Annual Report and Accounts for the Year 1937

ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR 1937. REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER, 1937. THE Council present herewith their seventy-ninth Report, together with the Accounts for 1937. MEMBERSHIP. The number of members at the beginning of the year was 936, including 6 Affiliated Societies, 71 other Societies and Institutions and 73 Life Members, whilst the Societies in union for the interchange of proceedings numbered 34. The corresponding figures on 31st December, 1937, were 946, 8, 73, 72 and 37 respectively. Sixty-four new members were elected during the year, but cessations by death and other causes amounted to 54, leaving a net gain in the membership of 10. This small increase was achieved only as the result of the circular which was addressed to members in the Autumn, inviting them to supply the names of any persons likely to be interested in the Society. It is, therefore, clear that special action to keep up the membership is necessary every year, and the Council again stress the need for the continued assistance of all members of the Society in securing new members. The fiftieth volume of " Archseologia Cantiana " is due for publication at the end of the year 1938 and this event would be happily commemorated if, during the same year, the membership could be raised to 1,000 or more. CHANGES. In their last Report the Council referred to the retirement of the President of the Society, Lord Conway. It is with deep regret that they have now to record his death, on 19th April, 1937. xxxviii REPORT, 1937. His interest in the Society was deep and abiding and he is remembered with respect and affection by his colleagues on the Council and others who knew him well. The Council also record with regret the deaths of Mr. C. W. Powell, J.P., D.L., a Vice-President of the Society and a member of over fifty years' standing, and Mr. Arthur H. Neve, Hon. Local Secretary for the Tonbridge district. The deaths of Lord Conway and Mr. Powell gave rise to two vacancies among the Trustees of the Society, and these have been filled by the Hon. Mr. Justice Luxmoore and Mr. R. F. Jessup. Miss V. Elizabeth Buxton has been appointed to succeed Mr. Neve as Hon. Local Secretary. In September the Society's Curator, Mr. Norman Cook, tendered his resignation, on his appointment to the staff of the Morven Institute of Archaeological Research at Avebury. Mr. Cook's archaeological knowledge and acumen were a valuable asset to the Society, and the loss of his services will be seriously felt. Mr. Cyril Edmund Eisher, who fills Mr. Cook's late post under the Corporation of Maidstone, has also been appointed curator to the Society. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. The Annual General Meeting took place on 22nd April, at Maidstone Museum, by the courtesy of the Museum Committee. The morning attendance was between forty and fifty, and in the afternoon the number swelled to about 100, totals moderate in normal circumstances, but gratifying at the time of a local omnibus strike. The Rev. C. Eveleigh Woodruff, the senior Vice-President, took the chair at the opening of the morning proceedings. After the minutes of the preceding Annual General Meeting had been passed, he expressed the general regret felt at the news of the death, three days before, of Lord Conway of Allington, to whose memory the meeting paid a silent tribute. The Chairman referred next to Lord Conway's retirement from the office of President a few months before his death, and intimated that it was for that meeting to choose a successor. On the motion of Dr. E. W. Hardman, seoonded by Dr. F. W. Cock, Sir Reginald Tower, K.C.M.G., C.V.O., was unanimously elected President of the Society, and Mr. Woodruff thereupon vacated the chair in his favour. REPORT, 1937. XXXIX In moving the adoption of the Report and Accounts for 1936, the President ran through their salient features, touching upon the desirability of increasing the membership, the recent issue of a bulkier volume of Archceologia Cantiana, well suited to the varying tastes of members, the long-awaited General Index, the useful work of the Records Branch—meriting additional subscribers—the successful excursions of the 1936 season, including a visit to Maiden Castle, Dorchester, and the preparation by Local Secretaries of a list of ancient buildings and sites of antiquities in North-East Kent. After the motion had been seconded by Canon G. M. Livett, the Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Stokes, reviewed the chief items in the accounts which, he assured the meeting, showed that the finances of the Society were in a satisfactory state. The report and accounts were unanimously adopted. The usual elections followed. Nine new members were admitted and the six retiring members of Council, Mr. Ralph Griffin, Sir Hugh N. Jackson, Bart., Capt. H. W. Knocker, Mr. H. Western Plumptre, Major P. G. H. Powell-Cotton and Major Max Teichman Derville, were re-elected. The Hon. Auditors, . Messrs. F. C. Allwork, F.C.A., and A. G. B. Chittenden, A.C.C.S., were cordially thanked for their services and re-elected. The Hon. Excursion Secretaries, Major T. M. Usborne and Mr. R. W. Strickland, outlined their proposals for the coming excursions, and after a vote of thanks to the Corporation of Maidstone for the use of their rooms, the lunch adjournment was taken. Members re-assembled in the afternoon with their friends, to hear the lectures which had been arranged for them. The Very Rev. Dr. Francis Underhill, Dean of Rochester and Bishop-designate of Bath and Wells, described recent work done and proposed at Rochester Cathedral, and in his own attractive manner, with many flashes of enthusiasm, spoke of the excavations made and the ancient walls uncovered, as well as of walls still buried in the Cathedral precincts and of the proposed recovery of the site of the cloister. After a hearty vote of thanks to the lecturer, the gathering turned to the subject of pre-history, and Mr. Norman Cook gave a no less interesting address on modern archaeological methods, including the construction of a post-glacial time-scale by reference to the retreat of Scandinavian glaciers, the determination of xl REPORT, 1937. climate by pollen analysis, air photography and its revelations, and the spade. In thanking him the President referred to the diversity of the subjects dealt with by the two lecturers as contributing to the interest of the proceedings. Both lectures were well illustrated by the lantern. The company next inspected an exhibition of manorial documents which had been arranged by Dr. Gordon Ward in the gallery adjoining the lecture room, where also many back volumes of Archceologia Gantiana were on sale at low prices to members. Mr. Richard Cooke once again generously entertained all present to tea. COTTNOIL. During the year Messrs. F. W. Tyler, F.S.A., and H. R. Pratt Boorman, M.A., were elected to vacancies caused by the succession of Sir Reginald Tower to the Presidential chair, and the resignation of Mr. F. H. Day, F.S.A. Mr. Day's retirement, after service on the Council for nearly a quarter of a century, was accepted with sincere regret. The usual quarterly meetings of the Council covered a great deal of current business. At the March meeting a general desire was expressed by members to offer to Mr. Arthur Hussey a testimonial in recognition of his valuable and long-continued work for the Society in searching for wills at Canterbury and in preparing works issued by the Records Branch. Although no general appeal was issued, a sum exceeding £40 was soon raised and Mr. Hussey was invited to apply the amount in the manner most agreeable to him. He expressed his deep appreciation of the gift. At their June meeting the Council approved a proposal by Mr. R. F. Jessup, F.S.A., for excavations to be made under the auspices of the Society in the prehistoric hill fortress of Oldbury, Ightham, the consent of the owner having been readily accorded. An Excavation Sub-Committee has been appointed and it is expected that digging will begin early in September, 1938. The Council recently agreed to co-operate with the Committee for the Preservation of Rural Kent (a Sub-Committee of the Kent Council of Social Service) in the preparation of a list of historic buildings and sites of antiquities within the County, and at their December meeting, following a request by the Congress of Archaeological Societies that the Kent Archaeological Society should REPORT, 1937. xii prepare such a list, they set up a Sub-Committee to explore the question and to recommend the action to be taken. It having been found that, owing to the variety of subjects to be discussed, the time allotted for the business of the Annual General Meeting is insufficient, the Council have rearranged the times of meeting and adjourning so as to add considerably to the time allowed for the business meeting. During the year appeals were received from various sources for grants towards the repair of ancient buildings, and like objects. Owing to the limited funds at their disposal the Council were, in general, unable to respond to such appeals, but they felt that an exception should be made in favour of the national appeal for the preservation of Avebury, towards which they authorized a grant of five guineas. LIBRARY AND COLLECTION. Gifts to the Library during the year include the following volumes presented by the authors, or editors :—The Oxinden Letters, I, and the Oxinden and Peyton Letters, 1642-70 (Mrs. Dorothy Gardiner) ; Kent, second edition (Arthur Mee); Windmills in Sussex (Rev. Peter Hemming) ; History of Gamberley (G. Poulton); The Roffensian Register (F. Watt); and Royal Visitors to Dover (J. H. Mowll). Amongst other gifts are St. Thomas Bechet in Art, by Tancred Borenius (Donor : Sir Reginald Tower) ; Appendix to Reports respecting Public Records of the Kingdom (Donor : Mr. J . H. Airworthy); Ancient Glass Paintings, by Winston, two vols. (Donor : Rev. E. J. Nash) ; Kent's Capital, a Handbook to Maidstone (Donor : Mr. Walter Ruck) ; Royal Genealogies from Adam, by James Anderson, 1736 (Donor : Mr. J. H. Allworthy); twenty-eight volumes of Archceologia Cantiana (Donor : Mr. G. F. Wade); and twenty-four volumes of the same publication (Donor: Mr. E. R. Gilbert). Surgeon-Captain Kenneth Jones, F.S.A., has presented many slides and negatives of antiquarian interest, blocks of illustrations, etc., Engr. Capt. J. B. Hewitt, R.N., has given numerous original drawings of churches and other buildings near Rochester, which were originally made to illustrate articles on Kent Churches by Mr. Henry Smetham, and Mr. E. W. Filkins has given several large sheet six-inch Ordnance Survey maps of parts of Kent. Towards the end of this year the Society received, under the will of Mr. Charles H. Drake, late of Faversham, six albums of xlii REPORT, 1937. valuable photographs of the heraldry in the cloister of Canterbury Cathedral, as well as the following books and papers : Sepulchral Brasses, by J. S. Cotman, 2 vols.; Boutell's Heraldry, 1898, 1 vol. ; Griffin's Some Kentish Crests, 1919, Heraldry of Cloisters of Canterbury Cathedral, 1915, and Heraldry of Ghicheley Porch of Canterbury Cathedral, 1921 ; Willement's Notes on Heraldry of Cloisters of Canterbury Cathedral; Armorial Bearings—Canterbury Cathedral (MS.) ; and Lithographs of Cathedrals from The Builder. During the year the Council authorized the purchase of copies of The Custom of Gavelkind in Kent, by Percy Maylam, and Franciscan History and Legend in English Medieval Art, edited by Dr. A. G. Little. Under arrangements for the interchange of pubHcations the Society received from the Royal University of Uppsala Wallenberg's two books on Kent Place-Names. ACCOUNTS. The Accounts for the year show only a small excess of income over expenditure, due mainly to an increase in the cost of printing. The state of the finances of the Society is, however, satisfactory. The credit balance at the bank, at 31st December, was large, but will be heavily reduced as soon as the General Index is printed. The Excursions again resulted in a small profit. Arrears of subscriptions are again very small. ARGHMOLOGIA GANTIANA. The notice printed in the forefront of Volume XLVIII, requiring papers intended for publication in the next volume to reach the Editor, complete and ready for the printer, by 30th September, has facilitated to some extent the publication of Volume XLIX, which is being distributed to members in March, 1938. This notice is intended to be of permanent application, and the Council hope that as a result future volumes will be issued at least as early in the year as February. Volume XLIX is somewhat bulkier than its predecessor and maintains the high standard of many previous volumes. The new General Index is making progress but is not yet in the hands of the printer. Donations to the Illustrations Fund reached the gratifying total of £19 9s., an increase of £7 10s. 3d. over the preceding year. REPORT, 1937. xliii RECORDS BRANCH. During the year about 700 documents have been received for preservation, and also the " Sutton Valence Church Book" (Assessments and Churchwardens' Accounts) and the Rental of Brook Manor, near Wye, 1502. Part VII of the Register of Bishop Hamo Hethe was issued to subscribers. Voluntary assistance in calendaring the documents held by the Records Branch would be very welcome. It is work that can be done at home and should make a particular appeal to members having some amount of leisure time and a desire to fill it usefully. Mr. Frank W. Tyler, F.S.A. (Hon. Secretary), Records Branch, 6 Hawk's Lane, Canterbury, will be delighted to hear from anyone willing to help . PLACE-NAMES. If the number of enquiries about place-names received during the year 1937 is reliable evidence, there has been a remarkable revival of interest in the subject, which can perhaps be ascribed to the recent publication of Ekwall's Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names, and of Hodgkins' History of the Anglo- Saxons and Collingwood and Myres' Roman Britain and the English Settlements, two books which have clearly demonstrated the value of place-name evidence to the historian. In the last Report it was said that the possibility of making a survey of the field and other minor names in the county was being investigated. An attempt has been made with the aid of the schools to organize such a survey, but a great deal of ground yet remains to be covered. The Hon. Secretary of the Place- Names Committee (Mr. Frank W. Jessup, Autumn Cottage, Ditton, Kent) will be glad to hear from any members who are interested in the subject and would like to undertake a part of the survey. EXCURSIONS. Nearly 150 members and their friends assembled on July 2nd, the opening day of the Summer Excursion and, fore-warned that St. John's Preceptory, Swingfield, was " a very difficult place to find ", the whole company reached it, their first objective, without mishap. Mr. C. R. Councer described the ancient buildings, afterwards taking small parties through the interior and leading xliv REPORT, 1937. those in search of high adventure up a perilous step-ladder into the fourteenth century roof—to their keen satisfaction when they got there. It was but a short distance from the Preceptory to Hoad Farm, Acryse, where Mr. W. P. D. Stebbing, F.S.A., explained with a plan the archaeological and architectural features of a small, flintbuilt, medieval building, perhaps an old hall and manor house, possibly once moated, perhaps—well, the discussion in the open air showed how even the doctors may differ about a much-altered, thirteenth century house which, though mentioned by Hasted, " seems to have no personal history ". The Kent Education Committee were accorded the thanks of the Society for closing a local school to enable the hungry archaeologists to use Hawkinge Village Hall as a lunch and tea room—there being no other. After lunch the route was by devious and narrow by-ways, never designed for twentieth-century traffic and completely blocked when the coaches met a farm-waggon with projecting top-hamper (to say nothing of the telephone post on the other side). However, St. Radegund's Abbey was reached at last, where Mr. and Mrs. Else courteously received the party and Mr. Councer gave a learned and attractive account of the Praemonstratensian house and its history. In the course of a saunter round the buildings some enthusiasts discovered a real, visible, subterranean passage, but came to the surface when their guide identified it with the main drain of the monastery. Not until late in the afternoon was the first scheduled church reached—Capel-le-Ferne, with its curious stone screen of three arches dividing chancel from nave. Here Dr. Kenneth Jones, F.S.A., took over the duty of guide and explained the noteworthy features of the building. After tea, he also described the small, old church of St. Oswald at Paddlesworth, standing high on the chalk hills, 640 feet above sea level, and the geologists among the company paused to examine the Pliocene ironstone (Lenham beds) in its walls. A drive to Folkestone brought the coach party to the railway station with a few minutes in hand, recalling to them that the time-table had been kept to all day long —a tribute to the shrill note of Major Usborne's whistle. The start next day was delayed a little by the late arrival of a train, but as the morning programme was confined to a visit to REPORT, 1937. xlv Cheriton church, there was an ample margin of time. Dr. Kenneth Jones addressed the members in the church and his discourse, ranged over a wide area. Most of the day's work came after lunch, when the party reached Court-at-Street and seated themselves on the grass at the top of the old sea cliff, above the ruined chapel of Billerica, where the stiff breeze tempering a hot sun and the wide view over Romney Marsh were equally appreciated, Canon R. U. Potts, F.S.A., told the gathering something of the vanished, early town of Billerica—whose very name is a puzzle to the learned—»and more of Elizabeth Barton, the Holy Maid of Kent. Dr. Gordon Ward, F.S.A., followed with an address covering the geology and topography as well as the pre-history and history of the great marsh. A few of his hearers whose homes were near by showed some uneasiness when he told them that the land was slowly sinking and would some day be drowned by the sea— though, happily, not just yet. There was time for Aldington church to be seen at leisure. Canon Potts described it and told of its associations with Erasmus, incidentally reminding his hearers that Gerard, the hero of Charles Reade's great novel, The Cloister and the Hearth, was there presented as the father of Erasmus. The more energetic spirits climbed to the top of the church tower and were rewarded with a view on all sides that was far too good to be missed. From Aldington to Bilsington was only a few short miles. On the arrival of the company at Bilsington Priory, Sir Fairfax Luxmoore followed his words of welcome and mention of the joyous word tea by giving an illuminating account of the two manors of Upper and Lower Bilsington. A walk through the restored priory brought the excursion to an end and cars and coaches moved off to their several destinations, one coach returning unexpectedly a few minutes later, whether on account of the reluctance of its occupants to leave so pleasant a place or merely to retrieve a lost hat, need not be set down in this record. A kindly clerk of the weather provided two fine days for the excursion and Major Usborne did everything else right nobly. Nearly three months later, on 22nd September, a fine morning and a promising programme drew about 150 members and friends of members to Headcorn church, for the one-day Autumn Excursion, organized by Mr. R. W. Strickland. The large number of xlvi REPORT, 1937. cars present seemed to fill the broad old village street. Mr. V. J. B. Torr gave a lucid account of the principal features of the church, and then led his hearers across the churchyard to the fifteenth-century old vicarage. Taking the house as his text he discoursed upon the characteristics of hall houses, of which several were to be visited during the day. The Chequers and two cloth halls at Headcorn, and an old house, Tilden, near by, were seen by one division of the party, while the second section made their way to Kelsham, under the guidance of Mr. G. C. Druce, F.S.A., in order to see both the house and the collection of articles of household use and ornament in the possession of Mr. and Mrs. A. G. Hemming. After lunch the whole party were greeted by the strains of the organ in Staplehurst church, where the Rector, the Rev. A. J. Walker, M.A., gave a much-appreciated address and displayed the parish records and church plate. Mr. Torr followed with a further account of the building. Next came a visit to Loddenden Manor, by kind permission of Mr. J. S. Watkins, a part of the day's programme which caused general enjoyment. This was followed, after tea, by a drive to another manor house, Husheath, where Mr. Robert Bower threw open his house and grounds and hospitably entertained the whole party. The evening was now closing in, and the President briefly expressed the thanks of all present to those who had contributed to the success of a well-organized and enjoyable excursion. REPORTS or LOCAL SECRETARIES. Mr. N. E. Toke writes that when constructing a drain from the Red Lion Inn, on the Bayle, Folkestone, the workmen came across a piece of ancient walling composed of rough-hewn stone, about two feet below the surface. It is situated in the S.E. angle of the Bayle, immediately E. of the house No. 18, which is close to the edge of the cliff, and it forms a small rectangle, about six feet N.-S. by three feet E.-W. The latter portion appears to extend underneath the house, which has a large ancient cellar. He thinks it likely that the wall formed part of the ancient Priory buildings which were situated S. of the Parish Church. Mr. J. H. Mowll mentions that as Local Secretary of the Society he sanctioned the alteration of the relative Ordnance REPORT, 1937. xlvii Survey sheet in respect of a tumulus at St. Margaret's-at-Cliffe, which had been removed in making a tennis court. The description sanctioned was " site of tumulus ". Mr. A. Cumberland reports as follows : From the pottery fragments found at the Crayford site (reported in 1936*) vessels representing Iron Age Divisions A, B and C, have been restored, under the direction of Mr. J. B. Ward Perkins, by the London Museum, and are now on view in the Public Museum, Dartford. An illustrated report will appear in the Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society. During May, a skeleton and Roman pottery (" Upchurch " ware, A.D. 200-250) with fragments of cleft timber, suggesting a coffined burial, were discovered in gravel workings, about | mile S.E. of St. John's Church, Sutton-at-Hone (O.S. 6-in. Sheet 9 S.E.). Early in June, at a spot about 100 yards N. of the Bow Arrow Lane railway bridge on the Dartford Tunnel Approach Road, the mechanical digger broke into a burial. The skeleton was lying on its right side facing the river. Nothing was found in the grave to denote the period, but general conditions indicated non- Christian burial. Owing to its proximity to the Littlebrook Saxon burials described in Archceologia Gantiana, XVIII, p. 316, it may have been of that date. The bones were submitted to the Royal College of Surgeons, London, and Dr. Cave reports them to be a junior, sex not determinable, probably Saxon. In July an extensive Saxon Cemetery was discovered on the Dartford Rural District Council's housing site at Riseley, Horton Kirby, § mile S.S.E. of Farningham Road station (O.S. 6-in. Sheet 17 N.E.). Up to the time of writing sixty-five burials have been examined and further discoveries are being made as building proceeds. The finds, which include some unique specimens of Saxon ornament, together with the usual spear heads, etc., are receiving treatment at the British Museum and will be exhibited there early in 1938, in conjunction with Saxon jewellery from Birchington, now in the possession of Major P. H. G. Powell- Cotton, so affording a comparison between West and East Kent. A full report, with plans and photographs, is being prepared for The Transactions of the Dartford District Antiquarian Society. Mr. E. Greenfield is continuing his exploration of Cray Valley sites, and has now secured a seventeenth century cottage at * Arch. Cant., XLIX, p. xlv. xlviii REPORT, 1937. Eynsford, which he will use as a museum and an archaeological centre in view of the important developments in the Darent and Cray Valley districts. The Roman burial at Sutton-at-Hone was also examined by Mr. R. F, Jessup, F.S.A., whose report contains some further details : " A mechanical navvy working at Bowen's gravel pit on the marshes at Sutton-at-Hone on 11th May, 1937, cut into a wooden box containing bones. The flood-plain gravel of the River Darent is here worked commercially, and the discovery was made in the top layer of gravel, 2 | feet below the surface. I examined the remains at Dartford Police Station. The skeletal material consisted of a fairly complete human cranium and limb bones* belonging apparently to a woman of advanced years. The bones were in a spongy, decayed condition, and stained black by the presence of peat or manganese in the gravel. With the bones were several pieces of water-logged wood, evidently the remains of a coffin. The coffin was said to measure roughly 5 feet in length, and 1 | feet wide, and was facing north. There was also a piece of Roman pottery, rather less than half of a round-bodied jar of characteristic " Upchurch " ware. Burial by inhumation did not take place in Roman Britain until the late second century and after : the present example may be dated on the evidence of the pottery to circa A.D. 200-250." As an addition to the report of the Society's Curator, printed in Vol. XLIX, Mr. C. E. Fisher records the acquisition by Maidstone Museum, late in the year, of a silver coin (denarius) of Trajan, from Tovil. AEBTLIATED SOCIETIES. During the year the Tonbridge Antiquarian Society was affiliated to this Society. The activities of the former society included excursions to Scotney Castle and Bayham Abbey, Leeds Castle, Saltwood Castle and Hythe Church. Drawings of wall paintings at Basing, near Cowden, and of the Wool Hall (old Manor House), Loose, made by Mr. Martin Hardie, C.B.E., a member of the Tonbridge society, have been acquired by the Victoria and Albert Museum. At the end of the year the Council sanctioned the affiliation of the History Club of the South Borough Central Boys' School, Maidstone. The admission to affiliation, of a history club whose REPORT, 1937. xlix members are schoolboys marks a new departure. Such a club may become a fruitful recruiting-ground for future members of the Society. Mrs. Gardiner, Hon. Secretary of the Canterbury Archasological Society, has reported as follows : There has been much demolition of old houses in Canterbury this year, out-worn cottages past repair, yet their disappearance will alter the character of that quarter of the town. Amongst them a very interesting discovery was made of a medieval building with a large hall, probably to be identified as the Chantry Priests' house provided by the Black Prince for the two priests ministering at two altars in his chapel in the crypt, who were bound by the foundation charter to five together. The next issue of Archceologia Gantiana will, it is hoped, contain a full account of this find. Much digging has taken place in the Green Court in the course of building and alterations for the King's School. Mr. Richard Wootton, one of the masters at the school, sends notes of what was turned up behind Minor Canon Helmore's house : " Two pieces of Samian ware, 3ome glazed medieval pottery and tiles, a quantity of discoloured glass, an old whetstone, etc. We went down to 8 feet, all made up soil, about halfway between the Forrens and the School House and twenty yards inside the City wall. There were hundreds of tiles, traces of burning in one part, a thick layer at about 4 ft. 6 in. At 3 ft. 6 in. we found a brick and stone drain (2 in. bricks) full of fine earth with fragments of glass and ware. The builders are now working at 9 ft. and perhaps more will be found." Several old houses in the City, notably the Weavers and No. 55 Burgate, have undergone careful repair, bringing out fine timber work and other features. Panelling has also been found at No. 46 St. Peter's Street. The following objects of archasological interest have been found in digging or drainage excavations in Canterbury during the year 1937 : From St. George's Place (14th June). Fragments of a coarse grey earthenware vessel, probably parts of a cooking utensil: Roman. Handle of a red ware jug : Roman. Blade of a dagger, very much corroded : medieval. From the Dane John, near Watling Street (11th September). Base of small Samian ware bowl with potter's name QUINNI, with rough cross scratched under the base, probably mark of 4A 1 REPORT, 1937. ownership : second century. Roughly made small earthen pot. Three portions of bone hair pins : Roman. Six Roman bronze coins. From bed of river, during the construction of new Friars Bridge, hading to Orange Street (November-December). One medieval horse-shoe. Two copper buttons (about the size of a penny) with engraved decoration on each : sixteenth century. Bronze buckle and strap attachment with engraved design : medieval. Spur with six-pointed rowel, complete : seventeenth century. Clay pipe: late seventeenth century. Part of knife blade : medieval. Six keys: ranging from seventeenth to nineteenth century. The Dartford District Antiquarian Society have forwarded copies of the society's Transactions for the years 1935 and 1936, as well as an advance account of the work of the year 1937. The 1935 Transactions include brief accounts of lectures and papers on Dene-holes, " The Lords of Fawkham", and Low Side Windows. The Transactions of 1936 cover the subjects {inter alia) of Sedilia, Kentish Gravestones, The Manor of Bexley and Hall Place, and local excavations and changes, as well as notes on Archaeological Sites in the Cray Valley. The 1937 report mentions lectures on the Archaeology of the Cray Valley, the History of Agriculture in the Darent Valley, and Kentish Hall Houses. The Society organizes several excursions during the summer months and altogether appears to be one of the most active of local archaeological societies. MISCELLANEOUS. Co-operation with the Kent Council of Social Service in matters of common interest tends to develop a little every year. Members will have noted the holding of a History School of the Council in 1937 immediately before and in the neighbourhood covered by the Summer Excursion of the Society, a course designed to enable those interested to attend both meetings. Similar arrangements are expected to be made in the summer of 1938. The Council also welcome the co-operation of the County newspapers and magazines in giving prominence to the activities of the Sooiety. An archaeological society oan live a full and useful life only if its work is locally well known and appreciated. The Press, therefore, may be a potent instrument in advanoing the true interests of the Society. REPORT, 1937. li Finally, the attention of all members is again invited to the notices printed at the beginning of "Archaeologia Cantiana". They show when and how subscriptions should be paid, and contain other information designed to facilitate business and promote the convenience of members. They deserve to be remembered. By order of the Council, EDWARD HARRISON. March 10th, 1938. in