Frances Watkins Herbalist

The next Herbal History Research Network (HHRN) in person seminar will be held on Wednesday, 16 October 2024 at the Medical Society of London. The theme for the day will be Converging Influences in the History of Western Herbal Medicine & Practice. The speaker programme will be published on the seminar page in April.

Frances' is researching Old English and Latin wound healing formulations in medical texts circulating in early medieval England. She presented "Plants & Pain in 10th century England" at the College of Practitioners of Phytotherapy seminar on 16 March 2024 at Mary Ward House, London WC1H 9SN.

Frances Watkins, "Early medieval herbal remedies: Preparation and storage", manuscript submitted December 2023.

Anne Van Arsdall and Frances Watkins, "Tacit Knowledge Behind the Words in Early Medical Texts: A Collaboration to Decode the Remedies", Decoding Recipes Histories of Knowledge and Practice Across Time and Space, 26-28 October 2023 University of Sheffield, in manuscript.

Frances Watkins, "Annotated initials in medical codex Harley MS 585 augment remedies: an exploratory study", manuscript under review. 2023.

Details of previous seminars including speaker handouts can be found here including our last online seminar titled Herbal Medicine Cultures in Transition, 15 June 2022, speaker handouts

Frances Watkins, To drink or smoke? Herbal remedies for respiratory complaints, Early Medieval Remedies for Treating Cough and Lung Disease, online seminar at Herbal History Research Network, 12 May 2021 

Frances Watkins, Barbara Pendry, Alberto Sánchez-Medina, Oliva Corcoran and Geoffrey Kite, “Wound healing remedies in early medieval England: Antimicrobial activity for ancient and contemporary formulations of betony (Stachys officinalis (L.)   Trevis.)”, Unpublished manuscript, 2017.

Hananja Brice-Ytsma and Frances Watkins, (eds)., Herbal Exchanges: In celebration of the National Institute of Medical Herbalists 1864-2014. London: Strathmore Publishing, September 2014.

Frances Watkins, Investigation of antimicrobials from native British plants used in 10th century Anglo-Saxon wound healing formulations. Unpublished thesis. University of East London, November 2013.

Frances Watkins, Barbara Pendry, Alberto Sánchez-Medina, Olivia Corcoran, Antibacterial metabolites identified in Potentilla reptans L. using chemometric techniques, Drug Discovery & Therapy World Congress, Boston USA. Abstract. 3-6, June 2013.

Frances Watkins, Barbara Pendry, Alberto Sánchez-Medina and Olivia Corcoran, Antimicrobial assays of three native British plants used in Anglo-Saxon  medicine for wound healing formulations in 10th century England, Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 44(2):408-15, September 2012.

Frances Watkins, Barbara Pendry, Olivia Corcoran, and Alberto Sánchez-Medina, Anglo-Saxon pharmacopoeia revisited: a potential treasure in drug discovery, Drug Discovery Today, 16: 23/24 1069-1075, December 2011.

Frances Watkins PhD MNIMH, Independent Researcher
Orcid: orcid.org/0000-0002-3357-8779

Guest blog for the Herbal History Research Network (HHRN) Medieval Herbal Manuscripts

Frances interviewed by Anne Stobart for Herbal History Researcher Profiles 

Check out posts on the blog page for making your own herbal remedies using plants foraged from the hedgerows.