Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1952 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER, 1952 The Council presents its Ninety-fourth Report, and Statement of .Accounts for 1952. (The Statement of .Accounts will be circulated with the notice convening the .Annual Genera.I Meeting.) .ANNuAL GENERAL MEETING The .Annual General Meeting was held at the Museum, Maidstone, on the 23rd.April, 1952. The President referred to the losses which the Society had sustained through the death during the previous year of some of its most distinguished members. Fortunately a fairly large number of new members had been elected during the year. The President paid particular tribute to the work of Mr. F. C. Elliston Erwood, Excursions Secretary, who owing to pressure of other wo-rk would not find it possible to carry on single-handed the whole work of arranging excursions which he had done so successfully for many years past. In the afternoon Dr. J. K. St. Joseph, Curator in Aerial Photography, University of Cambridge, spoke on Aerial Photographs and Archreology. His lecture, admirably illustrated with lantern slides, showed how much aerial photography could contribute, and was contributing, to the study of Archreology. MEMBEESHIP Forty-eight new members were elected during the year. It was inevitable that the increase of the annual subscription to £1, made unavoidable by increases in prices, especially of printing and of paper, would result in the loss of a certain number of members. The present membership now numbers approximately 1,070. The effectiveness of the Society depends largely upon the size of its membership, and the Council sincerely hopes that all members will do their utmost, by interesting their friends in the Society's aims and objects, to secure for it the greatest possible support. LIBRARY The following additions, by gift or purchase, were made during the year to the library: thirty-one volumes of photographs of church details in the counties of England and Wales (3 vols. devoted to Kent) by our late member, G. C. Druce, F.S.A. : gift of the Courtauld Institute of Art, London University. Archdeacon Harpsfi.eld's Visitation, 1557; vols. XLV and XLV I of the Catholic Reoord Society : purchased. Fawlcham ; The Story of q Kentish Village, by W. Frank Proudfoot: presented by the author. Elements d'Archeologie Ohretienne, by H. Marucchi, 3 volumes, 1903-9: bequeathed by the late Canon G. M. Livett, F.S.A. Plans of Kent Churches and kindred manuscript material by Canon Livett : the gift of his widow. The Parish Church of St. Dunstan, Oranbrook, by C. C. R. Pile. (Cranbrook Notes and Records, No. 3) 1952: presented by the author. The Parish Farm at Sissinghurst Oastle, by C. C. R. Pile. (Cranbrook Notes and Records, No. 4) 1952: presented by the author. History of th.e Mathemati.cal School, Rochester, edited by D. E. L. Flower xli REPORT, 1952 1951 : presented by the Headmaster. The Old Book of Wye, by G. E. Hubbard, 1951: purchased. A Short History of West Malling, Kent, by Anthony Cronk. 1951 : purchased. Photograph of an early seventeenth century plan of C-anterbury: presented by Mr. H. F. Bing. EXCURSIONS A progralllllle of excursions was arranged during the year as follows · Place Date Dover town Saturday, 26th April Hever and Westerham Thursday, 19th June Isle of Sheppey Saturday, 19th July Tunbridge Wells and Groombridge Saturday, 11th October All of the excursions proved to be very successful, and in this were matched by the weekend meeting held at Kingsgate College from 23rd to 25th :May, when a number of excel lent papers were read on the subject of the medieval church, with special reference to Kent. RECORDS BRANCH Progress was made during the year with the preparation of Part IV of Feet of F'ines, which it is hoped to publish in 1953. FA VERSHilI CHAitTER CELEBRATIONS To mark the 700th anniversa.ry of the granting of the Faversham Borough Charter a most interesting and informative historical exhibition was arranged by the Town Clerk, Mr. S. Wilson, the Society's local secretary for the Faversham district. A copy of the brochure which was produced on the same occasion has been placed in the Society's library. The produc• tion of Arden of Faversham at Davington Priory was a uniquely appropriate part of the celebrations. ExcA VATIONS Canterbury The work of the Canterbury Excavations Committee continued with excavations carried on, under the direction of Mr. Sheppard Frere, at Easter and again for five weeks in August and September. Further evidence of Saxon occupation on a site near the Fountain Hotel was discovered during􀅆 the Easter excavations, and in the Westgate Gard(1ns the vanished city wall was located and its Roman origin proved, thus exploding the old theory that the Roman town extended no farther than the King's Bridge branch of the Stour. During the summer some eight sites were examined. A full report of these excavations will appear in due course. Dover The exco.vation, under the auspices of the :Ministry of Works, of the Saxon cemetery which was ·started in September, 1951 on the Buckland Council housing estate, continued during the winter, and by April, 126 graves had been excavated and plotted. The cemetery was in use during the whole pagan Saxon period from the late fifth century until the middle of the seventh. The excavations were conducted by Miss Evison and Mr. Dunning. A full report will be published in due course. . xlii REPORT, 1952 :Mrs. l\forray-Threipland continued her series of excavations for the Dover Excavations Committee. Three trenches were dug in March, 1952, on a bombed site below the Unitarian Church, at the junction of Adrian Street and Last Lane. A stretch of road metalling, found laid on the original ground surface, may be part of a road leading down to the sea. At Y owden's Court, trenches were dug in the Autumn of 1951 across the line of the supposed medieval town defences. It was found that Roman occupation had been cut through by the medieval town ditch, but no trace was found of any Roman town wall or ditch. Er·ith Excavation at Lesnes Abbey, under the supervision of l\fr. F. C. Elliston Erwood, was resumed in 1952. Most of the year's work was devoted to the clearing and repair• of the north transept and its three chapels, and the adjoining Sacristy was also cleared. There were few finds of interest but the heart of Roesia of Dover, the great-great-granddaughter of the fo.under, Richard de Lucy, discovered in 1939, was reinterred in its original cist and the Purbeck marble tombstone repaired and replaced in its original position. During 1953 the chapter house will be the main object of attention. Keston Excavation of the Roman site at Warbank has been conducted by Mrs. Piercy Fox, who proposes to carry it further in 1953. Lullingstone The fourth season's work at the Roman Villa, under the direction of Lt.-Col. G. W. Meates, has been devoted to the examination of a large basilican type building some sixty yards north-east of the residence. This building is part of the Villa complex and seems to have had an agricultural -0haraoter. A further season's work is required to complete its examination and a full report will be produced in 1954. A further discovery in 1952 was a well lying immediately south of the Bath Block and this will be reported upon together with further comments upon the residence itself in 1953. Otjord The second season's work at Becket's Well has been successfully completed and the finds and general data are now being sifted. Sections have been drawn and plans are being prepared. It is estimated that two more seasons' work is required before a considered report can be published. Snodland On behalf of the Ministry of Works, Miss Evison, assisted by Mr. Warhurst, has excavated the ditch round a Bronze Age barrow, and about 35 graves of a pagan Saxon cemetery, on Holborough Hill. The area examined will soon by destroyed by a chalk pit, but the work will continue in 1953. Wye The Secretary of the Wye Society reports that the extent of the chancel of the church before the collapse of the tower in the seventeenth century -has now been discovered. The Parochial Church Council have had the boundaries marked by fiat stones. During the excavation a small coin, identified as a wardrobe token of Edward Il's reign, was discovered. xliii REPORT, 1952 LOCAL SEORE:I'AltIDS AND LOCAL ACTIVITIES The Bromley district has been sub.divided and Mr. G. W. Tookey, Q.C., is now the local secreta.ry for the Beckenham and Penge a.rea formerly included with Bromley. The Council are grateful to Mr. Tockey and to the following members of the Society who have taken over local secret.a.ryships : Ashford :Mr. E.T. Mortimore Sheppey Mr. D. T. A. Ponton Thanet Major F. W. Tomlinson Thanks to the kindness of our local secretary for Bromley, Mrs. Piercy Fox, an afternoon meeting was held at her house on the 27th September for local members. Mrs. Margaret Gelling spoke on the Bromley Charter A.D. 862, a discussion in which Dr. Gordon Ward participated. The meeting was much appreciated by the members who attended. Mrs. Desborough, local secretary for Tunbridge Wells, reports that on the 3rd May a tour of places of historical interest in Tunbridge Wells was made under the guidance of the Assistant Curator of the Tunbridge Wells Museum, and on the 11th June, members from Tunbridge Wells and the locality visited Luddesdown Court, Cobham College and Dode Chapel. FINANCE A statement of Income and Expenditure for 1952 and a copy of the Balance Sheet at the 31st December, 1952, will be circulated with the notice convening the Annual General Meeting for 1952. The Council a.gain urges members to send their subscriptions promptly to the Collector, Mr. C. W. Hopper, 14 Nunnery Road, Canterbury. The Council would also bring to the notice of members the advantage accruing to the Society from the contributions of members who have signed undertakings to continue payment of their subscriptions for a period of seven years, such undertakings automatically lapsing in the event of death. The effect of this method of payment is that it enables the Society to reclaim Income Tax paid on a gross sum equivalent to the net amount of the subscription, without adding anything to the amount paid by each member concerned. New undertakings may be entered into by members at any time o n forms obtainable from the Hon. General Secretary, and the Council trusts that many more members will decide to pay their subscriptions in this way. By Order of the Council, FltANI{ W. JEl SSUP, January, 1953. Hon. General Secretary. xliv