Remembering Durham alumna Brenda Heywood
It is with great sadness that the Department of Archaeology learnt of the death of Archaeologist, Brenda Heywood (née Swinbank). Brenda was born in Ackworth (West Yorkshire) in 1929 and studied at Durham University for her degree in Modern History. While at Durham, she was inspired by Eric Birley, Professor of Roman Archaeology, to study Hadrian’s Wall going on to become one of its pioneers. Receiving her PhD from Durham in 1954, Brenda was one of the first women ever to be awarded a doctoral degree by a British university for a thesis in archaeology. Her thesis (The Vallum reconsidered) was a thorough work running to over 550 type-written pages which examined in great detail the earthwork complex running to the south of Hadrian’s Wall. Brenda’s publications on Roman archaeology began even before her PhD with studies of Roman pottery. She went on to publish more papers before taking a post as a lecturer at University College Cardiff in 1956. During her time in Cardiff, Brenda worked on Roman archaeology in South Wales, excavating the fort at Neath among other sites. On 12 December 1958 she took part in a BBC Home Service broadcast about Hadrian’s Wall and was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in the same year.
Brenda was not to stay long in Cardiff moving instead to York to work as a teacher. It was there she met Peter Heywood, the man who was to become her husband. Brenda raised her children in York (one of whom is Cabinet Secretary Sir Jeremy Heywood). She continued to be actively involved in archaeology, working on excavations in the city of York and collaborating with Peter Wenham to publish The 1968 to 1970 Excavations in the Vicus at Malton, North Yorkshire (1997). She also co-authored Excavations at York Minster: from Roman Fortress to Norman Cathedral (1995) with Derek Phillips. Her most recent paper, on excavations along the vallum co-authored with Professor David Breeze appeared in 2008. Brenda's work on the vallum remains a fundamental source for researchers on the Wall. It is available as an e-thesis from the Durham library.
