Institute of Historical Research

The Victoria History of Hampshire: Medieval Basingstoke
John Hare
December 22, 2017

Basingstoke is frequently seen as a very modern town, the product of the last decades of the 20th century. In reality it has a long, rich and prosperous history. From its beginnings c.1000 it became a significant market centre for the area around, and a place on the route to London from the west. By 1500 it was among the top 60 towns in England by wealth and taxpayers, and the centre of a major industrial area, whose manufactured cloths formed part of international patterns of trade. Moreover, it is well documented particularly for the 15th and 16th century, when it was at its peak, and should provide a useful addition to the limited number of studies of small medieval towns.

Much of the old town has been swept away by...

The Victoria History of Leicestershire: Buckminster and Sewstern
Pamela J. Fisher
October 27, 2017

Buckminster and Sewstern, in north-east Leicestershire, are two small villages within a single parish, and although both were established before 1086, they have developed different characters.

Buckminster was purely an agricultural village until the 1790s, when Sir William Manners enlarged a small park, built a mansion and began to create an estate village. Many of the houses are of red brick, and were built for estate employees by the 9th earl of Dysart between 1878 and 1935, as part of a programme of village improvements. All the land, residential and commercial properties in Buckminster were held in 2017 by the Tollemache family, descendants of Sir William and Lord Dysart.

In contrast, Sewstern’s houses are...

The Victoria History of Middlesex: Knightsbridge and Hyde
Pamela Taylor
August 31, 2017

Today’s Knightsbridge, the wealthy shoppers’ paradise, is a recent cross-border development. This book breaks new ground by uncovering an earlier, larger Knightsbridge and showing why its initial extent and history have been largely forgotten. Knightsbridge was the southern part of the Westminster abbey manor of Knightsbridge and Westbourne, and until 1900 covered the same area as the parish of St Margaret Westminster Detached. Pre-1900 Knightsbridge/Westminster included today’s Kensington Palace, Kensington Gardens, almost half of ‘South Kensington’, and Hyde Park west of the Serpentine (or river Westbourne). So why was so much of Knightsbridge lost to memory, becoming thought of only in terms of Westminster, Hyde or (until 1900...

Theses in Progress 2017: Historical research for higher degrees in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland list no. 78 part II
Compiled by Lauren De'Ath and Emily Morrell
July 31, 2017
Lists over 3,500 theses in progress on 1 January 2017 in both history and other departments, classified according to period and area Gives full details of title, supervisor and university Helps postgraduate students to select a topic and a supervisor, to publicise their topic and to discover others working in related fields Provides an overview of the amount and variety of current historical research for higher degrees
Theses Completed 2016: Historical research for higher degrees in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland list no. 78 part 1
Compiled by Lauren De'Ath and Emily Morrell
July 31, 2017
• Lists over 100 theses on historical topics completed during 2016 in UK and Irish universities

• Includes not only history departments, but other departments where historical subjects might be taught

• Gives full details of title, supervisor and university

• Provides a subject index to aid searching, together with indexes of universities and authors


The online version of Theses Completed is published on the IHR’s website (www.history.ac.uk), where searches can be conducted by type of history, geographical area or period.
Teachers of History in the Universities of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland 2017
Compiled by Lauren De'Ath and Emily Morrell
February 16, 2017
  • Lists over 3,000 people teaching history in United Kingdom and Irish universities and colleges of higher education
  • Gives full degrees and honours for each teacher, with the teaching position held
  • Describes each individual’s teaching area and research interests
  • Supplies the address, telephone and fax number of all departments of history
  • Includes email addresses for the majority of individuals
  • Gives website addresses for all universities with history departments

The online version of Teachers of History, available on the IHR website, can be searched to discover all teachers engaged in particular types of history, geographical area...
The Victoria History of Leicestershire: Castle Donington
Pamela J. Fisher and J.M. Lee
December 9, 2016
The parish of Castle Donington  in north-west Leicestershire lies on the south bank of the river Trent, 20 miles north-west of Leicester and 8 miles south-east of Derby. A nucleated village developed on the present site more than 1,000 years ago. A castle was built in the 1150s, and several features of a town soon developed, including a market, fair and hospital. Secondary settlements grew up alongside the Trent, by the King’s Mills and at Cavendish Bridge, the site of an important medieval ferry. Donington Park, which originated in the early 13th century as a hunting park, became a separate estate of the earls of Huntingdon in the late 16th century.

Later history has been shaped by strong religious...
The Victoria County History of Herefordshire: Bosbury
Janet Cooper
October 24, 2016
Bosbury is the second parish history to be produced by the Trust for the Victoria County History of Herefordshire, following the history of Eastnor published in 2013.

Like Eastnor, Bosbury is an agricultural parish, near the market town of Ledbury. It covers a relatively large area below the western slopes of the Malvern Hills. In the Middle Ages Bosbury was the site of one of the favourite residences of the bishops of Hereford; in the western part of the parish, called Upleadon, was an estate belonging first to the Knights Templar and then to the Hospitallers. From the 16th century onwards both estates passed into the hands of tenants, leaving the parish without a major resident landowner until John Stedman...
Ravenna
Volume editor Judith Herrin and Jinty Nelson
June 24, 2016
In the long-debated transition from late antiquity to the early middle ages, the city of Ravenna presents a story rich and strange. From the fourth century onwards it suffered decline in economic terms. Yet its geographical position, its status as an imperial capital, and above all its role as a connecting point between East and West, ensured that it remained an intermittent attraction for early medieval kings and emperors throughout the period from the late fifth to the eleventh century. Ravenna’s story is all the more interesting because it was complicated and unpredictable: discontinuous and continuous, sometimes obscure, sometimes including bursts of energetic activity. Throughout the early medieval centuries its flame sometimes flared...
Theses Completed 2015: Historical research for higher degrees in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland list no. 77 part 1
Compiled by Lauren De'Ath and Emily Morrell
June 10, 2016
• Lists hundreds of theses on historical topics completed during 2015 in UK and Irish universities • Includes not only history departments, but other departments where historical subjects might be taught • Gives full details of title, supervisor and university • Provides a subject index to aid searching, together with indexes of universities and authors The online version of Theses Completed is published on the IHR's website, where searches can be conducted by type of history, geographical area or period.

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