KAS Newsletter, Issue 6, Spring 1984
Re-erection of the North Cray Hall-house at Singleton
by P. J. Tester, F.S.A.
If all goes according to plan, the weekend commencing Friday 10th August 1984 will see the beginning of the final stage of an archaeological project which started back in 1968. Over that weekend work will begin on the re-erection of a fifteenth-century hall-house which stood until sixteen years ago on the roadside at North Cray in the London Borough of Bexley. At that time it was removed in the interests of road widening and it was intended to re-erect it somewhere within the Borough.
However, after years of delay, the timbers were eventually donated to the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum at Singleton, near Chichester in West Sussex, where after careful repair the house will be reconstructed as part of a small market-square complex already partially completed. A detailed description of the house was published in Arch.Cant.Vol.87(1972).
Mr Roger Champion, the master carpenter of the Museum, has spent the past months repairing the frame and renewing the timbers where necessary. The material has been recognized as elm, and there are definite indications that the external woodwork was painted red as a primary feature of the building.
Coinciding with the erection of the house in August, it is intended to hold an exhibition of photographs illustrating how the work of restoration has taken place.
Among the Museum's permanent exhibits are several buildings from Kent, notably the fine medieval hallhouse called Bayleaf, rescued when Bough Beech Reservoir was formed on its site at Chiddingstone, and from the same locality came a small timber house from Winkhurst Farm.
One of the most interesting and dramatic archaeological sites in Europe must surely be that of Biskupin in Poland. Excavations over many years have revealed the remarkably well preserved remains of a late Bronze Age/Iron Age settlement of great extent - 'wooden Pompeii' - as it has been described.
A comprehensive exhibition dealing with Biskupin will be touring Britain during 1984. At the Museum the Butser Ancient Farm Project team is reconstructing replicas of three Biskupin houses, one of which will be finished in Iron Age fashion, the other two being used as exhibition space. In addition to objects from the excavations, there will be models, maps, plans, and photographs that recreate Biskupin and the Lusatian culture that it represents.
The exhibition opens on 3rd May, where it will stay for three months before being taken on tour around Britain for a further four months.
Editorial
As we go to press, the final arrangements for the Society's A.G.M. are going ahead, with preparation of the Newsletter, many pieces of paper that you will receive with this towards the end of April.
I should like to draw your attention to the one giving details of the many members and affiliated Societies taking part in the exhibition of work at the A.G.M.
This is also the time of year when we appeal to members, particularly in Kent and London, to help with the distribution of Vol. 99 (1983), which is due to be published in July of this year. Enclosed is a leaflet giving details of how you may help.
Looking ahead to the Autumn, plans are being made for another Archaeology at Work meeting which will take place on Saturday, 29th September, at the Queen Elizabeth School, Abbey Place, Faversham. Full details of the programme will be circulated with Arch. Cant. the Autumn Newsletter. The workshop will follow the same format as the one held last year at New Ash Green and will comprise a number of exhibitions, practical demonstrations and teach-ins. If there are certain items you would like to see repeated, or have any suggestions as to any other facets of archaeology you would like included, please contact me. To be really successful the active participation of members and affiliated Societies is vital. If you feel that you as an individual, or your Society can help in any way, please let me know.
Ted Connell.
Arthur Stuart Beazley
"We record with great regret the death of our member Mr A. S. Beazley of Bethersden on March 4th, just 5 days after his 100th birthday. Mr Beazley was not only our oldest but our second-longest serving member, having joined in 1928, and being only exceeded in length of service by our Vice-President Mr R. Jessup.AGM 1984
The Annual General Meeting of the Society is to be held on Saturday 19th May. Enclosed with this Newsletter are an Agenda, Annual Report, Report of Rules Committee, a draft copy of Conduct at Meetings ballot papers etc., for those eligible to vote, and other papers.
The venue this year is at Ashford School, East Hill, Ashford, just 5 minutes walk from the station. For those travelling by car, entrance to East Hill is from Mace Lane (A292) only, beside that distinctive tower known as the Flour Mills. There is adequate parking in the school grounds just a moment's walk from the hall.
Tea and Coffee will be served from 10 a.m. and again during the break for lunch. We are fortunate in that a cold lunch will be available at the school for those staying all day, but it must be pre-booked and paid for, please complete enclosed form. The business meeting starts at 10.30 a.m. and the afternoon session will commence at 2.30 p.m.
For the afternoon lecture, we are fortunate to have Mr Tim Tatton-Brown, B.A., Director of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, who will talk about Recent Archaeological Work at Christchurch Priory, Canterbury Cathedral Precincts (see centre pages).
Following the success of the 1983 A.G.M., there will again be displays of work undertaken by members, Affiliated Societies and Subject Branches of the Society.
Members will have an opportunity to see and discuss with the exhibitors throughout the day some of the archaeological and historical work that is being carried out in the County. In addition, the K.A.S. Bookstall will be present and will include for sale past copies of Archaeologia Cantiana and the Society's Record Publications.
Summer Excursion: Saturday 7th July Smallhythe
We shall be visiting the Vineyard at Spots Farm, Smallhythe, meeting at 11 a.m. via own transport. Bring a picnic lunch, then on to the Ellen Terry Museum, Smallhythe Place at 2.30 p.m., followed by a visit at approx. 2.40 p.m. to the interesting Tudor Church nearby, with its crow-stepped gables. For any further details, please write to Hon. Secretary, Mr M.A. Crane, Dane Court, Adisham, Canterbury.
Grants for Research in 1984
By P. J. Tester, F.S.A.
The following grants have been made by the K.A.S. to assist work being undertaken in Kent during the current season: Mr F.H.Thompson will be assisted by a grant of £150 towards the continuation of a research excavation being undertaken at the Iron Age Hillfort at Oldbury.
Mrs J. Eddison has received £150 to assist with her researches into the development of Romney Marsh.
Tenterden Area Archaeological Group will receive £150 to assist with their excavations at Appledore.
Dartford District Archaeological Group has been awarded £150 to help with their excavations at Horsman's Place, Dartford.
Fawkham & Ash Archaeological Group will be assisted by a grant of £100 towards their excavations at the Scotgrove Manorial Site at Hartley.
Maidstone Area Archaeological Group has been awarded £100 to help with the continuing excavation of a Roman building at Snodland.
Mrs Julie Annetts has received £100 to assist with her Neolithic researches in Kent.
Sevenoaks Architectural History Group has been given £100 towards the cost of carrying out extensive surveys of local buildings.
Kent Underground Research Group will receive £55 to purchase maps of the County on which to plot sites.
Ashford Archaeological & Historical Group has been awarded £150 to assist with the excavation of a Roman Tile Kiln at Brabourne.
NOTE: all applications for grants for the 1985 season must be submitted on the appropriate form to the Hon. General Secretary by 1st OCTOBER 1984. Any applications submitted after the date indicated will be deferred for consideration until the following year. It is a condition that recipients of grants are required to furnish a suitable summary of the results of their work for publication in Archaeologia Cantiana.
Current Excavations
Canterbury Archaeological Trust
The Trust will be undertaking excavations this summer on a number of sites throughout the City. Volunteer diggers are most welcome as are any helpers willing to assist with the processing of pottery, finds, etc. Anyone who is interested should write to the Director, Mr Tim Tatton-Brown, B.A..
Gravesend Historical Society
The G.H.S. is undertaking an excavation in the playground of the former St Botolph's School at The Hill, Northfleet.
Although this is an "excavation of opportunity", St. Botolph's Church, which is in close proximity to our dig, was founded at the end of the 8th Century making the possibility of a Saxon find an exciting reality.
Already excavation has produced finds from the Roman period, Medieval pottery and coins, etc., but to date no features such as ditches or pits.
Sunday is the usual digging day when work commences at 10.30 am (the late start is necessary as we are not allowed to dig before the Church service has ended) until 1.30 pm.
Interested persons may contact Alan Ridgers for further details.
The excavation is ideal for those who have always wanted to dig but never quite got round to it!
Oldbury Hill Fort, Ightham, near Sevenoaks
Following the successful excavations during 1983, (as reported in the Winter 1984 K.A.S. Newsletter) work on this important research excavation will be carried out from 17th July to 17th August 1984.
The excavation, under the auspices of the Kent Archaeological Society, will be directed by Mr F.H. Thompson, the General Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries.
The aim of the excavation is to elucidate, in the light of modern research, the earlier work carried out at Oldbury in 1938 by the late Mr J.B.Ward-Perkins (Arch.Cant.Vol.51, 1939).
It is expected that the work will consist of further investigations of the internal features located by geophysical means, and possible sections through the northern defences and gateway.
Volunteers will be most welcome. For further information, please write to Mr F.H.Thompson, Society of Antiquaries.
Secretary wanted
The Kent Historic Buildings Committee is looking for a person to act as its Honorary Secretary. This Committee is formed jointly by the Kent Archaeological Society and the Kent Branch of the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE). It operates from the CPRE room at 15 Manor Road, Folkestone, CT20 2AH, the offices of the Kent Voluntary Service Council. Anyone interested is asked to contact the Chairman of the Committee, Mr R.H. Hiscock or Mr G.J.W. Winzar, from whom details of what is involved can be obtained.
A new survey of the buildings within the precincts of Canterbury Cathedral
By Tim Tatton-Brown, B.A.
The seventh volume of Archaeologia Cantiana (published in 1868) is one of the most important and sought after volumes in the whole series. This is because most of the volume contains Professor Robert Willis's great study of "The Architectural History of the Conventual Buildings of the Monastery of Christ Church in Canterbury". Since then, surprisingly, very little study of the Precincts' buildings, as opposed to the cathedral, has taken place. This is particularly strange because Canterbury had, as well as its magnificent Cathedral and Archbishop's Palace, two of the largest and most important Benedictine Monasteries in Britain. As well as this, the buildings of Christ Church (i.e. the Cathedral) Priory are often well documented and, most remarkable of all, many of them still survive to this day, having been converted after 1541 into buildings for "The New Foundation".
In 1977 the Canterbury Archaeological Trust started a series of rescue excavations within the Precincts and it was soon clear that a much more detailed study of the surviving buildings was urgently needed, particularly in the Linacre Garden area where the King's School proposed to put up a large new boarding house. In the event three large (Norman Staircase 1977, Linacre Garden 1978-9 and Mint Yard 1979-80) and four small excavations (St Gabriel's Chapel 1978-80, Western Crypt 1979, Archbishop's Palace 1982, and Lift Site 1982) were carried out with grants from the King's School and Dean and Chapter, and interim reports on all these excavations have been published in Arch.Cant. over the last six years.
While the excavations were being carried out detailed studies were made of the surrounding buildings (North Hall (Aula Nova), Meister Omers and the Almonry Chapel), and a full set of measured drawings were made of each by John Bowen; the drawings of the Almonry Chapel (demolished c.1860) were in fact made using the excavated plan and a series of early engravings and photographs. This work was supplemented by detailed documentary studies of the buildings carried out by Margaret Sparks, Honorary Historian to the Trust, and by a study of the surviving Romanesque sculpture on the Aula Nova carried out by Deborah Kahn. A little bit later we were asked by the Dean and Chapter to make measured drawings of the Infirmary Chapel ruins (in advance of restoration work) and here too Deborah Kahn has been looking at the very worn remains of the sculpture on the fine Romanesque capitals.
In 1982, with a grant from the "Friends of Canterbury Cathedral", we expanded our work and started a complete survey of all the ancient buildings of the Precincts. To date we have examined most of the major groups of buildings and provisional plans (drawn at a 1:500 scale and based on the 1873 Ordnance Survey maps) of both the medieval (Christ Church Priory) and post-medieval (New Foundation) buildings have been made. In order to understand the medieval buildings, one has to start with the more recent history of the buildings and work backwards, the process is in fact very similar to excavation.
The Deanery, for example, had much of its western wall reconstructed after war-time bombing. The internal decorations, however, were last redone on a large scale by Deans Percy and Alford in the nineteenth century. The main roof and western gables go back to Dean Goodwyn's time (1570s) while the south-west tower was built by Prior Selling (1473-5). At the north end of the Deanery is a fine first-floor hall with a crown-post roof built in Prior Chillenden's time (c.1400). The east wall here, however, has thirteenth century windows in it. Finally, the main shell of the southern part of the Deanery turns out, almost certainly, to be the early twelfth century monastic bath house. To understand this complicated sequence fully, one has not only to examine the building itself in great detail, but also to study all surviving documents and all early photographs, drawings, engravings, maps, etc., and as the Precincts are very well documented there is a great deal of this material.
Although this work is not yet finished and we cannot yet give a final tally, we have already found many more medieval roofs than had ever been expected. For example, there are the remains of an early thirteenth century secret notched-lap jointed roof over the Larder (the eastern part was sadly destroyed in 1940), a c.1275 king-strut and scissor-braced roof over the Table Hall (Choir House now), a truly magnificent early fifteenth century roof over "Meister Omers" as well as many other thirteenth to fifteenth century roofs.
When the work is complete (which should be very soon now) we will have one of the most complete plans of a Benedictine priory in Britain and this will initially be published in The Archaeology of Canterbury volumes III and IV. When this is achieved, we hope it will be a worthy successor to Arch.Cant. VII.
This article constitutes an introduction to the subject, the results of which will be more fully discussed in the KAS, AGM afternoon Lecture on Saturday the 19th May. -Ed.
The Friends of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust
by Marjorie Lyle Publicity Officer
When a more severe blizzard than usual hit the Trust's finances last December, the Friends organisation was set up with three aims. First, to ensure the survival of a professional team in a City of unique international importance, at least to the end of the current financial year. Second, to demonstrate to the Department of the Environment the need to review the Trust's operations in relation to other Units in historic cities. Lastly, to expand public awareness of the urgent need for urban archaeology in a rapidly re-developing city, increasingly dependent on explaining its past to our two million annual visitors.
With the active help of the Archbishop, the Mayor of the City and the Vice-Chancellor of U.K.C. and encouraged by an additional £1,000 from the Kent Archaeological Society, the first two objectives are almost achieved. Over £5,000 and 250 covenanted Friends were raised in the first six weeks. The Department of the Environment has set up two studies of aspects of the Trust's work which should improve matters from 1985 and have ensured projects up to April. 1984 will still remain a difficult year.
We need at least another 200 Friends. For £10.00, preferably covenanted over four years, subscribers are entitled to special guided tours, four private lectures, a newsletter, social occasions and excursions and additional reductions to those K.A.S. members receive on the Trust's publications. Please write to Mrs M. Fisher; 1 Arran Mews, Canterbury, if you want to help preserve Canterbury's past for the future.
A Local Study of Romano-British Fabrics in Kent
by Christopher St. John Breen of DDAG
The chosen study area is presently a crude triangle bounded at its three apex points by (1) Springhead, to the east, (2) Welling High Street to the west, and (3) Kemsing to the south.
In January 1982, the writer commenced afresh the personal examination of every sherd from every known Romano-British site in Dartford and the surrounding area and to date has a record of the sherds from some 140 sites. The Romano-British Fabric Record (RBFR) of the Dartford & District Archaeological Group (DDAG) "calls" for the description and site of every R-B sherd and its fabric in the area.
The purpose of RBFR is to provide a personally examined and recorded site occurrence rate of any chosen fabric in the area and its vessel form class series. RBFR is an aid for archive and/or report preparation for eventual publication, not a substitute.
It follows that as the database expands, so the actual picture of fabric/vessels is sharpened until evidence is available to comment on source, use, trade, distribution, and dating of fabrics within the RBFR data banks.
The system recognizes a maxim - that all the sherds from a site only represent an unknown percentage that originally existed in use and were subsequently discarded in, on, or about that site, during that site's "life". It follows that any one layer on any site is dated overall on the life-span of the known fabrics.
A study of each sherd and its RBFR, repeated site after site in an area, means that the data on a specific fabric as to its vessel form extent can be quickly built up.
If, in a given area, one ignores the following:
- unstratified sherds from any site;
- sherds from unpublished sites;
- sherds from poorly published sites;
- sherds from unrecorded but known find spot sites;
then one is giving a false picture of the actual fabric variability that exists. The results from DDAG's RBFR system are clearly promising in all directions given the exhaustive approach adopted.
Bookshelf
Kent Hearth Tax
21 x 29.7 cm. 77 pp. Limp covers Available from the Society's Librarian, Mr E. Field, 57, Cherry Drive, Canterbury, Kent, at £3.00 plus postage for members and £3.50 for non-members.
The latest publication from the Kent Family History Society - Kent Hearth Tax Enrolled Assessment of 1664 for the Lathe of St. Augustine is the most ambitious and valuable to date. The Kent Family History Society, which is carrying out an extensive programme of original research particularly in the field of churchyard monumental inscriptions, has recently extended its work into documentary research and the volume under review is a product of this work.
Kent Hearth Tax includes a useful introduction by the editor and an even more helpful alphabetical index of all those East Kent persons paying the Tax in 1664, which should prove essential to researchers.
The book has been published in a limited and numbered edition which should prove an added attraction to Kent bibliophiles and book collectors.
Research Objectives in British Archaeology
Edited by Charles Thomas Limp covers £1.85.
This discussion paper, which is a publication of the CBA's Research Board, presents the research objectives defined by each of the CBA's seven research committees - the committees for aerial archaeology, churches, the countryside, historic buildings, industrial archaeology, urban research, and archaeological science. Together they form a comprehensive and unified statement of the gaps that need to be filled in all these disciplines and the most rewarding directions that future work should take.
As the CBA's President says in his Introduction: "This booklet is about what we want to know.
Archaeologia Cantiana Volume 99 (1983)
Archaeologia Cantiana continues to be of extremely good value to members: the publication costs are still greater than the recently increased subscription rate. Volume 99 due to be published in late July, will include the following:- D.Sherlock, The Account of George Nycholl; R.J.Acheson, Sion's Saint: John Turner of Sutton Valence; J.P.McAleer, The Significance of the West Front of Rochester Cathedral; N.Rogers, Nicholas Charles' Notes on Cudham and Dawne; H.Gough, A Fresh Look at the Reculver Parish Clerk's Story; LA.Smith, The Allarde Brasses; V.E.Moran, Evidence on the Smuggling of Fullers Earth; J.Eddison, The Reclamation of Romney Marsh; R.F.Le Gear, Three Agricultural Chalk Mines; B.M.Ager, An Anglo-Saxon Cruciform Brooch from Lyminge; R.Abels, The Devolution of Bookland; J.Graham-Campbell, Ninth-century Ornamental Metalwork; G. Lloyd-Morgan, Mirrors from Roman Canterbury; T.Tatton-Brown, Recent Fieldwork around Canterbury; N.Yates, The Parochial Library of All Saints; J.Monaghan, The Woodruff Collection; R.J.Cruse and A.C.Harrison, Excavation at Hill Rd, Wouldham, B.A.E.Yorke, Joint Kingship in Kent; P.J.Tester: Architectural Notes.
A modern site at South Foreland
by John A. Guy of the Kent Defence Research Group
Compared with most archaeological sites, this is a very modern one situated at St. Margaret's-at-Cliffe. It is the site of South Foreland Battery. This Battery, built in 1941, consisted of four 9.2-inch long-range guns and played an important part in closing the Dover Straits to enemy shipping during World War Two. The Battery was part of the 540 Coast Regiment, Royal Artillery, formed in September 1940. This Regiment was made up of the four 9.2-inch guns, the only ones of their type mounted in Britain, Wanstone Battery, two 15-inch guns, and Fan Bay Battery, three 6-inch guns. No other Batteries in the Country can boast the list of actions that these Batteries had, and they were unique insofar as they played an offensive role where most other Batteries were defensive.
You may say this all happened not very long ago, but there is very little left to see of South Foreland Battery as most of it has been demolished and buried. It is a shame that in this age we are so keen to destroy these historical sites. If people had done this in the past, perhaps we would not have so many castles, forts, and other historical buildings that we have left today, even the common little pillbox is slowly disappearing. The Kent Defence Research Group has been trying to save just one small part of South Foreland Battery as a memorial to the long-range guns and hopes to be able to put a plaque there to commemorate the long-range guns and the men who served in them during World War Two. With the help of the Kent County Council, the magazines to guns number 2 and 3 are to be preserved; this is the only structure of any significance that survives today. The Batteries were finally declared obsolete in 1956 when Coast Artillery was disbanded and Britain's last big guns were cut up for scrap.
The guns at South Foreland Battery fired 2,248 rounds, Wanstone Battery fired 1,243 rounds, and Fan Bay Battery 73 rounds in 50 engagements against enemy shipping and convoys, 6 engagements against hostile Batteries on the French coast, and they sank 28 or 29 ships of varying types and sizes and damaged many more.
This is some of the work done by the Kent Defence Research Group, which is a subject branch of the Kent Archaeological Society. The K.D.R.G. was formed in 1973. The aims of the Group are to research the history of all the defenses built in Kent up to 1945, to fully record all surviving fortifications, to bring to public notice the extent and variety of our defensive heritage, and to press the authorities for the preservation of selected defenses of importance and interest, and to carry out excavations and restoration work in appropriate cases. Also, the Group aims to publish the results of research and excavations undertaken and to provide a friendly and informal forum for the exchange of information and ideas. The Group now produces its own Newsletter called "Ravelin". Field trips to defensive sites are also organized for members during each year.
Lecture diary
Gravesend Historical Society Exhibition
Sixty years ago on March 6th, 1924, a preliminary meeting was held at the Gravesend Library, the outcome of which was the founding of the "Gravesend and District Scientific and Archaeological Society," later to be called the Gravesend Historical Society.
To mark this 60th anniversary, an exhibition is being held at the Woodville Halls, Gravesend (Civic Centre), on Sat 21st/Sun 22nd July this year, where it is hoped all aspects of the G.H.S. work will be on display, plus a special display of old costumes and children's toys. Admission will be 30p, and the exhibition will be open from 10 am to 4 pm.
Faversham Society Open House Scheme
Anytime is a good time to come to Faversham, but especially good days this year will be Saturdays, 4th and 11th August, when the Society is holding its annual Open House scheme. This enables you to see over historic houses and other buildings in the town not normally open to the public. Usually between ten and twelve participate in the scheme. You buy a programme (about £1) from the Society's own Heritage Centre and Museum, an old inn called the Fleur-de-Lis, and, as well as admitting to all properties, this contains detailed historical notes on each one. The Centre is in Preston St, Tel.no. 0795 534542.
Weekend Courses
4th - 6th May - The Weald and Wealden Buildings - to be held at Kingsgate House, Broadstairs. "Compared to the rest of the county, the Kentish Weald has been an area of late settlement and of large, and in some areas sparsely populated, parishes. More pertinently, it has been an area of broad-leaved woodland, and it is the implications and the applications of this factor that we shall be investigating."
25th - 27th May - Kentish Deer Parks - to be held at Bore Place Farm, near Edenbridge. "In England, the mark of the great house has been its park. Deer parks indicated special privilege and in Tudor and Stuart times were subject to Royal grant. In Kent, the number of parks has dwindled to a mere handful, but there are still some unique and remarkable remnants of these ecological environments, and occasionally evidence for their recognition and appreciation."
Sat 2nd June - Oral History Workshop - to be held at Rutherford College, University of Kent will provide an introduction, and will focus on the design of a project, interviewing techniques and the editing and analysis of tape recorded interviews.
The BSc Archaeological Sciences Course
Although scientific investigations are playing an increasingly important role in archaeology there is a shortage of archaeologists to exploit the full potential. It is the aim of the Course to give archaeologists a scientific education which will enable the carrying out of certain scientific investigations themselves.
No formal qualifications are necessary for Year 1 of the course. The normal entry requirement is an Extramural Diploma in Archaeology from the University of London. Students without formal qualifications, but who benefit from archaeological experience, may also be considered." Further details from John Evans.
Temporary Closure of Kent Archives Office
Because of air conditing improvements to the archives storage block and the provision of a new search room, bookshop and offices, the Kent Archives Office at Maidstone will be temporarily closed from April 30th, 1984. A few clases of records, such as parish records, and some probate material will be stored temporarily at the Springfields Records Centre and will be abailable for consultation there from 30th April. Accomodation at Springfield will be limited, and searchers should telephone the Archives Office on Maidstone (0622) 671411 to make an appointment to view what material is available.
Published by the Kent Archaeological Society, St. Faith's Street, Maidstone, Kent.
Produced and printed for the K.A.S. by Elan Litho Limited, 5-25 Scrutton Street, London, E.C.2.