KAS Newsletter, Issue 101, Spring 2015

CONCRETE SOUND MIRRORS UNCOVERED at Fan Hole THE OLDEST AND LARGEST SOCIETY DEVOTED TO THE HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE ANCIENT COUNTY OF KENT ISSUE 101 - SPRING 2015 www.kentarchaeology.org.uk MAAG Excavation Dampier’s Book Pegwell Bay Historic Photos ISSUE 101 - SPRING 2015 President: Ian Coulson president@kentarchaeology.org.uk Hon. General Secretary: Peter Stutchbury secretary@kentarchaeology.org.uk Assistant Hon. General Secretary: Kate Kersey assistantsecretary@kentarchaeology.org.uk Hon. Membership Secretary: Shiela Broomfield membership@kentarchaeology.org.uk Hon. Treasurer: Barrie Beeching treasurer@kentarchaeology.org.uk Hon. Editor: Terry G. Lawson honeditor@kentarchaeology.org.uk Hon. Librarian: Pernille Richards librarian@kentarchaeology.org.uk Hon. Curator: Dr Andrew Richardson andrew.richardson@canterburytrust.co.uk Research: Ted Connell ted.connell@btinternet.com Press: Paul Tritton paul.tritton@btinternet.com Newsletter: Lyn Palmer newsletter@kentarchaeology.org.uk From the President Welcome to the first of our two newsletters for 2015. The response to the new format autumn newsletter has been excellent and we hope to repeat the same extended format this autumn. In the meantime this edition covers the annual programme for the Society for 2015 and we hope you find it useful to plan your year. Once again we are working in partnership with several organizations, Canterbury Archaeological Trust and KCC, to provide training excavations for our members and the public. We are also running several conferences with Christ Church University, the University of Kent, University of Reading, Thanet Trust for Archaeology, Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit and others! This allows us to share costs and publicity whilst coordinating some of the work across the county and getting everyone together. Thank you to all the KAS members who make these events possible. We have also increased the KAS publicity in the press and elsewhere through the work of Paul Tritton. Lyn Palmer continues to edit the newsletter and of course Terry Lawson is editor of Archaeologia Cantiana, our highly regarded research journal. Thank you. In the coming year we hope to keep up the development of our website so we can all keep in touch online. If at any stage you feel you would like to join the Council or offer your services, such as to help run conferences, please get in touch with the Hon. Sec. Remember - you can always join one of our committees if you have a specialist interest. Most recently we have established a Historic Defences Committee and a group specializing in Romney Marsh and the Kent coast. Enjoy the coming year. Ian Coulson, President KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY KAS Library Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery St Faith’s Street Maidstone ME14 1LH The oldest and largest society devoted to the history and archaeology of the ancient county of Kent 2 Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Fan Hole shelters 4 MAAG Excavation 6 Pegwell Bay 7 What’s On 8, 9, 10, 11 You and Your Society 12 - 13 Historic Defence Committee 12 - 13 New Books 12 - 13 Dampier’s book 14 - 15 Historic aerial photographs 16 ON THE FRONT COVER Aerial photos by Geoff Hall and Paul Brooker In this issue Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 3 Page 4 6 12 14 A World War II Deep Shelter and Two Concrete Sound Mirrors uncovered at Fan Hole near St Margaret’s at Cliffe By Richard Hoskins, Dover Archaeological Group In 2012 the National Trust, following an appeal, purchased the remaining section of the White Cliffs between Dover and St Margaret’s. The purchase included the site of a system of World War II tunnels known as the Fan Hole Deep Shelter together with two early 20th century concrete sound mirrors – acoustic listening devices that pre-date the invention of radar. The entire complex had been buried in the 1970s as ‘an eyesore’. The Site The site is now an important part of UK conflict archaeology and is unique because the two sound mirrors were located alongside the entrances of the deep shelter tunnels. The deep shelter was built in World War II to provide accommodation for the crew of 185 men and 4 officers during hostile bombardments. Its main entrance is at the top of the escarpment, through a steep staircase of 126 concrete steps which lead to the system of tunnels below. The clearance of the rubble infill from the entrance stairway was carried out by members of the Kent Underground Research Group between October and November 2013. This was followed by the repair of unlined ceilings and replacement of the missing wooden structural supports which had rotted after 70 years of exposure to dampness. Distributed throughout the tunnels is a wide range of graffiti, mainly incised into the chalk or written in pencil on the steel tunnel linings. Much of this dates to the period of military occupation although some is the work of more recent intruders (Champion, M.J. 2014). In May 2014 the Dover Archaeological Group (DAG) was invited to carry out a short excavation in which the precise position of the two sound mirrors was located. Between 6th and 30th October 2014 members of DAG returned to carry out a watching brief during the machine bulk reduction of soil deposits covering the sound mirrors and lower tunnel entrances. With immense skill, the machine operatives removed around 600 tonnes of mixed chalk and soil from the 45 degree slope of Fan Hole and the areas in front of the two sound mirrors. The North Sound Mirror, built in 1917, and one of the earliest in existence, was found to be intact apart from some damage to its northern edge which is believed to have occurred during the digging of the adjacent tunnel entrance in 1940/41. Its smooth concrete surface is slightly ‘crazed’ by a network of narrow cracks although these are also visible on a photograph taken around 1975, shortly before the complex was buried. The South Sound Mirror is believed to date to the mid 1920s; its shallower dish, which would have had a greater range than the earlier mirror, was also intact although its upper edge had been damaged prior to its burial. A triangular concrete apron on the slope above this mirror, which is believed to have served to prevent water from seeping behind it, was also found in a damaged condition. Although the South Sound Mirror is shallower than its northern companion the dished areas of the two mirrors are similar and both measure around 4.6m (15 feet) in diameter. By World War II the sound mirrors had become obsolete but were used as convenient locations for the lower entrances to the two tunnels of the newly-built deep shelter. The tunnel entrance beside the South Sound Mirror was opened during the recent excavations but the entrance to the northern tunnel has not yet been completely cleared. A brick-built blast wall, approximately 2.5m high, was built in front of each of the two tunnel entrances and partly 4 Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk The National Trust plans to open the complex to guided, torch-lit tours in May 2015 and is looking for around 70 volunteer tour guides to help in this. If any KAS members are interested in helping please call Jon Barker at the National Trust on 01304 200004 or email Jon. Barker@nationaltrust.org.uk ABOVE Clearing spoil in front of the sound mirrors References: Champion, M.J (2014) Graffiti Survey, Fan Bay Battery Deep Shelter: Analysis and Interpretation (Unpublished report commissioned by the National Trust). Hoskins, R. (2015) Report on a Watching brief at Fan Hole Deep Shelter and Sound Mirrors, St. Margaret’s at Cliffe, Dover (Archive Report held by the National Trust) ABOVE Looking down the Lower Staircase ABOVE Carved chalk head in the Deep Shelter BELOW Aerial veiw of completed project RIGHT Final Landscaping - South Sound Mirror in the foregound BELOW Scraffiti inside the South Tunnel overlapping the front of the sound mirrors. These were to protect the tunnels from the shockwave of any explosion immediately outside and in front of them. Also in front of each of the sound mirrors is a brick-built latrine block, that at the northern mirror providing facilities for the officers serving inside the deep shelter and the one at the south for the other ranks. The blast walls and latrine blocks at both locations were uncovered during the excavation and although damaged were found to be in adequate condition for conservation. Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 5 Excavations at Oaklands, Lower Road, East Farleigh, Maidstone, 2014 During 2014 fieldwork by the Maidstone Area Archaeological Group concentrated on excavating sections of the Iron Age and Roman ditches which underlay the Roman buildings on the site. The ditches were dug parallel to each other and 6 meters apart. The Iron Age ditch had been shown to exist in trial pits further east, dug in previous years. The 2014 section showed that the bottom 1.2 meters of the ditch had been dug into solid ragstone. The ditch had silted up and had been covered by the 3rd century Roman land surface, which in turn had been covered by 800mm of hill wash. The dismembered rear end of a cow was wedged in the lower half of the ditch. The Roman ditch was 2.4 meters deep at this section, deepening to 3 meters at a second section which was dug 20 meters to the east (not illustrated). The primary fill of the ditch in the east trial pit contained a small Patch Grove pot 85mm high. This ditch appears to have been dug in the 1st century and backfilled in the late 2nd century (pot and coin evidence). The ditch showed signs of having been recut at least once. The early 3rd century buildings were built over, and into, the filled-in ditches. At a depth of 3 meters the Roman ditch may seem a little deep for a drainage or boundary ditch, leaving the possibility that it was defending a settlement predating the 3rd century buildings. RIGHT View of west trench, looking south RIGHT Iron Age ditch, east face RIGHT Roman ditch, west face Simplified Ditch Section at 130E 6 Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Around Pegwell Bay - a special area Gordon Taylor, Isle of Thanet Archaeological Society It is becoming increasingly evident that the area on the south-western outskirts of Ramsgate is, for archaeology, very special. It includes Lord of the Manor (see below) and Pegwell, a 2007 dig by the Trust for Thanet Archaeology (TTA), which revealed a likely Neolithic causewayed enclosure. Nearby, the Ramsgate Harbour Approach Road Tunnel dig in 1996 revealed another enclosure with three circuits, the outer being 150 metres across, and a possible cursus. Back in 1990 Perkins wrote of Cottington Hill, Ebbsfleet “the land surface of the hill proved to be littered with worked flints [Neolithic onwards] and pot-sherds in a density unknown elsewhere in Thanet”; this from the Thanet expert who once stated “you are never more than 35 metres from archaeology in Thanet”.¹ In a report on the East Kent Access Road, Phil Andrews (Oxford/Wessex Archaeology) stated “Neolithic pits were found in a number of the sites, including a particularly large cluster of over twenty on high ground overlooking Cliffsend” (my RIGHT Anglo- Saxon graves, one with six post holes for a canopy or roof (within annular ditch) ABOVE Circular enclosures and smaller burial ring dirches at LOM, showing approximate location of 2103 excavation areas emphasis). Also “Later Bronze Age activity was mainly focussed on the Ebbsfleet peninsula and on the slopes of Cottington Hill. A particularly fine discovery, found on the Ebbsfleet peninsula, was two gold bracelets dating to around 800 – 700BC.” Finally, excavations during 2004/5 by Wessex Archaeology before a housing development at Cliffsend Farm revealed a multi-period site full of interesting finds, including a burial pit described as “unique in Europe” where human skeletons were laid on animal skeletons. All of these discoveries give weight to Keith Parfitt’s comparison of Kent with Wessex². All of the above finds sit within an area just over 2 kilometres square – at least a quarter of which is under the sea at Pegwell Bay or would once have been in the Wantsum Channel. For almost 40 years the phrases ‘Lord of the Manor’ and ‘Thanet Archaeology’ have been synonymous. Lord of the Manor (named after a former pub at the adjacent much-altered road junction of the A299 and A256 and Ozengell Grange) was excavated from 1976 to 1980 by The Isle of Thanet Archaeological Unit³ and from 1987 by TTA (first director the late Dr. Dave Perkins), and latterly by The Isle of Thanet Archaeological Society (IOTAS). The first major excavation organised and run by IOTAS in 2012 involved cutting four trenches to investigate features around LOM1 (see plan) seen in cropmarks, plus a single trench to clarify earlier results. Two new ditches were discovered (one of them suspected from crop marks). Finds included two flint arrow heads, a flint knife, a sherd of Iron Age pottery and a piece of a Roman amphora. A report is available from the Society, email mail@iotas.org.uk In 2013 a training exercise under Paul Hart took place, to reinvestigate LOM4 and the site of a previously found Accessory Vessel or Incense Cup, now at Quex House, Birchington. Half of LOM4 is under tarmac (old Haine Road) and partly under a field access road. Trainees (IOTAS members) excavated to the original sections, recorded them and then extended the cut as far as the area permitted. This revealed that both areas had been recut in the lower third of infill. Possibly fresh material was required to freshen up the presumed mound due to a further burial. The ditches were irregular and if extended in a circle would not meet..! Finds were mostly of worked flint, including one piece of Early Neolithic pottery (part of the primary infill). Finally, Anglo-Saxon graves south of LOM 5 were re-examined, some of which had post holes (six in the grave encircled by the ditch) for a canopy or some other covering (above). IOTAS are grateful for funding, from KCC, Ramsgate Town Council (equipment), and the Allen Grove fund of the KAS. Thanks also to landowner David Steed (Vice President of IOTAS) for allowing access and contractor John Reeve for stripping the topsoil at favourable cost. 1. From ’New Archaeological Finds in Thanet’ 1990 D. Perkins B.Sc. 2. The Ringlemere Cup p.49. British Museum. 3. TAU Interim Report 1977-1980 Nigel Macpherson Grant and Dave Perkins p.4-20. Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 7 APRIL KAS CLASSES IN THE LIBRARY Dr Jacqueline Bower Summer term from 20 April (6 weeks) 10.15 – 12.15 History Makers in Kent Looking at the lives and achievements of men and women associated with Kent in the past, and their impact on the county and the country. 14.00 – 16.00 Industries in Kent Kent has had many different industries. This class will consider why they were successful, their impact on the county, how they were organised and why they declined. Topics will include the cloth and iron industries of the Weald, the gunpowder industry and the brick and cement industries of the Thames and Medway. Cost £30 per term. Cheques payable to Kent Archaeological Society, to Joy Sage, KAS Library, Maidstone Museum, St Faith’s Street, Maidstone ME14 1LH, with SAE enclosed. For more information and to book - joysage@btinternet.com or davecarter25@ gmail.com. CROFTON ROMAN VILLA, ORPINGTON (BR6 8AF - adjacent to Orpington Station) ‘TAKE TO THE ROMAN STAGE’ Wednesday 1, 8 & Friday 10 April Discover all the fun of Roman theatre and join in a miming story of an ancient Roman legend ‘The Geese that saved Rome’. Make a colourful Roman theatre mask to take home. Sessions at 10.30 & 14.00 Booking needed. Call 07805 138465 or email crofton.roman.villa@gmail.com Entry £4 per child, adult carer free. Children to be accompanied. For up to 11 year olds. www.the-cka.fsnet.co.uk KAS CHURCHES COMMITTEE VISIT TO WESTWELL AND HOTHFIELD CHURCHES (NEAR ASHFORD) Saturday 18 April Meet at 13.45 for 14.00 at St Mary’s Church, Westwell TN25 4JX, and go on to St Margaret’s, Hothfield, TN26 1EL for 15.00, where tea will be provided. Cost £8 to include tea and biscuits.To register email Churches Visits Secretary, Jackie Davidson, jacalyn.davidson@btinternet.com or call 01634 324004. KAS TALK ON THE TYPHOID EPIDEMIC ‘STRICKEN MAIDSTONE’ by Ian Coulson Saturday 1 8 April 10.30 - 12.00 The last major typhoid epidemic of the 19th century was an outbreak at Maidstone in 1897. It started in mid-August and by the 9th of September there were 117 cases. By December the total number of cases was 1847, with, according to the official report, 132 deaths. Join Ian Coulson and see a unique collection of photographs of the outbreak and discover more about the course of events. A £5 donation is requested to cover costs and help the Society further its work. Please book by sending your name address and telephone number to librarian@kentarchaeology.org.uk or write to Joy Sage/Pernille Richards, KAS Library, Maidstone Museum, St. Faith’s Street, Maidstone ME14 1LH giving the details requested. Cheques payable to Kent Archaeological Society. If you pay in advance please include a SAE or an email address so your booking can be confirmed. MAY FAVERSHAM’S MAGNA CARTA ‘MAGNA CARTA REDISCOVERED’ EXHBITION Alexander Centre, Preston Street 23 May – 28 June, 10.00 – 16.00 (until 19.30 on Thursdays) This Magna Carta, one of just a few of the last reissue to survive from 1300, will be on rare display, forming the centrepiece of ‘Magna Carta Rediscovered’, a touring exhibition supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Magna Carta 800 Committee. Displays interpret the importance of Magna Carta to today’s concepts of the freedom of the individual, democracy and society. Faversham has one of the largest collections (17) of municipal charters in the UK, dating back to 1252, many of which will be on display in the exhibition. The exhibition goes on tour to Canterbury’s Beaney Museum, The Kent History and Library Centre in Maidstone, Maison Dieu in Dover and finally Rochester Cathedral. MAGNA CARTA GUEST LECTURE SERIES Thursday 28 May – Thursday 25 June Alexander Centre, Preston Street A fascinating programme of free talks on aspects of Magna Carta on Thursdays from 28 May to 25 June commencing at 7.30 pm. Guest lectures include Peter Tann ‘Why Faversham has its Magna Carta’ and Louise Wilkinson, Professor of Medieval History at Canterbury Christ Church University. Full programme to be announced, but will include a guest lecture by Dr David Starkey. Audience members can visit the ‘Magna Carta Rediscovered’ exhibition, open until 7.30pm on lecture dates. For details of all the above events visit: www.faversham.org/events/ faversham-magna-carta IRON AGE POWER SATURDAY 16 MAY 11.30 – 15.00 Dr Steve Willis, University of Kent & Maidstone Museum A day for all the family, exploring Iron Age Kent. 11.30 – 12.30 Talk for older visitors, with artefacts, by Dr Steve Willis on the Iron Age hillforts of Bigbury and Oldbury in the Bentlif Library, Maidstone Museum. Younger visitors (8+) can create Iron Age replicas in the adjacent Studio. 12.30 – 13.00 Buffet lunch (included in the price) Drive to Oldbury Hillfort (own transport needed) 13.30 – 15.00 Walk around the defences of Oldbury – suitable footwear for slopes needed. Cost £20 adults. £5 children (8 – 18). Book through Maidstone Museum on 01622 602838. More information from Lyn Palmer on 01622 602862. Numbers restricted – early booking advised. EVENTS Please note that due to the historic nature of Maidstone Museum, events held in the KAS Library are only accessible via stairs. KAS Event 8 Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk JUNE KAS HISTORICAL RESEARCH DROP-IN SESSION with historian Diana Webb and researcher Peter Titley 6 June 10.30 - 12.00 KAS Library Stuck on a Latin phrase? Puzzled by palaeography? Just starting out and feeling in need of a bit of friendly advice? Help is at hand! The sessions are free, but a small donation is requested to cover costs and help the Society further its work. IMPORTANT Please book in advance supplying your name, phone number and brief details of what you would like to discuss, by email to librarian@kentarchaeology.org.uk FAVERSHAM’S MAGNA CARTA WEEKEND Saturday and Sunday 13-14 June Faversham town centre comes alive with a fun-packed weekend as part of the town’s celebrations to mark the 800th anniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta, with music, entertainment, re-enactment, arts, handson activities, town tours, stalls, food and drink and plenty of medieval atmosphere! Fleur de Lis Heritage Centre is staging Protest, Democracy and the Law, an exhibition highlighting the long history of protest in Faversham. For details of the above events visit: www.faversham.org/ events/faversham-magna-carta KAS CHURCHES COMMITTEE VISIT TO MARDEN AND STAPLEHURST CHURCHES Saturday 20 June Meet at 13.45 for 14.00 at St Michael & All Angels, Church Green, Marden TN12 9DR, and go on to Staplehurst at 15.00, where tea and cake will be provided. Cost £8, to include refreshments. To register email the Churches Visits Secretary, Jackie Davidson, jacalyn. davidson@btinternet.com or call 01634 324004. UNIVERSITY OF KENT STUDY DAY HUGUENOTS AND WALLOONS: IMMIGRANTS IN THE TOWNS OF SOUTH EAST ENGLAND Tuesday 23 June, 10.00-16.00 University of Kent - Tonbridge Centre Speaker is Dr Gill Draper FRHistS, FSA, Associate Lecturer at the University of Kent Cost - £35 To book Tonbridgeadmin@kent.ac.uk or 01732 352316 or online at www.kent. ac.uk/Tonbridge JULY CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST CANTERBURY - WESTGATE GARDENS ‘PARKS FOR PEOPLE’ COMMUNITY DIG. 11 - 12 July Community excavation led by Canterbury City Council and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Free, but places are limited, so please get in touch to book – jake.weekes@canterburytrust.co.uk . KAS & MAIDSTONE MUSEUM FESTIVAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 2015 Maidstone Museum Saturday 18 July, 11.00 - 13.00 & 14.00 - 16.00 A free archaeology day for the whole family – visit the KAS Library to find out about available KAS resources, bring the children to investigate the sandpit dig or create replica artefacts, and handle real artefacts at hands-on stations in the galleries. CROFTON ROMAN VILLA FESTIVAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 2015 ROMAN VILLA FAMILY FUN! Wednesday 22 & 29 July Discover the secrets of the Villa house with a guided talk and Roman artefacts. Complete a family villa quiz – with a badge & certificate for children & a free Kent Excavations book for the adults! Sessions at 10.30 & 14.30 Charges: Adults: £1.50, concessions £1.00, Family of four £4.00, each additional child 50p. Children to be accompanied, no booking needed. The Villa is at BR6 8AF (adjacent to Orpington Railway Station). www.the-cka.fsnet.co.uk WEALDEN IRON RESEARCH GROUP SUMMER MEETING Saturday 18 July from 11.00 AT NORTHCHAPEL VILLAGE HALL, WEST SUSSEX The meeting will begin with a presentation on Frith Furnace, with a visit to this site in the afternoon. This Sussex furnace is not to be confused with one of the same name in Kent. The furnace site is well preserved with a bay some 100m long, evidence of the working area at the eastern end and a tail race in which residue from the bottom of the furnace can be seen. More details of the furnace and surrounding mine pits can be found on the WIRG database at http:// www.wirgdata.org/searchsites2.cgi The presentation will be followed by the WIRG AGM and lunch at about 1pm. Buffet lunch available for £10, or bring a packed lunch. If you require the buffet please contact WIRG Secretary Judie English at judie.english@btopenworld.com or phone 01483 276724 at least a week in advance. Non-members are very welcome. AUGUST CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST WESTGATE GARDENS ‘PARKS FOR PEOPLE’ COMMUNITY DIG 29-31 August 3-day training excavation. Cost £75 per day, or £150 if booking all three days. Further details available from jake.weekes@canterburytrust.co.uk CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST EAST WEAR BAY, FOLKESTONE - ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD SCHOOL 18 July - 16 August 4-week archaeological field training school on the Iron Age and Roman villa site at East Wear Bay, in conjunction with the KAS and local community partners. Programme includes training in all aspects of archaeological excavation and recording and a series of evening lectures and other events. Fees from £45 per day, with reductions available for Friends of CAT, KAS members and local partner groups. A limited number of volunteer places are also available for KAS members. Contact andrew.richardson@canterburytrust.co.uk for more details and to book a place. CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST SOUTH FORELAND LIGHTHOUSE COMMUNITY DIG 25 July - 8 August Community excavation within the grounds of South Foreland Lighthouse, perched on top of the iconic White Cliffs of Dover, undertaken with the National Trust as Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 9 EVENTS CONTINUED part of the ‘Up on the Downs’ Landscape Partnership Scheme, led by Dover District Council and funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Free, but places are limited, contact andrew.richardson@canterburytrust.co.uk CROFTON ROMAN VILLA HEROIC ROMAN ADVENTURES! Every Wednesday in August Join us to listen to stories of ancient heroes. Take part in a quiz and make a fabulous heroic picture to take home. 5 August - Pegasus, the Prince & the Monster 12 August - Hercules meets a fearsome beast & holds up the sky 19 August - Persephone captured by the King of the Underworld 26 August - Theseus & the Monster Minotaur Sessions at 10.30 & 14.00 For up to 11 year olds. No booking needed. Children to be accompanied. Entry £4.00 per child, adult carers free. Fun with Roman pots! Every Friday in August Discover what the Romans used for cooking, eating and drinking. Handle real Roman pottery and make your own clay pot to take home! Sessions at 10.30 & 14.00 For up to 11 year olds. No booking needed. Children to be accompanied. Entry £4.00 per child, adult carers free. The Villa is at BR6 8AF (adjacent to Orpington Station). www.the-cka.fsnet.co.uk SEPTEMBER CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST ONE-DAY COURSES 5 September 10.00 – 16.00 First Steps in Archaeology (1). Tutor, Andrew Richardson 19 September 10.00 – 16.00 Caesar to Claudius: Britain, Gaul and Rome From 55 BC to AD 43. Tutors, Jake Weekes & Andrew Richardson Visit www.canterburytrust.co.uk or contact andrew.richardson@canterburytrust.co.uk for full details or to book a place. Fee for all courses is £40 (£35 for Friends of CAT). WESSEX ARCHAEOLOGY PREHISTORIC KENT CONFERENCE Saturday 12 September The University of Greenwich, Medway Campus. Organisers: Mark Williams and David Britchfield, Wessex Archaeology Further information and a list of speakers will be made available on the KAS and Wessex Archaeology websites in due course. www.wessexarch.co.uk http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/ Twitter: @WAsoutheast KAS HISTORICAL RESEARCH DROP-IN SESSION with historian Diana Webb and researcher Peter Titley. 26 September 10.30 - 12.00 KAS Library Stuck on a Latin phrase? Puzzled by palaeography? Just starting out and feeling in need of a bit of friendly advice? Help is at hand! The sessions are free, but a small donation is requested to cover costs and help the Society further its work. IMPORTANT Please book in advance supplying your name, phone number and brief details of what you would like to discuss, by email to librarian@kentarchaeology.org.uk KAS CHURCHES COMMITTEE VISIT MINSTER ABBEY AND MINSTER CHURCH, THANET Saturday 26 September Meet at 13.45 for 14.00 at Minster Abbey, Church Street, Minster CT12 4BX, then cross the road to St Mary the Virgin Church for 15.00, where tea will be provided. Cost is £8, to include tea and biscuits. Visitors are also welcome to attend Vespers at 18.00 in the Abbey. To register email the Churches Visits Secretary, Jackie Davidson, jacalyn. davidson@btinternet.com or call 01634 324004. KAS CLASSES IN THE LIBRARY Dr Jacqueline Bower Autumn Term from 21 September (10 weeks) Spring Term from 11 January 2016 (10 weeks) 10.15 – 12.15 The Later Tudors, 1547-1603 A class examining the reigns of Edward VI, Mary and Elizabeth. Topics will include the Protestant Reformation, development of the economy, society in Kent and England and foreign relations. 14.00 – 16.00 The British Empire 1763-1914 This class will look at the expansion of the Empire. Topics include the growth of British power in India, the development of Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the ‘Scramble for Africa’ and the impact of the Empire on the home country. Cost £50 per term. Cheques payable to Kent Archaeological Society, to Joy Sage, KAS Library, Maidstone Museum, St Faith’s Street, Maidstone ME14 1LH, with SAE enclosed. For more information and to book - joysage@btinternet.com or davecarter25@gmail.com. OCTOBER CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST ONE-DAY COURSE in CANTERBURY Saturday 17 October 10.00 – 16.00 Roman Pottery in East Kent Tutor, Andrew Savage Visit www.canterburytrust.co.uk or contact andrew.richardson@canterburytrust.co.uk for full details or to book a place. Fee for all courses is £40 (£35 for Friends of CAT). KAS FIELDWORK COMMITTEE CONFERENCE ANGLO-SAXON KENT: OLD AND NEW DISCOVERIES Saturday 31 October Rutherford College, Lecture Theatres 1 and 2 University of Kent at Canterbury CT2 7NX Tickets: £20. KAS members £15 (price includes tea/coffee, but not lunch). A flyer with booking details is included in this Newsletter. Bookstalls and displays 10.00 - 10.30 Coffee and registration 10.30 - 10.40 Introduction by Ian Coulson, KAS president 10.40 - 11.20 Anglo-Saxon finds in the KAS collection, Dr Andrew Richardson 11.25 - 12.05 The settlement at Church 10 Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Whitfield and colonisation of the east Kent downs, Keith Parfitt 12.10 - 12.50 Thoughts on St Augustine’s landing place, Ges Moody 13.00 - 14.00 Lunch (food not provided). There are facilities for lunch on the University campus 14.00 - 14.40 The Meads cemetery, Sittingbourne, Dr Andrew Richardson and Dana Goodburn Brown 14.45 - 15.45 Discoveries at Lyminge, Dr Gabor Thomas/Dr Alex Knox 15.50 - 16.10 Tea 16.15 - 16.50 St Peter’s cemetery, Thanet , Alison Taylor 16.50 - 17.00 Closing remarks, Ian Coulson KAS HISTORIC BUILDINGS AND INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY CONFERENCE PAST INDUSTRIES OF KENT AND RELEVANT BUILDINGS Saturday 24 October 9.30 for 10am start. 16.00 finish Blue Town Heritage Centre, 69 High Street, Blue Town, Sheerness ME12 1RW Full programme details are yet to be finalised. Planned morning talks include ‘Papermaking in Kent’ and on ‘Hayle Mill’, by Dr Maureen Green (Hasted Prize winner) and on ‘Restoration of the Grounds of Quex Park’ by Sue Harris (Head Gardener, Quex Museum). The afternoon will focus on historic Blue Town, with presentations on ‘The Former Music Hall’ (the Conference venue), and ‘The History of Blue Town’, to be followed by a tour exploring the surrounding area. Space is limited to 100 places. Conference tickets £20 including light lunch and refreshments (£12 without lunch) To book, contact the Secretary of the Historic Buildings Committee, Mike Clinch, email mike@mikeclinch.co.uk or 01322 526425. A booking form can be downloaded from the KAS website. NOVEMBER CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST ONE-DAY COURSES 7 November 10.00 – 16.00 A Crash Course in Roman Britain. Tutor, Jake Weekes 21 November 10.00 – 16.00 The Archaeology of the Kingdom of Kent. Tutor, Andrew Richardson Visit www.canterburytrust.co.uk or contact andrew.richardson@canterburytrust.co.uk for full details or to book a place. Fee for all courses is £40 (£35 for Friends of CAT). JANUARY 2016 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST ONE-DAY COURSE 16 January 10.00 – 16.00 First Steps in Archaeology (2) Tutor, Andrew Richardson Visit www.canterburytrust.co.uk or contact andrew.richardson@canterburytrust.co.uk for full details or to book a place. Fee for all courses is £40 (£35 for Friends of CAT). FEBRUARY 2016 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST ONE-DAY COURSES 6 February 2016 10.00 – 16.00 The Archaeology of Death. Tutors, Sarah Geary and Jake Weekes 27 February 2016 10.00 – 16.00 Understanding and Recording Stratigraphy. Tutor, Peter Clark. Visit www.canterburytrust.co.uk or contact andrew.richardson@canterburytrust.co.uk for full details or to book a place. Fee for all courses is £40 (£35 for Friends of CAT). MARCH 2016 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST ONE-DAY COURSES 5 March 10.00 – 16.00 Putting Colour in the Past: An Introduction to Environmental Archaeology. Tutors, Enid Allison and Alex Vokes 12 March 10.00 – 16.00 Archaeological Report Writing. Tutor, Jake Weekes 19 March 10.00 – 16.00 First Steps in Archaeology (3) Tutor, Andrew Richardson Visit www.canterburytrust.co.uk or contact andrew.richardson@canterburytrust.co.uk for full details or to book a place. Fee for all courses is £40 (£35 for Friends of CAT). APRIL 2016 MEDIEVAL HISTORY WEEKEND AT CANTERBURY: ‘EXPLORING THE MIDDLE AGES’, CANTERBURY CHRIST CHURCH UNIVERSITY 1–3 April 2016 Friday evening and all day Saturday at Old Sessions House, Canterbury Christ Church University; Sunday morning till late afternoon at Canterbury Cathedral Lodge. A series of mostly one-hour sessions throughout the weekend, comprising mainly lectures with a few guided tours of iconic Canterbury buildings. The lecturers will include a considerable number of well-known faces from TV and radio, and prominent specialists. Among those contributing will be Professors Richard Gameson, Michelle Brown, David Carpenter, Nicholas Vincent, Carole Rawcliffe and Louise Wilkinson, as well Drs David Starkey and Helen Castor, and Dan Jones and Ian Mortimer. To provide for a variety of interests the medieval topics covered over the weekend will be broad, including manuscripts and book culture, pilgrimage, the Black Death, civil war and life in towns. Tickets for each lecture with discounts available for multiple ticket purchases. More details of the weekend expected to be available soon and tickets should be available through the Canterbury Christ Church University website from April 2015. FREE ARCHAEOLOGY TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES WITH THE RANDALL MANOR PROJECT Thanks to a very generous grant from the KAS, there will be a number of FREE training days with the Randall Manor post-excavation project throughout 2015. Dates available shortly. Finds conservation training with Dana Goodburn Brown at Sittingbourne CSI Medieval pottery workshops with Nigel Macpherson Grant Environmental sample processing training and flot analysis with the Canterbury Archaeological Trust Assessment of a medieval roof tile assemblage with the Museum of London Archaeology Digitising and processing your drawn site archive with the Trust for Thanet Archaeology If you are interested in learning more about any of these FREE training days, please contact Andrew Mayfield. andrew.mayfield@kent.gov.uk | 07920 548906 | @ArchaeologyKent on twitter | www.facebook.com/archaeologyinkent For more information on the excavation of Randall Manor, please see the article in the November 2014 KAS newsletter. Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 11 NEW BOOKS TONBRIDGE THROUGH TEN CENTURIES Tonbridge Historical Society In the 11th century, Tonbridge was a tiny settlement. By the end of the 20th it was home to more than 30,000 people. This richly-illustrated book explores the history of that remarkable transformation, as a compact castlecentred community grew into a substantial town. Kent’s strategic position has bestowed upon it a rich history of military defence from pre-Roman periods to the Cold War as well as a legacy of surviving sites of fascinating variety. It is this which stimulated the formation of the Society’s Historic Defences Committee which met for the first time in January 2014. The Committee hopes to foster growth of an existing interest in this subject both within the Society and more widely, as well as to encourage participation in defence-heritage projects, including the recording of sites. Wherever possible it will help recognition of the need to do more to protect our defence heritage. Although most activity is currently focussed on the defences of the modern era, the hope is to embrace all periods which, hopefully, will be reflected in future publications. Developing positive partnerships will be explored by the Committee. This has already resulted in two successful publicly attended field trips to historic defences in the Hoo Peninsula and, in cooperation with Maidstone Museum, to the Great War home defences in Sheppey and Swale. At least one more such event is planned for MEMBERSHIP MATTERS YOU & YOUR SOCIETY I am very pleased to welcome the following people who have joined the KAS since the previous Newsletter. Many apologies if I have omitted anybody! WOOD - A FAMILY OF KENT By Charles Wood ISBN 978-0-906460-14-6 This account deals with a common surname with many variations. It sets out to trace a line and its context in Kent in deep links to families and places, starting with provisional possibilities in the sixteenth century, with more confident connections and background in later periods up to the First World War. Kent has one of the finest collections of historical records of any county, but there is ample room for confusion when a family name is so widely found in Life Members Mr Peter Hart, Cambridge Mr Jack Coulson, Wye Student Members Mr Adam Santer, Dartford Ordinary Members Mrs Anne Beecham, Folkestone Miss Emma Broadhurst, Herne Bay Dr Peter Costen, St Peters, Guernsey Ms Jane Elder, Canterbury Ms Caroline Farquhar, Sevenoaks Mrs Mary Fox, Canterbury Mr Peter Hart, Cambridge Mrs Janet Howard, Whitstable Mrs Helen Jarvis, Canterbury Ms Carole Mandeville, Faversham Ms Sharon Nevin, Oxford Ms Mary-Christine Rose, Tonbridge Ms Thalia Sayer, Tonbridge Mrs Denise Stewart, Gravesend Miss Claire Vidler, Dover Joint Members Mrs B Graham & Mr M Burnsnell Lower Halstow, Sittingbourne Many thanks to those who have sent renewal cheques so promptly. If you haven’t yet done so please renew as soon as possible so that the volume of reminder letters can be reduced. Please check your personal bank statements to make sure that the correct subscription has been paid (£10 students under 25, £25 ordinary members, £30 joint members). Check also that any previous payments have been cancelled to avoid duplication. Please quote your membership number when getting in touch and also add this to your reference when paying by standing order. You will find your number printed on the address label for this newsletter. If you have mislaid your membership card please send me a stamped addressed envelope for another one – needed for access to the KAS library! Finally, please spread the word about our Society by pointing people to the website or asking me for a bundle of leaflets. Shiela Broomfield; Membership Secretary membership@kentarchaeology.co.uk early times, and often shared with unrelated local families. Many of the connections uncovered here were forgotten over the last 150 years, given migration and business opportunities here and overseas in the Victorian age; and not least insouciant attitudes of Edwardians. Hopefully the context of this account will encourage further discoveries to come. A short postscript traces one particular family into the middle of the last century. Extensive footnotes, index and a bibliography. Includes five maps and early surveys, and 29 other illustrations, mainly in colour. Paperback, 200 pages. Published by Ian Hodgkins & Co Ltd, enquiries@ianhodgkins.com Available from Adams of Rye Ltd, £20 plus £4 p&p. Email: Adamsrye@aol.com, Tel: 01797 223136 www.Adamsofrye.co.uk 12 Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk KAS Historic Defences Committee: Many of the 300 illustrations come from the Society’s extensive pictorial and archive collections. The authors are members of the Society with varied experience in teaching, writing, lecturing and historical research. Available from The Tourist Office at Tonbridge Castle; Mr. Books Bookshop, 142 High Street, Tonbridge; online from www.amazon.co.uk; or by sending a cheque with name, address and phone number to THS, 7 The Ridgeway, Tonbridge TN10 4NQ (cheques payable to ‘Tonbridge Historical Society’ for £9.50 per copy, incl. free delivery to TN9 and TN10 postcodes, or £13.00 incl. p&p to all other postcodes). 2015. During the present centenary the Great War is especially topical and the Committee has had encouraging discussions with possible partners about holding an educational public conference on military and civil defence in Kent and the South East, probably in 2016. Meanwhile, several members have contributed to a paper on Kent’s defences during the Great War, containing the latest research on this subject. This has been submitted for Archaeologia Cantiana, building on the work of the Defence of Swale Project (described in 40-47 of the KAS Newsletter, 100, winter 2014). There is scope for further groundbreaking research and investigation in the years ahead. Promulgating hitherto unpublished research on Kent’s defences is an idea also being considered by the Committee and two earlier investigated sites in north and east Kent have been suggested for possible publication. Discussions are in progress. Over 25 requests for information have been answered and two members are assisting with research and advice concerning British historic defences abroad. Conservation of sites is likely to be a continuing issue. One current concern is the Tudor Gravesend Blockhouse (built 1539/40) on view in Gravesend’s heritage riverside and which has suffered from vandalism and decay. Although published, this site may not have reached the limits of historical investigation and discovery. The Committee have a blog (https://kenthistoricdefences. wordpress.com/) and this lists opportunities for participation in projects run by various organisations, including the Defence of Swale Project managed by Kent County Council. Further opportunities may evolve from proposals for study of another part of the county should these be taken forward. After having been in existence for a short time the Committee is still finding its way but progress is being made. Contact point for the Committee is Victor Smith, 65 Stonebridge Road, Northfleet, Kent DA11 9BA (01474 323415 and victor.defcon1@gmail.com). ABOVE The blockhouse as it probably appeared in the later 16th century. Illus: Chris Forsey. BELOW The blockhouse in February 2015, having suffered vandalism, loss of fabric and decay. Photo Victor Smith. ARCHAEOLOGIA CANTIANA NOW ONLINE Volumes 1 (1858) to 132 (2012) of Archaeologia Cantiana are now online, thanks to the sterling efforts of Ted Connell and volunteers. http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Pub/ArchCant/Intro.htm Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 13 Defences Committee: the first year This is not the famous Dampier, navigator, buccaneer and writer, who in 1681 was obliged to cross the jungle of the Panama isthmus on foot with his manuscript journals secreted inside a length of bamboo tube stopped up with wax. Our William Dampier followed a somewhat different path in life and was born in 1835 in Camden Street, Maidstone, although his father was in fact born in the same part of Somerset as Dampier the buccaneer. William Dampier writes that while still a young boy, he conceived a “fixed determination” to write an account of the historical buildings of Kent, even though he had not yet the means nor the opportunity to do so. Dampier writes in his preface that in the summer of 1849 at the age of 14 (a few months after the death of his father) he began upon his great task, by making notes and A FORGOTTEN HISTORY OF KENT by Roger Cockett sketches of Leeds Castle. He recalls receiving valuable help from the then owner, Charles Wykeham- Martin. By the age of 16, Dampier was apprenticed to a printer and the census of 1861 found him working as a compositor, living in Clerkenwell, east London, with a wife and small family. He writes that “It was not until the year 1864 that circumstances arose by which I was enabled to set about... producing a book. I undertook excursions into Kent, chiefly on foot, to inspect the various buildings or objects...”. By the time of the 1871 census though, Dampier’s personal life had begun to change for the worse. His wife had died and he and the children were living with his widowed mother in Maidstone. His occupation was now an amanuensis (ie a clerk or secretary). The Antiquities of Kent is dated 4th December 1875 and Dampier must have had to work hard to get it ready, even by 1880, when it was advertised for sale in The Antiquary. The address in the advertisement of 47 Finsbury Circus, London EC, sounds like a place of business. Whether the book was sold at that time we do not know. By 1881 he and his remaining family had moved to Bermondsey, then in Surrey, where his mother died that year. By 1891, Dampier was living on his own in lodgings and gives his occupation as journalist. In 1892 he died, aged only 57, leaving an estate of £214 to his son and possibly to his son-in-law. The Antiquities of Kent breaks little new ground in its subject matter and it keeps strictly within the bounds of its subtitle - “Churches, Monastic Edifices, Amongst the treasures in the possession of the KAS is an Imperial Quarto size book, The Antiquities of Kent, written in manuscript by one William Dampier. 14 Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk TOP Dampier’s drawing of Penshurst Place INSERT RIGHT Bookbinder’s ‘ticket’ or label, set into the inside edge of the back board. Castles, Baronial Halls, Manor Houses, Cromlechs etc”. The book does not cover minor buildings or history which is not directly related to buildings. Besides his closely hand-written text, its 426 pages contain 178 ink drawings, presumably by the author, many in the text but some ink and wash drawings on whole pages of heavier paper. In his preface, Dampier lists his sources as Hasted, Ireland, Lambarde, Kilburne and “others”. He also quotes from Thorpe, Philipott, Dugdale, Tanner and Grose, but gives no specific references except where he quotes an author’s words. William Dampier was never a member of the Kent Archaeological Society and the Society’s Proceedings in the period 1875 to 1885 make no mention of his work, but he does say that “much information has been acquired from the published reports of the Kent Archaeological Society”. He also says, intriguingly, that a large number of documents and papers bearing on the Cobham family – also on the restoration of the Cobham brasses were placed at my disposal by Captain F Capper- Brooke of Ufford near Woodbridge in Suffolk.” One certainly wonders what became of them. The pages of the book are numbered, but there is no index. There are lists of 193 buildings, 179 illustrations and 116 coats of arms. These lists are not in alphabetical order in the book, but we hope to transcribe them into the correct order and put them on the Society’s website. The coats of arms are coloured and most attractive, but they seem to have been constructed from the heraldic shorthand and are not reproductions of what Dampier saw. The Antiquities of Kent certainly does have some value for the modern reader. It is not a book of first resort for the researcher as it is largely based on secondary sources and one cannot verify its contents. Also it is of course 140 years old. However, the book does have the merit that William Dampier seems to have visited all the buildings he writes about and it thus gives us an eyewitness account of their state in the period 1849-1874. It would of course have been even better if he had given the year of each visit, as Sir Stephen Glynne did in his ‘Churches of Kent’. The drawings of buildings are generally very attractively done, but verge upon the amateurish, since Dampier is good with detail, but poor on proportion. He is liable to mislead a researcher who does not know a building. But even an indifferent drawing can have great value for the historian. We may only speculate as to why the book was hand-written and not printed. Dampier of all people, as a printer, would have realised that there could only ever be the one copy. Perhaps he had hoped that a publisher would take it on but the cost had proved to be too high. Perhaps he believed that if he made just the one beautifully written, illustrated and bound copy then it would outlive him - in which case he was right. What happened to the book? Our Member Mr Michael Leach, of Ongar in Essex, recently came across the advertisement for William Dampier’s book in a copy of the Antiquary of February 1880 and wrote asking if it could be identified. A quick check revealed that it was in the KAS Library and KAS librarians have over the years been aware of it. No record survives of its accession and perhaps it was donated soon after 1880. The book has been very expensively bound. A tiny bookbinder’s ‘ticket’ or label is set into the inside edge of the back board, but it bears no name. Dr Peter Draper believed that the binding was done by Sangorski of London, founded in 1901. However, we now know that Dampier died 9 years before that date. A newspaper cutting of 1930 preserved in the book is an obituary of Mr J W Zaehnsdorf, a bookbinder who had retired in 1923 from a business founded by his father in 1844; perhaps an earlier researcher had identified him as the binder. Only the first few pages show signs of much use, but the book has at some time suffered from careless handling and the spine is beginning to detach from the binding. It will not stand up to any substantial future use by readers unless it can be repaired. Alternatively, the book could possibly be photographed and the page images made available on the Society’s website. Poor William Dampier must have died a disappointed man back in 1892 in his solitary London lodging. He would never have dreamed that his life’s work might one day be made available to thousands of readers around the world via the internet. Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 15 BELOW The book ABOVE Chillington House, now part of Maidstone Museum BELOW William Dampier If undelivered, please return to S. Broomfield, 8 Woodview Crescent, Hildenborough, Tonbridge, Kent TN11 9HD Copy deadline for the next issue is 1st Sept 2015 The editor wishes to draw attention to the fact that neither she nor the Council of the KAS are answerable for opinions which contributors may express in their signed articles; each author is alone responsible for the contents and substance of their work. EDITOR: LYN PALMER 55 Stone Street, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2QU Telephone: 01892 533661 Email: newsletter@kentarchaeology.org.uk Chatham Dockyard in 1946, showing battleships, submarines and an aircraft carrier. Lullingstone Roman Villa under excavation in 1961 16 Spring 2015 Kent Archaeological Society www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Registered Charity No. 223382 HISTORIC AERIAL PHOTOS NOW ONLINE Aerial photographs of Kent from the 1940s, 1961 and 1990 are now available to view through Google Earth’s historic imagery tool. Google Earth is a free programme that can be downloaded from the web. The photos were scanned in and rectified from Kent County Council’s aerial photography collection as part of the Interreg ARCH project.