Notices
Becket 2020
This year sees the 850th anniversary of the murder of St Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral on 29th December 1170, and also the 800th anniversary of the move of his remains (‘translation’) to a new shrine in the Trinity Chapel on 7th July 1220. It is also thought that Becket was born on 21st December 1120, in London, thus making this year the 900th anniversary of his birth.
Throughout the year there will be various events to mark this anniversary in Canterbury, London and beyond. In Canterbury, there will be an exhibition at the Beaney from mid-May. During July, a vestment traditionally thought to have been worn by Becket will be on display in the cathedral, on loan from the Basilica of Sta Maria Maggiore in Rome. On Saturday
4th July, throughout the city will take place the annual Canterbury Medieval Pageant and Family Trail, which will provide an excellent day out for adults and children alike. October will see the opening of a significant exhibition on Becket at the British Museum. From 11th to 13th November will take place a conference entitled ‘Thomas Becket: life, death and legacy’ at Canterbury Cathedral and the University of Kent. For full details of all events, including special services, please see the Becket2020 website at www.becket2020.com
Do also look at the website produced by the University of York, with support from various funders, at https://www.thebecketstory.org.uk/ This includes some 3D animations of the sites in Canterbury Cathedral which are associated with Becket, showing how they may have looked in the early 15th century.
An event which may be of particular interest to KAS members is the day conference on ‘Church, Saints and Seals 1150-1300’ to be held on Monday 18th May at Canterbury Christ Church University. This will include papers by leading experts on the subject and will include a visit to the Archives and Conservation Studio at the cathedral. For the programme and booking information, see https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/arts- and-humanities/events/arts-and-humanities/ckhh/ saints-and-seals.aspx
Canterbury Historical and Archaeological Society – research and publication grants
Website : www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk (or Google “CHAS Canterbury”)
The Society has limited funds available to award a grant to individuals researching any aspect of the history or archaeology of Canterbury and its region. lt is envisaged that a grant would not normally exceed £500.
Above: Martyrdom of Becket shown on the seal of the City of Canterbury. Reference DCc/ChAnt/C/1154; image copyright the Chapter of Canterbury Cathedral
Preference would be given to work resulting in publication in any media.
Please apply in writing to the Honorary Secretary of the Grants Committee by the next deadline of midnight, 30 June 2020. Your letter should mention:
Your qualifications
The nature and length of your research
The title of your project
The stage you have reached in your research
The sum of money you are applying for, including a breakdown of the total by type of expense
Any additional funding anticipated from other sources
Your proposals for publication
Your anticipated timetable.
You may be asked to name a referee whom the Committee making the grant could consult. lf successful, you would be expected to account for the money spent and give a copy of any article, pamphlet, etc., to the Society. A recipient may be invited to give a lecture to the Society at one of its monthly meetings.
A summary of your research may be published on the society’s website: www.canterbury-archaeology.org.uk
For further details, please contact the Honorary Secretary of the Grants Committee:
Mr. Barrie Beeching, Holly House, Church Road, Hoath, Canterbury, Kent CT3 4JT
Or by email: beechingsl@gmail.com
London’s Sailortowns: People Communities and the Thames
A conference organised by the Docklands History Group to be held on Saturday 16th May 2020 at the Museum of London.
At this conference, a series of distinguished speakers with a long involvement in the history of the River Thames and the Dockland areas of London will present papers on a varied range of subjects relating to the communities in the area.
The following is a list of the speakers and their papers:
Professor Sarah Palmer – London’s maritime communities and the Thames
Colin Greenstreet – The 17th Century Thames shoreline: migration and literacy 1580-1680
Chris Ellmers – Deptford: London’s forgotten Sailortown
Pieter van der Merwe – ‘Éminence grise’: E.H. Locker and the re-invention of ‘maritime’ Greenwich
Professor Brad Beavan – Ratcliffe Highway: reality and myths of 19th Century Sailortown
Dr Margarette Lincoln – Women of London’s Edwardian Sailortowns
Derek Morris – St Katharine’s before St. Katharine’s Dock
Presentation: A Sailortown garland: London’s sailors in picture, words and songs.
For further details and information on how to book a place, please visit the Group’s website at www.docklandshistorygroup.org.uk
Crofton Roman Villa 2020 Events
Crofton Roman Villa, Orpington, Kent, BR6 8AF Tel: 01689 860939
Email: crofton.roman.villa@gmail.com www.karu.org.uk/crofton_roman_villa.html
Wednesday 8th & 15th April
Easter holidays – Heroic Adventures!
Join us to listen to unbelievable stories of ancient heroes and their fantastic adventures. Take part in a quiz and make a fabulous heroic cartoon strip to take home.
Sessions at 10.30am. For up to 11-year olds. No booking needed. Children to be accompanied. Entry £4.00 per child, adult carer free.
Every Wednesday in August
Marvellous Mosaic Making!
Discover all there is to know about Roman mosaics and make your own mosaic to take home!
Sessions at 10.30am. For up to 11-year olds. No booking needed. Children to be accompanied. Entry £4.00 per child, adult carer free.
Open House London – Sunday 20th September Special open day – as part of Open House London, with site tours by the Director of Excavations, Dr. Brian
Philp whose team preserved, excavated and opened the Villa. Tours at 11am & 3pm. Doors open – 10am with last admission at 4pm. Free entry and activities for children.
Car parking available off York Rise. The villa is adjacent to Orpington Station.
Kent Archaeology Society Historic Buildings Conference 2020
3 October 2020, 10am – 4 pm
The Friars, St. Simon Stock Conference Room, Aylesford, ME20 7BX
The KAS Historic Buildings Special Interest Group is planning to hold an autumn conference in 2020. The general theme is ‘Aspects of Kent’s Monastic Heritage’. Details of the day’s programme are being finalised. In addition to the conference presentations, during the afternoon there will be an opportunity to visit relevant buildings in the vicinity. More details on the conference will be available in the summer issue of the KAS Newsletter and on the KAS website.
KAS History Classes
We are a small group and would love some new members. Please come and join us.
We meet on Monday mornings from 10.30 to 12.30 at the United Reform Church in Week Street, Maidstone.
For more information, please contact Sue Moore at su_mor@hotmail.com
Kent People in History
Six meetings beginning Monday 20 April
A class looking at lives of selected men and women who were born, lived or worked in Kent, and who had an impact on the county, the country or the wider world.
War and Peace: Britain 1914– 1939
Two terms of ten meetings each:
Autumn Term begins Monday 21 September.
Spring Term begins Monday 11 January.
The Great War affected nearly every aspect of life in Britain. In the 1920s and 1930s parts of Britain suffered depression and deprivation, while elsewhere there were improved standards of living for some.
There was uncertainty about the future of the Empire, while in Europe dissatisfaction with the Peace of Versailles contributed to the rise of Fascism and led to the outbreak of war in September 1939.
This class will look at life on the Home Front in the Great War and at how post-war governments tried to address the difficulties of the 1920s and 1930s.
£250 Thirsk prize for MA students (history/archaeology)
The £250 Thirsk Prize is the Kent Archaeological Society’s biennial prize named in honour of the late Dr Joan Thirsk, a distinguished historian and a long-standing member of the Society. It will be awarded for a dissertation or an extended essay, submitted as part of a successful Master’s degree. The prize will be awarded to a dissertation judged to be a significant contribution to the history or archaeology of Kent (including districts which were originally part of the county and are now within the Medway unitary authority and the London boroughs of Bexley, Bromley, Greenwich and Lewisham).
The KAS will consider, for the Thirsk Prize, dissertations and long essays completed for a Master’s degree within the calendar years 2019 and 2020.
Dissertations and essays can be submitted from any academic institution.
The prize aims to reward students working on the history and archaeology of Kent and to help promote the publication of articles and chapters that advance scholarly knowledge of the county’s past.
The KAS will be willing to advise on publication. The editor of the Society’s annual journal, Archaeologia Cantiana, will also consider publishing articles based on the various submissions.
Registration of submission
To register interest, candidates for the Thirsk Prize should, in the first instance, send a brief abstract of their MA dissertation/extended essay to the KAS Hon. Editor: email terry.lawson@ kentarchaeology.org.uk by 31 October 2020.
Final submission guidelines
The closing date for submissions is 31 December 2020.
Dissertations and long essays must be submitted as a printed hard copy and also in electronic form on a disk and sent to Dr Elizabeth Edwards, School of History, Rutherford College, The University, Canterbury, Kent, CT2 7NX.
The hard copy must be suitably bound or within rigid covers and the disk must be in Word format. The submission must include an abstract and be accompanied by a letter of recommendation from the dissertation/long essay supervisor together, where appropriate, with the names and the institutions of the examiners of the dissertation.
Copies of dissertations and long essays will not be returned but will be placed in the KAS library. All candidates for the prize will be notified of the judges’ decision within three calendar months or such time as is agreed.