BSA 140 – Part 1
🎉This November, we’re celebrating our 140th birthday with a month of highlights from the BSA’s long history, spotlighting a different era each week.
Let’s start at the very beginning…! #BSA140
🏛️BSA140: Where it all began
In 1886, the British School at Athens was founded as a base in Greece for British scholars, historians and archaeologists to study the Hellenic world.
Some key moments from those early years are highlighted with material from our archive:
📐The BSA’s first director, Francis C. Penrose, designed the first building on the property granted by the Greek government and Moni Petraki, now known as the Upper House.
📚The BSA Macmillan Hostel (1897) and Penrose Library (1904) followed and the Finlay library, archives and antiquities were gifted to the School (1899-1900)
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- The BSA Upper House, the first building of the BSA and now the Director’s House, with Lykavittos in the Background, latest 1897, BSA SPHS/1/0277.1502, BSA SPHS Image Collection, ©British School at Athens
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- Frances Cranmer Penrose, first Director of the BSA, 1886-1887, BSAA/10/3, BSA Albums, ©British School at Athens
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- Photograph of the Penrose Library being built, July 1904, from Heaton Comyn’s Architect’s Report. ©British School at Athens
Cover of the first issue of the Annual of the British School at Athens which was first published in 1895. Etching showing the BSA Upper House by O. Lacour. ©British School at Athens
⛏️ Early excavations began at Phylakopi in Melos, Hogarth’s House and Palaikastro in Crete and at Sparta.
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- BSA Excavations at Phylakopi, Melos, 1896, BSA SPHS/1/5055.4078.3, BSA SPHS Image Collection ©British School at Athens
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- BSA Excavations of a settlement near the Palace of Knossos in Crete overseen by then BSA Director David Hogarth, commonly known as ‘Hogarth’s Houses’, 1900, Crete 5.31, BSA Excavation Records, ©British School at Athens
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- General view across the plain to Kastri acropolis during the BSA Excavations at Palaikastro, Sitea, Crete, 1902-1906, BSA SPHS/1/2399.6425, BSA SPHS Image Collection, ©British School at Athens
👩🏻🎓 Women were first admitted from 1890 and were finally allowed on excavations from 1911 but could not stay in the Hostel until 1920. Eugénie Sellers Strong was the first woman student admitted to the BSA in 1890.
✍︎In 1887, Emily Penrose, daughter of the first Director, kept diaries while she was living at the Upper House and they offer a tantalizing glimpse into life at the BSA and in Greece at the end of the 19th century.
🔎Want to dig deeper? Explore the BSA’s Digital Collections to discover more stories from our history!
#bsa140
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- BSA Excavations at Artemis Orthia, Sparta, ca. 1907, BSA SPHS/1/5026.7825, BSA SPHS Image Collection, ©British School at Athens
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- Eugénie Sellers Strong (née Sellers, 1860 – 1943) was the first woman student admitted to the BSA in 1890, undated photo, BSAA/7/40, BSA Albums, ©British School at Athens
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- Entries dated 18th & 19th April 1887 from Emily Penrose’s diary, EPEN/1/1, Emily Penrose Personal Papers, ©British School at Athens
