Dr Sally Spong
LightNews LightNews
banner
drsalspong.bsky.social
Dr Sally Spong
@drsalspong.bsky.social
1.2K followers 1.5K following 430 posts
Medievalist. First gen. Obsessed with all things 1050-1250. Political, cultural, social history, England & France. Currently researching women and rebellion. #churchcrawling. Annoyed by (VERY) Long Covid. Owned by a mini wire-haired Dachshun
Posts Replies Media Videos
drsalspong.bsky.social
Feast day of St Martin of Tours. 15th C Laon Cathedral #medieval
Statue of a man dressed in the uniform of a Roman soldier, on horseback, turning to face the viewer. His leg, and both arms are missing, but his cloak (the main part of his legend) is visible to the left, draped over both Martin and his horse.
November 11, 2025 at 11:06 AM
Reposted by Dr Sally Spong
mthrjo.bsky.social
This is utterly disgraceful.
chriso-wiki.bsky.social ChrisO_wiki @chriso-wiki.bsky.social · 2d
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 12:56 PM
drsalspong.bsky.social
Laon Cathedral
Memorial to the dead of the Great War. Above the text are the emblems for India, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and Newfoundland. The text is in both English and French, and reads: To the glory of God and to the memory of one million dead of the British Empire who fell in the Great War 1914-1918 and of whom the greater part rest in France
November 9, 2025 at 9:22 AM
drsalspong.bsky.social
Walking on gorgeous Therfield Heath today, so here are some #tombsonTuesday. The Heath is an ancient chalk landscape and home to tumuli and barrows spanning several thousand years. Most of it is still common land. More info in alt text. Bonus points for spotting smol dog
View of hilly grassland, some of which has been mown as it's a golf course. On the centre right is a wood, of which this section is mostly beech trees. A chalk path can be seen on the left, winding up the hill. To it's right is a round tumuli emerging from the rough grass. Another tumuli can just be seen on the top of the hill, up and to the right of the first. These are both early bronze age. At the bottom left of image is a wire-haired dachshund, snuffling about in the grass. This image shows the next ridge along. Again, the chalk path can be seen to the left and to its right three tumuli are visible on the crest of the hill. To their right, a neolithic long barrow can just be seen on the horizon.
November 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
drsalspong.bsky.social
An early #mementomoriMonday for All Hallows Eve.
Gravestone covered in lichen, moss, and shrouded by ivy. The top of the stone displays carved shrouded curtains, which are tied back to reveal a skull.
October 31, 2025 at 8:35 PM
drsalspong.bsky.social
Spotted in the wall at Bath Spa Uni yesterday @pavementgeology.bsky.social #stoneworkSunday
The wall of a building containing a large-ish fossil used as construction material. The fossil looks like an ammonite, but I could be completely wrong!
October 26, 2025 at 9:42 AM
drsalspong.bsky.social
@thecrimeagents.bsky.social Just as you were saying.
theatlantic.com The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · 16d
After two tiaras, two brooches, two necklaces, and 1.5 pairs of earrings were stolen from the Louvre, France reacted with humiliation and apoplexy—but “how nice to read about a heist rather than a massacre,” Caity Weaver writes:
In Praise of Jewel Thieves
How nice to read about a heist rather than a massacre
bit.ly
October 26, 2025 at 8:23 AM
drsalspong.bsky.social
'Alexa. Show me a dog who has totally got it made.' #dogsofbsky #dachshund
A very handsome* mini wire-haired dachshund lounging on a red sofa with his head propped on a cushion. *opinions are my own
October 21, 2025 at 12:43 PM
drsalspong.bsky.social
A reminder of life before vaccines. #memorialsMonday #earlymodern All Saints, Southill 📷 my own
Wall memorial to members of the Ringsted family, commemorating - amongst others - 'Four of their sons John, George, Charles, and Ralph, who were cut off in their bloom of life by that fatal distemper the small pox'
October 20, 2025 at 9:37 AM
drsalspong.bsky.social
Not much beats an autumnal Green Lane.
Image shows a sunken lane in north Herts. The bottom of the lane is deep is in fallen leaves, while the trees curve overhead to form a tunnel winding away down the hill.
October 18, 2025 at 7:49 AM
drsalspong.bsky.social
Designed by Sir Albert Richardson in 1937 and dedicated to Joscelyne Whitbread, daughter of Samuel Howard and Madeline Whitbread, who died in 1936, aged 29. All Saints, Southill. #fontsonFriday @poorfrankraw.co.uk any idea who did the lettering? 📷 my own More info in alt text
Beautifully carved round bowl of pale stone, sitting on a slim pedestal. This is mounted on a small octagonal base, which sits on a larger octagonal surround, all of the same stone. Around the edge of the basin is carved the name Joscelyne Whitbread. The Whitbreads were a local Bedfordshire family who made their fortune from brewing. Since 1795 the family have owned and lived in Southill Park, next to the church. My ancestors are documented as living in the village from as early as the first surviving records in the 1500s.
October 17, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Reposted by Dr Sally Spong
ads-update.bsky.social
⭐ The ADS Data Catalogue is Live!⭐

Explore hundreds of thousands of archaeological resources including over 100,000 reports and 5,000 archive collections.

👉To find out more and start exploring visit buff.ly/BMulYqQ
October 15, 2025 at 9:03 AM
drsalspong.bsky.social
Nature doing what nature does. Autumnal churchyard bench #woodensday 📷 my own
Part of a wooden bench covered in vigorously growing moss and lichens.
October 15, 2025 at 6:55 AM
drsalspong.bsky.social
Exquisite. 2 of 4 semi-circular enamels depicting the evangelists. End of 12th beginning of 13th century. Troyes cathedral treasury. 📷 my own #medievalMonday more info in alt text
Set together to form a circle, each enamel is set in gold and surrounded by precious stones (including, I think, citrines and an amethyst), with floral and filigree gold decorative work surrounding them. Some of the other stones appear to be intaglios, though it's hard to make out what they show. Even though there wasn't any information on the display, my guess is that they are probably re-used Roman intaglios. The left semi-circle depicts Matthew as an angel, while the right is an eagle to represent John.
October 13, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Reposted by Dr Sally Spong
jdmccafferty.bsky.social
The "Vienna" model or sample book, c. 1410-20. An aid for workshops and travelling artists so that they had a stock of motifs & shapes. Silverpoint drawing on paper, maple wood, leather. Dimensions: 9.5 cm × 9 cm. A small thing. (Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)
October 7, 2025 at 8:48 PM
drsalspong.bsky.social
Lovely people of Suffolk (and nearby bits of Cambs & Essex). Happening on Oct 11th in Suffolk's smallest town to fundraise for the school. Bar, Food, and laughs!
claredoescustardcomedy.eventbrite.co.uk
October 6, 2025 at 8:44 PM
drsalspong.bsky.social
#medievalMonday Laon Cathedral 📷 my own
Image of cathedral nave, with aisles visible through early gothic arches. At the far end is a massive rose window filled with medieval stained glass, with three lancet windows underneath it, also filled with medieval stained glass. The nave does not have much seating, giving it a much more authentic medieval feel.
October 6, 2025 at 8:16 AM
Reposted by Dr Sally Spong
tessmachling.bsky.social
Meanwhile, in 'ya don't f*king say' land, Reform discover that governing ain't quite so easy...

' "Everyone thought we'd come in and there were going to be these huge costs we could cut away but there just aren't," said a third senior Reform cabinet member in Kent. '
Reform poised to raise Kent council tax as Musk-inspired attack on costs falters ANNA GROSS - KENT Kent's local authority will probably raise council tax rates next year as Reform UK struggles to find big savings under an Elon Musk-inspired cost-cutting drive. Kent was one of 10 councils that Nigel Farage's rightwing populist party seized in a swath of local election victories in May. He vowed to save "a lot of money" by abolishing "wasteful" spending. But Diane Morton, Reform's cabinet member for adult social care on Kent county council, told the Financial Times that services were already "down to the bare bones". an "We've got more demand than ever before and it's growing," she said, stress-ing she did not believe access to those services should be limited. "We just want more money." As with many local authorities in England, the bulk of Kent's budget went on adult and chil-dren's social care, as well as on children with special educational needs, which together accounted for about 50 per cent of its £2.5bn annual expenditure. All councils have a legal duty to bal-ance their books and will set next year's budgets in February or March. Ahead of that, most councils in England are expected to increase council tax by 5 per cent, the maximum allowed. "I think it's going to be 5 per cent," Morton said of where Kent would land on tax rises, adding that every 1 per cent increase equated to an extra £10mn. Council leader Linden Kemkaran, a former BBC journalist, said Kent was a test bed for the party's national policies and the "shop window through which everybody is going to see what a Reform government might look like". She declined to say whether council tax would be raised but other Reform coun-cillors said they wanted to avoid hitting the full 5 per cent. Reform's experience highlights some of the obstacles it may face in national government if it won the next general election and pursued its pledge to slash taxes and spending. "Everyone thought we'd come …
October 6, 2025 at 7:08 AM
drsalspong.bsky.social
What lies beneath. #ceilingsonSunday #alwayslookup Église Saint-Pantaléon, Troyes. Repairs ongoing... 📷 my own More info in alt text
The wooden ceiling of the church - which should be covered and decorated - can be seen exposed. The planks have the remnants of plaster on them, so are off-white in colour. The ceiling bosses can clearly be seen at the intersections. The ceiling is supported by pillars which have been seriously baroqued in the middle and upper sections. The church itself is a total mash-up of architectural styles, all slamming into each other, but is crazily appealing. It wins the prize for the most plastic flowers and lace doilies around an altar I have ever seen, and desperately needs a lot of money to stop more bits of it falling into the nave and aisles.
October 5, 2025 at 5:35 PM
drsalspong.bsky.social
Ooh! This looks excellent.
October 2, 2025 at 6:32 PM
drsalspong.bsky.social
A bit of late 17th century woodwork for #adoorableThursday Chapelle Notre-Dame de Compassion, Bulle, Switzerland
Carved, wooden doors into the church. The wood is light coloured (it looked like walnut), and decorated with scrolls, arches, pillars, cherub-heads, and flowers. The date 1688 is on the surrounding stonework.
October 2, 2025 at 12:32 PM
drsalspong.bsky.social
Magnificent moustache #woodensday Bench end at St Peter's, Coton
Carved, wooden bench end of a man's head with a full, droopy moustache and long, curling beard.
October 1, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Reposted by Dr Sally Spong
ryanmarino.bsky.social
This is why we fund scientists to study things like oyster slobber even if you don’t think it sounds important
leahmcelrath.bsky.social Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · Sep 29
⚠️ Chinese researchers have invented bone glue that mimics how oysters stick to surfaces underwater.

The adhesive can reportedly repair orthopedic fractures in 2-3 minutes, even in blood-rich environments, and is bioabsorbable.

interestingengineering.com/science/chin...
China's oyster-inspired 'bone glue' bonds fractures in minutes
A new oyster-inspired Bone-02 adhesive can revolutionize bone repair without metal fasteners.
interestingengineering.com
September 30, 2025 at 10:35 PM
drsalspong.bsky.social
The sort of history I absolutely love.
yvbsg.bsky.social Yorkshire Vernacular Buildings Study Group @yvbsg.bsky.social · Oct 1
#WindowsOnWednesday Some workroom windows, including dairies and cheese rooms, were exempt from window tax if clearly labelled as such.
Dairy window in Hurstwood, Lancashire. Dairy window in Old Chamber, West Yorkshire. Dairy window in Cropton, North Yorkshire. Dairy window in Eastwood, West Yorkshire.
October 1, 2025 at 6:41 AM
drsalspong.bsky.social
Dating to 1472 (date on the fireplace), the Maison du Dauphin is one of the oldest house in Troyes. #medievalMonday 📷 my own
The beautifully wonky end-gable wall of a timber-framed house. The rendered walls are washed in an ochre colour, with the window frames and drain pipes in red. In front are cobbles, and to the left is a later building
September 29, 2025 at 2:31 PM