Thomas Bateman: A Derbyshire Antiquary :: Medieval Archaeology Essays

Thomas Bateman: A Derbyshire Antiquary Thomas Bateman was born in 1821 at Rowsley, in the Derbyshire Peak District. His archaeological career, though relatively brief, is noteworthy both for its abundance, and the fact that his barrow-openings in Derbyshire and Staffordshire provide virtually the only evidence for the early Medieval archaeology of the Peak District and the elusive Peak Dwellers. Thomas's father, William Bateman, was an amateur antiquarian and pursued his pastime in accomplishing the excavation of a number of barrows on the family estate at Middleton. When William Bateman died in 1835 aged only 38, Thomas's upbringing and education were taken in hand by his grandfather. Thomas was educated at the non-conformist academy at Bootle, and from 1837 assisted in running the family estate, while in his spare time exploring the peakland, hunting, shooting, collecting flints and examining the many local ancient monuments. Bateman became a keen student of archaeology and read and was greatly influenced by Sir Richard Colt Hoare's seminal work Ancient Wiltshire. In 1841, Thomas reached his majority and set up his own house in Bakewell. He pursued an illicit affair with Mary Ann Mason, the wife of a boatman on the Cromford Canal, and for a some years they lived together as husband and wife, though they never married. Bateman's archaeological career began by observing the demolition of Bakewell's Medieval church. In 1843, he joined the newly formed British Archaeological Association, set up as a reaction to the influence of the Society of Antiquaries. Bateman attended the Canterbury Archaeological Congress of 1844 with Mary Mason, passing her off as his wife. At about this time, Bateman built his own country house, Lomberdale, at Middleton, where he continued to live with Mary Mason. The house incorporated many of the architectural fragments rescued from Bakewell Church and Bateman set up a museum there to hold his growing archaeological and ethnographic collection. Barrow Digging 1845-1861 Bateman's career as a barrow digger began in the 1840's. While at the 1844 Canterbury Congress he, along with other delegates, excavated a number of barrows in the countryside around Canterbury. In 1845, Bateman excavated 38 barrows in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and was dubbed the Barrow Knight in a poem by fellow antiquarian Stephen Isaacson. In 1845 and 1846 Bateman toured the north of England with Mary Mason, and carried out excavations in York, where construction of the new railway was levelling a part of the city walls.