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Dr Crystal Hollis

@graffitiginger.bsky.social
651 followers 329 following 26 posts

Historian and archaeologist. Historic graffiti specialist. London history nerd. Church crawler. Theatre. Crochet.

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Reposted by Dr Crystal Hollis
Catherine Clarke @cathamclarke.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Rather than words comes the thought of high windows: The sun-comprehending glass, And beyond it, the deep blue air, that shows Nothing, and is nowhere, and is endless. (Philip Larkin) Church windows in Southbourne this evening.
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tag26exeter.bsky.social @tag26exeter.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Our call for papers is now open! Head to our website to check out the amazing 35 sessions that will be hosted during the conference. Deadline to submit abstracts is 5 pm BST, 7 September 2026.
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Almost done recovering from last week's heat wave and summer school, just in time to pack and get reaady for Leeds!!!
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Adam Chapman @adamchapman.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Hopefully exciting news for anyone interested in medieval religious communities in general and in Devon in particular. Paging @lsangha.bsky.social, @westgarthdes.bsky.social, @graffitiginger.bsky.social, @balhnews.bsky.social. #Skystorians
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Catherine Clarke @cathamclarke.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
The famous @ihr.bsky.social 'Pub Quiz' held as part of our annual #London #SummerSchool! Yes, that's colleagues @graffitiginger.bsky.social and @justincolson.bsky.social sniffing medicinal herbs to identify them - plus the winning team and star MC @beccameriel.bsky.social.
Crystal and Justin sniff those herbs... The triumohant team with (chocolate) medals and prizesRebecca posing questions while a team confers
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Kathleen E. Kennedy @themedievaldrk.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Friends, especially in the UK/EU, this is a public service message: remove all bananas from your bags Now, I repeat remove all bananas from your bags now. (This message brought to you by the number of Chicagoans I've seen over the past week dig horrifying, decaying banana goo out of their bags.)
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Kicking off @ihr.bsky.social summer school today. Will be a toasty but interesting week!
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Coleen Murphy @ctmurphy1.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
one anecdote: I was searching for a link to one of my old papers on Google, and the automated Gemini summary attributed all of my lab's work to my husband
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Dr Will Wyeth @willwyeth.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
🗣️ Medievalists! 🏰 Check out this page, we’ve done a reconstruction the medieval chapel at Chester Castle! www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places... Please share widely! There’s loads of info and *lovely* images from the repertoire of medieval art - and also more reconstructions!
english-heritage.org.uk
The Chester Castle Chapel Wall Paintings
The walls of the medieval chapel in the Agricola Tower at Chester Castle were richly painted around 1240 with scenes including miracles of the Virgin Mary and St Edward the Confessor. From the fragmen...
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
So excited for next week! It's going to be a fantastic time!
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Centre for the History of People, Place & Community @chppc.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
The incredible exhibition for the @ihr.bsky.social London Summer School 2026 (Sickness and Health) is ready! Creative direction by @beccameriel.bsky.social with additional brilliance from @graffitiginger.bsky.social. Check out the library mini exhibition too - all on the IHR lower-ground floor.
Photo of the exhibition featuring a range of historical sources, crocheted plague rats, and embroidered microbesLondon maps, embroidered microbes, facsimile cuttingsCrocheted rat on sources relating to cholera, with herbs and 'medicine' bottles beyondCrocheted rat and bar of soap, with information on the import of soap in the medieval London Custom Accounts behind
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Friends of Friendless Churches @friendlesschurches.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Built in the 14th century from ‘gingerbread’, St Mary’s, Fordham in Norfolk is a sweet little church. 1/11
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
Leicester cathedral- It had been absolutely chucking down rain a few minutes before I took this, but hopefully a worthy addition to #SteepleSaturday. #LeicesterCathedral #ChurchCrawling
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Malcolm Stoneman @malcolmstoneman.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
Church of St Ruan, #RuanMinor #Cornwall A 15th Century tower of serpentine, covered in creeper. #SteepleSaturday 🧵1/2
Creeper of brown & green covering the tower.
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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 16/08/2025
Never mind if walls could talk… …felled in 1358 we wonder what this oak post had seen?
We are looking at an oak post with lscarred and pitted with age including some sooty marks from candles.
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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 16/08/2025
#RomanSiteSaturday: the #Roman burial chamber of a wealthy family in Cologne-Weiden. The subterranean burial chamber (hypogaeum) dates back to the 2nd century AD. It's considered the best preserved of its kind north of the Alps. It was discovered... 🧵 1/2 #archaeology 🏺
A Roman burial chamber with stone walls and arched niches. Marble busts are placed in recessed alcoves on both sides, while a decorated sarcophagus stands in the center, carved with figures in relief. The room is dimly lit
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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 15/08/2025
Pedro Pascal might be in everything right now but we can confirm that he is not currently in The Museum of English Rural Life
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Bethan Briggs-Miller @bbmiiler.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
We need your help! The East Anglian Folklore Centre is having a fundraiser. We desperately want to keep our space open and have achieved so much this last year. But for it to continue we need your support. As little as 50p and a share would mean the world. www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding...
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Alison Fisk @alisonfisk.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
Roman floor tile with a sketch of a lighthouse (or space rocket? 🚀😉) The sketch was scratched into the wet clay before firing. Two Roman lighthouses flanked the harbour at Dover, the main base of the Roman fleet ‘Classis Britannica’. British Museum 📷 by me #TilesonTuesday #Archaeology
My photo shows a square Roman floor tile made of red clay. Inscribed into the clay is a drawing of what appears to be a Roman lighthouse (faros). The lighthouse has four storeys, which are stepped inwards at each level. Tile width 20 cm. Two Roman lighthouses flanked the harbour at Dover, the main base of the Roman fleet ‘Classis Britannica’. On display at the British Museum.
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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 12/08/2025
peace was never an option
The cover of a book titled 'MAKING THE DOVECOTE PAY' by Marion Cran
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Third bucket list church I've gotten to this year! Chesterfield sure is an interesting gem. #churchcrawling
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Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 30/07/2025
A marvellous scene of daily life for #ReliefWednesday: A #Roman funerary relief depicting the transport of two (wine?) barrels on a four wheeled cart pulled by two oxen. A #dog, probably the driver's beloved companion, is sitting on the barrels. 🧵1/2 🏺 #archaeology
A detail of a stone relief depicting a barrel on cart, on top of which a dog is lying.The image depicts a stone relief carving showing an ox-drawn cart. The cart has large wooden wheels and carries a barrel, on top of which a dog is lying. A person sits on the cart holding the reins and guiding the ox.
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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 29/07/2025
It's #internationaltigerday and we love jumping on a bandwagon. However we are a medieval Hall so...you know...we don't have much in our collections that is tiger related. Actually we have nothing tiger related. But we know they like tea as Judith Kerr told us. So here's a fancy silver tea pot.
We are looking at a silver tea pot with a wooden handle. There is an engraved Coat of Arms on the front. Imagine a tiger pouring himself a big cup of tea using it.
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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
nothing beats a Jet 2 holiday - but if it could, it would be The Museum of English Rural Life
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Ragged Robin @carolineirwin3.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
#TraceryTuesday from St Wilfrid's, Old Arley, Warwickshire.
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Laura Tompkins @aliceperrers.bsky.social · 24/07/2025
CFP: Leeds IMC 2026 The Society for Fourteenth-Century Studies invites papers on any aspect of the long 14thC across the Plantagenet estates. 📅 6–9 July 2026 📨 Title + abstract by 31 Aug 2025 ✉️ Laura.Tompkins@hrp.org.uk & dgreen@harlaxton.ac.uk
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Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Part of a building dedication to the Emperor Antoninus Pius by the Sixth Legion which was found at Chesters Roman Fort on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland. Now on display in the site museum. 📸 My own. #EpigraphyTuesday #RomanBritain #HadriansWall
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Lars S. Sørensen @handansken.eurosky.social · 29/07/2025
Just because you all need more archaeological sites and finds in your feed. The ship burial at Gokstad near Sandefjord, Southeastern Norway, was excavated in 1880. The ship had a length of 23 m and is dated to around 890 AD. The ship was in use for about 10 years before being used as a burial ship.
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 28/07/2025
Flying visit to St. Petrox in Dartmouth. Have to say the skylights were a bit of a surprise! #churchcrawling #churcharchaeology
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John Vigar FSA @johnevigar.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
For the Feast Day of St Christopher we find this 15c roundel at Denton Church, Norfolk.
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Malcolm Stoneman @malcolmstoneman.bsky.social · 26/07/2025
Church of St Wulfram’s, #Grantham #Lincolnshire West tower, the main feature of which is the crocketed spire. 86 metres (282 feet tall in total. Lucarnes with ballflowers at lower level, plain on the level above. Peregrine falcons were circling. #SteepleSaturday
Tall tower, with angle buttresses & spire above.
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Antiquity Journal @antiquity.ac.uk · 23/07/2025
#RockArt hints at the origin of Egyptian kings 🏺 Analysis of a rock engraving near Aswan, Egypt, indicates it may depict an elite individual from the First Dynasty, shedding light on the formation of the #AncientEgyptian state. A powerful #AntiquityThread 1/16 🧵
The rock art panel, engraved with a depiction of a boat supporting a human figure on a palanquin-like structure (credit: Dorian Vanhulle, AKAP).
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Association of English Cathedrals @englishcathedrals.co.uk · 23/07/2025
The only medieval Cathedral with three spires. @lichfieldcathedral.bsky.social has many treasures including the Lichfield Angel, discovered in 2003, a remarkable survival of Saxon sculpture. Dated to c800 it is thought to have formed part of a tomb presumably that of St Chad. > buff.ly/3iSV9OS
Lichfield Cathedral
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Fiona Chartres @chartresfi.bsky.social · 21/07/2025
After an excellent talk about graffiti on glass by @graffitiginger.bsky.social at Leicester Guildhall last night here's my favourite teeny skull in the very same building for #MementoMoriMonday
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Can't believe it's already Wednesday! Really looking forward to returning to Leicester.
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Ronnie Neilson @ronnie11.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Aberlemno Pictish stone @stoneclub.bsky.social @megalithic.bsky.social #pictishstone #pict
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 11/07/2025
Join me in just over a week's time in Leicester! We'll be talking about graffiti and glazier's marks 😎 can't wait to see you all! #historicgraffiti #leicestermuseums #archaeology #graffiti www.leicestermuseums.org/event-detail...
leicestermuseums.org
Event Details – Leicester Museums
Details for Leicester Museums & Galleries events and exhibitions programme.
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Paul Blinkhorn @paulblinkhorn.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Curiously, the Roman roof tiles used to build the Saxon arch were brought from Leicester, over 40km from Brixworth, despite there being the ruins of a villa about a mile from the church. Brixworth was originally a Romanesque basilica, and the Saxon arch was internal and flanked the nave.
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Paul Timlett @timlettphotography.bsky.social · 19/04/2025
Huge thank you to @graffitiginger.bsky.social and Tony Hack for showing me the medieval graffiti in the tower of St. Giles church, Imber today. A once in a lifetime experience. #photography
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 17/04/2025
Early morning start today.
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Malcolm Stoneman @malcolmstoneman.bsky.social · 13/04/2025
👀 St Malachy's Church, #Belfast A stuccoed fan vaulted ceiling in imitation of Henry VII Chapel, #WestminsterAbbey #SundayStonework #alwayslookup #CeilingsOnSunday #Tudor Revival #Architecture
Stuccoed fan vaulted ceiling.
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
Taking advantage of the weather while it's still nice. Then it's back to churches for me! #springtime #woodland #wander
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History and Heritage Yorkshire @handhyorkshire.bsky.social · 12/04/2025
'The Monastery of Fountaynes in Yorkshire a Cell of Clareuale Founded in the yeare of Or. Lord MCXXXII ' Drawn and engraved by Daniel King, Published in William Dugdale's Monsaticon Anglicanum or The history of the ancient abbies, and other monasteries, hospitals, cathedral and
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Closing soon! Looking for submissions on communities, spaces, and structures. Feel free to get in touch! #CallForPapers #Cfp #Medieval trivent-publishing.eu/blog/post/33...
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Dr James Alexander Cameron @drjacameron.stainedglassattitudes.com · 10/04/2025
pleased to announce my Collection now has an Ely. Now if I can just find good drone 360s of Lichfield, Chichester. Also St Asaph, Bangor, St Davids, Southwell and Ripon.
Blender screen of my main size order file. Ely is highlighted in orange next to Winchester, although arguably Winchester was the more ambitious initial build, Ely filled out more afterwards by actually having a west block built. Behind Ely is Salisbury, Canterbury, Durham, Westminster Abbey, Lincoln, York, New St Paul London and Old St Paul London.The Ely model in my old working doc that was based on measured ground plans rather than new sourced measurements so some of these are wrong. Still I thought I would bring it in. It's upper of the bottom right three, with tiny Rochester and spired Norwich.Overhead view of my original medieval English Cathedrals working doc. Missing are models of Lichfield and Chichester, also the Welsh Cathedrals (which were under Canterbury, sorry Wales) of St Davids, St Asaph and Bangor, and the two satellite collegiate churches of Ripon and Southwell.
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Lily Mars @lilymarswrites.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
OMG HOW COULD I HAVE MISSED ABSOLUTE UNIT DAY *sobs* @theantim.bsky.social @clairmail.bsky.social
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Dr Crystal Hollis @graffitiginger.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
An up close look at Mary and an infant Christ in Exeter cathedral's east window. There's so much more detail in all of these windows than we can see from standing on the ground. I love spotting all the repairs! #stainedglassSunday
A stained glass window showing Mary holding an infant Christ
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Kevin Wilbraham @kpw1453.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Vine and trefoil scrollwork - part of the Saxon frieze from the Church of St Mary and St Hardulph at Breedon on the Hill in Leicestershire. 📸 My own. #SaxonSunday #SundayStonework #Breedon
Anglo-Saxon vine and trefoil scrollwork from the Church of St Mary and St Hardulph.
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Merchant Adventurers’ Hall @merchantshallyork.org · 30/03/2025
Forgot it was #mothersday? Oh you’re in big trouble. Luckily we can help - just show her these spring flowers from our garden: We have tulips, magnolia, snakeshead fritillary, hyacinth and ‘Aurora’ Crown Imperial fritillary. Worthy of the best mum!
We are looking at an assortment of spring flowes in colours if white, pink, purple, orange and white.
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John Vigar FSA @johnevigar.bsky.social · 30/03/2025
Rood screen Worstead, Norfolk. Painted foliage and flowers. Dimension is added by the use of moulded gesso. Dated 1512
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