Lecture Program 2025 - 2026
All Lectures to take place at the Friends Meeting House, Hill Street, Coventry, CV1 4AN at 7.30pm.
Door Charge of £1 for members, £5 for non-members
9th September 2025 - The Margaret Rylatt Memorial Lecture: The Tapestry in St Mary’s Guildhall by Dr Mark Webb
The Coventry Tapestry, one of the city’s great treasures, is over 500 years old and believed to be the oldest tapestry still in its original place in Britain. It has survived political and religious change, the Blitz and inevitable wear of time. There were some alterations made to it over the years, but it is still largely as it was originally conceived.
https://www.stmarysguildhall.co.uk/tapestry/
Dr Webb is Fundraising and Development Manager for the King's Foundation. He is an expert in late medieval history and archaeology, organising conferences and projects, and heavily involved with the Medieval Coventry Charity, as well as being a trustee of The Historic Coventry Trust. He has published widely including a book on the Tapestry.
www.medievalcoventry.co.uk
https://www.historiccoventrytrust.org.uk/
14th October 2025 - The Ancient Greeks in the Classical Period by Paul Thompson
A look at the Classical era in Greece covering a period of around 200 years between the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The lecture will continue the story begun with the lecture last January about archaic Greece and will cover society and family life, material culture, fashion and warfare, using replica objects created from a fusion of written and archaeological sources together with slides introducing the wider architectural and geographical context.
Paul Thompson is an archaeologist who has worked at a considerable number of sites during his career and was a scheduled speaker at Current Archaeology Live 2023. He has given many lectures to CADAS, always informative and entertaining, including the 2019 John Shelton Memorial Lecture.
11th November 2025 - The Stonehenge Landscape: New Discoveries from Geophysics and Excavation by Professor Henry Chapman
The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project surveyed a huge tract of land around the stones revealing buried archaeology. A second project involved numerous additional excavations across the area. The lecture will give an overview of the projects and the stunning discoveries which have changed ideas about the construction and use of the monument.
https://britishheritage.com/history/hidden-landscapes-stonehengeHenry
Professor Chapman is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Birmingham and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He is particularly interested in the later prehistoric period and especially the relationships between human activity and environmental change. He has been heavily involved with the Stonehenge projects and specialises in the use of digital technologies. He has published numerous articles and several books.
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk
9th December 2025 - The John Shelton Memorial Lecture: Conserving Coventry by Robert Davies
Architectural conservation is a specialism that covers the repair and continued use of historic buildings. Robert Davies has overseen various projects in the city which have involved the creative adaption of some of the city’s listed and historic buildings to meet current needs whilst conserving their character and historical significance.
Robert Davies is director of Robert Davies Architects and Historic Building Consultants based in Coventry. He is both a chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and an accredited conservation architect. During his career, Robert has worked on some of the country’s most significant historic buildings including Tower Bridge, the Palace of Westminster, several historic royal palaces, and various churches and cathedrals. Within the city, Robert’s practice is working on the rectification works to the Grade II listed Reform Club, the adaptation of the Edwardian sports pavilion at Spencer Park, repairs to the Grade I listed St John the Baptist Church, works to Coventry Cathedral, proposed improvements to Methodist Central Hall, and repairs to the Grade II listed former Quadrant Club, as well as other private houses and public buildings in the city.
https://robertdaviesarchitects.co.uk
13th January 2026 – Digging Deeper: Initial results from the A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet Excavations by Simon Markus
Between July 2022 and June 2024 MOLA undertook excavations ahead of construction of the A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet Improvement Scheme. The sites revealed information about how Iron Age pioneers ventured into the claylands of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to expand their settlements, and how they developed into the Roman period and beyond.
https://www.mola.org.uk/discoveries/commercial-projects/a428-black-cat-caxton-gibbet/archaeology-a428
Simon Markus is a senior project manager at Museum of London Archaeology based in Northampton. He has worked on a wide variety of sites including Overstone and the Huntingdon to Cambridge improvement works about which he gave an entertaining and informative lecture to the Society.
http://www.mola.org.uk
10th February 2026 –The Civil War by Paul Thompson
The English Civil War is often romanticised yet its scale of suffering and loss was not equalled till the First World War. In fact the war could be said to have begun when the King besieged Coventry before raising his standard at Nottingham in 1642 - the event which traditionally marks the start of the struggle. The speaker will look at the war and its effects, mainly from a local point of view and in particular that of parliament since the royalist cause had few supporters in Coventry after the siege and the City became a parliamentarian stronghold.
www.historiccoventrytrust.org.uk>siege-of-coventry
www.coventrysociety.org.uk>2025/12/19 Coventry and the Civil War
Paul Thompson is an archaeologist who has worked at a considerable number of sites during his career and was a scheduled speaker at Current Archaeology Live 2023. He has given many lectures to CADAS, always informative and entertaining, often in costume, including the 2019 John Shelton Memorial Lecture.
10th March 2026 - Collecting Ancient Egypt by Chris Kirby
Artefacts from the Nile civilisation are found around the world. Whether in great museums or in small collections built up by individuals, these items are a testament to the fascination ancient Egypt has held for collectors and others over the centuries. The speaker will bring original objects to illustrate the lecture
Chris Kirby is an Egyptologist, educationalist and museum curator having worked at Coventry’s Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, the British Museum and Ashmolean Museums. From 1998-1999 he was Leverhulme Trust Research fellow based at Kings College London and has excavated at various sites in Egypt including Amarna. He is now General Manager of the Fusilier Museum in Warwick.
fusiliermuseum.com
14th April 2026 - Filling in the Blanks: Community test-pitting and revealing the origins of currently occupied rural settlement in Leicestershire by Mathew Morris
Community test pitting is really useful for archaeologists. These “mini digs” in gardens and parks bring up a wealth of material revealing so much of an area’s past and changes over time. Mathew Morris has been running several projects in Leicestershire, particularly around Market Bosworth and has brought together all the data to show what it tells us about the beginnings of settlements in the Saxon/Medieval period.
Mathew Morris is a Project Officer with University of Leicester Archaeological Services and has worked on a wide range of sites including Roman Leicester. He has given excellent lectures to CADAS on a number of excavations including one on the major site at Leicester Cathedral and in 2012 directed the famous search for the lost grave of Richard III. He is the co-author of several books about archaeology in Leicester. He also leads the Castle Hill Community Archaeology Dig and the Bosworth Links Community Dig.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwNyH5ybEiI
12th May 2026 - Annual General Meeting
All Lectures to take place at the Friends Meeting House, Hill Street, Coventry, CV1 4AN at 7.30pm.
Door Charge of £1 for members, £5 for non-members
9th September 2025 - The Margaret Rylatt Memorial Lecture: The Tapestry in St Mary’s Guildhall by Dr Mark Webb
The Coventry Tapestry, one of the city’s great treasures, is over 500 years old and believed to be the oldest tapestry still in its original place in Britain. It has survived political and religious change, the Blitz and inevitable wear of time. There were some alterations made to it over the years, but it is still largely as it was originally conceived.
https://www.stmarysguildhall.co.uk/tapestry/
Dr Webb is Fundraising and Development Manager for the King's Foundation. He is an expert in late medieval history and archaeology, organising conferences and projects, and heavily involved with the Medieval Coventry Charity, as well as being a trustee of The Historic Coventry Trust. He has published widely including a book on the Tapestry.
www.medievalcoventry.co.uk
https://www.historiccoventrytrust.org.uk/
14th October 2025 - The Ancient Greeks in the Classical Period by Paul Thompson
A look at the Classical era in Greece covering a period of around 200 years between the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The lecture will continue the story begun with the lecture last January about archaic Greece and will cover society and family life, material culture, fashion and warfare, using replica objects created from a fusion of written and archaeological sources together with slides introducing the wider architectural and geographical context.
Paul Thompson is an archaeologist who has worked at a considerable number of sites during his career and was a scheduled speaker at Current Archaeology Live 2023. He has given many lectures to CADAS, always informative and entertaining, including the 2019 John Shelton Memorial Lecture.
11th November 2025 - The Stonehenge Landscape: New Discoveries from Geophysics and Excavation by Professor Henry Chapman
The Stonehenge Hidden Landscapes Project surveyed a huge tract of land around the stones revealing buried archaeology. A second project involved numerous additional excavations across the area. The lecture will give an overview of the projects and the stunning discoveries which have changed ideas about the construction and use of the monument.
https://britishheritage.com/history/hidden-landscapes-stonehengeHenry
Professor Chapman is Professor of Archaeology at the University of Birmingham and a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He is particularly interested in the later prehistoric period and especially the relationships between human activity and environmental change. He has been heavily involved with the Stonehenge projects and specialises in the use of digital technologies. He has published numerous articles and several books.
https://www.birmingham.ac.uk
9th December 2025 - The John Shelton Memorial Lecture: Conserving Coventry by Robert Davies
Architectural conservation is a specialism that covers the repair and continued use of historic buildings. Robert Davies has overseen various projects in the city which have involved the creative adaption of some of the city’s listed and historic buildings to meet current needs whilst conserving their character and historical significance.
Robert Davies is director of Robert Davies Architects and Historic Building Consultants based in Coventry. He is both a chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects and an accredited conservation architect. During his career, Robert has worked on some of the country’s most significant historic buildings including Tower Bridge, the Palace of Westminster, several historic royal palaces, and various churches and cathedrals. Within the city, Robert’s practice is working on the rectification works to the Grade II listed Reform Club, the adaptation of the Edwardian sports pavilion at Spencer Park, repairs to the Grade I listed St John the Baptist Church, works to Coventry Cathedral, proposed improvements to Methodist Central Hall, and repairs to the Grade II listed former Quadrant Club, as well as other private houses and public buildings in the city.
https://robertdaviesarchitects.co.uk
13th January 2026 – Digging Deeper: Initial results from the A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet Excavations by Simon Markus
Between July 2022 and June 2024 MOLA undertook excavations ahead of construction of the A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet Improvement Scheme. The sites revealed information about how Iron Age pioneers ventured into the claylands of Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to expand their settlements, and how they developed into the Roman period and beyond.
https://www.mola.org.uk/discoveries/commercial-projects/a428-black-cat-caxton-gibbet/archaeology-a428
Simon Markus is a senior project manager at Museum of London Archaeology based in Northampton. He has worked on a wide variety of sites including Overstone and the Huntingdon to Cambridge improvement works about which he gave an entertaining and informative lecture to the Society.
http://www.mola.org.uk
10th February 2026 –The Civil War by Paul Thompson
The English Civil War is often romanticised yet its scale of suffering and loss was not equalled till the First World War. In fact the war could be said to have begun when the King besieged Coventry before raising his standard at Nottingham in 1642 - the event which traditionally marks the start of the struggle. The speaker will look at the war and its effects, mainly from a local point of view and in particular that of parliament since the royalist cause had few supporters in Coventry after the siege and the City became a parliamentarian stronghold.
www.historiccoventrytrust.org.uk>siege-of-coventry
www.coventrysociety.org.uk>2025/12/19 Coventry and the Civil War
Paul Thompson is an archaeologist who has worked at a considerable number of sites during his career and was a scheduled speaker at Current Archaeology Live 2023. He has given many lectures to CADAS, always informative and entertaining, often in costume, including the 2019 John Shelton Memorial Lecture.
10th March 2026 - Collecting Ancient Egypt by Chris Kirby
Artefacts from the Nile civilisation are found around the world. Whether in great museums or in small collections built up by individuals, these items are a testament to the fascination ancient Egypt has held for collectors and others over the centuries. The speaker will bring original objects to illustrate the lecture
Chris Kirby is an Egyptologist, educationalist and museum curator having worked at Coventry’s Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, the British Museum and Ashmolean Museums. From 1998-1999 he was Leverhulme Trust Research fellow based at Kings College London and has excavated at various sites in Egypt including Amarna. He is now General Manager of the Fusilier Museum in Warwick.
fusiliermuseum.com
14th April 2026 - Filling in the Blanks: Community test-pitting and revealing the origins of currently occupied rural settlement in Leicestershire by Mathew Morris
Community test pitting is really useful for archaeologists. These “mini digs” in gardens and parks bring up a wealth of material revealing so much of an area’s past and changes over time. Mathew Morris has been running several projects in Leicestershire, particularly around Market Bosworth and has brought together all the data to show what it tells us about the beginnings of settlements in the Saxon/Medieval period.
Mathew Morris is a Project Officer with University of Leicester Archaeological Services and has worked on a wide range of sites including Roman Leicester. He has given excellent lectures to CADAS on a number of excavations including one on the major site at Leicester Cathedral and in 2012 directed the famous search for the lost grave of Richard III. He is the co-author of several books about archaeology in Leicester. He also leads the Castle Hill Community Archaeology Dig and the Bosworth Links Community Dig.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwNyH5ybEiI
12th May 2026 - Annual General Meeting
