Dr Hugh Willmott
Telephone: 0114 22 22940
E-mail: h.willmott@shef.ac.uk
Dr Hugh Willmott BA MA PhD FSA MIFA is a Lecturer in European Historical Archaeology.
Research Interests
Dr Willmott's main research interests lie in the archaeology of the later medieval and post-medieval period in Europe. More specifically he examines the development of early modern societies through the production, use and deposition of material culture. He is also a specialist in the archaeology of glass.
Current Projects
European Glass, Production and Consumption
I recently published the first overview of glass production in England from the Romans to the Victorians, and I have also drawn together for publication the extensive evidence for glassmaking in post-medieval London. I am currently working on production waste from Shinrone, County Offaly, Ireland and am undertaking a survey of Gloucestershire glassmaking sites in collaboration with Dr Kate Welham of Bournemouth University. As well as examining the evidence for production I have also published a number of works which have examined the consumption and discard of glass in Britain, Low Countries and the Dalmatian coast. The most recent of these, in collaboration with Dr Irena Lazar of the University of Primorska, Koper, has been the study of the glass cargo from a merchant vessel that sank off the coast of Croatia in the 1580s. This was published as a monograph in 2006, and this work be extended to other coastal sites in the region.
Dining in the Early Modern World
A further aspect of my research is the role that material culture played in dining rituals. Very few objects used at the table were purely functional in nature, and my work has examined the way that artefacts could be used to reinforce active social relationships. One out come of this research is a volume of papers, which I have edited with Dr Maureen Carroll and Dr Dawn Hadley, entitled Consuming Passions, Dining from Antiquity to the Eighteenth Century, published in 2005.
Post-Medieval Burial
There has been a considerable amount of research on death in the early modern world, particularly from sociological and commemorative points of view. However, rather less has been undertaken on the material culture that accompanied the body. I currently looking at the furnishings of death from the 16th to the 19th centuries, and examining how changes and elaboration of coffins and their associated furniture reflect attitudes to death and the treatment of the body.
Settlement and Society in Medieval Lincolnshire
For the last few years I have been excavating with Dr Dawn Hadley and Prof Andrew Chamberlain at West Halton Lincolnshire, a village that saw near continuous occupation from the 6th to the 15th century, seemingly focused upon the pre-existing Bronze Age mortuary landscape. Our excavations have revealed a ditched Anglo-Saxon enclosure, hall and industrial activity as well as an extremely well-preserved 14th-century manorial complex, partial excavation of which revealed an accommodation range with a number of garderobes, one pictured left (NB the loo seat is a reconstruction).
Teaching and Administration
My teaching concentrates on Britain and Europe, as well as the archaeology of material culture. I currently teach undergraduate courses on Research Skills in Archaeology, Later Historic Europe and Material Life and Culture in the Late Medieval and Early Modern World.
At masters level I am the Course Director for the MA in Material Culture Studies.
I am the undergraduate First Year Tutor and Exams Officer.
Research Supervision
I am interested in supervising research students at PhD level who have an interest in later historical archaeology or material culture research. I currently supervise the following graduate research students;
- Greig Parker- The role of the material environment in the formulation of social identity in post-medieval London
- Mary Shanks- The early modern London house, the growth of the city and suburbs
- James Thomson- The development of consumer groups in early colonial east-coast America
Other Activities
I am a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, and a Member of the Institute of Field Archaeologists.
| 
