Reviews

REVIEWS Excavations at Bishopstone. By Martin Bell. 18·5 x 24·5 cm. Pp. xii + 299, 21 pls., 111 figs. and 22 tables. Volume 115 of the Sussex Archaeological Collections, Lewes, 1977. £5.60 (Unbound, £4.10). The Sussex Archaeological Society is to be warmly congratulated for devoting a whole volume of its annual Collections to the definitive report qn the excavations, carried out by the author between 1967 and 1975, on Rookery Hill, Bishopstone, near Newhaven. The excavations recovered evidence for occupation in Neolithic times, consisting of a number of pits in which were found several flint implements. Following this initial occupation, and apart from some indications of Bronze Age activity on this hilltop site (pp. 45-8), a small settlement was established there during the Iron Age; this occupation is divided into an unenclosed phase on the evidence of three pits 'stratigraphically earlier than the enclosure' (p. 49) and a rectangular enclosure (Fig. 23) containing a number of pits and between 14 and 16 'square four-post structures' which averaged 3 m. square in area (p. 71) - it is not apparent why the term 'structure' is preferred for these grouped post-holes for the more normal 'hut'. The Romano-British occupation of the site (Fig. 66) consisted of a subrectangular ditched enclosure, several pits, post-holes and a corndrying oven (Fig. 71 ), dating to the late first and early second centuries A.D.; this period of settlement appears to have virtually ceased by the end of the second century A.D., though a re-occupation was established in the fourth century A.D., 'particularly from the second hair (p. 134). The final period of occupation in Anglo-Saxon times (Fig. 86) accounts for 22 buildings, both of the grubenhaus and post-built types, and an associated cemetery of 118 burials still awaiting publication, and ended in the sixth century A.D. Sections on the documentary sources, the field system, the environmental and economic evidence conclude this very detailed report. Each section of the excavated evidence is fully supported by the publication of the finds in specialist reports (pottery is given a very full treatment, though the drawings may not prove to everybody's liking) and discussed in a concluding paragraph; furthermore, there are numerous text-figures illustrating the various occupation periods, though the indifferent quality of the plates does not do justice to the photographer. 287 REVIEWS This is a very useful report (certainly, pottery students will find it of much interest), and both the author, his specialist contributors and the Sussex Archaeological Society should be applauded for devoting so much of their time, energy and resources to this publication. A. P. DETSICAS Man of Many Talents: An Informal Biography of James Douglas 1753-1819. By Ronald Jessup. Pp. 310, 36 pls. Phillimore, Chichester, 1975. £7.75. 'A man of many talents' (p. 175) sums up very clearly the varied life and career of James Douglas who, having been born and baptized during January 1753 'in the growing and fashionable London district of Mayfair' died 'in the extreme cold of November 1819, the year of Peterloo and the birth of the Princess Victoria, in his Vicarage House at Preston', about a mile from Brighton. To the Sun newspaper of 20th November, 1819, he 'was one of those extraordinary men'. He is famous as 'a man of great archaeological learning'. During his 66 years he was orphaned at the age of nine, attended Manchester Grammar School, joined the Austrian Army, served in Flanders, travelled in Europe, resided in Rochester, and became an expert on military tactics and fortification, a Captain of Engineers, as one of the earliest members at Chatham of what was to become the Corps of Royal Engineers, a 'faithful and hard-working' parson, a prolific writer, an amateur picture dealer, a good artist, Chaplain in Ordinary to the Prince Regent, and one of the brilliant antiquaries of his day. Having acquired from his Manchester schooldays a pronounced and lifelong interest in antiquities, classics, natural history and geology, he became a noted devotee of the Society of Antiquaries to which he was elected in 1780 (pp. 1-178). Ronald Jessup's scholarly study of James Douglas falls into two parts. Part I presents a remarkably detailed and fascinating insight into his life and times, followed in Part II (pp. 179-282) by selections of his letters to Henry Godfrey Faussett of Heppington, Major Hayman Rooke, the third Lord Agremont and his agent, William Cunnington, and Sir Richard Colt Hoare, spanning more than thirty years between 1781 and 1814. The purpose and content of these letters are discussed on pages 53-4, 128 and 181, noting in particular how Sir Richard Colt Hoare and Mr. Cunnington 'were inspired by Douglas to think about method of antiquarian research as well as its practical application, especially at Stonehenge'. The letters also highlight 'pleasant domestic details of the day-to-day life of a parson-antiquary'. The text is well illustrated by thirty-six plates which are carefully identified and explained (pp. 283-91), following which Chapter 18 288 REVIEWS provides a comprehensive Bibliography (pp. 293-304), beginning with 'Works by James Douglas' and his various communications to the Society of Antiquaries, which are analysed and assessed in the main biographical text. Finally, the entire work is indexed over six pages (pp. 305-10). Despite reference in the title to 'an Informal Biography', Mr. Jessup has compiled a useful historical and archaeological study, which exhibits depth and breadth of treatment, and draws on a range of sources and expertise. It is the result of many years of painstaking research as is all too clear both in the Foreword and in the Bibliography, undertaken by one who is also a renowned Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, both as an acknowledged expert in archaeological field work and as the author of several highly commended books and papers on various aspects of archaeology. References to Kent in this book are many and varied, even though there is no suggestion of this fact in its title. Naturally, they are centred on the career, excavations, publications, and antiquarian friends of James Douglas. Prolific excavations were matched by prolific writings, not all of which were archaeological. As an archaeological writer of the eighteenth century Douglas is known principally for his book Nenia Britannica: Or, an Account of Some Hundred Sepulchres, Of the Ancient Inhabitants of Britain ( 1793). Inevitably his place in the history and development of British archaeology is assessed, and very usefully in a summary fashion commencing from page 172, with the observation that 'a list of the places where he had excavated is impressive', including for Kent Rochester, Chatham Lines, Canterbury, Barham Downs, St. Margaret's-at-C1iffe, Ash-by-Sandwich, Eastry, Shepherdswell, Greenwich Park and Kit's Coty. Moreover, 'in chronology the sites ranged from the Neolithic of prehistory to the verge of Christendom'. Not all of his many and varied qualifications were apparent in Nenia. Additional to his expertise in many theoretical and practical directions, 'to James Douglas belongs the credit of being the first man to recognise the remains of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain' (p. 177). Despite his being a noted parson-antiquary, enjoying antiquarian associations with Thomas Fisher, John Thorpe the younger, Samuel Denne, Edward Jacob and Edward Hasted, among others, as well as travelling in Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Cambridge, Leicestershire and Wiltshire in search of antiquities, it is strange that 'he scarcely ever mentions in his writings interesting local matters of antiquity of which he must have had knowledge' (p. 89), while furthermore 'it is a curious trait in Douglas's character that he was not much interested in ecclesiastical architecture' (p. 17 4). In relation to the previous reference, however, 'there were other matters of antiquity to occupy his 289 REVIEWS attention', and fortunately ample visible proof of his energetic archaeological discoveries can be seen in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford, with the greater part of his personal collection having a Kentish background. J. WHYMAN The Deal Scene, 1887-1977. 22·5 x 18 cm. Pp. 36, with many illustrations. Published jointly by the Deal, Walmer and District History Society and the Deal Maritime and Local History Museum, 1977. 50 p. Painter's Forstal with Ospringe. By Mrs. Phyllis Clinch. 25·5 x 20 cm. Pp. 84, 2 maps and 56 pls. and figs. Published by the Faversham Society (Faversham Papers, no. 15), 1978. £1.00 (£1.25 post-paid, from the Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre, Faversham). Shadoxhurst - A Village History. By L. M. Chowns. 21 x 15 cm. Pp. 64, 9 pls., 1 fig. Published by the author at Moreton House, Shadoxhurst, 1977. £1.50 + 12p. postage. Local historians seem to show no signs of easing up in their attempts to supply all Kent's towns and villages with suitable historical backgrounds. The three works here reviewed show the variety which still may be expected. The Deal Scene is frankly a picture-book with many illustrations which are supported and supplemented by extracts from local newspapers. They are gathered together in sections with titles such as Private Enterprise, Coal, Transport and Royal Marines. Surprisingly, there is no heading Local Government, but only Public Service under which we might have expected to see a photograph of the Kent Archaeological Society's local secretary, the late Mr W. P. D. Stebbing, who did so much for Deal. Painter's Forstal is a period piece. It was compiled in 1955 when the East Kent Federation of Women's Institutes organized a village scrapbook competition. The Faversham Society's publication (a stencilled typescript) seems almost a facsimile of the original manuscript which benefited from the authoress's own sketches and reminiscences handwritten by her. It does not pretend to be more than 'An Anthology of Legend and History collected' by Mrs. Clinch. Mr. Chowns' printed History breaks new ground arid brings Hasted's account of the parish up to date. He has managed to ferret out plenty of original material and has treated it in the critical manner which we now expect of local historians. Those who in the past have regarded Shadoxhurst as only a bungalow village with a 'humble, 290 REVIEWS pretty church' restored in 1868-69 will find a pleasant surprise in Mr. Chowns' book. L. R. A. GROVE Faversham History Trails. By John Cadman and Arthur Percival. 20·5 x 25·5; cm. Pp. 67. I map and text illustrations. Published by the Faversham Society, Faversham, 1978. 70p. (90p. post-paid). This is a second edition, 'extensively revised', of Faversham Papers no. 10 (1970), and 'a history of the town's buildings and the people who lived and worked in them', detailed in three history trails, with a glossary of architectural terms and notes about Faversham and its local history. It is a well-produced, stencilled booklet and, though its immediate appeal may be to local residents and schoolchildren for whom it appears intended, other readers interested in the history of the fascinating town of Faversham will also find much to attract them. A. P. DETSICAS 291