Pontefract & District Archaeology & History Society
Looking forward…to learning more about our past

About

The aims of our Society are to foster and promote the

study of archaeology and its contribution to history,

especially in and around Pontefract.

A brief look back at the Society and some well-

known members

PontArc (as it is increasingly being called) is over sixty years old. From four members of an evening class, sitting on a tomb- chest in All Saints churchyard to one of the country’s leading town archaeological societies has been a long and often rocky road, but thanks to its members the Society now has a string of awards, publications and even television credits to its name. Any society is the sum of its members, and PontArc has certainly been lucky in that respect. From the beginning, a number of prominent archaeologists joined the infant organisation, and several of its subsequent members gained national fame over the years. The four founders called a public meeting in All Saints Parish Hall which resulted in the Society being officially launched in the spring of 1957. By 1960 there were thirty-five members, whilst today there are well over a hundred. The first President was C Vincent Bellamy, whose WEA Evening Class had sparked the Society’s birth. The current holder of that office is Dr Peter Addyman CBE, founding Director of the York Archaeological Trust, discoverer of Coppergate, and one of the most influential archaeologists of the last half century. Our  new Vice-President is Tony Wilmott, who is Senior Archaeologist at Historic England. Amongst the group of enthusiasts who joined immediately following the first meeting, was a schoolboy, our retiring Chairman of 2022. Today he is a respected archaeological site photographer and Past Chairman of the Council for British Archaeology’s Yorkshire Regional Group. .
Preside

President:

Dr P V Addyman, CBE, DSc, DUniv, MA, FSA, MIFA

Vice-President:

Tony Wilmott, BA, MA, FSA, MCIfA, Senior Archaeologist, Historic England

Chairman:

Jane Hawkins CISSP, Bsc
Pontefract & District Archaeology & History Society
Looking forward…to learning more about our past

About

The aims of our Society are to foster and promote the

study of archaeology and its contribution to history,

especially in and around Pontefract.

A brief look back at the Society and some well-

known members

PontArc (as it is increasingly being called) is over sixty years old. From four members of an evening class, sitting on a tomb- chest in All Saints churchyard to one of the country’s leading town archaeological societies has been a long and often rocky road, but thanks to its members the Society now has a string of awards, publications and even television credits to its name. Any society is the sum of its members, and PontArc has certainly been lucky in that respect. From the beginning, a number of prominent archaeologists joined the infant organisation, and several of its subsequent members gained national fame over the years. The four founders called a public meeting in All Saints Parish Hall which resulted in the Society being officially launched in the spring of 1957. By 1960 there were thirty-five members, whilst today there are well over a hundred. The first President was C Vincent Bellamy, whose WEA Evening Class had sparked the Society’s birth. The current holder of that office is Dr Peter Addyman CBE, founding Director of the York Archaeological Trust, discoverer of Coppergate, and one of the most influential archaeologists of the last half century. Our  new Vice-President is Tony Wilmott, who is Senior Archaeologist at Historic England. Amongst the group of enthusiasts who joined immediately following the first meeting, was a schoolboy, our retiring Chairman of 2022. Today he is a respected archaeological site photographer and Past Chairman of the Council for British Archaeology’s Yorkshire Regional Group. .

President:

Dr P V Addyman, CBE, DSc, DUniv, MA, FSA, MIFA

Vice-President:

Tony Wilmott, BA, MA, FSA, MCIfA, Senior Archaeologist, Historic England

Chairman:

Jane Hawkinsr, CISSP BSc
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