The First Ten Years of the Friends of The Canterbury Archaeological Trust
It was on Saturday 14 January 1984 that the Friends of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust were launched at Jim Tatton-Brown's annual lecture to the Canterbury Archaeological Society. The plight of the Trust was dire. In spite of the city's European importance, funding from English Heritage was inadequate for the tasks a small but dedicated Unit was struggling to complete and there was a real possibility that the Trust would have to close down at the end of February. Donald Baron, ex-colonial civil servant and administrator, was determined to stop that happening. Mobilising the support of the Archbishop, Dr Robert Runcie, who agreed to become Patron, and other leading figures, he led a small committee in setting up the organisation, shouldering the Chairmanship and Treasurership himself. Within six weeks, 288 Friends had been enrolled and £5,600 raised. At our first anniversary, Donald was able to report that membership stood at 393 and that over £8,000 had been given to the Trust.
The tenth anniversary is a significant occasion on which to rehearse the achievements of the Friends and to make them known to a wider audience. Almost £49,000 has been spent by the Friends in support of the Trust. This sum includes not only cash injections but also equipment the Trust would not have otherwise been able to afford - computer hardware, the Landrover, photographic and dark-room equipment, and a stout projector. Our Newsletters are produced by the desktop publishing system we helped to buy. We have contributed to the safety of the staff and the headquarters by helping to pay for sophisticated fire alarm installation and burglar alarms. Grants to some excavations, such as St John's Lane, have triggered grants from other bodies such as the City Council and the Kent County Council. We have supported publications such as the Archaeology of Canterbury Volume IV (Excavations in the Precincts) which did not qualify for an English Heritage grant. Several Friends have worked as volunteers in the pottery and bone departments.
A special fund was set up in memory of the late Donald Baron. The interest on the sum invested has been used to award Donald Baron Bursaries to members of staff on courses and at conferences, enabling them to update their skills, lecture on the Trust's contributions to British archaeology, and exchange views with their colleagues in other parts of the country and abroad. The fund is now also able to afford to buy a few books for the Library each year.
Most of the many helpers in the children's nearly new shop at 72 Northgate were Friends, who also contributed to equipping the four student rooms on the first floor. The profits from this enterprise and rents from the rooms have contributed about £95,000 to the Trust's funds as well as buying the freehold property and spending considerable sums on the maintenance of this late 18th-century building. Site shops have been run at major city centre excavations such as the Marlowe, St Gregory's, Longmarket, and St George's, and guiding at the last three. Stalls have been run at K.A.S. A.G.Ms and Christmas lunches.
Raising these large sums of money has involved hard work by a lot of people. From the start, Donald pressed members to covenant their subscriptions; this has resulted in £11,598 being reclaimed in income tax by our hard-working Covenants Secretaries. Special efforts, such as plant bring and buy sales and 50:50 antiques auctions, have contributed their share. Heritage weekends in collaboration with the Chaucer Hotel and the annual programme of Festival Walks have been profitable. Modest surpluses have been made by all the various activities organized for our members.
Our social events have included annual Christmas Parties at the Deanery, St Augustine's, the Chapter House, and the Dominican Priory. Excursions have been made to places of historic interest including six visits to London; longer trips have been enjoyed to Lincoln, Shrewsbury, and Gloucester. Lectures during the winter have widened and deepened our knowledge of archaeology, especially locally. Speakers have included all the senior members of the Trust, either on sites they have directed or on their specialisms: Professor Philip Rahtz, Professor Alfred Smythe, Dr Tom Blagg, Derek Renn, and Richard Eales. Paul Bennett's annual review of the Trust's work to the Friends and the Canterbury Archaeological Society, the Frank Jenkins Memorial Lecture, regularly has audiences of over 200 people.
Thirty-three Newsletters and a number of Trust Annual Reports have been distributed, most of them by our network of distributors in Canterbury and the surrounding district. The postage saved has been considerable.
Two special events deserve mention. The Ermine Street Guard visited us in 1989 and gave a display of Roman army drill and replica equipment at Kent College. A loan exhibition from the Public Record Office 'Maps and Archaeology' with additions illustrating the Trust's work was mounted in the Canterbury Centre.
Although the future of the Trust is now much more secure than it was ten years ago, the moral support of a body of interested people and the financial help they can give in supplying needs not met by developers or grants is still valuable. If you would like to join us, details can be obtained from the C.A.T. at 92a Broad Street, Canterbury. (Tel. 0227-462062; Fax 0227-784724). The minimum subscription is £15 p.a.
Lawrence Lyle
Chairman.
