Researching a parish history
Current research project
Having for years dreamt about writing a parish history I have at last settled on Reculver. Judicious purchasing of reference works has reminded me how much background reading to the sources is necessary before undertaking a venture of this nature, although at 67 I hope to have long enough to complete it, DV ! One plus point of course is that unlike most places whose recorded history might begin with Domesday Book at the earliest, here we start with the Roman fort of Regulbium and the important Anglo-Saxon church of St Augustine founded in A.D. 669. Thus there is much to consider between then and the intrusive and unsightly modern caravan site so horribly close to such venerable remains. It is just as well that the site is guarded by English Heritage for otherwise what would be left in a another generation? I have already witnessed partial destruction and losses since my own childhood. Sic transit gloria mundi.
Update: March 2023
I am approaching two years of work on the history of Reculver parish and have now more or less covered all the printed sources, but the parochial and other manuscript record collections now beckon and will almost certainly be equally time-consuming. After that the analysis and writing-up will probably take another year - in all a long but pleasurable task, but as I have said before, thousands of parish histories still await a dedicated individual to tackle them. My ongoing bibliography is a quick and handy summary of what needs to be covered - drop me a line if you have any questions.
