Historico-naturalis et archaeologica ex Dale Street: the natural history & antiquities of Dale Street in the county of Lancashire

Inspired by Gilbert White’s famous book The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne of 1789, Robert Williams & Jack Aylward-Williams set out to explore, collect and present material from Dale Street in Lancaster throughout the year 2007-08. Documented and developed through photographs and text that reference collections drawn from the environment, the project is doubly presented through this book and as a cabinet of curiosities. Both the book and cabinet were informed by the dialogues between father and son, and between the residents of Dale Street. In selecting a street in Lancaster, itself a mirror of social diversity in contemporary Britain, the project offers the opportunity for a community to reflect on its relationship with the plants, animals and insects in the locality, as well as its own history and demography.