Adrian Gibson (1931 – 2006) was one of the most respected experts in the study of old buildings.  He was a noted architectural historian who specialised in the study of timber-framed buildings.

The son of an engineer, he was born and brought up in the East End of London and worked as a woodwork and metalwork teacher. His interest in archaeology was stimulated by the roman remains revealed in London bombsites.

He moved to Bishop’s Stortford in 1960 and supported many local historical societies; becoming Chairman of East Herts Archaeology Society. He was a TV presenter on the Historic Royal Palaces programme and gave many lectures and talks.

After meeting Cecil Hewitt in 1965, together they pioneered methods of recording timber-framed buildings. He promoted and publicised dendrochronology – the use of tree rings to determine the date of timber – and in 1963, was awarded an MBE for services to conservation.

Equally, he was a passionate geology collector who gathered and studied rocks, minerals and fossils.  Part of his collection was kindly donated to our museum in 2007.

You can see a small selection of the collection in our Object of the Month case on the first floor of the museum.

Information taken from Adrian’s obituary in The Independent newspaper.

To view the chosen collection, please visit the first floor of Bishop’s Stortford Museum at South Mill Arts.