Obituaries and Contributors

OBITUARies

chris pout. b.a., m.a.

Chris Pout, who served the Society as President (2005-2011), died after a period of illness in April 2021. Prior to his term as President he was chair of the Society’s Fieldwork Committee. Beyond the Society he held other roles, being on the management board of Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) and, for a time, was Treasurer of the Trust for Thanet Archaeology (TfTA), during a period of restructuring. In these various formal capacities, and more generally, he proved highly effective in promoting the study of the history and archaeology of the county. His personal qualities and commitment were the key to his success. The marking of the 150th anniversary of the founding of the KAS in 1857, which fell within his Presidency, proved the high watermark of his contribution, as Chris took a central role organizing the various celebratory activities. The accomplished outcome was the product of his foresight, drive, organizational skills and ability to get others to work to these goals. A well-liked figure, his passing brings marked sadness but also many tributes from members and the wider heritage community.

Chris was born in Herne Bay in April 1943. He graduated from Jesus College, Oxford, with a degree in Chemistry. He initially worked for British Petroleum (BP) based in Sunbury, but subsequently moved to their London offices, taking up a role as a business planner; this included a stint in New York. When asked to organise a round of redundancies he was very pleased to put his name first on the list; thus he retired at 50. Retirement soon led to what was to be a de facto second career as he began to pursue his interest in the past. He became a member of the Society in 1996, also in that year progressing to enrol for a part-time degree in Archaeology at the University of Kent, a popular course with a six-year duration.

Excavations at Abbey Farm, Minster in Thanet (1996-2004), exploring the Roman villa, were starting as a joint venture of the KAS, TfTA and The Thanet Archaeological Society and became a focus. Chris devoted much energy to its logistical organization. Living somewhat locally (at Marshside) and having transport with, fortuitously, a long trailer, he proved a welcome asset to the project. Abbey Farm was an initiative he championed, being a direct opportunity for members to participate in a research and training project led by their Society (something not matched for another twelve years). As the work at Abbey Farm drew to a close Chris took on responsibility for the very substantial assemblage of Roman tile that had been unearthed. Such material had, until recently, tended to be ignored but new realizations around its potential were clear to Chris and its recording became something of a ‘labour of love’ albeit a lengthy one. He was conscientious in documenting each fragment in detail, the data being stored in a huge spreadsheet. Reports from those sharing the experience at Abbey Farm resound in the view that Chris relished his time on site. The excavations were runner-up in the 2004 Pitt Rivers Award and Chris collected the prize at the honours ceremony in Belfast, and around this time he gave a presentation to the Conference for Independent Archaeologists on the findings. He was concerned to see the post-excavation work result in proper study and publication, a goal largely, if not yet fully, realized.

As an archaeological scholar Chris excelled, with a record of high marks, aptly gaining a distinction for his assignments on the Archaeological Fieldwork Techniques and Applications module of his degree. He graduated in 2002 with First Class honours.

He had become a member and then chair (from 2003) of the Society’s Fieldwork Committee which, at that time, had a surprisingly large and keen attendance with individuals squeezed around the large table in the Society’s Library at Maidstone Museum. Chris was elected to the Society’s Council at the AGM of May 2003. Reliable, considered in his thought and actions, with vision and an affable manner it was no surprise that as Paul Oldham’s term of office as Society President drew to a close Chris was tasked, along with other Council members, to seek and sound out potential candidates for the succession. Yet it so happened that his own name was proposed from the membership and, after reflection, Chris agreed to stand, becoming President through election at the AGM in May 2005. His election marked a real difference for it had been normal for the position to follow after a long background of activity in Kent and KAS office-holding. In this respect Chris was a ‘New Man’, lacking such a hinterland and traditional credentials; but that was not to matter.

In a position of leadership a key ‘operating asset’ is skill in communication (plus a sprinkle of persistence) and Chris brought his particularly strong abilities in this area to his roles. In coordinating and arranging the affairs of the Society his commitment to (as it may seem now) ‘old style’ conversation and letter writing, proved a way to largely guarantee swifter and certain outcomes at a time when email and other channels were becoming a somewhat less than personal norm. Hence he journeyed much to speak in person and in the evenings made frequent use of his telephone (dialling and receiving), or composed typed letters. He showed himself to be adept at ‘building bridges’, in managing the types of clashes that can occur between parties in round-table meetings (a well-known feature of Society business for some years) and in resolving issues periodically encountered in a leadership role, and always to the good of this Society.

Chris’ timetable and weekday calendar was arranged, or so it seemed, in sympathy with his other great passion: golf. Yet even on the golf course Kent’s history and archaeology were clearly never far from his mind and his knowledge of some of the antiquities of Kent was suggested to be especially strong in cases where they lay in close proximity to certain fairways. Weekends were often populated with KAS meetings and events or in representing the Society; some 40 weekends a year being taken up with Society business in this way (often with more than one event to attend), a necessity that came with the role and something, indeed, not unique to Chris’ Presidential tenure. He was ably supported through his Presidency by the Hon. Secretary Andrew Moffat, the two forming a complementary team. In addition to 18 holes and the past, there were extensive interests: country pursuits, bell ringing, play writing, skiing, gardening, jam and marmalade making. Throughout, family played a very big part in Chris’ life, though he had become a widower in the early 1980s with the passing of his first wife, Jenny. Chris eventually remarried; he and Pip Fisk were contemporaries in degree study and at Abbey Farm, and a close companionship flourished.

As the sesquicentennial anniversary (2007) approached Chris became the principal organizer and ‘doer’ as the arrangements took form. The efforts were realized in a highly successful exhibition entitled The Hidden Treasures of Kent at Maidstone Museum. This endeavour required the commission of bespoke cabinets for display of highlights of the county’s antiquities, including items dispersed from the county that Chris had secured on loan as well as exhibits drawn from the remarkable collection of the Society itself. Two themed day conferences taking stock of the preceding 50 years of discovery were held at Medway (April) and Canterbury (September) with Chris playing a central role in the arrangements. A celebratory dinner was held at Darwin College, University for Kent, following the second conference, featuring the inaugural award of the Hasted prize (the dinner echoing the first anniversary celebration when between 350-450 were served). There was a garden party too, hosted at Allington Castle, by Sir Robert and Lady Worcester with whom Chris had become friends and who proved great patrons of the Society thereafter.

Presidencies come to an end and Chris’ term was concluded at the AGM of 2011 at the Guildhall Museum, Rochester. Subsequently, Chris was a regular attendee at the main calendar events of the Society, and those of both CAT and TfTA, remaining a stalwart friend of all three, even after illness struck. Thus he attended the last conference of the Society in 2019 before Covid precluded in-person events for essentially two years. An advocate of the active use of the Society’s funds rather than their passive curation he remained ever forward-looking, something in step with his positive verve and temperament. Being made a Patron of the Society was some form of recognition for his contribution. In representing the Society, in communicating its agenda, and through advancing its causes with vitality, he is remembered as having delivered a ‘first rate job’, providing leadership and proving himself to be a very effective chair.

steven willis

albert daniels 1947-2020

Albert Daniels, for many years a stalwart member of Kent’s archaeological fraternity, died in November 2020. Born in our County town he had an abiding interest in the history and archaeology of Maidstone and its environs. He was President of Maidstone Historical Society, as well as one of the earliest members of the Maidstone Area Archaeological Group, founded in 1969. Over the course of his long association with this Group, Albert held, at various times, the positions of archaeological director and chairman. Very appropriately, it happens that this volume contains an article on MAAG’s excavations at East Farleigh 2005-2017, which he directed.

Albert was a unique, gifted amateur archaeologist, with a droll sense of humour and an encyclopaedic knowledge that was confidently relied upon by everyone he met or worked with. He was especially generous in sharing his wide historical and archaeological knowledge and practical experience. His enthusiasm was infectious and he would greatly encourage and patiently oversee newcomers to excavation. He had an easy, relaxed approach, whether the subject concerned was potentially of great significance, or mundane.

He joined the KAS in 1973 serving variously as Local Secretary for Maidstone, Council member, Scrutineer, but especially on the Fieldwork Committee from 1985 until stepping down due to ill health in 2018. He was Secretary for much of that period, but also acted as Vice-chairman.

Although he was based with the Maidstone Group, on whose behalf he carried out many watching briefs, Albert enjoyed travelling around the County to either visit, or work on, other sites. (And further afield – he had close links with the Hastings Group.) Albert was a well-respected and much-loved member of archaeology teams, including those at Randall Manor, and Darent Valley where he played a key role in the post-excavation effort and contributed much of his spare time in his final year of fieldworking. From running the finds tent at the Lullingstone dig in July 2019 to heading the team who spent much of the subsequent year working on processing the environmental material, Albert could be relied upon to take charge. In east Kent Albert regularly helped out at Ringlemere prehistoric site (2002-2006), and at Folkestone Roman villa (2010-2011). The Albert Daniels Archive now in the KAS Library Collections is testament to the scope of Albert’s contributions to the archaeological record.

Albert was one of those great ‘characters’ who do so much to enliven the day-to-day chores of excavation work and his passing leaves an enormous gap in the various archaeological communities in which he served.

deborah goacher

christopher w. chalklin, m.a., b.litt., d.litt.

Christopher Chalklin, economic historian, died in August 2021 aged eighty-eight. He was born in Hendon, north London in 1933 – his parents, both physicists who met working at University College London. In 1946 the family migrated to New Zealand where Christopher’s father, Francis Cecil, had been appointed professor of physics at Canterbury University College. Christopher graduated from the University of Canterbury (NZ) and then proceeded to study at Oxford. His youth was marred by the death of his father in an air crash in Singapore in March 1954.

Christopher’s father’s family had close connections to Tonbridge going back several generations. He was anxious to maintain his links with the town and many of his research projects were based on local topics. His first employment at the County Archives Office in Maidstone put him in an ideal position to further that interest.

Christopher became actively involved with Tonbridge Historical Society in the mid-1960s after his appointment to a readership at the University of Reading. From 1967, over a period of three years, he ran an evening research seminar at Tonbridge Library for the Society to study life in nineteenth-century Tonbridge. From this came the Society’s initial publication Mid-Victorian Tonbridge (1983). This was the first of several increasingly ambitious local publications edited by him on the history of the town. He was extremely enthusiastic about his involvement with the Society and maintained his connection up to the time of his death having, until he became quite frail, been its President – a position he only surrendered when the journey from home in Guildford became too tiring.

Christopher Chalklin was at his happiest working on his major research projects and was the highly-respected author of several important studies on Kentish provincial towns and agrarian society in the two centuries after 1650. Many KAS members will be familiar with his comprehensive volume on Seventeenth-Century Kent: a social and economic history (1965). This provides a fine understanding of the social and economic basis of Kentish society – a clear and concise account based on extensive research and underpinned by his earlier work on Tonbridge and the Wealden region. Sadly, one of the most useful works for historians of the western region of the Weald, his Oxford b.litt. thesis on ‘Tonbridge, a Wealden Parish’, was not made ready for publication by the time of his death. Christopher’s other major interest, which enhanced his academic reputation, was on the growth and development of English towns and their buildings, marked by The Provincial Towns of Georgian England: a study of the building process, 1740-1820 (1974), English Counties and Public Buildings, 1650-1850 (1998) and his succinct survey The Rise of the English Town, 1650-1850 (2001). Christopher also looked at prisons, editing the New Maidstone Gaol Order Book, 1805-23 (1984), and Surrey Gaol and Sessions House, 1791-1824 (2009).

Christopher joined the Kent Archaeological Society in 1956 and for many years was a stalwart member of the Society’s Publications Committee and Vice President (1984-2007). He produced a good number of articles for Archaeologia Cantiana over the years and was a regular contributor to its book reviews section. He was also a keen supporter of the Wealden Iron Research Group. Indeed, his last article for Arch. Cant. (vol. cxxiv) was on iron manufacture in Tonbridge parish from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.

patricia mortlock and shiela broomfield

margaret lawrence 1930-2021

Margaret Lawrence died in February 2021, aged 90. She was born in Sheerness but soon her family moved to Chatham where she obtained a scholarship to Rochester Grammar School. Margaret gained a place at a teacher training college but left shortly after as she married and supported her husband, Philip, while he built his career, also in the teaching profession. The family moved to Norfolk when he became a Head Master. She raised her four children during this time also writing a regular column for the local paper. They then moved to East Peckham in 1964 and she went back to college and completed her teacher training. She taught at the local school for many years and also became engrossed in the history of East Peckham as well as in genealogy.

Margaret Lawrence made a very considerable contribution to the KAS ever since she and her husband joined in 1974. She became membership secretary in 1983 and stayed in the post until 2001. Even after that she was a valuable member of Council until 2006. She initiated the setting up of the East Peckham Historical Society which is still thriving. She wrote many informative books which were thoroughly researched and very readable. East Peckham and its environs must be one of the best recorded parts of Kent thanks to Margaret’s sterling efforts as this listing of her well-reviewed works amply demonstrates:

Through This Door. St Michael’s Church, East Peckham (1974).

Peckham Pupils. The Development of Education in a Kentish Village (1979).

The New Church. Holy Trinity Church, East Peckham 1840 Onwards (1988).

‘The Families and House of Oxenhoath, West Peckham’, Archaeologia Cantiana (1993).

The Bridge over the Stream. The History of the Parish Council 1894-1994 (1997).

The Encircling Hop. A History of the Brewing Industry (1994, concentrating on Beltring Farm, Paddock Wood).

For All the Saints St Michael’s Church East Peckham Parish and People (2004).

The Life they left behind (personal details of men and women of East Peckham who died in the two world wars) (2014).

She always thoroughly enjoyed organizing social events including many unfor-gettable Christmas socials which combined her love of early choral music along with the social aspects of being able to meet and chat with fellow members. Her amazing sense of humour combined with patient kindness and care were other attractive aspects of her personality that we shall all miss.

shiela broomfield

mike clinch 1933-2021

With Mike Clinch’s passing the society has lost a long-standing, stalwart member who remained active right up to his death in May 2021, aged 88. After finishing his secondary education at Dartford Grammar School and before he commenced a career in education he spent his National Service years at Britain’s premier night fighter station, RAF West Malling, where he was trained as a radar technician.

He started his working life as a primary school teacher but later went into special education and eventually became the head of a school for autistic children. He was an advisor for Educational Technology and was very involved in introducing computers into schools. His final job before early retirement was Director of Support Services for Teacher in-Service Training for the Inner London Education Authority.

Mike became actively involved in archaeology following writing a dissertation on ‘Settlement in the Cray Valley’ when, in 1954, he met KAS members Peter Tester and John Caiger and was encouraged to join the Society. He dug with Peter and John on many excavations in north-west Kent including sites in Joydens Wood, Bexley and the Roman villa at Cobham. He helped with an excavation on the site of Blendon Hall in Bexley, opening up the very cramped dry area there and encouraging others to follow. Thereafter, he was a regular supporter of the extensive work at Blendon between 2006 and 2015.

Mike Clinch became a trustee of the KAS in 2008 and was elected a Vice President in 2014, a position he held until his death. He served on several committees including the Allen Grove History Fund and the Finance Committee. In 2006 he joined the newly formed KAS Historic Buildings Committee, serving from the outset as secretary, a task undertaken in his characteristic quiet and capable way. He similarly served as secretary of the Industrial Archaeology Committee and organised several successful conferences for the society.

His main interests were mining archaeology and underground features and he had been a fully active member of the affiliated society, the Kent Underground Research Group, for over 30 years. Mike was KURG’s Hon. Secretary and Newsletter Editor from 1997 to 2011 and was a much-valued trustee of the group. When KURG decided to become a Charitable Incorporated Organisation, Mike cheerfully took on the job of dealing with the Charities Commission and the mountain of paperwork involved. He gave many talks on Kent’s underground features and was a popular and entertaining speaker.

Despite surviving a bad bout of legionnaire’s disease in the past and battling leukaemia Mike always undertook his site work with great enthusiasm and energy which put many younger members to shame. He was a kind, gentle person who was always willing to share his considerable experience and knowledge.

Mike sadly succumbed to a tumour in his throat and, tragically, his wife Margaret died shortly after. Their funeral service was held at Christchurch, Bexleyheath, on 8th June and a number of KURG and KAS members attended including KAS Patron, Countess Sondes. He will be greatly missed by all KAS and KURG members that knew him.

rod legear

ernest walter black, m.a., f.s.a.

Ernest Black, who died in 2021, made significant contributions to the study of a wide range of aspects of Roman Britain and Roman Kent. Although he never lived in Kent he was a member of the Kent Archaeological Society (from 1982) and studied the Roman archaeology of the county in detail, undertook primary research regarding some of the tile finds from Canterbury, East Wear Bay and Brabourne, and published widely about various sites and topics.

Ernest was born in 1951 at West Ham, London. After leaving school he studied for a degree in Classics and Ancient History at Wadham College, Oxford. Subsequently Ernest studied under Professor Rivet at the University of Keele where he was awarded an m.a. in the History and Archaeology of Roman Britain. After leaving Keele, Ernest decided to teach Classics as a profession and to undertake research into various aspects of Roman Britain in his leisure time. He taught Classical Civilization and Latin at St Mary’s School for Girls in Colchester until his retirement in 2011.

As Ernest had intended, both during and after retiring from teaching, he spent most of his spare time investigating, without excavating, various aspects of Roman Britain, especially in the South-East. He used site reports and other literary sources, and primary sources. The study of Roman tiles was a particular interest, especially relief-patterned (roller-stamped) flue-tiles. His research work was methodical and involved very careful examination of excavation reports and classical sources, and often resulted in posing new questions of the evidence and the production of alternative theories and interpretations, some of which are considered by other scholars as ‘contentious’. Although Ernest was essentially an ‘independent researcher’, he often worked closely with other scholars and archaeological institutions (an example being the Canterbury Archaeological Trust).

Ernest wrote extensively about his discoveries and conclusions and published in various county and national journals, including Archaeologia Cantiana, and conference proceedings. He also produced two important British Archaeological Report volumes, the first in 1987 (BAR BS 171) on The Roman Villas of South-East England, the other in 1995 (BAR BS 241) entitled Cursus Publicus, The infrastructure of government in Roman Britain. Before his last illness, Ernest was undertaking research to enable him to produce a follow-on publication to Cursus Publicus, this being a study of the 2nd-century civilian defences of towns and mansiones along major Roman roads in southern Britain, these being viewed as military supply routes.

Many of Ernest’s early publications were concerned with villas in the South-East and the first of these, published in Archaeologia Cantiana [vol. 97] concerned the Darenth villa, with its long and complex history. The article begins with Ernest’s observations about, and phasing of, the discoveries at the site during two periods of excavations, in 1895 when much of the villa was uncovered by George Payne, and in 1969 when an additional bath-house and an aisled structure were excavated by Brian Philp. The article then presents a detailed consideration of what Ernest, following the site locational system used by George Payne in his report, considered to be the villa’s five Blocks (A-E) of residential buildings. Next is a suggested developmental history, with period plans, of the villa. Finally, he attempted to explore the functional elements and social organisation of the villa.

Ernest published in 1987 a major review and catalogue with maps and many plans of the then known villas in South-East England (Kent, Surrey, Sussex and eastern Hampshire), and this volume remains an important text for researchers of villas in the region. ‘The Villa List’, near the end of the book, refers to 82 sites in Kent and provides source information, comments and sometimes locations shown on various distribution maps in the book. Previous chapters in the book include six which review the emergence and development of villas in the region, followed by 15 appendices providing specific information and ideas concerning individual sites (Kent examples including a ‘very tentative suggestion that there may have been a horizontal water-mill in the aisled building at the Darenth villa, and the bath-building at Hartlip) or topics, such as ‘corn-driers’.

Ernest’s research concerning the development and dating of villas and bath-houses resulted in him becoming involved in the recording and interpretation of relief-patterned (roller-stamped) flue tiles and hypocaust heating systems. He became an authority on relief-patterned and other flue-tiles and produced specialist reports for various large excavations at Colchester and that at the Marlowe Car Park site in Canterbury. He was also one of three contributors (the others being Ian Betts and John Gower) who produced in 1994 A Corpus of Relief-Patterned Tiles in Roman Britain. Although this volume now needs some updating, it remains the standard reference work about such tiles. As recently as 2019-20 Ernest undertook the recording of the large quantities of flue-tiles recovered during the excavations of the villa at East Wear Bay, Folkestone. In addition, in the absence of any project funding to record the large amount of other Roman tile found at the Folkestone villa, Ernest provided out of his savings the necessary funding needed to complete this work (this task is being undertaken by Susan Pringle on behalf of the CAT).

Perhaps fittingly, Ernest’s final publication (2020) also involved Roman tile. This was a report published in Archaeologia Cantiana [vol. 141] about an excavated, but unpublished and ‘lost’ and forgotten tile kiln at Brabourne in south-east Kent. In 1983 Ernest visited the excavations directed by the late Jim Bradshaw. Ernest’s report is the result of a great piece of detective work and demonstrates both his determination to solve a mystery (i.e. to re-locate the kiln) and ability to produce a useful report in very difficult circumstances which included the loss of most of the finds and all the site records and any drawings! Fortunately, some photographs taken by Mr Eddie Garrett of the kiln and the more interesting finds (such as the coins) are still in existence.

Ernest’s classical training at university provided him with the knowledge and skills to make contributions to discussions about the invasions of Britain by Caesar and by Claudius. With regards to Caesar’s campaigns, Ernest wrote mainly about the invasion of 54 b.c. The first part of this paper concerns Kent and includes the landing, the naval camp, the subsequent march to an encounter with the Britons at a river, the capture of a fortified position, the construction of a fortified Roman camp, and the crossing of the Thames. Ernest discusses both the traditionally identified sites (such as the Great Stour river and Bigbury hillfort) for these happenings, but also makes some other suggestions based on Caesar’s estimates of the distances involved.

With respect to the Claudian invasion of a.d. 43, Ernest contributed much more. However, several of his theories and suggestions are considered by some to be controversial. Thus in a paper in Practical Archaeology (2002) providing a synthesis of his views regarding the ‘Conquest’, Ernest states that Aulus Plautius’ force ‘must have landed on the coast of Sussex, since access to the Dobunni from here would be possible whereas it would not be for an army advancing through Kent’. He acknowledges however that another landing-place in a.d. 43 was ‘almost certainly at Richborough’. He argues that this Kent landing may have been led by Sentius Saturninus whose main task will have been to prepare for the arrival of Claudius. Thus, with reference to the writings of the 4th-century historian Eutropius, Ernest raises the interesting possibility that the invasion of Britain in a.d. 43 had not one but two commanders. Ernest questioned the number of defended river crossings that Plautius had to deal with and concludes that the two river battles that are often quoted, one on either the Arun or the Medway, the other at the Thames, may ‘represent two accounts of the same battle [i.e. on the Thames] taken from two different sources.

Two aspects of Roman Britain of particular interest to Ernest were native burial customs and religious beliefs. With regards to burials, he published in the Archaeological Journal (1986) a regional paper which describes and discusses local customs from the Iron Age to the end of the Roman period, many examples coming from Kent. Similarly, with respect to religious beliefs, Ernest’s major contribution from a Kent perspective was a conference paper on ‘Pagan religion in rural South-East Britain: contexts, deities and belief’ which was published in 2008 in a volume edited by the writer.

Another of Ernest’s long-term research interests were aspects of government in Roman Britain. His first venture into such matters was a paper he published in 1984 in the Oxford Journal of Archaeology which compares the British routes of the Antonine Itinerary against the literary sources for the campaigns of Severus in 208-211. It also examines the possible role of mansiones with the collection of taxes in kind, Ernest ‘tentatively’ suggesting that such taxation may have been levied throughout the Roman period in Britain. Within a decade Ernest had considerably expanded his research regarding mansiones and published Cursus Publicus, The infrastructure of government in Roman Britain (1995). This well illustrated book provides a thorough treatment of mansio sites in Britain (Richborough and Dover are two Kent examples which are discussed in some detail). In the last few years before his death, Ernest had again turned his attention to the study of mansiones, this time with particular regard to 2nd-century defences associated with these and other civilian sites.

In addition to his own important achievements, Ernest was very generous with his knowledge, help and encouragement, always given with humility. He will be much missed, and we have lost an important scholar of Roman Britain who contributed much to our understanding of various aspects of Roman Kent.

david rudling

[The full version of this appreciation of Ernest Black’s researches is published on the KAS website.]

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NOTES ON THE CONTRIBUTORS

Margaret Bolton: is a freelance researcher specialising in early modern demographics and epidemiology. She is currently working on a life of Anne Boleyn.

Stephen Clifton, m.a.: is currently the archaeological director of the Maidstone Area Archaeological Group (MAAG) and also a trustee of the Kent Archaeological Society. He worked from 2003 to 2005 as a field archaeologist for the Trust for Thanet Archaeology. In 2020 he completed an m.a. in archaeology at the University of Kent, achieving a distinction, and his dissertation was awarded the KAS Thirsk prize. He started his ph.d. at the end of 2020, researching Roman and Late Iron Age religious sites. 

Jacqueline Davies: is a social scientist in the School of Health Sciences, City University, London, where she has taught life course studies and written about health risks. She has degrees in history, psychology and social science research methods. Since 2017 collaborated in the U3A project on the Greenwich hearth tax, initiated by the Centre for Hearth Tax Research, University of Roehampton.

Gillian Draper, ph.d., f.s.a, f.r.hist.s.: is a Visiting Research Fellow at Canterbury Christ Church University and an Associate Lecturer at the University of Kent. She researches and publishes on the history of Kent and Sussex from about ad 800 to 1550, and has just completed an article on the tomb of Sir John Fogge and its brasses in Ashford church for the Monumental Brass Society, and a paper for the summer seminar of the Medieval Settlement Research Group on ‘Coastal settlement and landscape: exploring relationships between land and sea’. She is just starting research on the supply of fruit to London from Kent in the fourteenth century and its sale and distribution there. Many of her publications are available on: https://kent.academia.edu/GillianDraper.

Stephen Draper, m.a., c.eng.: graduated in Natural Sciences, Cambridge, 1974. Keen participant in the Knole volunteer research groups, this paper started as a talk prepared during lockdown. Married to Gillian, a historian (q.v), with whom there have been many fruitful discussions on history and palaeography. A stock of photos of archive documents about Knole awaits future analysis.

Erica Gittins, b.a., m.st.: is a lithics specialist, excavation analyst and prehistorian. Margetts Pit is one of a series of investigations in Kent that she is bringing to publication. Others include Mesolithic, Neolithic and Iron Age sites at Ashford.

Pete Knowles, b.sc.(hons): is a Palaeolithic archaeologist and ph.d. researcher at Durham University, studying whether the varying types of Palaeolithic handaxes are evidence of different cultures in early humans. This work involves the reassessment of museum collections, to improve the provenance of historic collections of Palaeolithic material; he uses a novel 3D photogrammetric process to analyse the handaxes. He is also the volunteer curator of the lithics collection at the Seaside Museum, Herne Bay, volunteer archivist and social media adviser for the Herne Bay Historical Record Society, and also works part-time in archaeology as a field archaeologist and a consultant for lithics and specialist Palaeolithic archaeological work.

Avril Leach, b.sc.(hons), m.a., ph.d.: is an independent researcher. Her doctoral studies at the University of Kent concerned institutional culture within Canterbury and Maidstone borough corporations in the seventeenth century. Her current research projects include study of first edition copies of William Somner’s Antiquities of Canterbury, and early modern maps of Canterbury.

David Lepine: is a historian of the late medieval Church with a particular interest in secular cathedrals, the higher clergy and commemoration. He is Hon. Editor of the Transactions of the Monumental Brass Society.

Keith Parfitt, b.a., f.s.a., m.c.i.f.a: Hons degree in British Archaeology at University College, Cardiff, 1978. Subsequently joined KARU, working on a variety of excavations across Kent and S.E. London; spent several years writing-up Keston Roman villa. Moved to Canterbury Archaeological Trust in 1990 and worked on the Dover A20 project which culminated in discovery of the Bronze Age Boat in 1992; and on Buckland Anglo-Saxon cemetery in 1994 and Townwall Street, Dover, in 1996. Acted as Director for KAS excavations at Minster, 2002-2004. Worked in collaboration with the British Museum in excavating and publishing the complex Bronze Age barrow site at Ringlemere, 2002-2006. Supervised excavations at East Wear Bay Roman villa, Folkestone, 2010-2011. Presently writing-up major excavations in Dover town centre. Running parallel with full-time career, Director of Excavations for amateur Dover Archaeological Group since 1978. Elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London in 2000.

Patricia Reid, ph.d.: first encountered archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, London, as part of her initial degree in Anthropology at the London School of Economics. After early retirement in 1994, became heavily involved with the Sedgeford project in Norfolk from which stems her interest in the Anglo Saxons: from 1998 to 2004 undertook a research m.a. and then ph.d. at University College, London. In 2005, founded the Faversham Society Community Archaeology Group which thrives to this day.

Keith Robinson, b.a.(hons): is a native of north Kent, a founding member of the Faversham Society Archaeological Research Group, a Trustee of the Friends of Milton Regis Court Hall and a member of the KAS Kent Marshes Group. His major interest is in the north Kent marshes specifically Kentish duck decoys, the history of Milton Regis and the life and times of Milton naturalist, artist and writer Denham Jordan – ‘A Son of the Marshes’. His most recent publication was of the North Kent Marshes with Ian Jackson in 2015.

Peter Slaughter, b.sc., m.sc., m.c.i.h.t.: after retirement studied Environmental Arch-aeology at the University of Reading, receiving m.sc. degree in 2019. Particularly interested in Britain’s prehistory and changing landscape. Since 2009 recording (on a voluntary basis) archaeological and palaeontological finds uncovered by erosion at Swalecliffe and other locations.

Sheila Sweetinburgh, ph.d.: is a lecturer in Medieval and Early Modern Studies and Co-Director of the Centre for Kent History and Heritage at Canterbury Christ Church University, as well as a Specialist Associate Lecturer at the University of Kent. She has published The Role of the Hospital in Medieval England: Gift-giving and the Spiritual Economy (2004), and four edited collections, including most recently, with Elizabeth Edwards and Stuart Bligh, Maritime Kent through the Ages (2021). Additionally, she has published numerous articles on medieval and Tudor Kent deploying an interdisciplinary approach to explore a wide range of topics. She is currently working with Craig Lambert (University of Southampton) on a funded project entitled ‘Kent’s maritime communities and their European neighbours: connections and relations across the Narrow Seas, c.1350-c.1600’.

Tim van Tongeren, ph.d.: recently obtained his ph.d. in early medieval archaeology from Canterbury Christ Church University. His main research interests are cross-North Sea contact between Britain and continental Europe, the process of Christianisation, development of ecclesiastical sites and the material culture of the Anglo-Saxons, Merovingians and Frisians. He created the first holistic artefact typology and chronology for the early medieval Netherlands and intends to use this work for a large-scale comparative study of material culture and burial ritual in the Low Countries and south-eastern England.

Stephen Williamson, m.a.(cantab.): was brought up in Canterbury where his branch of the Williamson family has lived for at least 300 years. He moved away to work in industry but returns to Canterbury regularly, and his family’s roots there have incentivised him to explore the City’s post medieval history.

Eleanor Wilson, b.a., m.a.: studied History of Art at the University of Bristol and the Courtauld Institute of Art, specialising in the art and architecture of Medieval England. She is currently an AHRC funded White Rose scholar at the University of York. Her ph.d. project investigates the materiality of globalism in Medieval and Early Modern London focussing on the patronage of the Livery Companies. 

Rita Wood: her interest in the Gateway was sparked by the challenge of the unsolved six medallions, not by any particular focus on Kent, though a capital in the cathedral crypt, and the doorway at St Margaret-at-Cliffe have drawn her attention in the past. Most of her fieldwork for CRSBI has been done in Yorkshire, and she has published Romanesque Yorkshire, and more recently Paradise: the World of Romanesque Sculpture. No relevant degree; web-site www.rwromanesque.co.uk

Michael Zell: has been an historian of early modern Kent since the 1970s, first contributing to Archaeologia Cantiana in 1977 (vol. xciii). Before his retirement he taught at the University of Greenwich. His book, Industry in the Countryside: Wealden Society in the 16th Century, appeared in 1994, and his Early Modern Kent, 1540-1640, part of the Kent History Project, came out in 2000. Since 2017 collaborated in the U3A project on the Greenwich hearth tax, initiated by the Centre for Hearth Tax Research, University of Roehampton.

contributors

contributors