The Merseyside Archaeological Society Today

Membership

Some twenty-five years later, the membership of the Merseyside Archaeological Society currently stands at 101 full or concessionary members 14 family members and 18 institutional members. Membership runs for 12 months from January to January though exception is sometimes made for those joining late in the year!

Lecture and Field Meetings

The Annual General Meeting is held on the third Thursday in April.

An events sub-committee is responsible for organising a series of lecture meetings on the third Thursday of each month between September and April. These meetings are free to members but a small charge of £1 is made for visiting non-member - see Evening Lectures.

During the summer months the sub-committee also organised several Saturday field trips to places of historical and archaeological interest and, if possible, one residential weekend away each year is also organised by the Events sub-committee.

Other Society Activities

The Merseyside Archaeological Society’s Graveyard Survey Group is currently working on a survey of the graveyard at Childwall Parish Church.  This small group, which is able to provide on site training, is always seeking new members.  The group will be organising a display and demonstration on Saturday 31st July and Sunday 1st August, over the period of the National Festival of Archaeology, and will welcome visitors and members of the Society interested in learning more. More details can be found on the Fieldwork page.

The Society regularly contributes to the National Festival of Archaeology and in 2009 organised a poster display and two days of conducted tours of the nationally important Neolithic burial monument, the Calderstones.  Members of the Society also supervised 5-days of excavation and survey at the National Trust Property, Speke Hall, under the overall direction of Carolanne King, archaeologist for the National Trust.  Excavation in the new orchard demonstrated that archaeology had survived at a considerable depth below the present surface in the area where the old farm buildings were thought to have existed.

The Society regularly takes a stall at local history fairs in Cheshire, Wirral and at the annual Local History Fair held in St George’s Hall, Liverpool as well at meetings of the Council for British Archaeology (North West).  These occasions provide an ideal opportunity to bring the activities of the Society to the wider archaeological and historical public and also offer an opportunity to sell copies of our Journals and other publications.

Conferences

The Society arranges a major conference approximately every 3 years, the proceedings of which are included, whenever possible, in the next Journal. Recent conferences include:

• A Quarter Century of Archaeology on Merseyside held on 10th November 2001;
• The Archaeology of Merseyside 1500 to 1750 on 15th November 2003;
• Building the Future, Revealing the Past: The Archaeology of Merseyside 1750-1900 on 18th October 2008.

The proceedings of the 2001 and 2003 conferences were published in Volume 12 of the Merseyside Archaeological Society Journal.

Involvement with other Institutions

University of Liverpool

i)  Merseyside Archaeological Society currently provides an annual prize to the first year undergraduate student in the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology (SACE), University of Liverpool, who attains the highest marks in the examination on ‘Methods in Archaeology’.

ii)  Members of the Society are welcome at all open lectures organised through the School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology.  A list of lectures which include topics from British and European prehistory to the archaeology of the Ancient Near East are reproduced in the quarterly Society Newsletters.

iii)  _ 'Debbie Reynolds' 'Debbie Reynolds'

The Merseyside Archaeological Society has also agreed to provide the skill and expertise to assist with the production of and final publication of a booklet to accompany the exhibition.

Centre for Lifelong Learning – Continuing Education

Merseyside Archaeological Society liases with course providers to present modules on many different aspects of archaeology.

Museum of Liverpool (Field Archaeology Unit)

Merseyside Archaeological Society publishes grey literature/past excavations undertaken by museum staff  and is contributing material for the new Museum of Liverpool History Detective Gallery Mapping interactive

Merseyside Archaeological Services  (Sarah-Jane)

Merseyside Archaeological Society members contribute to and use the facilities provided by the Service, primarily the Historic Environment Record.

Merseyside Industrial History Society

Merseyside Archaeological Society participates in joint meetings and field trips.

CBA North West

Merseyside Archaeological Society is affiliated to this body.

Norton Priory

Merseyside Archaeological society members have provided assistance at Open Days.

National Trust

Merseyside Archaeological Society members have supervised and participated in field work carried out at Speke Hall.

Liverpool City Council

Merseyside Archaeological Society contributes towards the on-going debate regarding the future of The Calderstones.

Aims and Objectives of the Merseyside Archaeology Society today

Due to changes in archaeological practise and the passage of time, the Merseyside Archaeological Society has moved forward and changed direction marginally since its inception in 1976, although the aims and objectives of the Society remain today much as those set out above. Full Rules of the Society are available to download.