Plague Memorial

Upcoming events at Plague Memorial

Community

Maritime History Conference at Southampton 17-18 April

New Researchers in Maritime History Conference is taking place this year on 17-18 April 2026 at the University of Southampton. Organised by the British Commission for Maritime History.   https://www.maritimehistory.org.uk/ It on Friday 17 April with a reception and lecture by Dr Craig Lambert and resumes again on Saturday 18 April from 9am to 4.30pm. It costs £44 and booking is via https://www.eventbrite.com/e/new-researchers-in-maritime-history-conference-2026-tickets-1984601366110?aff=oddtdtcreator This annual event which moves to a different British location each year  is a highlight in the maritime history calendar, providing a welcoming space where emerging scholars can present short talks with fresh research and exchange ideas. With sessions spanning naval history, cultural heritage and global maritime networks, the 2026 programme reflects both the depth and diversity of current research in the field. Highlights include: A keynote lecture by Professor Craig Lambert of the University of Southampton A rich mix of postgraduate and independent scholar presentations For more information and to register go to : New Researchers in Maritime History Conference Practising Taranto: How the Royal Navy developed the air attack on a fleet in harbour Censoring naval mail in World War II: beyond intrusion and control How the Navy made its bed: From Procurement to Production of Hammocks in the Early Eighteenth-Century Royal Navy Looking back to move forward...

Fri 17 Apr17:30Plague Memorial

via Plague Memorial

Community

Faking Jewels: A Tudor Winchester Whodunnit

Event description: How did Tudor Winchester end up being a key location of hundreds of counterfeit gemstones? Following the trail left by the counterfeit jewels found on the former Shrine of St Swithun at Winchester Cathedral and its infamous destruction by Henry VIII's men, Alison will share some of the latest research from her book The Jewel Forger of Winchester: A Composition of Sources. This webinar delves into the covert trade of counterfeit gemstones and its direct links to Winchester during the 16th century with particular reference to the social build up and the characters involved. Speaker: Alison Whitaker is a historical artist/ researcher with a particular interest in material and image culture. Inspired by the layers of meaning and the acceptance of paradoxes - notions prevalent in Early Modern thinking - Alison uses keen observation and makes careful choices about her subject to communicate ideas through her work. Working with traditional techniques, her oil paintings revive the practice of visual recipes in the description of a concept.

Wed 20 May19:00Plague Memorial

via Plague Memorial

Community

The Gregg School

In the early 20th century, Townhill Park, a 23-acre estate in Southampton, was home to the Jewish Montagu Samuel family, who became Lord Swaythling. Samuel Montagu founded the foreign exchange and banking firm Samuel Montagu and Co in 1853, which played a significant role in establishing London as the clearing house for the international money market. In 1910, the estate, including shooting and fishing rights, spanned over 1200 acres, extending to the River Itchen. Today, the house is fully utilized as a private school, though many original interior features remain. We will have a historical tour guide and access to a heritage guide booklet to help us to imagine what each room was used for and what it looked like, providing a glimpse into the house's original state despite its current use. The numerous rooms include the entrance Hall, Lady Swaything’s boudoir, the music room, Queen Mary’s bedroom and bathroom, the Chippendale bedroom, Lord and Lady Swaything’s bedroom, the nursery, the boy’s room, the smoking room, the garden room and the dining room. Many rich and famous people were entertained at the house, including Queen Mary and Princess Alice, Ambassadors and Members of Parliament. The Friends of Townhill Park Gardens restored the Gertrude Jekyll Herbaceous Borders and Sunken Garden, which the school continues to maintain.

Tue 26 May13:30Plague Memorial

via Plague Memorial

Community

Winchester College Archives and Treasures Tour

The Winchester School hour long archive tour will starting at 2pm allows a rare opportunity to view two medieval rooms which house the school’s archives, as well as documents and artefacts relating to the school’s history which will be on display. We will be able to explore the treasures of Winchester College’s collections, including works of art and rare books that are not normally on public display. This will be followed by an opportunity to explore the College’s original museum and art gallery and part of the Fellows’ Library where there is a changing display of rare books and manuscripts, prints, and drawings. The Tour will end from 4 to 4.30pm. There are no refreshment facilities on site, but there are local pubs and cafes nearby. Please let me know if you would be interested in having a social catch up with the other members afterwards when booking and once I have an idea of numbers I can book a nearly location and will let you know. Access: Due to the historic nature of the site, some areas are unfortunately inaccessible to those with mobility restrictions. In particular, the two rooms visited on the Archives tour are both accessed via steep, stone spiral staircases of 36 and 52 steps each, with no handrails. One of the 3-4 rooms visited on the Treasures tours is also reached via multiple flights of stairs. However, the rest of the Treasures tour is on ground level and / or wheelchair accessible.

Thu 18 Jun14:00Plague Memorial

via Plague Memorial

Community

Hampshire’s merchant shipping and early modern maritime communities, c.1588–c.1765

Event description: This webinar explores how merchant shipping and maritime communities developed along the Hampshire coast between c.1588 and c.1765, drawing on new findings from a major AHRC-funded project on early modern English seaborne trade. By shifting the focus from national patterns to the distinctive maritime world of Hampshire, the session highlights the growth of Hampshire’s fleet, examines its trade networks, and explores its maritime communities. The webinar also introduces the project’s digital resources and demonstrates how they open new avenues for research into England’s coastal economies. Speakers: Craig Lambert is Professor of Maritime History at the University of Southampton. He is Principal Investigator on a number of research projects, including the AHRC-funded project, ‘English merchant shipping, trade and maritime communities from the Spanish Armada to the Seven Years War, c.1588–c.1765’. Craig’s recent research has focused on Medieval and Tudor merchant shipping and maritime communities. John McAleer is Associate Professor of History at the University of Southampton and Co-Investigator on the AHRC project. His work explores the British encounter and engagement with the wider world, situating the history of empire in its global and maritime contexts.

Wed 16 Sept19:00Plague Memorial

via Plague Memorial

Community

Letters to Elsie: Echoes of War and Sea

Event description: Letters to Elsie: Echoes of War and Sea is a Portsmouth-based heritage project uncovering a remarkable family archive spanning nearly sixty years, from the 1880s to 1937. At its heart are over 200 letters sent to Elsie, many written in code by a sailor travelling on Royal Mail ships in the interwar years, alongside deeply personal wartime correspondence from her brothers, Frederick and Reginald Batchelor. Their letters—many addressed to their mother, Elizabeth—offer rare insight into family life during the First World War, including Frederick’s extraordinary and little-documented experiences in British East Africa, for which he was awarded the Military Cross, and Reginald’s service on the Western Front. Both brothers were lost during the war. The archive also reveals earlier and wider family stories, including letters from Elizabeth’s stepchildren, Victorian-era documents, and the impact of the Farrow’s Bank collapse in 1920. Working with Portsmouth History Centre, the project will digitise, transcribe, and begin to decode this unique collection, preserving and sharing an intimate story of love, loss, and resilience across generations. Speakers: Jackson Batchelor and Simon Berry are Portsmouth-based amateur historians with a shared passion for uncovering and preserving local heritage.

Wed 18 Nov19:00Plague Memorial

via Plague Memorial

Community

The Devil's Book: The Battle over Festive Culture in Early Stuart England

Event description: In this illustrated talk, Dr Alistair Dougall will explore how serious divisions emerged in early modern England between those who valued traditional festivity and those who tried to suppress it, and how attitudes to traditional festive pastimes and celebrations became a major factor in determining people’s allegiance in the English Civil War. The talk will include some examples from Hampshire but will not focus on the county but look instead at events and issues across England. It will look at the types of sports and pastimes enjoyed by people in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century, and at how and why attitudes to festive traditions changed in the late sixteenth century. With events like the Olympics, we are today used to sports bringing people together but, far from uniting people, sports and their celebration had become hugely divisive by the early seventeenth century. The talk will look at the “Book of Sports” - the name commonly given to a declaration that James I issued which explicitly licensed the playing of certain sports and leisure activities on Sundays and which his son, Charles I then tried to enforce. Its enforcement was extremely contentious.

Wed 9 Dec19:00Plague Memorial

via Plague Memorial

Event details on Near Here are aggregated from third-party sources and may change. Always verify times, location, availability, and any price directly with the organiser before travelling. See Terms.