2009

Tudor Herbs and Spices: Folklore, Wisdom and Medicine

Saturday 23rd May, 2009

Tutor: Sue Hughes

Discussing the uses of herbs in Tudor medicine

Sue Hughes set us going with a talk on the history and development of herbal medicine, and on the influence of John Gerard, the sixteenth century herbalist from Nantwich, who wrote the General Historie of Plants, which is a detailed description of plants and their uses and the folklore associated with them.  We heard about the uses of herbs and spices in the 16th century, for strewing, for dyes, in cooking, in medicines and in folklore.

Sue showed us various dried herbs and herbalist’s equipment, and we made our own herb bags.  We also tasted griddle breads, spinach flan, spice cake, jumbles, apple mouse, and ginger bread; all made by Sue using traditional Tudor recipes.

Tasting Tudor recipes

When the Old Medicine House, was moved to Blackden from Wrinehill, wildflower and herb seeds that had been in cracks in the beams fell to the ground, sprouted and established themselves around the house.  Because there were no obvious remains of the herb garden around the Tudor apothecary’s house on its original site, we felt free to create of one of our own.  So we examined the herb plants that would have been grown in the sixteenth century, laid out a design and planted the herbs in front of the Old Medicine House.

It was a varied and fascinating day, and one that added a new facet to the resources of the Trust.

Our visitors enjoyed ‘the lovely friendly atmosphere’, ‘the Tudor food’, ‘the history of herbs and the planting,’ ‘the access to this magical historical house, with its quite exceptional ambience, and its connection to Cheshire’s past and prehistory.’

‘The whole day was magic. I haven’t enjoyed myself so much for years.’

Examining the herb plants

Planting the herbs

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Witness to a Century

Saturday 4th April, 2009

Tutor: Professor Richard Morris

Students studying aerial photographs of different parts of Britain

Richard Morris gave us a brief history of photo interpretation; showing us how the first manned balloon flights in the later 18th century led to the first aerial photographs in the 19th century, and how aerial imaging was developed as a tool of war, and was then harnessed to history, planning, and environmentalism.

He then revealed the historical power of air photography, by distributing images of different parts of Britain, taken at different times in the last hundred years. We were shown how features on and beneath the ground could be seen under different conditions of light, weather, climate, time, and agricultural regime, and we were encouraged to interpret what we saw.

Aerial photographs of Oxford and Sunderland in the 1940s were compared for signs of the effects of war. With our newly educated eyes, we could clearly see that Sunderland was extensively bombed during World War II, but Oxford was not, and how the relative wealth and occupations of the inhabitants of the two cities could be deduced from the pattern of the buildings.

We looked at a series of aerial photographs of Alderley Edge and considered agricultural contrasts between the 1940s and 2009, the effects on the population of the 1945 Attlee Government, social housing, and the Cold War.

The day ended closer to home, over Blackden, where field boundaries mapped in the 18th century, but now invisible on the ground can still be seen as crop marks from the air.

The course taught us skills that we can now apply to aerial views with greater confidence, and maybe even discover hidden features in our own areas.

Aerial photograph of Blackden showing crop marks of field boundaries

Detail from Plan and Survey Book of Heawood Demesne 1789

© The Blackden Trust 2009     Updated: 04/07/2009

The Blackden Trust is a registered charity no. 1115818