President’s Column
Many will know of my decision to stand down as President at the next Annual General Meeting. I feel that I have taken the Society through a difficult four years after the untimely death of my predecessor Ian Coulson. His death left a big hole which was going to be challenging to fill. Four years ago, I knew that I was in for an exhilarating experience, but I also knew I was in for a very sharp learning curve.
During my four years as President, the Society has completed the process of becoming a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), a process started by Ian and Peter Stutchbury. Another project started before my election is the Society’s project to understand the archaeological and historical heritage of the Lees Court Estate, the estate of one of our patrons, Lady Sondes.
Part of this project included the purchase of several items of up-to-date digital surveying equipment which is enabling the Society to assist affiliated societies in their researches. Recently, the Society has moved its website from the platform available in 2003 to a more modern platform which will support it better. I have also visited as President many archaeological sites in the County run by members and affiliated groups.
The Society faces many challenges, including an ageing membership and reduced membership income, and has insufficient room to undertake its activities and to store its archives. During 2019, the County has seen the demise of the Kent History Federation. Kent also lacks a County Museum with tells the History of Kent. Most importantly for a County rich in archaeological and historical heritage, it lacks a dedicated and comprehensive storage facility for the vast archaeological archive resulting from the recent massive development projects in Kent. Overcoming these challenges will require significant financial resources. Here the Society can be influential in leading a campaign to raise finance from commercial and private sources.
Part of my work has been to develop a vision for the Society. This vision is that the Society shall be the leading organisation to promote the study and publication of archaeology and history in all its branches within the ancient County of Kent. However, I feel that
I am not the best person to carry on this work and to turn this vision into a reality. Fortunately for the Society, another member has indicated that he is willing and can carry on with this work.
I fully support Kerry Brown for President of the Society. Also, the KAS Council, at its meeting in February, is recommending that Kerry be made President at the next AGM in May. In recognition of my service as President, Clive Drew proposed, and it was accepted at that Council meeting that I should be made a Vice President of the Society to join Dr Steve Willis, Rod LeGear and Mike Clinch.
Professor Kerry Brown
Kerry Brown was born in Kent in 1967 and joined the KAS in 1993. He has been a member of Council since 2016 and was educated at Dartford Grammar School before reading philosophy and English Literature at Cambridge. He is Professor of Chinese
Studies at King’s College London. He has a particular interest in the literary history of the County which was demonstrated in a talk he gave at the last AGM in 2019. Since 2019 he has been part of the strategy group of the Society which aims to raise the profile of the Society. I wish him well in the tasks ahead.
Professor Paul Bennett, MBE
The 29th February marked the end of an era for the Canterbury Archaeological Trust. Paul Bennett gave his 34th and last Frank Jenkins lecture as Director of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust. As usual, he stood for over two hours describing the work of his colleagues in the Trust. In the Cathedral, the Trust carried out building surveys in the crypt, which included discovering unexpected survivals from Lanfranc’s time and in the triforia where a section of William of Sens roof was found, the earliest surviving roof in the Cathedral dating to the 1170s. Excavations in the cloisters revealed an intact part of original paving for the great cloister, laid in 1414 and outside the cathedral deposits and features associated with the Archbishop’s Palace. In Canterbury, for example, archaeological excavations returned to the large Roman cemetery east of the City walls opposite the Dane John. He described how the Trust is acutely aware of the changing retail market in the city, especially concerning the area vacated by Debenhams and Nasons, and how it will affect the historic core of Canterbury. Further afield he described the Trust’s architectural analysis of Rochester Priory’s magnificent medieval barn at Frindsbury, ‘the Queen of Kentish Barns’ where the Trust’s archaeological survey has been used by quality craftsmen, using traditional skills, to reconstruct five bays lost to arson.
Paul has been a significant contributor to archaeology in other ways. He has undertaken extensive fieldwork in Libya for many years and more recently worked in Northern Iraq and Cyprus. Also, Paul is Chairman of the Dover Bronze Age Boat Trust and is the skipper of the half-scale replica of the Dover Boat.
The Kent Archaeological Society wishes Paul a great retirement from the Canterbury Archaeological Trust in the autumn. We suspect he will be around to advise with his considerable knowledge of Archaeology in Canterbury and Kent. Paul indicated that Alison Hicks, CAT’s Deputy Director and Commercial Operations Director, will take over the reins at CAT and will give the next Frank Jenkins lecture in 2021.
Dennis Rozier, not out at 90 years
On Wednesday 4th March, over 50 colleagues and family members of Dennis Rozier celebrated his 90th birthday in the Visitors’ Centre at Shorne Woods Country Park. He has been a volunteer at the Park since 2009 when he joined the Randal Manor Excavation Team. From the start, he helped with the excavation, dug until 2012, took parties of visitors, including school children around the site and entertained them with very individual stories. After the dig finished in 2015, he continued with his voluntary work at the Park, including recreating the sensory garden to make it the beautiful place it is today. Also, he helps out in the Visitors’ Centre, both in the kitchen and in the public area. He is well-liked by all with his cheery personality keeping everyone entertained. All his colleagues at the Park wish him well and hope he will continue to be around the Park for many more years.
Gerald Cramp, President
