Brian Hope-Taylor
Dr Brian Hope-Taylor (b. Surrey, 21 October 1923 - Cambridge, 12 January 2001) was an artist, archeologist, broadcaster and university lecturer, who made a significant contribution to the understanding of early British history.
Biography
In order to advance himself professionally, Hope-Taylor was permitted in 1958 to register at St John's College, Cambridge, to undertake a PhD thesis concerning the archeology of Yeavering, Northumberland, a seat of governance in Anglo-Saxon Britain, despite not having a first degree, never having been to university. He was awarded his doctorate in 1961, when, encouraged by Glyn Daniel, he was appointed as a University Assistant Lecturer in Archaeology at Cambridge. His promotion to a full lectureship was followed, in 1967, by election to a fellowship at University College (now Wolfson College). He became an expert of Yeavering over his years of work there.
During his time at Cambridge, he continued excavating early Anglo-Saxon sites in the North: on Lindisfarne, at Doon Hill (Dunbar), and at Bamburgh Castle, where he discovered the Bamburgh Sword in 1960. Between the work at Doon Hill and Bamburgh, there came the call (in 1966) to undertake engineering excavations within York Minster, when it was realised that the great building was threatened by collapse. During the repairs which followed, much of his time was spent on ensuring the completion of the essential archaeological investigations, in his capacity as Director of Research, with a committee chaired by his friend, Sir Mortimer Wheeler. Finally, in 1973, he directed a rescue excavation when construction of the M11 required a cutting to be made through the Devil's Dyke in Cambridgeshire.
