Reviews

REVIEWS Kent and the Oxford Movement. By Nigel Yates. 20.5 x 13.5 cm. Pp. 141, 16 pls. Kentish Sources VII, Alan Sutton for Kent Archives Office, 1983. £4.20 (limp). Mr Yates has been for the last three years County Archivist for Kent, and he has been able to draw generously on the archives both of County and Church to show how the Oxford Movement was received in the area, both by its supporters and its opponents. Among the many interesting documents quoted here is a defence of High Church principles by the redoubtable Mr Beresford Hope, M.P. for Maidstone. To his wealth and enthusiasm the Church of England largely owed the recovery of the ruins of St. Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury, for the foundation of a college ( opened in 1848) for training priests for work in the mission field. This work was devotedly carried out for nearly a century until the outbreak of the Second World War, when the college was closed. The first of the famous Tracts for the Times, which followed hard on the Assize Sermon, is published here, as is also a defence by the Reverend Henry Wilberforce, sometime vicar of the Kentish parish of East Farleigh, of his secession to the Church of Rome. Wilberforce was indeed one of the most zealous protagonists of the Movement until his secession. The publication is well-produced and has some interesting illustrations. DEREK INGRAM HILL Archaeology in Kent to AD 1500. Edited by Peter E. Leach. 30 x 21 cm. Pp. vii + 100 and 41 figures. C.B.A. Research Report no. 48, London, 1982 (£15, limp). Our Member, Mr Peter Leach, at the time a student at the Institute of Archaeology, University of London, was one of the organisers of a symposium held at Kingsgate College, Broadstairs, in November 1979, and this volume contains the papers read on that occasion as 293 REVIEWS well as an additional contribution on Roman pottery in Kent. The report is dedicated to the memory of Stuart Rigold, himself one of the contributors to the symposium. As the editor himself acknowledges in his preface, the 'purpose of the symposium was to outline what has been achieved in Kentish archaeology and to demonstrate what still needs to be done'; in this aim, both the symposium and its subsequent report succeeded well enough. It is, however, one of the drawbacks of such proceedings that a certain degree of unevenness in the contributions offered is unavoidable and this, through no fault of the organisers, was evident during the symposium; and, though contributors have obviously had the opportunity to prepare their papers for the press, this impression of disparity still persists. The papers printed in this volume range from a consideration of the environmental background, through the various archaeological periods, to medieval archaeology in Kent. Four papers on medieval Kent out of a total of fourteen contributions may be thought of as disproportionate and indicative of where the main emphasis of archaeology in the County is laid, with which not everybody would agree; however, there are compensations elsewhere. In particular, Barry Cunliffe's paper on 'Social and economic development in Kent in the pre-Roman Iron Age' and Sonia Hawkes' 'Anglo-Saxon Kent c. 425-725' stand out well above the rest as far more than statements of present knowledge, interpret such knowledge and pose several questions pointing the way to further research and synthesis. The editor is to be warmly congratulated for the organisation of the symposium and for marshalling the papers of this report; this reviewer is well aware from experience of the enormous amount of work involved. I only wish, optimistically, the C.B.A. would not copy the barbarous Civil Service practice in the unnecessary omission of punctuation and reconsider its pricing policy more realistically from the viewpoint of the buyer (cf. Collectanea Historica). A.P. DETSICAS Lullingstone Park - The Evolution of a Mediaeval Deer Park. By Susan Pittman. Pp. 96 with maps and numerous illustrations, Meresborough Books, 1983. £3.95. Lullingstone Park, lying west of the Darent Valley on the foothills of the North Downs, now a public open space administered by Sevenoaks District Council, and enclosing 690 acres of woods, thickets, old pollard trees and open ground, boasts a fascinating two thousand 294 REVIEWS year history of continuous settlement and use, including the pleasurable needs of one family over several centuries. Subtitled 'The Evolution of a Mediaeval Deer Park', its medieval origins are obscure, relying on evidence inferred from the landscape, there being no documentary evidence to date the establishment of the Park. The Park itself is shown to be 'the best proof of its antiquity', having the largest collection of ancient trees in the British Isles. Certainly it is shown on Symonson's map of 1596, having prospered under its Tudor owners and being appreciated for its beauty, sport and amusement. At the beginning of this century Lullingstone remained as one of only three Deer Parks in Kent, the other two being Knole and Chevening. During the intervening centuries it had, however, a chequered history, the trend during the seventeenth century being one of decline, possibly due to the Civil War and a waning interest by the Hart family in the deer park tradition. This process was reversed during the eighteenth century, when no park was complete 'without an extravagant flourish or two'; in this case, Summer House knoll, with a pine tree on top, followed by an obelisk, which appears on maps of 1802, 1819 and 1867. From 200 deer at the end of the century the number rose to 500 in the 1820s. Thereafter 'the Park thrived in Victorian times and was well used by its owners.' In this interesting, well written and lavishly illustrated study several types of history are rolled up into one. Archaeological and landscape evidence are skilfully interwoven with documentary, natural and oral history. As a history graduate, with a deep interest in the countryside, conservation, natural history and botany, Susan Pittman is well qualified to be its author. She readily admits to the difficulty involved in writing a history of Lullingstone Park, stemming from the diverse and scattered nature of the material at hand, and although 'several sources of information are available, ... each requires a different range of specialist skills.' It is obviously impossible to write about Lullingstone Park without reference to the famous villa, as well as to Lullingstone House or Castle and the families who lived there. Indeed, there is much information on these aspects of what is a wider study. As a modernist it is the recent history of the Park which is the most interesting. In particular, it is during the ownership of Sir William Hart Dyke, 1875-1931, that the Park springs to life, 'not so much from documentary evidence but from the recollections of local people.' Vivid memories of deer keeping, for instance, are provided by Miss Mildred Reeves, whose father, George Reeves, was gamekeeper, 1902-40. Being highly skilled in that occupation, he 'knew every poacher from his tracks and traces.' Disaster finally struck in 1931 when on the deaths of Sir William and Lady Emily, 295 REVIEWS within six moQths of each other, the family was confronted with double death duties, so crippling, that the estate had to be broken up. The sale of Lullingstone Park in 1934, its purchase by the Kent County Council in 1938, and its contribution to the Second World War effort as a dummy airfield grip the reader's attention to the very end of what is a well researched contribution to a greater understanding of Kentish history. J. WHYMAN London, City of the Romans. By Ralph Merrifield. 24.5 X 18.5 cm. Pp. xi + 288, 60 plates and 40 figures. B.T. Batsford Ltd., London, 1983 (£14.95, cased). Roman London has recently had a number of books devoted to its history and archaeology, three of which have come from the pen of our Member, Mr R. Merrifield: The Roman City of London (1965) was followed in 1969 by Roman London, and now comes the volume under review in the publishers' well-known 'Studies in Archaeology' series. Much has, of course, happened since 1969, which clearly called for an updating of the information contained in the author's second book. However, reference to the contents of the present volume will show that Mr Merrifield has achieved far more than lay before his readers what is currently known about Roman London; for he has not only updated his earlier works by including much new information, but also responded to its challenge in considering Roman London from its pre-Conquest origins, through its development during the Roman occupation of Britain, to the fifth and sixth centuries. It is a fascinating story, admirably told and splendidly illustrated by many excellent line-drawings and plates many of which appear for the first time in a single publication. This volume, which is beautifully produced, contains also a glossary, the usual notes and references, a selected bibliography and a comprehensive index; moreover, for a book of its extent and binding, it is very realistically priced. A.P. DETSICAS 296 REVIEWS Faversham 1900-1930. By Eileen English. 25.5 x 20 cm. Pp. ix+ 65. Published by the Faversham Society (Faversham Papers no. 20), 1981. Price 75p. (£1.07 post-paid from the Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre, Favisham). Miss English's book is essentially nostalgic especially for Favershamites and those aged seventy or over. As a member of this age group I, too, have similar memories but with myself they happened further along the River Thames in my home town of Woolwich - even down to the blind grooves on the railway train compartment's window frames and the notice 'ne pas se pencher au dehors' on the carriage door. This paper is entertaining and very anecdotal, and has the merit of having an authoress with an eye for detail who had the advantage of serving until 1939 in her aunts' millinery and baby linen shop at 74 Preston Street. So the most valuable part concerns neighbours, the town's tradespeople and individuals such as the postmen and the telegraph boys who 'wore the typical messenger uniform, also navy with red piping, an Eton-type jacket buttoned up to the neck with stand-up collar, long trousers and a pill-box hat set jauntily on the side of the head'. It is concerning such items as this and especially about women's dress, with details of accessories like dress-suspenders worn at the turn of the century, that Miss English's information is so valuable. When she makes comments on matters not strictly within her scope - I hasten to add that there are few of them - she tends to go adrift. How many antiquaries would subscribe to her belief that in the parish church's graveyard there are 'headstones with skull carvings, conveying the fact that the occupants had died of the plague'? L.R.A. GROVE The Bexley Heath Phenomenon. By J.C.M. Shaw. 20.5 x 14.5 cm.+ 14 illustrations. Published by the London Borough of Bexley Libraries and Museum Service, 1983. 60p. At the beginning of the nineteenth century Bexley Heath was no more than an expanse of scrubland intersected by the London-toDover road. Today it is an area of dense urban population - the culmination of a process commenced by the passing of enclosure acts in 1812 and 1814. Why did the first inhabitants come to live here, and where did they come from? These are two important questions which have occupied Mr J.C.M. Shaw, the local studies officer of Bexley 297 REVIEWS Borough's Libraries and Museums Service, and his carefully researched solutions are contained in this well produced booklet. They came, he concludes, mainly to work in the fabric printing industry at Crayford, only a mile and a half down the main road from the Heath, and they were drawn from local centres of population such as Dartford and Woolwich, as well as, in smaller numbers, from villages like Chislehurst, Darenth, Stone and Wilmington. These facts are taken from local records, including church registers, where the home parishes were noted of persons married in Bexley but who had lately come into the locality and were described as 'sojourners'. Some of the interesting personalities who settled on the Heath are the subject of biographical notes, including a Polish emigre, Louis Rutowski, who was banished from his native land for becoming romantically involved with a princess of the royal family. Years later, while living at Bexley Heath, he was asked to act as interpreter to passengers in a coach passing through Dartford, and discovered that one of the travellers was his princess. 'There was a glance of mutual recognition, and then the window of the carriage was drawn up and the vehicle was driven hurriedly away'. Hitherto, the only history of Bexley Heath has been that compiled by the Rev. F. de P. Castells in 1910. Mr. Shaw's present work complements this and throws new light on the character of the early settlement up to 1851. His account is scholarly, informative and entertaining. P.J. TESTER Discovering Roman Britain. Edited by David E. Johnston. 17.5 X 11 cm. Pp. 160 + 25 plates and 7 maps. Shire Publications Ltd., Princes Risborough, 1983 (£2.50). Increased mobility and interest in archaeology have recently brought about the publication of several guide-books intended to fit into one's pocket or haversack. Discovering Roman Britain, no. 272 in the publishers' 'Discovering' series, is the latest addition to this field. Basically, this guide is an amalgamation, albeit revised, with some additional material, of the Roman entries in Discovering Regional Archaeology, as readily admitted in the preface. Roman Britain is divided into arbitrary areas, and a list of entries to various sites has been compiled by different contributors to each area, with some introductory notes by the editor. This is a useful book, both in its convenient format and the information on sites it contains; especially helpful are the grid references to sites. It would have been even more 298 REVIEWS helpful to have notes as to whether permission to v1s1t a site is required and from whom. Some of the information in this guide-book may need checking, too; for instance, the statement that 'the Rhee wall is a piece of Roman civil engineering' (p. 87) is not accurate. A.P. DETSICAS Faversham's Lost Windmills. By John Viner. 25.5 x 20 cm. Pp. v + 72, 3 figs. and 22 plates+ 1 map. Faversham Papers, no. 21, 1982. Published by the Faversham Society and to be obtained from the Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre, Faversham, for £1.70 post paid. Not everybody may be willing to pay for a copy of Coles-Finch's large standard work on Kent windmills published in 1933 (or even the recent reprint) in order to obtain information on the Faversham district's former examples. Now, however, for a mere £1. 70 local afficionados have a chance to buy Coles-Finch's knowledge and a great deal more. Coles-Finch's book is still useful but some of his descriptions need correction and amplification. With the aid of directories such as Pigot's, Kelly's and Voile's and with local observation and tradition John Viner has provided a couple of dozen pages devoted to detailed notes on the lost windmills. He deals with twenty-five, two of them 'recent'. Most of these have disappeared or, like Miles' Mill at Boughton-under-Blean, are reduced to a base. In addition to the descriptions of mills there is an easy introduction to the three types of mills included - post, tower and smock - and details of how they functioned. There are three appendices which deal with the dates of Faversham's mills, with facts about Kent mills open to the public and with population figures for six of the local parishes. There are also a useful glossary, a bibliography and an index. A pleasant touch is the interspersing of poems about windmills amongst the hard facts about them - poems such as Longfellow's 'Behold a giant am I' and E.V. Lucas's 'If.you should bid me make a choice' which contains the gem 'And, if the wind declines to blow, The miller takes a nap (Although he'd better spend an hour In brushing at the dust and flour That line his coat and cap)'. In conclusion, I cannot but agree with Mr R. J. de Little (author of The Windmill Yesterday and Today) who aptly says in his foreword 299 REVIEWS 'Mr Viner has made an important contribution to the recorded history of the windmill and I hope that Faversham's Lost Windmills will inspire others to make equally thorough studies of their own areas while much information is still within living memory'. L.R.A. GROVE Roman Forts in Britain. By David J. Breeze. 21 x 15 cm. Pp. 72 + 46 illustrations. Shire Publications Ltd., Princes Risborough, 1983 (£1.95). This is the latest addition to the publishers' Shire Archaeology series of introductory books by an acknowledged authority on the subject. It contains much useful information on Roman fortifications in general (forts, fortresses, fortlets and towers), their construction and components and the life of the Roman soldiers who served in them. This little volume also has suggestions for further reading and a gazetteer, and is accompanied by many illustrations, both drawings and photographs, some of which are not generally known. A.P. DETSICAS Wye Local History. vol. II, no. 4, and vol. III, nos. 1 and 2. Published by Wye Historical Society, Autumn 1982-Autumn 1983 (40p., from Cassells Bookshop, Wye). The latest numbers of Wye Local History contain articles on Early Victorian Wye, Wye Racecourse 1881-1975, The Crown and the College, Edwardian Recollections, Boy Scout Beginnings, Maritime Wye, Wye during World War II, a Rare Treasure at Wye, William Harvey, Aphra Benn, Hanover Mill, Mersham, The Denne Family, Godmersham Park, Court Lodge Barn in Brook, Private Schools in Wye and Boughton Aluph in the nineteenth Century, and Wartime Flying over Wye, 1916-18. Members interested in local history will find much information in these publications. A.P. DETSICAS 300 REVIEWS The Six Preachers of Canterbury Cathedral. By the Reverend Canon Derek lnram Hill. Pp. 142, 1 fig., 12 pls. K.H. McIntosh, 1982. (£4.50, limp). Our President, in this study of an institution unique in the Church of England, has compiled biographical details of the 203 divines appointed by successive Archbishops of Canterbury, adding a commentary and dividing the 440-year span into five periods. Thomas Cranmer, realising that twenty-seven of the fifty-three members of the new Foundation of 1541 had been monks, instituted Six Preachers to make up the deficiences of those untrained in this art. They were each given a stipend of £24 2s. 2d., a house in the Precincts, stabling and fodder for their horses and an allowance of firewood, known as woodacre, worth 33s. Unfortunately, Cranmer appointed three keen reformers and three traditionalists, a recipe for violent controversy. Under Mary several preachers went into exile and one, Rowland Taylor, was burned near his church in Hadleigh. John Scary preached at the consecration of Elizabeth's first Archbishop of Canterbury, Matthew Parker, in 1559. The office became a useful supplement to a country living and, by 1561, all the houses in the Precincts were sublet. In the seventeenth century, Laud appointed men of his own persuasion. When, during the Interregnum, the Prebendaries were sent away, the Six Preachers kept services and sermons going even though they included the notorious Richard Culmer who led the destruction of what were thought to be idolatrous images in the stained glass. After the Restoration, the preachers were mostly local clergy, incumbents of livings nearer Canterbury predominating. From 1773 until 1942, the Dean and Chapter paid them various small sums for the use of their Precincts houses; now they receive £5 expenses for their annual sermon. The appointment for life has been reduced to a maximum of ten years. In the nineteenth century, several preachers were keen educationalists and, more recently, the office has been held by a number of distinguished churchmen on the ladder of preferment. Dr. Hill, appointed in 1963, has meticulously documented his fellow Six Preachers. Some come to life in his pages, but some remain little more than names such as 'Hope' whose surname alone survives in the Treasurer's accounts in the Cathedral Library. L.D. LYLE 301 REVIEWS The Cantiaci. By Alec Detsicas. 21.6 x 13.8 cm. Pp. 219 with 43 figs. Gloucester, Alan Sutton, 1983. (£9.95 cloth; £5.95 paper.) This learned, carefully compiled, and excellently written book is an important contribution to the history and archaeology of Roman Britain. Our Honorary Editor has made a notable addition to the 'Peoples of Roman Britain' series, now published by Alan Sutton. Fifteen or more years' experience of excavation, mostly in Kent, and a sound knowledge of the classical and early historical background are the basis of his research. Much, says the author, has been omitted or given more cursory treatment than he would have chosen, but never, we think, has the civitas and its affairs been so fully discussed: the Notes, References, and Bibliography make this a definitive and very acceptable book of reference. The opening chapter is concerned with tribal territory and the pre-Roman Iron Age and includes notes on geology and the pattern of settlement which shows a stimulus to the economic expansion which was to follow with the new civitas. There follows an account of historical events from A.D. 43 to A.D. 367 with a discussion of peace and consolidation, coastal defences and the forts of the Saxon Shore, truly our defended harbours. Communications and urban settlement are next discussed with detailed accounts of the cantonal capital at Canterbury, of Rochester, the second largest town, and Springhead, a typical Romano-British ribbon development astride Watling Street, the port at Dover and the possible port at Hastings. We still await the identification of Durolevum somewhere between Faversham and Sittingbourne. A long chapter on the rural settlement, which followed the pattern set in the pre-Roman Iron Age, considers four classes of farmsteads, various farms, villa estates of the well-to-do, particularly Eccles on the excavation of which the author spent many fruitful years, and a variety of bath-houses some of which were not unlike modern 'pit-head' baths, temples, and burials including the now famous Holborough barrow and its contents. Next for study is light industry with particular attention to extensive pottery production along the Thames, the Medway and the Stour and the casting of building tiles on only three, or perhaps four, recognised sites. Salt production on the Thames and Medway marshes and the concentration of iron-working in the Weald of Kent and Sussex are also well described. The book ends with a detailed general outline of a prosperous civitas regressing into the sort of condition from which it had grown under Roman rule. The Cantiaci faded out of history, says Mr Detsicas, 'leaving their only imprint on the modern name of their 302 REVIEWS cantonal capital.' His first-rate book restores their place, even to Men of Kent and Kentish men. The many fine line drawings by Jennifer Gill should be mentioned, but the author's own map of the Romano-British settlement was surely worthy of a double-page spread. R. F. JESSUP 303