KAS Newsletter, Issue 97, Summer 2013

Your Quarterly Newsletter www.kentarchaeology.org.uk INSIDE THIS ISSUE Slough Fort SUMMER 2013 ISSUE NUMBER 97 4-5 Hardman & the Ghostly Nun 8-9 Ravensbourne 12-13 What’s On 14 Pilgrims Path 2-3 Slough Fort + Owl Club 6-7 You & Your Society + Committee Round Up 10-11 New Books + KARU Turn to Page 2 KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 2 Summer 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk With the participation of the community, the leisure giant Bourne Leisure has begun a project for the repair, restoration and public presentation of the historic Slough Fort at Allhallows. With a possible war with France in mind, this anti-invasion fort originated in 1867 as a prominent gun-armed edifice of granite, positioned to oppose a landing of troops at Allhallows bent on an overland attack on Chatham Dockyard. By 1891 it had been embanked with earth and enlarged with wing batteries, both to make it less visible and more powerful, being armed with heavier guns that popped up to fire and then recoiled out of sight for reloading. It was further modernised in 1906, armed into the First World War and reactivated as an anti-invasion defence in the Second World War. Afterwards it was abandoned to become – starting before its ownership by Bourne Leisure – a caravan park. Over time, infilling of some structures took place, others were damaged and the military signature of the fort became degraded. The challenge is to retrieve the fort and make it a meaningful heritage experience for visitors. So Phase 1 has begun to address Among the large collection of glass negatives currently being scanned by KAS are several showing the interior of The Bull Hotel, Rochester (now The Royal Victoria and Bull Hotel) as it was a hundred years ago. At the time these photographs were taken several rooms were named for characters created by Dickens, since he not only dined and stayed here, but featured the inn in several novels, most notably in The Pickwick Papers published 1837. Captions to our glass plates identify The Pickwick room, also those dedicated to Messrs Winkle and Tupman, who along with Augustus Snodgrass (what fantastic names Dickens uses ) founded The Pickwick Club. There is another link here with The Bull, for this well known Rochester Hotel had its own society, The Owl Club. Why was this so called? Perhaps clues lie within two of our glass plates, one of which this by clearing undergrowth and bushes to make the fort more visible, excavating some infilled structures and introducing viewing routes, to be followed by the placement of information panels containing interpretation drawings by the artist Chris Forsey. It is hoped to run further community archaeology days later in 2013. If you are interested in taking part, please contact the Volunteer Coordinator, Keith Gulvin at keithgulvin@live.co.uk Meanwhile there is limited (first stage) free public access via the Allhallows Leisure Park, Saturdays and Sundays 10am-4pm and Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10am-2pm (all year round). Enquiries to the leisure park on 01634 270385 and 272929. About the author Victor Smith is a member of the Kent Archaeological Society and is currently an historical consultant to Bourne Leisure for the Slough Fort project. FRONT PAGE: Digging in progress Most exciting has been the excavation of the right wing battery through a combination of the use of a mechanical digger and the work of community archaeology volunteers. From this process an epic 2500 tons of rubble, parts of old caravans and earth have been removed to reveal a triumph of concrete construction. FIG 1. Image of the excavated battery as it was when armed. Reconstruction drawing by Chris Forsey. The excavations have provided a major part of the information to allow the production of a reconstruction drawing for visitors to understand how the battery looked soon after construction and arming. Fig 1 SLOUGH FORT By Victor Smith THE OWL AND THE BULL IMAGES www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Summer 2013- KAS Newsletter 3 shows a room set for formal dining, complete with candelabra and white cloth’d tables, and on one wall a glass case complete with several stuffed owls. The owls are no more – archived “somewhere off site”, but could this example of taxidermy have proved an inspiration for The Owl Club whose members met here in rooms little altered from Dickens’ time? We know this from the hotel’s ‘Souvenir and Tariff’ brochure of around 1910 (when a single room cost 4s. 0d and luncheon 2s. 6d) which tells us that “the historic rooms of Dickens’ fame are quite untouched, including the ballroom which in The Pickwick Papers is described as “a long room, with crimson-covered candles in glass chandeliers”. The ballroom is featured in several of our plates, as is a close up of a framed poem entitled Goldthred’s Song, which comes from Sir Walter Scott’s novel Kenilworth, where we read that “After some brief interval, Master Goldthred, at the earnest instigation of mine Host, and the joyous concurrence of his guests, indulged the company with the following morsel of melody” (above). This is all a far cry from Rochester, but it led me to The Medway Archives just over the Medway Bridge to Strood and to a newspaper article of the 1930s by local historian and printer Edwin Harris. In an article for the Chatham, Rochester and Gillingham Observer he quotes the following from A Week’s Tramp in Dickens-land by William R Hughes: “Mr Lawrence (the proprietor of the Bull Hotel) informed us some years ago that The Owl Club held its meetings at the Bull – a social club, reminding us strongly of one of the early papers in ‘Bentley’s Miscellany’ illustrated by George Cruikshank, entitled The Harmonious Owls .” Cruikshank’s owl illustration was one of 126 plates he contributed to Fig 1: The dining room with glass case of stuffed owls Fig 2: The ballroom the ‘Miscellany’ in question, a magazine first published in 1836 by Richard Bentley who asked Dickens to become its first editor. This he did, serialising Oliver Twist within its pages, for which Cruikshank drew his now famous illustrations having already done the drawings for Dickens’ collection of short pieces entitled Sketches by Boz. One of these, entitled The Great Winglebury Duel, features The Winglebury Arms, the town’s principal inn which stands opposite a building “with a big clock” - so in all probability The Bull once again, though with a different name. “Of all the birds on bush or tree, Commend me to the owl; Since he may best ensample be To those the cup that trowl. For when the sun hath left the west He chooses the tree that he loves best, And he whoops out his song, and he laughs at his jest. Then though hours be late and weather foul, We’ll drink to the health of the bonny bonny owl. The lark is but a bumpkin fowl. He sleeps in his nest till morn; But my blessing upon the jolly owl, That all night blows his horn. Then up with your cup till you stagger in speech, And match me this catch till you swagger and screech And drink till you wink, my merry men each. For, though hours be late and weather foul, We’ll drink to the health of the bonny bonny owl.” Fig 1 Fig 2 4 Summer 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk In the Autumn of 2012 Pernille wrote about Dr F W Hardman’s collection of documents and his interest in St Albans Court at Nonington. His papers are a veritable treasure trove, containing as they do transcripts of documents such as Court Rolls both pre- and post- Dissolution for St Albans Court as well as of documents from the Hammond collection. Gordon Ward, another prominent local historian of the 1930s, was a close working colleague of Hardman. Ward had a letter from Hardman in July 1936 in which Hardman enthuses that he has new thoughts as the result of information recently acquired and completes his letter: “In fact it encourages me to tell a story to the guileless archaeologists who will come on 9 September which will excite your derision.” This referred to the KAS 86th Excursion on September 9th to Adisham Church and Nonington. So what was this story? Hardman was a respected scholar and an able philologist. He had early on appreciated that Nonington was laden with history, even if its neighbours saw it as a rather boring place in the middle of nowhere. Now, access to Hardman’s newly catalogued papers show that he had formulated a theory relating to 9th century activities on the site on part of the Beauchamps manor. The key is the first fifty or so hand written pages of his draft for a history of Nonington and accompanying notes and transcripts. To understand his “story”, we have to go back to the late 700s when Danish raids appear to have laid waste to the Royal foundation Abbeys at Minster, Reculver and Lyminge and the Abbess Selethryth sought a refuge for her nuns. Selethryth was the joint owner with her brother, Ealdebeorht, of an estate called Oeswalum of about 800 acres, covering what became the later estates around Nonington of St Albans, Beechams, Fredville and Soles. The joint communities of nuns within that estate were supposedly located on a hill site across the ancient North-South roadway, now called Beauchamps Lane. On Selethryth’s death she was succeeded as Abbess by King Kenwulf’s daughter, Cwoenthryth. Dramatically, a senior Kent noble, the Ealdorman Oswulf, took the ownership deeds of Oeswalum and gave them to Cwoenthryth. However, Wulfred, Archbishop of Canterbury, claimed that Oeswalum had been awarded to him on the death of Abbess Selethryth and a protracted dispute arose. Wulfred eventually had to concede a large fine and tracts of his personal landholdings to the Crown. King Kenwulf died and his brother seized the throne. Wulfred and the new king made common cause and in 824, Cwoenthryth was stripped of Oeswalum and Wulfred received back his other lands.1 Hardman concentrates on the detailed Latin record of these decisions, noting that Oeswalum is identified more than once as being a small, but by implication a special, part of the land in dispute and that despite the agreement in 824, part of it was never handed over but exchanged for other land. It was also observed that Werhard, Wulfred’s kinsman to whom he gave Oeswalum amongst other lands, required in his will (he says at the behest of Wulfred), a substantial charitable contribution to the inhabitants of Oeswalum. The contribution was greater than the endowment for the poor of Canterbury. Hardman was aware of the 19th century evidence of an Anglo-Saxon burial ground at Nonington and thought that the Nonington placename reflected a substantial 9th century occupation by the nuns before they either returned to their original houses or took refuge in Canterbury. He took issue with the Victoria County History which re-designated the Domesday Manor of Bedmersham from Beauchamps to Betteshanger, a rejection of Hasted’s identification and one which negated Hardman’s philological arguments that the name had church origins. Where do we stand today? In the last decade, Keith Parfitt and the Dover Archaeological Group have, in a series of on-going excavations, shown the supposedly Tudor Old St Albans Court to be early 1300s and unearthed a previously unknown manor house at Beauchamps, perhaps dating back to the 13th century, as well as extensive later remains, a 7th century Anglo Saxon burial ground and Neolithic remains.2 They have also surveyed the substantial early earthworks in Beauchamps Wood itself. As a result, we have a much more extensive set of ruins than Hardman knew. We now know more about the site of the manor called Beauchamps. For example, the site has a ditched rectangular embankment, parts of which may be prehistoric, and the Anglo-Saxon name for it could, according to the latest authority, actually be the Place of God. The level Fig 1 Dr Hardman and the Ghostly Nun By Peter Hobbs MA(Oxon) CCIP FRSA Notes from the Archive – Further Research www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Summer 2013 - KAS Newsletter 5 of occupation revealed by excavation on a fairly inhospitable site suggests activity by the 13th century and it is therefore likely to have been based on earlier occupation. It is not improbable to surmise that a small wooden church on the hill was replaced with something more substantial on Christchurch land down below, perhaps explaining why there is a church at Nonington. We know it was extant in the 11th century, which could argue for an earlier Anglo- Saxon presence. It is clear from the Latin records of the 824 Court disputes that there was something special about Oeswalum. However, the earliest specific reference to the site and a connection with nuns is not until John Harris in 1719.3 although we have references to the manor in land documentation from the 11th century onward without any such connection being suggested. But what a splendid tale for the romantics amongst us! On the site itself we have found Neolithic remains, some small fragments of Roman and a great mass of material and building from the 13th to the 16th century. However, we have nothing Anglo-Saxon, ironic when the spur to dig there initially came from the suspicion that a 7th century Anglo- Saxon burial ground on the opposite slope of hillside might have been overlooking an Anglo-Saxon settlement. We have yet to put a spade within the embanked enclosure and a large area is untouched apart from a geophysical survey suggesting the presence of potentially extensive further remains. Anglo-Saxon habitation remains are normally very sparse. Nevertheless, an Anglo-Saxon presence should by now have manifested itself with at least a fragment of pottery: to date, we have none. So Hardman’s story to KAS still remains a “story”, but a tantalizing one. About the Beauchamps site as a whole, we can say that we now know a great deal more than when we started, both in terms of documentation and uncovered remains. What we are less certain about is exactly what we do have! But at least Hardman’s “story” might explain the ghostly nun whom so many have seen wandering around the vicinity. Fig 1: Dover Archaeological Group Fig 2: Dover Archaeological Group at work in Ruins Field, 2011 Fig 3: Map of Nonington from the KAS Excursion in 1936, out of the Gordon Ward Archive 1 Kingdom of Kent: K. Witney: Phillimore 1982 The Period of Mercian Rule in Kent: K. Witney: Arch Cant 1987 Early History of the Church of Canterbury: Nicholas Brook: Leicester UP 1984 Church, Land and Local Nobility in early 9th Century Kent: the case of Ealdorman Oswulf: Julian Crick: BIHR October 1987. 2 Investigations at Old St. Albans Court at Nonington: Parfitt, Jones and Hobbs: KAR Winter 2001 Anglo Saxon Cemetery at Nonington: Keith Parfitt : KAR Spring 2002 Old St Albans Court: Peter Hobbs: Arch Cant 2005 3 The History of Kent: John Harris: Midwinter 1719 Fig 2 Fig 3 6 Summer 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Some of you will have received a letter about the removal of the concessionary rate – this is due to the fact that the lower subscription does not cover the costs of the Newsletters and Archaeologia Cantiana. I am most grateful to those of you who have sent amended standing order forms to reflect the subscription you now need to pay in order to maintain your membership. Please check your bank statements for January to make sure that it has been changed and, more importantly, that your bank is not paying two amounts! If you haven’t yet sent your form to me or, alternatively, contacted your bank yourself, please do so soon. I am in the process of changing to a new membership software package and would like this to be as up to date as possible before dealing with the 2014 renewals. Please remember to send any changes of addresses etc. to me either by post or email. I am aware that some emails are incorrect and it is very necessary that they are up to date as it is so much more cost effective to contact members by email instead of post, even though I now have a franking machine which saves on rates. My email address for KAS matters is membership@kentarchaeology.org.uk I look forward to your continued support of our excellent Society. I am very pleased to welcome the following new members: Joint Members Dr N S & Mrs Corfield, Ashford Mrs A & Mrs M Fisher, West Farleigh Mr & Mrs R M Fuller, Dover Mr & Mrs J M Rushton, Rochester Indiv. Members Mrs M E Cooley, Sittingbourne Ms C J Ellis, Upper Belvedere Miss V King, Tonbridge Mrs A Thomas, Harpenden, Herts Mrs P Weeds, Rochester The majority of new members have joined by downloading the application form from the website but it is equally important that blue application forms are available in other locations and taken to conferences etc. Please contact me if you would like a bundle. Shiela Broomfield, 8 Woodview Crescent, Hildenborough, Tonbridge, Kent TN11 9HD telephone: 01732 838698, email as above. MEMBERSHIP MATTERS SOUTH EAST REGION INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY CONFERENCE by Mike Clinch Kent Archaeological Society hosted the 2013 South East Region Industrial Archaeology Conference. The Conference was held in the Mick Jagger Centre at Dartford Grammar School, a venue decision made as KAS events tend to be central or in the east of the county. The Conference was well publicised throughout the county by Paul Tritton, the Society’s Publicity Officer and over 200 delegates attended from Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire and Greater London. Nearly a dozen societies had stands with publications and material and Shiela Broomfield, our KAS Hon Sec, ran a KAS stand - it is important that the Society is promoted whenever conferences and meetings are organised. The conference themes were centred on Kent’s Industrial YOU & YOUR SOCIETY Archaeology. The Society’s President opened the Conference and Jim Preston, Chairman of the KAS Industrial Archaeology Committee, then took charge of proceedings. The first speaker was Professor Alan Crocker, whose topic was the gunpowder industry of Kent. Alan is President of the Surrey Industrial History Group and was the organiser of the first SERIAC meeting back in 1983. Together with his wife Glenys, who has done much of the research on the topic, he founded the National Gunpowder Mills Study Group. Peter Draper added to the ambiance by setting off a small charge of guncotton. Much to the relief of the organisers he did not set off the sprinklers! Alan was followed by Richard Holdsworth, Preservation and Education Director of the Historic Dockyard at Chatham. He focused on the role of Kent’s Royal Dockyards in supporting the Royal Navy over a 400-year period. During the heyday of the age of sail, Chatham Dockyard was Britain’s principal shipbuilding and repair yard. We then moved on to more recent times with Malcolm Moulton, Chairman of Medway Aircraft Preservation Society Limited, covering the history of aircraft preservation at Rochester Airport from 1977 to the present day. During that time they have completed 31 projects, including 14 complete aircraft. The company is unique of its kind in being allowed to restore aircraft from the collection of the RAF Museums at London and Cosford. After lunch we moved on to the Early Years of J & E Hall of Dartford. This talk was given by Terry Young, Director/General Manager J & E Hall Technology Centre. The company started when John Hall came to Dartford from Hampshire seeking work as a skilled millwright. His services were soon in demand from industries located in the area. One year later, in 1785, he started a blacksmiths shop in Lowfield Street and from this modest start an engineering business would grow and prosper, swept along on the tide of the industrial revolution. The business expanded uninterrupted for many years, providing opportunities to employ great innovators such as Richard Trevithick and Brian Donkin. When Terry started as an apprentice he found a hammer made by a previous apprentice, which he restored. Whilst researching his talk he came across a lady looking for a hammer made by her grandfather - the apprentice who had made said hammer. We were hoping that she could attend the Conference and be presented with her grandfather’s hammer, but unfortunately she was unable to do so. Jim Preston then got down to the nitty gritty of the Cement Industry in the county. Kent had the largest concentration of cement works in Britain with over 60 works in operation. By 2011 there were no operational works and the sites had been largely cleared, leaving little trace of this once important industry. Jim outlined the developments within the industry and the changing production methods employed. The final speaker was Nick Kelly, who gave a potted history of Kent’s Motorcycle Industry. Nick has had a lifelong interest in www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Summer 2013 - KAS Newsletter 7 KAS Churches Committee Visit to Luddenham and Lynsted, 20 April 2013 by Toby Huitson On a sunny but fresh Spring afternoon under a cloudless blue sky, a group of over thirty people met at the rural farmland setting of St Mary, Luddenham a few miles north-west of Faversham for the first of this years’ eagerly anticipated Churches visits. This twin-cell manorial church is essentially Romanesque at its core - the west door has traces of chevron decoration - with later additions including a 13th century chancel. The building has evidence of many different phases, not least the tower of c. 1810, sympathetically built in brick with pointed windows and crenellations. Dr Pat Reid explained how recent excavations by the Faversham Society have pinpointed the site of the lost north tower which fell in 1806, in the process revealing evidence of re-used Roman roof-tiles and the presence of Flemish paving tiles coloured bright green and yellow, which were helpfully on temporary display inside. Notable interior features include a sturdy Victorian stove and a medieval tomb-cover from the nearby ruined church of Stone-by- Faversham. The church probably only ever served a small, scattered community, and is now maintained by the Churches Conservation Trust, their welcome recent acquisition of Swingfield near Dover now adding to their open buildings in the region. The church of St Peter and Paul at Lynsted made a refreshing contrast, as a large, mostly later medieval building with tall roofs, side-aisles and altars, and one still very much at the centre of its community. Churchwarden David Wood shared his formidable knowledge with the group, which had the chance to handle some large keys, view a 16th-century funerary helm, and (for the adventurous climbers), a climb up the tower to view the 18th century clock mechanism. A beautifully-preserved rood stair in the north aisle indicates the presence of a lost rood screen, which may explain the unusual configuration of the easternmost nave arches, which both descend at a much shallower angle than expected. Lynsted contains many monuments to local aristocratic families in the north and south chapels and no less than eighteen hatchments; Simon Langton, brother of the 13th-century archbishop, was the first priest here. There is also a chandelier dated 1686, parts of which were reinstated in 1904 after being found hidden in a recess in the tower. We extend warm thanks to Dr Pat Reid and David Wood for introducing the buildings so knowledgeably and enthusiastically. COMMITTEE ROUND UP COMPLETE SET of ARCHAEOLOGIA CANTIANA All in very good condition and including all Indexes. £450 or nearest offer. Please contact newsletter@kentarchaeology.org in the first instance. researching the transport industry and infrastructure. He surprised many of the audience with the extent of the industry in Kent, particularly the steam motorcycle which ran on paraffin, petrol being very expensive even then. However, the machine’s Achilles heel was the hard water we all know in NW Kent, which caused the boiler to fur up rapidly! The Society’s Industrial Archaeology Committee is new. If you have an interest in industrial archaeology and would like to join in its work please contact Mike Clinch 01322 526425 or mike@ mikeclinch.co.uk. We intend to run a day in the latter part of next year centred on the paper industry, with particular emphasis on Kent. If you have any suggestions or would like to take part please let me know. Fig 1: St Mary, Luddenham Fig 2: Rood stair at Lynsted Fig 3: The chancel at Lynsted Fig 1 Fig 2 Fig 3 8 Summer 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk The study area is in West Wickham, Kent, now part of the London Borough of Bromley, and is located where the Wealden Anticline in the south meets the edge of the London Basin in the north. Two main arms of the Ravensbourne Valley, now dry, with some smaller subsidiary valleys, dissect the chalk. Dewey noted that on account of the erosion of the overlying beds by the river Ravensbourne, the chalk forms a re-entrant angle into the Tertiary outcrops that occupy the north of the area (Dewey 1924). Palaeolithic material was located in this area in the period 1880 to 1905. However, the last report by any of the original investigators was in 1908 in VCH (Kent) Volume One (Clinch 1908, 307). All subsequent mention of this material derives from this report and is associated with the writer George Clinch. In 1999, John Wymer noted that the area was “alleged to have produced large numbers of surface palaeoliths in the 19th century, but few can now be found or identified as coming from the locations recorded” (Wymer 1999, 167). The aim of this study is to establish: »» What is the research history of the palaeolithic in this area, both archaeological and geological, in the late 19th and early 20th century? »» What remains of the lithics collections that were found in that period? »» To what extent is it now possible to construct a useful account of the The Palaeolithic of the Upper Ravensbourne Valley, Kent - Research in Progress By Frank Beresford Abstract from a presentation given at the British Museum, Franks House, 17th April 2013 to the Lithics Studies Society Fig 1 www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Summer 2013 - KAS Newsletter 9 Palaeolithic of the Upper Ravensbourne Valley? Research has established that three men discovered most of the lithic material found in the study area in the years from 1878 to 1898. • George Clinch (1860-1921) • Arthur Santer Kennard (1870 – 1948) • Alfred Edward Salter (1863 – 1926) Parts of their collections have been discovered at the British Museum, Bromley Museum and Maidstone Museum – all having passed through the collections of at least one other person or museum. About 100 artefacts have been located and analysis of this is in progress, to which will be added published information about other artefacts which can no longer be traced. All three wrote about their finds in academic journals, popular journals, personal notebooks and maps, personal scrapbooks, privately published papers and local newspapers during the period 1882 to 1908. Many of these accounts have been located for this study. The various find sites have been mapped using these contemporary accounts and the field names from an 1882 map produced by Clinch and an 1838 tithe map. The main site is in one of the small subsidiary dry chalk valleys with some material from another similar valley. Other material was found at the confluence of the two, now dry, arms of the Ravensbourne and on the surrounding hills. Although the current BGS geological map shows no evidence of river terracing in this area, accounts contemporary with the finds and recent field observation indicate that traces of river terracing were and are evident even though they are not of a sufficient depth to be included on the geological map. Clinch, Kennard and Salter were all members of the Geologist’s Association who wrote about and discussed the geological context of their finds. Although the finds were mainly surface finds after deep ploughing, all three men linked them with river terraces and in particular the highest terrace. The current Ravensbourne is the remnant of a much longer pre- Anglian river which once flowed further south and further north possibly in channels subsequently used by the post-Anglian River Lea. The possibility of some of the palaeolithic material being linked to a pre-Anglian terrace (MIS 13) is therefore being investigated. Another possibility for dating some of this material links to its association by Kennard with Prestwich’s Hill Group (Prestwich 1889, Hinton and Kennard 1905.) While this supports the proposal that some of this material could be derived from MIS 13 deposits, it is also possible that some of the material is much later. John McNabb (McNabb 2012, 218) noted that on typological grounds some of the material, now located in Maidstone Museum, that was used to illustrate Prestwich’s original paper “should be unambiguously Lower Palaeolithic, yet, it appears dominated by Neanderthal/ Mousterian tools of the later Middle Palaeolithic”. He BIBLIOGRAPHY Clinch G. (1908) Early Man. Victoria County History Kent 1 307-38 Dewey H, et al. (1924) Geology of the Country around Dartford, Memoirs of the Geological Survey of England and Wales, Explanation of Sheet 271 Hinton M. And Kennard A. S. (1905) The Relative Ages of the Stone Implements of the Lower Thames Valley. Proceedings of the Geologists Association XV, 76 – 100 McNabb, J (2012) Dissent with modification: human origins, palaeolithic archaeology, and evolutionary anthropology in Victorian Britain, 1859-1901, Archaeopress. Prestwich, J. 1889. On the occurrence of Palaeolithic Flint Implements in the Neighbourhood of Ightham, Kent; their Distribution and Probable Age. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, 45, 270–297. Wymer J. 1999, The Lower Palaeolithic Occupation of Britain 1, Wessex Archaeology and English Heritage. proposed that together with the Oldbury site this suggests a hitherto unsuspected wider Mousterian Landscape. Consequently the Upper Ravensbourne material is also being assessed on typological grounds for evidence of similar MIS 13 material. It is hoped that a final report will be completed in 2014 for subsequent publication. Fig 1: Full page illustration of lithics from the study area in VCH Kent I Fig 2: Geology of the Upper Ravensbourne Area – from the 1905 South East London Geology Sheet Fig 2 10 Summer 2013- KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Augustine’s First Footfall Gerald Moody An investigation into the probable location of the landing place of St. Augustine’s mission in AD 597. Bede records that Augustine’s first footfall in Britain took place on the Isle of Thanet. The landing place is unknown to history and this investigation of the landscape, historical and cultural context of Thanet in AD 597 seeks to identify possible locations. Using archaeological evidence and new research on the historic landscape the significance of Augustine’s mission is reconsidered for a modern audience. Although focussed on Augustine’s arrival in Thanet in the Anglo-Saxon period, the book contains valuable discussions of the evolution of the landscape and the region’s role in British history. The study traces the geological formation of the Isle of Thanet from earliest times and describes the significant geographic features that shaped its landscape. Historiographical interpretations of Augustine’s journey and landing place are examined and compared with current knowledge of the Franklin White’s Shoreham Characters Shoreham & District Historical Society Newly arrived from Australia in 1919, Charles Franklin White bought one of Shoreham’s oldest houses, ‘Reedbeds’, to live and paint in until his death in 1975. His son has gifted some hundred drawings of the working people of the village to the Historical Society, a few of which are reproduced in this publication. They are wonderful figure studies, capturing the village characters in exquisite detail in pencil, inks, chalk and watercolour. Most evenings he would be found drinking in The George as Franklin White decided upon his next subject, who would then be offered Old Dover Road – Past and Present Oaten Hill Society’s Local History Group The latest book in the series on streets and families in the area, an illustrated history of places, people and events along Old Dover Road from the Riding Gate to the Gate Inn, Canterbury. It includes descriptions of a leper hospital (now developed for housing), current and former public houses, a former windmill, the man who captured Gibraltar, the KCC cricket ground, farming memories, the discovery of a new planet and the elegant buildings. £5.00 or £6.20 with P&P. Tel: 01227 767343 or 01227 472932. NEW BOOKS Anglo-Saxon people who occupied the Isle of Thanet and whose lives and culture were shaped by this unique landscape. A5 format, with 87 pages with 3 black and white and 6 colour illustrations, and 4 colour plates. £9.99. Mail order price £8.00 + £2.00 P&P, available to order online from http://thanetarch.co.uk/ publications/list.html A postal order form can also be downloaded from the page. a pint as payment. Examples of collections can be seen in the British Museum, The V&A, the Ashmolean and the City of Birmingham Art Gallery and in private collections. A5 format. £4.00, available from saynor@shorehamkent.wanadoo. co.uk www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Summer 2013 - KAS Newsletter 11 Have you just joined the Society ? Do you wish you could collect all the back issues of Archaeologia Cantiana? Now you can have 125 volumes of Archaeologia Cantiana at the amazingly low cost of £31 for individual members and £76 for institutional members on the KAS Sesquicentennial DVD. To order your copy, send a cheque payable to Kent Archaeological Society to : Peter Tann, 42 Archery Square, Walmer, Deal CT14 7HP. Canterbury and the Gothic Revival How Canterbury’s visionaries helped to spread Victorian Gothic at home and abroad. Lawrence and Marjorie Lyle Canterbury Cathedral’s medieval Gothic image survived centuries of religious discord and neglect. From 1800 onwards a new generation was re-inspired by the artistic ‘Gothik’ vogues and the prevalent architecture. Through ambitious young architects, such as William Butterfield, who created a Gothic missionary college in two years, and the Dean of Canterbury, who wanted the Cathedral to rival St Peter’s in Rome, the rolling repair programme continuing in today’s Appeal began. This book explores the influence of artists, architects and religious reformers on the city of Canterbury and on the Gothic movement as a whole, showing how Canterbury’s visionaries helped to spread Victorian Gothic at home and abroad and includes over 60 illustrations displaying Canterbury’s gothic architecture and history. 978-0-7524-6294-3 - £14.99 Paperback Original. Kent Unit volunteers were delighted to be awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service on the 60th anniversary of the Coronation. The Unit, founded in 1971, has engaged hundreds of volunteers in its 42- year programme of work across the county. The Unit’s main public role has been the long-term management and presentation of the Roman Villa at Orpington and the Roman Painted House at Dover. At both sites the Unit carried out rescue excavations, raised the funds and constructed the covering buildings over the Roman structures. Over the past four decades over 700,000 visitors, from here and abroad, have been given guided tours of the two sites by the Unit’s volunteers. Of special importance are school workshops, started nearly 20 years ago, which have seen some 80,000 children in activities led by volunteers. Four volunteers from the Unit were invited to a garden party at Buckingham Palace in May. The event was hugely enjoyed by Gillian Bowes and Daphne Kettle from the East Kent team and Eileen Vassie and Liz Saunders from the West Kent team. Brian Philp, Director of the Unit, said “We’re delighted with this prestigious award, for it stands as a signal tribute to the voluntary effort by so many of our members over the decades. This Diamond Jubilee award also coincides with the completion of my 60 years of rescue archaeology in Kent, which started with my first excavation as a schoolboy at Reculver in 1952”. KARU awarded Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service 12 Summer 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk WHAT’S ON KAS EVENTS KAS CHURCH VISITS St Mary’s, Sundridge & St Peter & St Paul, Shoreham Saturday 28 September Please meet at 1.45 for 2pm start at St Mary’s Church, Sundridge, Church Road, Sundridge, Kent TN14 6DT. OS Grid Ref: TQ4861854950, OS Grid Coords: 548618, 154950 We will then move on to the Church of St Peter and St Paul, Shoreham, Station Road, Shoreham, Kent TN14 7SD, OS Grid Ref: TQ5227961590,OS Grid Coords: 552279, 161590 Cost £5 to include tea and biscuits at Shoreham Village Hall, provided by the Shoreham WI. Please register by emailing or telephoning the Church Visits Secretary, Jackie Davidson (churchvisits@kentarchaeology.org.uk or 01634 324004) KAS HISTORIC BUILDINGS COMMITTEE HISTORIC BUILDINGS CONFERENCE Saturday 26 October Harrietsham Community Centre, 9.30am for 10am until 4pm. The theme of this year’s Conference is Fortifications. Main topics are (provisionally): Tonbridge Castle by David Martin (Archaeology South-East); Slough Fort, Allhallows by Victor Smith; The Development of the Tower Armouries as an Exhibition Venue, by Malcolm Mercer (Curator of Tower History at the Royal Armouries Museum). In the afternoon there will be various short talks, including accounts of local research projects. Cost £10. Buffet lunch available. Booking form available online from the KAS website, or by post from Mr D Carder (KAS), 53 The Ridgeway, Chatham, Kent ME4 6PB. Please enclose an SAE. ARCHAEOLOGY & STANDING BUILDINGS STUDY DAY One Day Workshop Saturday 14 September, 10.00am – 4pm Agricultural Museum at Brook, near Wye, TN25 5PF Organised by Wye Rural Museum Trust and Canterbury Archaeological Trust, with Kent Archaeological Society and the Dover Archaeological Group, to provide practical experience in the study of archaeology & standing buildings. The day will be run in TWO sessions: morning and afternoon, and ALL the workshops will take place in BOTH sessions. Timetable: 10.00 – 10.30 Coffee and registration 10.30 – 12.30 First Session 12.30 – 13.30 Lunch (not provided) 13.30 – 15.30 Second Session 15.30 – 16.00 Tea and way forward There will be FOUR workshops covering the following: »» Field walking (or alternative if problems of availability) »» Finds identification & recording »» Reading stone buildings »» Assessing timber-frame buildings Please select workshops in order of preference (see application form). Due to limitations on group size early application is advisable. However, every endeavour will be made to give participants their first two choices. To that end, tickets will be allocated on a first come, first served basis and will be sent out at the end of August. Cost £30 for the day. Please bring a packed lunch. Cheques made payable to CAT. Application form is available on the KAS, Museum Trust and CAT websites or direct from Dr S. Sweetinburgh, 11 Caledon Terrace, Canterbury CT1 3JS; s.m.sweetinburgh@kent. ac.uk or 01227 472490. Please enclose a SAE if using Royal Mail. ARCHAEOLOGY ABROAD Saturday 19 October, 2 – 5.30pm Joint study day organised by University of Kent with Kent Archaeological Society and Council for Kentish Archaeology Rutherford College, University of Kent »» Roman Ostia: Urban Life in AD387 – as seen by St Augustine by Dr Mike Mulryan or Dr Luke Lavan »» Madeira – The Gateway to the World: Origins and Discovery (Men of Kent and Portugal) by Dr Brian Philp »» Third speaker tbc Tickets free for KAS members and Friends of the CKA, available on a ‘first come’ basis. Non-members £5.00, cheques payable to ‘CKA’ with SAE please, to 7 Sandy Ridge, Borough Green TN15 8HP. More information from Richard Ansell tel: 01732 884059 or on www.the-cka.fsnet.co.uk or davru58-arch@yahoo.co.uk . KENT: IMMIGRATION AND EMIGRATION One Day Conference 7 December, 9.30am – 4pm Grimond Building, University of Kent, Canterbury. The Kent Archaeological Society, with the support of the School of History, University of Kent. The conference will focus on the role of population movements, immigrants and emigrants to and from Kent from the settlement of very early migrants crossing the Channel to Kent to the modern movements since the 16th century. 9.30 Arrival and registration 10.00 Welcome: Professor Kenneth Fincham, Head of the School of History 10.15 A fine mixter-maxter! Incomers, multiculturalism and cultural transmission in prehistoric Kent? by Peter Clark 10.45 The “Romans” in Kent by Jake Weekes 11.15 COFFEE 11.30 Who were the Cantwara? Migration and Identity in early Anglo-Saxon Kent by Andrew Richardson 12.00 Ethnicity in Norman Kent by Richard Eales 12.30 LUNCH 1.45 Starting a new life: the Intrantes in Ricardian and Henrician Canterbury by Sheila Sweetinburgh 2.15 Immigrants from the Low Countries to Kent in the late 16th and early 17th centuries: the experience of the port and town of Sandwich by Jane Andrewes 2.45 TEA 3.00 A small but persistent presence: people of African origin and descent in Kent since c.1600 by David Killingray 3.30 Migrants to the Kent Coalfields until Nationalisation in 1947 by Ann Kneif 4.00 Closing remarks: Ian Coulson, President of Kent Archaeological Society Conference fee £10.00, including tea and coffee. Lunch not provided, but may be bought at various outlets on campus. Please print off, complete and return the booking form in the Events section of the KAS www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Summer 2013 - KAS Newsletter 13 website and return it with your payment to: Dr Elizabeth Edwards, School of History, Rutherford College, The University, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NX EVENTS AROUND KENT LANDSCAPES OF SOUTH-EAST BRITAIN DURING THE ROMAN PERIOD Conference & AGM - Council for British Archaeology: South East, with the Kent Archaeological Field School Saturday 16 November Assembly Rooms, Preston Street, Faversham, Kent. 9.30am to 4.30pm. »» Jeremy Hodgkinson ‘The Landscape of Iron Production in the Roman Weald’ »» Lacey Wallace ‘A newly discovered Roman villa in Bourne Park, Canterbury’ »» David Staveley ‘The Sussex Roman road network’ »» Simon Elliot ‘The Upper Medway during the Roman Occupation: Industry, agriculture and elites’ »» David Rudling ‘Roman period Settlement and Land-use in the Sussex Ouse Valley’ »» David Bird ‘Landscapes of Roman Surrey’ »» Paul Wilkinson ‘Villa landscapes in Roman Kent’ »» Andrew Richardson ‘Emporium to villa: 500 years at East Wear Bay, Folkestone’ Tickets available in advance from www.kafs. co.uk/news.aspx or 01795 532548 for booking form. Cost £8 for members of CBA SE and KAFS or £10 for non-members and on the day. FRIENDS OF CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST 11 September Royal Norman Castles in Kent Richard Eales 2 October 2013. The Stones of Canterbury Geoff Downer Both talks at 7pm, Room 03, Newton, Canterbury Christ Church University, North Holmes Road, Canterbury. FCAT requests a donation of £2.00 for members, £3.00 for non-members and £1.00 for students, to cover costs and to help support the activities of the Archaeological Trust. CROFTON ROMAN VILLA (opposite Orpington Railway Station) Festival of British Archaeology Family Fun Event Sunday 21 July Guided talk of the villa house for adults, with activity sessions for children with Roman artefacts and dressing up. Villa quiz and win special villa badges! Sessions at 10.30am and 2pm. For all the family - children to be accompanied. No booking needed. Entry £1.50/concessions £1.00. Growing up as a Roman Child Every Wednesday in August Find out about Roman babies, games and toys and join in a Roman lesson. Make a Roman child’s good luck charm and take part in a Roman citizen’s quiz to win your Roman citizen certificate and badge. Sessions at 10.30am and 2pm. For 5-11 year olds, children to be accompanied. No booking needed. Entry £4.00 per child, accompanying adult free. Costumes and Horrible Habits through the Ages. Every Friday in August Discover some horrible habits! Find out about fabulous fashions! Make a collage of a fashionable historical character (from Celts to Victorians) and take home a horrible habits information sheet. Sessions at 10.30am and 2pm. For 5-11 year olds, children to be accompanied. No booking needed. Entry £4.00 per child, accompanying adult free. For more info visit http://cka.moon-demon. co.uk/villa.htm or from Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, tel: 020 8460 1442, email: crofton.roman.villa@gmail.com SHORNE WOODS COUNTRY PARK, off the A2 between Gravesend and Rochester ARCHAEOLOGY IN THE PARK until 28 July Visit the excavation of Randall Manor, now in its 8th season, 11am – 3pm each day. Free guided tours. RE-ENACTMENT WEEKEND with the WOODVILLE HOUSEHOLD 27 & 28 July For more details www.facebook.com/ archaeologyinkent email: andrew.mayfield@ kent.gov.uk tel: 07920 548906 THE ORPINGTON AND DISTRICT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY Annual Open Weekend, opening the excavations at Scadbury Moated Manor, Chislehurst. 14 &15 September, 2 – 4.30pm (last entry). Admission free. Visitors can follow a self-guided trail around the moated manor site, see ODAS’ excavations, and explore the foundations of the Tudor kitchens and Great Hall to see how they would have been used when the house was owned by the Walsingham family. It’s also possible to see the World War II defences, and a restored shepherd’s or gamekeeper’s hut which belonged to the estate in the 19th century. Refreshments, bookstall and exhibition about the history of Scadbury (and WC). Access is from the public footpath around the estate. Entrance to the site is where the footpath passes the moated site. Nearest access from the road is along the footpath at 14 St Paul’s Wood Hill; turn left along the circular footpath, 5 mins walk. From Old Perry Street car park, the entrance is around 30 mins walk along the footpath. There is some limited parking at the site for elderly/disabled visitors: apply with SAE to ODAS, 28 Church Avenue, Sidcup, DA14 6BU. For more information about ODAS and Scadbury see www.odas.org.uk WHAT’S ON Published by the Kent Archaeological Society, Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Gallery, St Faith’s Street, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 1LH. 14 Summer 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Copy deadline for the next issue is 1st Sept 2013 The editor wishes to draw attention to the fact that neither she nor the Council of the KAS are answerable for opinions which contributors may express in their signed articles; each author is alone responsible for the contents and substance of their work. EDITOR: LYN PALMER 55 Stone Street, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2QU Telephone: 01892 533661 Email: newsletter@kentarchaeology.org.uk The old Thames frontage from Greenhithe to Gravesend has been largely destroyed by industry. Only a few old lanes run up from the river to higher ground and preserve the old ground profile. Most of Swanscombe marsh remains untouched, though development is coming. A longforgotten little lane runs south from the Thames foreshore across the marsh. At the edge of the marsh the lane finds its way up a fragment of ancient hill slope between deep chalk quarries. Local people call it the Pilgrims’ Path. At Galley Hill, the lane becomes Swanscombe High Street and the modern pilgrim may follow it onwards into Southfleet parish at Betsham. Then the lane heads south towards the Wheatsheaf Inn at Westwood, down White Hill and along the Fawkham valley passing close by the medieval church and manor of Fawkham. At Fawkham Green the lane bears slightly left for Crowhurst Farm and at West Kingsdown windmill it becomes Pells Lane and runs past Drane Farm and Summeryards Wood. Finally the lane crosses the North Downs Trackway and descends a little green valley to join the Pilgrims Way at the St Clere estate, which before 1300 was known as Aldham, “the old place”. Its further course into the Weald is unclear. Routes such as Roman roads and Victorian railways are easy enough to confirm, with a little clearance of the ground surface. Anything else is notoriously hard to prove. This trackway may not have been used by pilgrims, but it looks like an ancient route and it feels like one when you walk it. But is it, or was it ? Pilgrims Path by Roger Cockett