Message from the Chair of the Board of Trustees
At the Annual General Meeting on the 16th September, in Canterbury, those present (along with those who had voted by Proxy) overwhelmingly supported the changes for the Society governance, which I wrote to members about some weeks before. Instead of 22 Trustees, the KAS now has 12. Those with administrative or management functions no longer sit as trustees but work together as an executive team. This means there is greater clarity between the part of the Society that has to think about medium to longer-term strategy and the part that sets out how to implement this.
It is good that this work is now finally sorted out. I want to thank Clive Drew, Richard Chaplin, Richard Taylor and all the others involved in this often time- consuming process. We had much legal advice to ensure we were doing the best thing for the KAS’s long term prospects and putting it in a position where it can continue fulfilling its important work.
Now that we have achieved this, our priority for the coming year is to make sure we do everything to fulfil our public benefit function. Serendipitously, almost as soon as the AGM was over, the opportunity arose to make a bid for a unique collection of artefacts excavated from Kent and closely linked to the KAS work. The successful purchase of the Ozengell Collection means that we now have a well-documented, important and diverse assemblage of seventh and eighth-century artefacts – several thousand, in fact.
Some of these will be described elsewhere in this newsletter. This gives us a magnificent opportunity for our members and the wider public to learn about and, through this collection, one of the most important but elusive periods of our post-Roman history.
We hope that parts of this collection will be available to display at locations around the county, and an exhibition we plan for next May at Maidstone Museum. Maidstone Museum has been the home to our library and many of our holdings from the middle of the 19th century. Some of KAS material is on display, and we have been involved in discussions about the new archaeological gallery being planned at the museum. We hope that the exhibition in 2023 will showcase KAS excavation findings from the Leas Court Estate, our acquisition of the Elham Valley Cross, and some of the Ozengell collection material.
Through our new engagement officer Peter Joyce, we have become far more active in social media and events. Michael Wood, the historian well-known for his television work over the last four decades, will come to speak to us on 1st December. There are details about this event in the Magazine. We are also aiming to host Ken Dark, whose recent paper on the St Pancras Church in Canterbury argues that this was indeed the original building constructed by St Augustine during his mission to Britain in the 6th and 7th centuries. We are aiming to hold that event in Canterbury. This is in addition to online events and excavations such as the recent one at Trottiscliffe.
I was also privileged to represent the Society at two events held since Spring this year. The first, a dinner arranged by the Council for the Protection of Rural England, was in Allington Castle and presided over by both their and our patron, Sir Robert Worcester.
This event offered a chance to understand what other heritage focussed groups in the county were doing and make better connections with some of them. However, going into the castle was an interesting experience for personal reasons. I remember going there on a school visit in the mid-1970s when the Carmelite Friars owned it. It was good to see how well looked after the castle, and its surrounding gardens were. The second event was a study day arranged by Dr Sheila Sweetingburgh in August at the Lossenham Priory site on the border between Kent and East Sussex. As usual, this was packed with interesting speakers and presentations and plotted the fascinating story of how this substantial but largely forgotten establishment had been refound and is now better understood.
We have many other plans for the coming year, and we are grateful for the continuing support from our members. It is a great time to be interested in the history and archaeology of Kent and a great time to be involved with KAS work. I look forward to seeing you at some of our events in the weeks and months ahead.
Best wishes,
Kerry Brown
Chair of the Board of Trustees