Kent Visual Records

For over six years a small group of members of the Society have been working on cataloguing the Society's collection of visual records held in the Library in Maidstone Museum. The collection consists of paintings, early prints, etchings, glass plate negatives, photographic prints and 35mm colour slides illustrating aspects of the archaeology and history of Kent numbering many thousands.

To date the details of over 11,000 images have been entered onto a computer database housed in the Library for all K.A.S. members to access and use. Work is also in hand through the use of a scanner and digital camera to put an image of each painting etc. on the computer.

Successful Lottery Bid for Video Projector and Laptop Computer

However only a relatively small number of members can make use of this facility in the Library so a successful bid has been made to the Lottery Fund that has led to the purchase of a video projector and a laptop computer so that demonstrations of the society's database of visual records can be shown to Society members, Local Historical and Archaeological Society members, other organisations and individuals, including school children.

It should be appreciated that the database is probably not suitable for formal lectures, but for 'dipping' into perhaps display information about a particular village or type of building etc. Without doubt the use of the database will evolve so that individual interests can be more easily catered for.

If you as an individual, a member of a local organisation or teacher are interested in finding out more about arranging such a demonstration please contact Ted Connell.

Book Reviews

Romney Marsh: Survival on a Frontier

Jill Eddison, with a foreword by Professor Barry Cunliffe.
Tempus Publishing, 2000. 160pp, 75 b / w illustrations, 31 colour plates £14.99, reduced to £12.99 for members of K.A.S. who use the enclosed flier.
Romney Marsh lies at the frontier between land and sea. It consists entirely of land gained from the sea and, being below the level of high tides, has always been threatened by flooding. Four ports now stranded miles from the sea and another lost to the sea bear witness to great changes in the coastline.

This book charts the history of human occupation of a very specialized and difficult environment, especially in the last 2,000 years. Advances were made when both environmental and economic conditions were favourable. But when difficulties become insuperable, especially in Roman times and again in the thirteenth century, the inhabitants retreated. The struggle for survival continues today, and the book concludes with the challenges facing the twenty-first century.

The book reflects the work of the Romney Marsh Research Group, founded in 1983 by Professor Barry Cunliffe and Jill Eddison. It brings together the recent work of archaeologists, historians and geographers, and presents an up-to-date interpretation of the history of the areas. With numerous illustrations (many in full colour), this book will delight and inform anyone interested in Romney Marsh -or in changing coastlines and sea levels.
Jill Eddison is uniquely placed as its author, having been secretary of the Research Group and the supporting charitable Trust, and joint editor of three specialist publications about Romney Marsh. Originally a geologist, she lives near the Marsh and her interest in it goes back to her childhood.

Quotes from Reviews:

'... highly recommended to all interested in the Marsh'
'Such a book as this was long overdue. Charting the creation, evolution and development of Romney Marsh from prehistory to present, Jill Eddison conveys the immense wealth of detail in a flowing style, which holds the reader's attention throughout. There are copious illustrations and photographs'
'... it brings so much research and scholarship together in a way that is immensely readable'.