Jean Le Patourel

Jean Le Patourel
Born	Hilda Elizabeth Jean Bird 19 August 1915 Weymouth, England
Died	20 January 2011(2011-01-20) (aged 95)
Occupation(s)	Archaeologist; Academic
Known for	The study of medieval ceramics and moated sites
Spouse	John Le Patourel
Academic work
Discipline	Medieval History
Institutions	University of Leeds

Hilda Elizabeth Jean Le Patourel FSA (19 August 1915 – 20 January 2011)[1] was a British archaeologist. She specialised in the ceramics and pottery of Yorkshire. She later expanded her field of research to include moated sites and the archaeological remains of dog collars.

Biography

Hilda Elizabeth Jean Bird was born in Weymouth, on 19 August 1915.[1] She was educated at Croydon High School and Bedford College, University of London, where she studied history.[2] She graduated in 1938 and studied for a further year for a Diploma in Education.[3] In 1939 she married John Le Patourel, who was a lecturer at University College London.[2] In 1945 they moved to Leeds, as her husband was appointed Professor of Medieval History at the University of Leeds.[2]

Career

Soon after Le Patourel arrived in Leeds, she and her husband began work on the excavations at Kirkstall Abbey, run by what was at the time City of Leeds Museums. She was responsible for the publication of the medieval ceramics from the site. At the time, the ceramics of medieval Yorkshire were little understood; by working closely with material from the assemblages at Kirkstall Abbey, then St John's Priory, Pontefract, and then from medieval York, Le Patourel was able to extend the sequencing of medieval Yorkshire pottery back further. Building on this site-specific understanding of the pottery, Le Patourel searched for kilns which produced it, exploring documentary sources such as manorial accounts and taxation lists, and utilising place-name evidence. At Winksley, near Ripon, she excavated 14th-century kilns there with C. V. Bellamy.[2]

At the deserted medieval village of Wharram Percy, Le Patourel worked on the ceramics from there with archaeologist John Hurst.[4] Work there led to Le Patourel leading excavations at Knaresborough Castle.[4] This led to further research on moated manors sites, such as West Haddlesey, alongside the formation of the Moated Sites Research Group, which later merged with the Deserted Medieval Village Group to form the Medieval Settlement Research Group.[4] Le Patourel was also a founding member and the first chairman of the Medieval Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society.[3]

In combination with her research on medieval ceramics and settlements, Le Patourel lectured at the University of Leeds. In 1967 she was appointed as a Temporary Lecturer in History and Archaeology in the Department of Adult Education and Extra-Mural Studies.[3] This role was made permanent in 1969, and in 1976 she was appointed Associate Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology.[3]

Alongside her work on medieval ceramics, Le Patourel became the world's leading expert on the archaeology of dog collars.[5]

Le Patourel's husband, John, died on 21 July 1981.[6] She died on 20 January 2011.[1] On the day of her funeral, the flag on the Parkinson Building at the University of Leeds was flown at half-mast.[3]

Honours

Le Patourel was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1960.[7]

Selected publications

• Kirkstall Abbey Excavations: the Pottery, 1950-4[8]
• 'A Cistercian Ware Kiln of the Early Sixteenth Century at Potterton, Yorkshire', Antiquity (1966)[9]
• 'Documentary Evidence and the Medieval Pottery Industry', Medieval Archaeology (1968)[10]
• 'Four Medieval Pottery-Kilns on Woodhouse Farm, Winksley, near Ripon, W. Riding of Yorkshire', Medieval Archaeology (1970)[11]
• The Moated Sites of Yorkshire (1973)[12]
• 'A Select Bibliography of the Publications of John Le Patourel 1935–1975', Northern History (1975)[13]
• 'Les sites fossoyés (moated sites) et leurs problèmes (l'organisation de la recherche en Grande Bretagne)', Revue du Nord (1976)[14]
• 'Documentary Evidence', 'The Excavation of Moated Sites' & 'The Significance of Moated Sites', in Medieval Moated Sites (1978)[15]
• Eds. Hilda Elizabeth Jean Le Patourel, Moira H. Long, May F. Pickles, Yorkshire Boundaries (1993)[16]
• 'The Dog Collar', in Late Viking Age and Medieval Waterford (1997)[17]

Legacy

The British Museum holds a collection of medieval ceramics, donated by Le Patourel, in its collection.[18] These, sometimes fragmentary ceramics, include: an aquamanile from York;[19] bowls, jugs, a kiln fragment, pitchers and skillets from Brandsby;[20][21][22][23][24] jugs from Shadwell;[25] bowls and jugs from Follifoot;[26][27] vessels from Wharram Percy;[28] a fragment of and early medieval Otley-type ware vessel from the site of Otley Manor.[29]

Historiography

Le Patourel was a significant figure in post-war archaeology, particularly at a time when the field was dominated by men.[1] Her work The Moated Sites of Yorkshire is still considered a starting point for their study and was described as an "admirable monograph" which shows what "can be obtained from the combination of historical and archaeological evidence from fieldwork, excavation and standing buildings".[30] The Yorkshire Boundaries volume, which she co-edited with an all-woman team, was reviewed as "fascinating to all with an interest in the county".[31]

References

1. "Jean Le Patourel". The Telegraph. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
2. Addyman, P. V. (1 August 2011). "Jean Le Patourel, BA, FSA (1915–2011)". Yorkshire Archaeological Journal. 83 (1): 222–224. doi:10.1179/008442711X13033963454750. ISSN 0084-4276. S2CID 178764038.
3. "Obituaries". University of Leeds. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
4. Aberg, A (2011). "Obituaries, Jean Le Patourel, 1915–2011" (PDF). Newsletter for the Society for Medieval Archaeology. 46.
5. "Le Patourel : 50 Years of Medieval Studies at Leeds". 50years.ims.leeds.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
6. "le Patourel, John Herbert, (29 July 1909–22 July 1981), Docteur hc Caen; Professor Emeritus, University of Leeds; Archivist to Royal Court of Guernsey since 1946". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. 2007. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.u166330. ISBN 978-0-19-954089-1. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
7. "Salon 253". Society of Antiquaries of London. 14 February 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
8. "Kirkstall Abbey excavations, 1950–1954, Thoresby Society". www.thoresby.org.uk. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
9. Mayes, P.; Pirie, Elizabeth J. E.; Patourel, H. E. Jean Le (1966). "A Cistercian Ware Kiln of the Early Sixteenth Century at Potterton, Yorkshire". The Antiquaries Journal. 46 (2): 255–276. doi:10.1017/S0003581500053282. ISSN 1758-5309. S2CID 162688959.
10. Patourel, H. E. Jean Le (1 January 1968). "Documentary Evidence and the Medieval Pottery Industry". Medieval Archaeology. 12 (1): 101–126. doi:10.1080/00766097.1968.11735307. ISSN 0076-6097.
11. Bellamy, C. V.; Patourel, H. E. Jean Le (1 January 1970). "Four Medieval Pottery-Kilns on Woodhouse Farm, Winksley, near Ripon, W. Riding of Yorkshire". Medieval Archaeology. 14 (1): 104–125. doi:10.1080/00766097.1970.11735329. ISSN 0076-6097.
12. Patourel, Hilda Elizabeth Jean Le (1973). The Moated Sites of Yorkshire. Society for Medieval Archaeology. ISBN 9780902216037.
13. Patourel, H. E. Jean Le (1 June 1975). "A Select Bibliography of the Publications of John Le Patourel 1935–1975". Northern History. 10 (1): 188–195. doi:10.1179/nhi.1975.10.1.188. ISSN 0078-172X.
14. Jean le Patourel, H. E. (1976). "Les sites fossoyés (moated sites) et leurs problèmes (l'organisation de la recherche en Grande Bretagne)". Revue du Nord. 58 (231): 571–591. doi:10.3406/rnord.1976.3397.
15. Alberg, F. "Council for British Archaeology | Medieval moated sites" (PDF). new.archaeologyuk.org. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
16. Patourel, Hilda Elizabeth Jean Le; Long, Moira H.; Pickles, May F. (1993). Yorkshire Boundaries. Yorkshire Archaeological Society. ISBN 9780902122673.
17. Hurley, Maurice F.; Scully, Orla M. B.; McCutcheon, Sarah W. J. (1997). Late Viking Age and Medieval Waterford: Excavations 1986–1992. Waterford Corporation. ISBN 978-1-872002-98-9.
18. "H E Jean Le Patourel | Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
19. "aquamanile | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
20. "bowl | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
21. "jug | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
22. "kiln; architecture | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
23. "pitcher | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
24. "skillet | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
25. "jug | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
26. "bowl | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
27. "jug | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
28. "vessel | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
29. "vessel | British Museum". The British Museum. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
30. Hurst, J. G. (1978). "H. E. Jean Le Patourel: The moated sites of Yorkshire. London: Society for Medieval Archaeology Monograph Series, no. 5, 1973. 147 pp., 12 pls., 42 figs. (4 pull-out). £3.50 obtainable from Mrs A. F. Morley, 6 Church Grove, Little Chalfont, Amersham, Bucks. HP6 6SH. (Subscribers £2.50.)". Antiquity. 52 (204): 83–84. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00051474. ISSN 0003-598X.
31. Byford, Dan (1995). "Review of Yorkshire Boundaries". The Agricultural History Review. 43 (2): 214–215. ISSN 0002-1490. JSTOR 40275450.