghorn, Grosshorn, Breithorn and Tschingelhorn to the south, and the Gspaltenhorn and Schilthorn to the west. The Kleine Scheidegg Pass crosses over to Grindelwald to the east, whilst the Sefinenfurgge Pass crosses to Griesalp and Reichenbach im Kandertal to the west. Both passes carry hiking trails that form part of the Alpine Pass Route, a long-distance hiking trail across Switzerland between Sargans and Montreux. Besides the village of Lauterbrunnen, the municipality also includes the villages of Wengen, Mürren, Gimmelwald, Stechelberg, and Isenfluh.
Of the municipal area, 36.79 km2 (14.20 sq mi) or 22.4% is used for agricultural purposes, while 28.84 km2 (11.14 sq mi) or 17.5% is forested. Of the rest of the land, 2.31 km2 (0.89 sq mi) or 1.4% is settled (buildings or roads), 1.08 km2 (0.42 sq mi) or 0.7% is either rivers or lakes and 95.39 km2 (36.83 sq mi) or 58.0% is unproductive land. Of the built-up area, housing and buildings make up 0.7% and transportation infrastructure make up 0.5%. Of the forested land, 13.6% of the total land area is heavily forested and 2.0% is covered with orchards or small clusters of trees. Of the agricultural land, 3.5% is pastures and 18.9% is used for alpine pastures. All the water in the municipality is flowing water. Of the unproductive areas, 10.3% is unproductive vegetation, 31.3% is too rocky for vegetation and 16.3% of the land is covered by glaciers.
Heritage sites of national significance
The cableway between Stechelberg and Schilthorn and the Trachsellauenen silver mine, which was active in the medieval to early modern periods, are listed as Swiss heritage site of national significance. The village of Gimmelwald and the Kleine Scheidegg region are both part of the Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites.
Climate
Between 1981 and 2010 Lauterbrunnen had an average of 136.5 days of rain or snow per year and on average received 1,207 mm (47.5 in) of precipitation. The wettest month was July during which time Lauterbrunnen received an average of 144 mm (5.7 in) of rain or snow. During this month there was precipitation for an average of 13.8 days. The month with the most days of precipitation was June, with an average of 14.1, but with only 133 mm (5.2 in) of rain or snow. The driest month of the year was October with an average of 78 mm (3.1 in) of precipitation over 9.5 days.
Cultural references
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem "Gesang der Geister über den Wassern" ("Song of the Spirits over the Waters") was written while he stayed at the parish house near the Staubbach Falls waterfall in Lauterbrunnen.
J. R. R. Tolkien hiked from Interlaken to the Lauterbrunnen Valley while on a trip to the Continent in 1911. The landscape of the valley later provided the concept and pictorial model for his sketches and watercolours of the fictitious valley of Rivendell, the dwelling place of Elrond Half-elven and his people.
Lauterbrunnen featured in several scenes from the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service, including a car chase in which Bond (played for the only time by George Lazenby) was driven away from henchmen of Ernst Stavro Blofeld by his girlfriend Tracy di Vicenzo in a dramatic pursuit which culminated in them shaking off the pursuers in a stock car race.[34] The 360 degree revolving restaurant Piz Gloria which crowns the Schilthorn peak was used to film Blofeld's hideout. In the movie Bond escapes from it by skiing down the mountain to reach the village of Mürren at its base.
The location features in the Forza Motorsport series of games, with a fictional track by the name of 'Bernese Alps' incorporated into the mountainside.
(Wikipedia)
The Männlichen is a 2,343-metre (7,687 ft) mountain in the Swiss Alps located within the Canton of Berne.
It can be reached from Wengen by the Wengen–Männlichen aerial cableway, or from the new (December 2019) Grindelwald Terminal station using the Grindelwald–Männlichen gondola cableway (GM). It then takes 15 minutes to walk to the summit. It is a popular viewpoint over the Lauterbrunnen valley and a popular start location for hikers and skiers.
(Wikipedia)
Das Lauterbrunnental ist ein Tal im Berner Oberland in den Schweizer Alpen. Der Begriff Lauterbrunnen bezieht sich auf die klaren (lauteren) Quellen und Bäche (Brunnen). Bereits im 13. Jahrhundert wurde das Tal Claro Fonte genannt. Im 14. Jahrhundert tauchte das Wort Luterbrunnen zum ersten Mal auf. Das Lauterbrunnental inspirierte J. R. R. Tolkien zu dem Ort Bruchtal im Roman Der Herr der Ringe.
Siedlungen
Im Talboden liegen die Ortschaften Lauterbrunnen und Stechelberg. Auf einer Terrasse auf der Ostseite befindet sich das Dorf Wengen, auf solchen auf der Westseite die Dörfer Mürren, Gimmelwald und Isenfluh.
Alle Dörfer gehören zur politischen Gemeinde Lauterbrunnen; Hauptort ist Lauterbrunnen.
Geographie
Durch das Tal fliesst die Weisse Lütschine. Der vielen Wasserfälle wegen wird das Lauterbrunnental auch Tal der 72 Wasserfälle genannt. Von Stechelberg (919 m ü. M.) bis zum Jungfraugipfel (4158 m ü. M.) beträgt der Höhenunterschied 3239 Meter, wobei die Horizontaldistanz nur 4630 Meter beträgt. Der hintere Teil des Tales ist Naturschutzgebiet und Teil des UNESCO-Weltnaturerbes Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn.
Im Umfeld des Tals gibt es viele touristische Attraktionen wie das Schilthorn, das Jungfraujoch, die Lobhörner, der Männlichen, die Kleine Scheidegg mit Eiger, Mönch und Jungfrau. Das durch Gletscher geformte Trogtal enthält zahlreiche Wasserfälle, die bekanntesten sind der Staubbachfall und die Trümmelbachfälle. Der Mürrenbachfall mit einer Fallhöhe von 417 Metern und der Buchenbachfall mit einer Fallhöhe von 380 Meter gelten als die beiden höchsten Wasserfälle der Schweiz. Der Staubbachfall ist mit seinen 297 Meter der höchste frei fallende Wasserfall der Schweiz. Der Mattenbachfall als Kaskadenwasserfall ist mit seinen 840 Metern europaweit knapp hinter dem Vinnufallet und dem Skorga der dritt- und weltweit der achthöchste Wasserfall.
Base-Jumping im Lauterbrunnental
Aufgrund der zahlreichen, fast senkrechten Felswände gilt das Lauterbrunnental als Paradies für Base-Jumper, die von den umliegenden bis zu 810 Meter hohen, steilen Felswänden, wie der Mürrenfluh oder der Staldenfluh abspringen. Seit den 1980er Jahren kam es zu zahlreichen Unfällen, teilweise mit Todesopfern, weswegen das Tal grosse Präsenz in den Medien zu verzeichnen hatte. Der erste Todesfall ereignete sich 1994 mit dem Absturz von Xaver Bongard. Seither lassen im Lauterbrunnental pro Jahr durchschnittlich zwei Personen aus dieser Extremsportart ihr Leben. Bis einschliesslich 14. Juli 2022 kamen insgesamt 61 Base-Jumper ums Leben. Etwa 15 % der weltweiten Todesfälle im Base-Jumping ereigneten sich im Lauterbrunnental.
(Wikipedia)
Der Männlichen ist ein 2342 m ü. M. hoher Gipfel in den Berner Voralpen. Von Wengen aus führt die Luftseilbahn Wengen–Männlichen (LWM), von Grindelwald die Gondelbahn Grindelwald–Männlichen (GGM) auf den Männlichen. Die Bergstationen der Bahnen befinden sich auf rund 2230 m ü. M. auf einem flacheren Rücken südlich des Gipfels. Der eigentliche Gipfel lässt sich von dort über den «Royal Walk» in rund 30 Min. ersteigen.
Der Männlichen ist als Aussichtspunkt mit ausgezeichneter Sicht auf das Dreigestirn Eiger, Mönch und Jungfrau bekannt sowie als Ausgangsort für Bergwanderer und Skifahrer. 20 Bahnen und Lifte erschliessen im Winter das Skigebiet Kleine Scheidegg-Männlichen mit über 100 km Pisten. Die Gondelbahn Grindelwald-Männlichen war bei der Eröffnung die längste Gondelbergbahn der Welt. Ausser mit der Seilbahn ist der Männlichen zu Fuss von Grindelwald auf einer Strasse in einem Fussmarsch von etwa vier Stunden zu erreichen oder von Wengen in etwa drei Stunden auf einem schmalen Fusspfad, der bei 1,8 Kilometern Luftlinie-Entfernung einen Höhenunterschied von über 950 Meter ermöglicht.
Obwohl der Männlichen niedriger ist als der Tschuggen (2521 m ü. M.) und das Lauberhorn (2472 m ü. M.), wird die Kette dieser drei Berge nach dem Männlichen benannt, so zum Beispiel als Gruppe Männlichen (B.9) innerhalb der SOIUSA-Aufteilung der Berner Voralpen.
(Wikipedia)
New steampunk outfit :D Includes:
- Dress
- Underbust corset
- Handmade Goggles
- ruff necklace
If you're interested please send me an e-mail (at my profile)
Hope you like it ♥♥♥
This outfit is an homage to the retrofuturistic week here in Barcelona :D
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Nuevo outfit steampunk en homenaje a la semana retrofuturista que se celebra en Barcelona del 11 al 16 de febrero. Y aprovechando que uno de los días coincide con San Valentín uno de los colores que hemos elegido es el rojo :)
El outfit incluye:
- Vestido
- Corsé underbust
- Goggles handmade
- Gorguera para el cuello con cascabel
Si estás interesado puedes mandarnos un e-mail (en mi perfil) Esperamos que os guste ♥♥♥
Includes three working doors (Rear, both back side), working lightbar, opening hatch, opening gunports and more.
At Pevensey Castle
Pevensey Castle: a Saxon Shore fort, Norman defences, a medieval enclosure castle, and later associated remains
The monument includes Anderita Saxon Shore fort, traces of later, Norman defences, an enclosure castle, a 16th century gun emplacement and World War II defences situated on a low spur of sand and clay which now lies around 2km north west of the present East Sussex coastline at Pevensey. During the Roman and medieval periods the spur formed a peninsula projecting into a tidal lagoon and marshland, but coastal deposition and land reclamation have gradually built up the ground around it so that it is now completely land-locked. The roughly oval, north east-south west aligned Roman fort is the earliest of the structures which make up the monument and has been dated to the first half of the fourth century AD. Covering almost 4ha, the fort survives in the form of substantial ruins and buried remains. It is enclosed by a massive defensive wall with a flint and sandstone rubble core faced by coursed greensand and ironstone blocks, interspersed with red tile bonding courses. The whole is up to 3.7m thick and survives to a height of up to 8.1m. The wall was originally topped by a wall walk and parapet. Part excavation in 1906-8 showed that the wall was constructed on footings of rammed chalk and flints underpinned by oak piles and held together by a framework of wooden beams. Investigation of the internal face indicated that this was stepped upwards from a wide base so as to provide extra strength and support. Despite these precautions, a landslip on the south eastern side of the fort has resulted in the destruction of a c.180m length of the perimeter walls and, although fragments of the fallen masonry do survive, most have been removed over the years. Smaller sections of wall have also collapsed along the north western and eastern stretches. The defensive strength provided by the perimeter wall was enhanced by irregularly-spaced, externally projecting semicircular bastions with diameters of around 5m. There were originally at least 15 of these, of which 10 survive today. The fort was entered from its south western, landward approach by way of the main gateway. In front of this a protective ditch 5.5m wide was dug, and, although this became infilled over the years, a 40m stretch located towards its south eastern end has been recut and exposed. The ditch would have been spanned originally by a wooden bridge, although this no longer survives. The main gateway takes the form of a rectangular gatehouse set back between two solid semicircular bastions 8m apart. The 2.7m wide, originally arched entrance is flanked by two oblong guardrooms and the whole gateway structure projects beyond the inner face of the perimeter wall into the fort and is thought to have been originally two or even three storeys high. On the eastern side of the fort is a more simply designed subsidiary gateway, originally a 3m wide archway entrance, giving access to part of the adjacent Roman harbour, now overlain by Pevensey village. The extant archway is a modern reconstruction of the Norman rebuilding of the original entrance. Traces of a wooden causeway which led from it into the fort have been found during partial excavation. Midway along the north western stretch of perimeter wall is a now ruined postern c.2m wide, approached by a curved passage set within the wall. Part excavation between 1906-1908 indicated that the internal buildings which housed the garrison of up to 1,000 men, along with their livestock and supplies, were constructed of timber infilled with wattle and daub. A c.1m sq timber-lined Roman well was found in the south western sector of the fort, at the bottom of which were the remains of the wooden bucket with rope still attached. The well was found to have been filled with rubbish in Roman times and the presence of the bones of cattle, sheep, red deer, wild boar, wild birds, domestic dogs and cats, along with sea shells, gives some indication of the diet and lifestyle of the fort's original inhabitants. Anderita is thought to have been abandoned by its garrison by the latter half of the 4th century AD, and although little is known of its subsequent history until the 11th century, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records a massacre of Britons by the invading Saxons at the fort in AD 491. The Bayeux Tapestry states that William the Conquerer landed at Pevensey in 1066, and the Norman army are believed to have made use of the Roman fort as one of their first armed camps. The defences at Pevensey and the surrounding land were granted to King William's half-brother Robert, Count of Mortain. The medieval defences then went through at least 300 years of development, culminating in the construction of a stone built enclosure castle within the largely intact walls of the earlier Roman fort. It is thought that the first Norman defences took the form of a wooden palisade surrounded by a bank and ditch, and a c.40m length of partially infilled ditch up to 9m wide which survives across the north eastern sector of the earlier fort may indicate their original extent. Limited excavations in 1993-94 showed that the ground surface in the south eastern sector of the fort, in the vicinity of the later stone-built keep, was artificially raised some time before 1200, suggesting that a motte may also have been constructed. The original Roman gateways were rebuilt and a new ditch dug in front of the south western gate. Most of the Norman defences and interior wooden buildings will now survive in buried form beneath the later medieval castle, although herringbone-pattern repairs to the Roman masonry, by then serving as the outer bailey of the medieval defences, also date from this time. Around 1100 the defences were strengthened and the accommodation improved by the addition of a masonry keep in the south eastern sector of the earlier fort. The subject of a complex history of alteration, collapse and repair, the keep utilises part of the earlier, Roman perimeter wall and bastions. It takes the form of a rectangular block measuring c.16.8m by c.9m internally, reinforced by apsidal projections on all sides. Now surviving in ruined form up to first floor level, the keep originally took the form of a tall tower with an entrance on the first floor. A rectangular building measuring 7.6m by 6m was later constructed in the south eastern angle between the keep and the Roman wall. At around 1200 work began on the construction of a smaller, stone-built inner bailey in the south eastern sector of the earlier fort. An L-shaped ditch around 20m wide was dug to define the new enclosure, and this retains water in its northern arm. The material excavated from the ditch and from the destruction of the earlier bank was spread over much of the outer bailey to a depth of up to 1.5m. The ditch was recut during extensive renovations carried out during the early 20th century. The first structure to be built in this phase was the gatehouse to the south west which has an arched entrance between twin, semicircular external towers, now ruined. The basement chambers beneath each tower have ashlar-faced walls and barrel-vaulted ceilings, the southern chamber being entered by way of a newel staircase, the northern by a trapdoor. Both were used to house prisoners. Many subsequent alterations included the replacement, during the 15th century, of the wooden bridge over the outer ditch by a stone causeway. The originally embattled curtain wall enclosing the inner bailey was built within the ditch and inner berm around 1250. This survives almost to its full original height and is faced with coursed Greensand ashlar. Three semicircular external towers provided flanking cover from the narrow embrasures which pierce their walls. Each has a narrow staircase to a basement, a branch staircase off it into the ditch and a room and garderobe, or latrine, at ground floor level. Upper rooms were entered by way of the wall walk and were heated by fireplaces. The basement of the northernmost tower has two rib-vaulted bays, the keeled ribs resting on stiff-leaf corbels. The interior castle buildings continued to be built mainly of wood and these will survive in buried form, although the stone foundations of a chapel were exposed during partial excavation of the northern sector of the inner bailey. Around 20m south east of the chapel is a large stone-lined well at least 15.5m deep, and near this is a pile of medieval stone missile-balls, a selection of those recovered from the ditch. These were thrown from trebuchets during the four sieges of the castle. William, Count of Mortain forfeited Pevensey after an unsuccessful rebellion against Henry I in 1101 and the castle, which remained in the royal gift until the later Middle Ages, passed into the hands of the de Aquila family. The most famous siege took place in 1264-65 when the supporters of Henry III, fleeing from their defeat by the Barons at Lewes, took refuge in the castle. In 1372 the castle was given to John of Gaunt, and during his period of office was used to imprison James I, King of Scotland, who had been seized in 1406, and Joan, Queen of Navarre, accused of witchcraft by her stepson, Henry V. By 1300, the sea had gradually begun to recede from around the castle and its military importance declined as a result. Contemporary records show that the castle walls were constantly in need of expensive repair and by the end of the 14th century were not being properly maintained, although the roof leads were kept intact until the middle of the 15th century. By 1500 the castle had ceased to be inhabited and fell rapidly into decay. The threat of the Spanish Armada led to some renewed interest in the defensive value of the site, and a survey of 1587 records that the castle housed two demi-culverins, or heavy guns. These were sited on the contemporary, south east orientated, M-shaped earthen gun emplacement situated in the outer bailey around 90m north east of the main Roman gateway. This takes the form of a raised level platform c.20m long bounded on the seaward side by a slight bank c.0.4m high and around 3m wide. One of the cast iron guns, manufactured in the East Sussex Weald, is now housed within the inner bailey on a modern replica carriage. From the 17th century the castle passed through the hands of various private owners. Valued as a picturesque ruin during the 18th and 19th centuries, it features in many contemporary engravings and illustrations. In 1925 the Duke of Devonshire presented the monument to the state, and extensive repairs began with a view to opening the monument to the public. These were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, when the castle resumed its original military purpose of protecting the south coast. The castle was refortified in May 1940 as an observation and command post. It was continuously occupied by regular troops, including Canadian forces and the United States Army Air Corps, who used it as a radio direction centre, and by the Home Guard until 1944. The World War II defences include two pillboxes and three machine gun posts of concrete faced with rubble and flints, carefully concealed and camouflaged within the earlier Roman and medieval fabric. An internal tower was built just to the south of the Roman east gateway and a blockhouse housing anti-tank weapons was built in front of the main Roman gateway. The blockhouse no longer survives. Modifications carried out to the medieval mural towers included lining the interiors with brick and inserting wooden floors. In 1945 the monument was returned to peaceful use and is now in the guardianship of the Secretary of State and open to the public.
[Historic England]
Includes teams from O'Gorman, Yankton, Pierre T.F. Riggs, Huron. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
©2021 SDPB
Bali is an island and province of Indonesia. The province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nusa Ceningan. It is located at the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. Its capital of Denpasar is located at the southern part of the island.
With a population of 3,890,757 in the 2010 census, and 4,225,000 as of January 2014, the island is home to most of Indonesia's Hindu minority. According to the 2010 Census, 83.5% of Bali's population adhered to Balinese Hinduism, followed by 13.4% Muslim, Christianity at 2.5%, and Buddhism 0.5%.
Bali is a popular tourist destination, which has seen a significant rise in numbers since the 1980s. It is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking, and music. The Indonesian International Film Festival is held every year in Bali.
Bali is part of the Coral Triangle, the area with the highest biodiversity of marine species. In this area alone over 500 reef building coral species can be found. For comparison, this is about 7 times as many as in the entire Caribbean. There is a wide range of dive sites with high quality reefs, all with their own specific attractions. Many sites can have strong currents and swell, so diving without a knowledgeable guide is inadvisable. Most recently, Bali was the host of the 2011 ASEAN Summit, 2013 APEC and Miss World 2013.
HISTORY
ANCIENT
Bali was inhabited around 2000 BC by Austronesian people who migrated originally from Southeast Asia and Oceania through Maritime Southeast Asia. Culturally and linguistically, the Balinese are closely related to the people of the Indonesian archipelago, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Oceania. Stone tools dating from this time have been found near the village of Cekik in the island's west.
In ancient Bali, nine Hindu sects existed, namely Pasupata, Bhairawa, Siwa Shidanta, Waisnawa, Bodha, Brahma, Resi, Sora and Ganapatya. Each sect revered a specific deity as its personal Godhead.
Inscriptions from 896 and 911 don't mention a king, until 914, when Sri Kesarivarma is mentioned. They also reveal an independent Bali, with a distinct dialect, where Buddhism and Sivaism were practiced simultaneously. Mpu Sindok's great granddaughter, Mahendradatta (Gunapriyadharmapatni), married the Bali king Udayana Warmadewa (Dharmodayanavarmadeva) around 989, giving birth to Airlangga around 1001. This marriage also brought more Hinduism and Javanese culture to Bali. Princess Sakalendukirana appeared in 1098. Suradhipa reigned from 1115 to 1119, and Jayasakti from 1146 until 1150. Jayapangus appears on inscriptions between 1178 and 1181, while Adikuntiketana and his son Paramesvara in 1204.
Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian, Chinese, and particularly Hindu culture, beginning around the 1st century AD. The name Bali dwipa ("Bali island") has been discovered from various inscriptions, including the Blanjong pillar inscription written by Sri Kesari Warmadewa in 914 AD and mentioning "Walidwipa". It was during this time that the people developed their complex irrigation system subak to grow rice in wet-field cultivation. Some religious and cultural traditions still practised today can be traced to this period.
The Hindu Majapahit Empire (1293–1520 AD) on eastern Java founded a Balinese colony in 1343. The uncle of Hayam Wuruk is mentioned in the charters of 1384-86. A mass Javanese emigration occurred in the next century.
PORTUGUESE CONTACTS
The first known European contact with Bali is thought to have been made in 1512, when a Portuguese expedition led by Antonio Abreu and Francisco Serrão sighted its northern shores. It was the first expedition of a series of bi-annual fleets to the Moluccas, that throughout the 16th century usually traveled along the coasts of the Sunda Islands. Bali was also mapped in 1512, in the chart of Francisco Rodrigues, aboard the expedition. In 1585, a ship foundered off the Bukit Peninsula and left a few Portuguese in the service of Dewa Agung.
DUTCH EAST INDIA
In 1597 the Dutch explorer Cornelis de Houtman arrived at Bali, and the Dutch East India Company was established in 1602. The Dutch government expanded its control across the Indonesian archipelago during the second half of the 19th century (see Dutch East Indies). Dutch political and economic control over Bali began in the 1840s on the island's north coast, when the Dutch pitted various competing Balinese realms against each other. In the late 1890s, struggles between Balinese kingdoms in the island's south were exploited by the Dutch to increase their control.
In June 1860 the famous Welsh naturalist, Alfred Russel Wallace, travelled to Bali from Singapore, landing at Buleleng on the northcoast of the island. Wallace's trip to Bali was instrumental in helping him devise his Wallace Line theory. The Wallace Line is a faunal boundary that runs through the strait between Bali and Lombok. It has been found to be a boundary between species of Asiatic origin in the east and a mixture of Australian and Asian species to the west. In his travel memoir The Malay Archipelago, Wallace wrote of his experience in Bali:
I was both astonished and delighted; for as my visit to Java was some years later, I had never beheld so beautiful and well-cultivated a district out of Europe. A slightly undulating plain extends from the seacoast about ten or twelve miles inland, where it is bounded by a fine range of wooded and cultivated hills. Houses and villages, marked out by dense clumps of coconut palms, tamarind and other fruit trees, are dotted about in every direction; while between them extend luxurious rice-grounds, watered by an elaborate system of irrigation that would be the pride of the best cultivated parts of Europe.
The Dutch mounted large naval and ground assaults at the Sanur region in 1906 and were met by the thousands of members of the royal family and their followers who fought against the superior Dutch force in a suicidal puputan defensive assault rather than face the humiliation of surrender. Despite Dutch demands for surrender, an estimated 200 Balinese marched to their death against the invaders. In the Dutch intervention in Bali, a similar massacre occurred in the face of a Dutch assault in Klungkung.
AFTERWARD THE DUTCH GOVERNORS
exercised administrative control over the island, but local control over religion and culture generally remained intact. Dutch rule over Bali came later and was never as well established as in other parts of Indonesia such as Java and Maluku.
n the 1930s, anthropologists Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson, artists Miguel Covarrubias and Walter Spies, and musicologist Colin McPhee all spent time here. Their accounts of the island and its peoples created a western image of Bali as "an enchanted land of aesthetes at peace with themselves and nature." Western tourists began to visit the island.
Imperial Japan occupied Bali during World War II. It was not originally a target in their Netherlands East Indies Campaign, but as the airfields on Borneo were inoperative due to heavy rains, the Imperial Japanese Army decided to occupy Bali, which did not suffer from comparable weather. The island had no regular Royal Netherlands East Indies Army (KNIL) troops. There was only a Native Auxiliary Corps Prajoda (Korps Prajoda) consisting of about 600 native soldiers and several Dutch KNIL officers under command of KNIL Lieutenant Colonel W.P. Roodenburg. On 19 February 1942 the Japanese forces landed near the town of Senoer [Senur]. The island was quickly captured.
During the Japanese occupation, a Balinese military officer, Gusti Ngurah Rai, formed a Balinese 'freedom army'. The harshness of war requisitions made Japanese rule more resented than Dutch rule. Following Japan's Pacific surrender in August 1945, the Dutch returned to Indonesia, including Bali, to reinstate their pre-war colonial administration. This was resisted by the Balinese rebels, who now used recovered Japanese weapons. On 20 November 1946, the Battle of Marga was fought in Tabanan in central Bali. Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai, by then 29 years old, finally rallied his forces in east Bali at Marga Rana, where they made a suicide attack on the heavily armed Dutch. The Balinese battalion was entirely wiped out, breaking the last thread of Balinese military resistance.
INDIPENDENCE FROM THE DUTCH
In 1946, the Dutch constituted Bali as one of the 13 administrative districts of the newly proclaimed State of East Indonesia, a rival state to the Republic of Indonesia, which was proclaimed and headed by Sukarno and Hatta. Bali was included in the "Republic of the United States of Indonesia" when the Netherlands recognised Indonesian independence on 29 December 1949.
CONTEMPORARY
The 1963 eruption of Mount Agung killed thousands, created economic havoc and forced many displaced Balinese to be transmigrated to other parts of Indonesia. Mirroring the widening of social divisions across Indonesia in the 1950s and early 1960s, Bali saw conflict between supporters of the traditional caste system, and those rejecting this system. Politically, the opposition was represented by supporters of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and the Indonesian Nationalist Party (PNI), with tensions and ill-feeling further increased by the PKI's land reform programs. An attempted coup in Jakarta was put down by forces led by General Suharto.
The army became the dominant power as it instigated a violent anti-communist purge, in which the army blamed the PKI for the coup. Most estimates suggest that at least 500,000 people were killed across Indonesia, with an estimated 80,000 killed in Bali, equivalent to 5% of the island's population. With no Islamic forces involved as in Java and Sumatra, upper-caste PNI landlords led the extermination of PKI members.
As a result of the 1965/66 upheavals, Suharto was able to manoeuvre Sukarno out of the presidency. His "New Order" government reestablished relations with western countries. The pre-War Bali as "paradise" was revived in a modern form. The resulting large growth in tourism has led to a dramatic increase in Balinese standards of living and significant foreign exchange earned for the country. A bombing in 2002 by militant Islamists in the tourist area of Kuta killed 202 people, mostly foreigners. This attack, and another in 2005, severely reduced tourism, producing much economic hardship to the island.
GEOGRAPHY
The island of Bali lies 3.2 km east of Java, and is approximately 8 degrees south of the equator. Bali and Java are separated by the Bali Strait. East to west, the island is approximately 153 km wide and spans approximately 112 km north to south; administratively it covers 5,780 km2, or 5,577 km2 without Nusa Penida District, its population density is roughly 750 people/km2.
Bali's central mountains include several peaks over 3,000 metres in elevation. The highest is Mount Agung (3,031 m), known as the "mother mountain" which is an active volcano rated as one of the world's most likely sites for a massive eruption within the next 100 years. Mountains range from centre to the eastern side, with Mount Agung the easternmost peak. Bali's volcanic nature has contributed to its exceptional fertility and its tall mountain ranges provide the high rainfall that supports the highly productive agriculture sector. South of the mountains is a broad, steadily descending area where most of Bali's large rice crop is grown. The northern side of the mountains slopes more steeply to the sea and is the main coffee producing area of the island, along with rice, vegetables and cattle. The longest river, Ayung River, flows approximately 75 km.
The island is surrounded by coral reefs. Beaches in the south tend to have white sand while those in the north and west have black sand. Bali has no major waterways, although the Ho River is navigable by small sampan boats. Black sand beaches between Pasut and Klatingdukuh are being developed for tourism, but apart from the seaside temple of Tanah Lot, they are not yet used for significant tourism.
The largest city is the provincial capital, Denpasar, near the southern coast. Its population is around 491,500 (2002). Bali's second-largest city is the old colonial capital, Singaraja, which is located on the north coast and is home to around 100,000 people. Other important cities include the beach resort, Kuta, which is practically part of Denpasar's urban area, and Ubud, situated at the north of Denpasar, is the island's cultural centre.
Three small islands lie to the immediate south east and all are administratively part of the Klungkung regency of Bali: Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan and Nusa Ceningan. These islands are separated from Bali by the Badung Strait.
To the east, the Lombok Strait separates Bali from Lombok and marks the biogeographical division between the fauna of the Indomalayan ecozone and the distinctly different fauna of Australasia. The transition is known as the Wallace Line, named after Alfred Russel Wallace, who first proposed a transition zone between these two major biomes. When sea levels dropped during the Pleistocene ice age, Bali was connected to Java and Sumatra and to the mainland of Asia and shared the Asian fauna, but the deep water of the Lombok Strait continued to keep Lombok Island and the Lesser Sunda archipelago isolated.
CLIMATE
Being just 8 degrees south of the equator, Bali has a fairly even climate year round.
Day time temperatures at low elevations vary between 20-33⁰ C although it can be much cooler than that in the mountains. The west monsoon is in place from approximately October to April and this can bring significant rain, particularly from December to March. Outside of the monsoon period, humidity is relatively low and any rain unlikely in lowland areas.
ECOLOGY
Bali lies just to the west of the Wallace Line, and thus has a fauna that is Asian in character, with very little Australasian influence, and has more in common with Java than with Lombok. An exception is the yellow-crested cockatoo, a member of a primarily Australasian family. There are around 280 species of birds, including the critically endangered Bali myna, which is endemic. Others Include barn swallow, black-naped oriole, black racket-tailed treepie, crested serpent-eagle, crested treeswift, dollarbird, Java sparrow, lesser adjutant, long-tailed shrike, milky stork, Pacific swallow, red-rumped swallow, sacred kingfisher, sea eagle, woodswallow, savanna nightjar, stork-billed kingfisher, yellow-vented bulbul and great egret.
Until the early 20th century, Bali was home to several large mammals: the wild banteng, leopard and the endemic Bali tiger. The banteng still occurs in its domestic form, whereas leopards are found only in neighbouring Java, and the Bali tiger is extinct. The last definite record of a tiger on Bali dates from 1937, when one was shot, though the subspecies may have survived until the 1940s or 1950s. The relatively small size of the island, conflict with humans, poaching and habitat reduction drove the Bali tiger to extinction. This was the smallest and rarest of all tiger subspecies and was never caught on film or displayed in zoos, whereas few skins or bones remain in museums around the world. Today, the largest mammals are the Javan rusa deer and the wild boar. A second, smaller species of deer, the Indian muntjac, also occurs. Saltwater crocodiles were once present on the island, but became locally extinct sometime during the last century.
Squirrels are quite commonly encountered, less often is the Asian palm civet, which is also kept in coffee farms to produce Kopi Luwak. Bats are well represented, perhaps the most famous place to encounter them remaining the Goa Lawah (Temple of the Bats) where they are worshipped by the locals and also constitute a tourist attraction. They also occur in other cave temples, for instance at Gangga Beach. Two species of monkey occur. The crab-eating macaque, known locally as "kera", is quite common around human settlements and temples, where it becomes accustomed to being fed by humans, particularly in any of the three "monkey forest" temples, such as the popular one in the Ubud area. They are also quite often kept as pets by locals. The second monkey, endemic to Java and some surrounding islands such as Bali, is far rarer and more elusive is the Javan langur, locally known as "lutung". They occur in few places apart from the Bali Barat National Park. They are born an orange colour, though by their first year they would have already changed to a more blackish colouration. In Java however, there is more of a tendency for this species to retain its juvenile orange colour into adulthood, and so you can see a mixture of black and orange monkeys together as a family. Other rarer mammals include the leopard cat, Sunda pangolin and black giant squirrel.
Snakes include the king cobra and reticulated python. The water monitor can grow to at least 1.5 m in length and 50 kg and can move quickly.
The rich coral reefs around the coast, particularly around popular diving spots such as Tulamben, Amed, Menjangan or neighbouring Nusa Penida, host a wide range of marine life, for instance hawksbill turtle, giant sunfish, giant manta ray, giant moray eel, bumphead parrotfish, hammerhead shark, reef shark, barracuda, and sea snakes. Dolphins are commonly encountered on the north coast near Singaraja and Lovina.
A team of scientists conducted a survey from 29 April 2011 to 11 May 2011 at 33 sea sites around Bali. They discovered 952 species of reef fish of which 8 were new discoveries at Pemuteran, Gilimanuk, Nusa Dua, Tulamben and Candidasa, and 393 coral species, including two new ones at Padangbai and between Padangbai and Amed. The average coverage level of healthy coral was 36% (better than in Raja Ampat and Halmahera by 29% or in Fakfak and Kaimana by 25%) with the highest coverage found in Gili Selang and Gili Mimpang in Candidasa, Karangasem regency.
Many plants have been introduced by humans within the last centuries, particularly since the 20th century, making it sometimes hard to distinguish what plants are really native.[citation needed] Among the larger trees the most common are: banyan trees, jackfruit, coconuts, bamboo species, acacia trees and also endless rows of coconuts and banana species. Numerous flowers can be seen: hibiscus, frangipani, bougainvillea, poinsettia, oleander, jasmine, water lily, lotus, roses, begonias, orchids and hydrangeas exist. On higher grounds that receive more moisture, for instance around Kintamani, certain species of fern trees, mushrooms and even pine trees thrive well. Rice comes in many varieties. Other plants with agricultural value include: salak, mangosteen, corn, kintamani orange, coffee and water spinach.
ENVIRONMENT
Some of the worst erosion has occurred in Lebih Beach, where up to 7 metres of land is lost every year. Decades ago, this beach was used for holy pilgrimages with more than 10,000 people, but they have now moved to Masceti Beach.
From ranked third in previous review, in 2010 Bali got score 99.65 of Indonesia's environmental quality index and the highest of all the 33 provinces. The score measured 3 water quality parameters: the level of total suspended solids (TSS), dissolved oxygen (DO) and chemical oxygen demand (COD).
Because of over-exploitation by the tourist industry which covers a massive land area, 200 out of 400 rivers on the island have dried up and based on research, the southern part of Bali would face a water shortage up to 2,500 litres of clean water per second by 2015. To ease the shortage, the central government plans to build a water catchment and processing facility at Petanu River in Gianyar. The 300 litres capacity of water per second will be channelled to Denpasar, Badung and Gianyar in 2013.
ECONOMY
Three decades ago, the Balinese economy was largely agriculture-based in terms of both output and employment. Tourism is now the largest single industry in terms of income, and as a result, Bali is one of Indonesia's wealthiest regions. In 2003, around 80% of Bali's economy was tourism related. By end of June 2011, non-performing loan of all banks in Bali were 2.23%, lower than the average of Indonesian banking industry non-performing loan (about 5%). The economy, however, suffered significantly as a result of the terrorist bombings 2002 and 2005. The tourism industry has since recovered from these events.
AGRICULTURE
Although tourism produces the GDP's largest output, agriculture is still the island's biggest employer; most notably rice cultivation. Crops grown in smaller amounts include fruit, vegetables, Coffea arabica and other cash and subsistence crops. Fishing also provides a significant number of jobs. Bali is also famous for its artisans who produce a vast array of handicrafts, including batik and ikat cloth and clothing, wooden carvings, stone carvings, painted art and silverware. Notably, individual villages typically adopt a single product, such as wind chimes or wooden furniture.
The Arabica coffee production region is the highland region of Kintamani near Mount Batur. Generally, Balinese coffee is processed using the wet method. This results in a sweet, soft coffee with good consistency. Typical flavours include lemon and other citrus notes. Many coffee farmers in Kintamani are members of a traditional farming system called Subak Abian, which is based on the Hindu philosophy of "Tri Hita Karana". According to this philosophy, the three causes of happiness are good relations with God, other people and the environment. The Subak Abian system is ideally suited to the production of fair trade and organic coffee production. Arabica coffee from Kintamani is the first product in Indonesia to request a Geographical Indication.
TOURISM
The tourism industry is primarily focused in the south, while significant in the other parts of the island as well. The main tourist locations are the town of Kuta (with its beach), and its outer suburbs of Legian and Seminyak (which were once independent townships), the east coast town of Sanur (once the only tourist hub), in the center of the island Ubud, to the south of the Ngurah Rai International Airport, Jimbaran, and the newer development of Nusa Dua and Pecatu.
The American government lifted its travel warnings in 2008. The Australian government issued an advice on Friday, 4 May 2012. The overall level of the advice was lowered to 'Exercise a high degree of caution'. The Swedish government issued a new warning on Sunday, 10 June 2012 because of one more tourist who was killed by methanol poisoning. Australia last issued an advice on Monday, 5 January 2015 due to new terrorist threats.
An offshoot of tourism is the growing real estate industry. Bali real estate has been rapidly developing in the main tourist areas of Kuta, Legian, Seminyak and Oberoi. Most recently, high-end 5 star projects are under development on the Bukit peninsula, on the south side of the island. Million dollar villas are being developed along the cliff sides of south Bali, commanding panoramic ocean views. Foreign and domestic (many Jakarta individuals and companies are fairly active) investment into other areas of the island also continues to grow. Land prices, despite the worldwide economic crisis, have remained stable.
In the last half of 2008, Indonesia's currency had dropped approximately 30% against the US dollar, providing many overseas visitors value for their currencies. Visitor arrivals for 2009 were forecast to drop 8% (which would be higher than 2007 levels), due to the worldwide economic crisis which has also affected the global tourist industry, but not due to any travel warnings.
Bali's tourism economy survived the terrorist bombings of 2002 and 2005, and the tourism industry has in fact slowly recovered and surpassed its pre-terrorist bombing levels; the longterm trend has been a steady increase of visitor arrivals. In 2010, Bali received 2.57 million foreign tourists, which surpassed the target of 2.0–2.3 million tourists. The average occupancy of starred hotels achieved 65%, so the island is still able to accommodate tourists for some years without any addition of new rooms/hotels, although at the peak season some of them are fully booked.
Bali received the Best Island award from Travel and Leisure in 2010. The island of Bali won because of its attractive surroundings (both mountain and coastal areas), diverse tourist attractions, excellent international and local restaurants, and the friendliness of the local people. According to BBC Travel released in 2011, Bali is one of the World's Best Islands, ranking second after Santorini, Greece.
In August 2010, the film Eat Pray Love was released in theatres. The movie was based on Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir Eat, Pray, Love. It took place at Ubud and Padang-Padang Beach at Bali. The 2006 book, which spent 57 weeks at the No. 1 spot on the New York Times paperback nonfiction best-seller list, had already fuelled a boom in Eat, Pray, Love-related tourism in Ubud, the hill town and cultural and tourist center that was the focus of Gilbert's quest for balance through traditional spirituality and healing that leads to love.
In January 2016, after music icon David Bowie died, it was revealed that in his will, Bowie asked for his ashes to be scattered in Bali, conforming to Buddhist rituals. He had visited and performed in a number of Southest Asian cities early in his career, including Bangkok and Singapore.
Since 2011, China has displaced Japan as the second-largest supplier of tourists to Bali, while Australia still tops the list. Chinese tourists increased by 17% from last year due to the impact of ACFTA and new direct flights to Bali. In January 2012, Chinese tourists year on year (yoy) increased by 222.18% compared to January 2011, while Japanese tourists declined by 23.54% yoy.
Bali reported that it has 2.88 million foreign tourists and 5 million domestic tourists in 2012, marginally surpassing the expectations of 2.8 million foreign tourists. Forecasts for 2013 are at 3.1 million.
Based on Bank Indonesia survey in May 2013, 34.39 percent of tourists are upper-middle class with spending between $1,286 to $5,592 and dominated by Australia, France, China, Germany and the US with some China tourists move from low spending before to higher spending currently. While 30.26 percent are middle class with spending between $662 to $1,285.
SEX TOURISM
In the twentieth century the incidence of tourism specifically for sex was regularly observed in the era of mass tourism in Indonesia In Bali, prostitution is conducted by both men and women. Bali in particular is notorious for its 'Kuta Cowboys', local gigolos targeting foreign female tourists.
Tens of thousands of single women throng the beaches of Bali in Indonesia every year. For decades, young Balinese men have taken advantage of the louche and laid-back atmosphere to find love and lucre from female tourists—Japanese, European and Australian for the most part—who by all accounts seem perfectly happy with the arrangement.
By 2013, Indonesia was reportedly the number one destination for Australian child sex tourists, mostly starting in Bali but also travelling to other parts of the country. The problem in Bali was highlighted by Luh Ketut Suryani, head of Psychiatry at Udayana University, as early as 2003. Surayani warned that a low level of awareness of paedophilia in Bali had made it the target of international paedophile organisations. On 19 February 2013, government officials announced measures to combat paedophilia in Bali.
TRANSPORTATION
The Ngurah Rai International Airport is located near Jimbaran, on the isthmus at the southernmost part of the island. Lt.Col. Wisnu Airfield is found in north-west Bali.
A coastal road circles the island, and three major two-lane arteries cross the central mountains at passes reaching to 1,750m in height (at Penelokan). The Ngurah Rai Bypass is a four-lane expressway that partly encircles Denpasar. Bali has no railway lines.
In December 2010 the Government of Indonesia invited investors to build a new Tanah Ampo Cruise Terminal at Karangasem, Bali with a projected worth of $30 million. On 17 July 2011 the first cruise ship (Sun Princess) anchored about 400 meters away from the wharf of Tanah Ampo harbour. The current pier is only 154 meters but will eventually be extended to 300–350 meters to accommodate international cruise ships. The harbour here is safer than the existing facility at Benoa and has a scenic backdrop of east Bali mountains and green rice fields. The tender for improvement was subject to delays, and as of July 2013 the situation remained unclear with cruise line operators complaining and even refusing to use the existing facility at Tanah Ampo.
A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by two ministers, Bali's Governor and Indonesian Train Company to build 565 kilometres of railway along the coast around the island. As of July 2015, no details of this proposed railways have been released.
On 16 March 2011 (Tanjung) Benoa port received the "Best Port Welcome 2010" award from London's "Dream World Cruise Destination" magazine. Government plans to expand the role of Benoa port as export-import port to boost Bali's trade and industry sector. The Tourism and Creative Economy Ministry has confirmed that 306 cruise liners are heading for Indonesia in 2013 – an increase of 43 percent compared to the previous year.
In May 2011, an integrated Areal Traffic Control System (ATCS) was implemented to reduce traffic jams at four crossing points: Ngurah Rai statue, Dewa Ruci Kuta crossing, Jimbaran crossing and Sanur crossing. ATCS is an integrated system connecting all traffic lights, CCTVs and other traffic signals with a monitoring office at the police headquarters. It has successfully been implemented in other ASEAN countries and will be implemented at other crossings in Bali.
On 21 December 2011 construction started on the Nusa Dua-Benoa-Ngurah Rai International Airport toll road which will also provide a special lane for motorcycles. This has been done by seven state-owned enterprises led by PT Jasa Marga with 60% of shares. PT Jasa Marga Bali Tol will construct the 9.91 kilometres toll road (totally 12.7 kilometres with access road). The construction is estimated to cost Rp.2.49 trillion ($273.9 million). The project goes through 2 kilometres of mangrove forest and through 2.3 kilometres of beach, both within 5.4 hectares area. The elevated toll road is built over the mangrove forest on 18,000 concrete pillars which occupied 2 hectares of mangroves forest. It compensated by new planting of 300,000 mangrove trees along the road. On 21 December 2011 the Dewa Ruci 450 meters underpass has also started on the busy Dewa Ruci junction near Bali Kuta Galeria with an estimated cost of Rp136 billion ($14.9 million) from the state budget. On 23 September 2013, the Bali Mandara Toll Road is opened and the Dewa Ruci Junction (Simpang Siur) underpass is opened before. Both are ease the heavy traffic congestion.
To solve chronic traffic problems, the province will also build a toll road connecting Serangan with Tohpati, a toll road connecting Kuta, Denpasar and Tohpati and a flyover connecting Kuta and Ngurah Rai Airport.
DEMOGRAPHICS
The population of Bali was 3,890,757 as of the 2010 Census; the latest estimate (for January 2014) is 4,225,384. There are an estimated 30,000 expatriates living in Bali.
ETHNIC ORIGINS
A DNA study in 2005 by Karafet et al. found that 12% of Balinese Y-chromosomes are of likely Indian origin, while 84% are of likely Austronesian origin, and 2% of likely Melanesian origin. The study does not correlate the DNA samples to the Balinese caste system.
CASTE SYSTEM
Bali has a caste system based on the Indian Hindu model, with four castes:
- Sudra (Shudra) – peasants constituting close to 93% of Bali's population.
- Wesia (Vaishyas) – the caste of merchants and administrative officials
- Ksatrias (Kshatriyas) – the kingly and warrior caste
- Brahmana (Bramhin) – holy men and priests
RELIGION
Unlike most of Muslim-majority Indonesia, about 83.5% of Bali's population adheres to Balinese Hinduism, formed as a combination of existing local beliefs and Hindu influences from mainland Southeast Asia and South Asia. Minority religions include Islam (13.3%), Christianity (1.7%), and Buddhism (0.5%). These figures do not include immigrants from other parts of Indonesia.
Balinese Hinduism is an amalgam in which gods and demigods are worshipped together with Buddhist heroes, the spirits of ancestors, indigenous agricultural deities and sacred places. Religion as it is practised in Bali is a composite belief system that embraces not only theology, philosophy, and mythology, but ancestor worship, animism and magic. It pervades nearly every aspect of traditional life. Caste is observed, though less strictly than in India. With an estimated 20,000 puras (temples) and shrines, Bali is known as the "Island of a Thousand Puras", or "Island of the Gods". This is refer to Mahabarata story that behind Bali became island of god or "pulau dewata" in Indonesian language.
Balinese Hinduism has roots in Indian Hinduism and Buddhism, and adopted the animistic traditions of the indigenous people. This influence strengthened the belief that the gods and goddesses are present in all things. Every element of nature, therefore, possesses its own power, which reflects the power of the gods. A rock, tree, dagger, or woven cloth is a potential home for spirits whose energy can be directed for good or evil. Balinese Hinduism is deeply interwoven with art and ritual. Ritualizing states of self-control are a notable feature of religious expression among the people, who for this reason have become famous for their graceful and decorous behaviour.
Apart from the majority of Balinese Hindus, there also exist Chinese immigrants whose traditions have melded with that of the locals. As a result, these Sino-Balinese not only embrace their original religion, which is a mixture of Buddhism, Christianity, Taoism and Confucianism, but also find a way to harmonise it with the local traditions. Hence, it is not uncommon to find local Sino-Balinese during the local temple's odalan. Moreover, Balinese Hindu priests are invited to perform rites alongside a Chinese priest in the event of the death of a Sino-Balinese. Nevertheless, the Sino-Balinese claim to embrace Buddhism for administrative purposes, such as their Identity Cards.
LANGUAGE
Balinese and Indonesian are the most widely spoken languages in Bali, and the vast majority of Balinese people are bilingual or trilingual. The most common spoken language around the tourist areas is Indonesian, as many people in the tourist sector are not solely Balinese, but migrants from Java, Lombok, Sumatra, and other parts of Indonesia. There are several indigenous Balinese languages, but most Balinese can also use the most widely spoken option: modern common Balinese. The usage of different Balinese languages was traditionally determined by the Balinese caste system and by clan membership, but this tradition is diminishing. Kawi and Sanskrit are also commonly used by some Hindu priests in Bali, for Hinduism literature was mostly written in Sanskrit.
English and Chinese are the next most common languages (and the primary foreign languages) of many Balinese, owing to the requirements of the tourism industry, as well as the English-speaking community and huge Chinese-Indonesian population. Other foreign languages, such as Japanese, Korean, French, Russian or German are often used in multilingual signs for foreign tourists.
CULTURE
Bali is renowned for its diverse and sophisticated art forms, such as painting, sculpture, woodcarving, handcrafts, and performing arts. Balinese cuisine is also distinctive. Balinese percussion orchestra music, known as gamelan, is highly developed and varied. Balinese performing arts often portray stories from Hindu epics such as the Ramayana but with heavy Balinese influence. Famous Balinese dances include pendet, legong, baris, topeng, barong, gong keybar, and kecak (the monkey dance). Bali boasts one of the most diverse and innovative performing arts cultures in the world, with paid performances at thousands of temple festivals, private ceremonies, or public shows.
The Hindu New Year, Nyepi, is celebrated in the spring by a day of silence. On this day everyone stays at home and tourists are encouraged to remain in their hotels. On the day before New Year, large and colourful sculptures of ogoh-ogoh monsters are paraded and finally burned in the evening to drive away evil spirits. Other festivals throughout the year are specified by the Balinese pawukon calendrical system.
Celebrations are held for many occasions such as a tooth-filing (coming-of-age ritual), cremation or odalan (temple festival). One of the most important concepts that Balinese ceremonies have in common is that of désa kala patra, which refers to how ritual performances must be appropriate in both the specific and general social context. Many of the ceremonial art forms such as wayang kulit and topeng are highly improvisatory, providing flexibility for the performer to adapt the performance to the current situation. Many celebrations call for a loud, boisterous atmosphere with lots of activity and the resulting aesthetic, ramé, is distinctively Balinese. Often two or more gamelan ensembles will be performing well within earshot, and sometimes compete with each other to be heard. Likewise, the audience members talk amongst themselves, get up and walk around, or even cheer on the performance, which adds to the many layers of activity and the liveliness typical of ramé.
Kaja and kelod are the Balinese equivalents of North and South, which refer to ones orientation between the island's largest mountain Gunung Agung (kaja), and the sea (kelod). In addition to spatial orientation, kaja and kelod have the connotation of good and evil; gods and ancestors are believed to live on the mountain whereas demons live in the sea. Buildings such as temples and residential homes are spatially oriented by having the most sacred spaces closest to the mountain and the unclean places nearest to the sea.
Most temples have an inner courtyard and an outer courtyard which are arranged with the inner courtyard furthest kaja. These spaces serve as performance venues since most Balinese rituals are accompanied by any combination of music, dance and drama. The performances that take place in the inner courtyard are classified as wali, the most sacred rituals which are offerings exclusively for the gods, while the outer courtyard is where bebali ceremonies are held, which are intended for gods and people. Lastly, performances meant solely for the entertainment of humans take place outside the walls of the temple and are called bali-balihan. This three-tiered system of classification was standardised in 1971 by a committee of Balinese officials and artists to better protect the sanctity of the oldest and most sacred Balinese rituals from being performed for a paying audience.
Tourism, Bali's chief industry, has provided the island with a foreign audience that is eager to pay for entertainment, thus creating new performance opportunities and more demand for performers. The impact of tourism is controversial since before it became integrated into the economy, the Balinese performing arts did not exist as a capitalist venture, and were not performed for entertainment outside of their respective ritual context. Since the 1930s sacred rituals such as the barong dance have been performed both in their original contexts, as well as exclusively for paying tourists. This has led to new versions of many of these performances which have developed according to the preferences of foreign audiences; some villages have a barong mask specifically for non-ritual performances as well as an older mask which is only used for sacred performances.
Balinese society continues to revolve around each family's ancestral village, to which the cycle of life and religion is closely tied. Coercive aspects of traditional society, such as customary law sanctions imposed by traditional authorities such as village councils (including "kasepekang", or shunning) have risen in importance as a consequence of the democratisation and decentralisation of Indonesia since 1998.
WIKIPEDIA
Includes teams from O'Gorman, Yankton, Pierre T.F. Riggs, Huron. Permission granted for journalism outlets and educational purposes. Not for commercial use. Must be credited. Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting.
©2021 SDPB
13/02/16 #1139. Cold and very grey down at Shoreham Beach this afternoon, but at least the morning's heavy rain had cleared through. A long exposure "big stopper" shot
From a quick look at the RNLI Selsey Lifeboat Station, after meeting up with some of the 365 gang at North Mundham. A bit more cloud motion would have given this "big stopper" shot a boost
Frosty this morning with a touch of mist around the steaming waters of the River Adur. The wooden decking of the Old Tollbridge gets incredibly slippery in such conditions.
INCLUDES:
WINNIE THE POOH (2011):
Year Released: 2011
Studio: Disney
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
- English (DTS-HD 5.1)
- French (Canadian) (Dolby 5.1)
- Spanish (Dolby 5.1)
FINDING NEMO:
Year Released: 2003
Studio: Disney / Pixar
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
- English (Dolby TrueHD 7.1)
- English (Dolby 5.1 EX)
- French (Canadian) (Dolby 5.1 EX)
- Spanish (Dolby 5.1 EX)
ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIANS (Diamond Edition):
Year Released: 1961
Studio: Disney
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
- English (DTS-HD 7.1)
- English (Mono)
- French (DTS-HD HR 5.1)
- Spanish (Dolby 5.1)
A BUG'S LIFE:
Year Released: 1998
Studio: Disney / Pixar
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 SCOPE
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
- English (DTS-HD 5.1)
- French (Dolby 5.1)
- Spanish (Dolby 5.1)
UP:
Year Released: 2009
Studio: Disney / Pixar
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
- English (DTS-HD 5.1)
- English (DTS-HD 2.0)
- French (Dolby 5.1)
- Spanish (Dolby 5.1)
PINOCCHIO (70th Anniversary Platinum Edition):
Year Released: 1940
Studio: Disney
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
- English (DTS-HD 7.1)
- English (Mono)
THE ROAD TO EL DORADO:
Year Released: 2000
Studio: DreamWorks
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
AUDIO:
- English (DTS-HD 5.1)
- French (European) (DTS 5.1)
- French (Canadian) (DTS 5.1)
- Spanish (DTS 5.1)
- Japanese (DTS 5.1)
- Dutch (DTS 5.1)
- Flemish (DTS 5.1)
- Portuguese (Brazilian) (DTS 5.1)
SUBTITLES:
English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese
EDGE OF TOMORROW (LIVE, DIE, REPEAT):
Year Released: 2014
Studio: Warner Bros.
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 SCOPE
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
- English (DTS-HD 7.1)
- French (Canadian) (Dolby 5.1)
- Spanish (Dolby 5.1)
- Portuguese (Brazilian) (Dolby 5.1)
SOUTH PARK: THE COMPLETE SIXTH SEASON:
Year Released: 2002
Studio: Paramount / Comedy Central
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
"Okay, you see what he did? He french fried when he should've pizza'd. If you french fry when you pizza, you're gonna have a bad time!"
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
- English (Dolby TrueHD 5.1)
- English (Dolby 2.0)
SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE:
Year Released: 2018
Studio: Sony (Columbia)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 SCOPE
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
- English (DTS-HD 5.1)
- French (Canadian) (Dolby 5.1)
- Spanish (Dolby 5.1)
NATIONAL LAMPOON'S ANIMAL HOUSE:
Year Released: 1978
Studio: Universal
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
AUDIO:
- English (DTS-HD 5.1)
- French (DTS Mono)
- Spanish (DTS Mono)
- Castilian Spanish (DTS Mono)
- German (DTS Mono)
- Italian (DTS Mono)
"Toga! Toga! Toga! Toga!"
SUBTITLES:
English SDH, French (Canadian), French (European), German, Italian, Spanish, Castilian Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
CADDYSHACK:
Year Released: 1980
Studio: Warner Bros.
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
AUDIO:
- English (DTS-HD 5.1)
- French (Canadian) (Mono)
- German (Mono)
- Spanish (Mono)
- Castilian Spanish (Mono)
SUBTITLES:
English SDH, French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian, Swedish
Includes: dark blue jacket and classic panths, pink shirt, vest is variable. Suitable for Iplehouse EID man (superhero type) and dolls with same sizes. Available for order in various colours and configuration.
A change of scene includes the same class... Sorry ! I remember going to this location having remembered it from the days my dad would park his car on the adjacent road ahead of taking us to see the 'blues'. I was curious enough to take a look in my learning days and took this image. The need for steps were to still become part of the tools required for the job. I can't remember what type of fencing was used to guard the railway back then but I don't think it was as intrusive as palisades that are widespread now!
Raleigh, NC (Wake County)
The Capitol Area Historic District includes this central square, the surrounding structures - churches on each corner and government offices facing the capitol - and streets extending to the east and west. These streets include a number of distinguished and representative domestic buildings and churches. No commercial buildings are represented. Though the buildings represent a plethora of styles and periods, there is a persistent, identifiable continuity with few intrusions (except for gap sites created by large parking areas). The boundaries of the district roughly correspond to the locally designated historic district. (1)
The square itself became a landscape of commemoration for noble deeds, sacrifices, achievements, sayings, and official sentiments of the state. A third of the memorials pay tribute to individual and events of the Civil War. The largest and earliest of these, a Confederate monument erected in 1894, features a tall stone shaft on an elaborate base, with two statues, decorations, and inscriptions, and cannon placed at Fort Caswell during the War. Other Civil lvar monuments include Gutzon Borglum's statue of Henry Lawwon Wyatt of Bethel, North Carolina, said to have been the first soldier to die in battle; sculptor Augustus Lukeman's sentimental tribute to the women of the Confederacy (1914); a plaque honoring Samuel A'Court Ashe (1840-1938), last surviving commissioned officer of the Confederate States Army and noted editor.
The non-Civil War monuments include a mid-nineteenth century copy of Houdon's statue of Washington; F. H. Packer's statue of Worth Bagley, first American killed in action in the Spanish-American War; statues of Zebulon B. Vance (by H. J. Ellicot) and Charles Aycock, each flanked by tablets of bas reliefs by Borglum and quotable quotations; statue of noted educator Charles Duncan Mciver (1806-1906) by Ruchstuhl; and a large tableau (1948) of the three presidents of the United States claimed by North Carolina: James K. Polk, Andrew Jackson, and Andrew Johnson. (1)
References (1) NRHP Nomination Form files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/WA0053.pdf
Motorbike action on the hillclimb at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. #59 Sammy Miller on his 1927 Brough Superior Pendine Racer
I felt I was being watched as I was hacking around in the garden. Mostly by a Robin, but at one point a Dunnock appeared.
A trip to the ice hockey, as Guildford Flames took on the Nottingham Panthers. A great 3rd period for the Flames as they came back from 1-2 down to win 6-2.
Set include both - bikini top and panties. It is size Small/ Medium ( top will fit perfectly for B or C cup for a little less coverage). Can be made in different sizes and colors if you want.
Top and bottom are adjustable.
It is made from mercerized 100 % cotton yarn. It is very comfortable.
Grade I listed historic building.
"Christ's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college includes the Master, the Fellows of the College, and about 450 undergraduate and 170 graduate students. The college was founded by William Byngham in 1437 as God's House. In 1505, the college was granted a new royal charter, was given a substantial endowment by Lady Margaret Beaufort, and changed its name to Christ's College, becoming the twelfth of the Cambridge colleges to be founded in its current form. The college is renowned for educating some of Cambridge's most famous alumni, including Charles Darwin and John Milton.
Within Cambridge, Christ's has a reputation for highest academic standards and strong tutorial support. It has averaged 1st place on the Tompkins Table from 1980–2006 and third place from 2006 to 2013, returning to first place in 2018 and 2019.
Cambridge is a university city and the county town of Cambridgeshire, England, on the River Cam approximately 50 miles (80 km) north of London. At the United Kingdom Census 2011, its population was 123,867 including 24,506 students. Cambridge became an important trading centre during the Roman and Viking ages, and there is archaeological evidence of settlement in the area as early as the Bronze Age. The first town charters were granted in the 12th century, although modern city status was not officially conferred until 1951.
The University of Cambridge was founded in 1209. The buildings of the university include King's College Chapel, Cavendish Laboratory, and the Cambridge University Library, one of the largest legal deposit libraries in the world. The city's skyline is dominated by several college buildings, along with the spire of the Our Lady and the English Martyrs Church, and the chimney of Addenbrooke's Hospital. Anglia Ruskin University, which evolved from the Cambridge School of Art and the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology, also has its main campus in the city.
Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology Silicon Fen with industries such as software and bioscience and many start-up companies born out of the university. Over 40 per cent of the workforce have a higher education qualification, more than twice the national average. The Cambridge Biomedical Campus, one of the largest biomedical research clusters in the world, is soon to house premises of AstraZeneca, a hotel, and the relocated Papworth Hospital.
The first game of association football took place at Parker's Piece. The Strawberry Fair music and arts festival and Midsummer Fair are held on Midsummer Common, and the annual Cambridge Beer Festival takes place on Jesus Green. The city is adjacent to the M11 and A14 roads. Cambridge station is less than an hour from London King's Cross railway station." - info from Wikipedia.
Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.
Now on Instagram.
As the lockdown measures have eased, I felt I could venture out to the local nature reserve at Woods Mill. This Robin was singing away merrily.
Outfit - ~*Moolala*~ Glory Outfit - Red
( Outfit includes Shirt Shoes And Shorts )
Store - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aldona/225/69/550
Earrings - CHOP ZUEY - Always True Earrings
Store - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chop%20Zuey/65/134/26
Bracelets - CHOP ZUEY - Always True Mixed Bangles
Store - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Chop%20Zuey/65/134/26
EyeShadow - Arte -Smoky Eyeliners
Store - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Kingdom%20One%20Network/68...
Lip Stick - ::SG:: Gelly Lips
Store - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sun%20Dream/128/120/22
Visor - [SWaGGa] Americana Visors
Store - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Starlas/100/166/23
Nail Applier - ~Aparecium~ 4th of JULY
Store - maps.secondlife.com/secondlife//80/108/27
Hair - TRUTH HAIR Olympia
See also my album of photos of the Darab region that includes the Sasanian relief at Darab and the two rock-cut mosques named the Stone Mosque (Masjid-i Sang) at Darab and at Ij.
They are included in my Iran Collection.
There are six Sasanian rock reliefs in this area, four on the cliff on the north side of the Shapur River (Bishapur III-VI) and two on the south side (Bishapur I & II). The designations Bishapur I-VI are taken from Vanden Berghe's list and his descriptions of the reliefs have been used for these photos. See also the historical background given below.
BISHAPUR VI: The latest relief in the Tang-i-Chogan: Shapur II (309-379 A.D.), the suppression of a revolt. The King is sitting on his throne in the centre of the upper register, hand on sword. From the right, soldiers bring prisoners. From the left courtiers and relatives approach the King making a gesture of admiration. In the lower register, the head of an enemy is offered.
According to Roman Ghirshman ("Iran", Pelican Books 1954) "The Sasanian Empire was the finest period in the history of Iran". The following HISTORICAL BACKGROUND is extracted from "Persia: An Archaeological Guide", by Sylvia A. Matheson (second edition, Faber 1976). I have replaced “Sassanian” and “Shahpur” in her text by the more commonly used “Sasanian” and “Shapur”. Text in square brackets are my additions.
[Achaemenians]
"The history of Iran....properly begins with the rise of the Medes in the western and northern parts of the Plateau from at least the eighth century B.C. onwards. The royal houses of the Medes and the Persians, both of Indo-European stock, were united when the daughter of the Median King Astyages married Cambyses I, son of Cyrus I, king of Fars. Cyrus II (The Great), the offspring of this marriage, defeated his grandfather, Astyages, in battle c. 550 B.C., reaffirmed the fortunes of the Achaemenian dynasty and established his new empire with capitals in at least Pasargadae (Fars), Babylon and Ecbatana, present-day Hamadan.”
[Zoroastrian religion]
“The later Achaemenians combined the worship of Ahura Mazda, 'the wise lord' of the prophet Zoroaster, with the worship of Mithras and that of Anahita, goddess of water and fertility.”
“Cyrus, whose conquests ranged from Central Asia to the Mediterranean, treated his vanquished enemies with a generosity and tolerance remarkable for his time. It was he who liberated the Jewish exiles in Babylon and restored Jerusalem to them. His successors, particularly Darius the Great and his son Xerxes (who defeated the Spartans at Thermopylae and incurred the lasting hatred of the Greeks by burning the Acropolis in Athens), continued the expansion of the empire which included many of the Greek islands; it reached north to the banks of the Danube, south to Egypt and Ethiopia, and north and east to Afghanistan and India. The most outstanding monument of the Achaemenians existing today is the magnificent ceremonial city of Persepolis, near Shiraz…”
[Alexander the Great]
“It was Alexander of Macedon who defeated the last of the Achaemenians, Darius III Codamanus, in 331-330 B.C., and burned Persepolis, some say in revenge for the destruction of the Acropolis.
[Seleucids]
Alexander, who married Darius' daughter, died only a few years later and his empire was divided between his generals, Seleucus I ultimately winning Iran and founding the Hellenistic dynasty of the Seleucids, with a new capital at Ctesiphon on the Tigris.”
[Parthians]
“....the dynasty was soon challenged by the Arsacid Parthians from the north-east, who first achieved a measure of permanent control of the Iranian Plateau c. 238 B.C..…The last of the Parthians, Artabanus V, fell in battle in A.D. 224 with.....Ardashir I, ruler of Fars and Kirman...”
[Sasanians]
“Ardashir founded the great dynasty of the Sasanians during whose 400-year rule the country became wealthier than ever before, with an efficient administration in which heavy taxes supported a social welfare system including state hospitals, schools and colleges.”
“Town planning, irrigation and industrialisation were carried out on a lavish scale; the empire was expanded; Ardashir and his son Shapur I defeated Roman emperors such as Valerian, Philip the Arab and Gordion III, carrying many to captivity with thousands of prisoners….[Valerian was captured in a great victory near Edessa (modern Urfa or Şanlıurfa). 70,000 Roman legionaries were captured and settled in Khuzestan in Iran (Shushtar, Dezful...), where they were employed in building bridges, roads and dams.]
[Sasanian Reliefs]
“Many of the Sasanian victories are commemorated in huge bas-reliefs, mostly in the province of Fars. Christian communities were established in Iran, but the official religion was that of Zoroaster. The magnificence and ceremonial of Sasanian court life influenced the later Europeans courts, while the excellence of Sasanian architecture, sculpture, textiles and metal work left an unmistakeable and lasting impression on the culture of the west.”
"Most vital of all, perhaps, the Sasanian empire formed a protective barrier between the ruthless nomadic tribes of Central Asia and western civilization."
[Arab Conquest]
"The Sasanians succumbed to the invasion of the Umayyad Caliphs, desert Arabs who brought with them a new, austere, religion, that of Islam, when they invaded Iran and defeated [the Sasanian king] Yazdigird III in the years after 637 A.D."
Satellite image of this location. At the lower left of this image the site of Bishapur can also be seen on the south bank of the river on the west (left) side of the main road.
Tynemouth Castle is located on a rocky headland (known as Pen Bal Crag), overlooking Tynemouth Pier.
The moated castle-towers, gatehouse and keep are combined with the ruins of the Benedictine priory where early kings of Northumbria were buried.
The coat of arms of the town of Tynemouth still includes three crowns commemorating the tradition that the Priory had been the burial place for three kings.
Little is known of the early history of the site. Some Roman stones have been found there, but there is no definite evidence that it was occupied by the Romans.
The Priory was founded early in the 7th century, perhaps by Edwin of Northumbria. In 651 Oswin, king of Deira was murdered by the soldiers of King Oswiu of Bernicia, and subsequently his body was brought to Tynemouth for burial.[1] He became St Oswin and his burial place became a shrine visited by pilgrims. He was the first of the three kings buried at Tynemouth.
In 792 Osred II, who had been king of Northumbria from 789 to 790 and then deposed, was murdered. He also was buried at Tynemouth Priory.[1] Osred was the second of the three kings buried at Tynemouth.
The third king to be buried at Tynemouth was Malcolm III, king of Scotland, who was killed at the Battle of Alnwick in 1093.[1] (This is the same Malcolm who appears in Shakespeare's Macbeth.) The king's body was sent north for reburial, in the reign of his son Alexander I, at Dunfermline Abbey, or possibly Iona.
In 800 the Danes plundered Tynemouth Priory,[1] and afterwards the monks strengthened the fortifications sufficiently to prevent the Danes from succeeding when they attacked again in 832. However, in 865 the church and monastery were destroyed by the Danes. At the same time, the nuns of St Hilda, who had come there for safety, were massacred. The priory was again plundered by the Danes in 870. The priory was destroyed by the Danes in 875.
Norman rule
Earl Tostig made Tynemouth his fortress during the reign of Edward the Confessor. By that time, the priory had been abandoned and the burial place of St Oswin had been forgotten. According to legend, St Oswin appeared in a vision to Edmund, a novice, who was living there as a hermit. The saint showed Edmund where his body lay and so the tomb was re-discovered in 1065.
Tostig was killed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 and so was not able to re-found the monastery as he had intended.
In 1074 Waltheof II, Earl of Northumbria, last of the Anglo-Saxon earls, granted the church to the monks of Jarrow together with the body of St Oswin (Oswine of Deira), which was transferred to that site for a while.
In 1090 Robert de Mowbray, Earl of Northumberland decided to re-found Tynemouth Priory, but he was in dispute with William de St-Calais, the Bishop of Durham and so placed the priory under the jurisdiction of the priory of St Albans. Monks were sent from St Albans in 1090 to colonise the new monastery.
However, when the abbot of St Albans visited in 1093, Prior Thurgot of Durham met him and prevented the usurpation of the rights of Durham.
In 1091, seamen from William II's ships plundered Tynemouth and one victim appealed to St. Oswin, whose shrine was in the priory, and the next day the ships were all lost on the rocks of Coquet Island in fair weather. Thereafter, William Rufus held St. Oswin in great reverence.
In 1093 Malcolm III of Scotland invaded England and was killed at Alnwick by Robert de Mowbray. Malcolm's body was buried at Tynemouth Priory for a time, but it is believed that he was subsequently reburied in Dunfermline Abbey, in Scotland.
In 1095 Robert de Mowbray took refuge in Tynemouth Castle after rebelling against William II. William besieged the castle and captured it after two months. Mowbray escaped to Bamburgh Castle, but subsequently returned to Tynemouth. The castle was re-taken and Mowbray was dragged from there and imprisoned for life for treason. In 1110 a new church was completed on the site.
Tynemouth Priory viewed from Tynemouth pier shows the strategic and dramatic nature of its headland setting
It is believed that at the time of Robert Mowbray's capture in 1095 there was a castle on the site consisting of earthen ramparts and a wooden stockade.
In 1296 the prior of Tynemouth was granted royal permission to surround the monastery with walls of stone, which he did. In 1390 a gatehouse and barbican were added on the landward side of the castle.
Much remains of the priory structure as well as the castle gatehouse and walls which are 3200 feet (975 m) in length. The promontory was originally completely enclosed by a curtain wall and towers, but the north and east walls fell into the sea, and most of the south wall was demolished; the west wall, the gatehouse and a section of the south wall (with original wall walk) remain in good condition.
Edward II
In 1312 King Edward II took refuge in Tynemouth Castle together with his favourite Piers Gaveston, before fleeing by sea to Scarborough Castle. These events were dramatised by Christopher Marlowe in his play Edward II, published in 1594. Act 2 Scene 2 of the play is set 'Before Tynemouth Castle'; Act 2 Scene 3 is set 'Near Tynemouth Castle'; and Act 2 Scene 4 is set 'In Tynemouth Castle'.
Tynemouth Priory was also the resting place of Edward's illegitimate son Adam FitzRoy. FitzRoy accompanied his father in the Scottish campaigns of 1322, and died shortly afterwards on 18 September 1322, of unknown causes, and was buried at Tynemouth Priory on 30 September 1322; his father paid for a silk cloth with gold thread to be placed over his body.[2]
The Oratory of St Mary, or Percy Chapel
In 1538 the monastery of Tynemouth was suppressed when Robert Blakeney was the last prior of Tynemouth. At that time, apart from the prior, there were fifteen monks and three novices in residence.
The priory and its attached lands were taken over by King Henry VIII who granted them to Sir Thomas Hilton. The monastic buildings were dismantled leaving only the church and the Prior's house. The castle, however, remained in royal hands.
New artillery fortifications were built from 1545 onwards, with the advice of Sir Richard Lee and the Italian military engineers Gian Tommaso Scala and Antonio da Bergamo. The medieval castle walls were updated with new gunports.[3] The castle was the birthplace of Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland in 1564, during the period when his father, the 8th Earl, was guardian of the castle.
In May 1594 George Selby and Thomas Power, lieutenant of Tynemouth Castle, captured two fugitives from the court of Anne of Denmark who had stolen some of her jewels. Power kept Jacob Kroger, a German goldsmith, and Guillaume Martyn, a French stableman, as prisoners at Tynemouth for five weeks until they were returned to Edinburgh for summary trial and execution.[4]
Parish church
The church remained in use as a parish church until 1668 when a new church was built nearby. The ruins of the church can still be seen. Beneath them is a small (18 feet by 12 feet) chapel, the Oratory of St Mary or Percy Chapel. Its notable decorative features include a painted ceiling with numerous coats of arms and other symbols, stained-glass side windows, and a small rose window in the east wall, above the altar.
Tynemouth priory, 1867 proof engraving by William Miller after J M W Turner. The lighthouse, since demolished, stands on the far right of the promontory.
For some time a navigation light, in the form of a coal-fired brazier, had been maintained on top of one of the turrets at the east end of the Priory church. It is not known when this practice began, but a source of 1582 refers to: "the kepinge of a continuall light in the night season at the easte ende of the churche of Tinmouthe castle ... for the more safegarde of such shippes as should passe by that coast".[5] As Governor of Tynemouth Castle, Henry Percy, 8th Earl of Northumberland is recorded as having responsibility for the light's maintenance; and he and his successors in that office were entitled to receive dues from passing ships in return.
In 1559, however, the stairs leading to the top of the turret collapsed, preventing the fire from being lit.[5] In 1665, therefore, the then Governor (Colonel Villiers) had a purpose-built lighthouse erected on the headland (within the castle walls, using stone taken from the priory); it was rebuilt in 1775.[6] Like its predecessor, the lighthouse was initially coal-fired, but in 1802 an oil-fired argand light was installed and by 1871 it displayed a revolving red light. In 1841 William Fowke (a descendant of Villiers and his successor as Governor) sold the lighthouse to Trinity House, London.[6] It remained in operation until 1895, when it was replaced by St. Mary's Lighthouse in Whitley Bay to the north. Tynemouth Castle Lighthouse was subsequently demolished, in 1898.[7]
At the end of the 19th century the castle was used as a barracks with several new buildings being added. Many of these were removed after a fire in 1936. The castle played a role during World War I and World War II[8] when it was used as a coastal defence installation covering the mouth of the river Tyne. The restored sections of the coastal defence emplacements are open to the public. These include a guardroom and the main armoury, where visitors can see how munitions were safely handled and protected.
More recently the site has hosted the modern buildings of Her Majesty's Coastguard; however the new coastguard station, built in 1980 and opened by Prince Charles, was closed in 2001.[9]
Present-day
Tynemouth Castle and Priory is now managed by English Heritage, which charges an admission fee.
In 2002, it doubled as a castle for a tourist advert for the Isle of Mull.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
A monitor is a class of relatively small warship that is lightly armoured, often provided with disproportionately large guns, and originally designed for coastal warfare. The term "monitor" grew to include breastwork monitors, the largest class of riverine warcraft known as river monitors and was sometimes used as a generic term for any turreted ship. In the early 20th century, the term "monitor" included shallow-draft armoured shore bombardment vessels, particularly those of the Royal Navy: the Lord Clive-class monitors carried guns that fired the heaviest shells ever used at sea and saw action against German targets during World War I.
Two small Royal Navy monitors from the First World War, Erebus and Terror survived to fight in the Second World War. When the requirement for shore support and strong shallow-water coastal defence returned, new monitors and variants such as coastal defence ships were built. Allied monitors saw service in the Mediterranean in support of the British Eighth Army's desert and Italian campaigns, and they were part of the offshore bombardment for the Invasion of Normandy in 1944.
During the First World War, the Royal Navy developed several classes of ships which were designed to give close support to troops ashore through the use of naval bombardment. The size of the various monitor classes of the Royal Navy and their armaments varied greatly. The Marshal Ney class was the United Kingdom's first attempt at a monitor carrying 15 in (381 mm) guns, two of these ships were eventually built and showed a disappointing performance. The Admiralty immediately began the design of a replacement class, which incorporated lessons learned from all of the previous monitor classes commissioned during the war. Some of the main modifications were an increase in the power supply to guarantee a speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) and a change to the angles and lines of the hull to improve steering. Another significant change was to raise the top of the anti-torpedo bulge above the waterline and reduce its width; both changes would improve the stability and maneuverability of the ship at sea. The new design would later be named the Erebus-class, the first ship being launched in June 1916. Two ships were built and took part in WWI, but the Admiralty was not fully convinced with these ships, which also had shown major operational flaws, and requested in early 1918 three ship from another monitor class with higher firepower and better performance at sea, which led to the Trebuchet-class – even though it came too late to take part in any hostilities.
The class’ ships were to be the name-giving HMS Trebuchet, HMS Mangonel and HMS Ludgar. The latter would be the first and eventually become the class' only ship, because Trebuchet and Mangonel were quickly cancelled. HMS Ludgar was named after the famous, probably largest trebuchet ever made, also known as “Warwolf”, which had been created in Scotland by order of King Edward I of England, during the siege of Stirling Castle, as part of the Scottish Wars of Independence. Still seeing a need for this specialized ship for local conflicts in the British Empire around the world, Ludgar was proceeded with and laid down at Harland and Wolff's shipyard in Govan on 12 October 1918.
Due to the lack of wartime pressure, though, Ludgar took three years to complete and was launched on 19 June 1920. The new design was a thorough re-modelling of the earlier Royal Navy Monitors, even though most basic features and the general layout were retained - with all its benefits and flaws. Overall the ship was slightly larger than its direct predecessors, the Erebus-class monitors. Ludgar had a crew of 224, 9,090 long tons (9,185 t) loaded displacement, was 436 ft (133.1 m) long, 97 ft (29.6 m) wide with a draught of just 11 ft 8 in (3.6 m, less than a destroyer) for operations close to the coastline. Power was provided by four Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers, which would generate a combined 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) that were produced by triple-expansion steam engines with two shafts. The monitor had an operational range of 2,480 nmi (4,590 km; 2,850 mi) at a speed of 12 knots.
HMS Ludgar’s deck armor would range from 1 in (25 mm) on the forecastle, through 2 in (51 mm) on the upper deck and 4 in (102 mm) over the magazine and belt. Unlike former British monitors, the Trebuchet Class featured two main turrets, which were each armed with two 15 in guns, what considerably improved the ship’s rate of fire. With the main 15 in guns being originally intended for use on a battleship, the armor for the turrets was substantially thicker than elsewhere in the design; with 13 in (330 mm) on the front, 11 in (279 mm) on the other sides and 5 in (127 mm) on the roof. The main guns' barbettes would be protected by 8 in (203 mm) of armor. Learning from the earlier experience with Ney, the turrets were adjusted to increase elevation to 30 degrees, which would add greater firing range. The 15 in guns had a muzzle velocity of 2,450 feet per second (750 m/s) – 2,640 feet per second (800 m/s), with supercharge. Maximum firing range was 33,550 yards (30,680 m) with a Mk XVIIB or Mk XXII streamlined shell @30° – 37,870 yards (34,630 m) @ 30°, with supercharges.
Just like on former British monitor ship designs, the turrets had to be raised high above the deck to allow the small draught, what raised the ship’s center of gravity and required a relatively wide hull to ensure stability.
The tall conning tower was protected by 6 in (152 mm) of armor on the sides and 2.5 in (64 mm) on the roof. The former monitors retrofitted anti-torpedo bulges were integrated into the Trebuchet-class’ hull, extending the deck’s width and giving the ship a more efficient shape, even though the short and wide hull still did not support a good performance at sea. The outer air-filled compartments under the waterline were 13 ft (4 m) wide with a 9 ft (2.7 m) wide outer section and an inner compartment 4 ft (1.2 m) wide containing an array of protective, air-filled steel tubes which would take the blast from an eventual broadside torpedo hit.
Ludgar conducted sea trials on 1 September 1921, during which the ship was faster than her predecessors at 16.5 knots (30 km/h; 19 mph) compared to 13 knots (24.3 km/h; 15.1 mph) for the Erebus-class monitors. However, like her ancestors, the wide and shallow hull of Ludgar made the ride rather unstable, and under practical conditions the ship’s top speed rarely exceeded 14 knots, making Ludgar only marginally faster than older monitor ships. The inherent flaws of the ship class’ design could not easily be overcome. However, Ludgar was officially commissioned on 2 September.
Upon entering service Ludgar was immediately deployed to the eastern Mediterranean as part of the 1st Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet to mediate conflicts between Greece and the crumbling Ottoman Empire. While in the Ottoman capital Constantinople, Ludgar and the other British warships took on White émigrés fleeing the Communist Red Army.
The 1922 Washington Naval Treaty cut the battleship strength of the Royal Navy from forty ships to fifteen. The remaining active battleships were divided between the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets and conducted joint operations annually. Ludgar remained with the Mediterranean through 1926. On 4 October 1927, the ship was placed in reserve to effect a major refit, in which new rangefinders and searchlights were installed and the ship's original secondary armament, eight 4 inch naval guns against enemy destroyers and torpedo boats, was replaced be anti-aircraft guns of the same caliber.
On 15 May 1929 the refit was finished, and the ship was assigned to the 1st Battle Squadron of the Mediterranean Fleet. The squadron also consisted of Royal Sovereign, her sisters Resolution and Revenge, and Queen Elizabeth, and based in Malta. The only changes made during the Thirties were augmentations to Ludgar’s anti-aircraft batteries.
Fleet exercises in 1934 were carried out in the Bay of Biscay, followed by a fleet regatta in Navarino Bay off Greece. In 1935, the ship returned to Britain for the Jubilee Fleet Review for King George V. In August 1935, Ludgar was transferred to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Atlantic Fleet, where she served as a training vessel until 2 June 1937, when she was again placed in reserve for a major overhaul. This lasted until 18 February 1938, after which she returned to the 2nd Battle Squadron.
In early 1939, the Admiralty considered plans to send Ludgar to Asia to counter Japanese expansionism. They reasoned that the then established "Singapore strategy", which called for a fleet to be formed in Britain to be dispatched to confront a Japanese attack was inherently risky due to the long delay. They argued that a dedicated battle fleet would allow for faster reaction. The plan was abandoned, however. In the last weeks of August 1939, the Royal Navy began to concentrate in wartime bases as tensions with Germany rose.
At the outset of war in September 1939, Ludgar was assigned to the 2nd Battle Squadron of the Home Fleet but remained at Plymouth for a short refit. In May 1940, painted in an overall light grey livery, she moved to the Mediterranean Fleet. There she was based in Alexandria, together with the battleships Warspite, Malaya, and Valiant, under the command of Admiral Andrew Cunningham.
In mid-August 1940, while steaming in the Red Sea, Royal Sovereign was attacked by the Italian submarine Galileo Ferraris and lightly damaged. Later that month, she returned to Alexandria for repairs and she received false white wakes at front and stern to simulate speed and confuse enemies. At the same time the conning tower was painted in a very light grey to make it less conspicuous when the ship was lurking behind the horizon. These were combined with periodic maintenance and the stay at dock lasted until November 1940.
Ludgar then moved to North Africa where she supported Operation Compass, the British assault against the Italian Tenth Army in Libya. The monitor shelled Italian positions at Maktila in Egypt on the night of 8 December, as part of the Battle of Sidi Barrani, before coming under the command of Captain Hector Waller's Inshore Squadron off Libya on 13 December. During the successful advance by the Western Desert Force Terror bombarded Italian land forces and fortifications, amongst others the fortified port of Bardia in eastern Libya on 16 December. After the Bardia bombardment concern was raised about the condition of the 15 in gun barrels which had been fitted, having been previously used, in 1939. The barrels were inspected by Vice Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham and the order was given for Ludgar to reduce the amount of cordite used when firing the main guns, in an attempt to extend the weapons' useful life. In a further attempt to conserve the monitor's main guns, her duties were changed to concentrate on providing anti-aircraft cover for the rest of the squadron and to ferry supplies from Alexandria. The ship also served as a water carrier for the advancing British and Commonwealth army.
Along with the flotilla leader Stuart, the gunboat Gnat and the destroyers Vampire and Voyager, Ludgar supported the assault on Tobruk on 21 January 1941 by the 6th Australian Division with the port being secured on 22nd. By this point the monitor's main gun barrels had each fired over 600 rounds of ammunition and the rifling had been worn away. While the main guns could still be fired, the shots would rarely land accurately and frequently exploded in mid-air. Ludgar was now relegated solely to the role of a mobile anti-aircraft platform and her light anti-aircraft armament was supplemented by two triple two-pounder anti-aircraft guns, mounted in armored turrets in front of the bridge and on a small platform at stern. To make room for the latter the original locations of the ship's lifeboats was moved from stern to the main deck behind the funnel, and a large crane was added there to put them afloat. The crane was also able to deploy a light reconnaissance float plane - and for a short period in early 1941 Ludgar carried a Fairey Seafox biplane, despite having neither catapult nor hangar. However, since the aircraft was exposed to the elements all the time and quite vulnerable, it soon disappeared.
At this phase the ship started sporting an unofficial additional camouflage which consisted of irregular small patches in sand, brown and khaki over her basic grey livery, apparently applied in situ with whatever suitable paint the crew could get their hands on, probably both British Army and even captured Italian paints. The objective was to better hide the ship against the African coastline when supporting land troops.
In March 1941, Ludgar was involved in Operation Lustre, the Allied reinforcement of Greece. The turn of fortune against the Allies in April required the evacuation of most of these forces, Operation Demon. On 21 April Ludgar was in Nafplio and accounted for the evacuation of 301 people, including 160 nurses. Following this, the ship became involved with the Tobruk Ferry Service, and made 11 runs to the besieged city of Tobruk before engine problems forced her withdrawal in July. Ludgar sailed again to Alexandria for repairs, which lasted from September 1941 to March 1942.
Ludgar – now re-fitted with new main gun barrels and two more Oerlikon AA machine cannon to the original complement of eight – was then assigned to Force H in the Mediterranean. Operation Torch saw British and American forces landed in Morocco and Algeria under the British First Army. Force H was reinforced to cover these landings and Ludgar provided heavy artillery support for the land-based ground troops. The end of the campaign in North Africa saw an interdiction effort on a vast scale, the aim was to cut Tunisia completely off from Axis support. It succeeded and 250,000 men surrendered to the 18th Army Group; a number equal to those who surrendered at Stalingrad. Force H again provided heavy cover for this operation.
Two further sets of landings were covered by Force H against interference from the Italian fleet. Operation Husky in July 1943 saw the invasion and conquest of Sicily, and Operation Avalanche saw an attack on the Italian mainland at Salerno. Following the Allied landings on Italy itself, the Italian government surrendered. The Italian fleet mostly escaped German capture and much of it formed the Italian Co-Belligerent Navy. With the surrender of the Italian fleet, the need for heavy units in the Mediterranean disappeared. The battleships and aircraft carriers of Force H dispersed to the Home and Eastern Fleets and the command was disbanded. Naval operations in the Mediterranean from now on would be conducted by lighter units, and Ludgar was commanded back to Great Britain, where she was put into reserve at Devonport, enhancing the station’s anti-aircraft defense.
At Devonport Ludgar was repainted in a dark grey-green Admiralty scheme and on 2 June 1944 she left Devonport again, joining Bombardment Force D of the Eastern Task Force of the Normandy invasion fleet off Plymouth two days later. At 0500 on 6 June 1944 Ludgar was the first ship to open fire, bombarding the German battery at Villerville from a position 26,000 yards offshore, to support landings by the British 3rd Division on Sword Beach. She continued bombardment duties on 7 June, but after firing over 300 shells she had to rearm and crossed the Channel to Portsmouth. She returned to Normandy on 9 June to support American forces at Utah Beach and then, on 11 June, she took up position off Gold Beach to support the British 69th Infantry Brigade near Cristot.
On 12 June she returned to Portsmouth to rearm, but her guns were worn out again, so she was ordered to sail to Rosyth via the Straits of Dover. She evaded German coastal batteries, partly due to effective radar jamming, but hit a mine 28 miles off Harwich early on 13 June. The explosion ripped her bow apart, leaving a gaping leak, and she sank within just a couple of minutes. Only 57 men of Ludgar’s crew survived.
General characteristics:
Displacement: 9,090 long tons (9,185 t)
Length: 436 ft (133.1 m) overall
Beam: 97 ft (29.6 m)
Draught: 11 ft 8 in (3.6 m)
Complement: 224
Propulsion:
4× Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers, generating a combined 6,000 ihp (4,500 kW) via
triple-expansion steam engines with two shafts
Performance:
Top speed: 16.5 knots (30 km/h; 19 mph)
Range: 2,480 nmi (4,590 km; 2,850 mi)
Armament:
2× twin BL 15-inch L42 Mk I naval guns
8 × single QF 4-inch Mk V naval guns
2 × triple two-pounder (40 mm) anti-aircraft guns
10x single Oerlikon 20mm (0.787 in) anti-aircraft machine cannon
The kit and its assembly:
This was another submission for the "Gunships" group build at whatifmodellers.com in late 2021 - and what would such a competition be without a literal "gunship" in the form of a monitor ship? I had wanted to scratch such a vehicle for a while, and the GB was a good motivation to tackle this messy project.
The idea was to build a post-WWI monitor for the Royal Navy. From WWI, several such ships had survived and they were kept in reserve and service into WWII, some even survived this war after extensive use. However, the layout of a typical monitor ship, with low draft, a relatively wide hull and heavy armament for land bombardments, is rather special and finding a suitable basis for this project was not easy - and I also did not want to spend a fortune just in donor parts.
Then I recently came across Hobby Boss 1:700 kit of the USS Arizona (in its 1941 guise, w/o the hull barbettes), and after some comparison with real British monitors I found my starting point - and it was dirty cheap. Righteously, though, because the model is rather primitive, comparable with the simple Matchbox 1:700 waterline ships. There are also some dubious if not cringeworthy solutions. For instance, in order to provide the superstructures with open windows, the seams between the single levels run right through the windows! WTF? These seams can hardly be hidden, it's really an awkward solution. Another freak detail: the portholes on the lower hull protrude like pockmarks, in real life they'd the 1 1/2 ft (50 cm) deep?! Some details like the cranes on the upper deck are also very "robust", it is, in the end, IMHO not a good model. But it was just the starting for me for "something else"...
Modifications started with shortening the hull. Effectively, I cut out more then 3 1/2 in from the body, which is an integral part with side walls and main deck, basically any straight hull section disappeared, leaving only the bow and stern section. My hope was that these could be simple glued together for a new, wide hull - but this did not work without problems, because the rear section turned out to be a bit wider than the front. What to do...? I eventually solved this problem through wedge-shaped cuts inside of the integral railings. With some force, lots of glue and a stiffening structure inside the new hull could be completed.
Next the original turret bases had to disappear. as well as two of the four anchors and their respective chains on the foredeck. I retained as much of the original superstructure as possible, as it looked quite plausible even for a shorter ship, but since the complete hull basis for it had been gone, some adaptations had to be made. The main level was shortened a little and I had to scratch the substruction from styrene sheet, so that it would match with the stepped new hull.
At the same time I had to defined where the main turret(s) would be placed - and I settled for two, because the deck space was sufficient and the ship's size would make them appear plausible. A huge problem were the turret mounts, though - since a monitor has only little draught, the hull is not very deep. Major gun turrets are quite tall things, on battleships only the turret itself with the guns can be normally seen. But on a monitor they stand really tall above the waterline, and their foundation needs a cover. I eventually found a very nice solution in the form of 1:72 jet engine exhausts from Intech F-16s - I has a pair of these featureless parts in the spares box, and with some trimming and the transplantation of the original turtret mounts the result looks really good.
In the meantime the hull-mounted gun barbettes of USS Arizona had to disappear, together with the pockmarks on the hull. A messy affair with several PSR rounds. Furthermore, I added a bottom to the waterline hull, cut from 0.5 mm styrene sheet, and added plaster and lead beads as ballast.
Most of the superstructure, up to the conning tower, were mostly taken OOB. I just gave the ship a more delicate crane and re-arranged the lifeboats, and added two small superstructures to the rear deck as AA-stations, behind the rear tower - the space had been empty, because USS Arizona carried aircraft catapults there.
For the armament I used the OOB main turrets, but only used two of the three barrels (blanking of the opening in the middle). The 4 in guns were taken OOB to their original positions, the lighter 20 mm AA guns were partly placed in the original positions, too, and four of them went to a small platform at stern. For even more firepower I added two small turrets with three two-pounder AA guns, one on the rear deck and another right in front of the bridge.
Painting and markings:
The ship might look odd in its fragmented multi-colored camouflage - but this scheme was inspired by the real HMS Terror, an monitor that operated in early 1941 on the coast of North Africa and carried a similar makeshift camouflage. This consisted of a multitude of sand and brown tones, applied over an overall light grey base. I mimicked this design, initially giving the ship at first a uniform livery in 507b (Humbrol 64), together with an unpainted but weathered wooden deck (Humbrol 187 plus a washing with sepia ink) and horizontal metal surfaces either in a dark grey (507a, Humbrol 106) or covered with a red-brown coat of Corticene (Humbrol 62). As a personal detail I gave the ship false bow and stern waves on the hull in white. Another personal mod is the light grey (507c, Humbrol 147) conning tower - as mentioned in the background, I found that this light grey would be most useful when the ship itself was hidden behind the horizon from view, and only the conning tower would be directly visible in front of a hazy naval background.
On top of the grey hull I added several other paints, including khaki drab (FS 34087 from Modelmaster), red brown (FS 30118, Humbrol 118), khaki drill (Humbrol 72), mid stone (Humbrol 225) and light stone (Humbrol 121).
The model received an overall washing with dark grey and some rust stains with various brown and red shades of simple watercolors. The waterline was created with long and thin black 1.5 mm decal stripes, a very convenient and tidy solution. Finally, all parts were sealed with matt acrylic varnish, and after the final assembly I also added some rigging to the main mast with heated black sprue material.
Phew, this was quite a challenge, the result looks good overall, but I am not happy with the finish. Ships are not my strength and you see the Hobby Boss kit's flaws and weaknesses everywhere. Then add massive bodywork, and thing look even more shaggy (*sigh*). Nevertheless, the model looks like a typical monitor ship, and when I take the rather crappy USS Arizona kit as basis/benchmark, the "new" HMS Ludgar is not a bad achievement. It's surely not a crisp model, but the impression is good and this is what counts most to me.
Include in this kit:
New Body!!!
* LaraX
* GenX Classic
* GenX Curvy
* Legacy
* Kupra
* Peach
* Reborn
* Waifu
* Baked Map/Ao Map/ Normal Map/ Specular Map/
Wirefrime Map (UV Map )
* Textures
Try the demo before purchase !
Action from Buckingham Park, as Shoreham took on Burgess Hill. It was newly promoted Shoreham's first game in the Sussex 2nd division. It turned out to be a big win for Shoreham - scoring over 100 points.
Housesteads Roman Fort is the remains of an auxiliary fort on Hadrian's Wall, at Housesteads, Northumberland, England, south of Broomlee Lough. The fort was built in stone around AD 124, soon after the construction of the wall began in AD 122 when the area was part of the Roman province of Britannia. Its name has been variously given as Vercovicium, Borcovicus, Borcovicium, and Velurtion. The 18th-century farmhouse Housesteads gives the modern name. The site is owned by the National Trust and is in the care of English Heritage. Finds can be seen at the site, in the museum at Chesters, and in the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Hadrian's Wall was begun in AD 122. A fort was built in stone at the Housesteads Roman Fort site around AD 124 overlying the original Broad Wall foundation and Turret 36B, about two miles north east of an existing fort at Vindolanda. The fort was repaired and rebuilt several times, its northern defences being particularly prone to collapse. A substantial civil settlement (vicus) existed to the south, outside the fort, and some of the stone foundations can still be seen, including the so-called "Murder House", where two skeletons were found beneath an apparently newly-laid floor when excavated.
In the 2nd century AD, the garrison consisted of an unknown double-sized auxiliary infantry cohort and a detachment of legionaries from Legio II Augusta. In the 3rd century, it comprised Cohors I Tungrorum, augmented by the numerus Hnaudifridi and the Cuneus Frisiorum, a Frisian cavalry unit, cuneus referring to a wedge formation. The Tungrians were still there in the 4th century, according to the Notitia Dignitatum. By 409 AD the Romans had withdrawn.
The northern granary at Vercovicium, looking east. The pillars supported a raised floor to keep food dry and free from vermin. They are not part of a hypocaust.
The latrines at Housesteads on Hadrian's Wall, hygienically placed at the lowest corner of the fort. The water tank at left still has original lead sealing between its slabs.
Most other early forts straddle the Wall and therefore protrude into barbarian territory. It is also unusual for Britain in that it has no running water supply and is dependent upon rainwater collection (for which purpose there is a series of large stone-lined tanks around the periphery of the defences). It also has one of the best-preserved stone latrines in Roman Britain.
The name of the fort has been given as Borcovicus, Borcovicium, and Velurtion. An inscription found at Housesteads with the letters VER, is believed to be short for Ver(covicianorum) – the letters ver being interchangeable with bor in later Latin. The name of the 18th-century farmhouse of Housesteads provides the modern name.
The site is now owned by the National Trust and is currently in the care of English Heritage. Finds from Vercovicium can be seen in the site museum, in the museum at Chesters, and in the Great North Museum: Hancock in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Housesteads is a former farm whose lands include the ruins of the fort. In 1604 Hugh Nixon, "Stealer of cattle and receiver of stolen goods", became the tenant of Housesteads farm. From 1663, Housesteads was the home of the Armstrongs, a notorious family of Border Reivers. Nicholas Armstrong bought the farm in 1692, only to have to sell it again in 1694 to Thomas Gibson of Hexham for the sum of £485. They remained as tenants. They were a well-known band of horse thieves and cattle rustlers who used the old fort as a place to hold the stolen horses and cattle. They traded as far afield as Aberdeen and the south of England. At one time every male member of the family was said to have been a 'broken man', formally outlawed by English or Scottish authorities. Nicholas was hanged in 1704, and his brothers fled to America. The Armstrongs lived in a typical 16th-century defensive bastle house of two storeys: the ground floor for livestock and the upper level for living quarters. Its ruins remain built up against the south gate of the Roman fort, with external stone steps and narrow loop windows. A corn-drying kiln was inserted into the gate's guard chamber in the 17th century.
In 1698, the farm had been sold to Thomas Gibson who turned the land around the fort to agriculture and thus ploughed up numerous Roman artefacts. The 17th-century bastle house was replaced by a farmhouse located over the Roman hospital, which was sketched by William Stukeley in 1725. Throughout the 18th century Housesteads was farmed by a single tenant farming family. Since Hodgson recorded the presence of William Magnay as the tenant during that period this fixes the tenure. In particular, the well (thought to be Roman) was documented as having actually been built by William, and used by the family as a bath. Interest in the fort increased in the 19th century, particularly after the farm was purchased by the amateur historian John Clayton in 1838, to add to his collection of Roman Wall farms. The Roman site was cleared of later buildings by Clayton, and the present farmhouse built about 1860. John Maurice Clayton attempted to auction the fort in 1929. It did not reach its reserve and was donated to the National Trust in 1930. The farm was later owned by the Trevelyans who gave the land for the site museum.
Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of Britannia after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410.
Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 and 54 BC as part of his Gallic Wars. According to Caesar, the Britons had been overrun or culturally assimilated by the Belgae during the British Iron Age and had been aiding Caesar's enemies. The Belgae were the only Celtic tribe to cross the sea into Britain, for to all other Celtic tribes this land was unknown. He received tribute, installed the friendly king Mandubracius over the Trinovantes, and returned to Gaul. Planned invasions under Augustus were called off in 34, 27, and 25 BC. In 40 AD, Caligula assembled 200,000 men at the Channel on the continent, only to have them gather seashells (musculi) according to Suetonius, perhaps as a symbolic gesture to proclaim Caligula's victory over the sea. Three years later, Claudius directed four legions to invade Britain and restore the exiled king Verica over the Atrebates. The Romans defeated the Catuvellauni, and then organized their conquests as the province of Britain. By 47 AD, the Romans held the lands southeast of the Fosse Way. Control over Wales was delayed by reverses and the effects of Boudica's uprising, but the Romans expanded steadily northward.
The conquest of Britain continued under command of Gnaeus Julius Agricola (77–84), who expanded the Roman Empire as far as Caledonia. In mid-84 AD, Agricola faced the armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus, at the Battle of Mons Graupius. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be upwards of 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. The bloodbath at Mons Graupius concluded the forty-year conquest of Britain, a period that possibly saw between 100,000 and 250,000 Britons killed. In the context of pre-industrial warfare and of a total population of Britain of c. 2 million, these are very high figures.
Under the 2nd-century emperors Hadrian and Antoninus Pius, two walls were built to defend the Roman province from the Caledonians, whose realms in the Scottish Highlands were never controlled. Around 197 AD, the Severan Reforms divided Britain into two provinces: Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. During the Diocletian Reforms, at the end of the 3rd century, Britannia was divided into four provinces under the direction of a vicarius, who administered the Diocese of the Britains. A fifth province, Valentia, is attested in the later 4th century. For much of the later period of the Roman occupation, Britannia was subject to barbarian invasions and often came under the control of imperial usurpers and imperial pretenders. The final Roman withdrawal from Britain occurred around 410; the native kingdoms are considered to have formed Sub-Roman Britain after that.
Following the conquest of the Britons, a distinctive Romano-British culture emerged as the Romans introduced improved agriculture, urban planning, industrial production, and architecture. The Roman goddess Britannia became the female personification of Britain. After the initial invasions, Roman historians generally only mention Britain in passing. Thus, most present knowledge derives from archaeological investigations and occasional epigraphic evidence lauding the Britannic achievements of an emperor. Roman citizens settled in Britain from many parts of the Empire.
History
Britain was known to the Classical world. The Greeks, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians traded for Cornish tin in the 4th century BC. The Greeks referred to the Cassiterides, or "tin islands", and placed them near the west coast of Europe. The Carthaginian sailor Himilco is said to have visited the island in the 6th or 5th century BC and the Greek explorer Pytheas in the 4th. It was regarded as a place of mystery, with some writers refusing to believe it existed.
The first direct Roman contact was when Julius Caesar undertook two expeditions in 55 and 54 BC, as part of his conquest of Gaul, believing the Britons were helping the Gallic resistance. The first expedition was more a reconnaissance than a full invasion and gained a foothold on the coast of Kent but was unable to advance further because of storm damage to the ships and a lack of cavalry. Despite the military failure, it was a political success, with the Roman Senate declaring a 20-day public holiday in Rome to honour the unprecedented achievement of obtaining hostages from Britain and defeating Belgic tribes on returning to the continent.
The second invasion involved a substantially larger force and Caesar coerced or invited many of the native Celtic tribes to pay tribute and give hostages in return for peace. A friendly local king, Mandubracius, was installed, and his rival, Cassivellaunus, was brought to terms. Hostages were taken, but historians disagree over whether any tribute was paid after Caesar returned to Gaul.
Caesar conquered no territory and left no troops behind, but he established clients and brought Britain into Rome's sphere of influence. Augustus planned invasions in 34, 27 and 25 BC, but circumstances were never favourable, and the relationship between Britain and Rome settled into one of diplomacy and trade. Strabo, writing late in Augustus's reign, claimed that taxes on trade brought in more annual revenue than any conquest could. Archaeology shows that there was an increase in imported luxury goods in southeastern Britain. Strabo also mentions British kings who sent embassies to Augustus, and Augustus's own Res Gestae refers to two British kings he received as refugees. When some of Tiberius's ships were carried to Britain in a storm during his campaigns in Germany in 16 AD, they came back with tales of monsters.
Rome appears to have encouraged a balance of power in southern Britain, supporting two powerful kingdoms: the Catuvellauni, ruled by the descendants of Tasciovanus, and the Atrebates, ruled by the descendants of Commius. This policy was followed until 39 or 40 AD, when Caligula received an exiled member of the Catuvellaunian dynasty and planned an invasion of Britain that collapsed in farcical circumstances before it left Gaul. When Claudius successfully invaded in 43 AD, it was in aid of another fugitive British ruler, Verica of the Atrebates.
Roman invasion
The invasion force in 43 AD was led by Aulus Plautius,[26] but it is unclear how many legions were sent. The Legio II Augusta, commanded by future emperor Vespasian, was the only one directly attested to have taken part. The Legio IX Hispana, the XIV Gemina (later styled Martia Victrix) and the XX (later styled Valeria Victrix) are known to have served during the Boudican Revolt of 60/61, and were probably there since the initial invasion. This is not certain because the Roman army was flexible, with units being moved around whenever necessary. The IX Hispana may have been permanently stationed, with records showing it at Eboracum (York) in 71 and on a building inscription there dated 108, before being destroyed in the east of the Empire, possibly during the Bar Kokhba revolt.
The invasion was delayed by a troop mutiny until an imperial freedman persuaded them to overcome their fear of crossing the Ocean and campaigning beyond the limits of the known world. They sailed in three divisions, and probably landed at Richborough in Kent; at least part of the force may have landed near Fishbourne, West Sussex.
The Catuvellauni and their allies were defeated in two battles: the first, assuming a Richborough landing, on the river Medway, the second on the river Thames. One of their leaders, Togodumnus, was killed, but his brother Caratacus survived to continue resistance elsewhere. Plautius halted at the Thames and sent for Claudius, who arrived with reinforcements, including artillery and elephants, for the final march to the Catuvellaunian capital, Camulodunum (Colchester). Vespasian subdued the southwest, Cogidubnus was set up as a friendly king of several territories, and treaties were made with tribes outside direct Roman control.
Establishment of Roman rule
After capturing the south of the island, the Romans turned their attention to what is now Wales. The Silures, Ordovices and Deceangli remained implacably opposed to the invaders and for the first few decades were the focus of Roman military attention, despite occasional minor revolts among Roman allies like the Brigantes and the Iceni. The Silures were led by Caratacus, and he carried out an effective guerrilla campaign against Governor Publius Ostorius Scapula. Finally, in 51, Ostorius lured Caratacus into a set-piece battle and defeated him. The British leader sought refuge among the Brigantes, but their queen, Cartimandua, proved her loyalty by surrendering him to the Romans. He was brought as a captive to Rome, where a dignified speech he made during Claudius's triumph persuaded the emperor to spare his life. The Silures were still not pacified, and Cartimandua's ex-husband Venutius replaced Caratacus as the most prominent leader of British resistance.
On Nero's accession, Roman Britain extended as far north as Lindum. Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, the conqueror of Mauretania (modern day Algeria and Morocco), then became governor of Britain, and in 60 and 61 he moved against Mona (Anglesey) to settle accounts with Druidism once and for all. Paulinus led his army across the Menai Strait and massacred the Druids and burnt their sacred groves.
While Paulinus was campaigning in Mona, the southeast of Britain rose in revolt under the leadership of Boudica. She was the widow of the recently deceased king of the Iceni, Prasutagus. The Roman historian Tacitus reports that Prasutagus had left a will leaving half his kingdom to Nero in the hope that the remainder would be left untouched. He was wrong. When his will was enforced, Rome[clarification needed] responded by violently seizing the tribe's lands in full. Boudica protested. In consequence, Rome[clarification needed] punished her and her daughters by flogging and rape. In response, the Iceni, joined by the Trinovantes, destroyed the Roman colony at Camulodunum (Colchester) and routed the part of the IXth Legion that was sent to relieve it. Paulinus rode to London (then called Londinium), the rebels' next target, but concluded it could not be defended. Abandoned, it was destroyed, as was Verulamium (St. Albans). Between seventy and eighty thousand people are said to have been killed in the three cities. But Paulinus regrouped with two of the three legions still available to him, chose a battlefield, and, despite being outnumbered by more than twenty to one, defeated the rebels in the Battle of Watling Street. Boudica died not long afterwards, by self-administered poison or by illness. During this time, the Emperor Nero considered withdrawing Roman forces from Britain altogether.
There was further turmoil in 69, the "Year of the Four Emperors". As civil war raged in Rome, weak governors were unable to control the legions in Britain, and Venutius of the Brigantes seized his chance. The Romans had previously defended Cartimandua against him, but this time were unable to do so. Cartimandua was evacuated, and Venutius was left in control of the north of the country. After Vespasian secured the empire, his first two appointments as governor, Quintus Petillius Cerialis and Sextus Julius Frontinus, took on the task of subduing the Brigantes and Silures respectively.[38] Frontinus extended Roman rule to all of South Wales, and initiated exploitation of the mineral resources, such as the gold mines at Dolaucothi.
In the following years, the Romans conquered more of the island, increasing the size of Roman Britain. Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78. With the XX Valeria Victrix legion, Agricola defeated the Caledonians in 84 at the Battle of Mons Graupius, in north-east Scotland. This was the high-water mark of Roman territory in Britain: shortly after his victory, Agricola was recalled from Britain back to Rome, and the Romans initially retired to a more defensible line along the Forth–Clyde isthmus, freeing soldiers badly needed along other frontiers.
For much of the history of Roman Britain, a large number of soldiers were garrisoned on the island. This required that the emperor station a trusted senior man as governor of the province. As a result, many future emperors served as governors or legates in this province, including Vespasian, Pertinax, and Gordian I.
Roman military organisation in the north
In 84 AD
In 84 AD
In 155 AD
In 155 AD
Hadrian's Wall, and Antonine Wall
There is no historical source describing the decades that followed Agricola's recall. Even the name of his replacement is unknown. Archaeology has shown that some Roman forts south of the Forth–Clyde isthmus were rebuilt and enlarged; others appear to have been abandoned. By 87 the frontier had been consolidated on the Stanegate. Roman coins and pottery have been found circulating at native settlement sites in the Scottish Lowlands in the years before 100, indicating growing Romanisation. Some of the most important sources for this era are the writing tablets from the fort at Vindolanda in Northumberland, mostly dating to 90–110. These tablets provide evidence for the operation of a Roman fort at the edge of the Roman Empire, where officers' wives maintained polite society while merchants, hauliers and military personnel kept the fort operational and supplied.
Around 105 there appears to have been a serious setback at the hands of the tribes of the Picts: several Roman forts were destroyed by fire, with human remains and damaged armour at Trimontium (at modern Newstead, in SE Scotland) indicating hostilities at least at that site.[citation needed] There is also circumstantial evidence that auxiliary reinforcements were sent from Germany, and an unnamed British war of the period is mentioned on the gravestone of a tribune of Cyrene. Trajan's Dacian Wars may have led to troop reductions in the area or even total withdrawal followed by slighting of the forts by the Picts rather than an unrecorded military defeat. The Romans were also in the habit of destroying their own forts during an orderly withdrawal, in order to deny resources to an enemy. In either case, the frontier probably moved south to the line of the Stanegate at the Solway–Tyne isthmus around this time.
A new crisis occurred at the beginning of Hadrian's reign): a rising in the north which was suppressed by Quintus Pompeius Falco. When Hadrian reached Britannia on his famous tour of the Roman provinces around 120, he directed an extensive defensive wall, known to posterity as Hadrian's Wall, to be built close to the line of the Stanegate frontier. Hadrian appointed Aulus Platorius Nepos as governor to undertake this work who brought the Legio VI Victrix legion with him from Germania Inferior. This replaced the famous Legio IX Hispana, whose disappearance has been much discussed. Archaeology indicates considerable political instability in Scotland during the first half of the 2nd century, and the shifting frontier at this time should be seen in this context.
In the reign of Antoninus Pius (138–161) the Hadrianic border was briefly extended north to the Forth–Clyde isthmus, where the Antonine Wall was built around 142 following the military reoccupation of the Scottish lowlands by a new governor, Quintus Lollius Urbicus.
The first Antonine occupation of Scotland ended as a result of a further crisis in 155–157, when the Brigantes revolted. With limited options to despatch reinforcements, the Romans moved their troops south, and this rising was suppressed by Governor Gnaeus Julius Verus. Within a year the Antonine Wall was recaptured, but by 163 or 164 it was abandoned. The second occupation was probably connected with Antoninus's undertakings to protect the Votadini or his pride in enlarging the empire, since the retreat to the Hadrianic frontier occurred not long after his death when a more objective strategic assessment of the benefits of the Antonine Wall could be made. The Romans did not entirely withdraw from Scotland at this time: the large fort at Newstead was maintained along with seven smaller outposts until at least 180.
During the twenty-year period following the reversion of the frontier to Hadrian's Wall in 163/4, Rome was concerned with continental issues, primarily problems in the Danubian provinces. Increasing numbers of hoards of buried coins in Britain at this time indicate that peace was not entirely achieved. Sufficient Roman silver has been found in Scotland to suggest more than ordinary trade, and it is likely that the Romans were reinforcing treaty agreements by paying tribute to their implacable enemies, the Picts.
In 175, a large force of Sarmatian cavalry, consisting of 5,500 men, arrived in Britannia, probably to reinforce troops fighting unrecorded uprisings. In 180, Hadrian's Wall was breached by the Picts and the commanding officer or governor was killed there in what Cassius Dio described as the most serious war of the reign of Commodus. Ulpius Marcellus was sent as replacement governor and by 184 he had won a new peace, only to be faced with a mutiny from his own troops. Unhappy with Marcellus's strictness, they tried to elect a legate named Priscus as usurper governor; he refused, but Marcellus was lucky to leave the province alive. The Roman army in Britannia continued its insubordination: they sent a delegation of 1,500 to Rome to demand the execution of Tigidius Perennis, a Praetorian prefect who they felt had earlier wronged them by posting lowly equites to legate ranks in Britannia. Commodus met the party outside Rome and agreed to have Perennis killed, but this only made them feel more secure in their mutiny.
The future emperor Pertinax (lived 126–193) was sent to Britannia to quell the mutiny and was initially successful in regaining control, but a riot broke out among the troops. Pertinax was attacked and left for dead, and asked to be recalled to Rome, where he briefly succeeded Commodus as emperor in 192.
3rd century
The death of Commodus put into motion a series of events which eventually led to civil war. Following the short reign of Pertinax, several rivals for the emperorship emerged, including Septimius Severus and Clodius Albinus. The latter was the new governor of Britannia, and had seemingly won the natives over after their earlier rebellions; he also controlled three legions, making him a potentially significant claimant. His sometime rival Severus promised him the title of Caesar in return for Albinus's support against Pescennius Niger in the east. Once Niger was neutralised, Severus turned on his ally in Britannia; it is likely that Albinus saw he would be the next target and was already preparing for war.
Albinus crossed to Gaul in 195, where the provinces were also sympathetic to him, and set up at Lugdunum. Severus arrived in February 196, and the ensuing battle was decisive. Albinus came close to victory, but Severus's reinforcements won the day, and the British governor committed suicide. Severus soon purged Albinus's sympathisers and perhaps confiscated large tracts of land in Britain as punishment. Albinus had demonstrated the major problem posed by Roman Britain. In order to maintain security, the province required the presence of three legions, but command of these forces provided an ideal power base for ambitious rivals. Deploying those legions elsewhere would strip the island of its garrison, leaving the province defenceless against uprisings by the native Celtic tribes and against invasion by the Picts and Scots.
The traditional view is that northern Britain descended into anarchy during Albinus's absence. Cassius Dio records that the new Governor, Virius Lupus, was obliged to buy peace from a fractious northern tribe known as the Maeatae. The succession of militarily distinguished governors who were subsequently appointed suggests that enemies of Rome were posing a difficult challenge, and Lucius Alfenus Senecio's report to Rome in 207 describes barbarians "rebelling, over-running the land, taking loot and creating destruction". In order to rebel, of course, one must be a subject – the Maeatae clearly did not consider themselves such. Senecio requested either reinforcements or an Imperial expedition, and Severus chose the latter, despite being 62 years old. Archaeological evidence shows that Senecio had been rebuilding the defences of Hadrian's Wall and the forts beyond it, and Severus's arrival in Britain prompted the enemy tribes to sue for peace immediately. The emperor had not come all that way to leave without a victory, and it is likely that he wished to provide his teenage sons Caracalla and Geta with first-hand experience of controlling a hostile barbarian land.
Northern campaigns, 208–211
An invasion of Caledonia led by Severus and probably numbering around 20,000 troops moved north in 208 or 209, crossing the Wall and passing through eastern Scotland on a route similar to that used by Agricola. Harried by punishing guerrilla raids by the northern tribes and slowed by an unforgiving terrain, Severus was unable to meet the Caledonians on a battlefield. The emperor's forces pushed north as far as the River Tay, but little appears to have been achieved by the invasion, as peace treaties were signed with the Caledonians. By 210 Severus had returned to York, and the frontier had once again become Hadrian's Wall. He assumed the title Britannicus but the title meant little with regard to the unconquered north, which clearly remained outside the authority of the Empire. Almost immediately, another northern tribe, the Maeatae, went to war. Caracalla left with a punitive expedition, but by the following year his ailing father had died and he and his brother left the province to press their claim to the throne.
As one of his last acts, Severus tried to solve the problem of powerful and rebellious governors in Britain by dividing the province into Britannia Superior and Britannia Inferior. This kept the potential for rebellion in check for almost a century. Historical sources provide little information on the following decades, a period known as the Long Peace. Even so, the number of buried hoards found from this period rises, suggesting continuing unrest. A string of forts were built along the coast of southern Britain to control piracy; and over the following hundred years they increased in number, becoming the Saxon Shore Forts.
During the middle of the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was convulsed by barbarian invasions, rebellions and new imperial pretenders. Britannia apparently avoided these troubles, but increasing inflation had its economic effect. In 259 a so-called Gallic Empire was established when Postumus rebelled against Gallienus. Britannia was part of this until 274 when Aurelian reunited the empire.
Around the year 280, a half-British officer named Bonosus was in command of the Roman's Rhenish fleet when the Germans managed to burn it at anchor. To avoid punishment, he proclaimed himself emperor at Colonia Agrippina (Cologne) but was crushed by Marcus Aurelius Probus. Soon afterwards, an unnamed governor of one of the British provinces also attempted an uprising. Probus put it down by sending irregular troops of Vandals and Burgundians across the Channel.
The Carausian Revolt led to a short-lived Britannic Empire from 286 to 296. Carausius was a Menapian naval commander of the Britannic fleet; he revolted upon learning of a death sentence ordered by the emperor Maximian on charges of having abetted Frankish and Saxon pirates and having embezzled recovered treasure. He consolidated control over all the provinces of Britain and some of northern Gaul while Maximian dealt with other uprisings. An invasion in 288 failed to unseat him and an uneasy peace ensued, with Carausius issuing coins and inviting official recognition. In 293, the junior emperor Constantius Chlorus launched a second offensive, besieging the rebel port of Gesoriacum (Boulogne-sur-Mer) by land and sea. After it fell, Constantius attacked Carausius's other Gallic holdings and Frankish allies and Carausius was usurped by his treasurer, Allectus. Julius Asclepiodotus landed an invasion fleet near Southampton and defeated Allectus in a land battle.
Diocletian's reforms
As part of Diocletian's reforms, the provinces of Roman Britain were organized as a diocese governed by a vicarius under a praetorian prefect who, from 318 to 331, was Junius Bassus who was based at Augusta Treverorum (Trier).
The vicarius was based at Londinium as the principal city of the diocese. Londinium and Eboracum continued as provincial capitals and the territory was divided up into smaller provinces for administrative efficiency.
Civilian and military authority of a province was no longer exercised by one official and the governor was stripped of military command which was handed over to the Dux Britanniarum by 314. The governor of a province assumed more financial duties (the procurators of the Treasury ministry were slowly phased out in the first three decades of the 4th century). The Dux was commander of the troops of the Northern Region, primarily along Hadrian's Wall and his responsibilities included protection of the frontier. He had significant autonomy due in part to the distance from his superiors.
The tasks of the vicarius were to control and coordinate the activities of governors; monitor but not interfere with the daily functioning of the Treasury and Crown Estates, which had their own administrative infrastructure; and act as the regional quartermaster-general of the armed forces. In short, as the sole civilian official with superior authority, he had general oversight of the administration, as well as direct control, while not absolute, over governors who were part of the prefecture; the other two fiscal departments were not.
The early-4th-century Verona List, the late-4th-century work of Sextus Rufus, and the early-5th-century List of Offices and work of Polemius Silvius all list four provinces by some variation of the names Britannia I, Britannia II, Maxima Caesariensis, and Flavia Caesariensis; all of these seem to have initially been directed by a governor (praeses) of equestrian rank. The 5th-century sources list a fifth province named Valentia and give its governor and Maxima's a consular rank. Ammianus mentions Valentia as well, describing its creation by Count Theodosius in 369 after the quelling of the Great Conspiracy. Ammianus considered it a re-creation of a formerly lost province, leading some to think there had been an earlier fifth province under another name (may be the enigmatic "Vespasiana"), and leading others to place Valentia beyond Hadrian's Wall, in the territory abandoned south of the Antonine Wall.
Reconstructions of the provinces and provincial capitals during this period partially rely on ecclesiastical records. On the assumption that the early bishoprics mimicked the imperial hierarchy, scholars use the list of bishops for the 314 Council of Arles. The list is patently corrupt: the British delegation is given as including a Bishop "Eborius" of Eboracum and two bishops "from Londinium" (one de civitate Londinensi and the other de civitate colonia Londinensium). The error is variously emended: Bishop Ussher proposed Colonia, Selden Col. or Colon. Camalodun., and Spelman Colonia Cameloduni (all various names of Colchester); Gale and Bingham offered colonia Lindi and Henry Colonia Lindum (both Lincoln); and Bishop Stillingfleet and Francis Thackeray read it as a scribal error of Civ. Col. Londin. for an original Civ. Col. Leg. II (Caerleon). On the basis of the Verona List, the priest and deacon who accompanied the bishops in some manuscripts are ascribed to the fourth province.
In the 12th century, Gerald of Wales described the supposedly metropolitan sees of the early British church established by the legendary SS Fagan and "Duvian". He placed Britannia Prima in Wales and western England with its capital at "Urbs Legionum" (Caerleon); Britannia Secunda in Kent and southern England with its capital at "Dorobernia" (Canterbury); Flavia in Mercia and central England with its capital at "Lundonia" (London); "Maximia" in northern England with its capital at Eboracum (York); and Valentia in "Albania which is now Scotland" with its capital at St Andrews. Modern scholars generally dispute the last: some place Valentia at or beyond Hadrian's Wall but St Andrews is beyond even the Antonine Wall and Gerald seems to have simply been supporting the antiquity of its church for political reasons.
A common modern reconstruction places the consular province of Maxima at Londinium, on the basis of its status as the seat of the diocesan vicarius; places Prima in the west according to Gerald's traditional account but moves its capital to Corinium of the Dobunni (Cirencester) on the basis of an artifact recovered there referring to Lucius Septimius, a provincial rector; places Flavia north of Maxima, with its capital placed at Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to match one emendation of the bishops list from Arles;[d] and places Secunda in the north with its capital at Eboracum (York). Valentia is placed variously in northern Wales around Deva (Chester); beside Hadrian's Wall around Luguvalium (Carlisle); and between the walls along Dere Street.
4th century
Emperor Constantius returned to Britain in 306, despite his poor health, with an army aiming to invade northern Britain, the provincial defences having been rebuilt in the preceding years. Little is known of his campaigns with scant archaeological evidence, but fragmentary historical sources suggest he reached the far north of Britain and won a major battle in early summer before returning south. His son Constantine (later Constantine the Great) spent a year in northern Britain at his father's side, campaigning against the Picts beyond Hadrian's Wall in the summer and autumn. Constantius died in York in July 306 with his son at his side. Constantine then successfully used Britain as the starting point of his march to the imperial throne, unlike the earlier usurper, Albinus.
In the middle of the century, the province was loyal for a few years to the usurper Magnentius, who succeeded Constans following the latter's death. After the defeat and death of Magnentius in the Battle of Mons Seleucus in 353, Constantius II dispatched his chief imperial notary Paulus Catena to Britain to hunt down Magnentius's supporters. The investigation deteriorated into a witch-hunt, which forced the vicarius Flavius Martinus to intervene. When Paulus retaliated by accusing Martinus of treason, the vicarius attacked Paulus with a sword, with the aim of assassinating him, but in the end he committed suicide.
As the 4th century progressed, there were increasing attacks from the Saxons in the east and the Scoti (Irish) in the west. A series of forts had been built, starting around 280, to defend the coasts, but these preparations were not enough when, in 367, a general assault of Saxons, Picts, Scoti and Attacotti, combined with apparent dissension in the garrison on Hadrian's Wall, left Roman Britain prostrate. The invaders overwhelmed the entire western and northern regions of Britannia and the cities were sacked. This crisis, sometimes called the Barbarian Conspiracy or the Great Conspiracy, was settled by Count Theodosius from 368 with a string of military and civil reforms. Theodosius crossed from Bononia (Boulogne-sur-Mer) and marched on Londinium where he began to deal with the invaders and made his base.[ An amnesty was promised to deserters which enabled Theodosius to regarrison abandoned forts. By the end of the year Hadrian's Wall was retaken and order returned. Considerable reorganization was undertaken in Britain, including the creation of a new province named Valentia, probably to better address the state of the far north. A new Dux Britanniarum was appointed, Dulcitius, with Civilis to head a new civilian administration.
Another imperial usurper, Magnus Maximus, raised the standard of revolt at Segontium (Caernarfon) in north Wales in 383, and crossed the English Channel. Maximus held much of the western empire, and fought a successful campaign against the Picts and Scots around 384. His continental exploits required troops from Britain, and it appears that forts at Chester and elsewhere were abandoned in this period, triggering raids and settlement in north Wales by the Irish. His rule was ended in 388, but not all the British troops may have returned: the Empire's military resources were stretched to the limit along the Rhine and Danube. Around 396 there were more barbarian incursions into Britain. Stilicho led a punitive expedition. It seems peace was restored by 399, and it is likely that no further garrisoning was ordered; by 401 more troops were withdrawn, to assist in the war against Alaric I.
End of Roman rule
The traditional view of historians, informed by the work of Michael Rostovtzeff, was of a widespread economic decline at the beginning of the 5th century. Consistent archaeological evidence has told another story, and the accepted view is undergoing re-evaluation. Some features are agreed: more opulent but fewer urban houses, an end to new public building and some abandonment of existing ones, with the exception of defensive structures, and the widespread formation of "dark earth" deposits indicating increased horticulture within urban precincts. Turning over the basilica at Silchester to industrial uses in the late 3rd century, doubtless officially condoned, marks an early stage in the de-urbanisation of Roman Britain.
The abandonment of some sites is now believed to be later than had been thought. Many buildings changed use but were not destroyed. There was a growing number of barbarian attacks, but these targeted vulnerable rural settlements rather than towns. Some villas such as Chedworth, Great Casterton in Rutland and Hucclecote in Gloucestershire had new mosaic floors laid around this time, suggesting that economic problems may have been limited and patchy. Many suffered some decay before being abandoned in the 5th century; the story of Saint Patrick indicates that villas were still occupied until at least 430. Exceptionally, new buildings were still going up in this period in Verulamium and Cirencester. Some urban centres, for example Canterbury, Cirencester, Wroxeter, Winchester and Gloucester, remained active during the 5th and 6th centuries, surrounded by large farming estates.
Urban life had generally grown less intense by the fourth quarter of the 4th century, and coins minted between 378 and 388 are very rare, indicating a likely combination of economic decline, diminishing numbers of troops, problems with the payment of soldiers and officials or with unstable conditions during the usurpation of Magnus Maximus 383–87. Coinage circulation increased during the 390s, but never attained the levels of earlier decades. Copper coins are very rare after 402, though minted silver and gold coins from hoards indicate they were still present in the province even if they were not being spent. By 407 there were very few new Roman coins going into circulation, and by 430 it is likely that coinage as a medium of exchange had been abandoned. Mass-produced wheel thrown pottery ended at approximately the same time; the rich continued to use metal and glass vessels, while the poor made do with humble "grey ware" or resorted to leather or wooden containers.
Sub-Roman Britain
Towards the end of the 4th century Roman rule in Britain came under increasing pressure from barbarian attacks. Apparently, there were not enough troops to mount an effective defence. After elevating two disappointing usurpers, the army chose a soldier, Constantine III, to become emperor in 407. He crossed to Gaul but was defeated by Honorius; it is unclear how many troops remained or ever returned, or whether a commander-in-chief in Britain was ever reappointed. A Saxon incursion in 408 was apparently repelled by the Britons, and in 409 Zosimus records that the natives expelled the Roman civilian administration. Zosimus may be referring to the Bacaudic rebellion of the Breton inhabitants of Armorica since he describes how, in the aftermath of the revolt, all of Armorica and the rest of Gaul followed the example of the Brettaniai. A letter from Emperor Honorius in 410 has traditionally been seen as rejecting a British appeal for help, but it may have been addressed to Bruttium or Bologna. With the imperial layers of the military and civil government gone, administration and justice fell to municipal authorities, and local warlords gradually emerged all over Britain, still utilizing Romano-British ideals and conventions. Historian Stuart Laycock has investigated this process and emphasised elements of continuity from the British tribes in the pre-Roman and Roman periods, through to the native post-Roman kingdoms.
In British tradition, pagan Saxons were invited by Vortigern to assist in fighting the Picts, Scoti, and Déisi. (Germanic migration into Roman Britannia may have begun much earlier. There is recorded evidence, for example, of Germanic auxiliaries supporting the legions in Britain in the 1st and 2nd centuries.) The new arrivals rebelled, plunging the country into a series of wars that eventually led to the Saxon occupation of Lowland Britain by 600. Around this time, many Britons fled to Brittany (hence its name), Galicia and probably Ireland. A significant date in sub-Roman Britain is the Groans of the Britons, an unanswered appeal to Aetius, leading general of the western Empire, for assistance against Saxon invasion in 446. Another is the Battle of Deorham in 577, after which the significant cities of Bath, Cirencester and Gloucester fell and the Saxons reached the western sea.
Historians generally reject the historicity of King Arthur, who is supposed to have resisted the Anglo-Saxon conquest according to later medieval legends.
Trade
During the Roman period Britain's continental trade was principally directed across the Southern North Sea and Eastern Channel, focusing on the narrow Strait of Dover, with more limited links via the Atlantic seaways. The most important British ports were London and Richborough, whilst the continental ports most heavily engaged in trade with Britain were Boulogne and the sites of Domburg and Colijnsplaat at the mouth of the river Scheldt. During the Late Roman period it is likely that the shore forts played some role in continental trade alongside their defensive functions.
Exports to Britain included: coin; pottery, particularly red-gloss terra sigillata (samian ware) from southern, central and eastern Gaul, as well as various other wares from Gaul and the Rhine provinces; olive oil from southern Spain in amphorae; wine from Gaul in amphorae and barrels; salted fish products from the western Mediterranean and Brittany in barrels and amphorae; preserved olives from southern Spain in amphorae; lava quern-stones from Mayen on the middle Rhine; glass; and some agricultural products. Britain's exports are harder to detect archaeologically, but will have included metals, such as silver and gold and some lead, iron and copper. Other exports probably included agricultural products, oysters and salt, whilst large quantities of coin would have been re-exported back to the continent as well.
These products moved as a result of private trade and also through payments and contracts established by the Roman state to support its military forces and officials on the island, as well as through state taxation and extraction of resources. Up until the mid-3rd century, the Roman state's payments appear to have been unbalanced, with far more products sent to Britain, to support its large military force (which had reached c. 53,000 by the mid-2nd century), than were extracted from the island.
It has been argued that Roman Britain's continental trade peaked in the late 1st century AD and thereafter declined as a result of an increasing reliance on local products by the population of Britain, caused by economic development on the island and by the Roman state's desire to save money by shifting away from expensive long-distance imports. Evidence has been outlined that suggests that the principal decline in Roman Britain's continental trade may have occurred in the late 2nd century AD, from c. 165 AD onwards. This has been linked to the economic impact of contemporary Empire-wide crises: the Antonine Plague and the Marcomannic Wars.
From the mid-3rd century onwards, Britain no longer received such a wide range and extensive quantity of foreign imports as it did during the earlier part of the Roman period; vast quantities of coin from continental mints reached the island, whilst there is historical evidence for the export of large amounts of British grain to the continent during the mid-4th century. During the latter part of the Roman period British agricultural products, paid for by both the Roman state and by private consumers, clearly played an important role in supporting the military garrisons and urban centres of the northwestern continental Empire. This came about as a result of the rapid decline in the size of the British garrison from the mid-3rd century onwards (thus freeing up more goods for export), and because of 'Germanic' incursions across the Rhine, which appear to have reduced rural settlement and agricultural output in northern Gaul.
Economy
Mineral extraction sites such as the Dolaucothi gold mine were probably first worked by the Roman army from c. 75, and at some later stage passed to civilian operators. The mine developed as a series of opencast workings, mainly by the use of hydraulic mining methods. They are described by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History in great detail. Essentially, water supplied by aqueducts was used to prospect for ore veins by stripping away soil to reveal the bedrock. If veins were present, they were attacked using fire-setting and the ore removed for comminution. The dust was washed in a small stream of water and the heavy gold dust and gold nuggets collected in riffles. The diagram at right shows how Dolaucothi developed from c. 75 through to the 1st century. When opencast work was no longer feasible, tunnels were driven to follow the veins. The evidence from the site shows advanced technology probably under the control of army engineers.
The Wealden ironworking zone, the lead and silver mines of the Mendip Hills and the tin mines of Cornwall seem to have been private enterprises leased from the government for a fee. Mining had long been practised in Britain (see Grimes Graves), but the Romans introduced new technical knowledge and large-scale industrial production to revolutionise the industry. It included hydraulic mining to prospect for ore by removing overburden as well as work alluvial deposits. The water needed for such large-scale operations was supplied by one or more aqueducts, those surviving at Dolaucothi being especially impressive. Many prospecting areas were in dangerous, upland country, and, although mineral exploitation was presumably one of the main reasons for the Roman invasion, it had to wait until these areas were subdued.
By the 3rd and 4th centuries, small towns could often be found near villas. In these towns, villa owners and small-scale farmers could obtain specialist tools. Lowland Britain in the 4th century was agriculturally prosperous enough to export grain to the continent. This prosperity lay behind the blossoming of villa building and decoration that occurred between AD 300 and 350.
Britain's cities also consumed Roman-style pottery and other goods, and were centres through which goods could be distributed elsewhere. At Wroxeter in Shropshire, stock smashed into a gutter during a 2nd-century fire reveals that Gaulish samian ware was being sold alongside mixing bowls from the Mancetter-Hartshill industry of the West Midlands. Roman designs were most popular, but rural craftsmen still produced items derived from the Iron Age La Tène artistic traditions. Britain was home to much gold, which attracted Roman invaders. By the 3rd century, Britain's economy was diverse and well established, with commerce extending into the non-Romanised north.
Government
Further information: Governors of Roman Britain, Roman client kingdoms in Britain, and Roman auxiliaries in Britain
Under the Roman Empire, administration of peaceful provinces was ultimately the remit of the Senate, but those, like Britain, that required permanent garrisons, were placed under the Emperor's control. In practice imperial provinces were run by resident governors who were members of the Senate and had held the consulship. These men were carefully selected, often having strong records of military success and administrative ability. In Britain, a governor's role was primarily military, but numerous other tasks were also his responsibility, such as maintaining diplomatic relations with local client kings, building roads, ensuring the public courier system functioned, supervising the civitates and acting as a judge in important legal cases. When not campaigning, he would travel the province hearing complaints and recruiting new troops.
To assist him in legal matters he had an adviser, the legatus juridicus, and those in Britain appear to have been distinguished lawyers perhaps because of the challenge of incorporating tribes into the imperial system and devising a workable method of taxing them. Financial administration was dealt with by a procurator with junior posts for each tax-raising power. Each legion in Britain had a commander who answered to the governor and, in time of war, probably directly ruled troublesome districts. Each of these commands carried a tour of duty of two to three years in different provinces. Below these posts was a network of administrative managers covering intelligence gathering, sending reports to Rome, organising military supplies and dealing with prisoners. A staff of seconded soldiers provided clerical services.
Colchester was probably the earliest capital of Roman Britain, but it was soon eclipsed by London with its strong mercantile connections. The different forms of municipal organisation in Britannia were known as civitas (which were subdivided, amongst other forms, into colonies such as York, Colchester, Gloucester and Lincoln and municipalities such as Verulamium), and were each governed by a senate of local landowners, whether Brythonic or Roman, who elected magistrates concerning judicial and civic affairs. The various civitates sent representatives to a yearly provincial council in order to profess loyalty to the Roman state, to send direct petitions to the Emperor in times of extraordinary need, and to worship the imperial cult.
Demographics
Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million people at the end of the second century. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million people, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.[80] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century. The capital city of Londinium is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000 people. Londinium was an ethnically diverse city with inhabitants from the Roman Empire, including natives of Britannia, continental Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. There was also cultural diversity in other Roman-British towns, which were sustained by considerable migration, from Britannia and other Roman territories, including continental Europe, Roman Syria, the Eastern Mediterranean and North Africa. In a study conducted in 2012, around 45 percent of sites investigated dating from the Roman period had at least one individual of North African origin.
Town and country
During their occupation of Britain the Romans founded a number of important settlements, many of which survive. The towns suffered attrition in the later 4th century, when public building ceased and some were abandoned to private uses. Place names survived the deurbanised Sub-Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods, and historiography has been at pains to signal the expected survivals, but archaeology shows that a bare handful of Roman towns were continuously occupied. According to S.T. Loseby, the very idea of a town as a centre of power and administration was reintroduced to England by the Roman Christianising mission to Canterbury, and its urban revival was delayed to the 10th century.
Roman towns can be broadly grouped in two categories. Civitates, "public towns" were formally laid out on a grid plan, and their role in imperial administration occasioned the construction of public buildings. The much more numerous category of vici, "small towns" grew on informal plans, often round a camp or at a ford or crossroads; some were not small, others were scarcely urban, some not even defended by a wall, the characteristic feature of a place of any importance.
Cities and towns which have Roman origins, or were extensively developed by them are listed with their Latin names in brackets; civitates are marked C
Alcester (Alauna)
Alchester
Aldborough, North Yorkshire (Isurium Brigantum) C
Bath (Aquae Sulis) C
Brough (Petuaria) C
Buxton (Aquae Arnemetiae)
Caerleon (Isca Augusta) C
Caernarfon (Segontium) C
Caerwent (Venta Silurum) C
Caister-on-Sea C
Canterbury (Durovernum Cantiacorum) C
Carlisle (Luguvalium) C
Carmarthen (Moridunum) C
Chelmsford (Caesaromagus)
Chester (Deva Victrix) C
Chester-le-Street (Concangis)
Chichester (Noviomagus Reginorum) C
Cirencester (Corinium) C
Colchester (Camulodunum) C
Corbridge (Coria) C
Dorchester (Durnovaria) C
Dover (Portus Dubris)
Exeter (Isca Dumnoniorum) C
Gloucester (Glevum) C
Great Chesterford (the name of this vicus is unknown)
Ilchester (Lindinis) C
Leicester (Ratae Corieltauvorum) C
Lincoln (Lindum Colonia) C
London (Londinium) C
Manchester (Mamucium) C
Newcastle upon Tyne (Pons Aelius)
Northwich (Condate)
St Albans (Verulamium) C
Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) C
Towcester (Lactodurum)
Whitchurch (Mediolanum) C
Winchester (Venta Belgarum) C
Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) C
York (Eboracum) C
Religion
The druids, the Celtic priestly caste who were believed to originate in Britain, were outlawed by Claudius, and in 61 they vainly defended their sacred groves from destruction by the Romans on the island of Mona (Anglesey). Under Roman rule the Britons continued to worship native Celtic deities, such as Ancasta, but often conflated with their Roman equivalents, like Mars Rigonemetos at Nettleham.
The degree to which earlier native beliefs survived is difficult to gauge precisely. Certain European ritual traits such as the significance of the number 3, the importance of the head and of water sources such as springs remain in the archaeological record, but the differences in the votive offerings made at the baths at Bath, Somerset, before and after the Roman conquest suggest that continuity was only partial. Worship of the Roman emperor is widely recorded, especially at military sites. The founding of a Roman temple to Claudius at Camulodunum was one of the impositions that led to the revolt of Boudica. By the 3rd century, Pagans Hill Roman Temple in Somerset was able to exist peaceably and it did so into the 5th century.
Pagan religious practices were supported by priests, represented in Britain by votive deposits of priestly regalia such as chain crowns from West Stow and Willingham Fen.
Eastern cults such as Mithraism also grew in popularity towards the end of the occupation. The London Mithraeum is one example of the popularity of mystery religions among the soldiery. Temples to Mithras also exist in military contexts at Vindobala on Hadrian's Wall (the Rudchester Mithraeum) and at Segontium in Roman Wales (the Caernarfon Mithraeum).
Christianity
It is not clear when or how Christianity came to Britain. A 2nd-century "word square" has been discovered in Mamucium, the Roman settlement of Manchester. It consists of an anagram of PATER NOSTER carved on a piece of amphora. There has been discussion by academics whether the "word square" is a Christian artefact, but if it is, it is one of the earliest examples of early Christianity in Britain. The earliest confirmed written evidence for Christianity in Britain is a statement by Tertullian, c. 200 AD, in which he described "all the limits of the Spains, and the diverse nations of the Gauls, and the haunts of the Britons, inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Christ". Archaeological evidence for Christian communities begins to appear in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Small timber churches are suggested at Lincoln and Silchester and baptismal fonts have been found at Icklingham and the Saxon Shore Fort at Richborough. The Icklingham font is made of lead, and visible in the British Museum. A Roman Christian graveyard exists at the same site in Icklingham. A possible Roman 4th-century church and associated burial ground was also discovered at Butt Road on the south-west outskirts of Colchester during the construction of the new police station there, overlying an earlier pagan cemetery. The Water Newton Treasure is a hoard of Christian silver church plate from the early 4th century and the Roman villas at Lullingstone and Hinton St Mary contained Christian wall paintings and mosaics respectively. A large 4th-century cemetery at Poundbury with its east–west oriented burials and lack of grave goods has been interpreted as an early Christian burial ground, although such burial rites were also becoming increasingly common in pagan contexts during the period.
The Church in Britain seems to have developed the customary diocesan system, as evidenced from the records of the Council of Arles in Gaul in 314: represented at the council were bishops from thirty-five sees from Europe and North Africa, including three bishops from Britain, Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, possibly a bishop of Lincoln. No other early sees are documented, and the material remains of early church structures are far to seek. The existence of a church in the forum courtyard of Lincoln and the martyrium of Saint Alban on the outskirts of Roman Verulamium are exceptional. Alban, the first British Christian martyr and by far the most prominent, is believed to have died in the early 4th century (some date him in the middle 3rd century), followed by Saints Julius and Aaron of Isca Augusta. Christianity was legalised in the Roman Empire by Constantine I in 313. Theodosius I made Christianity the state religion of the empire in 391, and by the 5th century it was well established. One belief labelled a heresy by the church authorities — Pelagianism — was originated by a British monk teaching in Rome: Pelagius lived c. 354 to c. 420/440.
A letter found on a lead tablet in Bath, Somerset, datable to c. 363, had been widely publicised as documentary evidence regarding the state of Christianity in Britain during Roman times. According to its first translator, it was written in Wroxeter by a Christian man called Vinisius to a Christian woman called Nigra, and was claimed as the first epigraphic record of Christianity in Britain. This translation of the letter was apparently based on grave paleographical errors, and the text has nothing to do with Christianity, and in fact relates to pagan rituals.
Environmental changes
The Romans introduced a number of species to Britain, including possibly the now-rare Roman nettle (Urtica pilulifera), said to have been used by soldiers to warm their arms and legs, and the edible snail Helix pomatia. There is also some evidence they may have introduced rabbits, but of the smaller southern mediterranean type. The European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) prevalent in modern Britain is assumed to have been introduced from the continent after the Norman invasion of 1066. Box (Buxus sempervirens) is rarely recorded before the Roman period, but becomes a common find in towns and villas
Legacy
During their occupation of Britain the Romans built an extensive network of roads which continued to be used in later centuries and many are still followed today. The Romans also built water supply, sanitation and wastewater systems. Many of Britain's major cities, such as London (Londinium), Manchester (Mamucium) and York (Eboracum), were founded by the Romans, but the original Roman settlements were abandoned not long after the Romans left.
Unlike many other areas of the Western Roman Empire, the current majority language is not a Romance language, or a language descended from the pre-Roman inhabitants. The British language at the time of the invasion was Common Brittonic, and remained so after the Romans withdrew. It later split into regional languages, notably Cumbric, Cornish, Breton and Welsh. Examination of these languages suggests some 800 Latin words were incorporated into Common Brittonic (see Brittonic languages). The current majority language, English, is based on the languages of the Germanic tribes who migrated to the island from continental Europe