KAS Committee Roundup

We hope to bring you committee news in each future issue of the Newsletter.

Place-Names Committee

Kent Archaeological Society Place-Names Committee has ten members at present, all of whom have focused their attention on the five-year gestation of a six-volume opus on Kent place-names. You will understand that this is an endurance race. The editor will be Dr. Paul Cullen, their academic advisor, now in position at the Institute of Name-Studies at the University of Nottingham. Part of the work has already been done by Paul, by the late Dr. John McNeill Dodgson and his students at University College, London, and by hosts of people who have contributed material now stored in Nottingham. Dr. Cullen stressed that all, dead or alive, will be acknowledged and thanked for their efforts, and that more help is always welcomed. He is interested in the elements of a name, the origin, any tie with a landscape feature, any link with the language of the first settlers etc., from the first millennium end of the 19C, but will leave 20C names for local historians to grapple with.

Anita Thompson (Secretary)

Education Committee

Brian Cousins has resigned as Chair of the Education Committee after three and a half years in the post; his successor is in the process of being appointed. The Committee is supporting the Kent Churches website project led by Canterbury Archaeological Trust and is awarding a £2,000 start-up grant. It is envisaged that Society members will be contributing to its content. The Committee has also agreed to contribute to National Archaeology weekend this summer by supporting activities organised by the North Downs Young Archaeologists Club.

Marion Green (Secretary)

Churches Committee

In the past year the Churches Committee has given advice to enquirers from several parishes on a) the compilation of parish guides or larger publications and b) architectural matters shedding light on the history of certain church buildings.

Church visits in April, June, and October attracted both members of the Society and non-members. St. Lawrence and St. Peter on Thanet, the Quaker Meeting House at Rochester, the Synagogue at Chatham and the parish churches of Wrotham and Mereworth were studied.

The database of all present and past places of worship in the county has proceeded slowly. We await more information from several parts of the county.

A far-ranging series on major developments in the shaping of worshipping communities is being published in the Newsletter.

Philip Lawrence (Chair)

Fieldwork Committee

Excavation

An ongoing aim of the committee is to give members of the society an opportunity to participate in live excavations. The committee has approached the issue with the following initiatives:

• (a) By holding an annual excavation, in association with the Trust for Thanet Archaeology, at the Romano-British site at Abbey Farm, Minster-in-Thanet. For the Society this project began in 1986. Enrolment for 2003 is going well.
• (b) Supporting county excavations such as the 2003 dig of the Bronze Age barrow at Ringlemere Farm, Nr. Sandwich. The site to be dug with the participation of volunteers. For further details contact David Bacchus on 01634 843495 Email: d.bacchus@talk21.com.
• (c) Encouraging local groups by making small grants towards the cost of their excavations.
• (d) Loaning the Society’s equipment, such as the resistivity meter and theodolite, to local groups for use on their projects. For further details contact Chris Pout on 01227 860207.

Writing up and archiving the records of past excavations

Another matter under consideration are the excavations that have been undertaken within the ancient boundary of Kent since 1945, and have not been written up. It is proposed that these sites be dealt with in the following way:

• For sites which have been recorded reasonably well and the excavator is keen to get the site written up, small grants will be made to assist with the costs.
• Where it is unlikely that the excavation will ever be written up, but records of the work still exist, the aim is to get these records (or copies of them) deposited in the K.A.S. archive before they are lost or destroyed.

The Ringlemere Bronze Age gold cup is now on display at the British Museum (see Newsletter No 53).

David Bacchus (Secretary)

Membership & Publicity Committee

The committee comprises members who have different roles in promoting the membership of the society, providing activities for members and attracting publicity. Most important is the Membership Secretary who has efficiently computerised her records. New membership rose by a record 150 last year. Publicity has been boosted by the new format of the Newsletter and by an extra edition. The Young Archaeologists Club is also represented and reports some 90 members in Kent with around 25 attending monthly meetings. Activities for KAS members include the lecture series with the addition of a new series held in the library, day excursions to places of interest plus a five-day summer excursion, and Spring and Christmas social events.

Margaret Lawrence (Chair)