Meetings take place on the second Wednesday of each month (except August and December) at St Mary's Church, Wallingford.
Meetings are at 7.45pm for 8.00pm
Visitors very welcome (£5)
Parking is available nearby in the Waitrose car park - free at that time of the evening.
Additionally we are continuing to broadcast our Talks by Zoom - a link will be available for TWHAS members in the monthly newsletter 'TWHAS Now'. Applications for membership are available twhas_membership_form_2025.pdf.
Meetings are at 7.45pm for 8.00pm
Visitors very welcome (£5)
Parking is available nearby in the Waitrose car park - free at that time of the evening.
Additionally we are continuing to broadcast our Talks by Zoom - a link will be available for TWHAS members in the monthly newsletter 'TWHAS Now'. Applications for membership are available twhas_membership_form_2025.pdf.
NEXT TALK
March 12 (Weds)
Steve Capel-Davies: ‘Barley to Beer, the Story of Malting, Brewing and Pubs in Wallingford’
~ further details below ~
March 12 (Weds)
Steve Capel-Davies: ‘Barley to Beer, the Story of Malting, Brewing and Pubs in Wallingford’
~ further details below ~
2025 Programme
Jan 8 (Weds)
Sharon Bennett Connolly: ‘Women of the Anarchy’
Feb 12 (Weds)
Anthony Bale: ‘The Shape of the Medieval World, according to John Mandeville’
(postponed from Feb 2024)
March 12 (Weds)
Steve Capel-Davies: ‘Barley to Beer, the Story of Malting, Brewing and Pubs in Wallingford’
Our speaker is the TWHAS Chairman, who has been involved with the museum and THWAS for over 40 years. Steve has carried out extensive research on brewing and pubs in Wallingford over a number of years.
The countryside around Wallingford has always been suitable for the growing of barley and since early times the barley has been malted and used for the brewing of beer.
The production of malt has been a major trade in the town since at least the 17th century. Brewing developed as a Wallingford industry at about the same time, reaching its heyday in the 19th century when Edward Wells' brewery was particularly well known for its stout beer. The business became Wallingford Brewery Limited in 1896 with the name continuing until around 1960, although brewing in Wallingford ceased in 1928.
Associated with brewing was, of course, drinking. The retail outlet was the inn, beer house or public house. More than 50 pubs are known to have existed in the town - many at the same time in the 19th century. Approaches to regulating beer drinking have ranged from who can sell it and where they can sell it to limiting the times people can drink it in public places. Sometimes these regulations arose in response to groups, such as the 19th century Temperance Movement, who campaigned against alcohol which led to the closure of many pubs in the early part of the 20th century. Wallingford Brewery even produced in 1908 a ‘Temperance drink’ called Footer, a precursor to today’s move towards low/zero alcoholic drinks.
This talk looks at the story of malting, brewing and drinking in Wallingford through the centuries using the results of recent research which will be the subject of the latest exhibition at Wallingford Museum.
March 19 (Weds)
Malin Holst : ‘If Ancestors Could Talk - Life and Death at a Roman Villa’
This is an extra special TWHAS talk at 8pm, but will by ZOOM ONLY.
Our speaker is an Osteoarchaeologist who examines the human remains uncovered during archaeological digs.
Through her work, Malin reveals the hidden life stories of past populations by searching for the tell-tale signs that are left in our bones. As well as examining the burials from Earth Trust, Malin has studied the remains from many high-profile sites such as Sutton Hoo.
When archaeologists discovered 40 Roman burials alongside a Roman villa at Earth Trust, it quickly became clear that the story of who lived here and what they endured had more twists and turns than you might expect.
This talk will share some of the surprising life stories that have been revealed from the tell-tale signs left in these bones.
April 9 (Weds)
Simon Randall: Civil War
14 May (Weds)
Ashley Jackson: Oxford’s War, 1939-45
Ashley is Professor of Imperial and Military History at King’s College London, and a Visiting Fellow of Kellogg College Oxford.
This talk will reveal the extraordinary and often hidden role that Oxford played in Britain’s war effort. It will use first-hand narratives and surprising revelations, uncovering the remarkable transformation of this historic city into a hub of military and government activity during one of the darkest times in modern history.
Comprehensive examination of Oxford’s extensive involvement in the Second World War, has brought to light stories and material from the University archives.
Ashley's book 'Oxford’s War' provides a fresh and compelling perspective on the Second World War, revealing the unique and profound impact that the war had on an ancient seat of learning.
11June (Weds)
Sue Wright: Commonwealth War Grave Commission (CWGC) Architecture and its Conservation
Sue is our Museum publicity officer.
This presentation looks at CWGC’s architecture, in terms of its cemetery layouts, structures and memorials. It highlights the key architects from the First and Second World Wars and looks at how we conserve our structures today, some of which are over a century old. The CWGC has a global estate and our structures are effected by the different environmental circumstances in different countries.
Sharon Bennett Connolly: ‘Women of the Anarchy’
Feb 12 (Weds)
Anthony Bale: ‘The Shape of the Medieval World, according to John Mandeville’
(postponed from Feb 2024)
March 12 (Weds)
Steve Capel-Davies: ‘Barley to Beer, the Story of Malting, Brewing and Pubs in Wallingford’
Our speaker is the TWHAS Chairman, who has been involved with the museum and THWAS for over 40 years. Steve has carried out extensive research on brewing and pubs in Wallingford over a number of years.
The countryside around Wallingford has always been suitable for the growing of barley and since early times the barley has been malted and used for the brewing of beer.
The production of malt has been a major trade in the town since at least the 17th century. Brewing developed as a Wallingford industry at about the same time, reaching its heyday in the 19th century when Edward Wells' brewery was particularly well known for its stout beer. The business became Wallingford Brewery Limited in 1896 with the name continuing until around 1960, although brewing in Wallingford ceased in 1928.
Associated with brewing was, of course, drinking. The retail outlet was the inn, beer house or public house. More than 50 pubs are known to have existed in the town - many at the same time in the 19th century. Approaches to regulating beer drinking have ranged from who can sell it and where they can sell it to limiting the times people can drink it in public places. Sometimes these regulations arose in response to groups, such as the 19th century Temperance Movement, who campaigned against alcohol which led to the closure of many pubs in the early part of the 20th century. Wallingford Brewery even produced in 1908 a ‘Temperance drink’ called Footer, a precursor to today’s move towards low/zero alcoholic drinks.
This talk looks at the story of malting, brewing and drinking in Wallingford through the centuries using the results of recent research which will be the subject of the latest exhibition at Wallingford Museum.
March 19 (Weds)
Malin Holst : ‘If Ancestors Could Talk - Life and Death at a Roman Villa’
This is an extra special TWHAS talk at 8pm, but will by ZOOM ONLY.
Our speaker is an Osteoarchaeologist who examines the human remains uncovered during archaeological digs.
Through her work, Malin reveals the hidden life stories of past populations by searching for the tell-tale signs that are left in our bones. As well as examining the burials from Earth Trust, Malin has studied the remains from many high-profile sites such as Sutton Hoo.
When archaeologists discovered 40 Roman burials alongside a Roman villa at Earth Trust, it quickly became clear that the story of who lived here and what they endured had more twists and turns than you might expect.
This talk will share some of the surprising life stories that have been revealed from the tell-tale signs left in these bones.
April 9 (Weds)
Simon Randall: Civil War
14 May (Weds)
Ashley Jackson: Oxford’s War, 1939-45
Ashley is Professor of Imperial and Military History at King’s College London, and a Visiting Fellow of Kellogg College Oxford.
This talk will reveal the extraordinary and often hidden role that Oxford played in Britain’s war effort. It will use first-hand narratives and surprising revelations, uncovering the remarkable transformation of this historic city into a hub of military and government activity during one of the darkest times in modern history.
Comprehensive examination of Oxford’s extensive involvement in the Second World War, has brought to light stories and material from the University archives.
Ashley's book 'Oxford’s War' provides a fresh and compelling perspective on the Second World War, revealing the unique and profound impact that the war had on an ancient seat of learning.
11June (Weds)
Sue Wright: Commonwealth War Grave Commission (CWGC) Architecture and its Conservation
Sue is our Museum publicity officer.
This presentation looks at CWGC’s architecture, in terms of its cemetery layouts, structures and memorials. It highlights the key architects from the First and Second World Wars and looks at how we conserve our structures today, some of which are over a century old. The CWGC has a global estate and our structures are effected by the different environmental circumstances in different countries.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
past 2024 Programme for interest
10 Jan
Judy Dewey: ‘Life in Medieval Wallingford’
14 Feb (Weds) TALK POSTPONED to Feb 2025
Anthony Bale: ‘The Shape of the Medieval World, According to John Mandeville’
13 March (Weds)
Graham Twemlow: 'Recording Britain - Celebrating the Country’s Natural Beauty and Architectural Heritage'
10 April (Weds)
Jonathan Stamp: 'The Lost Library'
8 May (Weds)
Peter Adamson: 'A Town Called Wallingford'
12 June (Weds)
Anthony Wilder: 'William Wilder - POW on the Thai Burma Railway'
10 July (Weds)
Alastair Owens: 'Treasures from the privy - new perspectives on everyday life in Victorian East London'
This Talk was recorded and can be viewed here .........
past 2024 Programme for interest
10 Jan
Judy Dewey: ‘Life in Medieval Wallingford’
14 Feb (Weds) TALK POSTPONED to Feb 2025
Anthony Bale: ‘The Shape of the Medieval World, According to John Mandeville’
13 March (Weds)
Graham Twemlow: 'Recording Britain - Celebrating the Country’s Natural Beauty and Architectural Heritage'
10 April (Weds)
Jonathan Stamp: 'The Lost Library'
8 May (Weds)
Peter Adamson: 'A Town Called Wallingford'
12 June (Weds)
Anthony Wilder: 'William Wilder - POW on the Thai Burma Railway'
10 July (Weds)
Alastair Owens: 'Treasures from the privy - new perspectives on everyday life in Victorian East London'
This Talk was recorded and can be viewed here .........
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ no TWHAS Talk in August ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11 Sept (Weds)
John Painter: 'Reading Abbey and the Abbey Quarter'
9 Oct (Weds)
Steve Capel-Davies: 'Ways over Water - a history of Thames crossings'.
13 Nov (Weds)
Malcolm Airs: 'Conservation as a force for change: Wallingford from 1974'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ no TWHAS Talk in December ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
past 2023 Programme for interest
11 January
Robert Seatter: ‘Broadcasting Britain: a 100 years of the BBC’
8 February
Ben Ford: 'Frewin Hall excavation'
8 March
Peter Adamson: 'The World of the Wittenham Clumps'
12 April
Judy Dewey: ‘History for all: TWHAS – from its origins to its future’
10 May
Heidi Tunney: 'Pauper Children in Wallingford Union Cottage Homes, Berks, 1900–15; Tainted or Recovered?'
14 June
Paul Booth: 'Evolving ideas on Roman and early post-Roman Dorchester-on-Thames'
12 July
Gary Elliott: 'Justice in Wallingford: Police and Magistrates in the late Victorian period'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ no TWHAS Talk in August ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
13 September
John Naylor (Ashmolean Museum): 'The Viking-Age World of the Watlington Hoard'
11 October
Anthony Wilder: 'Victorian Artists'
8 November
A Very Special 50th Birthday Party
Tom Hassall, OBE MA FSA Hon MCIfA: ‘50 years of Oxford Archaeology and TWHAS’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ no TWHAS Talk in December ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
past 2023 Programme for interest
11 January
Robert Seatter: ‘Broadcasting Britain: a 100 years of the BBC’
8 February
Ben Ford: 'Frewin Hall excavation'
8 March
Peter Adamson: 'The World of the Wittenham Clumps'
12 April
Judy Dewey: ‘History for all: TWHAS – from its origins to its future’
10 May
Heidi Tunney: 'Pauper Children in Wallingford Union Cottage Homes, Berks, 1900–15; Tainted or Recovered?'
14 June
Paul Booth: 'Evolving ideas on Roman and early post-Roman Dorchester-on-Thames'
12 July
Gary Elliott: 'Justice in Wallingford: Police and Magistrates in the late Victorian period'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ no TWHAS Talk in August ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
13 September
John Naylor (Ashmolean Museum): 'The Viking-Age World of the Watlington Hoard'
11 October
Anthony Wilder: 'Victorian Artists'
8 November
A Very Special 50th Birthday Party
Tom Hassall, OBE MA FSA Hon MCIfA: ‘50 years of Oxford Archaeology and TWHAS’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ no TWHAS Talk in December ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
past 2022 Programme for interest
past 2022 Programme for interest
12 January (Weds)
Stephen Mileson: 'Peasant perceptions of Landscape, Ewelme Hundred'
9 February (Weds)
Jonathan Clark: 'Lincoln Castle Revealed'
9 March (Weds)
Ben Taggart: ‘Historic Reconstruction in Miniature’
You can enjoy the recording of this talk here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPo0IAKGg6o
13 April (Weds)
Marie-Louise Kerr: 'Oxfordshire on Canvas'
11 May (Weds)
Melanie King: 'Can onions cure earache? Medical Advice in the 18th century'
8 June (Weds)
Gabor Thomas: 'The Marlow warlord and the rediscovered church at Cookham: A review of early medieval archaeology of the Middle Thames'
13 July (Weds)
Janice Kinory: 'Oxford Past and Present - Images from the Historic Environment Image Resource (HEIR) Project'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ no TWHAS Talk in August ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
14 September (Weds)
Giles Pritchard: 'Conservation work on the Remains of the College of St Nicholas, Wallingford Castle'
You can enjoy the recording of this talk here:
https://youtu.be/nSImzlxMqXU
12 October (Weds)
Michael Fulford: 'Silchester Revealed: the Iron Age and Roman Town in light of recent research'
You can enjoy the recording of this talk here:
https://youtu.be/xaZK740-yp8
9 November (Weds)
Dr Simon Wenham: 'Poverty, Pestilence and Public Health'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ no TWHAS Talk in December ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stephen Mileson: 'Peasant perceptions of Landscape, Ewelme Hundred'
9 February (Weds)
Jonathan Clark: 'Lincoln Castle Revealed'
9 March (Weds)
Ben Taggart: ‘Historic Reconstruction in Miniature’
You can enjoy the recording of this talk here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPo0IAKGg6o
13 April (Weds)
Marie-Louise Kerr: 'Oxfordshire on Canvas'
11 May (Weds)
Melanie King: 'Can onions cure earache? Medical Advice in the 18th century'
8 June (Weds)
Gabor Thomas: 'The Marlow warlord and the rediscovered church at Cookham: A review of early medieval archaeology of the Middle Thames'
13 July (Weds)
Janice Kinory: 'Oxford Past and Present - Images from the Historic Environment Image Resource (HEIR) Project'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ no TWHAS Talk in August ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
14 September (Weds)
Giles Pritchard: 'Conservation work on the Remains of the College of St Nicholas, Wallingford Castle'
You can enjoy the recording of this talk here:
https://youtu.be/nSImzlxMqXU
12 October (Weds)
Michael Fulford: 'Silchester Revealed: the Iron Age and Roman Town in light of recent research'
You can enjoy the recording of this talk here:
https://youtu.be/xaZK740-yp8
9 November (Weds)
Dr Simon Wenham: 'Poverty, Pestilence and Public Health'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ no TWHAS Talk in December ! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recorded Talks
Some recent Talks have also been broadcast by Zoom and the opportunity has been taken to record them and post online links to them below:-
October 2022
Michael Fulford: 'Silchester Revealed: the Iron Age and Roman Town in light of recent research'
Professor Fulford described the excavations at Silchester since the 1970s.
You can enjoy the recording of this talk here:
https://youtu.be/xaZK740-yp8
September 2022
Giles Pritchard: 'Conservation work on the Remains of the College of St Nicholas, Wallingford Castle'
Giles Pritchard described the latest two stages of work on the restoration of St Nicholas in Wallingford Castle.
You can enjoy the recording of this talk here:
https://youtu.be/nSImzlxMqXU
March 2022
Ben Taggart: ‘Historic Reconstruction in Miniature’
Ben discussed how he took on the challenge of unlocking the secrets of Wallingford Castle and what it took to build the model for Wallingford Museum.
You can enjoy the recording of this talk here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPo0IAKGg6o
Oct 2020
'Beacons of the Past: Citizen Science and LiDAR shedding light on the history of the Chilterns landscape'
- presented by Dr Edward Peveler (Landscape Heritage Officer, Chilterns Conservation Board)
In this talk Dr Ed Peveler introduced this Lottery-funded project, explaining more about the survey, letting us know how we can access the data to do our own archaeological exploring, and showing us some of the exciting results that are emerging.
You can enjoy the recording of this talk here:
https://youtu.be/IDoCh2ru8j8
After viewing the Talk, if you would like further information please look at this link:- https://chilternsbeacons.org
Up-to-date news (more being added regularly) is available on:- https://chilternsbeacons.org/wp/news-blog
Additionally, you may wish to learn about two local archaeological projects which have recently posted updates online.
Click HERE
Katharine Keats-Rohan is the TWHAS Speaker's secretary. If you have suggestions for future talks, please contact Katharine
If other local history societies would like to notify us of their events for possible inclusion (subject to space) in the monthly publication, TWHAS Now, then please send details to the TWHAS Now editor
If other local history societies would like to notify us of their events for possible inclusion (subject to space) in the monthly publication, TWHAS Now, then please send details to the TWHAS Now editor