Courtenay Arthur Ralegh Radford Collection: further correspondence and notes

This collection contains correspondence, notes and images relating to Ralegh Radford.

The first part (MS 325/1) is an envelope containing photographs, notes, and a letter from the British Museum on the bones of St. Edward, 1974.

The second part (MS 325/2) is an envelope containing letters (from J A Giuseppi) and a photograph dating from 1956, relating to a medieval copper bowl found at the Bank of England in 1933.

The third part (MS 325/3) is an envelope containing a letter from J Gould (dated 1 Sep 1973) and a photograph relating to a stone cross in Leek church.

The fourth part (MS 325/4) is an envelope containing ten photographs of various churches and cathedrals. The original envelope is dated 1974.

The fifth part (MS 325/5) is an envelope containing photographs and postcards of various churches and church related artwork, n.d.

The sixth part (MS 325/6) is a folder containing illustrations and photographs relating to Pennant Melangell, Montgomeryshire. The original envelope dates from 1959.

The seventh part (MS 325/7) is an envelope containing postcards depicting church bells, made by John Taylor of Loughborough, n.d.

The eighth part (MS 325/8) is an envelope containing typed notes and plans about an archaeological excavation at Lydford, Devon, 1964.

The ninth part (MS 325/9) is an envelope containing a letter and two photographs about an archaeological excavation at Lufton, Somerset, 1950.

The tenth part (MS 325/10) is an envelope containing a letter and two photographs relating to a 'Gold disk depicting the god Cernunnos', 3 Nov 1978.

The eleventh part (MS 325/11) is an envelope containing a letter from Fairweather, Department of Archaeology, University of Glasgow, to Radford of Uffculme, Devon, 17 Jan 1973, with 4 photographs; letter from Radford to Fairweather, 7 Feb 1973.

The twelfth part (MS 325/12) is an envelope with two photographs of unidentified archaeological fragments, n.d.

The thirteenth part (MS 325/13) is an envelope with three photographs of masonry remains in bed and bank of the River Coly, Devon, n.d.

The fourteenth part (MS 325/14) is a folder with correspondence relating to Lewes Priory, Sussex, 1983.

The fifteenth part (MS 325/15) is an envelope with correspondence, notes, and photographs relating to Little Hampden Church, Buckinghamshire, 1971.

The sixteenth part (MS 325/16) is an envelope with correspondence, and photographs relating to Whithorn Priory, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, 1972.

The seventeenth part (MS 325/17) is an envelope containing postcards of heritage sites, n.d.

The eighteenth part (MS 325/18) is an envelope containing photographic negatives, n.d.

The nineteenth part (MS 325/19) is an envelope containing postcards of churches in Denmark, n.d.

The twentieth part (MS 325/20) is an envelope containing photographs of Ralegh Radford ?, and two other unidentified male individuals at Cymer Abbey, Glamorgan, Wales, 1971.

The twenty-first part (MS 325/21) is an envelope containing correspondence and photographs from Dorothy Dudley, on Tregiffian Barrow, Cornwall. The letter is dated 20 Dec 1967.

The twenty-second part (MS 325/22) is an envelope containing correspondence and photographs relating to a cross-head found at Stanwix, Cumbria, 1947.

(Courtenay Arthur) Ralegh Radford (1900-1998), archaeologist, was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex, and was the only son of Arthur Lock Radford and his wife Ada Minnie Bruton. Radford was educated at Exeter College, Oxford, where he read modern history. He was involved with the excavations at Whitby Abbey in the early 1920s, travelled in central Europe and the Balkans and held scholarships at the British Schools at Athens and Rome. He became the inspector of ancient monuments for Wales and Monmouthshire in 1929, surveying numerous sites. He was appointed director of the British School at Rome in 1936 and remained there until its closure. He then returned to Britain, taking up war work and was appointed OBE in 1947. He then resumed his archaeological work, and was secretary of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales and Monmouthshire between 1946 and 1948. His specialism was in the medieval period, with particular interests in Glastonbury and Tintagel.

He received the gold medal of the Society of Antiquaries in 1972, and was at various times President of the Prehistoric Society, Royal Archaeological Institute and Society of Medieval Archaeology. He was appointed Devon Local Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of London in May 1929, and was resident at The Manor, Bradninch, Devon, at this time. He was also elected as a Bard of the Gorsedd of Cornwall in 1937. He retired to Uffculme near Cullompton, Devon, and died in Cullompton, Devon, in 1998. He bequeathed his private library to the University of Exeter, including these archival materials.

Usual EUL arrangements apply.

Transferred from the Main Library Office, Dec 2006. Presumably acquired by the Library at the time of the Ralegh Radford bequest, c 1999.

Listed. Description includes rough box list

Description created by Rob Ford, 21 Aug 2007.

Usual EUL restrictions apply.

The bulk of Radford's papers (along with his private library) are also held at the University of Exeter, Special Collections. His papers are located at EUL MS 127. Other papers of Radford are held at the following repositories: Derbyshire Record Office; National Monuments Record; Oxford University: Bodleian Library: Special Collections and Western Manuscripts; National Library of Wales; Devon Record Office.