Lower Medway Archaeological Research Group - the early years

by Michael Ocock

It is fifty years since the Lower Medway Archaeological Research Group held its AGM at the end of a very successful first year, during which members compiled a comprehensive sites and monuments record for the area and began a programme of local field surveys. The Group was founded by four local amateur archaeologists, all of whom had worked on the excavation of the Cobham Roman villa under Peter Tester. The four original members were Ron Foord of Chatham, a skilled photographer of flora and fauna and long-time member of the Society; [Obituary, Arch. Cant. CXXII (2002)], a retired shipwright, a City worker and amateur musician, and the writer. The Group concentrated on fieldwork and documentary research, looking out for unexpected finds on building sites in sensitive areas and giving assistance with emergency rescue excavations wherever possible.

An early success for the field survey project was the discovery of the Eccles Roman villa through aerial photography, which resulted in an article in the Times and several local newspapers. The aerial surveys, complemented by a programme of field walking and documentary research, produced results within a few months. Areas of interest were identified by plotting recorded finds and observations made throughout the lower Medway Valley, the Hoo peninsula, the Medway Towns and parts of the North Kent marshes. The Eccles site was located in July 1961 [Arch. Cant. LXXVI (1961)]. Later that summer trial trenches revealed the villa's considerable size which made the case for further exploration, especially since the villa was vulnerable to nearby industrial development, the building of which, in 1966, uncovered a substantial Roman kiln for the bulk manufacture and export of roofing and other tiles.

The photograph shows the Eccles villa as seen from the air in 1962 and is one of the second series of aerial photographs of the site. It can be seen that a portion of the field has been given over to that year’s programme of excavations by the Group. The project was subsequently taken over by the late Alec Detsicas’s Eccles Excavation Committee and continued until 1976. Despite the size and status of the building, and the site’s potential interest to late Roman studies, a full and final report could prove to be unaffordable.

The Group grew from strength to strength throughout its early years, undertaking and reporting on field surveys in a number of localities including the Hundred of Hoo and Bredhurst [Arch. Cant. LXXX (1965)]. Local activities and publicity ensured a rising membership taking an active part in archaeological work. In the 1960s there were few professional resources to hand, and local groups, of which Kent was fortunate to have the largest number in Britain, carried a considerable burden, voluntarily undertaking watching-briefs on construction sites and pressing forward with their efforts to catalogue local sites and chance finds. Through fostering close relationships with landowners and keeping members’ contacts informed as what to look for, several sites were prevented from being buried or destroyed without record. In 1963 the Group was instrumental in bringing experts from the Natural History Museum to Cuxton to investigate following the chance find