An unusual exhibition has gone on display at the Washburn Heritage Centre adjoining St Michael and St Lawrence church in Fewston, near Harrogate, documenting a major scientific study of the lives of 154 local people from the 19th century who were buried in the churchyard.
The Bishop of Leeds, Rt Revd Nick Baines opened the Churchyard Secrets Revealed exhibition at the weekend, meeting families and descendants of those who were the subject of the seven year study by scientists from Durham and York Universities.
An unusual pair of exhibits in the exhibition are two reconstructed heads from the Assemblage, George Lister and Elizabeth Dibb. They were created by the Face Lab at Liverpool John Moores University,
Last year a special service (pictured right) was held to mark the reburiel of artifacts and remains known as the ‘Fewston Assemblage’ which has been carefully moved and examined during the building of the Washburn Heritage Centre. Local descendants of those whose remains were discovered, were involved throughout the project and took part in the service for all those whose remains have now been returned to burial plots beside the church.
As part of the exhibition documenting the findings, a series of illustrated talks will be given over the next three months at the Washburn Heritage Centre by some of the team involved in the research. Dr Anwen Caffell , a bio-archologist from York University, will speak on ‘From bare bones to biographies – investigating life in the Valley’ on February 23rd while Drs Camilla Speller, Michelle Alexander and Rebecca Gowland will be explaining about what the research has thrown up about life in the Washburn Valley, in another talk in March, ‘Tales from teeth and toenails’ .
Dr Caffell says the scientific findings, revealed in the new exhibition, were only possible because of the involvement and support of the local community: “Having the support of the local descendants was very important. We have been coming back here quite regularly and giving talks about the results of our findings over the past five years, so they have been with us every step of the way. But it’s been a two-way street and they have been telling us information about the local context, there are lots of volunteers here doing historical research on the identified individuals… from our perspective that has been very rewarding.”
The exhibition and talks, as well as an accompanying booklet and short film have been made possible with support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Liz and Terry Bramall Foundation. The exhibition can be viewed on Sundays from 11am-4pm when the tea-room is open.
More information and details at www.washburnvalley.org