Lectures and talks

Dunster Castle
Nick Hanks is a recognised teacher at the University of Bristol, and has given talks and lectures to other universities, various societies and groups. Those currently available are listed below. These presentations are offered as either Talk (suitable for societies), Lecture (suitable for students) or Fieldtrip (suitable for either) formats, and Workshops (requiring an open space free of chairs).

Ritual and Space

  • Doorways to the Divine - Sacred Spaces in Modern Religious Buildings. A look at the use of space in the buildings of eight different religions (Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Ba'hai and modern Druids) and what they tell us about religious ritual requirements of space. Based on research and theoretical work published in 2012 and developed from his MA research. This includes a section on ritual and spatial theory. [Talk / Lecture. Also available as a five or ten week evening class.]
  • Spaces for Words. Spaces for Symbols. - Non-conformist Chapels and Masonic Halls. Both were new building types built for new social groups, in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Though both new movements were similarly regarded with suspicion and targeted by legislation, their social organisation and buildings are completely different. Based on MA research. [Talk / Lecture]
  • The Subtle Qualities of Space. There is no such thing as an empty room. Our bodies and minds respond subtly to different locations within a space, and this affects both performance and ritual as experienced and as witnessed. This workshop is derived from those given by the drama theorist Clive Barker in the mid 1980s, which Nick Hanks attended. [Workshop]
  • The Tao Teh Ching - the way and its virtue. An introduction to this hugely influential and inspiring Chinese classic about 'the Way' and how to follow it. This talk goes beyond the origins and influence of this text to explore the concepts within it of the failure of success, nothing-wanting, nothing-knowing, nothing-doing and the success of failure. This talk heavily draws on the brilliant translation and commentary of the Tao Teh Ching by Herrymon Maurer. [Talk]

Landscape Archaeology

  • Reconstructing a Dragon's Tale: Sir Bevis of Hampton and the Snakewell, near Bristol. A lost standing stone and a fragmentary medieval cross with a heroes name plus a well associated with serpents all hint at a lost legendary dragon slaying. Combining other research and comparing it to the most common elements of British dragon tales this presentation ends with a telling of the reconstructed tale. This is based on research for the article published in 2007.  [Talk / Lecture]
  • Stanton Drew - Archaeology, History and Folklore. This covers all that is currently known about this impressive stone circle, from the folklore to the geophysical survey that transformed the view of the site. This is put in the wider context of other henges, and the Neolithic / Bronze Age of North Somerset. Ideally this will consist of a lecture in the morning and a field trip in the afternoon. [Talk / Lecture / Fieldtrip]
  • Brean Down - 10,000 years in 1 mile. This landscape has everything; glacial faunal deposits, field systems, a Bronze Age village, cairns, barrows, a hillfort, a Roman temple, a post-Roman cemetery, evidence of a tsunami, a failed port with the navvies' housing, a Napoleonic Coastal Fort, a World War II complex of buildings including training structures, special weapons testing equipment etc etc etc. Based on the detailed fieldwork and documentary research that he has carried out on this landscape. [Talk / Lecture / Fieldtrip]
  • Tyntesfield and Failand - the lost estates. They are both in the same parish, but the rural landscape from which they were both made has become remarkably different. One landscape completely changed, and people were excluded. The other preserved what was there before, and was made openly accessible. Tracing their story from prehistory to the present, but particularly looking at the effect of the 19th century owners. Based on the detailed fieldwork that he has carried out on these two estates. [Talk / Fieldtrip]
  • Ornaments and Oranges - the archaeology and history of Dyrham Park. Through looking at both the design of the house, its contents and the layout of the elaborate watergardens, an overall purpose can be discerned in William Blathwayt's house. His links with William of Orange, and the attitudes and developments of later Blathwayts will also be looked at. This presentation is based on his original fieldwork, documentary research and geophysical survey. [Talk / Fieldtrip]
  • The Green Frog Service - Why Put Landscapes on Plates? Catherine the Great commissioned this 944 piece dinner service from Josiah Wedgewood, with 1,222 images of Britain upon it. It was the very first European service to have real views upon it. She started the trend that continues to this day. It also became part of building the British national myth through representations of landscape. Based on research work done during his MA. [Talk / Lecture]
  • Getting to know MoRPHE (Managing of Research Projects in the Historic Environment). This is an introduction to the new standard of project management that all projects funded by English Heritage must now follow. It is aimed to provide familiarisation for this more flexible method of project management, which has evolved out of best practice such as MAP2 which specifically applied to excavation projects. The course will involve some explanation of project management in general, and specific examples of how MoRPHE helps in structuring the research work. Both of the Slaughterbridge Projects (STEP and TESP) are managed using MoRPHE. The MoRPHE guide is available at www.english-heritage.org.uk/publications. [Lecture]
  • Historic Environment Data - the Past and the Future. Who collects information on historic buildings and archaeology? What is collected? Why? How is the data useful to archaeologists? And most importantly how do you get access to it? The presentation introduces all of the online resources available from English Heritage such as Pastscape and the Heritage Gateway, but also includes what is available from Record Offices such as maps and aerial photographs. It also covers how to make use of these sources of information in assessing landscapes. [Talk / Lecture]
  • How to Assess Landscapes Archaeologically. This lectures covers briefly how to write archaeological landscape assessment reports and practical advice on how to do the fieldwork. Also how to do the desk-based assessment work; where the best sources of information are, and how to use them, in particular aerial photographs and maps. [Lecture / Fieldtrip]