The Life and Works of W.G. Collingwood

A wayward compass in Lakeland

Malcolm Craig

• Publisher: Archaeopress Archaeology
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781784918712
• eBook ISBN: 9781784918729
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

The son of a watercolour artist, William Gershom Collingwood (1854-1932) studied at University College, Oxford where he met John Ruskin, whose secretary he later became and with whom he shared a wide range of interests. Collingwood travelled extensively, sketching as he went, and after studying at the Slade School of Art, moved to the Lake District where he wrote extensively about the Lakes, Icelandic sagas and Norse mythology, as well as publishing a biography on Ruskin in 1893. He was an accomplished artist, founding the Lake Artists Society in 1904 and serving as Professor of Fine Art at the University of Reading from 1905-11. His interest in art and Scandinavia prompted his research into the Pre-Norman Crosses of Cumbria and the North of England. In 1927 he published 'Northumbrian Crosses of the Pre-Norman Age', illustrated with his own drawings. He was also an accomplished musician, climber, swimmer and walker. His son was the noted archaeologist (a leading authority on Roman Britain), philosopher and historian R. G. Collingwood. This well researched biography provides a comprehensive account of the life and works of a nineteenth century polymath whose story should be better known.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents Page
• Chronology
• Figures
• Abbreviations
• Conversion note
• Preface
• William Collingwood
• Hastings
• Liverpool
• Parents William and Marie
• Plymouth Brethren
• Schooling
• Liverpool Family
• Icelandic Connections
• Northern Influences
• Lakeland
• Philosopher Bosanquet
• University College Oxford
• John Ruskin
• Translation Work
• Slade School of Art
• Alphonse Legros
• Artist or Academic
• Living in London
• Painting Ruskin at work
• Joining Ruskin
• On Tour with Ruskin
• Young Edith
• Courting Edith
• Earning a Living
• Home at Gillhead
• Early-Married Life
• Move to Lanehead
• Hill Walker
• John Ruskin
• Relationship with Ruskin
• Brantwood
• Daily Routine
• Severn Family
• Sara Anderson (1854-1942)
• Lawrence Jermyn Hilliard (1855-1887)
• Guild of St. George
• Ruskin Biography
• Brantwood after Ruskin
• Family Home
• Home Schooling
• Religious Education
• Lanehead Magazine
• Collingwood Childrens’ Development
• Arthur Ransome at Lanehead
• Lake Artists Society
• Northernness
• Pre-Norman Interest
• Gifted Amateur
• Anglo-Saxons, Background
• Roman Lakeland
• Researching Anglo-Saxon
• Artifacts
• Study of Carved Stonework
• Early Industrial Archaeology
• Giant’s Thumb
• Gosforth Stone Cross
• Hogbacks
• Angles and Norse
• Beyond Pre-Norman
• Norse Anglo-Saxon Dilemma
• Collingwood’s Inventories
• Chapter X Scandinavian Studies (1895-1928)
• Norse in Lakeland
• Place-name Research
• Writing the Lakeland-based Sagas
• Mapping Norse Settlements
• Icelandic Sagas
• Lakeland Sagas
• William Morris and Iceland
• Land of Volcanoes
• Iceland Early History
• Iceland Expedition
• Reflecting upon Iceland
• After Iceland
• Scandinavian Settlements in Lakeland
• Denmark Lecturing Visits
• Reading University College
• Viking Club President
• German Miners
• Bewcastle Cross
• Surprise Visitor
• London Base
• Maps and Manuals
• After the War
• Ambleside Roman Camp
• Roman Sites
• The Tenth Iter
• Towards a Corpus
• Wild Northumberland
• Hardknot Castle
• Gosforth Cross Reconsidered
• Dykes
• Difference of Opinion
• Reflections
• Father’s Influence
• Summary
• Final Works
• Coming to a Close
• Appendix
• Acknowledgements
• Books by the Author
• Figure 1 Interior by William Collingwood
• Figure 2 Approach to Ambleside
• by William Collingwood 1841
• Figure 3 Gershom’s
• School Report
• Figure 4 Dressler’s Bust of Ruskin
• Figure 5 Ruskin’s road building at Ferry Hinksey
• Figure 6 Ruskin’s Boat. By W.G.C.
• Figure 7 Ruskin in his library by W.G.C. 1882 (Ruskin Museum Coniston)
• Figure 8 Lady of Lucca by W.G.C.
• Figure 9 Ruskin in Troyes by W.G.C.
• Figure 10 Ruskin, centre, with Collingwood (left) and Randal
• Figure 11 Edith (Dorrie) Collingwood
• Figure 12 Envelope addressed to Edith
• by W.G.C.
• Figure 13 Postcard to W.G.C. from Dorrie
• Figure 14 Reverse Runic side of Postcard
• Collingwood (R.G.) Archive Cardiff University
• Figure 15 Nursing baby Dora at Gillhead Cottages by W.G.C.
• Figure 16 Mist on Mickledore Scafells by W.G.C.
• Figure 17 Dorrie’s Drawing of Baby Ursula
• Figure 18 Lanehead, based on photograph by H.J. Taphouse
• Figure 19 Brantwood showing the Turret Room
• Photograph by John McClelland
• Figure 20 Susannah (Susie) Beever by W.G.C.
• Figure 21 Dorrie with the four children
• Figure 22 Puff and Fluffs (1) from ‘Nothing Much’(AH).
• Figure 23 Puff and Fluffs (2) from ‘Nothing Much’(AH).
• Figure 24 Ormside Cup by W.G.C.
• Figure 25 Gosforth Cross by W.G.C.
• Figure 26 Giant’s Thumb by W.G.C.
• Figure 27 Kist Wood Panel
• by W.G.C.
• Figure 28 Distribution Map of Norse Danish Settlements
• Figure 29 Thingbrekka Iceland By W.G.C. (AH)
• Figure 30 Thingvellir Icelandic Parliament
• by W.G.C. (British Museum)
• Figure 31 Alterpiece at Borg Iceland by W.G.C.
• Figure 32 Wedding Anniversary Scroll
• Collingwood (R.G.) Archive Cardiff University
• Figure 33 Gershom feeding cat with L-R Robin, Ursula and Dorrie. (ULC).
• Figure 34 Figured Samian Ware Ambleside
• by R.G.C.
• Figure 35 Thirlmere before the Dam
• Thomas Allom c. 1832
• Figure 36
• Acca Cross Upper
• Figure 37
• Acca Cross Lower
• Figure 38 Gravestone for Gershom and Dorrie
• Ambleside Roman Camp
• Chapter XIII Later Research (1920-1930)
• Chapter XIII Later Research (1920-1930)
• Chapter XIII Later Research (1920-1930)
• Chapter XIII Later Research (1920-1930)
• Chapter XIII Later Research (1920-1930)
• Chapter XIII Later Research (1920-1930)
• Chapter XIII Later Research (1920-1930)
• Chapter XIV Future of Lakeland (1932-)
• Chapter XIV Future of Lakeland (1932-)
• Chapter XIV Future of Lakeland (1932-)
• Chapter XV Father and Son (1889-1932)
• Chapter XV Father and Son (1889-1932)
• Chapter XV Father and Son (1889-1932)
• Chapter XVI Last Years (1928-1932)
• Appendix
• Acknowledgements
• Books by the Author
• Index
• Frontispiece