On Saturday 2nd December the Community and guests gathered, at Howe Close, for a talk by researcher Dr Cormac Begadon (University of Durham). Cormac shared details and insights following exciting new finds at the excavation site of the Community’s old convent in Liège.
The talk, detailed below, was followed by Evening Prayer for the beginning of Advent, and afterwards a glass of mulled wine and mince pies.
You can read Cormac’s talk below:
‘From Georgian Spa Boxes to Asian Porcelain: what recent excavations at our last house in Liège tell us about convent and school life there in eighteenth-century ‘
“This paper brings to life the hidden world of the Canonesses, the arts and crafts, and their lives in eighteenth-century Liège. Over the last year, the Community’s former home on the rue Saint-Gilles has been subject to ongoing archaeological excavations, which have uncovered a wealth of important historical artefacts. From household crockery to Asian ornamental porcelain, these finds give us a rare insight into convent life in the years of Enlightenment.”