A TWEEDDALE archaeology group has presented the collected works of a “pioneering” archaeologist to Peebles Museum.
Chair of Peeblesshire Archaeological Society (PAS) Trevor Cowie handed over six volumes of the works of Tam Ward MBE to the venue during a ceremony on Thursday (January 22).
Mr Cowie said: “By depositing these volumes in the museum, we are marking the archaeological achievements of Tam Ward, who was a pioneer of archaeology in Clydesdale and Peeblesshire.”
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Mr Ward was the founder of PAS along with the Biggar Archaeology Group and was an active archaeologist in the Peebles and Biggar areas.
In 2001 he was recognised for his work and was awarded an MBE for his services to archaeology. Mr Ward passed away in 2022.
Following his death, Biggar Archaeology Group arranged for the printing of his unpublished reports with funding from organisations and individuals.
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The works cover a wide range of projects carried out by Mr Ward across Peeblesshire and Clydesdale.
Chris Sawers, Peebles Museum curator, said: “What fantastic publications these are, full of brilliant detail representing a wealth of knowledge and a wonderful record of Tam and other people’s work.”
In the mid 1990s Mr Ward delivered a series of talks in Peebles and West Linton inspiring interest in the subject which helped to form PAS.
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Mr Ward carried out a wide range of survey and excavation projects in Lanarkshire and promoted and inspired an interested in archaeology.
Jim Ness, of Biggar Archaeology Group, said: “When Tam Ward died, he left behind a fantastic legacy of archaeological finds and research.
“We felt that this was a fitting tribute to him, because, despite having published some 92 reports online, none of them were published in print.
“This was a way of achieving both a memorial for Tam and getting his work out there for the wider public.”
The works were produced last year by Ian Macleod of Elmbank Print and are not on sale but a copy of the works were deposited to Peebles Library.
