Obituaries

OBITUARIES K. W. E. GRAVETT, MSc(Eng), F.I.E.E., F.S.A. Kenneth Gravett, our past President, died on 21 November 1999, aged 69. Kenneth was born on 27 April 1930 in the house that was to be his home for the whole of his life. An early interest in electrical engineering, science and architecture was nurtured by his parents and he received a first class honours degree from King's College, London in 1952 and his MSc. at B. T. H. at Rugby in electrical engineering. After several years at the Post Office Research Station at Dollis Hill, where he specialised in undersea cables, he took up a post of Lecturer at Battersea College of Advanced Technology (later part of Surrey University) and from this time emerged the main theme of his life's work and interest - the gathering and spreading of knowledge as widely as possible, by personal contact, lecturing and writing. In this he was aided by a phenomenal memory, a kindly, helpful manner, and a fund of humorous stories. After several other lecturing posts in colleges in Brighton and London, he became an Inspector for Education with the Inner London Education Authority and retired as Head of Higher and Further Education. After retirement came twelve years of happy and fruitful life: travelling round the English countryside and historic towns and villages: looking at buildings and advising owners on their history and construction: helping and encouraging other societies and researchers in their work. He was particularly well-known in Kent for his ten-year Presidency of our Society during which he greatly expanded the programme of events for members. His devotion to the cause of the County's historic buildings was a constant one and led to his setting up of the Kent Historic Buildings Index (part of his work for the Historic Buildings Committee of which he was Chairman for many years); the organization of the annual Building Recorders' conference over 36 years; and his busy schedule of lecturing to local societies on the subject. His book Timber and Brick Building in Kent was published in 1971. He was very active in liaison work in connection with the planning of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link and as 427 OBITUARIES a result of his quiet, informed diplomacy a number of historic buildings were saved from demolition. He gave invaluable practical help in producing the New Records Series for the Society as a very positive contribution to the work of the Publications Committee, of which he was a long-serving member and whose wise advice was much appreciated. He was equally active in Surrey and Sussex. He had been a member of the Surrey Archaeological Society from the age of 14, later very active on the Council and a Vice-President. As Chairman of the Surrey Local History Council he organized its publications and annual conference for many years. Kenneth was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in his thirties and was a benefactor to its Library as also to the Collections of the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Archaeological Societies. He was a keen and knowledgeable photographer and the largest single contributor of pictures to the National Monument Record. Kenneth's friendly, helpful nature and invariable kindness and good manners will all be long remembered by his many friends and colleagues. PL A. P. DETSICAS, B.A., M.A., D.Litt., F.S.A., F.S.A.Scot Alec Detsicas died on 24 December 1999, aged 73. I had the good fortune to be among the many students who benefited from the eight annual Eccles Training Excavations run by Alec Detsicas with Arthur Harrison in the late 1960s/early 70s. To someone just dipping their toes into the world of archaeology, this was the ideal introduction: an opportunity to take part in the meticulously organised excavation of a significant site, learning excavation techniques, methods of surveying and field recording, and being treated to first-rate lectures on and off site. I can still remember being mesmerised by Stuart Rigold, on Saxon Shore forts, fascinated by Professor Strong's introduction to Romano-Celtic sculpture, being cooked by the lantern-slide projector used for Lt Col Meates' talk on LuUingstone, and, finally, masterfully led through Roman Kent by Alec himself. Alec's lectures, like his excavation, were clearly structured and backed up by deep and thorough scholarship. They were also witty, clever, sometimes idiosyncratic, for he was at his most fulfilled on site, animated, eager to communicate his enthusiasm to a willing audience. A memorable experience, although if you stepped out of line, fell below the expected standards, the schoolmaster in him soon let you know, and his tongue could be acerbic as well as honeyed. 428 OBITUARIES Alec was brought up in Athens, immersed through his schooling in classical Greek culture and history and steeped in patriotism. But his boyhood was cut short by the cruel realities and deprivations of War, Occupation and subsequent Civil War. Youthful patriotism led him to join a resistance movement, but disillusionment with post-war, strifetorn Greece drove him away. After two years in Paris, at the Sorbonne, he began a new life (and a new language) in England. In 1948 he joined Hatfield College, Durham to read French, and came under the encouraging wing of the Master of Hatfield, Professor Eric Birley, who became in some ways a father figure to the young man. Alec always spoke with nostalgia and affection of his time in the North, the warmth of the people who accepted 'the stranger in their midst'. He married in 1952, and embarked on his career as a modern languages teacher in Barnet. The love and loyalty of his wife Chris and their family gave him the anchor of a secure home life, but archaeology was to give him his intellectual home. In 1958 he joined excavations at Corbridge. There he was introduced to Samian studies by Eric Birley, eventually becoming a recognised expert in his own right, and there he learnt 'everything he knew about coarse pottery' from his friend, John Gillam. He acknowledged his indebtedness to his two mentors in the best way he knew, by emulating their dedication and high standards in his own archaeological career. Alec was an 'amateur' in the true sense of the word, and expected no reward for his efforts, other than the recognition of his peers, which mattered greatly to him. His proudest moment was being awarded a D. Litt. by Durham University, in 1986, in recognition of his work in archaeology. His contribution to the 'Peoples of Roman Britain' series, The Cantiaci, had been published earlier (in 1983), and remains the standard reference work on Roman Kent. After his retirement from teaching, in addition to all his KAS commitments, Alec renewed his efforts to progress the Eccles Roman Villa post-excavation work. After 15 years of excavating what turned out to be a most significant and productive site, there is a very large archive of artefacts and records. It was once more my privilege to work alongside him on the Eccles material. Although the site was excavated in pre-computer days, such was the thoroughness of his recording that it was perfectly feasible to undertake the major task of computerising the field records, creating an Eccles database. Working on the records I was often surprised by the clarity of Alec's memory, recalling details from 30 years back, of this or that trench, and his unfailing grasp of the complexities of the site. Alec felt under a burden of obligation to complete the Eccles Report, not least because of all those who had worked on the site over 429 OBITUARIES the years. It was hard for him to have to accept that with failing health and limited resources the task had become too much for him. Somehow or other this, his most significant contribution to the study of Roman Kent, must be brought to completion, as a tribute to a complex, generous, remarkably talented man who unstintingly gave his best to archaeology. RACHEL SHAW Alec's editorial work for the Society extended back over thirty years, having succeeded John H. Evans, F.S.A. who had been Honorary Editor for nineteen years. To start with he assisted Mr Evans, this being the position when volume 83 of Archaeologia Cantiana was published in 1969. As from volume 84, published in 1970, Alec was in sole control, well-established in his professional career and then living at Tonbridge. He devoted countless hours of his own leisure time to editing thirty-five volumes of Archaeologia Cantiana. Indeed my researches show that no previous editor has approached this record. And this is not to mention his editorial contribution to the Monograph and Records series of publications. If one thinks of all the effort involved in correspondence, proofreading, book-reviewing, chairing the Publications Committee and membership of Council, his devotion to the Society's vital publications effort was quite outstanding. Add to all this his keen involvement in other Society activities, notably fieldwork and education, the Society has many reasons to be grateful to him. Overall, his quantitative contribution was matched equally by quality and excellence, his election as a Vice-President being exceptionally well-deserved. JOHN WHYMAN SONIA CHADWICK-HAWKES, M.A., F.S.A. Sonia Chadwick-Hawkes died on the 30 May 1999, aged 65. Sonia Chadwick began her archaeological career as a schoolgirl assisting with the early work on the LuUingstone Roman Villa. During 1951-53 she helped Rupert Bruce-Mitford and the present writer at Morgan Porth, in Cornwall, in the excavation of a sand-shrouded early mediaeval series of stone buildings, dated by a silver penny of King Aethelred II. It was here that her life interest in Anglo-Saxon and Migration period archaeology began, for she had seen the collections of material from Kentish graves in Maidstone museum and had perused a 430 OBITUARIES copy of Inventorium Sepulchral in Dartford's Public Library. She went up to the University of London's Bedford College to read English. Thereafter she began, at the Institute of Archaeology, a thesis on German Migration period art. She met Christopher Hawkes, the first holder of Oxford's Chair of European Archaeology, at the CBA's Bronze Age Conference in 1958 and married him a year later. Despite the age disparity, some 25 years, the marriage was a happy one and the excavation of an Iron Age enclosure on Longbridge Cow Down, in Wiltshire, was a honeymoon joint enterprise. Sonia, having already published, in 1958, the Finglesham Anglo- Saxon cemetery, was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 1961. It was in that year that her husband's Oxford Institute of Archaeology was established. From then onwards, Sonia immersed herself in Anglo-Saxon graves and their furnishings. Her endeavours brought order and perception to the many cemeteries of Kent, chronicled in the early issues of Archceologia Cantiana. Her work, cited in the British Museum's Sutton Hoo volumes, and from time to time discussed with Rupert Bruce-Mitford, their author, brought home to all those concerned with Early Mediaeval studies the nature and extent of the Kentish evidence, especially the spectacular jewellery. In 1973, Sonia was appointed an Oxford University lecturer in European Archaeology, this being noteworthy as her degree was from the University of London. Such was her energy that she became one of the formidable founding editors of Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, occasional publications issued from 1979 onwards. Later, Sonia was the prime mover in the organisation and implementation of a series of seminars and conferences concerned with the wider dimensions of Anglo-Saxon studies. One of these, that concerned with weaponry, was marked by a practical demonstration. Another was held in Liverpool in 1986 (Anglo-Saxon studies, A Reappraisal), the hundredth anniversary of the death of Joseph Mayer, the wealthy antiquarian and goldsmith, who purchased and eventually gave to Liverpool's Public Museum, Bryan Faussett's collections from nine Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in Kent. Sonia's signal contribution was the initial paper of the series 'Bryan Faussett and the Faussett collection: An Assessment'. Between 1963 and 1971 the material had been taken to Oxford , examined, photographed and redrawn, for a fresh catalogue of the collections, under her supervision, was planned. Sadly she did not see its fruition. Before the Liverpool Conference Sonia had made a definitive and comprehensive contribution to the CBA's Research Report on Kent (No. 48, The Archaeology of Kent to AD 1500) entitled 'Anglo-Saxon Kent c. 425 - 725'. Her papers pertaining to Kent are listed in the 431 OBITUARIES bibliography, along with the literature that was considered pertinent to the involved problems which presented themselves. She made a plea for the investigation of ports, towns, habitations and ecclesiastical sites. Although published more than a decade before her retirement, in 1994, this remarkable paper, when set against the developing patterns of her work, can be thought of as its apotheosis. Indeed, it may have been the blueprint for a book that was never written, for her sense of the nature of post-Roman Kent, and certainly the archaeological importance of her native county, was exceptional. After his retirement, Christopher Hawkes remained productive and, notable among his later works was Greeks, Celts and Romans (\913), a collective work, edited with Sonia. In the later 1980s, when ailing, he felt that he had done enough for British archaeology and they travelled and spent time upon a Northern European cruise ship. Caring for Christopher curtailed Sonia's research for she spent much time with him, and after his death was tireless in settling his affairs, and ordering his books and papers. Deprived of the considerable stimulus of Christopher's erudition and enthusiasm, her work never recovered its earlier impetus. Archaeological history will see Sonia Chadwick-Hawkes as the discerning systematiser of the great array of Anglo-Saxon grave furnishings, largely from Kent. This led to a sensitive appreciation of the Kentish kingdoms. PAUL ASHBEE M.C. LEBON, M.A. Cecily Lebon, who died on 19 October 1998, aged 84, was a member of the Society for over forty years. She served as a member of the Council from 1970-80 and was Local Secretary for the Mid-South Kent area for many years. She was also a regular contributor of articles to Archaeologia Cantiana. During the late nineteen-fifties she helped Col. Darrell Hill at the Bodiam Roman site and in subsequent fieldwork tracing the Roman road in the vicinity. She went on to discover the Little Farningham Roman iron-working site, near Cranbrook. Later, she directed a rescue excavation on the Roman ford at Iden Green, which was in danger of being destroyed by farming operations. She also excavated with the help of girls from Benenden School (where she was Archivist) the vast seventeenth-century drainage system of Old Hempsted. Churches were another of her interests. She investigated the early 432 OBITUARIES origins and later history of Appledore, Benenden, Stone and Ebony churches. With Alec Miles and the help of other KAS members, the excavation of of the site of the Norman/Later Medieval church of St Mary's at Chapel Bank, Reading Street was conducted from 1977-87. Cecily's enthusiasm and energy is sorely missed among local amateur archaeological circles in the area she so enjoyed studying. ALEC MILES E.W. PARKIN John Parkin, as he was always known to his family and friends, died on 16th October 1999, soon after his 96th birthday, following a fall at home in King's Lynn. John was born in Iden near Rye on 23rd September 1903 and was educated at Reigate Grammar School, where he gained a Whitworth Scholarship to study engineering at Northampton College of Engineering. His early career was in the aircraft industry, with Boulton and Paul, and then working on the ill-fated R. 101 airship. However, in the slump of the 1930s, when the industry was in the doldrums, he joined his father's drapery firm in Norwich and later established the business in Folkestone. He joined the Society in 1960 when his dormant interest in structural engineering was re-awakened on seeing Durlock Grange in Minster-in-Thanet being demolished. He recorded and published this particularly fine 'wealden' house in Archaeologia Cantiana in 1962, and from that time until 1989 there is an almost unbroken series of articles on houses in the eastern half of the county. He served on the Council of the Society for fifteen years. John served on the Kent Historic Buildings Committee for over 20 years and compiled a file of notes, drawing and photographs on each house he inspected, which are now at the National Monuments Record. He was an active member of several local history groups in East Kent and lectured widely on the old buildings he loved to record, assisted by his wife Mollie, who operated the projector. His friends remember a quietly-spoken, unassuming man, who imparted his extensive knowledge of Kent houses in a relaxed and friendly manner and inspired others of similar interest to go and look for themselves. PL 433 OBITUARIES K.P. WITNEY, C.V.O. Kenneth Witney, author of The Jutish Forest and The Kingdom of Kent, died on 7 October 1999, aged 83. Kenneth was born in south India where his parents were missionaries and was sent to Eltham College from whence he won a major scholarship to Wadham College. Oxford. He joined the Civil Service and had a distinguished career in the Home Office, retiring in 1976 as an Under-Secretary of State. Kenneth Witney is regarded as one of the twentieth century's most distinguished medieval historians of Kent. His interest in the County was fired during his schooldays although it was not until 1948 that he moved here, to Tonbridge. His first book (published in 1976), on the pattern of Jutish settlement, was researched and written during his working career. During his retirement he produced another invaluable work on the County's early history, a study of the Kentish Kings (published 1982) and contributed articles to Archaeologia Cantiana on a variety of medieval subjects. He joined the Society in 1980 and served on its Publications Committee for a number of years. His last major work, which will sadly be published posthumously (by the KAS), is The Survey of Archbishop Pecham's Kentish Manors 1283-5, which he translated from its original Latin. His introduction to this work provides a lengthy analysis of the patterns of tenancies and customs revealed in the survey. He has left behind an unpublished work on the Domesday Book showing how this illuminates landholding developments in Kent during the preceding centuries. His latter years were overshadowed by the loss of his wife Joan in a car accident, which left him disabled. TGL 434