What’s On

KAS EVENTS

KAS Fieldwork Committee

Two One Day Training Courses on Practical Site Surveying
(Same course on both days)

Location: The Roman Buildings at Gallants Business Park, Lower Road, East Farleigh, Maidstone. TQ 72805345

Course 1 - Wednesday 3 August
Course 2 - Saturday 6 August

From 10am - 4pm each day (lunch 12.30 to 1pm – please bring a packed lunch). Cost £5 per person (pay on the day).

Subjects covered:

• Detail Surveying
• Base lines and offset methods of booking detail
• Triangulation and Traverse Surveys
• Tape alone
• Triangulation using theodolite and tape
• Triangulation and traversing using electronic distance measurement (EDM)
• Calculation of co-ordinates (please bring a scientific calculator if you have one)
• Basic Site Levelling
• Plan Drawing

The course will be limited to two groups of three on each day. Further courses will be run if there is sufficient demand. To book contact Mr A.J. Daniels, BSc. on 01622 757536 or email a.daniels249@btinternet.com

KAS Historic Buildings Committee

One Day Workshop In conjunction with the Wye Rural Museum Trust
Saturday 10 September
Held at the Agricultural Museum at Brook, near Wye

This workshop will give practical experience in building interpretation & recording. Three workshops will cover the following topics:-

• Understanding timber framing and construction - Jane Wade
• Reading and interpreting a building - Peter Clark (Canterbury Archaeological Trust)
• Recording a building - George Denby RIBA

In addition, Sheila Sweetinburgh will be discussing, with examples, documentary sources relating to Medieval Buildings.

The day will be in two sessions, morning and afternoon, and the workshops will be repeated in each session. Participants will be asked to choose two of the three sessions.

It will also be helpful if you could bring the following items:-

• measuring tape
• clip board
• note book
• torch

The cost for the day is £12. You are advised to bring a packed lunch. An application form is available on the Society’s web site or direct from Mike Clinch on 01322 526425, or from 2 Parkhurst Rd, Bexley DA5 1AR or email mike@mikeclinch.co.uk

KAS Churches Committee VISIT

St Peter and St Paul, Luddesdowne & St Mary Magdalen, Cobham
Saturday 24 September

Please meet at 1.45 for 2pm start at Luddesdowne, St Peter and St Paul (postcode DA13 0XG, grid reference TQ 689 661 (TQ6866)). The church is off a country lane and is not visible from the road, but there is a sign. There is a church car park. We will then move on to Cobham, St Mary Magdalen (postcode DA12 3DB; grid reference TQ696 683 (TQ6968)). The church is highly visible in the village, opposite the Leather Bottle Inn. Parking is at the Meadow Room (the village hall) a couple of hundred yards or so down the road. There are maps linked from the churches’ website:

http://www.cobham-luddesdowne.org/location.html

The cost of the visits is £5, to include tea and biscuits at Cobham. Please register by emailing or telephoning the Church Visits Secretary, Jackie Davidson - jacalyn.davidson@btinternet.com or 01634 324004

Dates of all visits this year can be found in the diary at www.kentarchaeology.org.uk.

KAS Historic Buildings Committee

Historic Buildings Conference
Accommodation in Medieval and Early Modern Buildings
Saturday 15 October
Harrietsham Community Centre, 9.30am for 10am until 4pm.

Main talks:

• The House Divided - the use of internal space of buildings as revealed through archaeology - Andrew Linklater (Canterbury Archaeological Trust)
• The Provision of Services in Medieval Rural and Urban Kentish Houses; Sarah Pearson (author of The Medieval Houses of Kent: an Historical Analysis)
• Towards a Material History of Early Modern Accommodation - houses, objects and daily routine; Catherine Richardson (University of Kent)

The day will also include short accounts of research projects.

Admission - £10. Buffet selection lunch - £7 (vegetarian option included, but we are unable to cater for other special diets). Tea and coffee provided on arrival and at the end of the Conference. Deadline for applications Monday 3 October. Further details will be included with tickets.

The booking form is on the Society’s website. For those unable to access this, please send your cheque, payable to 'Kent Archaeological Society' to: Mr D Carder (KAS), 53 The Ridgeway, Chatham, Kent ME4 6PB. Please ensure you state your name, address, tel no, number of tickets & number of lunches (including any vegetarian options). Please enclose a SAE for return of tickets or tell us you will collect on the day.

KAS LECTURES IN THE LIBRARY

From Monday 19 September

Life in England 1901-1939
Mornings 10.15 – 12.15

A time of war, social conflict and depression, but also rising living standards for many people. Topics will include the beginnings of the Welfare State under the Liberals, 1906-1914; the home front in the First World War, unemployment and the great depression; housing; education; leisure.

The Making of Europe, 410-1453
Afternoons 2.00 - 4.00

In this period, foundations were laid which continued to influence European affairs down to the twentieth century. Topics will include the fall of the Roman Empire in the West and the ‘barbarian’ migrations; the rise of Islam; the Empire of Charlemagne; the Vikings, Normandy and Sicily; the Medieval Papacy; the Crusades; France; Germany and eastern Europe; the Renaissance; the Byzantine Empire.

Cost is £80 for 20 sessions. Please contact Joy Sage at the museum or on 01622 762942.

One-Day Conference held jointly by KAS and the Friends of the Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, University of Kent

Later Medieval Kent

Saturday 10 December
9.55am (register from 9.30) to 5pm

Grimond Lecture Theatre 1, University of Kent, Canterbury campus

Programme (2 lectures per session):

• The Aristocracy: Dr David Grummitt & Richard Eales
• The Economy: Professor Mavis Mate & Dr Gillian Draper
• The Church: Dr Elizabeth Edwards & Dr Robert Lutton
• The Town: Sarah Pearson & Dr Sheila Sweetinburgh

Tickets £12 (lunch NOT provided – see campus outlets). Further details and to book (by 2 December): Claire Taylor, Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Rutherford College, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NX; cl.taylor@kent.ac.uk or 01227 823140. Cheques should be made payable to ‘UNIKENT’.

EVENTS AROUND KENT

Festival of British Archaeology 16 - 31 July

Festival events in Kent are being held at Folkestone, S’hore, Dartford, Tunbridge Wells, Birchington, Rochester, East Farleigh, Dover, Orpington, Lower Higham and Bexley. Go to www.archaeologyfestival.org.uk to find out more. Details of 3 events appear below.

East Farleigh Roman Villa Open Day Sunday 31 July

11.30am – 3.00 pm.

Site tours, displays of finds, poster displays and geophysics demonstrations. Tours throughout the day – turn up at any time.

Access is through Lower Gallants Business Park (ME15 0JS), on Lower Road (B2010), just west of its junction with Gallants Lane, through a big green gate. Drive down the track for c150 yards, through a green metal gate, turn left through outbuildings onto open field to park within a few yards of the excavation.

Shorne Woods Archaeology Project Excavation, Tours & Finds Displays

From the 9 - 31 July, we will be investigating the remains of Randall Manor, in this, our sixth season.

Run as a community archaeology dig, local schools will be joining volunteers to excavate the remains of the main building of the Manor, once owned by the de Cobham family of Cobham. Visitors are very welcome and Guided Tours will run daily, with displays of Finds on site at the weekends. We look forward to welcoming many members of the Society on tours of the dig this summer! Please note - Tours will not run on Monday 18th or 25th.

If you would like to find out more about the Project and the Dig, please contact Andrew Mayfield at andrew.mayfield@kent.gov.uk or 07920 548906.

See www.kent.gov.uk/randallmanor and www.facebook.com/archaeologyinkent where Andrew will be posting daily updates from the Dig.

Crofton Roman Villa, Orpington

Life in the Roman Villa
Wednesdays 20 & 27 July
Fridays 22 & 29 July

Visit the Villa and discover what life was like there 1,800 years ago. Claim your FREE book on ‘Excavations in West Kent’, covering 30 local sites with drawings and photographs. Normal opening times and charges.

Crayford Manor House Historical & Archaeological Society

Saturday 8 October - Meals and Manners in Shakespeare’s Time by Shirley Newton

Saturday 12 November - Pepys Hereabouts by John Swindell and Lesley Veach

Saturday 10 December - An Audience with Queen Victoria by Alice Carr

Saturday 14 January 2012 - Migration Triangle; Calico Printing on the Cray, the Lea and the Wandle by David Cuffley

Saturday 11 February 2012 - The Suburban Home Front in the Second World War by Mike Brown

Saturday 10 March 2012 - Traditional Kentish Building Materials by Richard Filmer

All meetings are held at the BakerTrust Hall, Maxim Road, Crayford at 7pm for 7.30pm. Non-members welcome at meetings - £3.00 per lecture (except December when there will be an additional charge), enquiries Mrs. J. Haem-Gillham – 01322 551279 or email janet.haem-gillham@ntlworld.com

Loose Area History Society

Monday 10 October - Hazards of the Journey Pilgrimage and Travel by Imogen Corrigan.

Monday 14 November - Despatches from the Home Front by Chris McCooey.

Monday 12 December - A Shopping trip in Downe in a bygone era by Barbara Stevens.

Unless otherwise indicated all meetings are held at Loose Infant School Hall, Loose Road, Loose, Maidstone, Kent, starting at 7.30pm.

Non-members welcome. Admission £2.50. Pay at the door. Free parking in school grounds. Enquiries 01622 741198 or www.looseareahistorysociety.webeden.co.uk

Crofton Roman Villa

Ancient Heroes & Legends - every Wednesday in August

3 August - Romulus, Remus and the Wolf

10 August - King Midas and his Ass’s Ears

17 August - Phaeton and the Sun-Horses

24 August - Pegasus, the Prince and the Monster

31 August - Hercules Holds up the Sky

Sessions at 10.30am and 2.30pm. For 5-11 year olds. No booking required. Children to be accompanied. Entry £4.00 per child, accompanying adult free.

Fun with Pots - every Friday in August

Find out about Roman pots and have some real fun making your own ‘Roman’ mini clay pot to take home! Sessions at 10.30am and 2.30pm. For 5 - 11 year olds. No booking required. Children to be accompanied. Entry £4.00 per child, accompanying adult free.

Open City 2011 - Sunday 18 September

10.00am - 4.30pm. FREE ENTRY with guided tours at 11.00am, 2.30pm and 3.30pm

St Margaret’s History Society

Tuesday 20 September, 7.30pm - Life in the Victorian Workhouse; Peter Ewart

Tuesday 18 October, 7.30pm - Ramsgate in World War I - 1938 up to and including Dunkirk

Tuesday 15 November, 7.00pm (AGM) - A Little Bit of Chanting - the story of education in the masses; Denise Baldwin & Katherine Harding

All talks held in St Margaret’s Main Hall, Reach Road. Visitors welcome, entry £3.00.

CBA SE Conference

‘Policing the Past’
Saturday 12 November
University of Sussex

Focussing on recent work to tackle heritage-related crime, the keynote speaker will be Chief Inspector Mark Harrison of Kent Police. See CBA SE website for more details & tickets.