Frank Aldous Girling, FSA (1898- 1966). was an

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

n farmer, photographer and expert amateur archaeologist. He provided photographs for several books about East Anglia, including

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

's ''Suffolk'', and his photography led to an important discovery of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

barrows in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

. He was elected a Fellow of the

Society of Antiquaries of London A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societ ...

in 1942.

Personal and early life

Frank Girling was born in 1898 at Moverons Farm,

Brightlingsea Brightlingsea is a coastal town and an electoral ward in the Tendring district of Essex, England. It is situated between Colchester and Clacton-on-Sea, at the mouth of the River Colne, on Brightlingsea Creek. At the 2011 Census, it had a popu ...

, which was run by his father, Frank Disney Girling, who served as deputy mayor of Brightlingsea in 1897. In 1917, during the First World War, Girling was drafted into the

Territorial Force The Territorial Force was a part-time volunteer component of the British Army, created in 1908 to augment British land forces without resorting to conscription. The new organisation consolidated the 19th-century Volunteer Force and yeomanry i ...

as an infantryman and served in France. In 1949 he married Minnie How.

Farming career

When Girling was demobilised in 1920, he returned to farming at Holly Lodge and New House Farm,

Little Bromley Little Bromley is a village and civil parish in the Tendring district of Essex, England. The name "Bromley" is Old English for "broomy wood/clearing". The village lies east northeast of Colchester and south of Manningtree. It is surrounded by ...

, Essex, starting as a foreman for his father. He was passionate about farming, which was his life-long occupation, breeding Suffolk black-faced rams and winning prizes for his barley exhibits at the Brewer's Exhibition in London in 1949. During the Second World War, he was in command of the Bromleys Home Guard and served on the Tendring Hundred

War Agricultural Executive Committee The War Agricultural Executive Committees were government-backed organisations tasked with increasing agricultural production in each county of the United Kingdom, during both the First and Second World Wars. They were established in Autumn 1915 b ...

Photography and archaeology

Girling was extremely interested in the culture, history and archaeology of East Anglia. He was a council member of the

Essex Archaeological Society Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, and both he and his wife Minnie were members of the

Suffolk Institute of Archaeology The Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History is the county archaeological society for the county of Suffolk, England. In 1848 the Bury and West Suffolk Archaeological Institute was established at Bury St Edmunds in the former county of West Suf ...

, and in 1942 he became a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. Girling had a particular interest in merchants' marks and published a book on them, entitled ''English Merchants' Marks.'' His interpretation of Suffolk merchants' marks is mentioned in ''The Arma Christi in Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture'', edited by Andrea Denny Brown and Lisa Cooper. Girling also wrote articles for local archaeological societies on a variety of subjects (see bibliography below). He photographed the architecture and archaeological artefacts of East Anglia, and his photography led to important archaeological discoveries. In 1957, through his photography, he found a circle in a field of sugar beet in Dedham. This led to the discovery of the existence of

barrows, previously thought not to exist in north-east Essex. Bryan Blake excavated the site for Colchester Museum and found Bronze Age collared funerary urns, which were photographed by Girling in 1960. In his book ''Suffolk,''

credits Girling for providing his photographic collection of Suffolk for Pevsner's research and for identifying architectural details on various buildings. Girling also provided images for Humphrey Pakington's book, ''English Villages and Hamlets''. Girling also documented farming through his photography.

Collections and archives

When he died, Girling's Essex photographs were donated to the

Essex Society for Archaeology and History The Essex Society for Archaeology and History is an organization that collects, studies and publishes information on the archaeology and history of the English county of Essex, including areas that since 1965 have belonged to the London boroughs of ...

and to Colchester Museum, while his photos of Suffolk went to Ipswich Library. The Conway Library at the

Courtauld Institute of Art The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...

holds a collection of Girling's photographs. These are currently being digitised as part of a larger digitisation project of the Conway Library.

Bibliography

Girling, F.A., 1939. ''Pargetting in Suffolk.'' Suffolk Institute. Girling, F.A., 1928. ''Suffolk Timber Framed Houses.'' Journal of the British Archaeological Association. Girling, F.A., 1955. ''Wall Painting in Boxford Church.'' The Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History. Girling, F.A., 1960. ''Essex Merchants' Marks.'' Colchester Archaeological Group Annual Bulletin. Girling, F.A., 1962. ''English Merchants' Marks: A Field Survey of Marks Made by Merchants and Tradesmen in England Between 1400 and 1700.'' Lion and Unicorn Press. Girling, F.A., 1963. ''Early Sixteenth Century Decorated Bricks at Aspall Hall.'' The Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History. Girling, F.A., 1965 ''Masons' Marks.'' The Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History Pevsner, N, 1974, 2nd edition. ''Suffolk''. London: Penguin. Brown, A.D. & Cooper, L. (editors), 2014. ''The Arma Christi in Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture.'' Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Girling, Frank Aldous 1898 births 1966 deaths 20th-century English farmers 20th-century British archaeologists Photographers from Essex People from Brightlingsea Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London Territorial Force soldiers Military personnel from Essex British Army personnel of World War I