Programme of Events | Membership | Publications | Editorial Board | Officers | Library |  Medieval Graffiti Survey  
Hampshire Field Club logo
Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society
Registered Charity number 243773     Homepage | Archaeology | Historic Buildings  |  Hampshire Papers  | Landscape | Local History   
" "

Celebrating Hampshire Historians

Waterman, Dudley Mark

1918 – 17 May 1979

Dudley Waterman was born in Southampton.  On leaving school he worked in an architect’s office and became a skilled draftsman, taking part in numerous local excavations including Roman Clausentum and Saxon Hamwih.  

His upbringing in Hampshire coincided with the ‘golden age’ of archaeological advancement and among his mentors were Heywood Sumner, Williams-Freeman and OGS Crawford. This opportunity to learn from established figures continued into 1938, when he was part of the survey team led by Mortimer Wheeler, visiting hillforts in Brittany in the company of Ralegh Radford and Martyn Jope.

After World War II he taught draughtsmanship at the Institute of Archaeology in London, before being appointed archaeological curator at York Museum.  This was followed by a move back south to take on the post of Curator at Carisbrooke Castle, on the Isle of Wight.

In 1950, Waterman was appointed as joint head of the Archaeological Survey of Northern Ireland, where he was to truly make his mark. The Archaeological Survey of County Down, twelve years in the making, appeared in 1966, and was the first of its kind in Ireland.  Hand in hand with the fieldwork, went excavation, publication and, ultimately, management of the historic resource.

In an obituary notice, E M Jope recalled that Waterman was part of the generation who ‘bridged the interspace between the old world of highly percipient men, whose professions lay in other fields, and the ‘new’ world of professionalism in archaeology itself. The latter he was responsible for shaping with the highest precepts…’

Sources

  • Dictionary of Irish Biography

  • Jope, E M (1978) Obituary: Dudley Waterman, Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 3rd Series, 41 pp 1-2.

Portrait

Dudley Waterman

Contribution to county’s history

Early work on excavations in Southampton (Clausentum and Hamwih) – curator at Carisbrooke Castle.

Relevant published works

  • Waterman D M, A Beaker from Hampshire, Ant Journ 27 (1947) p 80

  • Waterman D M, Excavations at Clausentum 1937-8, Ant Journ 27 (1947) 151-171.

Critical Comments

Other Comments

Contributor

Dave Allen, March 2023

Key Words

Roman Clausentum, Saxon Hamwih, draughtsmanship, Institute of Archaeology

If you are able to add anything to this entry, please send your ideas to celebrating@hantsfieldclub.org.uk.

HFC & IHR100 Logo IHR100 Logo

Back to HIstorians V-Y from Vancouver, Charles to Yonge, Charlotte M.

Contact
Any questions about the web site?
Then email Webmaster