Summer Talks 2025
A series of talks has been arranged by Bradford on Avon Museum in conjunction with Bradford on Avon Preservation Trust
Six lectures will be held in the United Church, St Margaret’s Street, at 7.30 pm on the second Thursday of each month. Doors open from 7.00 pm. Tickets £7 for members of the Museum Society and Preservation Trust and £9 for non-members, available from Ex Libris (cash only), The Shambles, Bradford on Avon, or at the door (cash and card). Tea and coffee provided afterwards. For information, phone 01225 862030.
8 May Professor Timothy Mowl, ‘A prettyish kind of a little wilderness’ – landscapes and gardens in the novels of Jane Austen.
Designed landscapes and gardens feature in the novels as backgrounds to moments of emotional drama. Austen’s life spans the demise of Capability Brown’s landscaping, the growth of Picturesque theory, satirised in Northanger Abbey, and the coming of the Ornamental Gardening of Humphrey Repton, who appears in Mansfield Park. At the heart of the novels are shrubberies, sweet-scented places for excercise, contemplation and romantic assignation.
Tim Mowl, Emeritus Professor of Architectural History & Designed Landscapes at Bristol, has written extensively, including studies of William Kent, William Beckford and John Wood of Bath. He wrote or co-wrote the Historic Gardens series for fourteen counties.
12 June Robert Race, Keeping it simple: making moving toys and automata.
Bob Race’s work has ranged from dolls’ houses and moving toys to automata and kinetic sculpture. ‘I try to make things which move in simple but interesting ways: traditional moving toys have influenced me strongly. I incorporate natural materials, including driftwood, which I like because its previous uses often still haunt it, and its time at sea builds its character’.
10 July Rob Arkell, Behind the Scenes at the Saxon Church.
The talk describes the history and structure of the Saxon church of St Laurence, and the restoration which followed its rediscovery, examining the relationships between Canon Jones, the vicar, and the Trustees and architects, and also summarises the latest research.
Since 2015 Rob has been involved in projects triggered by the Museum field-names survey, including the Anglo-Saxon Moot site, Bradford Leigh Fair and Rowley-Wittenham deserted medieval village. He took part in the geophysical survey of the Saxon church in 2023.
14 August James Holden, Civic Splendour – The Story of Wiltshire’s Old Town Halls.
Town halls are amongst our finest buildings. This talk will describe not only the buildings themselves but also the rivalry and pursuit of power which led to their creation.
James Holden has written extensively on Wiltshire building types.
11 September Dr Amy Frost, The Beckfords and the transatlantic slave trade.
The Beckford wealth, built upon enslavement of African people, enabled the younger Beckford to create extravagant buildings filled with beautiful objects. This talk reveals the brutality behind the beauty.
Amy Frost is Senior Curator at the Bath Preservation Trust with responsibility for Lansdown Tower.
9 October Sophie Hawke The Bradford on Avon Roman villa.
The talk celebrates the quarter century since the villa was discovered, and will explain its importance, and summarise what has been learnt since.
Sophie Hawke is the Finds Liaison Officer for Wiltshire. Before switching to archaeology, she worked at St Laurence School. She was a trustee of the Museum for 20 years.