KAS Newsletter, Issue 98, Autumn 2013
Written By KAS
Your Quarterly Newsletter
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Kent Gardens Trust
AUTUMN 2013
ISSUE NUMBER 98
4-5 Oxford Archaeology Bear Pit 6-7 What’s On + Allen Grove Grants
12-13 Faversham Pub Dig 15 KURG - Dene Hole at Sheldwich Lees 16 Volunteer Curator Wanted
2-3 Kent Gardens Trust
8-9 Committee Round Up + News From The Library 10-11 In the Footsteps of Knights + Mushroom Towns + Knole Day
14 New Publications
Investigating the gardens of Sevenoaks. Turn to Page 2
KENT
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY
2 Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
Kent Gardens Trust was
established in 1988 and is
affiliated to the Association
of Garden Trusts. As a registered
charitable trust its primary purpose
is the protection of parks and
gardens in Kent and, among the
various ways it seeks to achieve this,
is to encourage the study of the
history and development of these
properties.
In 1992, in conjunction with
Kent County Council, the Trust
published a comprehensive list of
parks and gardens in Kent of historic
importance. In 2008 it was decided
that a further and more detailed
version should be compiled with
the addition of properties not
previously included. A pilot scheme
was set up by Kent Gardens Trust
and Tunbridge Wells District
Council in conjunction with High
Weald Joint Advisory Committee,
Kent County Council and English
Heritage.
Twenty volunteers were recruited
to carry out the work under the
guidance of Virginia Hinze and Dr
Barbara Simms, who together
provided training over a two-year
period. A total of 25 gardens were
investigated and we hope the final
reports may be viewed on the new
Kent Gardens Trust website shortly.
This part of the project was
completed by April 2009 and, in
2010, Sevenoaks District Council
asked the Trust to undertake a
similar project for 22 gardens. This
project has now been completed by
the volunteers who, with ongoing
training, have produced reports
modelled on an agreed English
Heritage pattern, a proven and
robust format, which produces
clarity and the ability to stand up
to challenge. This would not have
been possible without the advice
and editing skills of Virginia Hinze.
Just as necessary was the initial
invitation from Sevenoaks District
Council to carry out the project and
the support of the department of
Heritage Conservation at Kent
County Council who produced the
initial information packs and format
of the volunteers’ material for
publication. In addition English
Heritage have provided a generous
financial grant and Kent Gardens
Trust has given an initial sum which
enabled us to get started. All these
organisations need to be thanked as
do all the owners who have so kindly
allow us to visit their gardens.
It is planned to publish these
reports on the Kent Gardens Trust
website shortly thus making them
freely accessible to everyone, but in
the meantime some findings might
be of interest. At least two gardens
have felt the hand of Gertrude
Jeykell (Chart Cottage and
Stonepitts), Larksfield was the home
of Octavia Hill and at Underriver
there are remaining ‘footings’ of
Shoads Manor where Samuel Palmer
lodged when painting in the area.
Tanners was designed by Sir Harold
Hillier and Parkgate House was the
home of Constance Spry; while at
Otford Place are the remains of a
rockery built of ‘pulmanite’.
2016 is the tricentenary of
Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown’s birth
and, very conveniently for the
volunteers, one of the most
important reviews carried out was
at Valence. The history of the site
near Westerham is well-documented,
with records dating back to the
thirteenth century. There is strong
documentary and physical evidence
of a landscaped park existing since
the mid-eighteenth century, and
Front page: Water wheel at Valence site
Fig 1: Bradbourne Lakes Park, Sevenoaks
Fig 2: Henden Manor
Kent Gardens Trust’s volunteers
Investigating the gardens of Sevenoaks
By Hugh Vaux
Fig 1
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Autumn 2013- KAS Newsletter 3
further evidence that Brown was
commissioned to make
improvements between 1772 and
1775. He almost certainly created
a new lake, and this would have
been a considerable challenge given
the geological structure of the
Greensand Ridge, with its
susceptibility to land slippages and
water leakages.
Remnants of a large pond and
ten metre cascade, first recorded in
1754, can still be seen, although
now dried up. But perhaps more
significantly, there are eighteenth
and nineteenth century physical
features of ponds, lakes,
watercourses, hydraulic rams and a
water-wheel still remaining, all of
which would benefit from further
archaeological exploration. An icehouse,
virtually intact and possibly
early to mid-nineteenth century,
would also be worth investigating.
Another site of interest was at
Knockholt. Anyone walking the
North Downs Way might be
forgiven for thinking that they were
walking through simple woodland
where the path crosses the grounds
of Knockholt House. Fortunately
the volunteer who investigated this
property was an archaeologist and
realised the significance of the
remaining humps and bumps, all
that was left of an extraordinary
house and gardens built in the late
nineteenth century (on the site of
an earlier house) by a London silk
merchant who was obsessed by
water. Not only did the owner have
extensive reservoirs in the garden
where the remains of a swimming
pool and changing rooms are still
visible, but the house had an
extraordinary tower in which the
owner was reputed to keep a boat
against the time when the great
floods would come and he could
row to safety.
At Bradbourne Lakes Park in
Sevenoaks, six interconnected lakes
and water courses were created by
Henry Boswell in the eighteenth
century, by damming a branch of
the River Darent. All that remains
now are 3.5 hectares of park, the
lakes and by the entrance to the
park, a large monolith. Francis
Crawshaw, an eccentric, who lived
there at the end of the nineteenth
century, imported several stones
from the West Country to display
in the grounds; hardly best
archaeological practice.
Lastly, Henden Manor, a moated
sixteenth century manor house,
nestling in a valley below Ide Hill.
Once the home of Sir Thomas
Bulleyn, the landscape and historic
farmland boundaries have hardly
changed over the years. But perhaps
more importantly for garden
historians, documentary evidence
shows the existence of ten gardens
of Tudor origin which continued to
exist 200 years later. With such
tantalising evidence, the Kent
Gardens Trust would welcome,
subject to the owner’s permission,
an archaeologist’s expertise to trace
this important site’s footprint.
A postscript can now be added
to this article as it goes to press. The
volunteers have been asked to
research 29 gardens in the Medway
Towns and the initial meeting to
inaugurate this project took place
on 13th August. A very different
group of sites.
Fig 2
4 Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
In late 2012 a team from Oxford
Archaeology carried out an evaluation
on the site of the former Henley Cable
Works in Northfleet on behalf of the
Homes and Communities Agency. The
cable works were constructed over the
remains of Rosherville Gardens, a
popular mid-19th century Victorian
pleasure garden. The Gardens closed
in the 1920s and were levelled during
the 1930s. The purpose of the
evaluation was to determine whether
features associated with Rosherville
Gardens survived. Six trenches were
targeted upon garden features recorded
on the 1865 First Edition Ordnance
Survey (Fig 1).
The evaluation demonstrated that
despite extensive clearance of the site
both in the 1930s and more recently,
remains associated with Rosherville
Gardens still survived. Truncated
garden soils and landscaping deposits
were observed in Trenches 1, 4 and 5,
and Trench 6 revealed ephemeral
remains of possible foundations for the
Banqueting Hall. However, the most
exciting discoveries were of remains
associated with two landmark features
of the gardens: the fountain (Trench
7) and the Bear Pit (Trench 2). Both
features were located along the raised
Broad Walk that formed a prominent
feature within the garden.
In Trench 7, truncated remains of
the base of a decorative feature were
uncovered. The remains consisted of
fragments of terracotta tile and
moulded concrete that formed a
roughly circular shape. The truncated
nature of the remains made it difficult
to determine whether they were part
of the fountain or associated with the
Flaming Urn, a gas-fired feature that
replaced the fountain during the later
years of the garden. Small lead pipes
were uncovered in a test pit excavated
through the centre of the tiled area and
these are likely to be part of the water
system for the fountain.
In addition to the remains of the
decorative feature, Trench 7 also
confirmed that the fountain and urn
had once sat in the centre of a
landscaped mound with a small flint
retaining wall. The original topsoil of
the mound was also preserved along
with fragments of the Broad Walk’s
crushed shell path. The feature appears
to have survived because rather than
demolishing the Broad Walk in the
1930s, the lower ground level of the
Italian Gardens had been raised with
a series of dumped deposits until it
reached the level of the Broad Walk
during the 1930s demolition.
563400
563600
174200
174400
First Edition Ordnance Survey map
Key
Planning boundary
Phase I evaluation trench
Phase II evaluation trench
T:\Tenders Working Area\15048_Northfleet site- C09375_Phase 2\Geomatics\03 GIS\current\001_projects\Northfleet_Embankment_071112.mxd*leo.heatley*07/11/2012
Trench 1
Trench 2
Trench 3
Trench 6
Trench 5
Trench 7
Trench 4
0 50 m
1:2,000 @ A4
Trench 2c
Trench 2a Trench 2b
An evaluation at the site of Rosherville
Gardens, Northfleet
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter 5
Trench 2 revealed substantial well
preserved remains of the Bear Pit (Fig
2) constructed within a circular
extension to the Broad Walk. The
western half of the 6m diameter circular
brick constructed pit was virtually
intact with only the capping bricks and
iron railings along the top missing. The
wall survived to height of approximately
3m. The eastern side had been subject
to truncation, presumably during the
1930s clearance of the site, with the
walls surviving to a height of 1.95m.
A test pit through the centre of the pit
confirmed that the pit’s slate floor was
still intact. A square metal plinth,
measuring just under half a metre
squared, was positioned in the centre
of the pit. The plinth has a central hole
and contemporary photographs suggest
that this plinth had once contained a
wooden ‘climbing’ post.
The excavation also revealed a surviving
arched doorway which connected the
pit to at least two cages and a network
of access corridors to the north and
east of the pit (Fig 3). Access between
the pit and cages appeared to be
restricted by a metal gate that may have
been operated by a pulley system.
The subterranean corridors provided
access to the cages and pit for the
keepers via the lower level Italian
Garden beneath the Broad Walk. The
cages and corridors were constructed
from stock brick with the exception of
the outer corridor wall that curved
around the pit, which was fashioned
from roughly hewn chalk blocks. Slit
windows were placed within the
corridor walls allowing the keepers to
be able to safely look into the pit and
the cages (Fig 4).
The roofs over the cages and
corridors had been removed during the
1930s demolition phase, presumably
to ensure that the cable works were
constructed on a solid surface free from
voids. Recesses for ceiling beam slots
were observed within the main access
corridor wall and along the outer wall
of the Bear Pit. A test pit excavated
between the corridor wall and outer
pit wall uncovered fragmented flat
stone slabs probably part of the roof.
The roofs of the cages appeared to be
vaulted and were overlain by a series
of tip deposits. An area of preserved
topsoil and shell path around the pit
was also observed.
The trenching exercise indicated that
remains associated with Rosherville
Gardens survived in varying levels of
preservation across the area despite the
1930s clearance, subsequent building
programme and more recent demolition
and remediation. The significance of
the surviving features generally ranged
from low to moderate. The Bear Pit,
however, is of considerable significance
primarily due to its rarity – there are
very few surviving examples of
Victorian bear pits throughout the
country. Given its significance, the Bear
Pit has been carefully reburied, along
with the remains of the fountain, while
the Homes and Communities Agency
discuss the best way to ensure future
preservation with Kent County Council
Historic Environment Group and
English Heritage.
For further information on the
evaluation, please visit: http://library.
thehumanjourney.net/1184
Fig 2
Fig 3
Fig 4
6 Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
WHAT’S ON KAS EVENTS
CHAUCER AND PILGRIMAGE IN
MEDIEVAL ENGLAND
A talk by Diana Webb
23 November 2013 at 10.30am
KAS Library, Maidstone Museum
Everyone has heard of The Canterbury Tales,
even if they have only read bits of it at school,
and many people know that it consists of
character-sketches of a party of pilgrims to
Canterbury in the late fourteenth century,
followed by the stories they are imagined as
telling one another on the road. Chaucer wrote
for an audience that already knew all about
pilgrimage – it was a part of contemporary life
– but for us this is no longer true. So what does
he tell us about pilgrimage, and does what he
tells agree with what we learn from other
sources? For example, all his pilgrims are on
horseback – shouldn’t they have been on foot?
And among them is a little group of nuns,
headed by their Prioress – but should nuns have
been out on pilgrimage? Indeed, should the
Wife of Bath have been there either? And was it
really dangerous to travel through Blean Forest
on the approach to Canterbury? This talk will
try to shed light on questions like these, drawing
where possible on evidence from medieval Kent.
Diana Webb’s background is described below *
There is no fee for this meeting, but a £5
donation per person is requested to cover costs
and help the Society further its work (all
cheques payable to Kent Archaeological
Society).
Please book by sending your name, address and
telephone number by email to: librarian@
kentarchaeology.org.uk or write to Joy Sage/
Pernille Richards, KAS Library, Maidstone
Museum, St. Faith’s Street, Maidstone ME14
1LH.
NEW! HISTORICAL RESEARCH
DROP IN SESSIONS
with Diana Webb in the KAS Library
Stuck on a Latin phrase?
Puzzled by palaeography?
Just starting out and feeling in need of a bit of
friendly advice?
Help is at hand! We have persuaded
experienced academic Diana Webb to hold
some drop in sessions in the Kent
Archaeological Society Library.
Saturday 15 February 2014
10.30am - 12.00 noon
Saturday 31 May 2014
10.30am - 12.00 noon
Saturday 27 September 2014
10.30am - 12.00 noon
* Diana Webb has lived in Maidstone since
1971. Until her retirement in 2006, she was
senior lecturer in history at Kings College
London, specialising in the later middle ages
and especially in religious and Italian history.
She is the author of six books, including three on
pilgrimage, and contributed the article on
Pilgrimage to the Historical Atlas of Kent. She
has recently been collaborating with her
husband on a study of British residents in
Tuscany in the mid-nineteenth century; there are
numerous Kentish connections among them.
She has been actively researching the history of
her own family and her husband’s, discovering
ancestors in the Isle of Thanet between the
seventeenth and nineteenth century (as well as
in Suffolk, North-East Scotland and Wales!).
Diana admits to being a beginner where Kentish
history and its sources are concerned, but the
basic principles of historical research are the
same whether you’re working on Sienna or
Sittingbourne, Faversham or Florence...
There is no fee for attending a session, but a
small donation per person is requested to cover
costs and help the Society further its work
(cheques payable to The Kent Archaeological
Society).
IMPORTANT: Please book in advance supplying
your name, phone number and email address
and brief details of what you would like to
discuss by emailing librarian@kentarchaeology.
org.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.
The prehistoric origins, recently highlighted by
the Dover Bronze Age boat exhibitions, will
provide an excellent starting point, and
specialist papers have been promised for later
periods by, inter alia: Dr Andrew Richardson on
the various arguments on the ‘myths’ of
Anglo-Saxon invasions/migrations; Dr Sheila
Sweetinburgh on later medieval migrants in
Canterbury; Jane Andrewes, on immigrants to
Sandwich in the early modern period, and also
by one of the organisers, Professor David
Killingray, on the presence of black people (of
African origin and descent) in the County since
the age of reconnaissance.
Conference fee £10.00, including tea and
coffee. Lunch not provided, but may be bought
at various outlets on campus.
Further details from: Dr Elizabeth Edwards,
University of Kent, e.c.edwards@kent.ac.uk, and
Professor David Killingray, University of London,
dmkillingray@hotmail.com
CHURCH LIFE IN THE MIDDLE AGES,
ST LEONARD’S, HYTHE
Study Day presented by KAS
Churches Committee
Saturday 5 April 2014, 10.00 - 16.00
St Leonard’s Church, Hythe
Provisional Programme
9.30 – 10.00 Registration & Welcome
10.00 – 11.00 Lecture: Medieval Hythe & civic
uses of sacred space [Dr Sheila Sweetinburgh]
11.00 – 11.20 Coffee
11.20 – 11.55 Lecture: Church spaces & uses
– the upper room [Dr Toby Huitson]
11.55 – 12.30 Lecture: Church decoration –
Hythe’s carved stones [Heather Newton]
12.30 – 13.40 Lunch
13.40 – 14.40 Workshop 1 [church
documents & church building – see ticket]
14.40 – 15.00 Tea
15.00 – 16.00 Workshop 1 [church building &
church documents – see ticket]
£15.00 including lunch, tea and coffee. For
booking form go to www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
or by post from (include SAE) Mrs J. Davidson, 7
Chatsworth Rd, Gillingham ME7 1DS, 01634
324004 (home) jackie.davidson@canterburycathedral.
org
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’
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter 7
WHAT’S ON
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.
SECRETS OF THE FIELDS
Exhibition of Archaeology from South Ashford -
recent discoveries made by archaeological
units, from Iron Age sanctuary, Roman town and
fortlet to WWII sites.
Saturday 16 November 2013
10am – 4pm
Singleton Environment Centre, Singleton,
Ashford TN23 5LW.
Further information: Wendy Rogers 01622
221540 or wendy.rogers@kent.gov.uk
TUITION IN PALAEOGRAPHY AND LATIN
English and Latin palaeography and Latin
language (mediaeval or classical) classes.
Six sessions at Canterbury Cathedral Archives in
November and December 2013.
Tutor - Dr David Wright, London-trained
classicist and palaeographer.
Classes will comprise friendly workshops with
much practical experience, using material from
about 1500 to 1700. There will also be a
one-day introduction to palaeography at the
Medway Archives on Wednesday 30 October.
Please contact Dr David Wright for more
information: davideastkent@gmail.com. More
details about the classes at www.drdavidwright.
co.uk
EXPLORING KENT TOWNS AND CITIES
Five-week course starting on 28 January 2014
Canterbury Christ Church University
Tutor - Dr Gill Draper.
Details on http://www.canterbury.ac.uk/
community-arts-education/short-courses/
spring-2014.asp or from April Doyle, Canterbury
Christ Church University, North Holmes Road,
Canterbury, CT1 1QU; telephone 01227 863451
(9.30-2.30).
Grants of up to £500 (or more for
‘exceptional projects’) will be awarded
next year (2014) by the Kent
Archaeological Society’s Allen Grove
Local History Fund to individuals and
groups who are working on important
aspects of Kent’s history. The latest date
by which applications must be
submitted is March 31, 2014.
More than £30,000 has been
distributed since the fund was
established in 1994, mainly to help
cover the cost of publishing books and
booklets; setting up exhibitions and
displays in heritage centres; completing
oral history projects, and establishing
archives and research centres.
This year (2013) £2,720 was shared by
nine applicants.
The Chislehurst Society. £400 for ‘The
Chislehurst Chillers,’ a voluntary group
that tells ghost and ghoulish stories to
10-year-old children and inspires their
interest in local history by engaging
them in drawing and writing activities.
Dr Deborah Cole of Tonbridge. £295
towards the publication of ‘The
Tonbridge Circular Walk - In the
Footsteps of Medieval Knights,’ a book
describing a 33-mile country walk in the
footsteps of 24 lords and knights who
one day in 1279 set off on a
perambulation to establish the
boundary of Tonbridge’s ‘lowy’ (castle
lands).
Folkestone and District Family History
Society. £175 to buy 50 photos of war
graves in Turkey, Crimea, Israel, Egypt
and India of local people who died in the
First World War.
Goudhurst and Kilndown Local History
Society. £250 towards publishing a
book on the men and women
commemorated on local war memorials.
Harrietsham History Society. £250
towards producing a book of
photographs depicting changes which
have occurred in the village over a period
of more than 100 years.
The Ightham History Project. £500
towards establishing a local history
archive following the completion of a book
on the history of Ightham.
Margate Civic Society. £300 to help fund
an exhibition on the Margate Time Ball and
Clock Tower, which were officially opened
on Queen Victoria’s 70th birthday in 1889.
Oaten Hill and District Society
(Canterbury) Local History Group. £50 to
buy a voice recorder with which to preserve
local residents’ memories of the district for
publication in a series of booklets.
Plaxtol Local History Group. £500 towards
an exhibition ‘Plaxtol at War’ and the
publication of a booklet on the impact on
the village of the two world wars.
The Allen Grove Local History Fund is the
legacy of one of Kent’s most eminent
historians. Mr Grove was Curator of
Maidstone Museum from 1948 to 1975,
Hon. Curator of the KAS for 26 years (and
its President in 1987/88) and Chairman of
the Kent History Federation for eight years.
When he died in 1990 he left £26,000
from the proceeds of the sale of his house
to the KAS, with instructions that the
society should invest the legacy and
distribute the interest in ways that would
promote the enjoyment of Kent’s local
history.
For an application form visit www.
kentarchaeology.org.uk/grants or apply to
KAS General Secretary, Peter Stutchbury:
email secretary@kentarchaeology.org.uk ,
tel 01303 266966.
CORRECTION
In the Summer 2013 Newsletter article ‘The
Palaeolithic of the Upper Ravensbourne Valley’,
the last sentence of the penultimate paragraph
should have read ‘Consequently the Upper
Ravensbourne material is also being assessed
on typological grounds for evidence of similar
MIS 3 material’ – not MIS 13 material.
Apologies to author Frank Beresford for the
added ‘1’ and confusion caused.
Kent Archaeological Society’s Allen
Grove Local History Fund
8 Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
I am very pleased to welcome the following
new members:
Joint Members
Ms SPR Hoyle & Mr J E Knight, Lyminge
Mr & Mrs Jon Lord, Wrotham
Student
Mr O Burr, Bridge, Canterbury
Miss S Hedges, St Michaels, Tenterden
Ordinary
Miss M Armstrong, Chatham
Miss E Dixon, Canterbury
Miss S J Gearey, Deal
Mr P McDonnell, Dagenham
Ms S Vicary, London
Malcolm Davies, London
Ms R M Williams, Blean
As usual I make a plea for any changes and
comments about membership etc to be
sent to me.
The renewal notices for those who pay
by cheque will be sent out in December
for renewal in January 2014.
Please note that the voluntary
concessionary subscription was
abolished at the 2013 AGM, so do make
sure that you have told your bank of the
amended amount in plenty of time.
The rates are £25 for single members
and £30 for joint members at the same
address.
The question of online newsletters is
under serious review – if you have any
comments please let me know. I am in
the middle of changing to a new, and
hopefully more efficient, membership
package, so patience may be needed!
Shiela Broomfield
membership@kentarchaeology.org.uk
MEMBERSHIP MATTERS
The visit in June to these ancient marsh
churches attracted a good attendance on a
windy afternoon. Our speaker at both
places was Mr John Hendy, of the Romney
Marsh Historic Churches Trust, who is expert
in the history of the marsh churches as well
as of the marsh itself. Mr Hendy was thus
able to set the architectural history of these
buildings in the context of the significant
changes there have been to this low-lying
landscape over time. St Clement’s Old
Romney is a sympathetically restored
Norman church with 14th-century side
aisles and tower, and a decorated chancel.
Mr Hendy explained the medieval liturgical
use of the building, referring to the two
surviving hagioscopes either side of the
chancel arch which most likely allowed
priests celebrating at the nave altars to
coordinate their actions with those of the
priest at the high altar. The Reformation
took deep hold on the Romney Marsh,
CHURCHES
COMMITTEE
Visit to Old and New Romney
by Paul Lee
however, and Old Romney has a good set of
18th-century Scripture text boards on the
walls, with the Ten Commandments, Creed
and Lord’s Prayer in the Sanctuary. The
visitor to Old Romney is, however, first
struck by the late 18th-century box pews,
which were painted pink for the filming of
Disney’s 1963 smuggling adventure ‘Dr
Syn’! St Nicholas’s New Romney is a grand
building, reflecting the importance in the
middle ages of this Cinque Port. It is, in
fact, the sole survivor of no less than four
medieval churches in the town. In the days
before the great storm of 1287, which
diverted the River Rother to Rye, St
Nicholas’s was located next to the harbour
on a spit of land surrounded by water on
three sides. The huge amount of sand and
shingle which the storm deposited on New
Romney is responsible for the fact that one
now has to go down several steps to enter
the church. This impressive building with its
massive Norman tower was originally built
between 1140 and 1240 under the
patronage of the archbishops of Canterbury.
The light and graceful east end was added in
the 14th century. Its large side chapels with
processional route, Easter Sepulchre, and
three sets of piscina with triple sedilia, point
to the elaborate nature of the medieval
liturgy. St Nicholas’s has recently been
restored with the help of the Romney Marsh
Historic Churches Trust.
We are grateful to Mr Hendy for delaying his
departure on holiday to show us these
fascinating churches, and to the volunteers
at St Nicholas’s who welcomed us and
provided refreshments.
The Kent Records New Series will continue
but be put on the Society’s website, as
agreed in July 2012. A further volume of
Archaeologia Cantiana, no. 134, will appear
later in 2013. The Committee has been
unable to move forward on the cumulative
index of volumes 121-130 of Archaeologia
Cantiana. A team of adjudicators is
currently reading and assessing the seven
theses submitted for the biennial Hasted
Prize for 2013. It was recently agreed that a
separate annual MA thesis prize of £250 be
awarded in order to encourage younger
scholars to join the Society. Grants have
been awarded for various publications
including The Royal Charters of Faversham
(Faversham, 2013).
PUBLICATIONS
COMMITTEE
Fig 1: St Clement’s, Old Romney
Fig 2: Tea at St Nicholas’s, New Romney
COMMITTEE ROUND UP
YOU & YOUR SOCIETY
Fig 1
Fig 2
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter 9
The Wotton transcription
project gave our working
group of KAS members a
taste for more palaeography and
they are continuing work this year
under the leadership of Dr Bower.
The group often come into the
Library to work on a Tuesday
morning. To help facilitate their
work Peter Titley generously
donated the following useful items
to the Library stock:
»» Bristow, Joy - The Local Historian’s
Glossary of Words and Terms
»» Marshall, Hilary - Palaeography for
Family and Local Historians
»» Raymond, Stuart A. - Words from Wills
and other probate records 1500 -1800
These complement the current
Library stock well and we now have
a good collection of books for those
starting out in the art of Palaeography
and for those needing more specialist
reference works. Please do come and
use them.
One Thursday morning I was
delighted to discover a book
commemorating the hundredth
anniversary of the Dartford
Historical & Antiquarian Society,
deposited in the Library by Dr Mike
Still. The book’s title is Dartford:
A Century of Change. The book
includes a brief overview by Chris
Baker of the history of the Dartford
Historical and Antiquarian Society
since its founding in 1910, but
mainly consists of a selection of
images of Dartford though time.
The images are well chosen to give
a feel for the changing face of
Dartford though the years and, as
always, bear a special resonance if
you know a place well. I especially
enjoyed the image of the Dartford
Road looking west towards West
Hill Schools and Crayford c 1910.
Having lived on the Dartford Road
it is amazing how a place can be
scarcely recognisable and yet still
retain an element of familiarity.
If you are looking for Journals that
the Library holds please be aware
that the online catalogue is a little
quirky and does not always pick an
item up on the title. The easiest
way of getting an overview of the
Journals is by typing ‘Journal’ into
a CONTENT search which then
brings up the full Journal list.
If you come and visit the Library
regularly you may notice that it is
a little tidier. We are making a real
effort to catch up with the
‘housework’. The Visual Records
group’s appearance on BBC South
East this July was in a smarter library
than the last performance! If you
have not been before you might like
to visit us on a Wednesday or a
Thursday morning. The Library is
The KAS supported the production
of ‘The Royal Charters of Faversham,
including the Magna Carta’ by Peter
Tann, with contributions from
other scholars, which is hot off the
press currently. Peter Tann has
kindly donated a copy of this both
beautiful and useful book charting
the history of Faversham from the
12th to the 17th century. It is
bound to prove a useful resource for
KAS members.
Finally, I have been asked to
highlight the Library’s collection of
Journals and to help you to access
them. We have an extensive
collection of both national and local
society Journals.
The 2012 editions of the following journals
are now available to consult at the Library:
»» The Antiquaries Journal, vol. 92
»» Britannia, vol. 43, which incidentally
contains an article by R.S.O. Tomlin on
Inscriptions, including the East Farleigh
Curse Scroll and a mention of inscribed
sherds of coarseware found in Minster-in
-Thanet at Abbey Farm.
»» The Journal of Roman Studies vol. 102
»» Medieval Archaeology, vol. 56.
open at other times, but please do
ALWAYS CHECK in the online
diary before you travel to avoid
disappointment. During term time
Adult Learning takes place on
Mondays and meetings and talks
take place at other times. Please also
remember to show your membership
card and sign in at the front desk
of the Museum. I will look forward
to seeing you there.
Pernille Richards, Hon. Librarian
NEWS FROM THE KAS LIBRARY
10 Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
As I walked through the cloisters
of Canterbury Cathedral to the
Archives Library, I already had
a strong sense of medieval history even
before the brittle and slightly ragged
thirteenth century parchment was
spread on the desk in front of me. What
I hadn’t expected was to be able to read
it! Even though the language was
medieval Latin, the script was
surprisingly clear and instantly
recognisable place names jumped off
the pages, of the ‘perambulation of the
Lowy of Tonbridge’ written in 1279.
A jury of twenty four knights
perambulated the castle lands through
about 30 miles of Wealden countryside
around Tonbridge and Tunbridge
Wells. Their purpose was to define the
lands belonging to the Archbishop of
Canterbury and the Earl of Gloucester,
Gilbert ‘the Red’ of Tonbridge Castle.
The original manuscript in the archives
is the Archbishop’s copy. A translation
can be read in Harris’s History of Kent
written in 1719, but eighty years later
Hasted decided not to include it in his
great work on Kent, remarking
unadventurously that “the places…
being obsolete and now totally
unknown, the insertion of them can
give so little information to the reader”
(p.175, Vol. V). Undeterred, I
continued my research.
There are sixty place names on the
document and thirteen still exist today;
they are Claygate, Oak Weir,
Downingbury, Sunninglye,
Hawkenbury, Culverden, Penshurst,
Redleaf, Coppings, Priory Lands,
Nizels, Romshed and Hollanden.
Another twelve are found in written
histories, old maps and documents and,
after locating them on maps I could
confirm what W. V. Dumbreck had
noted in the 1958 edition of
Archaeologia Cantiana: in general, the
old pre-1870 parish boundaries were
followed. Thirty five places remained
elusive but they could at least be
transcribed with confidence because of
the clarity of the handwriting.
Armed with the lines of the old
parish boundaries and a list of the thirty
five missing names, I explored on foot
the bounds of Tonbridge looking for
names on houses, road names or
landscape features that might reveal
the missing places. I linked public
footpaths in order to follow the route
as nearly as possible and some exciting
discoveries were made. Very early on,
east of Shipbourne, I was able to
identify and follow a linear bank at the
edge of the great North Frith, once the
hunting forest of the Clare family. This
was probably the course of the forest
pale recorded in 1279. Another was
seen much further round at Pembury,
representing the forest pale at the edge
of the South Frith. The route passes
old moat sites which might have
guarded their residents at the time of
the perambulation. At ‘Nizels mead’
near Weald village there is a boundary
stone, adjacent to a watery meadow.
Another boundary stone is set in paving
at the southernmost part of the Lowy
outside the church of King Charles the
Martyr in Tunbridge Wells. This site
was probably marked by a distinctive
oak, the only tree mentioned on the
route. A hill with an old forge and
known to be a centre of iron working
was probably the ‘hill of Smethedonne’.
These are just some of many discoveries.
When I finally marked out the Lowy
boundary on a map it appeared very
circular and led me to think that
perhaps there was some truth in Robert
de Torigni’s 12th century chronicle. He
relates that he heard “many old people
tell”, that soon after the battle of
Hastings, Richard Fitzgilbert of
Tonbridge built his castle and then
measured out his Lowy with a line.
Walking the route confirmed to me
what I already knew: the countryside
in this part of South East England is
extraordinarily beautiful. It changes
dramatically from the steep rocky
wooded hills of Tunbridge Wells and
Speldhurst, to the soft rolling fields of
Leigh, the dramatic backdrop of the
greensand ridge at Underriver, the huge
skies of the flat river meadows in
Hadlow and Golden Green, and the
sloping orchards of Capel and Pembury.
There can be no better way of creating
a Tonbridge Circular Walk than using
one that was already walked and
recorded seven centuries ago. A book
of the route, divided into short walks
with historical notes is now available.
For more information visit www.
tonbridgecircularwalk.co.uk. The
publication of this book was made
possible with an award from the Allen
Grove Fund by the Kent Archaeological
Society.
By Deborah Cole
…….in the footsteps of knights; a thirteenth century walk round Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells
Crossing the Medway at Ford Green Bridge
View from the route at Capel
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter 11
What is urban history anyway?
And what did the Romans
do for us? And how far
back can we stretch the archaeological
data? And what about the documentary
evidence, let alone the statistical
material? Towns, we were lucidly told,
at the start of a conference on Kentish
Urban Studies, grew where specialist
markets flourished, they developed
complex patterns of social relations,
they kept records of their sophisticated
political arrangements and they acted
as magnets for the scattered rural folk
of the hinterland.
We began with a Late Iron Age
industrial complex which used
‘Folkestone Granite’, or Greensand, to
make corn-grinding equipment, sold
up and down the south and east coast
of Britain. Maybe it was this ‘Folk’s
Stone’ which gave the town its name.
Then round the coast to Faversham,
one of the famed Cinque Port ‘limbs’,
where a group of archaeological
enthusiasts, admirers of the late Mick
Aston, have spent the last nine years
sifting through the layers of material
‘treasure’ to create an historical collage
which runs from the Mesolithic to the
gunpowder mills of the 1920s. On
again to another of the famed ‘limbs’,
this time at Grange on the Medway, a
London staging-post for the citizens of
Hastings. Odo, the bishop of tapestry
fame, once owned both banks of the
river and Grange became handy for the
smuggling of Kentish wool as well as
for the waylaying of pirates plundering
Thames traffic.
Back south to Hythe whose fascinating
‘maletotes’, local taxation records,
enable historians to reconstruct the
working lives of the tanners, brewers,
carpenters, bakers, butchers and
fishermen who filled the town.
Merchants traded in high quality
commodities – figs, raisins and wine
- as well as firewood and sea-coal, iron,
salt, and basic foodstuffs. In 1468-69
15 fishermen landed sprats, mackerel,
herring and even the odd porpoise, as
well as transporting pilgrims and cattle.
Meat from Hythe may even have been
On one of the few wet days this summer
Chris and I spent the day at Knole House,
Sevenoaks, assisting with their special
Archaeology Day, part of the 2013 Festival
of Archaeology.
The new KAS banner had its first outing
and did much to promote our existence. I
had spent the previous evening making up
packs of KAS promotional material,
including the all-important membership
application form. I also included loads of
details of other archaeological
organisations, both local and national. The
rain did us a good turn as, instead of being
in a gazebo in the garden, we had a prime
position in the ‘outer wicket’ (entrance gate
house) so we met the visiting public as they
arrived. This meant that my prepared
information packs went like hot cakes! I
spoke to many interesting people, including
members, a great opportunity to get some
feedback. Most enjoyed their membership
of KAS with the opportunity to attend
events, read about what is happening in our
county etc.
The day included other organisations,
especially those concerned with the
wonderful new Knole project for the
creation of a much needed conservation
facility – the success of the Heritage Lottery
Fund application was announced that day
which meant that the media also attended.
The Museum of London Archaeology team
had a very comprehensive display of what
they have done on the first phase at Knole
and what they intend to do in future.
One of the features uncovered so far has
been the extensive historical graffiti. This
gave me a splendid opportunity of talking
at some length to Matthew Champion, who
has long been one of my ‘heroes’. Again,
the weather did me a personal good turn as
he was in his gazebo in the garden with no
other visitors at the time. This soon
changed when I pointed people in his
direction. I was also pleased to meet again
Al Oswald, formerly of English Heritage and
Stewart Ainsworth of Time Team fame. Their
combined expertise will also bring much to
the project. Once the new project is well
and truly underway, Nathalie Cohen,
archaeologist for the National Trust, is
hoping to involve more non-professional
assistance.
All in all a very enjoyable day and so near
to our home for a change!
sold to the garrison at Calais. Butcher/
graziers paid tax on oxen at tuppence
a head, cows at a penny, sheep at a
ha’penny, and two lambs at a farthing.
Further along the coast at Dover in the
early 17th century vigorous debate how
best to refurbish the harbour was
recorded in lively dialogue by a leading
citizen.
So next to the 1641 Poll Tax, levied
to pay for an army which had
failed in its mission against
the Scots. The surviving records of
who paid what in Canterbury
are compellingly fascinating.You
can access the data at www.canterbury.
ac.uk/arts-humanities/history-andamerican-
studies/history/1641PollTax,
discover what jobs over a thousand
householders performed and who paid
the highest rates. Some of the same
names can be traced on contemporary
petitions. Some signatories were royalist
and others parliamentarian, some
changed allegiance and some did not.
Some families fled to America before
the crisis intensified, and some women
even became involved in politicking.
We finished the day in the second
half of the nineteenth century. The
closing of the Deptford and Greenwich
dockyards in 1869 led to the massive
extension of the dry-docks and wetdocks
at Chatham which grew to cover
400 acres, much of the digging done
by convicts. Thousands of shipwrights,
rope makers, sail cutters and the like
poured into the Medway basin as if in
gold rush from ports and harbours all
over the south and east and even from
Pembrokeshire. New Brompton
mushroomed into the old village of
Gillingham, whose name was retained
when the area was incorporated in
1903. Meanwhile in Sevenoaks a local
builder created a working man’s suburb
at the back of the gas works near the
Bat-and-Ball railway junction. Census
records show how life was changing:
in 1851 59% of householders married
women born within five miles of the
town; by 1901 the number had dropped
to 26%.
Ably organised by Sheila
Sweetinburgh, the study day covered
many fascinating ‘New Developments
in Kentish Urban Studies’, a theme
which Christ Church’s proposed
‘Centre for Regional History’ will
surely want to keep a friendly eye on.
MUSHROOM TOWNS?
The Kentish Urban
Studies Conference, June 2013.
Sponsored by the KAS and
Historical Association
By David Birmingham and Doreen Rosman
Archaeology Day
at Knole House,
Sevenoaks
By Shiela Broomfield
KAS Membership Sec.
12 Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
If you have read earlier articles
on the activities of the Faversham
Society Archaeological Research
Group (FSARG), you will know
that our research area is the town
itself and its immediate surrounds.
We take one piece at a time and seek
answers to the most important
research questions for that section.
Our latest project focuses on Preston
Next Faversham, an odd and ancient
parish, nowadays mostly merged
into Faversham Town.
For most of its history, Preston
was a rural parish with a number of
manors such as Macknade and
Westwood. In AD822 it was given
to the Archbishop of Canterbury,
hence the name Priests town.
Preston has a very ancient and
intriguing church, St Catherine’s,
which will be central to our work
in 2014, but this year our interest
has been in finding evidence for
medieval activity along the line of
Preston Street and the Mall. This
forms a north-south line connecting
central Faversham with Roman
Watling Street and marks the
western boundary of Preston
Within. Some very striking finds
of Roman and early Saxon material
have been made along this line but
all of them are historic - no modern
archaeology has taken place here
apart from an evaluation during
alterations at the Fleur De Lis
Heritage Centre in AD2000.
In 2013, investigations took
place in six locations along this
north-south line, all of which
yielded substantial medieval
material. This article, however,
concentrates on the largest
excavation which was in the garden
of the Old Wine Vaults pub. On
Saturday 21st July it contributed to
a festival day, ‘Faversham in the
Making’, involving lively re-enactors
and hands-on activities manned by
FSARG members. During the week
that the Old Wine Vaults trench
was open, we talked to around a
thousand visitors, some of whom
returned repeatedly and many of
whom were people who would
never normally visit a museum.
This was very enjoyable and the kind
of community involvement for
which FSARG was founded (Fig
1).
The trench, initially 4 x 1 metres,
was located towards the back of the
pub garden, across a former pub
garden boundary wall visible in
parch marks, geo-resistivity readings
and on maps. Beyond the wall had
been a cottage, identifiable in the
1840 tithe map but long gone (Figs
2a and 2b). The wall itself remained
standing until the 1960s. Our plan
was to expose contrasting deposits
either side of the wall foundation
with the expectation that underlying
the contrasting cottage demolition
and pub garden contexts would be
a medieval level.
This did indeed prove to be the
case, although on the former cottage
side of the wall two pipes, running
east-west, meant that only a small
area between them was undisturbed.
This tiny triangle was taken down
to a depth of 1.2 metres. On the
pub side, once large paving slabs
under the grass had been removed,
trowelling was much easier and a
layer yielding only medieval pottery
was reached from 62cm downwards
(Fig 3). This pottery included not
only our old friend Tyler Hill
pottery, the commonest kind of
medieval pottery found in
Faversham, but also earlier North
Kent shelly ware. The earlier
pottery consisted of many small
abraded sherds and was found
associated with many small bone
and shell fragments - classic midden
scatter. The later medieval sherds
were larger and fresh-edged,
implying a transition on the site
from agriculture to settlement in
the late medieval. This fits with
what is known about the Old Wine
Vaults building itself, thought to
date from around AD1450.
For the modern period the
memories of local people were
invaluable, giving us, for example,
the demolition date for the cottage.
We also had one of those memorable
‘treasure trove’ moments when a
lady turned up with two albums of
1920s-30s photographs of the pub
and its then huge garden: her
grandfather had been the licensee
(fig 4). Irene has donated these
unique photos to the Faversham
Society. We knew from the HER
that Roman finds had been made
next door in 1934 when the Argosy
Cinema (now itself long gone) was
being built, but never dreamed we
would see a photograph of them.
If you have any idea as to who these
two men are, by the way, we would
love to know.
At the end of the week we were
tidying up the trench prior to back
filling and cleaning down a small
surface at the eastern end beyond a
small brick border to the slabs.
Almost instantly a curious scalloped
stone edge appeared, looking to our
bemused eyes very much like a
section of a classic temple pillar of
huge proportions. Joking aside, this
had to be investigated (Fig 5).
It turned out to be a large
toothed/fluted crushing wheel
which had been set into a courtyard
surface of stone fragments and can
be seen exposed in Fig 1. This
surface clearly pre-dated the slab
and brick surface found earlier. In
the central square hole rested three
large, smooth, egg shaped stones of
serpentine and granite. We have
seen boulders like this before in
Faversham gardens and have been
assuming they are ships ballast, but
are now having second thoughts
about this. The overall effect, in
the words of several of our younger
visitors, was ‘awesome’. Its original
use is still unknown: although it is
of a type commonly used in initial
apple crushing for cider, Faversham
A new project for Faversham’s community archaeologists
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter 13
has had many other industries that
involve crushing. It was placed in
the courtyard around AD1800.
Investigations continue.
A detailed report on the Old
Wine Vaults trench should be on
the FSARG website, www.
community-archaeology.org.uk by
Christmas 2013, along with the
other five 2013 locations, in the
section devoted to Preston: a most
Peculiar Parish. Many thanks to
Nuala Brenchley Sayers, landlady
of the Old Wine Vaults, who invited
us to dig in the garden.
By Dr Pat Reid
Fig 1
Fig 3
Fig 4
Fig 5
Fig 2a & 2b
14 Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
New Publications
Following 15 years of excavation and
research, Archaeology South-East
(ASE) has just published this
monograph presenting the findings of
ten archaeological sites investigated at
Brisley Farm which, at its height in the
late Iron Age, was the focus for an
exceptional settlement revealing
evidence for everyday life and death on
the eve of the Roman Conquest.
The undoubted centrepiece of the
excavations was two warrior burials,
interred with swords and spears around
2000 years ago. These finds were just
one part of a rich archaeological
landscape with widespread evidence of
ancient land use spanning some three
millennia.
Some of the earliest evidence was for a
Middle-Late Bronze Age settlement
followed by a Late Bronze Age-Early
Iron Age stock management field
system imposed across the landscape.
In the Mid-Late Iron Age, a small
enclosure was constructed interpreted
as a corral, perhaps for horse herds,
becoming the focus for the deposition
of pottery and animal remains, possibly
concurrent with seasonal gatherings.
However, in the late 1st century BC and
first half of the 1st century AD Brisley
Farm developed into a truly remarkable
settlement. The sequence uncovered
was very complex, comprising a
dynamic landscape of ditched
enclosures, circular buildings,
trackways, cremation cemeteries,
shrines and enigmatic ‘sacred’ spaces.
Undoubtedly the most significant
discoveries were the two warrior
burials, interred about a generation
apart (AD10 and AD50) and the latest
known warrior burials in Britain. They
are of national, if not international
importance, and are part of a rare
tradition; only 25 other examples have
been found south of the Humber, and
Communicants Lists are lists, by parish,
of inhabitants who took Holy
Communion. Generally, communicants
were aged 14 years and over. There was
no set method of recording and the
returns for each parish were set out in a
different way, with differing amounts of
information. For example, for Preston
only the name of the householder and
the number of communicants in each
household was noted. For Selling,
Sheldwich and Staplehurst the names
of all the communicants were given.
The Communicants Lists transcribed in
this book, which are dated, are all
dated Easter 1565, so were presumably
drawn up for a Visitation in 1565. Of
the places covered in this book, the
parish registers of four of the parishes
start after 1565, so the Communicants
Lists are important for establishing
names of inhabitants in these parishes
in the mid-1560s.
Part 3: Boughton Malherbe,
Doddington, Newnham, Norton,
Ospringe, Preston next Faversham,
Selling, Sheldwich, Stone next
Faversham and Staplehurst, with
numbers (names not given) for
Faversham and Pluckley.
Introduction, full transcript and
surname index by Gillian Rickard,
2013. 50pp.
Price: £4.50, or £5.60 including inland
postage. Overseas rates inc. postage:
Europe: £8.00, USA/Canada £9.00,
Australia/New Zealand £9.00.
Information on Part 1, and future
publication of Parts 2 and 4, can be
found on www.kentgen.com
Publication has been assisted by a
grant from the Allen Grove Local History
Fund of the KAS (see page 7 of the
Newsletter for this year’s grants).
Copies available from: Gillian Rickard,
Bidston, The Row, Elham, Canterbury,
Kent CT4 6UL but email GRKentGen@
aol.com to check address before
sending for a copy.
they have close continental parallels.
Overall, the remains represent aspects
of a farming community, but one with
an undoubted sacred bias, so much so
that in the Late Iron Age, Brisley Farm
may have been a religious and funerary
focus in the wider landscape to the
south of Ashford.
From around AD50 and in the 2nd
century AD, there were no signs of day
to day occupation. Instead there was
an intensification of processes begun
earlier in the century; cult or hero
worship, veneration and cremation
burials. By the late 2nd century, Brisley
Farm appears entirely abandoned,
perhaps as the nearby Roman town of
Westhawk Farm grew in importance.
The medieval and post-medieval
history of the site has also been studied
and the publication charts the rise and
decline of two farmsteads during these
periods.
Copies £35 inc P&P from the ASE
Sussex office, Units 1 & 2, 2
Chapel Place, Portslade, BN41
1DR.
Cheques payable to University
College London. Please include
your name and address.
Living by the Sword:
The archaeology of
Brisley Farm,
Ashford, Kent
Kent Communicants
Lists 1565
www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter 15
Members of Kent
Underground Research
Group, one of the
societies affiliated to the KAS, went
to the Sheldwich Lees estate to
reopen and survey a denehole. This
particular denehole was first exposed
some years ago whilst the field was
being ploughed. The first problem
was to find it. We had a digger and
the man who originally discovered
it. As you can see from the photo,
there are few distinguishing marks
on the field (Fig 1).
However, by excavating a trench
and checking the soil discolouration
we were able to locate the top of the
shaft. A little digging exposed the
steel crash barriers that had been
used to cover the shaft (Fig 2). These
were removed and an air test was
carried out. A caving ladder was
lowered so that two members of the
team could go down to carry out
the necessary safety checks.
Following their report an aluminium
ladder was fixed in position. The
denehole was some 37 feet deep
with a large spoil heap at the bottom
(Fig 3). Those on the ladder were
attached to a lifeline both on the
way down and on the way up. The
shaft intersected a passage, the north
leg of which was fairly short, but
the southern end had two side
passages (Fig 4).
Air testing is usually
carried out by lowering a
candle lantern or a miner’s
lamp. If the flame is
extinguished it indicates
that oxygen levels are low
and carbon dioxide levels
will be high. If the air
quality is poor then we
would normally pump air
down the shaft and retest.
Commercial oxygen meters are
available but their calibration
needs to be rechecked on a
regular basis. The use of a flame
is accurate, safe and cheap.
There were very pronounced
markings in the chambers
indicating flooding at some time
in the past. In view of the
elevation of the site above the
water table this is surprising and
could be the result of heavy storms.
Back up to the surface and
daylight. The denehole was then
capped and covered with earth.
Exploration of underground sites
and features can be both hazardous
and dangerous if proper precautions
are not observed. Kent Underground
Research Group is well practiced in
working underground and has the
necessary experience, expertise and
equipment to work safely. The
group numbers amongst its
members archaeologists, engineers,
miners and rope access workers. We
have in the past excavated mines,
World War II bunkers, wells,
icehouses, cathedral drains, secret
passages and many other features.
All these have been surveyed and
written up. If you feel we can be of
help on a dig, or to investigate that
mysterious depression in the back
garden, we can be contacted through
our website www.kurg.org.uk or
mike@mikeclinch.co.uk
Fig 2
Fig 1
Fig 4
Fig 3
Dene Hole at Sheldwich Lees By Mike Clinch
Published by the Kent Archaeological Society, Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Gallery, St Faith’s Street, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 1LH.
16 Autumn 2013 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
If undelivered, please return to
S. Broomfield, 8 Woodview Crescent, Hildenborough,
Tonbridge, Kent TN11 9HD
Copy deadline for the next issue is 1st Dec 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
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.
Volunteer Opportunity
with the Hon. Curator
and Maidstone Museum
Are you interested in
joining the team?
The KAS has an extensive collection of
archaeological artefacts housed in
Maidstone Museum*. It is hoped to
establish a small working party to work
on this collection, starting with the
Anglo-Saxon material. The work will
involve checking the objects against
existing records, ensuring that these are
correct and adding and amending
information and re-packing objects as
necessary. The aim would be to gain a
better understanding of the KAS
collection, improve the records of the
collection and thereby ensure
that it becomes more accessible.
Ideally we are looking for
an experienced individual with
the time to act as Assistant
Curator and help co-ordinate
and teach a small group of volunteers,
who would be working in pairs in the
Museum Storeroom. All volunteers
would need to register as Museum
Volunteers and comply with the
guidance set out by the Museum. The
Hon. Curator will be providing
training and guidance on one Saturday
per quarter.
The first meeting will be on the 30th
November 2013 from 10am - 1.30pm at
Maidstone Museum.
If you would like to take part please
email your details and a short summary
of your experience to Dr. Andrew
Richardson, Hon. Curator at Andrew.
Richardson@canterburytrust.co.uk
* Please note that the archaeology
collection is stored in the old part of the
Museum building and is only accessible via
a steep staircase.
Do you know what these objectS are?