Archives and Artefacts: Exploring the past through the work of E.T. Leeds and A2A

Ashmolean Museum, Arthur MacGregor - Heritage Lottery Fund, Oxfordshire County Council

Principal Investigator / Director: Arthur MacGregor

Oxford participants: Arthur Grant MacGregor; Jonathan Moffett; Alison Roberts

Other Participants: not specified

Project Webpage: http://www.ashmolean.org/ash/amps/leeds/

Start Date: 01/06/2004

End Date: 31/01/2006

Funder: Heritage Lottery Fund, Oxfordshire County Council

Partner organizations (inside or outside Oxford): Access to Archives; Oxfordshire County Council

 

 

Project Description:

The Ashmolean Museum holds the documentary archive of Edward Thurlow Leeds, 1877-1955, who was an eminent archaeologist and former Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum. As an archaeologist and scholar, E T Leeds was best known for his contribution to Anglo-Saxon studies. He was the first to integrate documentary and archaeological evidence to study the historical past with particular reference to Oxfordshire. He was also the first to excavate an Anglo-Saxon site at Sutton Courtenay and he invested much time in the study of Anglo-Saxon settlement in Britain. As part of the Access to Archives programme this archive has been conserved, organised and catalogued. E.T. Leeds excavated and acquired a large number of artefacts for the Ashmolean Museum. Many of these objects, particularly those from Oxfordshire, have been recorded and documented. Additional information gathered from the Oxfordshire Record Office and the Oxfordshire Sites and Monuments Record has also been used to enhance the Leeds archive.