Andy Bliss

With a degree in History and Archaeology from Durham University he already had a keen amateur interest in historic buildings and in 2016 began reading for a full-time Master’s degree in Archaeology at the University of York specialising in the Medieval period and Buildings Archaeology.

Graduating in 2018 with an MA(Distinction), Andy’s research dissertation focused on the history and archaeology of early Medieval watermills. The specialist modules which he studied for this advanced degree included:

• Analysis of Historic Buildings
• Interpretation of Historic Buildings
• Medieval Settlements and Communities
• Applied Buildings Surveying
• Perspectives in Landscape Research (interpretation of aerial photography)
• Heritage Protection

“It is always fascinating to meet with the owner of a building and to find out how much they know and what they would like to know about it. As an historian I can research old documents and read Medieval Latin, which becomes particularly important for research pre-dating 1650. Documents, though, can only ever tell us part of the story, whereas use of a range of archaeological approaches can enrich the picture, telling us more about the evolution of a building and its relationship to the surrounding landscape as well as the people associated with it. Techniques such as analysis of visible building stratigraphy and fabric, sequential change shown on old maps, assessment of aerial photographs and paint analysis can all add to the picture.”       Andy Bliss 2018

Andy is an elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA) and an affiliate of CIFA, the Chartered Institute for Archaeologists.