KAS Newsletter, Issue 8, Winter 1985
Margate: Northdown Excavation Completed
by George Smith
The excavation, noted in the previous newsletter, was completed on Saturday, 29 September. The hengiform monument was found to be a variety of disc or pond barrow rather than a henge. The circular ditch had no trace of a causeway although there appears to have once been an external bank. Beaker fragments (in secondary positions) probably date the monument's construction apparently deliberately built around a large natural ground hollow, the surface manifestation of a large solution hole in the chalk bedrock. Within the central hollow were the remnants of two small pits, possibly unaccompanied cremations. Elsewhere in the enclosed area were three possible cremations in pits, one accompanied by a fragment of a disc-headed bronze pin. There may well have been other internal features removed by ploughing - in places recent subsoiling had cut 15 ems into the chalk bedrock.
The monument continued in use for a considerable period as shown by the deposition of disarticulated and partially articulated human and animal bones in the ditch silts and by the insertion of an inhumation burial into the inner ditch side. A large quarry pit was also dug into the outer ditch side. Both quarry and the latter burial were sealed by the deposition of a layer of domestic rubbish attributable to the period c.1000-700 BC. This included flint scrapers, knives and hammerstones, spindle whorls, loom-weight fragments, a bronze boss and distinctive pottery characterized by rims and applied cordons with 'rope-twist' decoration. The monument was later incorporated in the corner of a Belgic/Romano-British field system and within this period two extended inhumations were inserted.
The excavation benefited from one of the best summers on record and from the interest, help and encouragement of many local people as well as of KAS, the Thanet Archaeological Unit, the landowners, Sunley Estates Ltd, and the farmers, Messrs Steed and Nicholass.
Billingsgate Pottery
by Chris St. John Breen
In April, 1984, it was drawn to the writer's attention that "fly tipping" of Billingsgate, London, material occurred at a number of locales including Dartford Heath, Kent and Dagenham, Essex. The writer has led a small team of D.D.A.G. members on more than 50 trips to collect finds of all classes. These have been washed, sorted and listed by the writer and, to date, an 'RB' team led by Beth Richardson and a medieval team led by Dr. Alan Vince, both from the Department of Urban Archaeology, have visited D.D.A.G. research centre at Lowfield Street to identify fabrics. Also Christine Jones of the Museum of London has visited D.D.A.G. and compiled a catalogue of the Roman glass. The wealth of the assemblage is expected considering the original context and the project continues. Currently the Samian ware sherd count exceeds 4,000, RB "coarse ware" rim/wall "open and closed" forms exceeds 2,300, whilst non-ceramic finds such as bone/horn includes dice, counters, 'fittings', pins and needles.
One interesting result, albeit provisional, coinciding with the writer's own part-time researches and, more important, with those of Jason Monaghan, is the recognition of Cliffe Peninsula RB bead rim bowl/dish rim/wall sherds forming the bulk of this vessel form from Billingsgate.
The primary importance of this 'Rescue' effort - to provide the D.U.A. and the London Museum with data - has been achieved and they in their turn provide us with a very large reference collection, indexed as to fabric type/source/vessel form/chronology. It will prove invaluable, in Kent ceramic studies, in helping to isolate and identify "imported" wares.
Can it be perhaps that we have here a "branch mini fabric bank" of a future "Kent fabric study group"? or can it be that I, a non-expert, processed some 14,000 sherds via my home, to provide the D.D.A.G. membership alone with comparative material to assist the group's post excavation work?
Ed: Letters or comment on this subject are invited for the Newsletter.
West Malling Photography Project
by Gillian Crawley
The Manpower Services Commission is currently sponsoring a photography project for the Kent Museums Service at West Malling. The project employs five people: myself as supervisor, three photographers - Bas Barnes, Nigel Blacker, and Peter Cordrey - with Evelyne Newby as clerical assistant.
The present Kent Museums Service emerged during local government reorganization in the mid-1970s and now covers the day-to-day running of seven or eight museums within the county. When the Museums Service centralized the records from these museums, it was soon found that there were inconsistencies in how the records and archives had been collated. Our project was conceived to provide a photographic archive of all the artifacts of archaeological interest within the care of the Museums Service. The archive, when complete, will be important in many ways, particularly as it will be a visual document of archaeology in Kent. In effect, the archive will upgrade the standard of documentation of many articles to the same consistent standard.
The archive is to be stored at West Malling, where it is hoped scholars, students, professional and amateur archaeologists alike will come and consult it as part of their research program. It will be beneficial to researchers to peruse the museum's collections without having the inconvenience of traveling to several museum stores. As the archive's producers, we hope that it will fulfill a wider role than one of pure reference. We would like to see the photographs used in displays, in exhibitions, and for publication (copyright permitting).
Anyone interested in consulting the archive should contact the Museums Officer, Kent County Museums Service, West Malling Air Station, West Malling, Kent, ME19 6QE.
Excursions 1985
Saturday 15th June
Whole day visit to Woolwich to see: Thames Barrage with audio-visual display; Woolwich Dockyard; Two Town Hall; The Arsenal Buildings; Officers' Mess and Plates; Woolwich's brass foundry (only one in England); Woolwich Common and The Rotunda Museum.
The Rotunda, 1857
This is a lecture tour, please bring your own lunch, we may be able to have tea in the Officers' Mess, but tea will be available anyway.
Coach pickup times: Canterbury, Coach & Horses, 9am.
Maidstone, Lower Car Park, St Faith St., 9.50 am.
Bexley, Black Prince Car Park, 10.45 am.
Depart for home about 5.45 pm - amazingly good value at £6.50.
Saturday 13th July 1985
Barns of Kent: A tour of some significant barns in Kent to include Godmersham, Littlebourne, Adisham, Brook Barn near Wye, etc. By car, please let me know if you would be willing to take someone, starting at 2 pm from Godmersham and ending with tea at Reynolds' Barn, Adisham, cost £3. Further details in Spring Newsletter for those interested in seeing some of the few surviving barns.
Saturday 14th September 1985
Medieval London: Another afternoon tour by Mr Paul Herbert who so successfully and enjoyably took us round Roman London. This will be preceded by a short lecture tour of the Ranger's House at Greenwich where a talk on the house and its architecture followed by a description of its contents will be given by an art historian in the morning.
Coach pickup times:
Canterbury, Coach & Horses, 9am.
Maidstone, Lower Car Park, St Faith St, 9.50 am.
Bexley, Black Prince Car Park, 10.45 am.
Bring packed lunch, hot drinks available at the London Museum where we will stop for lunch and allow a short visit. Cost £6.00
For booking and any further details, please write enclosing a S.A.E. to Hon. Excursions Secretary, Mr Mac Crane.
Industrial Archaeology - Natural Energy: Third South East Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference
SER/AC is a recently formed grouping of Societies with Industrial Archaeology interests in the South-East of England. These include the Sussex Industrial Archaeology Society, the Surrey Industrial History Group, the East Kent Mills Group, the Faversham Society, the Kent Archaeology Society, the Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society, the University of Southampton Industrial Archaeology Group, the Dolphin Sailing Barge Museum Trust, the Council for Kentish Archaeology and the Croydon Airport Society.
The third meeting will be held on Saturday, 13th April 1985, at Rutherford College, University of Kent, Canterbury. The programme will include: Gunpowder Mills, "Crystal Palaces", Kent Coal Mines, Tide Mills, Wealden Iron, Wind and Water Mills.
Fee: £5.50. Applications on enclosed form to the Secretary, School of Continuing Education, Rutherford College, The University, Canterbury CT2 7NX.
Excavations at Oldbury Hill 1984
by Hugh Thompson
A second year of excavations was carried out at Oldbury from 27 July to 16 August 1984 and comprised a main trench by the northeast gate and further examination of the magnetic anomalies of the fort's interior.
The main trench, 3 m wide and 24 m long, was excavated as a direct comparison with the 1938 (size -1) defenses excavation which lay 11.5 m to the north. Similar features were encountered: a massive rampart placed on a "raft" of sandstone rubble and composed of sand at the front and heavy rubble to the rear, which was defined by a kerb. The pre-rampart ground surface was identified as a greyish sand and stone surface flecked with charcoal; a barbed-and-tanged flint arrowhead was found at this level. Two major differences from the 1938 section were the survival of the rampart height to 2.7 m as opposed to 1.2 m and the interpretation of the stone revetment; in 1938, the revetment was regarded as a secondary feature (Belgic refortification) but the recent evidence of easily eroded sand at the rampart front suggests a requirement for some form of early revetment. A new solitary feature immediately behind the revetment was a post-pit 0.3 m in diameter and 0.6 m into the pre-rampart ground surface; it lay close to the north face of the trench and is interpreted as one of widely spaced marker posts rather than an earlier palisade.
The inner face of the ditch was located 3 m in advance of the revetment. It was cut 2.4 m through layers of hard brown and soft yellow sandstone to a flat bed of greyish-white sandstone. Where the outer face would have been expected, a make-up of clay, brick, and stone constituting a possible trackway was found.
An extension trench 1.2 m wide and 20 m long investigated a possible outer bank beyond the trackway. The flat bed of sandstone extended 6 m where it encountered a disturbed area of sand-filled pits, to at least 1.8 m depth, interspersed with flaggy sandstone dumps lying at differing angles. This area suggests extensive quarrying had occurred (and possibly at the hill fort defenses); Roman pottery from the disturbed fill extended from mid IC to late 3C. This quarrying interpretation discounts the 1938 view of outer defenses.
Dating evidence for the main defenses comprises a small group of possible Bronze Age heavily flint-gritted sherds at the original surface beneath the rampart tail and Iron Age sherds from the tail; two Roman sherds of the 2nd and 3rd centuries respectively, located at the rampart top at a 1.8 m depth may be indicative of further stone robbing.
The defenses are interpreted as a single bank and ditch of one period and, on the 1983 evidence, dated to the second to first century BC.
Further investigation of two magnetic anomalies located in 1983 was made. Trench 3 was extended and, with the 1983 evidence of iron-smelting, a pair of iron furnaces of uncertain date is surmised. Trench 9 was extended to a 6 m square and the 1983 hearth and gully, thought to be a hut site, were relocated. The gully developed into a linear feature, probably contemporary with the hearth, and the pottery from the dark fill was of 150-50 BC.
Three radiocarbon dates (5570 half-life) are now available for 1983:
1. BM-2290. Charcoal from hearth beneath main rampart. 360 BC +/- 50
2. BM-2291. Charcoal from hearth in Trench 8 (a magnetic anomaly) - no associated finds. 110 AD +/- 40
3. BM-2292. Charcoal from Trench 9 (described above). 40 AD +/- 80
The date for 1, although earlier than the suggested hillfort construction, is evidence for earlier hilltop activity. 2 is later than the hillfort period and may represent known local Roman activity. 3 is later than the pottery would suggest but is acceptable within one (+/-80) or two (+/-160) standard deviations.
Archaeology at Work 1984
by Allen Grove
Last year saw the successful launching of 'Archaeology at Work'. This year the event took place at the Queen Elizabeth School in Faversham on Saturday, 29th September, and had a medieval bias. Some four hundred applications for tickets were received and visitors crowded in as soon as the doors opened. There were many more stands and displays than previously and those who came early certainly had the best opportunity to see everything.
Short talks were given on specialist subjects and were aimed at stimulating interest in and knowledge of early Kent buildings and medieval pottery. Practical demonstrations were available on methods of studying parish churchyards, how to decipher documents, and how to unravel the complexities of heraldry. In addition, visitors could visit the site of the royal Abbey in the adjacent school playing field.
The reason for the undoubted success of the occasion - one which is now being requested for an annual event - must surely be its format. It is not a static exhibition. Those who mount displays are encouraged to explain, discuss, compare notes, and become involved with visitors. So everyone benefits and comes to realize the continuing work in archaeology and history which is undertaken in the county by large and small groups and individuals. All work that adds to the knowledge of our Kent heritage is valuable - from the chance find, such as that of a medieval seal, by a twelve-year-old, Andrew Wagar of Aldington (Archaeologia Cantiana, XCIX (1983), 278), to major archaeological excavations.
All those who enjoyed the day and also the many exhibitors (who undoubtedly arrived back home weary but with the knowledge that their efforts had been much appreciated) will again join in thanking Pam and Ted Connell for the considerable organization which is necessary to ensure success.
Bookshelf
Interpreting Pottery
by Anne Anderson
216 x 138mm, limp-bound, £8.95 post free from K.A.S.
Bookstall.
Of all the evidence that is dug up from archaeological sites, pottery is - numerically, at least - the most important. The reason is that clay has always been plentiful and since Neolithic times all kinds of pots have been made for everyday use - for cooking, eating and storage. When fired, clay is extremely hard and durable.
As a result, in the form of small broken pieces, pottery is virtually indestructible. But what exactly does it tell us about the past? This is the central question that Anne Anderson answers in her lucid and wide-ranging study, which draws examples from the prehistoric and Roman periods of Britain and the continent. We learn how pottery helps us to date archaeological sites and tells us a great deal about how people lived in prehistoric and early historic times. Illustrating the principal forms for each period - from bowls and dishes to flagons and mortaria - the author then shows how typology and seriation can be used to establish a relative date and she also explains ways in which an absolute date can be assigned. Once pottery has been dated and its origin and distribution established by means of the latest scientific methods, we can appreciate its role within the overall socio-economic framework. We learn a great deal, not only about how people lived at home but also about the way in which industry and trade were conducted in early societies.
In this original study Anne Anderson, who is a research assistant at the University of Leicester, contributes her own ideas and work as well as synthesizing the recent work of many other archaeologists. Clearly illustrated and full of specific examples, this is an ideal guide for any student archaeologist (at whatever level) or any enthusiastic amateur.
The Pottery Kilns of Roman Britain
by Vivien G.Swan
This long-awaited publication by the author of the popular Shire book on Roman Pottery is an exhaustive summary of evidence for Roman kilns in Britain. It contains sections on the construction and technology of kilns with diagrams of principal types. Major production centers are discussed along with the development of kiln structures. A county-by-county gazetteer (by necessity confined to microfiche) provides a comprehensive and accessible listing of all suspected and proven kiln sites in the country. There are some 36 pages covering Kent which provide an invaluable resource for local pottery research. The book represents good value for money and is 192 pages plus a 528-page gazetteer on microfiche.
Published by H.M.S.O. priced £13.50, it may with advantage be obtained post free from the K.A.S.Bookstall, see enclosed form.
Jason Monaghan.
Kentish Visitations of Archbishop William Warham and his Deputies, 1511-12
Edited by K.L.Wood-Legh
The volume consists of visitations in the Diocese of Canterbury, by Archbishop William Warham and his deputies, 1511-12, of the religious houses and parishes subject to his jurisdiction; it contains a unique series of reports of the original inquiries, disclosures to the visitor and consequential injunctions, together with proceedings taken in the consistory court some months later, arising out of charges brought against patrons of parish churches, incumbents and parishioners. The visitations throw new light on the state of the Church and the Kentish society to which it ministered. There is no equally elaborate record on this scale. 216 x 138 mm Pp.xxvii + 343, with a frontispiece, cased with dust jacket. Volume 24 of the K.A.S. Records series. Price: £20 (plus £2pp), but to K.A.S. Members £12 (plus £1.50pp)
New Maidstone Gaol Order Book, 1805-1823
Edited by C.W. Chalklin 216 X 138mm, pp. vi + 186, cased with dust jacket.
Volume 23 of the K.A.S. Records Series. Price: £10 (plus £2 p & p), but to K.A.S. Members £5 (plus £1.50).
The building of the Kent county gaol at Maidstone between 1801 and 1891 was the most ambitious county prison building undertaking in England before the late 1820s. Its cost was about £200,000.
This book contains the text of The New Gaol Order Book, chiefly in calendar form, which comprises extracts from Sessions orders relating to the building of a new gaol, together with architects' reports, order for payment, and committee reports, 1805-1823.
The introduction and Appendices give much interesting background information regarding the building of the gaol and also the not inconsiderable opposition to it.
All the above books, as well as many others on the Bookstall, are available by post from Ted Connell.
All the above books, as well as many others on the Bookstall, are available by post from Ted Connell.
Letterbox
Moated Sites Research
Sir,
Over the past four years, I have been engaged in a comprehensive survey of moated sites in Kent. I started the project with a list of some 80 sites and it has already reached nearly 200. I have investigated 42 of these, all in the West or North-West of the County.
Some of the problems encountered while undertaking this research include a shortage of positive information on the early history of sites and in particular the moated construction; difficulties in readily obtaining worthwhile maps; a complete lack of any information at all on some sites, even though the site may be visible; and last but by no means least, the old problem of time.
For each of the 42 sites investigated to date, I have written up detailed notes, detailing: the location; access to the site; means of water access; size; topography; and the history of the site from the earliest date/time available to the present day.
It is still too early to draw final conclusions from the study, but the investigations so far have shown definite trends on: area within the moat; shape; width of the moat; water access; physical siting of the moat in relation to local topography, and date when the moat was first dug. The latter is however, still somewhat conjectural.
The present condition of the 42 sites so far investigated ranges from non-existent (i.e. now a level field or housing development) to well preserved. Nearly all of them are on private land and the vast majority of owners have been helpful.
I am hoping to publish the material at some date but in the meantime would be pleased to discuss any aspect of the work with interested readers.
Yours faithfully,
T.A.Hollobone, BSc, C.Eng.
The Kentish Estates Journal
Sir,
I would be most grateful to hear from any member who has in their possession or knows the whereabouts of copies of "The Kentish Estates Journal".
The publication is referred to in occasional articles published in Archaeologia Cantiana but except for one issue, at Springfield Local Studies Library, I have been unable to trace copies.
It is not available at the British Library, the County Library, the Kent Archives Office or from the original publisher.
"The Kentish Estates Journal" was published by the Ashford firm of estate agents, Alfred J. Burrows. It is a list of landed and residential properties, farms, smallholdings and houses for sale in Kent and it also has useful notes on various Kentish topics.
Part 1 was published in 1933 and from a reference given in Archaeologia Cantiana (Vol. LXXI, p.189) it appears to have reached No. 60 by 1936.
Yours faithfully,
Christine Dunn
County Local Studies Librarian
Springfield,
Maidstone,
ME14 2LH
Farm Buildings
Sir,
The Council for British Archaeology is compiling a Handbook on Historic Farm Buildings. These are defined as any of the working buildings of the farm, such as barns, granaries, cattle housing, stables or dovecotes, built before 1900, together with any related machinery and equipment.
Yours faithfully,
Nigel Harvey
Henry Stopes and Benjamin Harrison
Sir,
Yolanda Stanton's contribution to Researches and Discoveries in Volume XCIX of Archaeologia Cantiana is of especial interest.
Many years ago, Dr Marie Stopes kindly entertained me at Givons Grove with remembrances of her father's enormous collection of flint implements from Swanscombe, Greenhithe, and Chalk, some of which she had been told were modern copies of prehistoric pieces. On later visits to the National Museum of Wales at Cardiff, to whom the collection was sold in 1912, I was not able to view the material which was kept in store. During my schooldays in Kent, I had heard of the Sunday morning sale of flints to collectors at a pub in Greenhithe. Among the eager local collectors was Mr Stopes of Swanscombe who, it was said, bought many modern-copied items made by families of gun-flint workers at Greenhithe and Chalk. An account of some of the work of the Kentish flint-forger Foxy is included in the chapter on False Antiquities in my book The Story of Archaeology in Britain (London, 1964). It is likely that the "several tons" of Henry Stopes' one-time collection included works by Foxy.
Benjamin Harrison most certainly made "eoliths" and other flint implements. He was led to do so by William Cunnington, the famous geologist and antiquary, who in March 1896 said "It will give you a good knowledge of the peculiar fracture of flint". It did, and the matter was recorded by Sir Edward R. Harrison (our Secretary) in the now famous study of his father, Harrison of lghtham, (Oxford, 1928) notably on page 205. Two examples marked B. H. fecit and dated May and July 1900 were given to me by Sir Edward long before his lamented death in 1960. By coincidence, my grandfather had bought a set of "eoliths" from B.H. himself; their present whereabouts is unknown.
Yours faithfully,
Ronald Jessup
(Ed - Our Vice-President Ronald Jessup is the longest-serving member of the Society)
Archaeological Illustrations: A One Day Symposium
Saturday 19th January 1985
A one day symposium on Archaeological Illustration organized by Lesley and Roy Adkins for the Surrey Archaeological Society will be held on Saturday, 19th January 1985, from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm at the Central Library, St Nicholas Way, Sutton, Surrey. Tickets in advance are £2.50 and are available from 157 Valley Road, Kenley, Surrey, CR2 5BZ. Please make cheques payable to "Surrey Archaeological Society". Tickets will be available on the door at £4. All archaeological research and publication relies heavily on various types of illustration. If you are involved in archaeology, you can't afford to miss this symposium. Even if you think you can't draw, or have never tried, come along and listen to lectures on the principles and methods of illustration, and watch demonstrations of illustration techniques. If you are an illustrator or draughtsman, come along and see how others do it, and if you only wish to look at illustrations and not draw them, why not come along and get an understanding of illustrations and what lies behind them.
Second Romano-British Pottery Workshop
Following on from our successful Pottery meeting at Dartford, a further Workshop has been arranged for Saturday, 23 March 1985. The meeting will take place at Christ Church College, Canterbury, from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The format will be very much as before, short talks with an emphasis on informal discussion. It is hoped to cover some of the following topics: Samian - Forms/ Fabrics + Stamps, Mortaria, Canterbury coarseware kilns and Late Roman Finewares from Canterbury.
One session of the day will be given over to a discussion of the merits and practicalities of the formation of a "Kent Ceramics Study Group".
Once again, all members who are interested and involved in the examination of Roman pottery are invited to attend and where possible to bring along material for display and discussion.
Accommodation will be somewhat limited, so please apply for your free admission ticket to Ted Connell (enclosing S.A.E. 4" x 9").
Lecture Diary
Meetings, Day Schools & Weekend Courses
Sat 23rd March - KAS Roman Pottery Workshop, Canterbury. See earlier page for details.
Sat 23rd March - Ancient Woodlands: Lullingstone Deer Park at The University Centre, Avebury Ave.
Tonbridge, Fee: £8.50.
Lullingstone Park lies in the Darent Valley of North West Kent. Two thousand years of continuous settlement and use can be traced on its landscape. The story of Lullingstone's medieval deer park provides clues to the evolution of hundreds of other deer parks which once flourished in England, many fine examples of which were to be found in Kent.
29th-31st March - Romney Marsh, University of Kent at Canterbury.
Sat 13th April - Industrial Archaeology - Natural Energy, University of Kent at Canterbury, see leaflet for details.
Sat 18th May - K.A.S. A.G.M. in morning, plus lecture in afternoon on the Weald and Downland Museum and the North Cray Hall House, at Maidstone Boys' Grammar School.
Sat 1st June - Maritime Archaeology: Post Excavation Work, at University of Kent at Canterbury.
5th-7th July - Archaeology for the Blind, at the University of Kent at Canterbury.
Oxford University, Dept. External Studies 26th-28th April - The English Parish Church in the 11th and 12th Centuries.
3rd-5th May - The Economies of Romano-British Villas Further details from the Archaeology Course Secretary, Dept. for External Studies, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA.
Field courses at Butser
The Butser Ancient Farm Project Trust has announced an ambitious programme of field courses for 1985:-
I General course 8-14 April
II Surveying 27 May-2 June
III Seeds, crops and weeds 22-28 July
IV Pollens - Advanced Course 29 July-4 August
V Seeds, crops, and weeds 5-11 August
VI Fire, clay, and metal 26 August-1 Sept.
VII Construction 2-8 September
The courses are all based on the wide range of research projects in progress at what has come to be recognized internationally as one of the most significant research centres for experimental archaeology in the world. No specific academic qualifications are needed to attend the courses, only a dedication to British archaeology and practical research into its development.
For more details please apply to Dr P.J. Reynolds, Director, Butser Ancient Farm Project Trust.
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