(Arthur) Basil Cottle was born in Cardiff in 1917. He graduated from the University College of South Wales, Cardiff, and then trained as a school teacher. During the Second World War he spent three years in the army and three years as a cryptanalyst in the Enigma Team at Bletchley Park; after which he compiled an Abanian grammar and syntax for the Foreign Office. He then joined the University of Bristol and taught in the English Department for more than forty years. He gave courses in Anglo-Saxon and Early-Christian Irish Archaeology, eventually becoming Reader in Medieval Studies. He was also involved in the life of Bristol, particularly its ancient churches and literary history. He wrote several books, was greatly interested in cathedrals in France, and also drew, and was interested in iconography. He had a wide network of friends and was an active correspondent. Basil Cottle died in 1994.
From the guide to the Papers of Basil Cottle, linguist and historian, 1917-1994, 1910-2003, (University of Bristol Special Collections)
