KAS Historic Buildings Committee
by Angela Davies
The theme of ‘Accommodation in Medieval and Early Modern Buildings’ drew an audience of around 80 to the annual one-day Historic Buildings Conference held on 15 October last year in Harrietsham Community Centre.
First was the welcome return of speaker Andrew Linklater, of Canterbury Archaeological Trust. In his presentation, ‘The House Divided – The Use of Internal Space of Buildings as Through Archaeology’, Andrew drew attention to the scarcity of hard evidence from which to deduce how space was used in Medieval domestic life, thus explaining the significance of both documentary research and micro-archaeology when trying to establish what activities had taken place. He described the types of materials and objects found during excavation of layers of occupation, and explained the clues that these finds provided when trying to interpret the functions of internal space. During the discussion session that followed, the knotty problem of the prevalence of detached kitchens in Kent was raised, a topic which was the subject of lively debate throughout the day.
Next Sarah Pearson, buildings historian, formerly working with the Royal Commission on Historic Monuments of England, and author of ‘The Medieval Houses of Kent: An Historical Analysis’, spoke on ‘The Provision of Services in Medieval Rural and Urban Kentish Houses’. Sarah detailed the evolution of the layout of medieval dwellings, offering suggestions as to how space might have been used. She drew attention to the differences between urban and rural buildings. Although there was generally more conformity in the floor plan of urban dwellings, identifying the precise functions of rooms proved even more difficult because of the likelihood of a greater variety of activities taking place in urban premises. Sarah believed that in the past there had been too standardised an interpretation of utilisation of rooms/space in Medieval buildings.
The third talk was given by co-presenters: Catherine Richardson of the University of Kent, and Tara Hamling of the University of Birmingham. Their presentation was entitled ‘Towards a Material History of Early Modern Accommodation – Houses, Objects and Daily Routine’. Catherine spoke on the varied and flexible use of space by ‘middling’ urban households from the late 16th century to the early 17th century. Tara focussed on differences between the contents of urban and rural dwellings. Both speakers drew upon their extensive examination of archival material to provide a vivid picture of domestic life in households of the period. Their diverse and diverting evidence illustrated the challenges of disentangling the complexities of what accommodation could mean.
After lunch there were presentations on three local topics. Paula Jardine-Rose of the Wychling, Doddington & Newnham Historical Research Group talked about the first community dig that the Group had organised, which took place in Newnham. She reported on the findings, the most notable being the discovery of a Roman road.
Next was Deborah Goacher, member of the Historic Buildings Committee and Maidstone Archaeological Society. The title of her presentation was ‘Another Kentish Medieval House: The Cottage, Little Buckland’. She shared the findings of the research she had undertaken on her own house.
unique house, a building that had been constructed of stone and timber in one build around 1400.
Patricia Reid, Community Archaeologist for the Faversham Society, spoke on ‘Finding a Lost Manor: Search for the Real Davington Hall’. In her presentation she illustrated the adage - particularly true in archaeology - that things are not always what they seem. Pat described a community-based project aimed at finding out more about Davington Hall and its relationship with surviving 17th century walls and gate. This led to the discovery that the building demolished in 1968 and generally thought to have been Davington Hall had, in fact, been a farm bailiff’s house. It had been constructed of stone from the original manor house located elsewhere on the site and demolished in the 1770’s.
Finally, Christopher Proudfoot, Chairman of the Historic Buildings Committee and the Conference, rounded off by expressing thanks to the speakers for contributing to such an absorbing and informative day, and to Historic Buildings Committee member, David Carder, and his team for arranging the event.