Arnold Joseph Taylor 1911–2002

Abstract

Arnold Taylor, or Joe as he was known to some, was a medieval scholar, archaeologist, and architectural historian, who spent his working career in the public service within the Ancient Monuments Inspectorate. An international expert on castles and, in particular, the authority on the North Wales castles of Edward I, he was not restricted in his interests in medieval buildings as a whole. Nor did Taylor study castles solely as monuments to medieval military architecture. He was fascinated by their construction, who designed and built them, where the materials and craftsmen came from, and how this side of the work was organised. As such, Taylor combined study of the standing remains with intensive documentary research. There were two other main strands to his professional life: his wider career in the Ancient Monuments Inspectorate, first in the Office of Works and ultimately in the Department of the Environment; and his service to the Society of Antiquaries of London.