Annual Report

ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR 1967 ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER, 1967 Council presents its One Hundred and Ninth Report, and the Statement of Accounts for 1966. OBITUARY Council records with great regret the death of the Rt. Hon. Earl Stanhope, K.G., which occurred on 15th August, 1967. He became a member of the Society in 19U, in which year he was appointed one of its Vice-Presidents. It is also with great regret that Council records the death of the Rev. T. Underhill, who died on 15th October, 1967. He was one of the Society's oldest and most valued members, a constant attender of its Excursions and of its Annual General Meetings. AmroA.t GENERAL MEETING The Annual General Meeting was held in the Museum, Maidstone, on 13th May, 1967, when Council's Annual Report and the Statement of Accounts for 1966 were received and adopted. After the luncheon interval, an audience of sixty-five members and their friends heard a most interesting and scholarly lecture by the Rt. Hon. Sir Eric Fletcher, P .C., LL.D., F .S.A., M.P ., on "Some Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Architecture, with special reference to Kent". The lecture was enthusiastically received, and the President expressed the warmest thanks of the Meeting to the lecturer. TBE PRESIDENOY At the Annual Genera.I Meeting the outgoi11g President, Sir Thomas Neame, presented the new President, Sir John Dunlop, K.B.E., C.M.G., M.C., T.D., who was installed in the Chair with acclamation. MEMBERSIDP During 1967, sixty-four new members were elected, and allowillg for resignations and deaths, the total membership stands at 1,137. A continued increase in membership is needed, and Council appeals for new membe:rs, junior members being especially invited. The Society's Information Leaflet is available on application to the General Secretary. COUNOII. At. the 􀄴ual General Meeting the following were re-elected to Council: MaJor H. R. Pratt-Boorman, C.B.E., Mr. N. C. Cook, F.S.A,, Mr. F. Jenkins, F.S.A., Dr. F. Hull, Mr. S. Mendel and Dr. P.H. Reaney, F.S.A. Mr. M. _W. J. Yeo was elected Honorary Treasurer in the pla-0e of Mr. A. K. Hirst. Mr. C. R. Councer, F.S.A., continues as Chairman, and Council is now complete, xlii REPORT, 1967 FINA.NOE The Accounts for 1966, adopted at the Annual General Meeting, are published with this Report. An increase in membership is essential to allow the Society to maintain its high standards, especially in the publication of its Proceedings. Council therefore appeals for: (1) New Members. (2) Donations to the Archreologia Oantia!na Fund, and to the Records Publications Fund. (3) Members to enter into seven-year Covenants, to enable the Society to recover Income Tax on their subscriptions at no extra. cost to members. Forms of Undertaking may be obtained from the General Secretary. Nore. Members are urged to pay their subscriptions by Banker's Order, and those who do not are requested to send them DIRECT to the General Secretary. EX0UJlSION"S Four Excursions were arranged, including a repeat of the river Medway trip due to the disappointment of so many members in 1966. All were well supported by members and their friends. The places visited are listed below, and the gentlemen who kindly acted as guides are indicated; the Society is roost grateful for their services. Saturday, Tilbury Fort, Southfleet, Higham and Upnor 20th May Tilbury Fort-Mr. A. D. Saunders, M.A., F.S.A. Saturday, 1st July Saturday, 22ndJuly Scadbury Manor-Mr. F. S. Andrus. Higham Church and Priory-Mr. P. J. Tester, F.S.A. Upnor Castle-Mr. A. D. Saunders, M.A., F.S.A. The Society is grateful to Mr. Andrus and the Rev. B. Shackleton, B.A., B.D. (Vicar of Higham), for their kindness and co-operation. The Historic Medway and the Is'le of Sheppey Notes were provided for the river trip. Shurland Castle and Minster Abbey ChurchMr. K. R. MacDonald. Eastchurch Church-The Rev. L. Wilkinson. Queenborough Town Hall-The Town Sergeant. The Society is grateful to the Sheerness Harbour Board Co., to Messrs. A. and J. Sillars of Shurland Castle, and to the Mayor and Corporation of Queenborough for their help and co-operation. Oanterbury, Wingham, Sandwich and East Langdon. Eastbridge Hospital, St. Peter's Church and St. Alphage's Church-The Rev. D. Ingram-Hill, M.A. Roman Excavation, Wingham-Mr. F. Jenkins, F.S.A. Sandwich Town Hall-Mr. Busby. Marston Hall-Major G. S. Johnson. East Langdon Church-The Rev. C. E. Blake. xliii Saturday, 2nd September REPORT, 1967 The Society is grateful to the R-ev. D. Ingram-Hill, Mr. F. Jenkins, the Mayor and Corporation of Sandwich, and to Major G. S. Johnson and members of his family for their help and kindness. Faversham Maison Dieu, Ospringe, Abbey Street, Arden's House, and the Municipal Offices-Members of the Faversham Society. Davington Priory-Mr. C.R. Cowicer, F.S.A. Excavation of Stone-next-Faversham Chapel- Lt.-Col. G. W. Meates, F.S.A. The Society is grateful to Mr. A. J. Percival, Secretary of the Faversham Society, to Mr. and Mrs. Doak and the Mayor and Corporation of Faversham for their kindness and help. From the Excursion Fund, donations were made to the Faversham Society Chart Mill Fund, the churches of St. Peter and St. Alphage, Canterbury, and the church at East Langdon. A.RcHlEOLOGIA CAN'l'IANA Volume lxxxi was published early in 1967. Under the able Editorship of Mr. John H. Evans, F.S.A., and with assistance from Mr. A. P. Detsicas, F .S.A., it continues to preserve the high standard of publication by the Society, containing as it does a wide range of papers of interest to every member. LraRA.RY AND C0LLEOTIONS Five books, six offprints and pamphlets, and two volumes of architectural drawings by J. Travenor Perry have been presented to the Library during the year. Books include the new edition of I. D. Margary's Roman Roaas in Britain and SirR oger Twysden's copy of Somner's The Antiquities of Canrerbury, presented to him by the author. In addition, Britannia: A History of Roman Britain, by Sheppard Frere, has been purchased. The volumes of Antiquity for 1963-66 have also been given to the Library. The Society now exchanges publications with the Landesmuseu.m fur V orgeschichte, Halle, and this museum has generously presented their annual and occasional publications back to 1949. Three new bookcases have been made for the Society's Rooms in the Museum, and this will allow some of the MSS. collections, including those of Hussey and Leland Duncan, to be properly shelved. The collection of several hundred MSS. notebooks b y the late V. J. Torr has now been sorted, and those retained are being catalogued. RECORDS PUl3LICATION CoMMITTEE The Committee met on 19th September, 1967, when Mr. D. B. Kelly, Mr. N. H. MacMichael and Mr. A. B. Webster were welcomed as new members of the Committee. During the year, volume 19, the Calendar of the White and Black Books of the Oinque Ports, was published, and a presentation copy was handed to Sir Robert Menzies, Lord Warden, who acknowledged the gift with gratitude. Dr. Wood-Leigh is engaged xliv REPORT, 1967 on the final draft of volwne 20, Archbishop Warham's Visitations, which it is expected will be put before the Committee early in 1968, and plans have been made for future volumes, including volume 21, a Calendar of Feet of Fines up to the end of the reign of Edward I, to be edited by Mr. Ma:oMiohael. PLACE NAMES 0oM'MITTEE The Committee met during the year to consider the overall position and the future work which it can do, and it decided that it would still be useful to act as a co-ordinating body; and it decided to reproduce part of Dr. P.H. Reaney's article in Archreologia Oantiana, vol. lxxiii (1959), so that interested persons could be given some direction and guidance. Informa. tion has been received that there is every prospect of the English Place Names Society beginning work on a Kent volume in the very near future, the editor being Mr. James McNeil Dodgeson who is now secretary of the Society. Mr. Dodgeson has been informed that all the material which the C6mmittee has collected over the years will be available to him, and it is hoped that he will be visiting Maidstone in the near future. C.P.R.K./K.A.S. PRESERVATION OF ANCJIENT Bun.DINOS COMMITTEE. 1966/67 (1) It is hoped that the future of the thirteenth-century Commandery of the Hospitallers of St. John at Swingfield is now assured, K.C.C. having finally decided to acquire it and restore it, with the aid of a substantial gra.nt from the Ministry of Public Building and Works which will subsequently take it into guardianship. As, however, this proposal has over the years met with so many difficulties and last-minute hitches, one can be excused for not feeling entirely confident until restoration work is a.otually seen to have begun, especially in view of a newspaper report that the owners are again resisting compulsory purchase. (2) The tiny mediaeval chapel of St. Edmund, Dover, is in process of restoration under the direction of Mr. Anthony Swaine, F.R.I.B.A., an expert in such work and a member of C.P .R.K. and K.A.S., and already a new roof, utilizing timbers obtained from old buildings which have been demolished, has been completed. (3) The fate of the fine Tudor Manor House at Hollingbourne is very uncertain, owing to complicated legal difficulties concerning ownership, though it is in no immediate danger and is still occupied, having been divided into flats. Unless, however, repairs are soon carried out to the roof, the fabric of the building will suffer. (4) After an exhaustive public inquiry into an appeal by the East Kent Road Car Co. Ltd. against the decision of Canterbury City Council to refuse planning permission for the making of alterations and additions to the omnibus repair workshop, North Lane, Canterbury, the appeal was dismissed. The Inspector, in his report, concluded that, bearing in mind the visual merits of Canterbury and its attractions for visitors, North Lane occupied a key position at the main entry to the city, and that even in its present state the north-west frontage read as a continuous fa9ade and materially contributed to the quality of the impression made by the city as a whole. (5) The scheme for issuing "Historic Building of Kent" plaques to suitable buildings, after careful consideration of individual cases by xlv REPORT, 1967 experts on the Joint Committee, which was instituted at the end of 1965, has proved popula.r, and some thirty-three pla.ques b.sve been issued, and the issue of others is under consideration. Some ten applications for plaques have been refused to date, as the bw1dings were not considered to be of sufficient merit. (6) The Civic Amenities Act ea.me into force on the 27th August, 1967. During the Bill's passage through the House of Commons the JointCoromittee made some recommendations for improvements to the Civic Trust, which was collecting them on behalf of Mr. Duncan Sandys, M.'P. , the sponsor of the Bill. The Act is a. most valuable piece of legislation, and its main provisions are for the preservation of areas and buildil:1gs of architectural and historic interest, by designating them as Conservation. Areas, also an increase in the penalty for contravening a Building Preservation Order. There is provision of means for planting more trees with new development, and for making Tree Preservation Orders more effective, including an increase in the penalty for their contravention. There is also an extension of powers to local authorities for the collection and disposal of derelict motor-cars and other bulky rubbish. This last pa.rt of the Act does not come into force until later in 1968. Report ()'11, the FO'Urth Confere'rt% of Bwild:img Recorders, held 1111, the M'U,Seum, Maidstone, on Saturrlaty, 14th October, 1967. A further Conference was arranged on behalf of the C.P.R.K./K.A.S. Study-group on. Recording Historic Buildings and this was attended by some sixty persons, including a few visitors from the Sussex W ea.Iden Buildings Research Group. The first speaker, Mr. A. W. Swaine, commenced his talk on Church Restoration with a short historic review of Gothic architecture, illustra.ted by his superb colour slides. This was followed by examples of restoration work in Kent. Of particular interest were his remarks on the avoidance of costly repair work by proper, timely attention to drains and gutters. Next, Mr. R. T. Mason gave a review of local building traditions in England, with some especial notes on the development of the base-cruck in. Sussex. Mr. E. Swain spoke of the 􀅯vidence for divided halls, quoting several cases in the Lower Medway Valley where the open hall in a. timber-framed house had been subsequently reduced in size, before the hall was completely floored over. Finally, Mr. K. W. E. Gravett showed pictures of various donkeywheels in Kent, both vertical and horizontal, and attempted a rough chronology. The Study-group is indebted to Mr. L. R. A. Grove for his kindness in providing a hall for the meeting, and to Mr. C. R. Councer for again taking the chair. EXCAVATIONS COMMITTEE Council for Britdsh Archmology, Growp 11A The Group continues to make progress and membersbip has increased. The A.G.M., which was held on 11th Novembe,;, 1967, at Maidstone Museum, was honoured by the presence of the President of the Society, Sir John Dunlop, K.B.E., C.M.G., M.C., T.D., who took the Chair. Miss xlvi REPORT, 1967 J. M. Harding gave a most interesting talk on her recent excavations in Weston Wood, Surrey, and described her experiments in the technique of early pot-making and grain-storage. A special exhibit was arranged by the Curator for those who attended the meeting. It is hoped to hold a Conference on the Weald in October, 1968, in conjunction with Group llB. Excavations in the County Investigations continued during 1967 at sites of many different periods in Kent. Appendix I contains Reports on excavations directly supported by the Society, and Appendix II contains Reports from Local Secretaries and Groups. LOO.AL SEORETARIES The following amendments are recorded: Faversham Lt.-Col. A. A. Johnson has assumed the duties in place of Mr. J. Doak, resigned. Bromley Dr. E. V. Piercy Fox has resigned, and the area representation is at present vacant. Malling Mr. R. C. Boyle has resigned, and the area representation is at present vacant. The Society records its gratitude to all Local Secretaries for their continued work on its behalf. 1st January, 1968. By Order of the Council, .APPENDIX I G. W. Meates, Lieut.-Colonel, General Secretary Reports on Excavations swpported by the Societ;y. Interim Report by Mr. D. B. I{elvy, on the Excavations at Quarry Wood Oamp, Loose, 1967: The excavation at Quarry Wood Camp, Loose, was completed in the autumn. The trench on the south (levelled) side of the earthwork was filled in mechanically and the opportunity was taken to use the machine to dig another section on the south side. A point between the previous trench and the south end of the west bank was chosen, where the resistivity meter had indicated the ditch might run, and the ditch was found here. A section was also cut through the west bank, at the point where the trial trenchlng was done in 1963. The excavator is most grateful to the volunteers who worked on the site, and in particular to Mr. T. Ithell and Mr. A. Miles for their continued and regular help. Interim Report by Mr. A. P. Detsica,,