KAS Newsletter, Issue 53, Summer 2002

Kent Archaeological Society Newsletter, No. 53. Summer 2002 Kent;s Gold Cup: Finds at Ringlemere Farm, Woodnesborough near Sandwich image image Funded by English Heritage, the Canterbury Archaeological Trust completed excavations at Ringlemere Farm, Woodnesborough near Sandwich, in April, following the discovery of a splendid gold cup there last November. The early Bronze Age vessel was discovered by local metal-detectorist Cliff Bradshaw. Although damaged by the plough, he was the first to recognise that the cup is very similar to the famous Rillaton gold cup, excavated in Cornwall in 1837. Paul Ashbee provides some further preliminary thoughts on its affinities on pages 4 and 5. The cup was discovered on the northern edge of a low, but quite distinct mound, lying in the middle of what was then a recently harvested potato field. Mr Bradshaw suspected that this mound might be the remains of an otherwise unrecorded round barrow and examination by the writer suggested that this was probably the case. A subsequent geophysics survey by English Heritage succeeding in locating an enclosing ring-ditch and confirmed this as a very large round barrow site. Barrows that have not been completely ploughed flat are rare in the extensively farmed landscape of east Kent but at Ringlemere the base of the mound actually survived – the last remnants of a great barrow mound that must have originally risen to a height of perhaps twenty feet. Following an extensive programme of field-walking, excavation work at the site began in March 2002 with the specific aim of determining the precise context of the gold cup. Initially it seemed likely that the vessel came from a Bronze Age grave within the barrow but this proved not to be so. We now think that the cup had been placed in the earth image Above top: Recording and sampling the great ditch that enclosed the barrow mound. Above: Trowelling over the pre-barrow land surface. Note the ancient animal burrows in the foreground. image The Bronze Age Gold Cup discovered by Cliff Bradshaw. core of the mound - but not at its centre and not with a burial. Perhaps it was deposited here as some sort of offering to the Gods during the actual construction of the mound. However, the core of the mound had later been extensively disturbed by burrowing animals and it is possible that the cup has been moved from its original position. Survival of the base of the barrow mound served to ‘trap’ evidence of earlier activity below it. Extensive collections of prehistoric struck flints and pottery indicate previous occupation on the site during both the Mesolithic and later Neolithic periods. The close proximity of a small freshwater stream below the site may well explain the apparent popularity of the area with early settlers. Keith Parfitt Acknowledgements Thanks are due first and foremost to the owners image - the Smith family - who readily allowed access to the site and took a great interest in the progress of the work. Thanks are also due to English Heritage for funding the excavation and providing substantial scientific back-up. The Staff at K.C.C.’s Heritage Conservation Group monitored the project throughout and provided assistance in a variety of different ways. In addition to the full-time excavators from CAT, teams of volunteers from the Thanet Trust and Dover Archaeological Group were able to make a valuable contribution to the excavation work. Cliff Bradshaw worked extensively on the dig, undertaking both metal-detecting and excavation. Overall, the Ringlemere story serves as an altogether splendid example of what can be achieved by detectorists and archaeologists working sensibly together. NB: The site lies on private farmland, which is now under crop. There is no easy public access to the site. image image Tonbridge Historical Society Local History Week 5-12 May 2002 image BOOKS & LIBRARIES The transfer print vase. Can any readers provide more information as to maker and date? image he week started on Sunday 5th May with an industrial history walk led by Dr Anthony Wilson. This proved to be so popular that Dr Wilson kindly offered to lead another walk on the morning of Sunday 12th May. On Wednesday Frank Chapman, former editor of the Courier Group and current author of the Warwick column, gave an interesting talk on Tonbridge and its The Kent Archaeological Field School hosts a BBC History Magazine Event From humble beginnings only four years ago the Kent Archaeological Field School has grown to the point that over a thousand people interested in archaeology sign New Books Front-line Kent – Victor Smith £7.95 including postage image 1-901509-6 From the induction of powder arti in the 14th c to measures air attack in Newspapers in the refurbished Angel Centre, Tonbridge. Afterwards many of the audience enjoyed looking at some of Frank’s archive copies of local newspapers and photographs. This event attracted an audience of about 90 including the Mayor, Mrs Joyce Oxley, her husband and our President, Dr Joan Thirsk. On Thursday Pat Mortlock led two very popular walks around historic Tonbridge. These walks attracted many local residents who were delighted to learn more about the history of the town and its buildings. image The Pictorial Records and Archives Group, in association with Tonbridge Library, mounted a display of archives and photographs relating to Tonbridge’s past. This was scheduled for Thursday and Friday but was extended, by kind permission of the reference librarian, Andrew Lister, until Saturday morning. Approximately 160 people attended this exhibition and seemed appreciative and the displays sparked many discussions. We are grateful for the help given by our members and the Library staff. On Saturday we were fortunate to be able to offer free conducted tours of Ightham Mote and about 150 people took image image Participants in a previous BBC History event excavate at Deerton Street Roman Villa. image War, this book covers a vast range of time and sites. Profusely colour) photos Gazet cross spe Co fr 4-8 tro- un- lery entury against the Cold Ma y illustrated (mainly with drawings, , maps and plans. teer of sites to visit -referenced with cific time periods. pies can be obtained om Environmental Management, Strategic Planning Directorate, Kent County Council, Invicta House, County Hall, idstone ME14 1XX. advantage of a fascinating insight into this lovely house. Due thanks go to the National Trust and the guides. The week was rounded off with a Bygones and Memorabilia session at the Council Chamber, Tonbridge Castle when people were invited to bring along their treasures which had a local interest. About 40 people came along - items included a school medal, a collection of clay pipe fragments retrieved from a small area of someone’s garden in Bourne Lane and a vase (see pic). One of the members, Shaun Jeffery, brought along a small exhibition of bottles, prints, postcards etc which drew much discussion. Also, a scrapbook belonging to Mrs Brenda Bentall and some early examples of local papers attracted much interest. Chris Broomfield provided an opportunity for visitors to view a copy of the LDS 1881 Census Index on his laptop computer and was able to make a positive link with a photograph of the Stonestreet family among others. We are very grateful for the time and help given by many members of the Historical Society which helped to bring local history alive to so many. Shiela Broomfield up each year to the twenty-five courses and over one hundred days of archaeology available. Talking to people who attend our courses the same message is heard time and time again. They are excited by what they have seen on television, it either awakens a latent interest or motivates them to participate for the first time. Television is the prime mover for people to seek out courses and our most recent event was a weekend of discovering archaeology organised in association with the BBC image The Churches of Romney Marsh – Joan Campbell The Romney Marsh Historic Churches Trust(to whom cheques payable) £3.00. Romney Marsh is the setting for a group of churches dating back to medieval times when the land was still being image ACQUISITIONS FROM OTHER SOCIETIES LIBRARY NOTES In addition to publications on topics concerning the History and Did the Romans land at Fishbourne or Richborough? A published version of a Ph.D. thesis, exploring the evidence for the type of ships available to the Romans and their performance, maritime conditions likely to be encountered in the Channel two millennia ago, and the skills of mariners of the time. 159pp, 50 illus. Available from Hadrian Books Ltd, 122 Banbury Road, Oxford OX2 7BP, email bar@hadrianbooks.co.uk. image image THE RINGLEMERE GOLD CUP AND ITS AFFINITIES image While the exquisite advanced Early Bronze Age gold cup found on Ringlemere Farm is a significant addition to an English and European mainland series of gold, silver, amber, and shale cups, it furthers the argument that the barrows of East Kent’s chalklands yielded artifacts1 which made them outliers of the ‘Wessex’ phenomenon of Stonehenge’s supportive landscape2. Briefly, the Wessex culture’s components come from about 100 rich graves, beneath bowl, bell, and disc barrows. Defined largely by the European mainland affinities and accompaniments of the daggers found in certain graves, there is the division between Wessex I and Wessex II3. The first inhumation burials were superseded by cremations. Bronze pins from Germany, Baltic amber, and Mediterranean faience beads were in some graves, and besides funerary gold4, incense cups, as from Tilmanstone5 as well as the first collared urns6 The society which had this funerary wealth brought Stonehenge to its final form7. image The Ringlemere gold cup is 6 inches in height and 4 and a half inches in diameter at the rim and thus the largest of its peers. Beaten from a sheet of 20 carat gold, it is ribbed in a mode comparable with its Rillaton counterpart8 and has a closely similar handle. There is also pointillé ornamentation, been the work of the same craftsman11. It should not be forgotten that Wessex funerary gold may also be largely from the hands of a single craftsman12. Found in 1837, in a large barrow’s secondary stone cist13 and published thirty years later14, the Rillaton cup was sent by the Duchy of Cornwall to William IV and thereafter it was kept in Queen Victoria’s Swiss Cottage at Osborne. It passed into obscurity until after the death of George V, when it was found on his dressing table where it has been used to contain his collar studs!15 During the short reign of Edward VIII it was deposited in the British Museum. Until the discovery of this Kentish gold cup on Ringlemere Farm, the Fritzdorf cup, with its rounded base, stood alone, for the Rillaton cup has a flat-based beaker-like counterpart found at Eschenz, Canton Thurgau in Switzerland. Without a handle, this has the proportions of a ceramic bell-beaker. Its decoration is overall horizontal zoning and infilled panels while, below the rim, there is a rendering of the familiar comb-stamping16. Another gold cup, from Golenkamp near Hanover, in private hands, although of flat-based bucket form, bears similar decoration17. The cups from Eschenz and Golenkamp both have circular-ribbed bases recalling that of the Rillaton cup. In its execution, the Golenkamp vessel is akin to such developed pieces as the gold tippet18 and the golden ‘hats’, possibly post and stake ornaments, from Avanton, ornamenting their bases. During 1974, the fragments of a much-corroded handled silver cup, composite and of a form comparable with the Fritzdorf golden cup, were dug from a large barrow, called Brun Bras, in Saint-Adrien about 6 miles south of Guingamp in Brittany23. Silver is not unknown in Breton earlier Bronze Age contexts. There are pins and even wire spiral arm-rings, while the fragments of what was termed a silver bowl from a barrow at St.Fiacre, Morbihan24 may have been those of a cup. Of England’s amber cups, that from a considerable barrow at Hove, Sussex, is possibly the best known25. Its handle ornamentation is comparable with the golden cups but its squat form may have been dictated by the block of amber from which it was carved. Found in an oak coffin where it could have furnished an inhumation burial, it was accompanied by a Wessex II dagger, a whetstone, and a battleaxe. The only other amber example, that from the Clandon Barrow near Dorchester, in Dorset26 has an ovoid, almost pointed base and its handle is missing. Nonetheless, it is, although undecorated, comparable with the Fritzdorf golden cup and, as far as can be seen, our Kentish Ringlemere cup. It was accompanied by an atypical Wessex II dagger, a sheet-gold lozenge, a shale mace head with golden studs, a perforated incense cup, and a collared urn. The shale cups, detailed by R.L.S. Newall (1928), two from the ‘Amesbury district’ in Wiltshire and two from Honiton in Devon27, have line-ornamented handles. Unlike the Rillaton cup (fig.1), which is considered to be a copy of a beaker9, it has an ovoid rather than a flat base. In gold, the counterpart of such a base is displayed by the plain, handled, gold cup from Fritzdorf near Bonn (fig.2), in the Rheinland10. Indeed, the Rillaton and Fritzdorf cups have close similarities of workmanship, particularly of their attached handles, and might have been part of a tradition of bon-handled gold cups from Spain, where they were part of a hoard22 said to have had concentric circles ornamenting their bases. The Amesbury has around it a single zone of lines as does that from Farway Down, Honiton (fig.3). The base of this Amesbury cup could be best defined as a flattened ovoid. In general terms, the form of these shale cups is that of our new Ringlemere cup, a likeness accentuated by the decoration of the handles. Functionally, the gold cups such as Rillaton and Ringlemere, were likely to have been drinking cups, a term originally applied to beakers by Colt Hoare and Thurnam (1878, 388), ‘beaker’ being a term introduced by John Abercromby (1904). Although the nature of the drinks consumed in beakers and the golden cups, two of which closely resemble these ceramic vessels, is elusive, residues have been found. An age-bent horn ladle found in a beaker during the 19th century at Inverurie, Scotland28 hints only at a liquid carefully measured. However, more recently29 traces of mead, flavored with meadowsweet, have been detected in a late style beaker, also from Scotland. It has been suggested that beer or ale was regularly consumed to redress the vitamin deficiencies of small communities. Besides the finely finished ceramic beakers, it is likely that there was a range of wooden cups and bowls inNeolithic and Bronze Age times. Curwen (1954,153) refers to a Danish wooden cup of the same form as the Hove amber cup. An Italian handled wooden bowl illustrates the capabilities of the woodworkers30. Fragments of a fine later Bronze Age wooden bowl were recovered from the Wilsford Shaft, at no great distance from Stonehenge31. A piece of a pointillé ornamented ogival dagger was associated with the Rillaton cup, which, as has been stressed, has close affinities with that from Fritzdorf and our new Ringlemere cup. Ogival daggers define, for the most part, Wessex II, approximately the two centuries prior to 1500 BC. Such a dagger also accompanied the Hove amber cup, and a not dissimilar dagger the shale cup from Farway Down. It can be contended that two of our golden cups, those from Rillaton and Eschenz, are patently copies of ceramic beakers. Yet, when they were made, beakers were almost a millennium in the past thus, in a manner for example, that recalls the Wessex gold-encased shale cones which are patently aggrandised versions of Beaker shale buttons. Indeed, it can be said that most of the Wessex gold work has a general Beaker character32. It is possible that the cups of gold, amber, and shale were intentionally archaistic pieces, presumably calculated to invoke the more of an earlier age. The round and ovoid bottomed vessels, unless immediately drained and laid down, would have needed stands. Although in part recalling beakers, these rounded and ovoid bases invoke a yet more ancient past, perhaps even the well-finished, leathery vessels of the Neolithic! As was remarked at the outset of this résumé, our advanced Early Bronze Age gold cup from Ringlemere moves the prehistory of this period in Kent into a fresh dimension. It must be stressed that these comments concerning its character and affinities are provisional and from printed and pictorial details, for this remarkable piece, when seen, could impel further ideas and investigations. It does show however, that East Kent, like Cornwall, is likely to have been a significant extension of the remarkable Wessex Bronze Age phenomenon. It has been said that the past is a foreign country; it is a place where one is often surprised by dramatic change. Paul Ashbee Notes Ashbee & Dunning 1960 Piggott 1938,92; Gerloff 1975; Ashbee 1978, 160-80 ApSimon 1954 Coles & Taylor 1971 Ashbee & Dunning 1960,50 Longworth 1984 Cleal et al 1995 Ashbee 1960,117-18 Pl.XXIV,a,b Clarke 1970, frontispiece von Uslar 1995; Ashbee 1960, Pl.XXIV, c; Piggott 1965,134,Pl.XVII,a Bibliography Ashbee 1977,157 Coles & Taylor 1971 Grinsell 1953,125-6 Smirke 1867 Hawkes 1951,160 16 Hardmeyer u. Burgi 1975; Kinnes 1975; Ashbee 1977 17 Ashbee 1977,157 Powell 1953; Ashbee 1960,115 Pl.XIX; Taylor 1980,52 Powell 1966,155 Pls 148-9; Eogan 1994, Pl.IX Briard 1968,319 fig.21 Gerloff 1975,257 Pl.57,N Gerloff 1975,257 Briard 1978; Ashbee 1979; Clarke et al 1985, 135 Piggott 1938,99-100 Curwen & Curwen 1924; Curwen 1954,152-3 Pl.XIII Drew & Piggott 1937; Clarke et al 1985 122-3 Fox 1964,71-3 Pls.25-26 Ashbee 1960,122 Harrison 1980,104 Coles & Lawson 1987,91 fig.66 Ashbee et al 1989,55 fig.51,12 Coles & Taylor 1971 Bibliography Abercromby, The Hon. J. 1904 A proposed chronological arrangement of the Drinking-Cup or Beaker Class of Fictilia in Britain. Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scotland XXXVIII 323-410 ApSimon, A.M. 1954 Dagger Graves in the Wessex Bronze Age. Ann. Rpt. Univ. London Inst. of Archaeology X 37-62 Ashbee P. 1960 The Bronze Age Round Barrow in Britain. London Ashbee P. 1977 The Gold Cups from Rillaton, Fritzdorf, and Eschenz. Cornish Archaeology 16 157-9 Ashbee P. 1978 The Ancient British. Norwich Ashbee P. 1979 The Silver Cup from St.Adrien, Cotes-du-Nord, Brittany. Cornish Archaeology 18 57-60 Ashbee P., Bell M. & Proudfoot E. 1989 Wilsford Shaft: excavations 1960-2. English Heritage Arch. Rpt 11. London Ashbee P. & Dunning G.C. 1960 The Round Barrows of East Kent. Archaeologia Cantiana LXXIV 48-57 Briard J. 1965 Les Depots Bretons et l’Age du Bronze Atlantique. Rennes Briard J. 1978 Das Silbergefäß von Saint-Adrien, Cotes-du-Nord. Archaeologisches Korrespondenzblatt 8 13-20 Clarke D.L. 1970 The Beaker Pottery of Great Britain and Ireland. Cambridge (2 vols.) Clarke D.V., Cowie T.G. & Foxon A. 1985 Symbols of Power at the Time of Stonehenge. Edinburgh HMSO Cleal R.M.J., Walker K.E. & Montague R. 1995 Stonehenge in its Landscape, Twentieth-century excavations. London, English Heritage Coles J. & Taylor J. 1971 The Wessex Culture: a minimal view. Antiquity XLV 6-14 Coles J.M. & Lawson A.J. (eds) 1987 European Wetlands in Prehistory. Oxford Curwen E. & Curwen E.C. 1924 The Hove Tumulus. Brighton & Hove Archaeologist II 20-28 Curwen E.C. 1954 The Archaeology of Sussex. London Drew C.D. & Piggott S. 1937 Two Bronze Age Barrows excavated by Mr Edward Cunnington. Proc. Dorset Nat. Hist. & Arch. Soc. 58 18-25 Eogan G. 1994 The Accomplished Art. Oxford (Oxbow Monograph 42) Fox A. 1964 South West England. London Gerloff S. 1975 The Early Bronze Age Daggers of Great Britain and a reconsideration of the Wessex Culture. München Greenwell W. 1890 Recent researches in barrows in Yorkshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, etc. Archaeologia LII 1-72 Grinsell L.V. 1953 The Ancient British Burial Mounds of England. London Hardmeyer u. Burgi J. 1975 Der Goldbecher von Eschenz. Zeitschrift für Schweizerisches Archäologie u. Kunstgeschichte XXXII 109-20 Harrison R.J. 1980 The Beaker Folk. London Hawkes J.J. 1951 A Guide to the Prehistoric and Roman monuments in England and Wales. London Kinnes I. 1975 A Gold Beaker from Switzerland. Antiquity XLIX 132-3 Longworth I.H. 1984 Collared Urns of the Bronze Age in Great Britain & Ireland. Cambridge Newall R.S. 1928 Two shale cups of the Early Bronze Age and other similar cups. Wiltshire Arch. Mag. XLIV 111-17 Piggott S. 1938 The Early Bronze Age in Wessex. Proc. Preh. Soc. IV 52-106 Piggott S. 1965 Ancient Europe. Edinburgh Powell T.G.E. 1953 The Gold Ornament from Mold, Flintshire, North Wales. Proc. Preh. Soc. XIX 161-79 Powell T.G.E. 1966 Prehistoric Art. London Smirke E. 1867 Some account of the discovery of a gold cup in a barrow in Cornwall, AD 1837. Archaeological Journ. XXIV 189-95 Taylor J.J. 1980 Bronze Age Goldwork of the British Isles. Cambridge Thurnam J. 1871 On Ancient British Barrows, especially those of Wiltshire and the adjoining Counties (Part II, Round Barrows). Archaeologia XLIII 285-552 von Uslar R. 1955 Der Goldbecher von Fritzdorf, bei Bonn. Germania XXXIII 319-323 von Uslar R. 1956 Der vorgeschichtliche Goldbecher von Fritzdorf, Landkreis Bonn. Rheinisches Jahrbuch I 71-79 Conferences, Lectures, Events Wednesday 4th September – Medieval/Elizabethan Garden Design, by Deborah Kemp image CONFERENCES LECTURES EVENTS CONFERENCES LECTURES EVENTS CONFERENCES LECTURES EVENTS CONFERENCES LECTURES EVENTS CONFERENCES LECTURES EVENTS CONFERENCES LECTURES EVENTS CONFERENCES LECTURES EVENTS CONFERENCES Romney Marsh Through the Ages conference on Saturday 14th September at Imperial College, Wye 10:30am -5pm. Organised by Romney Marsh Research Trust. Landscape change on Romney Marsh: recent advances – Dr. Martyn Waller Romney Marsh and coastal change in the UK – Dr. Antony Long Recent Archaeological research on Romney Marsh – Luke Barber Romney Marsh ports – Dr. Helen Clarke & Gustav Milne The origins of the pastoral economy of Romney Marsh 1200-1550 – Andrew Butcher The evolution of the agrarian economy of the Romney Marsh region 1550-1850 – Dr. Stephen Hipkin Summary & discussion – Dr. Stephen Rippon Cost £30, including tea, coffee & lunch. Sunday 15th September, field trip by coach 10am -4pm to view recent & ongoing research on the Marsh. Cost £10 SAE to Mrs. D Beck, 27 Station Road, Lydd, Romney Marsh, TN29 9ED. The Dover Bronze Age Boat in Context: Society and Water Transport in Prehistoric Europe Conference 2002. Thursday 31st October– Saturday 2nd November in the 14th century Maison Dieu, Dover. Celebrating the 10th anniversary of the excavation of the Dover Boat, the Boat Trust has organised a prestigious international conference. 17 eminent speakers, over a third from the Continent, will lecture on a range of topics relating to the Bronze Age, providing a forum for stimulating debate into issues relating to the Boat and its place in international archaeology. Cost £80.00 per delegate, excluding accommodation but including light buffet lunch each day. Wednesday 30th October - welcome reception in the Boat Gallery in Dover Museum. 31st October - informal dinner at a specialist marina-side fish restaurant. 2nd November - two optional study trips, one to France, the other to review East Kent archaeological sites. To register contact Denise Ryland, Conference Coordinator, Tours of the Realm, Hammond House, Limekiln Street, Dover CT17 9EE. image Kent Archaeology along the Thames Foreshore on Saturday 2nd November 2-5.30pm at Christ Church University College, Canterbury. Organised by the Council for Kentish Archaeology. Maritime Archaeology on the Foreshore… – Gustav Milne, UCL … and the Prehistoric Forest at Erith – Dr. Sophie Seel, UCL Defending London’s River – Victor Smith, Thames Defence Heritage Roman Reculver: the Changing Coastline – Brian Philp KARU Tickets £3 (cheques to CKA) from CKA, 7 Sandy Ridge, Borough Green, TN15 8HP Meet the Romans at Crofton Roman Villa, Orpington on Sunday 18th August 10am -5pm. Secundus, a Roman soldier and his sister Agrippina will give displays: 10am & 2pm Clothes, Makeup & Jewellery 11am & 3pm Armour, Weapons & Battle Tactics 12pm & 4pm Entertainment: Gladiators & Games Entry £1.50/£1.00 Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit 020 8463 4737 Isle of Thanet Archaeology Society- Talks A Hidden Treasure – Quex House and The Powell Cotton Museum by John Harrison, the curator, on Wednesday 11th September Recovering Thanet’s Past; Around up of the work carried out this year in Thanet by the Trust for Thanet Archaeology’s Director Dr David Perkins and his team on Wednesday 20th November Talks take place at St Georges School, Westwood Road, Broadstairs from 7.45pm. Doors open at 7.15pm. Ample free car parking. Tickets £3.50 on the door or £3.00 in advance from Events Secretary, Isle of Thanet Archaeological Society, Crampton Tower Yard, High Street, Broadstairs CT10 2AB. Also: Meet the Romans! on Saturday 26th October at the Village Hall, Minster, Thanet. Further details from the contact address above. Excavations at Scadbury Moated Manor, Chislehurst – Open Day on Saturday 14th and Sunday 15th September from 2 – 4.30pm. Self-guided trail around the excavations; see work currently being carried out as well as the remains of the foundations of the buildings associated with the Walsingham family. Members of the Orpington & District Archaeological Society will be on hand to answer questions. Admission free, limited car parking available close to the site by ticket only. Ticket application, enclosing a s.a.e. and stating required day to ODAS, 27 Eynsford Close, Petts Wood, BR5 1DP. Also from O.D.A.S: Wednesday 2nd October – Archaeology of the Hebrides, by Janet Clayton & Michael Meekums Wednesday 6th November – Current Archaeology by Andrew Selkirk image NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGY DAYS 2002 All talks start at 8pm in The Priory, Orpington. Admission free, open to everyone (although space is limited and priority will be given to ODAS members if necessary). Events for the whole family; bring your children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews too! North Downs Young Archaeologists with KCC Heritage present an ‘Iron Age’ Family Fun Day at White Horse Wood Country Park, Thurnham (off the A249 through Detling) on Sunday 21st July from 12-4pm. Meet the tribe of the Cantiaci, make edible torcs, taste prehistoric food, try wattle & daubing, be painted with woad! Further details: Lyn Palmer 01892 533661/Susie Lee 01732 810556 Crofton Roman Villa, Crofton Road, Orpington on Sunday 21st July from 10am -5pm. Excavate a ‘finds’ tray, discover hidden artefacts, make a plan & draw your discoveries, make mosaics, dress up as Romans & play Roman games. Entry £1, YAC members free. Further details: Kent Archaeological Unit 020 8462 4737 or Bromley Museum 01689 873826 Digging Up the Park 2002 on Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st July in Central Park, Dartford from 1-5pm during the Dartford Festival. An exhibition ‘dig’ as part of a display featuring the work of the Dartford District Archaeology Group. Further details: Chris Baker, Director of DDAG, 01322 224739. The Museum of London & LAARC have many events going on over the weekend with a shuttle bus running between the 2 venues. Of special interest is the Societies Fair on Saturday 20th July from 10am -5.45pm and on Sunday 21st July from 12-5.45pm, giving the opportunity to meet many representatives from numerous local archaeology societies and find out more about their activities. Further details: 020 7814 5777 image DO YOU RECOGNISE THIS SPOT? Please contact the editor at 55 Stone Street, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2QU Mystery Photos image PHOTOS AND SOCIETIES PHOTOS The location of the mystery photo in our April issue (one of many unprovenanced images held in the KAS library collection) was identified by Chris Gibbs, Chairman of the Isle of Thanet Archaeological Society. He writes: “This is a view across Margate Sands probably taken on the promenade near the clock tower looking westward. Looking at a similar picture it also shows the flagstaff in the middle distance and the outline of the buildings near it (the Nayland Rock Hotel) look the same. Quite apart from that, there is a now here in Kent with a wide sandy beach and buildings such as this.” This month our photo (see opposite) is a more personal scene. Do you recognise the rear of the house - or perhaps even the gentleman with a mourning band, leaning on the broom? image The Ancient Monuments Society image The society, founded in 1924, is concerned with the conservation and study of buildings of all ages and types. They are a ‘National Amenity Society’ and as such are consulted by local authorities in England and Wales on applications for listed building consent, whether partial or whole demolition. They handle some 7000 such cases each year, commenting on a broad range of cases both secular and ecclesiastical. They work in partnership with The Friends of Friendless Churches, who own 31 disused but beautiful and interesting historic churches which they have saved from demolition and decay. The Friends are the proud owners of the medieval ruins and 19th century mortuary chapel of St Mary’s Eastwell, Kent, where they have carried out an extensive programme of repairs on the tower and are about to introduce a screen by an artist blacksmith at the base of the tower. Each year the Societies jointly publish three 40 page Newsletters and a 150 page volume of Transactions – the latter a collection of scholarly articles on subjects as diverse as brick noggin, vernacular architecture (including Kent and the South East) Victorian cemeteries and burial chambers. They also run a series of Autumn Lectures at the Courtauld Institute, Strand, London. This year’s theme is ‘The Architecture of Shops and Shopping’. The AMS and the Friends run a joint membership scheme at £18 (£12 for senior citizens) and can be contacted through the Membership Secretary, St Ann’s Vestry Hall, 2 Church Entry, London EC4V 5HB, tel: 020 7236 3934, email: office@ancientmonumentsociety.org.uk. image St Mary’s Eastwell MEMBERSHIP MATTERS image NOTICE BOARD Thank you to all of you who have renewed or pointed out the error of my ways in response to my letter sent to non-renewals in May. Apologies for the errors brought to my attention – it can only get better! I have received over 40 membership applications recently. I have a large stock of forms so please contact me for a bundle to take to your local society or to any conferences you may be attending. Remember that all membership matters should be sent direct to me – Sheila Broomfield, 8 Woodview Crescent, Hildenborough, Tonbridge TN11 9HD 01732 838698 or membership@kentarchaeology.org.uk COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER RECORDS FORUM The Society has appointed a communications officer to improve links with the media and to help publicise members’ activities and achievements. John Hammond is a professional journalist with more than 25 years' experience. He volunteered to take on this new role after being asked to join the Membership and Publicity Committee. He has also agreed to serve on the governing Council. John, who lives in Minster-on-Sea, has had a lifelong interest in archaeology but only recently found the time to pursue this with more vigour. He is currently studying part-time at the University of Kent and hopes for the local and national press, television, and radio. He also holds a second dan black belt in karate and was a member of the England squad, which competed in the 1995 Japan Karate Association European Championships, held in Holland. He has two sons, Matthew (20) who is studying for a degree in Broadcast Journalism at Nottingham Trent University and Simon (17) who is in the sixth form at Borden Grammar School, Sittingbourne. His wife Sue is a senior lecturer in education at Christ Church University College, Canterbury. John said: “I am delighted to have this opportunity. I am passionate about our past and believe there has never been a better time to inspire other people. Popular television The Publications Committee announces that a Records Forum will take place between 2-5pm on Saturday 1st October at the Charing Barn, Charing. It is Admission Free to any interested individual who wishes to meet and discuss with others records publications issues. The programme is as follows: Welcome and Introduction by Paul Oldham, the Society’s President Terry Lawson, the Society’s Honorary Editor, will draw attention to recent publications Mrs. Tricia Rowsby, County Archivist from the Centre for Kentish Studies, will talk about archive services and records developments, with some personal thoughts on what she would like to see published, leading into: to achieve a degree in the Theory of Archaeology. A general discussion concerning records publications, including the possibility of establishing an independent director of the Sheppey Heritage Trust and chairman of Sheerness Town Centre Management. image During his career as a journalist he has covered such stories as the Zeebrugge Disaster, The Falklands War and the Iranian Embassy Siege. For the past decade he has run his own public relations and publishing business while keeping his hand in with freelance journalism research are not dull, boring pursuits. They can be thrilling and romantic. Few things beat that moment of discovery when the pages of a book or the damp soil give up their secrets. If you have any information which John can use, whether it is about a society event or something you have personally been involved in, contact him on 01795 871199 or email jmhammond@btinternet.com subscription-financed Kent Records Society, this issue to be addressed by Dr Joan Thirsk, a member of the Publications Committee. John Whyman Chairman Publications Committee You and Your Society image FESTIVE DATE FOR YOUR DIARY CONTACT ADDRESSES This year’s Christmas Lunch will be held on the 30th November at the Hop Farm, Paddock Wood. Further details in the October Newsletter. The contact addresses of the Hon. Membership Secretary and the Newsletter Editor appear within this publication. Other useful addresses include: Hon. General Secretary, Andrew Moffat, Three Elms, Woodlands Lane, Shorne, Gravesend DA12 3HH Email secretary@kentarchaeology.org.uk image NOTICE BOARD NOTICE Hon. Treasurer, Robin Thomas, 1 Abchurch Yard, Abchurch Lane, London EC4N 7BA Email treasurer@kentarchaeology.org.uk ABBEY FARM: ROMANO-BRITISH COMPLEX - EXCAVATION 2002 The villa, located by aerial photography in 1979, had a commanding view of the Wantsum Channel and the Saxon Shore Fort of Richborough (Rutupiae). Since the start of the project, the extensive villa, a latrine to the northwest, an impressive bath-house and a fourth building to the southeast have been excavated. In August the K.A.S. plans to return to Abbey Farm, Minster-in-Thanet for the sixth season of fieldwork and excavation at this Romano-British villa complex. The programme of work will be in conjunction with the Trust for Thanet Archaeology. It will be directed by Keith Parfitt of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust who will be advised by Dr David Perkins. It is envisaged that the fieldwork will include; continuation with the resistivity survey begun in 2001, a metal detector survey and field-walking survey on land close to the complex. Pot washing and initial attention to artefacts will also be undertaken. The program me of excavation will seek other buildings and the boundary of occupation. The dig, which is open to people aged 16 years and above, will be held over a two week period and it will start on Sunday 25th August 2002. To participate, there will be a registration fee for members of £20 for one week and £35 for two, or £25 and £40 respectively for non-members. To register for the excavation please fill in the form below. Abbey Farm Excavation. I should like to register for the planned excavation for one/two week(s) (delete as applicable). State dates:.......................................................................................... (25/08/02 to 30/08/02 or 01/09/02 to 06/09/02 or 25/08/02 to 06/09/02 I enclose a cheque for £ payable to the Kent Archaeological Society. Name ..................................................................................... Age .............................................. Address ..................................................................................Tel. No......................................... ................................................................................................ Email.......................................... ................................................................................................ Send Application to: David Bacchus Telford Lodge, Roebuck Road Rochester, Kent ME1 1UD Tel: 01634 843495 Email: d-bacchus@talk21.com I am / am not a member of the KAS or the Thanet Archaeological Society image Events and Diary image ‘IDEAS and IDEALS’ This is the third of a series of articles describing formative movements and ideas in the history of the church. These were the crises of thought and conviction which brought us to where we are. image THE LOLLARDS - first English challenge to orthodoxy image By 1372, when he had taken his Doctors’ degree, Wycliffe had probably been at Oxford for some 27 years and was an experienced lecturer and the author of papers on Biblical studies and philosophy. Moreover, he excelled in the medieval academic discipline of disputation, involving the advancing and demolition of hypotheses. As an intellectual instrument, Wycliffe was honed to perfection - as speaker, writer, thinker, and dialectician. By now one of the dominant figures in the university, he was considered by others as well as by himself to be suitable for preferment. In this, he was disappointed and his attention was increasingly turned to critical analyses of the received doctrines and practices of the medieval church. Because the beliefs of the church constituted the intellectual landscape of the age, his views had social and political repercussions. It is cardinal to an understanding of Wycliffe’s teaching to appreciate his emphasis on the authority of the Bible. It was to be regarded as the sole fount of doctrine and the rule by which opinions were measured. He commended knowledge of scripture in both Latin and the vernacular. The so-called Wycliffe Bible was probably his inspiration rather than translation. Nevertheless, it was meant to offer to literate men a direct access to what Wycliffe regarded as the foremost means of grace. Wycliffe’s thinking ranged widely. One central theme in his teaching concerned the Eucharist. He believed in the real presence of Christ at the consecration but rejected the notion that the consecrated elements were physically changed. This is a position held by many contemporary believers. It is now, as the reformer made it then, a point of sharp division. The examination and trials of Lollards frequently highlighted the view of the Eucharist held by the suspected heretics. image Auricular confession to a priest, held to be at least an annual necessity, was considered by Wycliffe to be a matter of choice and not an obligation. He particularly opposed the requirement for priestly absolution as a determinant of divine forgiveness. Only God, Wycliffe argued, could forgive sin. The current practice of ‘pardons’ being sold was repugnant to him. Any ecclesiastical absolution not requiring repentance was anathema. Pilgrimage, Wycliffe suggested, ought more profitably be made to the poor and sick than to some distant shrine to do homage to the likeness or relics of some saint. He conceded that images had a value as ‘books’ for the illiterate but recognized they could easily lead to idolatrous worship. Wycliffe recognized the need for an institutional church but saw it as a fact to be held lightly because the true and actual church he considered to consist of all those predestined to salvation. It followed that authority within the church could be exercised only by those who were themselves in a state of grace. His treatises De Dominio Divino and De Civili Dominio had forcibly made this point with regard not only to bishops and priests but also to those who held office in the state. When he went on to publish De Potestate Papae, he expressed the view that even the Pontiff lacked legitimacy unless he too was in a state of grace. Consequently, obedience to the pope was due only if the pope closely followed Christ and the first apostles. Disendowment Wycliffe prescribed as the only effective cure for a church corrupted by power and riches. Monastic endowments had earlier been suggested as items for confiscation in the reign of Edward III, although no action had been taken. Now, Wycliffe advanced the idea that all clergy should be limited to what was necessary for their immediate needs. Wycliffe’s teaching vindicated intellectually the reservations of many on the enormous wealth of the medieval church. This had accrued from the gifts and bequests of the faithful over many generations. This wealth included vast holdings of lands by monasteries and by bishops, all of it being regarded as inalienable. The peasant engaged in the daily struggle for sustenance and the prince or magnate seeking to share the burden of funding a foreign war both looked with longing on the wealth of the great monastic houses and princely bishops. Wycliffe thought that the royal power should be used to confiscate the endowments of the institutional church. These he regarded as being in starkest contrast to the Gospel account of Christ’s poverty and his teaching on the dangers of wealth to the soul. Royal intervention to curtail other church privileges was advocated. The right of sanctuary in church premises and the exemption of clerks from trial in the king’s courts were both attacked. Papal interference in the making and application of law Wycliffe regarded as unacceptable. He thought that scripture should be the basis of all law though he was perceptive enough to realize that this would not meet all cases. For senior churchmen holding offices of state, Wycliffe had especial contempt, acidly calling them hermaphrodites. Quoting St. Matthew and St. Paul, the scholar fulminated against the priests who neglected their preaching and pastoral duties to devote their talents to the royal service. Archbishop Sudbury, who was also chancellor, was one prominent example. Wycliffe’s preaching against these ‘Caesarean clergy’ drew down upon him much episcopal wrath. Monks and nuns he believed were offering to the founders of their orders, like Benedict or Dominic, the loyalty which was due to Christ alone. With the friars, he had much more sympathy because of their preaching and teaching. But when scholarly friars attacked Wycliffe’s own views, especially on the Eucharist, he turned his critical attention to the mendicants with especial intensity. His enmity was reciprocated, not least by the Carmelites. It was evident that the reformer’s views would attract the condemnation of the Pope and the English bishops. His tenets cut at the very grounds of clerical authority. If it was not necessary to have a priest to make ‘God’s body’ or to hear confession and give absolution, if the very authority of Pope, bishop, or priest depended on his being in a state of grace as perceived by the individual, the whole edifice was shaken. In a society in which state and church were so intertwined, Wycliffe’s views clearly had social and political implications. When he and his closest Oxford disciples worked to disseminate the reforming views outside academic circles, the tocsin sounded in both episcopal and governmental circles. While their Lollard doctrines were merely being urged in the Oxford schools, there was a limited inclination for condemnation although the church authorities used Carmelite friars within the university to exercise a watching brief. But when Wycliffe and his academic acolytes made strenuous efforts to popularize their disturbing ideas especially among the knightly classes, there was considerable disquiet. Benedictine monks, inveterate enemies of Wycliffe, supplied Pope Gregory with selections from Wycliffe’s works which they considered suspect. Bishop Brinton of Rochester, himself a Benedictine, was probably among them. In 1377, Papal disapproval of Lollard doctrine was expressed and the following year, Wycliffe appeared at an episcopal council and was rebuked for teachings deemed damaging to social order. The Peasant’s Revolt triggered reaction from church and crown. The rebellion had many causes, economic and political. Wycliffe’s personal involvement is doubtful but his enemies correctly perceived that some of the rebels' complaints were highly consonant with Lollard opinions, especially with regard to clerical venality. To Wycliffe’s foes, the revolt provided critical ammunition in plenty. In his writings, Wycliffe himself expressed horror for the murder of Archbishop Sudbury and for rebellion against the crown. Nevertheless, his writings provided good pickings for those who asserted his influence on the populist priest John Ball and on Wat Tyler, the leader and spokesman of the rebels. In 1381, despite the great support Wycliffe enjoyed at Oxford, a university commission found him guilty of doctrinal error and forbade him to continue teaching. He appealed in vain to Richard II and retired from Oxford to Lutterworth. The following year, Archbishop Courtenay stepped up the anti-Lollard campaign. A formidable ‘packed’ council was set up at Oxford to condemn heretical teaching. Wycliffe's enjoyment of John of Gaunt's royal patronage may account for the reluctance of authority to take more severe measures. Enormous pressure was brought to bear upon Wycliffe's principal lieutenants. Cited before diocesan bishops for heresy, some significant leaders abjured Lollard views. The real possibility of confinement and the certain denial of preferment were persuasive arguments. While Archbishop Courtenay masterminded the destruction of Lollard influence in Oxford, his diocesan colleagues mounted an ongoing programme of heresy hunting which continued for decades. This was supplemented by the passing of the statute ‘De Heretico Comburendo’ in 1401. Dr. McHardy suggests that this legislation was drafted hurriedly with strong clerical support. For the first time in England, those who expressed views differing from received teaching were liable to be burnt at the stake. Thus, by a programme of anti-Lollard propaganda reinforced by episcopal witch hunting and condemnation, Lollardy as a threat to church order and royal authority seemed to be crushed. With Wycliffe's death in 1384 and the subsequent submission of most of his Oxford supporters, the movement lost its intellectual leadership. Yet two consequences, both with resonance in Kent, have yet to be mentioned. While most of the donnish disciples had reneged, a handful of clerics who had embraced the reformers with more conviction, enthusiastically evangelised. One of these, William Swinderby, had probably been responsible for converting the man who became populist history’s hero, Sir John Oldcastle, later Lord Cobham. This Hereford squire who had achieved fame and royal approval as a soldier embraced Lollardy with a degree of enthusiasm which became apparent about 1410. He corresponded with John Hus the Bohemian reformer and encouraged heretical preachers in Kent, London, and Herefordshire. When he incurred episcopal disapproval, he remained defiant, shutting the gates of his castle at Cooling against the archbishops’ summons. His subsequent examination by the archbishop's council and the failure of his attempts to convince Henry V of the truth of his views led him to attempt an armed insurrection after he had escaped by night from the Tower of London. His rebellion was botched, brief, and ill-supported. Scores of his humbler followers died, though Oldcastle himself survived in hiding for three more years. Less immediate but more significant was the continued existence a century later of communities revealed by Archbishop Warham’s proceedings against Kentish Lollards in 1511 and 1512. Their beliefs included a denial of transubstantiation and the value of confession and of the mediation of saints. William Carder of Tenterden burned while his fellow heretics were made to watch because he held that the bread of the altar was ‘only bread’. Edward Walker, the Maidstone cutler, went to the stake because his reading of a gospel in English led him to deny the value of ‘worshipping of saints’. Tenterden, Benenden, Staplehurst, Cranbrook, Canterbury, Boxley, Rolvenden, and Godmersham all contributed to the total of 53 persons brought to trial, most at Warham’s palace at Knole. Such communities may have eased the reception of Protestant belief at the Reformation. Where Wycliffe’s challenge was cerebral and Oldcastle’s military, these artisans and yeomen in Kent and other counties were evidence of a less articulate but widespread discontent with Catholic teaching and practice. image It is necessary to distinguish Wycliffe's arguments from those of his less sophisticated followers who had neither the Latin nor the dialectic skill to penetrate their master's subtleties. This sometimes led to grotesque statements of belief but as Anne Hudson has well observed in her examination of vernacular Wycliffite writings, there is substantial common ground between the Oxford ferment of the late 1300s and the tenets of humbler Lollards in the early 16th century. Wycliffe sparked dangerous aspirations of lay access to the divine which have become the stock in trade of most Protestants. His acute mind exposed fault lines still unresolved in 2002. The extent to which the Lollard challenge prepared or hindered the way to the later acceptance of the break with Rome and the establishment of an autonomous national church has been much debated. The late great K.B. McFarlane concluded that Wycliffe did more than anyone ‘to discredit moderate reform’. Margaret Aston’s dictum that ‘Lollards might not actually make Protestants but they would sow fertile seeds of doubt’ is more felicitous. It certainly seems true that continuing Lollard communities in Kent helped the rapid and popular acceptance of the Reformation in the county. What or who constitutes the church? How should we understand the Eucharist? What gives authority validity? Should institutional or inward religion be foremost? Whether the archheretic of 1380 is still a heretic or is now to be seen as a prophet can still provoke controversy. Wycliffe’s true stature has been obscured by two opposing tendencies. He has become the icon of evangelical hagiography and the bete noire of Anglo-Catholics. On McFarlane’s observation, there can be agreement, ‘He was prepared to believe authority wrong’. Was that crime or achievement? Philip Lawrence John Wycliffe and English Nonconformity. K.B. McFarlane 1952 image Spring 2002 11 Lollards and Reformers. Margaret Aston 1984 The Premature Reformation. Anne Hudson 1988 Early Modern Kent. Ed Michael Zell 2000 Lollardy and the Gentry in the Later Middle Ages. Ed Aston and Richmond 1997 The Stripping of the Altars. E Duffy 1992 RICHBOROUGH Results from Survey and Excavation, 2001 image RICHBOROUGH -SURVEY RESULTS RICHBOROUGH image image The well-known site of Richborough has long been characterised as a military site. Its history is, however, more complex than this. Ever since Leland, it has been apparent that the hill around the walls of the Saxon shore fort had been occupied. The terms vicus and civilian settlement have been applied to this area, implying that the settlement was at all times an adjunct to a military installation. The excavations undertaken by J.P. Bushe Fox in the 1920s themselves suggest otherwise, as the Claudian bridgehead and supply base were overlain by streets and buildings of urban character, around the great quadrifons arch. The fortification of the arch with triple ditches, and the subsequent Saxon Shore fort, were apparently superimposed upon the street pattern in the mid and late third century. The quadrifons marked Richborough as the official gateway to Britain. image 12 Over the last few years, a partnership project involving the Universities of Kent, Southampton, and Cambridge, Kent County Council, and the Centre for Archaeology of English Heritage has been established to look at Richborough in new ways. It has several aims relating to the landscape of Richborough Island, changes in the palaeogeography of the area, and the infilling of the Wantsum Channel. It seeks to understand Iron Age, Roman, and early Medieval settlement, and subsequent landscape development along the shores of the Wantsum Channel, and to enhance our knowledge of Iron Age, Roman, and early Medieval settlement along the southern side of the Wantsum Channel between Sandwich/Worth in the east and Ickham and the River Stour in the west, in order to gain a fuller understanding of the context within which the Roman settlement was situated. Not least of the aims is to characterise the settlement surrounding the excavated Saxon Shore fort, to obtain a detailed understanding of the ancient topography of Richborough Island and to try to locate and investigate the harbour. It is this final aim which has been addressed by the work in 2001. Thus far, three main techniques have been used. The work has been undertaken by various parts of the Projects Division of English Heritage. In January 2001, magnetometry and resistivity surveys were conducted on the amphitheatre. Resistivity proved to be the most effective technique here, and the identity of the amphitheatre was confirmed. It was of classic elliptical shape, with entrances at the ends of the ellipse. Unusual were a pair of opposed circular masses on each side of the short axis. Radar survey conducted in July showed that these features were more deeply founded than the rest of the amphitheatre. They are tentatively identified as towers, though the possibility that they might be shrines or elaborate entrances still remains. Magnetometry proved successful in identifying streets and buildings around the amphitheatre, and was extended through September, to cover 21ha of the area around the fort and amphitheatre. Additional data were produced by aerial photographic analysis. Both techniques showed streets, buildings, and enclosures. Watling Street was one of two principal roads, along which buildings were ranged. Watling Street was apparently the axis of a street grid, four insulae of which were taken to build the Shore fort. Behind the street frontage was a complex pattern of enclosures, which may be field systems, and are conceivably Iron Age in date. Much more analysis is needed. Finally, two small excavation areas were opened up. Trench A was designed to re-examine one of two small temples excavated by Bushe-Fox in 1926. This area demonstrated that the temples were probably built early in the history of the site, but were demolished, and lay in an area of rubbish pitting by the mid-fourth century. This has implications concerning the early ritual status of the gateway to Britain, but may also inform the decline and shrinkage of the settlement. A feature which pre-dated the temples may have been a prehistoric field boundary. Trench B was situated on the edge of the cliff to the east of the island. It showed that the land-form today is very different to that of the early Roman period, with 800mm of Roman strata (much of it make-up dumping) underlying 1.20m of colluvial deposits. The reason for the depth of colluvium is hard to find—possibly the area of the trench occupied a natural gully in the side of the island. At all events, it seems at least possible that the flank of the island was originally a shallow slope down to a sandy beach. This will be further explored this year, but suggests that the Claudian ditches, far from being the western side of a large, and much eroded fort, were actually the defences of a linear strip of beach upon which the Claudian vessels were drawn up. image Tony Wilmott New Website for KAS The KAS is to set up a new Website, in order to take further the Society’s declared intention to make as much material as possible from KAS archives and publications available for posting electronically. Initially, the website will consist of a series of administrative pages; a members section containing online searchable catalogues of the Library’s books and papers, and of Visual records; and a Publications section with downloadable publications, papers, reports, articles, and records. The publications section will afford the KAS Hon. Editor and the KAS Publications Committee an electronic outlet which is at present lacking, and which will be open to contributions from other committees and members of the K AS. Contributions from universities and other research organisations will be welcome. The content of publications will be controlled by the Editor, who will, drawing on the expertise of experts as necessary, ensure quality control. The new website will be hosted by Veracity and will be cross-linked and complementary to the existing website hosted by Medway Internet. It is hoped that the new Website will be operational by the autumn of this year. For further information, contact Denis Anstey Email d@degian.demon.co.uk Tel 01634 240015. Much more available and the City records make it clear that women in London were accorded more status than their rural counterparts. On the death of their husbands, they were allowed to continue the business and also to employ apprentices in their own right. This brief period ended after 1500 because of a shortage of work and the growth of capitalism. image WOMEN IN ANGLO-SAXON AND MEDIEVAL SOCIETY The morning session ended with Sheila Sweetinburgh, a freelance historian and part-time teacher, who spoke on Joining the sisters: female inmates in Kent’s late medieval hospitals. She discussed the probable criteria for selection of the sisters and also how they may have spent their time as part of a semi-religious community. She ended her lecture with an assessment of the provisions and bequests the inmates made in their wills with mention of their pious and charitable concerns and their relationships with family and friends. After lunch, Toni Mount, part-time teacher for the WEA, spoke on What of the Medieval Housewife? She treated us to a witty and informative look at the everyday life of the Medieval housewife making extensive use of original source material such as the Goodman of Paris and How the Good Wife taught her Daughter. Her lecture explained many improbabilities concerning dress, etiquette, and recipes. This was an erudite yet light-hearted lecture and so appropriate for the session after lunch. The day ended with Charlotte Behr, senior lecturer in Roman and Early Medieval History at the University of Surrey, Roehampton, going back to the Anglo-Saxon period speaking on High Status Women and Pagan Images. She concentrated on the high-status graves of females in east Kent, discussing the interpretation of the grave assemblages and asking to what degree the interpretation of customs of death and burial are meaningful for our understanding of the world of the living. image The conference provided us with a fascinating insight into this interesting period which benefits from both archaeology and history. I look forward to next year’s conference with heightened anticipation and suggest that you book your places as soon as the programme is announced! My thanks to Alan Ward for his notes which have proved invaluable. Sheila Broomfield image WRITING UP image THE WRITING UP AND PUBLICATION OF PAST ARCHAEOLOGICAL EXCAVATIONS AND FIELDWORK IN KENT image Just over two years ago, the KAS Council decided that the Society should take the initiative and try to do something positive about the writing up and publication of some of the past archaeological excavations and fieldwork carried out in the Ancient County of Kent. It recognized that this would be a formidable task but that it should try and do something before more records and results are lost. This brief review aims to summarize what has happened. A special sub-committee of the Society’s Fieldwork Committee was set up, with the brief to progress the project. Its members were widely drawn for their experience and I was asked to act as its Chairman. The sub-committee met on four occasions. Anyone involved in any way with archaeology will know of excavations and fieldwork, which have not been written up, let alone published. Depending on the extent of an excavation, once it has been done, then the results, particularly the stratigraphy, cannot be replicated, so, unless the results are written up, they are effectively lost to future archaeologists, historians, and the general public. image 14 The sub-committee made extensive enquiries and using the National Monuments Record (NMR) Event Records, and their own experience, found that only about 25% of the excavations carried out by amateurs since 1945 had been published – a frightening figure. The sub-committee’s final estimate was that in the whole of the Ancient County of Kent, including the four London Boroughs, about 600 amateur excavations had been carried out post 1945, which had not been published. The sub-committee recognized that many of these would never be written up for a whole variety of reasons, but that many could be, given the right spirit, reasonable resources, and good organization. Plans were considered for publicizing the initiative throughout the course of the project, in order to ensure a flow of information about sites and results from them and the basis for prioritizing the writing up of results was set down. It was recognized that because of the magnitude of the task, it would be impractical for it to be done on a volunteer basis, so it was decided that it could only realistically be considered if an experienced archaeologist, with a good track record of writing up reports, be engaged. The cost of such an approach would be well outside the financial reach of the KAS, so discussions were held with the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) to see if they could help. We were given every encouragement and a detailed budget costing just under £100,000 – 90% of this would be funded by Grant from the HLF and 10% from the Society, who would also pay for the reasonable costs of publication (much of the material for publication would be offered to Archaeologia Cantiana, the primary medium for publication of archaeological material in Kent). The project would last between 2.5 and 3 years, depending on various factors. In order to ensure good progress, a Project Advisory Committee would be set up, to include independent experts, including the County Archaeological Officer and English Heritage. A detailed proposal was then submitted to the HLF, with reasonable expectations that it would be accepted, subject perhaps to negotiations on points of detail. Sadly it was not. Much correspondence has ensued. This is not the place to try and summarize it, but the proposal was not supported for a number of reasons, despite the earlier encouragement which we were given. One reason was that we were unable to say specifically how many sites would be written up, the basis for their specific selection, and their specific heritage benefits – we could not do any of these things without first collecting detailed information (i.e., the results of the excavations & fieldwork) on all of the sites. From a practical point of view, we had seen this as an ongoing part of the project, gathering momentum as it progressed. To complete such an exercise in isolation would be a very time-consuming and expensive project in its own right, which we would be expected to fund 100% out of our own financial resources before a project with HLF support could be started. Clearly, we could not contemplate such an exercise. Another reason was that the HLF wishes to widen popular access to our heritage to develop new audiences. In other words, presenting results in such a way that précis of them could be read and understood by a much wider audience. At first sight, this seemed a laudable objective but when thought through, we recognized that it would be expensive in time and effort and would significantly detract from our primary objective i.e., the writing up and publication of as many excavation reports as possible. So, despite an enormous effort by members of the Society, the project file has been closed. That in itself is sad, but even more sadly, it means that the results from many of the 600 or so excavations and fieldwork identified will now never see the light of day and be available to a wider audience. Before closing this very brief review, I would like to thank those members of the Council, Fieldwork Committee, and its sub-committee who gave freely of their time to progress the project and in particular Paul Oldham, our President, who has been 100% supportive throughout. Tom Hollobone OBE image LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor I wonder whether any of your readers could identify the object in this photograph? It is believed to be a builder’s mark. It appears on the outside rear wall (thought to be fifteenth century) of Brook House, Leeds, formerly the saddler’s shop. Miriam Scott Dear Editor CHRONOGRAMS image LETTERS TO THE EDITOR I recently came across an example in St Mary’s Welwyn and wondered whether there were any examples in Kent. Chronograms combine an inscription and a date picked out in the capital letters and to be read as Roman numerals. I suspect that I, like others, may have read these in the past without realizing their significance. SIBI.ET.PAROCHIANIS.HAEC.CHORI.ALA.DE.SVO. CV RA.CAROLI.WILLES.WILSHERE.CONDITA.EST. The meaning and the date are as follows: This choir aisle of his responsibility was built by Charles Willes Wiltshire for himself and the parish. 1+1+100+1+1+100+100+1+50+500+5+100+5+100+50+1+1+50+50+1+50+100+50+1 = 1869 Duncan Harrington image image Ethelbert & Bertha Project image A scheme has been launched to erect in Canterbury seven-foot bronze statues of King Ethelbert and Queen Bertha of Kent, patrons of St. Augustine and of the Conversion of the English in image the closing years of the sixth century. The motive for doing this was a realization of widespread unawareness, not only amongst visitors but also the local public, of how Canterbury came to occupy its present status as one of the world’s major religious centers instead of being simply another Kentish market town. Ethelbert was not only the first Christian English King but also the greatest of Kent’s rulers, according to Bede the third ‘Bretwalda’ or overlord of all the English kingdoms south of the Humber. It is significant that Pope Gregory the Great addresses him not as Rex Cantiorum but as Rex Anglorum. Following his conversion, he founded cathedrals at Canterbury, Rochester, and London (St. Paul's), a monastery at Canterbury (later St. Augustine's), as well as the first English school. He also issued, circa 603, a Code of Laws, the first document ever to be written in the English tongue. Bertha was the daughter of the Frankish King of Paris, and as a Merovingian, and great-granddaughter of Clovis, founder of the French monarchy, a member of the most powerful dynasty on the Continent. She was brought up as a Christian and educated at Tours, marrying Ethelbert at about the age of eighteen. Coming to Canterbury circa 580, she brought her own chaplain with her (Bishop Liudhard) and worshipped in the old Romano-British church on the Richborough road, later dedicated to St. Martin of Tours, which had been renovated for her. She undoubtedly prepared the way for her husband’s conversion, so that the Pope, in writing to her, said that the word of her fame had even reached the Emperor in Constantinople. image The maquettes (half-size prototypes of the two statues) were rendered by Steve Melton of the Institute of Art & Design, an artist of national reputation in this field. Although nothing is known of the king and queen’s actual appearance, care has been taken to produce, as authentically as possible, their dress, hairstyles, jewelry, and accoutrements. In their recent visit to Canterbury on Maundy Thursday, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh saw the maquettes and expressed their interest and approval, the Duke asking where the statues were to be placed. They will be erected on Lady Wootton's Green, the garden lying between the gateway of St. Augustine's Abbey and the City Wall. The king will be shown coming from his Hall, where now stands the Cathedral, and the queen returning from St. Martin's Church, the two placed about a dozen paces apart. Thus, the statues will not only be an attractive feature on what is known as ‘Queen Bertha's Walk’, but will form a crucial link between the two most important sites (Cathedral and Abbey) of Canterbury as a World Heritage Site. An appeal for £80,000 has been launched by the Lord Mayor to fund the two statues and their plinths. Although this is a large sum (the names of donors contributing £4,000 or more will be inscribed on the monument), the number of small donations will be heavily influential with the major funding bodies being approached. Anyone who would like to support this important civic heritage project, designed to enhance the beauty and interest of the City, is invited to contact the Chairman of the Canterbury Commemoration Society, the sponsoring body: Mr. Martin Taylor, Elm House, Adisham, Kent CT3 3LH Any donations and cheques (payable to ‘The Canterbury Commemoration Society’, reg. charity no.1057977) will be most gratefully received and acknowledged. Brian Porter image image Lady Wootton’s Green: proposed restoration image Brian Philp - Director, Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit ACIS, MBIM, MIFA, FSA Some 500 projects have been completed. Brian mentions 3 of the most memorable as the on-going exploration at Reculver until the present day, the Roman Forum in London where his team uncovered the image BACK PAGE PEOPLE image image The busy hum of many small voices greeted me on entering Crofton Roman Villa. A school group were exploring the touch table and creating their own mosaics after listening to an explanation of the site from its excavator, archaeologist Brian Philp. I had come to the Villa to talk to Brian about the celebration of his own personal golden jubilee, of 50 years of rescue archaeology around Kent. Now, however, I observed for a while his role as an educator with a natural affinity with children. Many educational groups have passed through Crofton since it opened to the public in 1992, enthused by the Roman Activities Workshops given by Brian and his wife Edna. But the rescue from destruction of this site and its success over the last decade is only part of a story which began in 1952 when a schoolboy on a cycling tour chanced across the eroding cliff-face at the Roman fort at Reculver… The youthful Brian, shown finds from the beach, was soon to locate a complete Roman pottery vessel in a “predictable, youthful response”. Later years saw a more measured approach – indeed applying the principles of business management, “with integrity”, has been his watchword. These principles were learned in his initial career in the City, which incidentally allowed him to gaze down at the emerging Mithras Temple. I suspect that Brian was not too saddened to have this career interrupted by National Service with the RAF in 1955 as it provided good opportunities for his archaeological enthusiasms! A posting in West Germany led to excavation of Roman and Frankish sites, also a measured survey of pre-Roman barrows. image As one of the 150 men in Air Control of the 2nd ATAF, Brian was selected for a spell in intelligence, simply on the grounds of being a known archaeologist; however, “I still can’t make the connection between archaeology and intelligence…” Although his return to civilian life in 1957 saw him complete exams to become a Chartered Company Secretary, he decided to build on already extensive archaeological experience (at Lullingstone, Reculver, and other sites) and make archaeology his career. His first ‘paid’ excavation soon followed, for Hanover Museum, living alone in a small tent in a silent German forest, with no bedding and sub-zero temperatures! Government investment in archaeology in the early 70’s led to many archaeological units forming – suddenly everyone “This is called a flue” captions the drawing of Brian which came as part of a thank you letter from Joseph Dorrell, a young student from Warren Road School, Orpington wanted in on the act. By this time Brian had already been practising rescue archaeology for nearly 20 years; “I told fellow archaeologists to leave the ‘sun-soaked hill fort’ syndrome of traditional post-war digging and join me in the front line!” Funding for rescue work for those two decades came from ‘Pictorial Colour Slides’ formed in 1960 to photograph and sell images of museum collections and sites across the country. But making ends meet wasn’t always easy; at one stage Brian was down to his last £10. “I had 2 gold coins over 400 years old, left to me by my grandfather and worth £2000, but wouldn’t sell”. He still has those family coins. The Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit was formed in 1971 from volunteer excavation teams already operating with Brian, such as the Reculver and the West Kent Border Groups. Over the last 30 years, some 500 projects have been completed. Brian mentions 3 of the most memorable as the on-going exploration at Reculver until the present day, the Roman Forum in London where his team uncovered the unknown earlier ‘proto-forum’ and the Roman Painted House at Dover, which revealed ‘the finest collection of in situ wall plaster… north of the Alps’. He opened the Roman House as a major tourist attraction in 1973 and so far it has had over 600,000 visitors and won four national awards. These 3 sites appear within a selection of the 50 major sites described in Brian’s new commemorative book ‘Archaeology in the Front Line – 50 years of Kent Rescue’, the first copy of which was presented to H.M. the Queen on her golden jubilee. These 50 years have given Brian a wealth of memories and tales but also a certain cynicism about various practices within the archaeological world. He describes Time Team as a ‘clever product’, but stresses that during his involvement with the program at Smallhythe in 1998, 90% of the work was done by KARU – described as ‘volunteers’ by the programme! He also has a deep-seated mistrust of metal detectorists, fueled by the recent desecration of Roman Noviomagus where countless holes have been dug through the stratigraphy, showing me also a recent internet auction of the robbed contents of a Saxon warrior's grave near Dover. As a keen all-round sportsman throughout his life (from captaining the local under-18’s against Crystal Palace F.C. equivalent to playing his last football match only 5 years ago) he has retained the vigour of a younger man. Long years on sites in freezing rain or under hot sun obviously agree with him. Aside from the satisfaction of rescuing many of these often complex sites (“If you can deal with 70,000 layers on a Romano-British urban site – Dover, the deepest at 26ft, you can deal with anything”) a comprehensive and prompt publication record is also gratifying. Brian intends remaining a practicing rescue archaeologist “for at least the next ten years”. We may yet see a diamond jubilee book! image Copy deadlines for the next two issues are: October issue – Monday September 2nd, January issue – December 2nd. 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 Email newsletter@kentarchaeology.org.uk The Editor Published by the Kent Archaeological Society, The Museum, St Faith’s Street, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 1LH