Formation | 1974 |
---|---|
Type | Learned society |
Purpose | The study of the archaeology, history and culture of Lincolnshire. |
Location | |
Membership
|
c700 |
Activities
|
Research & Publications, Study Tours and Conferences, Grant-giving, Educational Awards and Prizes. |
Website | slha |
The Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology or SLHA aims to create a greater awareness of the history of Lincolnshire, and works to discover and record its heritage. The Society was formed in 1974, but it has antecedents which date back to 1844.
Currently the Society's activities include arranging lectures and other events about Lincolnshire’s history and archaeology, the publication of a journal, a newsletter and books about Lincolnshire. The Society has its headquarters at the Jews' Court in Lincoln, where it has a lecture room, and runs a bookshop for new and secondhand books. It has two branch groups, the Sleaford History Group and the South Holland History Group at Spalding, and also works with other local groups throughout the historic county of Lincolnshire.
The Lincolnshire Topographical Society was established in 1840 under the patronage of Lord Monson. Among its members were the architects Edward James Willson and William Adams Nicholson. It only published one volume of proceedings and appears to have been defunct by 1843. In 1844 the Lincolnshire Society for the encouragement of Ecclesiastical Antiquities was founded in Louth. Membership was by election and initially this was limited to members of the Anglican church. This is probably the reason why Edward James Willson, a Roman Catholic, did not join this Society. In 1849 the Society changed its name to the Lincolnshire Architectural Society and then in 1853 to the Lincolnshire Diocesan Architectural Society. With the appointment of Archdeacon Edward Trollope as secretary of the Society in 1850, the Society moved to Lincoln and started to publish its proceedings in the Reports and Papers of the Associated Archaeological Societies. A further name change occurred in 1885 when it became the Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Architectural and Archaeological Society. This was to reflect the removal of the Archdeaconry of Nottingham from the Diocese of Lincoln and the creation of the new Diocese of Southwell. In 1902 Nottinghamshire was dropped from the title. During these early years a high proportion of the members of the Society were clergymen within the Diocese of Lincoln and most of the published articles are about Church history and architecture.