Letters to the Editor, Autumn 2005
Dear Editor
Stacks of Information
Our Society is fortunate to have not only a substantial collection of Kent antiquaries’ notebooks and files, but fortunate that their worth is recognised by the splendid indexing work of Dr Panton and Sheila Wilson. That work is their quirky nature and information recorded nowhere else.
However, these are tips of icebergs, for what the Society holds is in many cases the random parts of much larger lifetime collections of antiquaries. As death has a nasty habit of breaking up the best-regulated collections, many Society members will have items complementary to those of the KAS.
I would suggest that all of us who have such material, or know of the whereabouts of such, should write to Dr Panton enclosing brief details and provenance. A huge corpus of information would be built up very quickly, at no cost, but at enormous benefit to fellow historians and the KAS indexers.
I was particularly interested to see in the article the name of Canon Greville Marais Livett, (1859-1951), for I have sixteen of his field notebooks, from 1898-1902, and some of his correspondence. These, with many of his papers, emerged at auction in the West Country thirty five years ago, were bought by the late Cecil Bradshaw of Canterbury, and emerged again locally at his death in 1991.
As private collectors and antiquaries I believe we should share access to our collections to serious researchers, subject of course to reasonable safeguards. Hopefully other KAS members will feel likewise.
John Owen FSA
Throwley
Dear Editor
I noticed on the internet an article by Michael Leach in the Spring 2004 issue of your Newsletter, entitled ‘Evidence of Victorian Recycling in Archaeologia Cantiana’. At the time I was searching on ‘Mechi and Bazin’. Mr Leach had found some scrap paper with their names on it inside the binding of Arch. Cant. vol. 5, but had not identified them. He might already have found out about them from the saleroom references on the internet, but if not I can offer the following information.
The 1840 Post Office Directory lists ‘Mechi, John Joseph, cutler, dressing case, bagatelle and magic strop manufacturer, 4 Leadenhall Street’. The firm later became Mechi and Bazin, with premises at 112 Regent Street, 48 Glass House Street, 4 Leadenhall Street and Crystal Palace, Sydenham.
Mechi exhibited at the 1851 and 1862 International Exhibitions. Envelope and stationery cases were illustrated in ‘Masterpieces of Industrial Art and Sculpture at the International Exhibition’ by J. B. Waring, 1862, vol. II, pl. 123. One of the partners, C. Bazin, acted as a Juror for this class. Waring says that the firm was founded by Alderman Mechi in 1827 and in 1859 his manager, Bazin, was made a partner.
It is possible that the paper lining the volume was from one of the international exhibitions.
Incidentally, Mr Leach also mentions Christie, Manson and Woods, now known as Christie’s, the London saleroom.
Kate Hay
Assistant Curator
Department of Furniture, Textiles and Fashion
Victoria and Albert Museum
Dear Editor
It was interesting to read (Newsletter no.65) about the ancient town of Sandwich again and ideas, most not new, about its possible origins. The Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit teams have carried out more than a dozen rescue excavations across the town in recent years, in spite of the inadequate funding. This work awaits funds for its analysis and publication, estimated at about £30,000. Meanwhile our surveys and research continue.
The claim, however, that minor variations in the street-levels in Sandwich are highly significant, must be regarded with caution. The very same process was tried at Dover in 1969 when similar minor variations produced the claim that a Roman fort by the market was “a geographical impossibility”. Our extensive work in Dover, now in its 35th year, not only found a very large Roman shore-fort in exactly that position, but also two more forts of the Classis Britannica nearby.
With stratification in depth varying from 2 – 7m across ancient Dover, minor street-level variations can be totally misleading. Similarly, our work in Faversham has shown that the stratification can vary from 1-8m in depth and that present street-levels can fail to reflect these major variations. Our work also proved this to be the case across parts of ancient Sandwich.
Brian Philp
Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, Dover