John Kittmer

We're delighted to announce the launch of our new blog, the New Anglo-Hellenic Review!

Our first post is on restorative justice for Greek-born adoptees, written by Gonda Van Steen, a champion of the cause since 2013.

Find this fascinating piece at
www.anglohellenicleague.org/new-anglohel...

The situation in Minneapolis is insane: seemingly many large convoys of heavily armed masked men, blocking off streets at random, grabbing people nearly at random, racing around the city with no discernible plan or aim. Under attack by our own government the day after it killed someone

“They shall see who have never been told of him, and they shall understand who have never heard of him.” Epiphany always seems to me one of the strangest and most mystical of all Christian festivals, and I’m sad to leave it behind for another year

Icy Skies. -2°C and a cold wind. Hares in the fields.

Icy Skies. -2°C and a cold wind. Hares in the fields.

Joint statement on Greenland.

How universities can cultivate arts and humanities in practical, affordable ways Are the arts and humanities still needed as universities retrench staff and cut costs? Patty Raun explains why curtailing or eliminating these disciplines is an egregious mistake

'Despite persistent myths, employment rates for humanities graduates are comparable to those of STEM graduates, as Humanities Indicators data shows. Early earnings differ but the salary gap narrows significantly mid-career, particularly for graduates who pursue further study'. 1/2

Heavy snowfall on the Yorkshire coast.

Encrusted with snow.

#BleakMidwinter

A view across the Cliff Bridge in Scarborough shows Wood's Lodgings on 'The Cliff' where on the afternoon of 28 May 1849 aged just 29. Anne Brontë died

A view across the Cliff Bridge in Scarborough shows Wood's Lodgings on 'The Cliff' where on the afternoon of 28 May 1849 aged just 29. Anne Brontë died with her sister Charlotte and friend Ellen Nussey at her bedside. The site is now the home of the Grand Hotel #Brontë

A simple font holding its own with dignity amid the jolly clutter of parish life. St Mary’s #Brandesburton, Yorkshire. #fontsonFriday

Happy New Year to the real people (though not to the bots) who follow my account. May it bring peace, joy and health to all.

We can bear only so much innocence.

Ah, the ΠΝ as bulwark of the merchant marine. I like it. Reminds me of someone else’s history too. 😉

Some context may help the innocent viewer!

Neither church was open, so I will have to return to see the interiors. But it was easy at #Dalton to identify the windows from the outside. Wonderful to have a full scheme in this remote location.

Here (L-R) St Peter, St Paul, the Annunciation, Noah. 4/4

St John the Evangelist at #Dalton is twenty years later: built as a memorial to #Dawnay by his widow. Unusually, #Butterfield turned to Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. for the glass. An early (not the earliest) example of the company’s work in Yorkshire. 3/4

St Cuthbert at #Sessay was the first of #Butterfield’s churches for #Dawnay—late 1840s. A handsome composition, with broach spire, bridge and lychgate, and neighbouring school and schoolmaster’s house. It all feels timeless and properly rural—not qualities often associated with Butterfield’s work.

Last church-crawl of the year continued my exploration of Wm. #Butterfield’s churches for Wm. Dawnay, 7th Viscount #Downe.

Headed to the edges of the vales of York and Mowbray, to visit #Sessay and #Dalton. 1/

Rood and canopy in 2008.

A glorious building. But you’ve cut out Butterfield’s lovely canopy over the rood (though the canopy seems to have been much abused in recent years).

The York Mystery Plays return this coming summer. They are a cycle of medieval dramas telling the story of the Bible from Creation to the Last Judgement, each play focusing on a single episode. In medieval York they were traditionally performed for the Feast of Corpus Christi, turning the city into

Hagia Sophia was inaugurated by Justinian on December 27, 537

Much the same for literary scholars too.

Inside Pugin’s St Giles: The Dazzling Gothic Revival Church That Stunned Victorian Britain YouTube video by HENI Talks

Grateful for a rich 2025. Fine students at Bath Uni; new ventures with Heni www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WIH... and a most exciting Heni project with @edwinheathcote.bsky.social for 2026; some new discoveries in medieval/ Tudor material culture, a book ahead. Look forward to sharing enthusiasms in 2026.

Doing this soon!:

📚 Publication alert!

Rebecca Sweetman’s new book, The Archaeology of the Cyclades in the Roman and Late Antique periods has recently been published by @cambridgeuniversitypress - congratulations Rebecca!

👉 Now available on the shelf in the BSA Library and via CUP!

Ravenserodd or Ravenser Odd was a settlement around Spurn point. It was was founded around 1230 and became a borough in the 1240s. It was a successful port. Sadly storms during the 14th century caused many to leave. A storm In the winter of 1356–57 completely flooded the town

Ravenserodd or Ravenser Odd was a settlement around Spurn point. It was was founded around 1230 and became a borough in the 1240s. It was a successful port. Sadly storms during the 14th century caused many to leave. A storm In the winter of 1356–57 completely flooded the town

Traces of your footprints
in the sand.
I follow them.
Boundless sand.
I can’t find you.
Slowly and with great care
I place my footprints
in the traces of yours.

Got you.
Y.RITSOS

John Carey: The last public critic A distinguished Oxford academic and newspaper critic, Carey has been a cultural influencer for 50 years. He is a high-establishment insider – and yet has never forgotten the social slights he experienced as a young man.

John Carey: The last public critic

It’s the purely secular, repetitive heraldic imagery that strikes me.

Depressing, isn’t it, that this is what a century of iconoclasm led to?