Acquisitions from Kenneth Gravett’s Library

Over 100 books, booklets and pamphlets, bought from the Library of the late Kenneth Gravett, have now been indexed and placed on the Library shelves. These are all concerned with the history and archaeology of town, village and hamlet localities in ancient Kent. They were acquired to fill in some of the gaps in the existing Library stock. The items include church histories and descriptions, broader local histories of named locations, and histories of great houses and manors and of the families which lived in them. Among the locations covered by these additions to our stock (chosen at random) are - Rotherden (parish and hundred), Eltham (palace), Knockholt, Molash, Ringwould, Kingsdown, Ifield, St. Margarets Bay, Milton Regis, Sellinge, Beckenham, Erith, Boughton Monchelsea, Bethersden, Chiddingstone, Deptford, Hildenborough, Meopham, Upchurch, and Wilmington.

The Volunteers are sorting and listing the various types of material in each file, to form an index which will be added to the existing Library index and made available through the KAS website www.kentarchaeology.ac. So far, the Volunteers have reached the letter "S", and we hope to complete the process by the end of this year. When achieved, a valuable resource will have been made more readily available to local historians.

We should be glad of more Volunteers to undertake this work, and to help with further work we have in mind in bringing the contents of the Library to a higher standard of availability. Anyone willing to spend a morning or afternoon on a regular basis, say once a week, fortnight or month, on this sort of work in the Library, should contact the Hon. Librarian on 01795472218, or on email: DR.F.H.PANNON@grove-end-tunstall.fsnet.co.uk