Volume 5 : 1990 – 1994

ISSUE No. 244: Edited by Vikki O’Connor JULY 1991

DIARY

Saturday 13 July HISTORIC CHATHAM DOCKS & FORT AMHERST: Dorothy Newbury. (Details & application form enclosed)

Saturday 10th August NATIONAL ARCHAEOLOGISTS DAY, HERTFORD To be confirmed next month.

Friday 30th August to Sunday 1st September WEEKEND IN NORWICH Fully booked, but no waiting list. Please contact Dorothy Newbury (081 203 0950) if you wish to go on the waiting list.

Saturday 5th October CITY WALK with Mary O’Connell

Saturday 12th October MINIMART at St Mary’s Church House, Hendon

A REMINDER ABOUT LAST MINUTE BOOKINGS – If you’ve been unable to book seats or get on the waiting list for a trip, it may still be possible to get a place due to eleventh hour cancellations and to people on the waiting list having made other arrangements. It is always worthwhile contacting the organiser the night before a trip – you may be lucky!

WHAT DOES ARCHAEOLOGY MEAN TO YOU?

THE COMMITTEE INVITES YOU TO USE THE NEWSLETTER TO PUT A PERSONAL VIEW

We have a number of members, some of them fairly new, who enjoy visiting a site, a lecture, an exhibition, but who may then wonder WHAT NEXT? It is possible they could feel a little excluded, left out, with no way forward or particular focus for increasing understanding. Our members who have found a way on can perhaps help by passing on their thoughts, experiences, ideas through the Newsletter.

What is it that especially draws you to archaeology? What would you miss most if it all went? Is it fieldwalking – trowelling – metal-detecting; flints – pots – bones; stones ­banks & ditches – hedges; Romans – early peoples; markets – deserted villages; surveying – drawing – photography …. or any other aspect?

You may have contributed to the Newsletter from time to time or never until now – let’s hear from you, say 500-600 words. No theses are required, and not necessarily orthodoxies. Should the editors have the luxury of a backlog they will advise of any delay in publication.

RURAL AND RIVERSIDE E JOHN HOOSON

On June 15, under a rain-threatening overcast sky, 55 members and friends left the urban spread of Barnet for rural Reading, or more precisely, for the Museum of English Rural Life of the University of Reading’s Institute of Agricultural History. When founded 40 years ago in 1951, rapidly increasing mechanisation and scientific development were revolutionising farming. The general introduction of tractors, combine harvesters, etc, resulted in horse-drawn carts and ploughs, tools and other farming paraphernalia, developed over centuries, being discarded and left to be forgotten and to rot.

The objectives of the museum were to rescue and preserve these disappearing artefacts of the Horse Age and to record the knowledge of farming practices while still contained in living memories. The thematic displays show the success of this timely action, with the objects well displayed, clearly labelled and explained where necessary by well-illustrated posters. The objects range from a multitude of farm carts of different type, frequently known by their county name, to rooms furnished in the style of circa 1860. There are displays concerning basketry, smocking, smithing, saddlery and many others. The most recent item appeared to be a 1947 Ferguson tractor which, nearly half a century on, looked as antique as any of the other-exhibits.

After leaving the museum, we took lunch by the river. The rain held off and we could enjoy the views of the Thames although we came under the scrutiny of countless inquisitive swans. We then boarded the “Caversham Princess” for a leisurely journey to Mapledurham, which lies literally on a backwater. The manor belonged to the Bardolph family who sold it to the Blounts in 1490. It has remained with that family although, following the termination of the male line in 1943, it passed through the eldest of nine daughters, who had married into the Eyston family, in 1863 to her son. The present owner is his grandson.

We were met on the landing stage by a guide who escorted us to St Margaret’s church which was begun in the 13th century by William Bardolph the younger. Following Butterfield’s 1863 “restoration” little original work remains visible although the south aisle built in the late 14th century and known as the Bardolph Aisle survives unaltered. It became the Blount family Catholic burial chapel and remains their private property. The family survived the religious turmoils by maintaining a low profile in these isolated parts but it was necessary to separate the Aisle from the Anglican church by building a stone wall although this was not possible where tombs lay across two of the arcades. The tomb of Sir Richard Blount and his wife is particularly fine. This is one of five Anglican churches in this Country with a Catholic aisle.

After describing the church our guide left us free to visit Mapledurham House and the watermill. The present house was commenced in 1588 and remains mainly unchanged apart from some alterations in 1828 and 1863. Taking advantage of the Catholic Relief Act 1791, a chapel was incorporated in 1797, built in the Strawberry Hill Gothic Style. The rooms on public display together with their original furniture, furnishings and family portraits provide a good impression of life in a manor house over the last 400 years.

The views from the windows were impressive but would have benefited with some sun. On the other hand, it was probably an advantage that mist enshrouded 20th century Reading on the horizon.

A watermill has been on the site since Domesday. The present mill, dating from the late 15th century, is the last one still working on the Thames. The taped description provided (inclusive in the ticket) gave a good account, of the mill with some interesting asides such as when the miller adjusted the critical speed of the wheel, he did so using the sound of the water without the need for meters.

Our thanks go to Ted Sammes, who as a Founder Member knows the correct ingredients and recipe for a successful HADAS tour, and arranged this excellent tour by land and water. As he had not selected the date, he was able to deny responsibility for the weather which fortunately provided very little water from above.

THE APRIL LECTURE ON JORDAN was given by Ted Sammes based on a holiday twelve months previously. Sadly there was only time for 40 slides from his 18 rolls of film. He began with some background information on the region, the Jordan Valley has always been a prized settlement area with fighting recorded since Biblical times. Main rock types found are limestone, sandstone and basalt. The Great Rift Valley runs through Jordan and resultant earthquakes are identified by archaeologists as destruction levels. We saw manifestations of the geological fault: in Southern Jordan a crater plugged with basalt; Zerka Ma’in, a canyon east of Madaba, Central Jordan has a series of some fifty hot springs and a waterfall with a temperature of 59° spilling into the largest pool. Herod the Great came here to ‘take the cure’, today it’s a popular modern mineral water health spa.

Deir ‘Alla (House of God) is the site of an ancient sanctuary overlooking the Jordan Valley 50km north of the Dead Sea. First settled in the late Bronze Age through to 500BC, it has a temple mound dating from c.1500BC which was not re-built after destruction by earthquake in 1200BC BC. However, Deir ‘Alla remained a holy place. Aramaic text on a fragment of 7thC BC wall plaster from a mud-brick wall mentions the Deir ‘Alla Sanctuary, apparently supporting the theory that it was separate from Hebrew influence during the Judean Kingdom. Ted was disappointed to see how trenches from the 1960’s excavation had been left open and were rapidly deteriorating.

Nearby Tell es-Sa’idiyeh is identified with the Biblical city of Zarethan where the Israelites crossed the Jordan. Jonathan Tubb had completed a 5-year dig for the British Museum two days before Ted arrived, and the finds were already boxed up. These subsequently formed part of the BM exhibition “Archaeology and the Bible” which ended this April. In case you missed this, there is a book of the same name by Tubb and Rupert L Chapman, price £7.95, and finds from the site will again be displayed at the Museum later this year. The site, comprising eastern Upper and western Lower Tells, was occupied from the Early Bronze Age, 3rd millennium BC, until about 700BC. A building in stratum XII in the upper Tell is identified as a 12th century BC Egyptian Governor’s Residency, with Egyptian building techniques: deep brick foundations and external double walls with a channel between for drainage. Excavation in the mid-1960’s by James Pritchard of the University of Pennsylvania revealed a staircase, Tubb continued on down to a small pool, confirming this was part of a water system. An interesting feature of the lower Tell was the cemetery associated with stratum XII, with “double pithos” burials where pottery coffins are made by joining two large storage jars at their shoulders.

North of Deir ‘Alla, on the banks of the Wadi Jirm, Pella was one of the cities of the “Decapolis” – ten cities built by Rome to defend their eastern empire. The site was continuously occupied for 10,000 years and, like Petra, prospered from being on two main trade routes. Named after the birthplace of Alexander the Great in Greece,

Pella is currently is undergoing a long-term programme of excavation and reconstruction. Part of the old town is unfortunately under a modern town, nevertheless, temples and a small theatre from the Greco-Roman period have already been reconstructed.

North of Amman another Decapolis city, Jerash, is one of the best preserved Roman cities in the world. The site was occupied in Neolithic times but Jerash (ancient Gerasa) is thought to have been founded by soldiers of Alexander the Great c.332BC. The city expanded early in the 1st century AD, but was abandoned in 747AD following a series of earthquakes and remained buried in sand over a 1000 years until re-discovery in 1806 by German explorer Ulrich Seetzen. Today it’s a big tourist attraction with regular Son et Lumiere performances and a two-week Festival of Culture and Arts each August. ‘Sights’ include Hadrians Arch (1291 130AD); the oval stone-walled Hippodrome; an oval Piazza; Zeus Temple complex; the “Cardo” – a colonnaded street with paving stones rutted by chariot wheels; a 2nd c. AD Nymphaeum (a public fountain with some original coloured painting remaining); Byzantine churches with mosaics, etc etc….

At this point Ted muttered something about “if you’ve seen one Roman Theatre you’ve seen them all”. Sacrilege! Perhaps Jerash has too much to digest at one sitting?

Amman, capital of modern Jordan, the site of one of the earliest farming communities 7000-6000BC, has a history of continuous occupation. This was another Roman Decapolis city, Philadelphia. The old city consisted of lower and upper sections. Worth visiting are the Forum and Roman 5,000-seat Theatre (still used today) in the lower area, and on Citadel Hill, the Temple of Hercules and fortress, which the Romans re-built. As a point of interest, Ted pointed out an unusual modern structure in. Amman – their “emblem”, a huge coffee pot the height of a two-storey building!

At the outer point of the Moab Mountains, Mount Nebo is a traditional site of the tomb of Moses. Franciscan excavations at Siyagha revealed a 6th century Byzantine church and monasteries containing many well-preserved mosaics. Nearby Madaba, dating from the middle Bronze Age, 2000BC is known as the city of mosaics. In the Greek Orthodox Church of St George is an exceptional mosaic – a map of Palestine showing Jerusalem with a gate and the street names in Greek. Madaba was destroyed in 614AD by the Persians then abandoned following damage by earthquake in 747AD.

No journey to Jordan would be complete without visiting the legendary rose-red city of Petra which was- re-discovered in 1812 by Swiss- explorer, John Burckhardt. In his day the journey would have been by camel or horse over mountain, stream and desert, but the modern road from Amman has removed some of the mystery with accessibility. It was first settled around 800BC by the Nabataean Arabs, and developed from a few cave dwellings into a wealthy city as the Nabataeans established their control of two major trade routes between Arabia and the Mediterranean, and the Red Sea and Syria. Roman expansion in the 1st century BC eroded the Nabataeans power and in AD 106 Palestine and Jordan were incorporated into the Roman Province of Arabia. Through Ted’s superb slides we were there – entering Petra via the “Siq”, the winding 1 km gorge through overhanging cliffs that change colour according to light, reflecting red, yellow, pink, purple. Emerging from the Siq one is confronted by a two-storey building carved in the rock, known as “Al Khazneh” the Treasury as it was thought the urn carved at the top contained a Pharaoh’s treasure. “Pot shots” taken at the urn by Turks and Arabs scarred it but proved fruitless, the building is in fact a royal tomb styled as a Greek temple.

As the valley widens you come to the Amphitheatre built by the Nabataeans but enlarged by the Romans (to accommodate 7,000 people) by cutting through houses and chambers at the back. Nearby is an ancient rock-cut stairway, now restored, lined with temples , houses and tombs and leading to Mt Nejr, the High Place of Sacrifice. Another climb from the Theatre via a Roman Road leads to a cliffside series of Royal Tombs. The area of the canyon is two square miles and there are over 800 buildings and façades still to be seen. Petra was gradually abandoned in favour of other cities, Jerash, Amman and Palmyra ai was uninhabited from the 3rd century AD save as a secret Bedouin refuge. In the 12th century Petra was captured by the Crusaders who built two fortresses but after Saladin’s victory in 1189 it was again abandoned.

5 miles north of Petra is Aklat, dug by Diana Kirkbride in the 1960’s. Earliest levels, c.7000BC are pre-pottery Neolithic. Ted’s guide noted there are less quernstones than a couple of years previously – it’s not easy to see how tourists could be “pocketing” them? The adjacent site of Beida has an entrance similar to the Siq at Petra and an ancient stairway leading to a lookout over the valley.

Wadi Rum, east of Aqaba, is littered with rock carvings in early Thamudic script made by long-gone travellers. Ted told us they were too poor to screen and by way of contrast showed some beautiful hibiscus blooms! Wadi Rum is an awe-inspiring valley with sandstone cliffs and pink and white sands. This was the route taken by T E Lawrence and Sherif Hussein on their way to fight the Turks in World War I.

Lawrence made a study of “Crusader Castles” as an Undergraduate; he continued adding to the work which was published in 1936 after his death, and an updated edition was published in 1988. The Crusaders built a chain of hilltop fortifications extending from Turkey through Jordan along the ancient King’s Highway, Amman to Aqaba, to guard the trade routes. In 1132 they built a fortress at the walled town of Kerak which Saladin took in 1187. Built on a precipice to accommodate several thousand people and animals the castle had many galleries with cross-vaulted ceilings. A museum has been made in one of the battlement passages and remains of a reservoir can be seen.

The “Desert Castles” in the desert area east of Amman had differing purposes: palaces, baths, caravan stations or farming centres. Ted mentioned three sites:

Azraq castle is built of black basalt, the front gate is one huge basalt block on two pivots. Earlier Roman and Nabataean structures were re-built by the Umayyads (7th/8t h century AD) and again in the 13th century by a Mamluke Governor. Azraq was the only oasis in the Eastern desert, hence the fortress. In the 20th century Prince Faisal and Lawrence used it as their HQ whilst planning their final advance on Damascus.

Qasr El-Kharaneh, another Umayyad building has two floors of 50 rooms each. This was possibly a “caravanserai”, it is square with a central courtyard with large rooms which could have been stables.

Finally, Qasr Amra, an Umayyad bath complex/palace, similar to the earlier Roman baths. The hydraulic system has a well, tank, pipes, with a series of dams and cisterns. Frescoes on the walls and ceilings have been restored and Ted found it unusual in the Muslim world as they were representations of human images with scenes of hunting, wrestling, dancing… Thank you Ted, for the magic carpet ride.

WEST HEATH AND LATER PROJECTS Victor Jones

In the June Newsletter I reported on the Excavations Committee’s review of this season’s possible programme. I had intended to include a short description of projects the Society completed in recent years for those of our newer members who may not know the scope of these activities, and for those who have missed one or more of the items.

Our more recent activities all followed what was the Society’s largest and most ambitious undertaking, the long and complex “West Heath” excavation. This project resulted from a very observant younger member of the Society noticing some man-made flint pieces whilst out walking. Further investigation and excavation revealed a Mesolithic hunters’ camp site dated to about 8,500 years BP, not long after the end of the last glaciation, situated at the edge of Hampstead Heath just outside Golders Hill Park. Many items of worked flint including a number of tools and weapons were found, and the working areas where these were made were traced. Aspects of prevailing local climatic and environmental conditions could be studied from residues of various plant, insect and pollen remains.

In the number of members involved, range of subjects studied, public interest shown and prestige generated for the Society, it exceeded anything else we have undertaken. The project proved to be a major task and a great deal of planning and organisation were required. The work was undertaken in two stages, the first from 1976 to 1981 directed by one of our Vice-Presidents, Daphne Lorimer. The second 1982 to 1984 by Margaret Maher, another senior and highly qualified member of the Society. The project was guided and supervised by Desmond Collins.

The report was delayed for some years due to various publishing problems, and deals with the larger, first stage of the project. It describes the processes used to investigate the camp of the Mesolithic hunting people. Included are a wide range of aspects of their lives and environment: climatic conditions; kind of shelters they probably used; weapons and tools; cooking techniques; plants and trees. The report also includes drawings and photographs, reflecting great credit to its authors and to the Society. The special members’ price is £7.00 (£8.00 with p&p) and £13 to the public.

In the year following completion of the West Heath project no major work was undertaken by the Society.

The Hadley Wood Earthwork

A detailed survey of the Hadley Wood earthwork was made in 1982/3. This is a quarter-mile approx. trench and residual bank in the north east of the Borough. It was rapidly being lost by motor-cycle and bicycle erosion. No evidence for the date of the construction could be found. Further investigation could be considered and possibly documentary research might be used to this end.

The Burnt Oak investigation

The first large project was commenced in 1986 on an open area site near the centre of Burnt Oak, and was rescue work in advance of proposed development of the site for a car park. It is near to Roman “Watling Street”, now the Edgware Road, and the field has a stream running through it. It was thought it could possibly have been a stopping place for water and refreshment for horse and man, and of course, Roman finds have been made in this district.

The investigation used resistance surveying, the results of which showed points of interest and subsequent exploratory trenching located several pits. Most of these contained pottery sherds and other materials, none of these earlier than Victorian time, and much modern rubbish.

Most members will know the term “Rescue”. It is used, as it suggests, to describe excavation to recover any possible archaeological remains before building development disturbs the site.

Another newer term coming in to use is “Archaeological Assessment” . This describes the archaeological sampling of a site before planning consent is given, and then (with safeguards) leaving it below the new building for future, and perhaps better, archaeologists to find.

The Chipping Barnet, Spires Centre Project

This was commenced in 1987 arid continued into 1988. It was also a “Rescue” excavation, in advance of the building of the large central shopping precinct and new public library for the area, now completed and forming the new centre for Chipping Barnet.

It was undertaken to see the early building and/or remains of the original 12th century market which might be in this area. A number of exploratory trenches were dug as sites became available, as the very large-scale project proceeded. These were on the east side of the site as near as possible along the line of the old Great North Road and as close as we could get to the rear of the buildings along the road.

We found black, well-cultivated type soil about one metre deep on all sites. All had much modern and Victorian pottery and other remains, and a few late Georgian items.

We concluded that the area had long been used for cultivation, so it is unlikely that Chipping Barnet extended much further north of St Johns Church on the west side of the old Great North Road.

The Brockley Hill 1987 Project

During 1987 a two-months “Rescue” project was undertaken at Brockley Hill on the field to the east side of Watling Street, where the Society had on earlier fieldwalks found Roman pottery etc. This was in advance of the then proposed route of The Rivers pipeline, finally dug in 1990. A trench was dug across the route and exposed a road surface about 0.5m below the soil level, approximately 100 metres south of the present pipeline.

This road was judged to be a Middle Ages Roman-Road-bypass, perhaps at a time when this was unusable. Roman pottery, tile and brick had been found during previous exploratory fieldwalking. In the dig some medieval material was recovered. Later fieldwalking found Neolithic worked flint, and some possibly used tools and arrow head. Further areas in which flint fragments occurred were noted but could not be searched as the crop in the field was already too high to allow this.

The Hendon Ice House

In 1988 an Ice House in the grounds of St Joseph’s Convent School, Hendon was excavated. It had been suggested by former pupils of the school that there was a possible underground connection with the nearby St Mary’s Church. A large effort was made to remove a great volume of rubbish and soil accumulated within a large oval chamber about 10 ft high by 7 ft diameter.

What we had found was an ancestral version of the modern refrigerator as used in Europe from the 15th to 17th centuries and tracing back to possibly Greek origin as Alexander the Great is said to have used one. (Industrial archaeologists please note!) It uses the best available insulating methods – evaporate cooling, as do modern refrigerators.

More remarkably, we learnt of others in nearby Hampstead and other parts of London. The Hendon version is similar in size and design to one built for Charles II in the 17th century, situated in Green Park. Another of the same type is preserved and open to view in Kew Gardens, and was also built for Royal use.

The Hendon Ice House was well built and in good condition. We hoped to get it preserved as a feature of interest for the area (next to the Town Hall), but so far have had no response. Unfortunately we did not find evidence of its construction date except by association with the date of the rather late rebuilding of the nearby Grove House in the early 19th century. It’s presence seems to put the Hendon Manor in very good company as many Royal and “Great. Houses” of the Aristocracy had them in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Whetstone Tudor House

In 1989 we were asked to investigate a house in Whetstone next to one we had studied some years previously which had been beautifully restored by a Whetstone building and development company. We quickly commenced the house study and an excavation in the grounds at the back of the property. The internal construction indicated an earlier construction date than suggested, and the excavation indicated that the house had at one time extended further to the rear by one or more structural bays. The excavation and the documentary studies were completed and proved the house was earlier than the listed date and was probably built in 1495.

English Heritage were this year called in to draw the timber roof structure and this explained why the document sometimes referred to two adjacent cottages and sometimes to three. It appears that these and the adjoining cottage were at time jointly owned.

An excavation near St Mary’s Church, East Barnet

This project was also undertaken in 1989, a result of a collapsed well-cover on the site of a farm cottage adjacent to the Church. The collapse was found to be in the capping of a well, and further excavation of the cottage area found Victorian construction with a natural soil level below.

East Barnet remains an enigma. The church is very old (earlier than St John’s in Chipping Barnet), and is a Dependency of St Albans, but there is no trace of the village community which it might serve.

The Mitre Inn, Barnet

The-Mitre is said to be 17th century and is the only example now left of the 100 or more public houses and inns which were Barnet’s Main activity in pre-railway times.

The project commenced in September 1989 and was undertaken in advance of development of land at the rear of the Mitre. We had much help from Barnet Museum and the Local History Society.

The ground here has a natural slope and had been built up and surfaced to provide vehicle standing. Clearance was a considerable problem, taking several weeks. It was necessary to dig through various layers of tarmac and brick rubble to reach the first Victorian building remains, then deeper still to earlier construction. We found various 17th and 18th century pottery sherds. Below this was a deep stony soil layer containing mainly Medieval pottery fragments of 11th to 13th century date. Among this material was also found some datable Roman material. This, together with similar items found in an earlier dig in the area, may indicate some Roman connection. The project continued throughout 1989.

The “Charity House”, 19/25 High Street, Barnet

In 1990 a site on the opposite side of the road to the Mitre was being cleared for,
development. This was a somewhat disturbed site, however we found several small
undisturbed areas with pottery of 12th to 14th century date as well as later materials.

A further 1990 project was to watch the Three Rivers pipeline construction which has been described in recent newsletters. Copies of these are still available if required.

Newsletter 243 June 1991 Edited by Jean Snelling

Saturday June 15 Outing to the Museum of English Rural Life, Reading, with River Trip to Mapledurham. With Ted Sammes.

(Details and application form enclosed).

Saturday July 13 Historic Chatham Docks.

Saturday August 10 National Archaeologists Day, Hertford.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, August 30, 31, Sept. 1, Weekend in Norwich.

Saturday October 5 City Walk with Mary O’Connell.

Saturday October 12 Minimart at St Mary’s Church House, Hendon.

Members are invited by the Finchley Friends of Israel to a lecture at 8 pm on Wednesday June 12, to be given by Mr Alexander Flinder, the Underwater Archaeologist, on “Secrets of the Bible.Seas”. This will be his personal account, with slides, of underwater investigation over 20 years,

The lecture will be held in the Methodist Church Hall, Ballards Lane, N3. Refreshments will be served. The entrance to the Hall is in the side street, Essex Park. The Church is opposite Victoria Park.

Our invitation comes from Mr M Grossobel, of 61 Tithe Walk, London NW7 2PY to whom any further question should be addressed.

Members and Membership

Membership of HADAS for the year ending 31 March 1991 was 369.For the previous year it was 372.

We are very happy to welcome 28 new members who have joined from April 1990 up to mid-May 1991. Our welcome is rather late for the earlier ones, we apologise.

Miss J Belgrave, Miss J Blason, Mr J Cymberg, Mr Adam Daniels, Mrs J Gibson,

Mr W Griffiths, Mrs A Hardy, Mr M J Hutchinson, Mr P Kilipack, Miss L Minney,

Mrs E Moss, Mr J D Noonan and his parents ,11″ & Mrs Noonan, Miss L K Northcroft,

Ms K Owen, Mr B Schroder, Mr J Przybyla, Mr S M Redmond, Mr J Ryan,

Mrs J G Shepherd, Miss S J Smith, Miss E G Taylor, Mrs N Towler,

Miss C E M Troddin, Mr P A Wheatley, Mr J A Williams, Mrs M Marshall,

A tweed cap was found in the Hendon library lecture room soon after the April lecture. Is it YOURS? If so phone Dorothy Newbury 081 203 0950

Back Garden Archaeology

At the recent LAMAS conference the voluntary societies were urged to revive the good old practice named above. Now we are indebted to Mr C Silvertown, a resident of Temple Fortune, for extending the concept to allotments and for following up the research. He has kindly sent his report.

Over the past several years I have found a total of four early clay pipes (partial) on my allotment site, enclosed between Asmuns Place and Asmuns Hill NW11.

The two complete bowls (tulip shaped) are milled just below the lip, but the size of the foot or spur differs. The Guide to the Department of Urban Archaeology Clay Tobacco Type series, Museum of London, which is based on that devised by Atkinson & Oswald (1969) identifies a Type 2 bowl (c 1580-1610) and a Type 9 bowl (c 1640-1660).

The fragment of spur and stem found would appear to be Type 28 (c 1820-1840).

Note – The Barnet Museum , 31 Wood Street, Barnet, has a regular display of clay tobacco pipes showing proposed dates. Open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursday 2.30 – 4.30. Saturdays 10.0-12.0, 2.30-4.30. Tel. 081 440 8066.

News from English Heritage

Stewart J Wild quotes from the Guide to English Heritage Properties 1991 –

“In 1066 William the Conquror landed in Sussex at Pevensey. He then marched to Hastings and defeated King Alfred, irrevocably changing the course of English history”.

Annual General Meeting 7 May 1991

The following were nominated and elected as officers for the Society for 1991-2

Chairman Andrew Selkirk Vice Chairman John Enderby

Honorary Secretary Brian Wrigley Honorary Treasurer Victor Jones

Committee Christine Arnott, Micky Cohen, Phyllis Fletcher, John Heathfield, Alan Lawson, Margaret Maher, Dorothy Newbury, Peter Pickering, Ted Sammes, Andrew Simpson, Jean Snelling, Myfanwy Stewart.

Brian Wrigley and Victor Jones indicated their intentions to resign their posts in the coming year.

Elizabeth Holliday has agreed to assist with the Secretary’s duties.

The Committee’s decision was announced, to employ the title HADAS (Based on the Borough of Barnet).

After the Meeting Andrew Simpson and Bill Bass showed their clear and informative slides of the recent dig at 19-25 High Street, Barnet.

Phyllis Fletcher has informed the Committee of her wish to be relieved of her post as Honorary Membership Secretary during the coming year.

She, with Brian Wrigley and Victor Jones will have clocked up between them almost thirty years of service in their three posts. Without wishing to intimidate their successors, members will want to appreciate their longevity, and their stalwart work for the Society..

Of course they are not leaving HADAS, they just want more time for their other activities with us.

Obituary

We sadly announce the death last month of Diana Wade. She and her husband Christopher were historian and Curator of the Hampstead Museum., Burgh House. Both were HADAS members as was their daughter Joanna, who will be remembered by West Heath diggers.

Ironbridge

June Gibson reports that the Secretary of State for the Environment has turned down the application for planning permission for the proposed new bridge.

He considers that “there is a need to bring forward, as a matter of urgency, proposals which will meet the traffic needs of the area but which are compatible with the Conservation Area and the World Heritage status of the Gorge”.

HADAS members who visited Ironbridge last year, and no doubt many others, will await developments with much interest. Both the public enquiry and the other expressions of public opinion have contributed to the present respite.

ARIZONA Peter Pickering

We recently visited Arizona to see our son. We had not previously realized how many well-preserved Indian ruins there were. It was hard, however, to get a clear picture of the history of the American South-west, since there were several tribes and a good deal of migration, while the differences between the cultures were often subtle. But it seems that many sites were abandoned and peoples moved away or died out sometime before the coming Europeans, perhaps following a climatic change.

Indian sites are found throughout Arizona, amid the high pine forests near the Grand Canyon, in the Painted Desert to the East, and surrounded by the giant saguaro cacti of the southern hills. The Holakam round Phoenix dug extensive canals for their farming, and had courts like the inhabitants of Central America, they disappeared about 1400 AD (“Holakam” means “those who have gone” in a later language). The Anasazi were the major culture of the North-East, living in pueblo villages, and migrated at the end of the thirteenth century – among their descendants may be the Hopi Indians of to­day. We stayed in a motel on the Hopi reservation, and were captivated by the lively “Kochine” dolls they make. The Sinagua round about Flagstaff disappeared in the early fifteenth century, and the Salado, whose pottery is particularly attractive, vanished or were absorbed at about the same time. The sites are very varied. Many of them were apparently undefended settlements, with the different dwellings built contiguously, access being by ladders. But others – “Montezuma’s Castle” and Tonto – were built high up steep cliffs, with what must have been defensive intent. In one, but only one, Casa Grande, there was a single dominant building with massive walls of caliche and openings oriented on the sun at the solstice and the furthest point of the moon’s 18.5 year cycle. In another there was sunken room of probably ritual purpose, with benches and what was said to be an altar. Some sites were very small, and not large, though there are a very great number – for instance the rather meagre remains of one site close to the Grand Canyon is representative of some 2000 which have not been excavated or preserved. In the Painted Desert we saw petroglyphs, a mixture of representations of humans or animals (one striking one of a heron with a frog in its beak) and abstract designs, reminiscent of prehistoric art elsewhere. In the South, between Tucson and the Mexican border, Jesuits and, later, Franciscans established mission stations, with striking churches in a distinctive version of the baroque.

The ubiquitous visitors’ centres, and the fine museum of Indian art in Phoenix, had good collections of pottery – almost all with attractive bold designs in two or three colours – and less impressive collections of woven vessels, stone tools and a few textiles.

All but one of the sites we visited were run by the National parks Service, extremely well labelled, and sometimes with informed guides, but slightly antiseptic. I was amused by the way they made visitors keep to the paths.

I wonder if a pictogram of a snake would help at Stonehenge. One site, Besh-na-Gowah, however, was run by the local town Council, and the curator was much more like a HADAS person. She was obviously working on the pottery from the site, some of which she let me handle, and she sold me a tee-shirt with one of their finest (but now stolen) pieces depicted on it. This site had had much reconstruction work done, so that it could easily be comprehended by schoolchildren.

Finchley Walk 12th May 1991

A diversified programme was planned by Dorothy Newbury which walkers were able to juggle according to choice. The elements were Church End Finchley, Avenue House grounds, the HADAS workroom there, the Sternberg Centre for Judaism and the moat of Finchley C13 manor house, both at Manor House, East End

Mr David Smith, Vice president of the Finchley Society, led us in the Conservation Area of Hendon Lane/East End Road. His old-boy knowledge of Christs College enlivened that listed building. After a nod to the Church we imagined the excitement of Britain’s first motorised fire engine spluttering out of the old fire station, now disguised as shops. Park House (1739) and Flora Cottage (1850) represented the elegance of the old village centre, where Gravel Hill lost its gravel to the incoming turnpike of Regents Park Road (1826). Avenue House stood gaunt with its burnt wing but surprised many walkers with its remarkable public garden, unusual in its exotic trees collected by Henry Stephens on ink-selling travels and now reaching maturity. Wishes to return with more leisure were expressed.

Mr Smith delivered us safely further along East End Road to the Sternberg Centre. Coffee and a sit-down led up to the small but intense London Museum of Jewish Life with its collection of documents, photographs, maps, posters of East End London and memorabilia. A reconstructed tailors’ sweat shop looked deserted only minutes ago and a kitchen added to our party’s exclamations of “I remember – – “. Down stairs in the old drawing room was a special
exhibition based on the Jews of Aden, an ancient Arabian community which was forced to leave its last refuge of Aden in 1967, most people going to Israel but a minority settling in Stamford Hill. life in Aden and in London was the theme of the largely photographic collection, showing, a interesting community, totally new to most of us.

A dozen of us went to the garden to see the moat o the earlier manor house. Well – first find your moat. You would think it large enough – about 90 metres long in an L shape and 20 metres wide; but recently so overgrown in a wild garden that it is almost lost. The area was levelled to make a formal garden when the present Manor House was built by Thomas Alien in 1723, and in the 1920s the then convent school made it a sports ground. We know of the Old manor only from records. Belonging to the Bishops of London, possibly from Saxon times, it was leased from 1244 to a long series of London merchants who used the house and collected rents from the local families who leased all the farm land. In 1504 a lease listed the manor house, an orchard and another building as being within a moat” and a great barn and a long stable as being adjacent to the moat. In 1664 the Hearth Tax was paid on 19 hearths in the house. All this was cleared in 1723. A long islanded fishpond, first recorded in 1692 but of unknown age, remained alongside Squires Lane (opposite the present house) until this century, when it was drained and later built over for the Manor View houses. This pond appeared on old postcards erroneously titled “Finchley Moat”. All this felt a long way off as our party stood among the weeds in the old moat.

Most walkers then returned to Avenue House grounds to visit the garden room that is now the HADAS work place. The library, the computer, desks, a small committee table, some finds, some records, a sink, with access both to Avenue House and the garden; even with 20 people blocking one’s view it all looked very good. Victor Jones, Andy Simpson and Bill Bass had arranged for us a small exhibition of potsherds, drawings and photographs of recent HADAS sites. It was a fitting end to a very good, and sunny, afternoon with something for everyone to enjoy and remember.

Bounty for your Bookshelf

Full marks to Finchley’s Christs College School for the booklet it has produced to mark the school’s move from its long-time home in Hendon Lane to the Brookland site in East End Road. This is a copiously illustrated history of the school and its scholastic and sporting triumphs from its beginning – with three pupils – in 1857 in what had been, until then, a notorious Tudor-built pub, the Queen’s Head. Within a year a new wing had been added and there were 150 boarding pupils; within three years an entire new building had been built, in Gothic diapered brickwork and with a distinctive tower which was to dominate the Finchley skyline and to act “as a focal point architecturally and aesthetically in the develop­ment of Church End.” Sadly, the fate of those buildings, very much a part of Finchley’s history, hangs in the balance as we write.

If you would like to add this booklet to your own collection of local history, you can get a copy from Judy Berle, 271 Creighton Avenue, London N2 9BP, price 6£. Profits will go to school funds.

Another local offering, also highly commended, is The Streets of Belsize, published a month or so ago by the Camden History Society. This is a revised and enlarged edition of More Streets of Hampstead, originally published in 1973, and has been compiled by the Society’s History Group and edited by Christopher Wade (who is also a member of HADAS).

Again, it is well-produced and illustrated (maps, line drawings, photographs, reproductions of paintings and advertisements) and packed with facts. Not the least interesting of these is the litany of famous and notorious names of those who have lived on the streets of Belsize ­ranging from Edward Elgar to Dr Crippen, from the heavy-weight Dame Clara Butt to the feather-weight Twiggy. This will cost £5.95 to add to your collection, and you can get it by post from the Belsize Bookshop, 193 Haverstock Hill, NW3 kQL. Add 90p for post/packing.

Not specifically local, but a general book which should be on every local historian’s shelf: a recent addition to the Shire “Discovering” series, Discovering Parish Boundaries, by Angus Winchester. This 88 page booklet, illustrated with maps and plans and a central clutch of photo­graphs, is a solid and concise exposition of how the admimristrative units of medieval England grew up; and despite the title, Dr Winchester doesn’t confine himself to the parish. He covers lordships and townships, hundreds and wapentakes, dioceses and deaneries. He describes boundary stones and markers, surveys and perambulations, and adds a chapter on parishes in Scotland and Wales.

There is also a full and useful appendix on further reading, and finally a note on which place-names record boundaries. Price £2.50 from Shire Publications, Cromwell House, Church Street, Princes Risborough Bucks HP17 9AJ.

The Newsletter looks forward greatly to Professor Colin Renfrew’s latest publication – the third, as it were, in a series of blockbusters. The first, in 1973, was Before Civilisation, which took apart radio-carbon dating and its effect on pre-history. The next, in 1987, put the cat among the linguists, with Archaeology and Language, in which Professor Renfrew (recently created a life-peer) turned Indo-European origins upside down. The latest – the publishers’ blurb calls it “a watershed achievement” – is “Archaeology – Theories, Methods and Practice”, and is written with Paul Bahn.

Thoughts in Avenue House Garden Room Micky Cohen

Many of us who visited Finchley landmarks on the HADAS May outing finished up at our Garden Room at Avenue House. Victor Jones and Andy Simpson had kindly set up a small exhibition for our benefit. There were examples of finds made recently, our large exhibition screen panels on the Barnet Market Place and Whetstone digs and a selection of publications.

First, congratulations are due to those who worked so hard to set our books and records in good order following the fire. The pleasant garden room was spick and span, finds neatly labelled and stored on shelving, books in good order. Those of us making our first visit were impressed. The Room is large enough to accommodate all this plus a sink and essentials for tea making equipment.

As a relative newcomer to HADAS I was most intrigued by the display of Transactions of the North Middlesex Archaeological Society (now part of LAMAS) and their Roman digs at Brockley Hill. These started in 1937, were interrupted by the war and continued in the 40s and 50s with HADAS participating. The site Sulloniace was certainly a pottery and may have been a Roman staging post although there is no direct evidence. That may well be lost to us under the Orthopaedic Hospital on the brow of the hill. Nevertheless the finds were important. Same of the pottery from the post war digs was lodged with the then Hendon Borough Council, later Barnet Council. Storage conditions were not entirely satisfactory so HADAS assumed responsibility and through the good offices of John Enderby the material has been stored at the Institute in Hampstead Garden Suburb.

About ten years ago some of the material was exhibited at Church Farm House Museum. I wonder if the time has come to exhibit again. Many of us more recent members may have no idea of the breadth of practical work the Society has undertaken in the past. It includes excavation in the Greyhound Hill area ­Saxon Hendon; and at St Mary’s Hendon – Roman finds – and of course the West Heath prehistoric dig. All this with recent work at Barnet and Whetstone would make a fine ‘retrospective’ – an opportunity for existing members to catch up on the past and perhaps an attraction to draw in new members. It would need a lot of work, but what about it, HADAS?

Plans for the 1991 season. Victor Jones

The Excavation Subcommittee has met to consider possible projects for this year. So far no urgent ‘rescue digs’ require the immediate action that has kept us so busy in the last few years. Three planning applications for development on sites of possible archaeological interest will need investigation. There are also possible projects which in my view should be looked at again now that the rescue work has diminished.

Some members who have joined the Society In recent years might be interested in an account in outline of archaeological undertakings in the recent past, which will be included in a coming Newsletter. Earlier work of the Society is incorporated in the general archaeological and historical account of this area in our publication, Barnet, A Place in Time, which we hope most members will have bought and read.

The three possible development sites mentioned above are – Golders Green Road near the North Circular Road; West Heath Road; and Old Folds moated site near Arkley.

In Golders Green Road is the site of Sutcliffes’ demolished gardening shop, just beyond the Prince Albert pub, now Harvester Restaurant. It was a blacksmith works in the 30s, going back to about 1820 and may have been there much earlier. It is near both the Woodlands and the Old Swan pub sites where HADAS conducted excavations and found medieval pottery and traces of an early road.

The West Heath Road project is for a development on the south side of the road. Although some distance from our West Heath site, it might be interesting to watch and perhaps trial trench, if we can get permission. In addition to the Mesolithic hunters’ site we also found a Saxon hearth, probably made for charcoal burning. It is possible that other occupation areas might exist in the surroundings.

The Old Folds redevelopment application is for the remaining moated area of this very old interesting and listed site. It is now the work and vehicleparking space for a golf club. This is thought to be right in the centre of the area where the Battle of Barnet commenced in 1471 and where many died. The memorial Highstone is only a short distance away, at the junction of two roads. It is thought possible that the foundations of the original moated building may be on the site.

Other possible undertakings being discussed include the following – field walking an area of Brockley Hill where more Neolithic flints, worked, might be found, like those collected in 1987examining an open space in Childs Hill where there was an ancient farm investigating the area near the Hadley Brewers Arms called I believe Dead man’s Ditch or Galley, very near the battle site. Resistance testing at St Joseph’s Convent near the Burroughs where earlier HADAS excavation found a medieval site assessing by documentary and map research and visits the more distant and peripheral areas and other less investigated parts of the Borough tracing by resistance testing the boundaries in the Borough of the mediaeval park of the Bishops of London.

Visiting the site of the 13th c moated manor of Finchley

University of Oxford Department for Continuing Education

Bewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JA phone 0365 270369/270360

Archaeology and Local History Summer School August 3-17 1991

Computing for Archaeologists (beginners) 23-24 November 1991

The Hundred Years War 8-10 November 1991

The Urban Form in Europe 3000 BC to AD 1000 13-15 December 1991

Landscapes of the Past: Archaeology and Social History Tours Spring & Autumn 1991, Lucy Walker & Diana Williamson 10 Mayorswell Close. Gilesgate, Durham DH1 1JU

Newsletter 242 May 1991 edited by Andy Simpson

Diary

Tuesday May 7th Annual General Meeting. Minutes of the 1990 AGM included in this newsletter. Come and help plot your society’s course for the coming year. “BE THERE OR BE SQUARE” Slides of our activities after the meeting.

Sunday May 12th Walk and afternoon visit to the Museum of Jewish Life, Finchley Application form enclosed.

Saturday June 8th Essex History Fair – part of the battle of Maldon Millennium year – see separate leaflet enclosed.

Saturday June 15th Outing to Mapledurham with Ted Sammes

Saturday July 15th Outing to historic Chatham Docks- ships, figureheads, dockyard railway, and the 1878 built steam-powered sloop HMS Gunnet undergoing restoration. A true relic of gunboat diplomacy.

Saturday August 10th Outing to Hertford for National Archaeologists’ day

Friday, Saturday, Weekend In and Around Norwich. Now fully

Sunday, August booked, but contact Dorothy Newbury (203 0950)

30, 31 and Sept 1st to join the reserves bench.

STONEHENGE TO BE MOVED? Stewart J. Wild

I wonder how many members were shocked by the article about Stonehenge on

page 3 of the Daily Mail recently. It seems that the gradual slowing of the Earth’s rotation has resulted in the misalignment of the stones such that sunrise on Midsummer’s Day is badly out of line. The plan is therefore to dismantle the monument and build a new motorway through the site. Stonehenge would then be re-erected in a more prominent place, such as the summit of Snowdon.

A Japanese consortium has put in an alternative bid worth £2 billion to buy Stonehenge and re-site it on top of sacred Mount Fuji in order to enhance Japan’s reputation as the Land of the Rising Sun.

The article concludes with the news that a decision will be taken today and that work will start in exactly one year’s time. The date of the article? April 1st!

PRIORY COTTAGE COACH HOUSE Bill Bass

HADAS members may remember Priory Cottage in Hadley Green Road, whose listed 19th century coach house was demolished without permission in 1984. The owner was fined £10,000 for the offence, later he wanted to build a new three bedroom house on the site, this plan was rejected by Barnet Council. Councillors were willing only to allow the owner to re-build the coach house with a small extension at the back. There was an appeal to the Department of the Environment, John Davies an inspector of the DOE said: “To allow replacement dwellings so significantly larger than the originals would, in my view destroy the historic character in the areas of Monken Hadley”. Mr Davies said the plans were out of keeping with Green belt policy and would damage the setting of a nearby house The Grove.

(As Reported in Barnet Borough Times 28th March 1991)

HENDON AND DISTRICT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

MINUTES of the 29th Annual General Meeting held at Hendon Library, The Burroughs, NW4 on Tuesday May 8th 1990 at 8.30 pm.

In the Chair: The President 51 Members attended

1. The Chairman welcomed Members.

Apologies for absence: Ann Lawson, Camilla Raab, Ted Sammes, Brian Wibberley, Shiela Woodward.

2. Minutes of the 28th AGM on 9th 1989 were approved and signed.

The Annual Report (copy in Minute Book) was given by the Chairman, Andrew Selkirk.

The Accounts (copy in the Minute Book) were presented by the Hon Treasurer, Victor Jones.

The Annual Report and the Accounts were accepted nem con.

3. Vice-Presidents: the following were confirmed in office:

Mrs Brigid Grafton Green Miss D P Hill

Mr Brian Jarman Mrs Daphne Lorimer

Mr E Sammes Mr Andrew Saunders

Election of Officers: there being one nomination for each vacancy, the following were declared elected:

Chairman: Andrew Selkirk Hon Secretary: Brian Wrigley

V-Chairman: John Enderby Hon Treasurer: Victor Jones

Election of Committee: There being 11 nominations for 13 vacancies, the following were declared elected:

Christine Arnott, Deirdre Barrie, Phyllis Fletcher, Ted Sammes, Alan Lawson, Margaret Maher, Andrew Simpson, Peter Pickering, Dorothy Newbury, Jean Snelling and Myfanwy Stewart

Consideration of organisation of HADAS library/librarians: debate was introduced by the Chairman, Andrew Selkirk, who pointed out the situation that after damage to many of our books, our insurance claim has been paid so we have the money to begin to replace our collection and must consider afresh what we want to do. comments were invited. Points made in discussion included:

Did we need a library and what purpose(s) should it serve?

There is some possibility of a joint venture with the LBB library service to make our books available to the public as well as more readily to Members.

We should bear in mind the importance of information being available to schools, and of interesting the young generation in our current excavations.

We should organise exhibitions in schools, with suitable equipment, to arouse interest.

We should now set out to equip the library with books useful for Members taking archaeological study courses.

Members appreciated the system of having books available for loan/return at monthly lecture meetings.

Discussion concluded with a recommendation by the President of appointing a sub-committee to consider the matter, taking account of all the views expressed.

The following resolution (proposed by Percy Reboul, seconded by Andrew-Pares) was carried by a large majority (2 against):

This Meeting calls upon the Committee to consider changing the name of the organisation to reflect more accurately the scope and geographical boundaries of its activities to-day.

Points made in discussion included:

That to express the geographical boundaries accurately required the phrase “Barnet Borough” and for this such a change there was a need to consult other Societies as well as the London Borough of Barnet itself.

To change a name already widely known could be an overall disadvantage.

The suggestion of “Hendon Barnet & District AS”.

Some potential members were deterred from joining by not realising the Society covered the whole Borough.

Opinions and suggestions could be asked for in the columns of the Newsletter.

There being no other business, the formal part of the Meeting ended at 9.35 pm.

After the formal Meeting, there was a short talk by Andrew Simpson on the Whetstone dig.

SERIAC 91 One Day Conference – 23 March 1991 Stewart J Wild

As members of Greater London Industrial Archaeology Society, Bill Firth and I attended the South East Regional Industrial Archaeology Conference at the Science Museum on 23 March. A series of well-illustrated and well- researched dissertations included some case histories from Southampton, the role of English Heritage in the preservation of significant industrial sites and their conversion to modern uses, and the work of the Railway Heritage Trust.

After lunch we heard about the work of the National Trust, with particular reference to a success story in the Vale of Neath where an early watermill and tin smelting works has been restored to such an extent that water power is now generating electricity which the NT sells at 6 pence a unit.

Dr Thomas Wright of the Science Museum spoke about the difficulties of keeping up with the pace of technological advances, particularly in science and medicine. There was good news that the PRISM fund (i.e state funding) was now empowered to give money for pro-active early conservation of buildings, machines etc as well as re-active acquisition at a later stage. An eminent professor from Canada spoke of the growth of Industrial Archaeology internationally, with particular reference to the USA, Canada and Spain, and the Director of the Science Museum, Dr. Neil Cossons, brought the conference to a close with a call for more IA training, university courses etc., and the pleas that there should be more emphasis on the

Archaeological aspect of IA.Overall an enjoyable and worthwhile conference left me with the impression that although funds are scarce, IA is certainly a growth industry. Delegates were later invited to visit Kirkcaldy’s Testing Museum in Southwark where David Kirkcaldy’s amazing 1864 Testing Machine was demonstrating its awesome power in testing steel, concrete etc to destruction exactly as it did when it was installed 127 years ago.

GLIAS membership costs £7 per annum – further details from Hon. Secretary Bill Firth on 081-455 7164

PHANTOM TRAMS CAUSE EERIE SILENCE Bill Bass

“Tram lines have caused hundreds of telephones to be cut off more than 50 years after the streetcars stopped running. Old cables laid along the Great North Road by Barnet Odeon caused up to 800 phone lines around the area to go down, the tram lines were tarmacked under the road surface and over years they sank under the weight of all the traffic and damaged the cables underneath”.

The above was a report in a local newspaper, the lines in question belonged to the Metropolitan Electric Tramways (M.E.T) in conjunction with the Middlesex and Herts County Council, the terminus was sited at Barnet Parish Church.

Towards the end of the 19th century tramway operators in London began rapidly to decline and most were absorbed into municipal control as a result of the 1870 Tramways Act. The M.E.T. system was by far and away the largest company operator and second in size only to London County Council, it was incorporated in 1894 as the M.E.T Tramways and Omnibus Co. Ltd. Services reached Whetstone in 1905 and Barnet on the 28th March 1907. Rapid growth brought the total of route miles worked to 53.5, including 42.5 miles owned by Middlesex County Council and 1.5 miles by Hertfordshire County Council at the northern end of the Barnet route. There was a depot at North Finchley and a Depot/Works at Colindale.

The M.E.T. was noted in its later years for experiments towards improved tramcar design, unfortunately one such experimental vehicle was involved in a collision on Barnet Hill due to a fault in the air-braking system, the driver, who was not used to the characteristics of the vehicle, received fatal injuries

On the 1st July 1933 the London Passenger transport Board took over the M.E.T together with all other London Transport undertakings.

Tramcars finished their last journeys around 1938 when they were replaced by Trolley Buses which, not being restricted to following rails laid in the road, were able to pass around obstructions such as parked vehicles and they were more comfortable and quieter then the trams.

(The Trolleybuses themselves last ran to Edgware and Barnet on 2nd January 1962, an event marked by heavy snowfall. The depot at Colindale was used to scrap many of London’s trolley buses the last in September 1962, four months after London’s last trolleybus on the Fulwell route in South London. It was demolished in 1965.-Ed).

LAMAS – 28th Conference of London Archaeologists Andy Simpson

Museum of London 22nd March 1991

The event this year was moderately well attended, with a small HASAS contingent present, some of us being involved with our sales/exhibition stand. Our new exhibition got much attention, but like the few other exhibitors the sales left something to be desired, since most people seemed rather parochial in their archaeological interests!

The morning session offered an excellent selection of talks. The Roman period was covered by Taryn Nixon’s talk on DUA excavations on the roman cemetery at Smithfield, 1 of 3 main extra mural settlements of the period. Ms Nixon was at pains to point out that the dead were being studied to learn about the living. The cemetery had been intensively used – 120 burials in an area 15m square! – so there was little regard for previous burials, which were all coffined and had differing alignments – too mixed to differentiate ‘christian’ or ‘pagan’. There was some jewellery but no sign of monuments or tombstones, suggesting a fairly low status. The oldest person was barely 40 – many died in their teens, and there were few women.

John Mills of the DGLA covered excavations of a Saxon site at Winslow Road, Fulham, adjacent to the Thames, in advance of office development. Shallow stratigraphy included saxon clay, pottery, gullies, pits and postholes, the latter associated with sunken-floored huts, often 12 post’ buildings. Some postholes contained bone comb fragments of the fifth-seventh century. An unusual find was some lead weights and an articulated house burial. At 5 miles from central London, this is the nearest early Saxon settlement to London yet found. The Saxon period was also covered by the Passmore Edwards Museum excavations at Barking Abbey, near the river Neding.

Here too, Saxon evidence was sought, and found in the shape of traces of saxon buildings slumped into backfilled gravel pits, leaving traces of beamslots and postholes. Saxon finds in the fill of these pits included bone comb fragments and glassware, mostly imported, and a splendid iron weaving sword of middle saxon dates, and some gold thread. 8 sceuths of C. 730 were recovered, together with a whistle made from a gooses’ leg bone!

Traces of outbuildings of this Saxon abbey, probably of the 10th century included a stone built celler, a glass kiln, and a timber-lined well.

Mike Webber described excavations at Lambeth in search of the Duke of Norfolk’s palace, built in the 16th century. Residual prehistoric, roman and saxon material was found on the Lambeth road site, together with a well preserved wooden medieval silt scoop, pitched with leather 14th Century flourkley and re-used 14th Century architectural fragments.

Docklands archaeology was covered by Mike Hutchinson’s talk on rescue work prior to building of the linear E-W routeway. This was partly illustrated by an interesting short video describing the project. Trial trenching and selective larger excavations, for instance at Dunbar Wharf, were carried

out, in advance of this ‘Limehouse link’ road. The Dunbar Wharf excavations revealed extensive remains of the short-lived Porcelain Works of Joseph Wilson, in production 1744-1748. The material recovered gave a securely dated porcelain collection – useful comprehensive source for porcelain sundries.

The afternoon session was given over to Politics – the effects of the proposed changes imposed by English Heritage upon the Museum of London and the result this will have upon the museum’s ability to carry out effective archaeological work.

Dominic Perring of English Heritage pointed out that the ‘developer pays’ principle was spreading from London, so the developers needed good guidance from local authorities and planning depts, and guidance through ‘briefs’ and research designs. Targets had to be set and digs written up more quickly.

Harvey Sheldon, Head of the DGLA, felt no confidence in the future, though he appreciated the value of developer funding, it should not be relied upon exclusively. He opposed project funding and the progressive withdrawal of the MoL’s establishment grant by English Heritage. He feared that, with English Heritages’ own planning advice team working in London from summer 1991 it would become a reactive rather than a creative organisation.

David Barker, Bedfordshires County Archaeologist stressed need for efficient use of resources and involve all interested parties – the doers and the users.

Colin Bolt, as ‘amateur’ representative, pointed out the value of use of societes for small digs and on slow moving sites, giving HADAS a good plug as one of the few active societies in the excavations fields, and that standing buildings – ‘upright Archaeology’ should receive more attention, these being ideal items for amateur groups to study.

Local groups could also re-assess previously exhausted material.He suggested that LAMAS should create regional groups from the ranks of active amateur archaeologists.

A member of the Southwark planning Dept reminded us that developers need to make a profit – around 15% on the average site, and planning authorities could be held financial responsible for affecting development through archaeological or other priorities.

Richard Hughes, consulting archaeologist with a developer, suggested that archaeologists should study the ‘natural’ more as a way of understanding how the buildings that stood on it actually worked.

Tim Schadla – Hall of the Society of Museum Archaeologists stressed the need for good management – and that London Archaeology needs independent status to be able to make feasible responses and provide information and action, whilst providing quality and value for money.

LAMAS Day Conference – Discussion Session Jean Snelling

In the general discussion, forceful views came from the floor and contributions had finally to be cut off as time ran out. The general theme was alarm for the future of the Museum of London’s excavation work and for its necessary support by conservation, environmental and other technical investigations, research and publication.

All these were seen to be threatened by diminution or diversification by English Heritage of financial support, as it had been initiated by the former Greater London council. Speakers emphasised that reputable archaeology could not be achieved by excavations financed only project by project which no continuing planning and support service. The English Heritage panel member expressed empathy with these views while feeling unable to forecast his organisation’s policy.Other speakers stressed the value of renewing cooperation between professional archaeologists and volunteers, and also between professional services and local societies; mutual need for each other was expressed, and the hope that local societies would not wither away or cease to undertake excavations and to publish their results.

On the issue of having a central body for London which could advise on possible sites which could be worth excavating (this was getting at E H again), it was pointed out that some of the most significant discoveries of recent years turned up on sites where they had not been expected (eg the Guildhall amphitheatre). The preference of Developers was underlined, for direct and continued contact with the archaeologists who were to excavate or were actually excavating their sites; they would not value rather generalised advice from a body without the closest concern. A further shot from Developers stated that archaeologists could benefit by being more knowledgeable about geological conditions encountered on sites.

A speaker recommended the several excellent museums of archaeology to be found in Japan.This led to exclamations that local archaeological discoveries belonged to the local people, that good museums could channel such interests, and that government should not be the arbiters of policy for archaeology.

Finally, the Chairman repeated his initial question. How many of you feel confident about the future of London archaeology? Not a hand was raised.

LOCAL EVENTS

Exhibition – Pharmacy Past, Present and Future. Church Farm House

Museum 4th May – 9th June and at Barnet Museum 2nd July ­31st August.

Exhibition – The Rota Tracts and Pamphlets 1620 – 1712.

Church Farm Museum 21st March – 23rd June –

Covers Stuart tracts and pamphlets, from Royalists to witchcraft to Sermons and verses.

STOP PRESS !!

Readers will be glad to know that at long last the West Heath report is with the printers and will shortly appear as part of the BAR series. It is hoped to hold a special launch event in late May or early June.

DIARY

Please note the advertised lecture “Valley of the Kings” has been post­poned to Tuesday October 1st. Ted Sammes has kindly stepped in to talk and show slides of archaeological sites in Jordan.

Tuesday 2nd April A SMALL DISPLAY by Tessa Smith

At the April Lecture, there will be a small display of finds from the “pipeline” field walking. Do come and look.

LECTURE: JORDAN VISITED

Ted Sammes, one of our Vice Presidents, needs no introduction. Last year he visited Jordan for a fourteen day period, little knowing what events would be in store for the Middle East later in the year.

Ted will show a selection of slides in an endeavour to cover much of the history/archaeology of Jordan. We will see views of PETRA, JERASH, a British Museum dig at TELL ES-SA ID1YEH, MOUNT NERO, MADABA and some desert castles, with a hot-spa site thrown in for good measure.

Saturday April 13th Local History Open Weekend with Barnet Local History

Society

Tuesday May 7th Annual General Meeting

Sunday May 12th Walk and afternoon visit to the Museum of Jewish Life, Finchley

Saturday June 8th Essex History Fair (See page 5 of February Newsletter)

Saturday June 15th Outing to Mapledurham, with Ted Sammes

Saturday July 13th Outing to historic Chatham Docks

Saturday August 10th Outing to Hertford – National Archaeologists’ Day

Lectures are held at the Central Library, The Burroughs, Hendon, at 8.00 for 8.30 pm.

Dorothy Newbury adds: the entry for the Weekend in Norwich (Fri/Sat/Sun August 30/31, September 1st) is full, but names are welcome for a waiting list (tel: 203 0950).

BELL LANE/BRENT STREET

Pneumatic drills are operating and excavators are digging up the underground public lavatories which are situated on the triangle at the junction of Bell Lane and Brent Street. Also on this site is a borough horse trough and a hanging blue plaque indicating it as a site of the “old Parish Cage”. Will all members in the area keep an eye on these two historic pieces – too much of old Hendon has already disappeared.

THE QUAKER TAPESTRY

A member of the Enfield Archaeological Society has sent us the follow­ing notice of an interesting exhibition at the Forty Hall Museum, Enfield.

“Since the C17 industrial welfare has developed as an expression of Quaker faith”.

This exhibition closes on 7th April 1991.

BARNET LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

and

HENDON AND DISTRICT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

present

A LOCAL HISTORY WEEKEND

SATURDAY 13 April – Barnet Museum, Wood Street Open Day 11.00 to 1.00 and 2.30 to 4.30 pm SPECIAL DISPLAY OF LOCAL ARCHAEOLOGY

ARRANGED BY: HENDON AND DISTRICT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

SUNDAY 14 APRIL – Guided walk round Historic Barnet

A leisurely stroll of about one and a half hours. It is hoped to include a visit to the site of a “Dig”. MEET at Barnet Museum, leave at 11.00. Repeat tour at 2.30. Numbers limited. Early booking advisable. Fee £1.00

To book phone Barnet Museum (440 8066) or 368 5345.

MEDIEVAL POTTERY IN GALLEY LANE, BARNET

In 1975, some 500 sherds of mainly coarse grey/buff medieval pottery were found at my house in Galley Lane (TQ 227 967) when a gas main was laid. A shallow trench about 0.5m wide had been dug the-length of the drive but the sherds were concentrated into one area under the car port. The conglomerated mass of broken and heat reddened pieces of pottery, in very little soil matrix, was evidently composed of wasters from a nearby kiln whose whereabouts is unknown.

The nearest known medieval kiln, found in 1959 at Dyke Cottage, King’s Road, is about mile away. (TQ 233964). It yielded a range of 13th century pottery including at least 50 cooking pots, 30 jugs and 20 bowls (Penn 1960). Like the Galley Lane material “the pottery found was made of local clay, the coarser wares being tempered with fragments of flint and quartz” (Ibid).

In the late autumn of 1990 the house had to be underpinned by the front porch about 7 metres from the previous find spot. As the odd sherd or two had also turned up in the flowerbeds, both in the front and back gardens, the prospect of a new trench was of obvious interest. Predictably the excavation began when I was away for the day and no doubt some material was dumped on the skip. Nevertheless, I retrieved 191 sherds from a trench 2m x 0.75m deep. The pottery was much more loosely packed than in 1975 but the deeper trench enabled me to sketch the section which showed a reddened pebbly layer apparently over the pottery-bearing grey clay. Again there was no sign of a kiln.

There were 17 pieces of rim, flint tempered, of variable coarseness and a colour range of greys, buffs and brown/reds. One rim had simple finger-impressed decoration. There were 4 pieces of base and 170 assorted sherds 5 of which were decorated with finger-impressed strips of clay. Similar pieces had been found in 1975.

I think that the more important area had been pinpointed when the gas main had been laid. However, with so limited a trench it is not possible to postulate the whereabouts of the nearest kiln. It may have been destroyed when the house was built and so the pottery may not be in situ but, if it is not, considering the mass of material with so little soil matrix, I do not think it could have come far.

When site watching at Prospect Lodge, at the top of Galley Lane, towards Kinds Road, I found some 30 more sherds of similar fabric and one had impressed strip decoration. This time a large area had been trenched for the foundations of several new houses but still no sign of a kiln was apparent. Nevertheless it is always worthwhile looking down even the least prepossessing of trenches in areas of no previously known archaeo­logical interest. The owner of Prospect Lodge had said “You are very welcome to have a look but there can’t be anything there.” In 1975, one of the Gas Board men, who became adept at bringing in the sherds to me and who had spotted the best piece of decorated ware, suddenly remarked “I always wondered why the old pottery we dig up in the trenches around here isn’t shiny.” I don’t think he was joking.

Penn D.F. 1960 A Medieval Industrial Site at Barnet.

In Barnet and District Record Society

Bulletin No.12, June 1960

By MYFANWY STEWART

MINIMART

Following the request for advice on car boot sales, John Enderby and Dorothy Newbury have been up at the crack of dawn on the last two Sundays setting up a stall at the Hendon Market. Dealers pounce like vultures and as a result we have been able to sell much of last years overs, as well as some recent items. If you have any good bric-a-brac available now, please ring 203 0950. As it was, we were sold out by 10.00 am and were able to leave much earlier than we had hoped.

DIGGING IN ASSYRIA The pork of the British Museum JOAN EDWARDS

The lecturer on March 5th was Dr John Curtis, Keeper of the Western Asiatic Antiquities of the British Museum. He told us that the Museum’s approach had been to look for Assyrian life on a more humble level than that of the previously excavated great palaces and temples. Due to the construction, from 1983 onwards, of a dam on the upper Tigris flooding of large areas near the Syrian and Turkish borders would result. It was decided to excavate as many of the sites which would be affected as possible and the British Museum took three village sites to excavate between 1983 and 1986: QASRIJ CLIFF, KHIRBER KHATUNIYEH, and KHIRBER OASRIJ.

At QASRIJ CLIFF potsherds were found on the river bank. On excava­tion a deep circular pit was exposed. This had originally been a grain silo but was later used for tipping rubbish including much late Assyrian pottery. No associated occupation area was found, possibly it had been carried away due to river erosion.

At KHIRBER KHATUNTYEH an occupation area was identified between two wadis. A small area was dug revealing a large “manor” house or admini­strative building. Walls were of mud brick and the area paved with stone. A grain bin and oven were present and profusion of broken pottery. Two rooms were excavated and a stone coffin found in the door­way between them. This contained no bones but had been used for storing grain. An iron sickle and whetstones were also in it. Two collapsed looms and unbaked clay loom weights were found and large “pithoi” with both flat and conical bases. It was evident that the site had been destroyed by fire in about 612BC probably by invading edes. The site actually flooded while digging was in progress and had to be abandoned. On the very last day a clay ram’s head rhyton was found.

At KHTRBER QASRIJ a settlement was found which was probably found by displaced people in 612BC escaping the tides occupation continued to about 500. Stone pavements and wall footings indicating an industrial site with a complex pit kiln surrounded by a paved area within a wall. The kiln was I1 metres deep and the roof had collapsed in on top of pots and wasters. These had been a large pit fire and probably the roof would be broken open after each firing and renewed. Some flooring stones in the surround had well-worn regular holes suggesting a pivot hole for the support of a potter’s wheel. Some complete pots were found and also nails made of pot normally used for attaching ritual displays on walls. Special finds were a stone weight carved as a sleeping duck and an Assyrian bronze fibula brooch in the shape of a woman’s torso.

The other excavations in 1989 and 1990 were undertaken at the famous sites of NIMRUD and BALAWAT. At NIMRUD a large store room was studied in Fort Shalmaneser. It had been destroyed by the Medes in 614 BC. It measured 10 x 4 metres and was 5 metres deep. Charred roof beams were found and a stone roof roller had fallen through the roof. The roof rollers were, and still are, used to roll a layer of plastered mud across the roof to seal leaks. On the floor were many bronze remains including circular bronze bosses similar to those illustrated decorating the leather harness of horses in the famous Assyrian wall reliefs but not beforefound in excavations. Glazed bricks were found scattered. These belonged to a wall panel which must have fallen in from the courtyard when the building was destroyed. The bricks bore the inscription for Shalmaneser III. They also had white paint faces and signs and black ink signs in Aramaic. This was the earliest use of Aramaic yet documented in the area. The white signs are not decipherable. Both lots of signs gave the assembler of the panel the order of assembly of the bricks. Bone plaques, faience beads and horse harness were found and also large pottery jars.

At BALAWAT work was undertaken in the area where Rasai found in the bronze gates now reconstructed in the British Museum. A small exploratory trench has begun yielding plaques and cylinder seals.

Dr Curtis finished his lecture by showing us slides of the fantastic gold jewellery and vessels found very recently by penetrating the floor of the palace courtyard revealing 4 tombs in brick vaults. The palace had previously been excavated by Woolley and Mallowan and this area had been thought to be the household area of the queens and their children.

THREE RIVER PIPELINE PROJECT

FINAL REPORT AND CONCLUSIONS VICTOR JONES

This project is to interconnect the water supply systems of the Lee, Colne and Three Rivers Water Supply Companies. It was planned a number of years ago, following the great drought of 1986. It is being constructed in stages and the Barnet western section is now completed.

The project was observed by the Department of Urban Archaeology of the Museum of London, particularly the Roman section. The Society has a copy of their report, and it is available to members.

In this Borough the work included cutting a track about 15 m wide and 5 km long, through several of the outer North Western districts, starting from Rowley Green. It then crossed fields in Arkley, over Barnet Road, through part of Scratchwood and the Edgware Golf Club, under the M1 Motorway, across Edgwarebury Fields, over the A41, and via more fields over Watling Street to the top of Brockley Hill and along Wood Lane, out of the Borough to Stanmore.

The work included removing topsoil from the full width of the service track (approx. 20m) then heaping this to one side, cutting a trench a little over a metre in width. This was sometimes deep (2 – 5m) to eliminate minor surface variation and produce an even base for the massive water pipe sections (approx. 0/8m and 5m). This was followed of course by the big job of laying, and joining and testing the system.

The Route. This passed through various places of known archaeological interest and much agricultural land, and offered a unique opportunity to examine areas not previously explored.

It commenced at a covered reservoir at Rowley Green, on a relatively unbuilt up area on the high ground to the north of the Borough. From there it first crossed a series of large fields at this level, then descending through further fields dropped approximately 10 m and crossed the Barnet Road about half way from Hiver Hall and the roundabout junction of the Barnet Road and the A1000.

The fields nearest Rowley Green had few if any artifacts – they had a thin topsoil layer approximately 15 cm deep, and an 0.25 m layer of large, rounded (water worn) irregular-shaped pebble (2 to 10 cm in). Below this was London clay. The next fields sloped down to meet the Barnet Road level. There was a greater depth of topsoil here, gradually increasing to approximately 20 cm at Barnet Road. There was also a layer of gravel of variable depth, with pebbles up to about 5 cm. below was the London clay.

A considerable range of artifacts was found, sparse at the higher levels and increasing in number and type from the high fields to those near the Barnet Road. The finds included a variety of tile, brick fragments, pottery sherds, clay pipes, small glass and pottery jars and similar items. Most are deposited at the Barnet Museum. None were earlier than 18th C. and much was Victorian.

The Viatores Route 167. The track crossed the line suggested by the Viatores as a possible Roman Route which passed through Edgware and Hendon and on to Londinium (Roman Roads in the SE Midlands, 1964).

This had been the subject of an early HADAS research project in the 60s, and reported (in the LAMAS Journal) by I. Robertson, the Director of the work. Careful search of the pipeline track did not find any evidence of a road or scatter of foundation material as would be expected if a road had existed.

No other artifacts were found in the area of track across these fields. This had passed through any line the Viatores suggested route would have crossed in the higher fields.

This agrees with earlier HADAS investigations, which included excava­tions and resistance surveys at several sites on the south of the Barnet Road. No evidence of a route was found by these investigations.

Re-examination of a possible line from the Viatores’ final “traced point” at Well End, Borehamwood to find a more south-easterly route with Rowley Lane as a possibility if the Route reached Well End is reliable.

South of the Barnet Road. The short section of pipeline between the Barnet Road and the point of the crossing of the A1000 was through the gardens of modern housing, and produced no material of interest. Such items as were found were tile, broken brick and small amounts of modern china shard.

The Scratchwood and Edgwarebury area. The route was then by tunnel under the A1000. This is to a point on the north side of the entrance of the Scratchwood Open Space picnic area. This area is a roughly rectangular grass space 200 x 250 m. The track crossed the picnic field diagonally to the southeast, and passed through the woodland area for about 500 m.

This was interesting and quite different to any other area we observed. It was almost completely without artifacts (with the exception of a 2 m square area in which fragments of a modern plate, cup etc. were found).

The soil throughout the wood consisted of light, fibrous matter from 15 to 20 cm in depth, then up to 0.5 m shading from light to darker brown of a clayey soil mix into the solid London clay, all penetrated to about 1.2 m deep.

The woodland over the track length appeared uncultivated and may perhaps have been so since the once-great Middlesex Forest covered our ancient county.

The Doomsday Book mentions food for 1000 pigs in the woods of the adjacent manor of Stanmore and 800 for Hendon.

Edgware Golf Course. The route then crossed a small section of Edgware-Golf Course. most of this is at this point on rubble filled land. It is low, has drainage streams from the higher ground, and was subject to in-filling as a council waste dump of the 20s and 30s.

I was told by the Chairman of the Golf Club that much earlier it was the site of a country residence with lake and gardens etc. This might be an interesting subject for a documentary research project, to trace its previous history for our records. The area as could be expected produced many finds of very recent material.

Edgwarebury to Brockley Hill. The route proceeds eastwards over the fields of Edgwarebury Farm to the A41. The search here produced a quantity of finds of the various types of 18th-19th C. material, scattered fairly evenly through the central part of the area. Near the M1, where the ground is low and wet, relatively few finds were made. Increasing numbers occurred as the first field was crossed, then the quantity found remained fairly uniform throughout the central area of the fields.

A small concentration of worked flint wasters was found at a point in these fields. The range of finds other than this continued from the central to a point about two-thirds of the way to the A41, and then tile and brick fragments, some possibly of Roman type, also occurred.

At about 100 m of the A41, a concentration of 19th C mixed building and domestic remnants were found spread over about a 10 m circle. The material was recent and might have been dumped, or have been from a small collapsed building.

In previous HADAS field-walks some years ago in the general area, Roman tile and other material had been found, and further walks to establish the spread and/or source of material could be of interest.

Brockley Hill East Side. The A41 was crossed about a third of the distance from the Edgware roundabout at the foot of the Hill, and the Sterling Corner Roundabout at the top.

The track entered through the existing gate a field approximately 200m south of Nut Grove, and was parallel to the A41 for approximately 100m, and then north-westwards towards the west of Nut Grove, and on to Watling Street at a point 70m from the Watling Street and Wood Lane Junction.

The A41 side of Brockley Hill produced a range of finds of mainly 18th to 19th C type, but including small brick and tile fragments of possibly Roman type.

Nut Grove to Watling Street. The route crossed the field in which HADAS undertook a major project directed by Gillian Braithwaite in 1987, under­taken just before a long postponement of the project. It found Roman tile pottery etc., buried early road, and Neolithic flint. A Bronze Age arrow­head and a Roman coin were also reported. (See Newsletter No. 202).

The field from Nut Grove to Watling Street had scattered fragments of tile and brick and small pottery shards, but close to Watling Street a road section was exposed and examined by the D. of U. Archaeology observers and Verulamium-type pottery shards were found from a flagon made some date between AD 60 and 160. Two further pieces were found on the road surface. Full details of this and work on the west side of Brockley Hill is in their report mentioned earlier, and is noted in one of my several Newsletter items.

Watling Street and Wood Lane. I was fortunate in being present while the final work an crossing Watling Street was being completed. This is a deep and narrow cut just wide enough to take the pipe, and made at an angle across the road. Most of the pipeline sections had been laid overnight.

(I had been working with John Mills of the D. of U.A. the previous day on the road exposure described in their report.)

Some final work involving machine clearance on the east approach trench was still in progress, and other machines were also operating close by.

Conditions were not good or very convenient for observation. A small area on a steel plate on the south side of the trench at about the centre of operations was free.

Mr Steel, the site engineer, agreed to my observing from there while the space was unoccupied. I was able from there to see the north face of the trench very clearly, from a distance a little from the edge.

I remained about an hour sketching and photographing. It was possible to see much detail.

Below the present surface, clear sections of two further, relatively modern road surfaces were visible. Each was quite thick and had different foundation materials. Below these was a dark, deep section of another road. Its surface shape was similar to that found on the west side, but it was much wider and deeper. The base was about q.3 below its surface, and a spread of foundation material could be seen at an estimated 1.8m below the modern surface.

Unfortunately, due to the acute angle of the view because of the narrow trench and depth, the resulting photographs were not very satis­factory. The notes and sketches, however, were sufficient to allow the compilation of a reasonable drawing.

It seems probable this may be all of the original. Watling Street which is about a metre below the present road surface, until some suitable new deep work is again undertaken at Brockley Hill. Detailed information and the drawing will be included in a final site report.

IN MEMORY OF NELL

There will be deep sadness in many HADAS households at the news that Nell Pennv is dead: for Nell was a favourite with everyone who knew her, and that meant almost everyone in the Society. She was a Committee member for many years, a cook for our Roman and Arabian banquets and a staunch worker at our Minimarts for 14 years.

She was not an archaeologist by trade or training or study – she was an historian, and a-teacher of history for most of her life. She came to archaeology latish in life, joining the Society in 1972, when she was just into her sixties; but she was a woman of great intelligence, with that rare combination: intellectual capacity backed by masses of common sense. Although she always said that recent history was her main interest, she managed to get hooked on every archaeological period back to the prehistory of Crete – a place which she visited for the first time at 80 and fell for with the enthusiasm of an 18-year-old.

For HADAS, she filled a definite gap. We haven’t all that many members who are prepared to study both history and archaeology, and Nell worked assiduously in the local archives, first of all running down the history of farms and farmers in the locality and more recently analysing census returns – starting from the three early censes for Hendon of 1801, 1811 and 1821 and going on to the published censes for the area from 1841-1881. We shan’t easily forget her regular incursions into the Newsletter with the latest tit-bit of gossip from – or of – some 19c census enumerator.

Indeed the march Newsletter carried a characteristic note from Nell about cold weather payments to the old and vulnerable in 1794. Then I telephoned her on March 8, exactly a week before she died, she was waiting for the ambulance which was to take her to hospital – and though breathing was already difficult, she insisted on coming to the ‘phone to ask, among other things “Did you like my piece in the Newsletter?”

Nell was intensely proud of the achievements of her astronomer son, Alan, and her daughter, Jan, who has already carved a place for herself as a writer and speaker on the womenfolk of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. It was ironic, and sad, that on March 16, the very night after Nell’s death, Jan did a half-hour Kaleidoscope programme on Lizzie Siddal, Dante Gabriel Rosseti’s wife, on Radio 4. Nell would have relished every word of it.

And that, perhaps, was her greatest distinguishing mark – her relish for life. For those of us who knew and loved her, the relish of life is going to be much less keen because of Nell’s passing. By BRIGID GRAFTON GREEN

Newsletter 240: March 1991 Edited by Helen Gordon

Diary

Saturday March 23 LAMAS Annual Conference at the Museum of London (See February Newsletter for details).

Tuesday April 2 Lecture: ‘Jordan visited’ by Ted Sammes

Please note the advertised lecture ‘Valley of the Kings’ has been post-poned to Tuesday October 1st. Ted Sammes has kindly stepped in to talk and show slides of archaeological sites in Jordan.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday Weekend in Norwich
August 30/31/September 1

Saturday October 5 City Walk with Mary O’Connell

Saturday October 12 MINIMART

Tuesday December 3 CHRISTMAS DINNER AT THE GEORGE AND VULTURE

Lectures are held at the Central Library, The Burroughs, Hendon, at 8.00 for 8,30 pm.

EXCAVATION AND POST-EXCAVATION by Brian Wrigley

As the weather turns out, we seem to have got it right in not having a dig going on, this year, right through the bleak mid-winter as we did the last two years! In fact, good use is being made of the time in sorting and processing finds from 19/25 High Street, Barnet and from 1264 High Road, Whetstone. Our room at Avenue House is proving a great convenience for this, and much appreciated.

A few of the more intriguing or puzzling finds have been referred to the Museum of London. One, from Whetstone, was a small metal tube which Jeff Egan of the Museum pronounced to be a ‘chape’ or tag from a bodice lace ­which caused the imagination of at least one of us to run riot!

It is hoped to provide a full report and analysis on the pottery from Barnet in April or May, to add to the reports already published on the excavation itself and the animal bones.

FUTURE EXCAVATIONS?

The Borough Planning Department recently asked us about a planning application for Hill House, Elstree; this site adjoins Watling Street and is of course not far from the well-known scheduled site at Brockley Hill. Since the proposed development appeared to involve some disturbance of ground, we advised that there should be an archaeological evaluation before making a decision, and offered our help in this, so that any needed archaeological conditions for preservation or recording of remains could be included in any consent. This just could be an opportunity for a trial dig this summer. Apart from this, there might be some chances at Barnet or Hendon, but both are very much in the air at present.

SOME NEW DEVELOPMENTS FOR 1991 by Victor Jones

Brian notes the possible sites for excavation this coming year, while Dorothy announces the season’s outings and other events which, as always, cover a wide range of interest.

I have been asked to report some of the other activities we have in hand which we hope to complete before the end of the year.

Finishing the work on our new room at Avenue House is, perhaps, the most important of these, because it gives us a place to carry out such activities as processing finds, arranging and storing the finds, exhibition material, and equipment. There will be space to prepare exhibits, to preserve and store properly our photographic records and detailed maps which are in constant use.

As reported in the last Newsletter, preparation of the room is going well, and it has been in use for find sorting in the last few weeks.

Cleaning of the books remains to be done; we could not start on this until the space and the facilities for doing it had been prepared and it was possible to heat the room satisfactorily. Now this is ready, and a fine new made-to-measure bookcase has been built by one of our excavation team, Arthur Till, so that the books, after proper cleaning, can be put away.

The collection of earlier records and finds from major investigations undertaken by the Society during its 30 years of activity has continued, and they are being housed in our new room.

However, a problem still remains about the room: we accepted the offer of the room, made by the Council shortly before the Avenue House fire, and sometime later at their suggestion, we stored our books there, pending preparation of a lease. This has never appeared, but the cost charged by the Council for the room has increased considerably. A grant from the Council’s Charity had been suggested, to help with the proposed rent, but this may not now be available, and we are to consider further negotiation.

Another major development in progress is the long-delayed publication of the first phase report of the West Heath dig. For the information of new members, this was a six-year investigation of a Mesolithic hunter/gatherer camp site, some 8/9,000 years old, found by one of our members on the Golders Green side of Hampstead Heath. The site is the closest of this type to the centre of London.

We also intend to publish the second part of ‘The Place in Time’ with an update on our latest work and, to hold a party to celebrate these events!

Some members will be glad to learn that the Newsletter index of the period 1986 onwards is in progress, and we hope will be finished this year.

STOP PRESS THE WEST HEATH REPORT GOES TO PRESS THIS WEEK AND WITH ANY LUCK WILL BE OUT IN TIME FOR THE A.G.M.

THE SITES AND MONUMENTS RECORD FOR LONDON BOROUGH OF BARNET

By Brian Wrigley

Members may remember from my appeal in the Newsletter of July 1990 that we have a printout of this invaluable archaeological tool, put on computor by th Museum of London, intended to include all sites or finds of

archaeological significance. We now have this information put onto disc for our own HADAS computor, thanks to Margaret Marshall who in the few months she has been a Member, has already performed this sterling work for the Society – a magnificent job, as the whole of the Museum’s 40-metre-long printout had to be typed out to be fed into our machine!-

Now, we hope we can, from the computerised information, produce a manageable written summary of the record, which can be more readily copied and circulated for information, correction and addition. Work on this is starting – and we may hope it is a job that will never end so long as the Society continues to be active in finding new sites and finds!

DISCOVERY OF A NORSE HORIZONTAL MILL reported by John Hopson

‘Recent Excavations at the Earl’s Bu, Orphir; Orkney’, the Royal Archaeological Society’s February Lecture, given by Dr C.Batey, described the excavations undertaken in the last decade north of the Earl’s Bu (farm) and Round Church. This site will be well remembered by those who were fortunate to take part in the HADAS trip arranged by Daphne Lorimer in 1978. In fact the first visit to the site on the farm of Daphne’s uncle by Dr Batey, together with her husband (now Professor) Christopher Morris and a group of archaeologists working at Birsay, coincided with ours.

However, what was then believed to be a souterrain, into which some intrepid members endeavoured to venture, excavations have now revealed to be a structure with a long passages This has been identified as the underhouse of a horizontal mill with the passage containing two leats. While the stonebuilt chamber is of unusual shape, the positioning of the wheel has been found. The Norse middens infilling the structure and underlying it, confirm a date of the late Norse period.

Similar mills have been found in Orkney (e.g. the Click Mill), also visited in 1978), in Ireland and in the Shetlands, where they continued in use until the Nineteenth Century.

Associated survey work confirms that the Norse complex is far larger than yet revealed. However, excavations would require the removal of an overburden of about 1.5 metres over a number of hectares and would be very costly.

PALISADED ENCLOSURES IN THE WEST KENNET VALLEY reported by Enid Hill

At the Prehistoric Society’s meeting on February 5th, Dr Alasdaire Whittle, who has been working on a Neolithic programme in the Avebury area for some time, described his recent work in the West Kennet Valley. Returning to get some more detail of the palisaded enclosure found in 1977, he has now added a second palisaded enclosure. Within a circular ditch was found a circular timber monument of a probable diameter of around 180 metres with closely spaced post-holes and sarsen packing stones.

From sherds of Grooved Ware it seems likely that both of these can be dated to the late Neolithic. Thus, in this area there are now two palisaded enclosures, one straggling the Kennet River, and the second close to it on the south west, near to Silbury Hill, the Sanctuary and the West Kwnnet long barrow.

MARY O’CONNELL’S TALK on February 5th reported by Margaret Marshsll

In spite of a forbidding weather forecast, there was an excellent audience for Mary O’Connell’s delightful talk on “Discovering Little Known London”. Mary spoke from a chair, a broken leg made it impossible for her to stand. We all admired her courage in speaking under such circumstances,

Those of us who thought that we knew London were discomfited by the super­ficiality of our knowledge. I had no idea that there was a police control box in the Marble Arch, nor that there was a river flowing above me when in Sloane Square underground.

The slides showed me London from a different and exciting angle, often giving a curiously homely touch to the imposing – like the chimney on Tower Bridge. Napoleon’s carriage, with its extraordinary furnishings and comforts, showed that luxury exists in curious settings. Jeremy Bentham’s waxwork head will add interest to University College for anyone passing by, while the statue of Boadicea driving a reinless chariot must increase one’s admiration of that lady’s lesser known abilities. I had already noticed the camel seats and dolphin lamp standards on the Embankment near Cleopatra’s Needle, but never knew that they were a gift from the Grocer’s Company, or even the origin of the word ‘grocer’.

As its title promised, the talk gave an insight into the lesser delights of London – two mice nibbling a piece of cheese immortalised in plaster on a wall by the workman whose lunchtime sandwich had just been eaten by mice, a porters’ rest in Piccadilly – things most of us have passed a hundred times without even noticing, let alone questioning. The old proverb may well be right, and the blind should not lead the lame, but during the evening Mary proved beyond doubt that the lame can make excellent guides for the blind!

FIELDWALKING AND FINDS – THE PIPELINE by Tessa Smith

A small group of fieldwalkers were in action before, during and after the pipe laying operation last year. Finds have been collected and processed.

About 20 miscellaneous struck flints were found, some in the field east of Brockley Hill, where Gillian Braithwaite’s team recovered “hundreds” a few years ago, thus confirming finding of evidence of prehistoric man.

Quite a lot of small pieces of red brick and tile were found, mainly in the middle area of the same field, including 3 pieces of tegulae. Gillian Braithwaite also recorded “a definite concentration of Roman building material” here.

We found no stratified material, and the deep trench dug for the pipeline was mainly pure clay from beginning to end. However, the spoil heaps were a bit more rewarding and produced 2 sherds of ring-necked flagon, a Samian rim. 1 handle, 4 rim pieces and 2 sherds of pottery.

The spoil heaps adjacent to the A41 produced abundant samples of 19th and 20th century pottery, glass and pipestems. This type of dumping was evident tut less concentrated over the fields of Edgwarebury Farm. Red tile and brick was evident, probably not Roman, a few horse-shoes and a few flints. One area of struck “core-type” material is thought not to be flint but mud-stone and possibly dumped. We met the Metal.. Detecting Group here, they have permission to use these fields once a month excluding the SSSI field at Brockley Hill.

The Mill HIll Golf Club area showed up a lot of modern decorated glazed pottery and glass bottles. A nearby dump has been excavated regularly by collectors.

The Scratchwood area spoil heaps were of clay and rooted material with no evidence of man-made artefacts. The Al Barnet By-pass section provided a few sherds of modern pottery, natural stratification and glacial residue.

The Hyver Hall fields were mainly clay, becoming stony with water-rolled pebbles, rising up to a wet area of springs.

The fields to Arkley were clay and showed no evidence of tile or brick or metalling at all.

The last field of the water pipeline is on the line of the Viatores suggested route to Cambridge, but no road or metalling or foundations were evident in the pipeline trench.

Sadly we found no new Roman kilns, although the pipeline ran fairly close to known sites at Brockley Hill. We found no foundations of any building, but the finding of Roman tegulae indicates either a building with roof tiles, or a tile manufacturing site.

We do however have a very interesting record of natural and man-made materials found along this narrow strip of our Borough, and it is hoped to mount a small display to be on show at the April lecture.

It was during the crossing of Brockley Hill A5 that Trevor Cox of the Museum of London noted (HADAS 237) part of a 10 metre wide “gravel road” exposed on the east side of Brockley Hill. Ile found 2 pieces of Roman pottery on the surface and he interprets this “gravel road” as being the original road of Watling Street – More of this on my next report.

COLD WEATHER PAYMENTS …. plus ca change .. writes Nell Penny

The government’s relaxation of the strict rules on cold weather payments to old and vulnerable persons reminds me of what happened in Hendon in February 1794.

The corn harvest of 1793 had not been a good one. The naval blockade of continental Europe was already restricting imports and the vestrymen of Hendon were unwilling to watch their neighbours starve. These people were not regular parish pensioners. They were day labourers on farms who still constituted two thirds of the working population and for whom there was no work in the frozen fields.

“Because of the severe frost” the vestry decided to subsidize the price of bread and coal. Every Tuesday and Friday at 11 am, two bakers Hobbs and Taylor were to deliver bread to applicants at 6d (21/2p) a quatern loaf – the ordinary price was 121/2d (5p). I am sure delivery was at the bakery door. “A single person was to have one loaf, a married couple two loaves, a family with 2 children three loaves, with 3 children four loaves and over 4 children five loaves. Three pounds of potatoes were to be distributed free. Coals “if they could be got” were to be sold at 6d (21/2p) a bushel.

As often in English social crises, the vestry decided to tap the generosity of the significant number of landed gentry and “fund holders” living in Hendon. £51.45p was raised in contributions of 5, 4 and 1 guineas and in many smaller contributions.

NEWS FROM HADAS COMMITTEE reported by Micky Cohen

Our computerised records and progress on our library at Avenue House have been reported above by Brian and Victor. Helpers are needed for work on the restoration of books damaged by fire, and their arrangement.

HADAS will have a stand at the LMAS Conference on March 23, and will cooperate with Barnet Local History Society on the Local History Open Days on April 13/14 – this will be an opportunity for showing the public round our sites and participating with a display of finds in Barnet Museum.

THE MOATED SITE OF OLD FOLD MANOR FARM, HADLEY by Ted Sammes

The Old Fold Manor Club recently applied for planning permission to demolish and re-develop part of the area and buildings within the moat. Part of the site is the 18th green of the golf course and presumably sacrosanct, but never the less it has some interesting ground contours.

HADAS first took an interest in the few moated sites in or near our Borough when in 1973 the Mooted Sites Research Group was formed. This has since become the Medieval Village Research Group.

There are many such moats spread over the country, but just what are they? Only careful study and excavation may, in the long term, elucidate this problem.

They are generally islands or platforms approximately rectangular in shape, varying in size from half to several acres in area. They often have a house within the mooted area. Old Fold has lost its house.

In date they range from the 11th century AD to the 14th. There are some later ones but the chief period was in the 14th century. They may be part of a Deserted Medieval Village, or on the edge of a village. Many Mill have a house or farm within the moat as at Salisbury Hall or the much nearer Fold Farm in Gulley Lane. Whilst the majority are on clay sell there are many on other geological soils. During the Medieval period the climate was wetter than today and the moats may have been dug to drain the house site. In doing so they would also have become an obstacle both for cattle and unwanted human visitors. Since moats are also found round Manor houses, they may be also a fashion or perhaps a status symbol.

HADAS looked at the Manor House Finchley complex (mostly filled in) in 1973 and again in 1977, carrying out a survey of both the Finchley and the Hadley moats.

We were successful in 1980 in securing the scheduling of the moat at Manor House, East End Road, Finchley, but, to date the Hadley moat has not received similar protection.It is hoped that it will shortly be scheduled. The site is close to the area of the Battle of Barnet 1471, and its famous hedge.

The house on this site was one of the homes of the Frowyke family in the 13th century, a site said to have been occupied by them for over 300 years. One Henney Frowick was Lord Mayor of London in 1435 and again in 1441. A Sir Thomas Frowyke was born at Gunnersbury about 1464 and died in 1506, being buried at Finchley. A Henry Frowyke who was the last male heir died in 1527. The Manor then passed to Conningsby and later to various members of the Allen family, who also held the Finchley Manor. They were followed by the Coopers, who sold it to the Byng family in 1841.

Possibly the best memorials to the Frowykes are to be seen in their chantry chapel at South Mimms.

The plan as seen on the 1898 edition of the Ordinance Survey where it is marked Old Fold Manor Farm and the moat is shown to be incomplete on the East side. However a plan of the area taken in 1726 for Thomas Allen, shows a return on part of the East side and although shown heavily wooded there are probably buildings within the moat.

Whilst the present house of Old Fold Manor outside the moat, is mid 18th century, the site behind it is most likely to date to the 13/14 centuries.

For further reading:

BA Research Report No 17 Medieval Moated Sites, pub 1978

Moated Sites, David Wilson, Shire Archaeology 44 pub 1985

Local Historian Vol 11, No 2, p 89, 1974

A Place in Time p 76, HADAS 1990

Georgian Hadley p 23 W H Gelder 1974

Dictionary of National Biography

DOROTHY writes

Mr Mike Wadham Those members who came on the outing to Cressing Temple last July will remember Mr Wadham who conducted us so enthusiastically round the site, and gave us an excellent talk in the farmhouse. Sadly we report that he died suddenly just before Christmas.

Mrs Winnie Clark She was not a member but did a lot for HADAS in her life time- sorted and washed items for our minimart, cooked for our cake stall, helped and washed up at our banquets and social functions, swept up the wreckage after the minimart, made the contacts for our outing to Quainton last year and joined us there for tea. Sadly she died suddenly in January.

DOROTHY ASKS …DO WE HAVE ANY MEMBERS WHO KNOW ABOUT CAR BOOT SALES?

We have been receiving quantities of good saleable general items and would like to dispose of some of it before our minimart, as much more has been promised. We have a member who will help us with transport. We need members who know the details. Please ring 203 0950 if you can help.

Newsletter 239: February 1991 Edited by Liz Sagues

DIARY
Tuesday February 5 Lecture: Discovering Little Known London, by Mary O’Connell. In archaeology we expect to excavate below ground to make our discoveries. Mary will take us round London and show us many interesting features above ground, and tell us their fantastic stories.

Tuesday March 5 Lecture: Digging in Assyria – the Work of the British Museum, by Dr John Curtis.

Saturday March 23rd 28th Annual Conference of London Archaeologists at the Museum of London, 11am-5.30pm, in the Lecture Theatre. The theme this year will be Recent Archaeological Work in the London Area. The morning speakers will cover excavations at West Smithfield, Fulham, Barking Abbey, Lambeth and the Limehouse Link Road. The afternoon session will be a discussion on how archaeology in London will develop in the 1990s. As usual there will be displays of recent work by local societies. HADAS will have a stand there showing the society’s work and publications.

Tuesday April 2 Lecture: The Valley of the Kings – Burial Place of the Pharaohs by Peter Clayton. This will be a survey of the major finds and history of the valley.

Tuesday May 7 Annual General Meeting.

Sunday May 12 Afternoon visit to the London Museum of Jewish Life, at the Sternberg Centre, N3.

Saturday June 8 Essex History Fair (see details on page 5 of this newsletter).

Saturday June 15 Outing to Mapledurham, with Ted Sammes.

Saturday July 13 Outing to historic Chatham Docks.
Saturday October 5 City Walk, with Mary O’Connell.
Tuesday December 3 Christmas Dinner (to be confirmed).

Dorothy Newbury adds: We had hoped to issue our 1991 programme card with this Newsletter, but regrettably there have been numerous last-minute changes with lecturers and venues. Plans were made for a weekend in Dorchester and its surrounding area, but accommodation arrangements have fallen through. Attempts are being made to arrange an alternative weekend based in Chester or Norwich.

MEMBER’S NEWS

Phyllis Fletcher, membership secretary, is pleased to report that HADAS has, as at January 1 1991, 362 fully paid-up members. This is a few up on the same time last year.

Mary O’Connell, who leads such excellent city walks, fell on the ice and broke her leg. In plaster, she has been continuing her lecturing from a wheelchair. We hope she will make it for the lecture on February 5.

Myfanwy Stewart, burnt stone specialist from the HADAS West Heath excavation days, attended an interesting conference on burnt stone in Birmingham recently.

Victor Jones, HADAS treasurer, has resigned from the council of LAMAS. At present LAMAS leans more towards history, less towards archaeology.

Mrs Banham has written to say how much she regretted being unable to attend our 1990 Christmas Dinner. She is a founder member of the society and it was the first such festive event she had missed. She has heard from some of our loyal long-standing members who have moved away but retain membership. These include Daisy Hill, honorary secretary in the early days of the society, who now lives in Chesterfield, and Alec Thompson, a regular on outings in the past, who now lives in Whitley Bay. Not so far away, Mrs Trudy Pulfer has written. She is well and will also be remembered as a regular on outings, as well as for her work assisting Mrs Irene Frauchiger over the many years Mrs Frauchiger printed and despatched the HADAS Newsletter. The society has also received best wishes from Brian Jarman, who was chairman for many years, now in Sussex; and from Lita Silver, in Stockport. Thank you all for keeping in touch,

News, please

News is sometimes short for HADAS editors, so all contributions from members, particularly of local interesting information, is welcome.

A plea, too, for new editors. With the sad loss of Isobel McPherson, who took charge of two Newsletters a year, there is a need for one more editor and a reserve to cover emergencies. Please phone Dorothy Newbury if you think you can fill the gap.

Top secret…

Dorothy Newbury reports on the HADAS visit to the Museum of London Reserve Collection on January 22

This started off as a bit of a mystery tour. We had been instructed to meet at a certain park gate as the official address did not seem to exist. Several late-comers who arrived after the main group had left the meeting point were met with blank expressions when asking locals the way! The building is totally unmarked and appears derelict – presumably to deter unwelcome attention. Once furtively admitted, however, it is like entering Aladdin’s Cave, Rack upon rack, and shelf upon shelf of nostalgia. Nostalgia, rather than archaeology, but to our group, who were mostly senior citizens, it evoked many half-forgotten memories: “I remember these,” “My granny had one of those.” One or two younger members had never heard of Utility furniture, nor seen a Walls’ ice cream trolley with Snofruit at one penny.

The afternoon was most enjoyable. We were accompanied by two very nice young ladies from the museum who obviously enjoyed the collection as much as we did.

Museum musings

First, another good reason for going to Church Farm House Museum. Running until February 24 is Cameras, Cats and Cooking Pots, an exhibition of recent donations and other objects from the museum’s collections not normally on display – everything from a 19th century Hendon draper’s cabinet to a 1930s tea service, from a mummified cat from East Barnet to an early calculator. Exhibitions further ahead include new paintings of Hendon and Finchley by Peter Hume (March 9 – April 21), Pharmacy – Past, Present and Future (May 4 – June 9), new work by photography students at the Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute (June 22 – July 28) and Picturesque Mill Hill, another in the highly-successful series of exhibitions revealing the wealth of pictorial material held by the London Borough of Barnet’s Archives (August 10 ­September 15).

Return to the atmosphere of the 18th century, as the Sir John Soane Museum in Lincolns Inn Fields introduces evening opening, to allow the astonishing cabinet of curiosities of the famous architect and collector to be seen in the lamp lit conditions he himself favoured. The house is open on the first Tuesday of every month, from 6pm to 9pm, admission free. Go in summer, after the HADAS lecture series is over.

A plea for help now, as another local museum in North London is born. The project is planned in Highgate, to display especially the remarkable collection built up by Gwynydd Gosling during the 50 years she has lived in the village, serving as librarian of the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution for many of them. Other local material is intended to be included, too. A £250,000 appeal has been launched to buy a property to house the Highgate Village

Museum, and shareholders are sought to make it all possible. Write to 22A Hampstead Lane, N6 4RT, for more details.

Watch out for Whittington… The new “corporate image” of the Museum of London is the thrice-Lord Mayor of London with his cat, two figures in silhouette to be seen striding across museum posters, brochures and, in due course, the books it publishes and the merchandise it sells. The image is all part of a radical re-think of marketing at the museum, designed to bring in new funds to supplement grant income and make possible gallery refurbishments, new exhibitions and education activities.

HADAS at work

Not a cock and bull story, more a horsey tale

Liz Sagues reports on the animal bones recovered from the HADAS dig at 19/25 Barnet High Street

The main collection of bones studied comes from a disturbed layer containing other finds dating from the medieval period to present times, and there is no obvious indication from the bones themselves of their antiquity. But the assortment of limb bones represented could be consistent with their being rubbish deposited in a midden, and the presence of dog-gnawing on some of the bones could support such a domestic rubbish context. With so small a collection, however, this can be no more than assumption.

The bones from context 606 formed a little heap near the flint and tile wall in Trench 6. Of the 39 identifiable specimens recovered, the largest number are horse bones – principally two complete metatarsals, both left, and two complete radius/ulnas, both right, plus a third right-hand radius, somewhat damaged. In all, there are 17 identifiable pieces of horse bone or teeth, representing at least three animals. The largest of the three is likely to have stood approximately 1.4 metres high at the withers (just under 14 hands) (simple comparison with other work, using Kiesewalter’s factors). The second animal would have been very slightly smaller, the third rather smaller still. One horse at least, to judge by extremely worn incisors and premolars among the loose teeth, was very old – possibly as much as 30 years.

Sixteen bone/teeth specimens of cattle were identifiable, but in much more fragmentary condition.Five pieces of horn core indicate possibly a minimum of three animals represented, but this cannot be confirmed from the other remains. The loose teeth indicate at lease one fully adult animal.

Other identifiable bones from this trench are parts of two metacarpals and one metatarsal of sheep.

The collection is far too small and diverse to enable any conclusions to be drawn on husbandry practices. Sexing of the bones is not possible (pieces and sample too small, or complete bones not sexually dimorphic), except that the varying curvature of the horn cores indicates possibly the presence of at least one cow and one steer. As for butchery practices, again there is minimal evidence – clear cut marks can be seen only on one horse metatarsal. But the existence of complete horse bones in a possible medieval context does not preclude the possibility that the animals were eaten – evidence elsewhere (personal communication from Tony Legge) indicates horse bones were largely left whole, the meat being cut off and cooked without the bone. The bones from the modern intrusive Pit 6F1 are principally a near-complete cat skeleton, plus a single sheep incisor tooth and a skull fragment also likely to be of sheep. Obviously these can add little to understanding of the site.

A matter of compensation

John Heathfield provides an explanation of the history of the Barnet High Street site

The history of the site of this dig is unusual. In 1618, King James I enlarged the hunting park near his palace at Theobalds by taking in part of Northaw Common. The money which he gave the parish in recompense was invested in property, from which the rent was used for poor relief.

A site “near the Woolpack” in Chipping Barnet was purchased. This land contained four tenements. The 1817 Inclosure Award shows four tenements on a site of 1 rod 35 poles, copyhold belonging to the Minister and Overseers of Northaw, and let at a total of £7 per year. Northaw also owned three further fields in Barnet and one in Totteridge, and was allotted a further one acre at the Inclosure.

In late Victorian times, the houses were converted into small shops with living quarters above and outbuildings to the rear.

News to dig into

Brian Wrigley reports on the trial excavation at St Mary’s School, Finchley.

Following the last-minute appeal for volunteers inserted with the January Newsletter, a trial dig did take place at St Mary’s School in the fortnight allowed by the developer, from January 3-17. This was organised by the Museum of London’s Department of Greater London Archaeology. The original intention had been that with the museum organising the operation during the working week, HADAS volunteers would have been able to carry on at weekends so as to make the most of the limited time.

However, in the event, the weather was against our arrangements; in what seemed to be the wettest 14 days we have had for some time, the area opened up was for most of the time a marsh of waterlogged, sticky clay, making very little hand-work possible. Hence our dozen volunteers who had nobly responded to the Newsletter appeal were not called on.

The small museum team did manage nonetheless to get some useful results from some further machine scraping and a little investigation by hand of possible features that appeared. There was quite an amount of early medieval pottery (NOT prehistoric as previous reported – as is well known the two can often be confusingly similar), at least one concentration of burning which might be a hearth, and various indications of possible features which, however, it was wise not to explore in the wet, soggy conditions.

All in all, the exploration suggested that this site was more than just a ploughsoil scattered with pottery, and might be an area of medieval domestic or industrial activity.

The museum team are eager to make a presentation of their results to HADAS members by way of a lecture or seminar, and are hoping to arrange this in the next few weeks, at the Museum of London. As it will probably be impossible to give timely notice of this in the Newsletter, may I ask any members who would like to be notified of the date and time to let me know at 21 Woodcroft Avenue, Mill Hill, NW7 2AH (081-959 5982). An addressed envelope to send the notification in would be a great convenience!

English Heritage and HADAS

English Heritage has recently appointed an Archaeology Officer for London, Dominic Perring. He has written to HADAS: “It is a difficult position and I am anxious to consult as widely as possible before deciding how to proceed. English Heritage proposals for London have caused much concern amongst the societies and professional groups working in the capital and I think it most important that these concerns are properly addressed.” He would like to meet us, and has offered to address a meeting.

We are arranging an occasion within the next few weeks when he can meet some of the officers of the society and be shown some of the places of archaeological interest in the borough. And Mr Perring has agreed to be the society’s November lecturer. His subject will be The Rise and Fall of Roman London, and the date of the talk is November 5. Watch for explosive explanations…

More places to go…

A potted history? Well, not quite, but on March 4 the Museum of London is holding a day school on the Limehouse Link, explaining its archaeological work on sites in the vicinity of the new road link from the Rotherhithe Tunnel to Canary Wharf. Not only was new evidence of the unwritten history of Limehouse discovered, from the Bronze Age to its Chinese connections in the 18th and 19th centuries, but the site of the almost legendary Limehouse porcelain factory of the 1740s was identified at last.

By popular request, the normal debriefing reception for site developers, owners, etc, has been opened to all, and the day school will give participants the chance to hear the explanations of the excavators plus contributions from Mavis Bimson, of the the British Museum Research Laboratory, and Dr Bernard Watney, president of the English Ceramic Circle. Fee for the day, which runs from 10am to 5pm, is £12, including coffee and tea. Details from the Education Department, Museum of London, London Wall, EC2Y 5HN.

The British Association for Local History writes to HADAS: “No doubt you will have heard of the Essex History Fairs, which have become a biennial red-letter day of the history calendar. It has been suggested that the BALH might offer a service to local history societies by organising a pick-up coach to the fair site at Maldon on June 8 1991. This would naturally have to be restricted to a corridor across the Home Counties, probably on a route though West, North-West and North-East London, and it can happen only if enough people show their interest!” Any members interested should contact Dorothy Newbury (081-203 0950) as soon as possible.

More university, organised archaeological holiday making, offered this time by the University of Birmingham . The list includes three-day residential courses on the Art and Archaeology of Ancient Egypt (c.1570-1070 BC) (at Ludlow, March 15-17), Prehistoric Dartmoor, tutored by Aubrey Burl (at Ashburton, April 26-28), and Prehistoric Sites in the Cotswolds (at Cirencester, September 20-22). There are longer courses and more distant destinations, too. For a brochure, phone 021-414 5605 (24-hour answering machine) or 021-414 5615.

Warming to the task

Victor Jones provides an update on progress at Avenue House

Since November, when I reported that the room was fitted with temporary shelving, all fire-damaged items removed and the rest racked, it has been used most weekends for processing finds, first those from this year’s Barnet dig, followed by those from the earlier Whetstone dig. We have not had any information on the progress of this latter project for some time, and we decided to go ahead and process the finds and report on our overall results to date. The processing group has consisted mainly of the regulars on the Barnet dig, Bill Bass, Andy Simpson and Brian Wrigley, with my occasional attendance.

Both sets of finds proved interesting. In addition to more recent items there were further possible medieval pottery shards and a variety of other items from the Barnet dig, and possibly pre-Tudor items in the Whetstone material. All are now properly labelled, bagged and sorted for specialist examination.

The room is light and pleasant to work in, but was very cold – until Phyllis Fletcher heard of our problem and solved it, by producing two spare electric fires. Now surroundings are warm and comfortable. Some rearrangement of the furniture and the storage of the books and finds also found space for the addition of a good working desk kindly donated by long-term member Celia Gould and Mr Wernick. We found space in a side storage area to house our new exhibition equipment when not in use. There is also room to erect it and prepare exhibits in the central work area of the main room.

A folding table is available at which about six people can sit to work on books or finds or hold a meeting. There is a sink, kettle, teapot and mugs, so tea or coffee can be made if brought. For the library proper there is a small windowed extension in a corner of the room. This, with suitable shelving, will house our present book and journal collections and leave space for some additions.

Making these changes has taken more time than I expected, but the programme to repair the less damaged books and to clean and then relict them, suggested by Dan Lampert, can now be restarted. We hope soon to be able to get in touch with the members who, some time ago, offered to help in this work. We would also be very glad to hear from any others who might be prepared to help either in book repair or in listing and rearranging the library. This can now be undertaken in reasonable comfort.

Avenue House is on the north side of East End Road, Finchley, a short way east of the East End Road/Regents Park Road junction. Access to our library room – known as the Garden Room – is normally through Avenue House on weekdays. At weekends the house is closed and access is via a park entrance a little beyond the entrance to Avenue House.

It will take a time to get the library fully into usable condition, but the room is already proving to be quite a valuable resource for storage and winter working.

A place of dreams

Hampstead Garden Suburb: Dreams and Realities is the latest addition to the considerable literature on the built ideal of Dame Henrietta Barnett. Its author is Kit Ikin, life-long Suburb resident and supporter of the founding aims. “What really is remarkable is that the Suburb’s founders got so much of it right,” he said in a local newspaper interview marking the book’s publication. Mr Ikin was considerably helped in his task by Brigid Grafton Green, the Suburb Archivist, who in one appendix tackles the question of names in the Suburb, describing how roads were named after great lawyers, famous poets, English artists and Suburb personalities. The book is available from the New Garden Suburb Trust office, 862 Finchley Road, NWI 1 (081-455 1066), at £9.50 (£12.50 after April 1).

NEWSLETTER 238: JANUARY .1991 Edited by D. Barrie

DIARY

Tuesday January 22nd Private Tour of Museum of London’s Private Collection. Fully booked, with short waiting list.

Tuesday February 5th “Discovering Little-Known London” by Mary O’Connell. Mary’s talk and slides will reveal a new realm of London’s History.

Tuesday March 5th “Digging in Assyria – the work of the British Museum” by Dr. John Curtis.

Tuesday April 2nd “Valley of the Kings: Burial of the Pharaohs” by Peter Clayton.

HADAS DINNER AT THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, 4TH DECEMBER

We set off by coach on a cold night, arriving at 6.30 pm at the Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, to be greeted by the Curator of the Museum, Miss Elizabeth Allen. After her greeting, we were taken into the Hunterian Museum where we looked at many exhibits in cases. I was fascinated to see all the little stillborn babies at various stages of growth preserved in bottles. Some were quite large, but others almost as tiny as a pinhead. We then moved on to look at Siamese twins and other mishaps of nature, and cases of lungs destroyed by disease. Some of us braved going into the Odonatological Room where we met Dr. Grigson, who told us about the collection, which derives from the museum started in 1856 by the Odonatological Society of Great Britain – this collection was acquired by the PCS in 1907. We looked at showcases of tooth wear, injuries and diseases of the jaws in animals and humans. Dr. Grigson then told us about the connection between the Piltdown man and the Society.

After a while I decided I had had enough of looking at innards etc. and feeling slightly off-colour, sat down with friends and announced, “I hope we are not having liver for the meal.”

We then went into the Webb Johnson Room where we had an excellent meal with quick service by pleasant staff. We were pleased that Dr. Grigson and Miss Allen joined us. John Enderby gave a great vote of thanks to our Dorothy Newbury for once again arranging such an excellent Christmas Dinner. In her reply, Dorothy said she is already thinking about Christmas 1991.

On my part many thanks, Dorothy, for this interesting evening, and yes, I did enjoy the meal after seeing the Museum etc. PHYLLIS FLETCHER

FINISHED AT LAST:

The programme of excavations at the 19-25 High Street, Chipping Barnet site is now complete, since we feel that we have sampled the site and recovered a sufficient cross-section of finds to enable the activities on the site to be securely dated, although the seeming lack of structural features remains a problem.

Working both at Barnet Museum and Avenue House, we have now completed the initial sorting of the 19-25 High Street and “Mitre” material. This has meant ensuring that all finds bags are properly labelled, ordered by context number, and the material from each context sorted by type; detailed pottery analysis and recording will follow at a later stage.

We have just started a similar process on the material covered in 1989 from the Studio Cole site, 1264 High Road, Whetstone. Initial work indi­cates that there is some early medieval pottery present, including a few grey-ware sherds c. 1150-1300, similar to. those recovered in such profusion from the “Mitre” and 19-25 High Street sites a mile or two north at Barnet. Since the building itself is estimated to date from c. 1500, this could indicate activity on the site up to 300 years earlier. More detailed analysis of the finds should elucidate this point. By ANDY SIMPSON

ERIC WARD

Eric Ward died on October 16th after a long and distressing illness.

Eric and his wife Ella were familiar figures at the West Heath dig. Eric, an electrical engineer by profession, always worked with a sense of thoroughness and took pride in a job being well done. Not a tall man, he was extremely neat, and worked on site wearing a suit. I used to joke with him that at the end of the day he looked as if he had been to his office, while the rest of us were characteristically grubby and dishevelled:

He was an accomplished photographer who kept meticulous notes. He has given his photographs and negatives of the West Heath Excavations and flint to the Society, as well as a set of HADAS Newsletters.

Eric was a man of many talents, and he built a beautiful model of the 17th century warship the “Vasa”, which he saw being raised from Stockholm Harbour. The model will go to the National Maritime Museum, who have commented on the very fine standard of the craftsmanship.

Not a man of superfluous words but always kind and courteous, Eric will be much missed. In the hope of helping others, he donated his brain to medical research. HADAS extends its sympathy to Ella, who nursed him so devotedly, and also to his family in their sad bereavement. By MYFANWY STEWART

HENDON ON THE MAP – AT LAST:

The latest addition to Alan Godfrey’s series of Old Ordnance Survey Maps is HENDON 1895. As many HADAS members may know, Alan has been searching for an original in good condition for a very long time. His persistence has been rewarded and we can now all enjoy the reprint, courtesy of the National Library of Scotland.

The map (Middlesex Sheet XI.7) fills the hole between maps of Finchley and Holders Hill (1895), East Finchley (1894) and Golders Green (1894), all of which have already been published and are still available.

HENDON 1895 covers the area between The Burroughs and Regents Park Road (west to east) and Hendon Hall to Shire Hall (north to south). As usual, the map is full of fascinating details (extensive glasshouses behind the Salvation Army Barracks), is accompanied by an extract from the Street’ Directory 1895-6 (remarkable number of laundry ladies) and excellent notes by Pamela Taylor.

You can buy your copy (price £1.50) from the libraries, or by post from the Local Studies Library (£1.75 including p & p). Worth the investment for rarity value alone: by LIZ HOLLIDAY

GILLIAN BRAITHWAITE WRITES FROM RUSSIA

The Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark (for that is its name) is about 250 feet in circumference <80 feet in diameter), and has a 3 foot high central cairn of slate and stone which probably represents the sun. From this central hub radiate 28 lines of rocks, resembling the spokes of a cartwheel. These may symbolise the 28 lunar days. Around the perimeter of the wheel are six medicine tepees LIBRARY PROGRESS REPORT by Victor Jones

Since my last note further work has been completed to make the library a more convenient place in which to work. The books are now all racked and the badly damaged materials cleared away. The place has been cleaned up and even the smell of burnt books eliminated. Thanks to gifts from members and others, we now have a set of chairs, a table (suitable for working at and for holding meetings), two cupboards (for storing finds) and a desk. A fitted convection heater has been provided and we have obtained a fan-heater for rapid warm-up. There is a sink and tea making is possible. Finds can be washed and processed in comfortable conditions. There is also reasonable space to store the new exhibition equipment as well as prepare exhibits.

While all these arrangements have been in hand (longer than I thought), it has not been possible to hold the “books working parties” for people who kindly offered their help after my appeal in October. It will now be possible for this work to be undertaken in better and more comfortable conditions and I hope to re-arrange the working group for the New Year to enable the library to return to full use early in 1991.

CHRIST’S COLLEGE ARTS CENTRE TRUST

As many members will know Christ’s College is leaving its present site between Regents Park Road and Finchley Lane. The school’s departure to a new site presents the London Borough of Barnet with a considerable re-development site, which could either give the Borough a one-off cash windfall or allow the provision of an Arts Centre in the heart of the Borough.

The Christ’s College Arts Centre Trust has been formed to take advantage of this unique opportunity. It plans to take over the redevelopment site and to construct within the existing buildings an arts centre which will provide a much needed venue for vocational and non-vocational training in the arts from performance arts to pottery as well as providing meeting rooms, a cafe and a creche. The Trust plan to be self-supporting and it is hoped that the funds may extend sufficiently to build a concert hall. To do all this the Trust need your help. By showing your support for the creation of an Arts Centre you will assist in the Trust’s negotiations with the Borough. Signatures on the Trust’s petition are urgently required in the next two weeks – phone June Porges in the evening or at the weekend on 081- 346 5078 if you would like to support the Trust.

SUTTON HOO? From Brigid Grafton Green

When a diverse group (containing several HADAS members) under the aegis of the Society of Antiquaries visited Sutton Hoo several weeks ago, it was a pleasure to find yet another HADAS member hard at work in one of the trenches. That wasn’t an entire surprise, because Ann Trewick has long been a devotee of the Saxon site: she was a volunteer there well before she and her mother left Barnet in 1987 to move to Felixstowe. In the intervals of some meticulous trowelling – Ann has always been one of our top trowellers – she sent fond messages to all her HADAS friends, saying that she keeps in touch with their doings through the Newsletter. She reports that life in Felixstowe is very pleasant, and finds she has little regret for Barnet.

This phase of the Sutton Hoo dig was just nearing its end – Ann was putting in the last four days of her holiday before returning to school duties. Professor Martin Carver, who is directing this assault on the secrets of Sutton Hoo, is emerging from it still with many questions unanswered. The main one that was exercising him as he conducted the Antiquaries group around was how to interpret the Anglo-Saxon burial ground which did not appear to contain a single normal Anglo-Saxon burial. The two types of burial that it does contain are both far from normal.

One type is chieftain burials under barrows which – robbed out or unrobbed – shoe evidence for ceremonial and for rich grave goods. The other type, of which there are two groupings, are shallow graves at the opposite side of the spectrum. There are no grave goods from them, and all trace of bone has vanished, but from the soil composition and soil shadows it is possible to infer that these were probably sacrificial victims. They wre buried with their ankles on top of each other, as were their wrists – as if bound; two were decapitated, the heads being buried in one instance at the feet, in another at the crotch; in another the head was where the head should be, but so displaced as to be almost chin uppermost; one body lay face downwards; another was semi-kneeling.

There seemed to be no particular relationship between the two clutches of “victim” graves and the main group of chieftain barrows. Perhaps in the final dying weeks of the dig Professor Carver will unscramble the problem — or maybe it will have to await a further dig.

CHURCH FARM HOUSE MUSEUM

“Church End, Hendon” an exhibition based on a project by children of Sunnyfields JMI School.

This exhibition is entirely based on work done by children of Class 5 who were studying the Victorians. Some of the children concentrated on the development of Hendon in the late 19th century, with particular reference to Church End – the area surrounding Church Farm, and the heart of the old village of Hendon. The children singled out buildings of special interest – Church Farm, St. Mary’s Church and the Greyhound public house – and traced their history. With the aid of the 1881 census returns, they also looked at the origins, occupations and domestic lives of the people who lived nearby.

The exhibition is on show from 15 November until 31 January 1991.

THE BATTLES OF BARNET AND TEWKESBURY by P.W.Hammond

This detailed book charts the events which led to the Battle of Barnet and also covers the progress of Margaret of Anjou and her son Edward of Lancaster through the West Country, which led to the Battle of Tewkesbury, the death of Lancaster & Edward IV’s victorious return to London. Published by Alan Sutton, price £14.95.

EXCAVATION AT 19-25 HIGH STREET, CHIPPING BARNET Report by Brian Wrigley & Andrew Simpson

Following the HADAS excavations at the Old Bull in 1982 (Newsletter No.140) and The Mitre in 1989-90 (Newsletter No. 233) we were glad to be given permission by M. Bishop Ltd. of High Barnet, the developers of this site, to excavate and make an archaeological assessment of this site before development. The site is further down Barnet Hill than the two previous sites and on the south side of Barnet High Street. Obviously, following the results of the previous digs, interest centred on the question whether there was evidence of medieval or earlier occupation.

We have now completed enough excavation to make an assessment of the site and feel the best way to report this is to reproduce the two reports we have given to the developers. For convenience of reproduction the accompanying plan has been made in black and white and slightly reduced in size.

We hope that this will serve as the main published record of the excavation itself, whilst detailed identification and analysis of the many medieval pottery and other finds continues. We have hopes that detailed analysis may yield some pointers to the contacts and importance of earliest Barnet. A further report or reports on the results will be made later.

One point, not referred to in the reports below, should be mentioned: the ‘natural’ occurring below the archaeological layers is in some places sandy, in some solid London clay; it seems that this site is at the level where the sandy gravel capping of Barnet Hill gives out, so that the underlying clay emerges. This might very likely be a spring line and thus a convenient place to site habitation.

GETTING SHIRTY: a progress report on the dig by Andy Simpson

Work continues on the site on a smaller scale, usually during the week. Effort is concentrated on the remaining few trenches, the easternmost of which has been extended, exposing a rough, brick built drain with a tile base running east – west across part of the site, possibly of Victorian date.

The team were pleased to see the site featured in a recent issue of the Barnet Times, under the headline “Medieval Area Unearthed”. This featured our own Fred King as ‘Page 3 Digger and the interesting comment that we had found three medieval shirts! (We are now looking for the trousers to match!).

Considerable amounts of medieval pottery continue to be recovered ­some have simple thumb or pricked decoration on them.

The team has also started to check and order the finds, now stored at Barnet Museum. Work has also started on finds from the Mitre Inn and we hope to select items from both sites for display at the museum, where the full written/drawn archive for the Mitre dig is now stored.
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Issue No 236 November 1990 Editor: Jean Snelling

DIARY

TUESDAY NOVEMBER 6 LECTURE “Waters sweet and fresh for London”

Dr Michael Essex-Lopresti. Our speaker will deal with the New River as the major supply of London’s water over four centuries. He will open with a resume of London’s water at the end of the 16th c as recounted by John Stow in his Survey of London of 1598, from which the lecture title is taken. Dr Essex-Lopresti became interested in his subject while travelling in his narrowboat through Amwell, Hertfordshire. His book “Exploring the New River” will be on sale at the lecture.

TUESDAY DECEMBER 4 CHRISTMAS VISIT. Regretfully the ‘Water Rats’ cannot now be our venue. But we have arranged something much more interesting for you – a visit to the Royal College of Surgeons in Lincolns Inn Fields (instigated by our member Paul O’Flynn). The Hunterian Museum and the Odontological. Room will be opened specially for us, and dinner will follow in the Webb Johnson room.

Details and application form enclosed.

TUESDAY JANUARY 22 1991 2.0pm PRIVATE TOUR of the Museum of London’s Reserve Collection at Ironmongers Row. Cheque £1.50 to Dorothy

Newbury at 55 Sunningfields Road, Hendon NW4, 081.203.0950.

A few places still available.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5 LECTURE to be confirmed.

TUESDAY MARCH 5 LECTURE “Digging in Assyria; the Work of the British Museum”. Dr John Curtis, Keeper, Dept. of Western Asiatic Antiquities.

Lectures are held at the Central Library, the Burroughs, Hendon. 8.0 pm for 8.30.

MINIMART OCTOBER 6 1990 Profit – Nett – £1180.

Another great effort by everybody. Dorothy would like to thank the 48 members who helped on the day, carting the goods, hauling them upstairs, preparing and selling them, and above all clearing up afterwards. Many other members provided goods for sale, slow at first but an avalanche in the last week. Tessa would like to thank those members who provided delicious quiches for lunch, and thanks to Brigid for the mountain of meringues and cream (there wasn’t one left when I had my lunch at 12.30). Approximately another 40 members came as customers, but better still about 140 members of the public arrived to swell our funds (and we joined up 2 new members). D.N.

VIVE LE MINIMART Dawn Orr

If the time comes when HADAS has sufficient funds for its projects (and does not need a small fortune for a name-change, forewarned by Mr Wild in Oct: Newsletter), then perhaps we should continue the Minimart anyway, to raise funds for some other worthy cause. It would be a pity to go without one of the jolliest days in our calendar, to miss the cheerful loading and unloading of those carefully marked boxes, the priceless comments and banter, the gourmet miracles which emerge from Tessa’s kitchen (room for two where there’s often half a dozen, and never a cross word!). Could we bear to forego the replenishing of the wardrobe, the bookshelves and larder, the succumbing to just a few more wallflowers and another try at parsley, let alone the indulgence of another tiny glass and the little blue jug to replace the Minimart 1985 treasure that fell off the dishrack last week?? Above all, it would be a shame to miss Dorothy in full spate with all the preliminaries, in full blow (at the whistle), in full count (of the takings), and full steam (still!) at the final clearing up – – – “where have all those men gone?”

Moreover we are not only enjoying ourselves and topping up the bank balance, but we are undoubtedly providing a service to our customers in the wind-blown queue in the yard outside. A smaller queue this year – in fact the whole operation was a little smaller – (the credit squeeze?) – but nevertheless eager to run in and buy on the dot of 11.30 am. There’s always a sprinkling of colonials and country cousins looking to make a London pad seem more comfortable, a dealer or two with an eye for a bargain, a sweet clutch of infants passing over damp coins in exchange for some toy or trinket “for my baby brother” -­”for Mummy’s birthday” – – and the hard core of regulars who open large bags and smaller purses, the free readers who could well be in W.H. SMITH’s the ditherers who wonder about the size, colour, shape and scars of a 10p dinner plate and then tell you it’s for the cat food. Astonishing to see a mere male take up a little dish (With love from Ventnor) when his wife wouldn’t have it – perhaps there’s a story there. I missed the last of Brigid’s meringues while a lady tried to make up her mind to buy the ice cream machine (she didn’t) so I’ll have to come again next year – – see you there!

EXCAVATION AT 14-25 HIGH STREET, BARNET Andy Simpson

Work at the site is continuing. The team has now excavated nine trenches, ranging in size from several metres long to small test pits. With the exception of the disturbed front (north) end of the site, evidence of medieval occupation continues to be found wherever we choose to dig. This usually takes the form of a 2-3 inch soil layer with grey ware sherds lying both on the surface and within the matrix, occasionally kept company by charcoal, metal slag, animal bone, and the odd nail. Metal work of any date on the site, including coins, is conspicuous by its absence. The Museum of London note that some of the medieval sherds recovered from the site are similar to sherds found in Elstree. It will be interesting to compare our finds with sherds from the Arkley site, excavated in the 1950s.

While still distinctly short on numbers, the team continues to make good progress and we are hoping to have comprehensively sampled the site by the time excavation is completed. The sheer number of medieval sherds recovered should enable some meaningful conclusions to be drawn about the economy of 12-13th century High Barnet, as regards trade links and the like.

As always, we desperately need volunteers. Just in case anyone has missed the contact numbers and names, they are – Brian (081 959 5982), Arthur (081 368 6288), or yours truly (081 205 6456).

THE CAMDEN TOWN WALK ON SEPTEMBER 29TH. June Gibson

“Rain, rain go away, at least for this afternoon” we wished; and it did, mostly.

Under the admirable leadership of Murial Large we were able to keep well away from the Saturday shopping maelstrom of the High Street, and investigate some of the quiet and interesting backwaters of the area. We ranged between the somewhat melancholy and neglected St Pancras Gardens and the splendid ‘iced wedding cake’ style of Park Village on the border of Regents Park.

Camden Town was named from Lord Camden, the ground landlord of the acres east of the High Street.Camden Place, near Chislehurst, Kent, his family seat, was so called after a former resident, William Camden the historian. Next year Camden Town celebrates the bicentenary of its major development around 1791. There will be special commemorative events during 1991, with no shortage of historically interesting material.

The Post Office or Telecom Tower and Euston Tower are not very far distant and throughout the walk one kept getting glimpses of these landmarks, giving architectural balance to the buildings seen in our walk, in the main pleasantly low-rise. Busy though Camden Town may be, a feeling of spaciousness abounds.

Our party of 20 met at the south end of Camden High Street outside the Camden Palace, now a huge discotheque/nightclub, built in the grand manner but with some of the rococo detail now missing. Originally the Camden Theatre, it was opened in 1900 by Ellen Terry, a local resident and one of the first players there. Just along the High Street was the rival and smaller Bedford Theatre, a popular music hall of 1861, rebuilt in 1896. Marie Lloyd was a frequent attraction in this her favourite theatre. It was demolished in the 1960s and only part of one flank wall remains. The front part of the site is now an Abbey National branch.

Across the road is Mornington Crescent Underground Station, opened in 1907, with its splendid exterior facing of ox-blood red tiles on three sides of its corner site. Now closed on Saturdays and with no lifts operating, one remembers it is part of the Northern (Misery) line. Nearby on a large traffic island set where the High Street and Hampstead Road converge, is the statue to Richard Cobden (1804-1865) the great campaigner for Corn Law Reform. The statue was erected in 1868 by public subscription, and as there was probably farmland remaining thereabouts at that time perhaps its site was a fitting one. It marks the site of an older toll bar.

Walter Sickert, leader of the Camden Town group of painters, married Cobden’s daughter and lived at various addresses nearby. Charles Dickens went to school at the now vanished Wellington House in Hampstead Road from 1824-26, when the Dickens family lived in nearby Baham Street. The college was one of many casualties in the railway land-grab when it cut through c.1834. In Hampstead Road , behind Mornington Crescent Station today, Tennyson lodged in 1849-50 and Cruikshank the caricaturist lived in Mornington Crescent until his death in 1878. So did the Rossetti and the Terry families. H G Wells lived in Mornington Terrace c.1896, as did William Crookes (1832-1919) the prominent X-ray researcher.

We proceeded along Crowndate Road, once Fig Lane, noting particularly the Working Men’s College, founded in 1854 in Holborn and moved to Camden Tbwn in 1906. Nowadays of course working women are included. Early associates and lecturers included Rossetti, Ruskin and Madox Brown.

Noted too was Goldington Court, the first council flats in St Pancras, completed in 1904. Dr Crippen’s mistress, Ethelle Neve, lived here at time of the infamous murder. His wife and victim Belle Ellmoor was a singer who often appeared at the Bedford Theatre.

In Royal College Street we saw the Royal Veterinary College, erected in 1792 on a green-field site. The first of its kind in the country, it was largely rebuilt this century. As the area built up the RVC built an extra establishment at Hawkshead Road, Potters Bar, where there will be an Open bay on April 27 1991.

The Camden Town building displays a plaque with the College arms and motto. Poets Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud once lived in this street.

In Pancras Road we came to St Pancras Gardens, once a graveyard for the old church. There are still gravestones and tombs including one for Sir John Soane, in poor condition. There is a new Soane Monuments Trust, to effect restorations, including his own. (Trust secretary Robin Moore Ede, 21 Burton Place,WC1) In the Gardens is an unusual cast iron drinking fountain which would reward care. At the rear of the Gardens we passed under the railway to the entrance of Camley Street Nature Reserve, with its wrought iron gates brought from the old railway coal yard. This visit was a high-light of the walk. From photographic slides we could see the amazing transformation made by volunteers since 1984. Land that was quite derelict is now a wonderful haven of greenery and ponds beside the canal, for all kinds of wildlife. It is a great educational experience for school children and one hopes that British Rail will permit the reserve to continue after the Channel Tunnel terminus begins at Kings Cross.

Returning under the railway to St Pancras Way we passed the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the gigantic NW Area Sorting Office (Post Office) built on the old Midland Railway goods yard. Outside is a hexagonal Victorian pillar box painted dark green; post boxes were not painted red until mid-1870s.

Next to Pratt Street/passing the IDRIS soft drinks factory and the old Fire Station, both derelict. A detour into Camden Street took us to the outside of the Greek Church, built 1824, designed by William Inwood (a bailiff’s son of Kenwood). The church is one of the most handsome buildings in the area, and well cared for by the remaining Greek community.

From Pratt Street into St Martin’s Gardens, another disused burial ground, now a tiny park. It was opened in 1803 as an overflow cemetery for St Martin in the Fields. St Martin’s Almshouses, still to be seen, were erected in 1817. There is no access to the chapel. The writer of Tom Bowling, Charles Dibdin (d.1814) is buried there. As Camden Town was the centre of the piano and sheet music trades in 19th c and early 20th c it is surprising that there are not more relics. We left by an alley way, noting St Martin’s Tavern with its top plaque of St Martin. The pub was built on the site of a charnel house (full of spirits?)

We crossed the. High Street into Delancey Street (Dylan Thomas there briefly in 1952). On this west side the land was originally owned by the Southamptons, from whom come the family names, Arlington, Fitzroy, Mornington. The coming of the canal and later the railway with a huge interchange at Camden Lock decimated the area, causing much upheaval and distress.

The Crown land towards Regents Park was developed by Nash at great financial risk from 1811 onwards. The Regents Canal, opened between Paddington and Camden Town in 1816, was then a prominent feature with its attendant bustle. A branch of the Canal from the Zoo to halfway down Albany Street served the hay market by Cumberland Basin. The canal branch survived until 1940 when it was sold and filled in with bomb-damage rubble. Gloucester Gate Bridge remains, now bridging only wooded and grassed earth. Pre-1940 finds! What a marvellous spot for archaeologists in some far-distant future! The bridge, replacing one of 1814, was designed by William Booth Scott and built in 1877-8. It has a bronze plaque by Fucione of the martyrdom of St Pancras and splendid lamp standards set into the balustrade.

Onward to the delightful cream-coloured stucco houses of East and West Park Village, by John Nash, where we saw numerous pretty details. Then into the Outer Circle past beautiful Nash lodges and terraces (a blue plaque on a house revealed that Sir Henry Wellcome the pharmacist (1853-1936) lived there. We went to see St Katharine’s Church with the replica runic stone in the garden. What a world of difference! The Victorian brick Gothic was a shock after so much of Nash’s meringue-like style. St Katharine’s was established here from what is now St Katharine’s Dock. The earliest church was founded by Queen Matilda in 1148 and re-endowed by Queen Eleanor in 1273. It became the principal Danish church in London in the first World War and has remained so. The runic replica in the garden was placed there in 1955 following aDanish exhibition at the V&A. The original was erected in 980 AD at Jelling by Harald Bluetooth, first Christian king of Denmark.

Passing over Gloucester Gate again on our way out, we saw a stone fountain, part drinking, part ornamental, installed in 1878 and incorporating a bronze figure entitled ‘Matilda’ by Joseph Durham. We entered Parkway, which continues on into the very heart of Camden Town. We dispersed there as it was after 4.30 and everyone headed for watering holes, some requiring instant sustenance;-others following Muriel to Marine Ices at Chalk Farm. It was a very satisfying afternoon, with much to mull over as we refreshed ourselves.

ARCHAEOLOGY IN BARNET BOROUGH’S: UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN Brian Wrigley

Readers may well feel it is about time we had some more news on this matter – the last report having been in June when a discussion with the Borough Council and the Museum of London was in the offing. Well, it took plan although it had to be postponed to 4 July, and was a useful exchange of views, following which (7 August) the Council gave us a revised draft. There was then a period of further negotiation in which some telephones and certainly my typewriter got quite hot, but eventually, in the nick of time before the D of E Inspector was due in his Public Inquiry to reach our submission (on 27 September), a wording was agreed between all three parties, approved by the Council and accepted by the Inspector. This final version is as follows:

3.4.17 ARCHAEOLOGY. Archaeological sites and ancient monuments are important aspects of the Borough’s heritage and must be respected in preparing development proposals. The Council will promote the conservation, enhancement and public presentation of the Borough’s archaeological heritage. Local areas of special archaeological significance may be defined by the Council and nationally important remains may be protected by the Secretary of State for the

Environment. The council will seek the presentation in situ of the most important remains and their settings and will encourage suitable design, land use and management to safeguard archaeological sites generally.

POLICY E3. 1

THE COUNCIL WILL PROTECT ANCIENT MONUMENTS AND THEIR SETTINGS AND OTHER ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES OF ACKNOWLEDGED IMPORTANCE FROM INTRUSIVE OR DESTRUCTIVE DEVELOPEMENT. NATIONALLY (IMPORTANT SITES MAY BY REFERRED TO THE SSCRETARY OF STATE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT FOR SCHEDULING ANCIENT MONUMENTS.

Where a site is expected to reveal material of archaeological importance the Council will expect prospective developers to seek specialist advice at an early stage, in accordance with the British Archaeologists and Developers Liaison Group Code of Practice. A preliminary archaeological site evaluation may be required so that the Council has sufficient information upon which to base an informed planning decision, incorporating adequate heritage safeguards.

POLICY E3.2

WHERE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS MAY AFFECT THE BURIED HERTTAGE? THE COUNCIL WILL EXPECT APPLICANTS TO HAVE PROPERLY ASSESSED AND PLANNED FOR THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS. THE COUNCIL MAY REQUIRE A PRELIMINARY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE EVALUATION BEFORE PROPOSALS ARE CONSISIDERED.

Where preservation in situ is not required, modern methods of site clearance and construction will tend to destroy completely potentially significant archaeological remains. In such cases, the Council will expect the developer to enter into an agreement for rescue investi­gations to be carried out by archaeologists in advance of development. POLICY’ E3.3

BEFORE DEVELOPMENT BEGINS ON SITES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE,

A RECOGNISED ARCHAEOLOGICAL ORGANISATTON SHALL UNDERTAKE APPROPRIATE

RESCUE INVESTIGATION’, EXCAVATION’, ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND

PUBLIC PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS, UNLESS PRESERVATION IN SITU IS REQUIRED. ALL SUCH WORK SHALL BE CARRIED OUT TO A FORMAT TO BE APPROVED IN ADVANCE BY THE COUNCIL.

Table 3.7 SCHEDULED ANCIENT MONUMENTS

Brockley Hill Romano-British Pottery

Manor House Moated Site, East End Road, Finchley.
Proposals Map

(In addition to the amendments to 3.4.17, the Borough’s

scheduled ancient monuments will be marked on the
Proposals Map and included in the Key.)

For us, I think probably the most important of these provisions, and the one that I am most pleased about, is Policy E3.2 and the note above it: this recognises that, in our Borough, our ancient villages lie beneath our present shopping centres: we are jolly sure of this but cannot prove it archaeologically unless we are given the chance to explore when redevelopment offers it. This Policy, we may hope, will give us that chance to add to knowledge of the Borough’s past – and with it a responsibility to shoulder!

EXCAVATION IN WEST AFRICA: ORIGINS OF BRONZES PROM IGBO-UKWU

Margaret Taylor, St Albans

Dr Paul Craddock’s lecture on October 2nd.

I came to this lecture with a personal interest as my uncle worked in Lagos in 1906-1926 and was friendly with the King of Benin. He returned to England with a collection of small bronze sculptures and wood carvings, one made by the King when a prisoner. My father gave the collection to the British Museum in 1960 and it was returned to Nigeria to be exhibited at the Jos Museum.

Dr Craddock went recently from the British Museum to shed light on the Igbo-ukwu bronzes of south-east Nigeria. He needed to reconsider this area of civilisation situated between the Sahara desert and the rain forests, where iron of high grade has been exported for a long time.

What is so amazing has been the discovery, through excavations around 1960, of quantities of bronze images, some dating back to C.9 AD. In the last 30 years there has been reappraisal of this high technology, which remained a mystery until now. In modern times in the Igbo-ukwu area there was no hint of any technological expertise. Pottery also of very high quality and richly ornamented was found in the excavation, smashed into pits as by some ancient ritual. The burial of a chieftain or priest in a wooden chamber, sitting on a stool, with bead stockings and elaborate head­dress, was accompanied by other vessels. The discovery of what seems to have been an open shrine with 600 bronzes is truly remarkable. The slides of some of these were beautiful one was in the form of a whelk shell of one foot long, richly ornamented and decorated with patterns, the bronze itself only 1-2 mm thick. A large bowl, 2 feet across and complete with two handles, poses the problem of how it was cast, as no modern sculptor could achieve such perfection of 2 mm thickness. All the bronzes were cast by the lost-wax method and each was completed in one casting.

It had been thought that outside influences must have come from Coptic or Byzantine sources, perhaps using local designs, but now it is believed that this was a local technology which developed in isolation without awareness of other methods of working bronze. The metal is an alloy of copper and tin with lead. An American laboratory has been carrying out research into lead isotope ratios for these bronzes, which shows them to be made of local metals. Dr Craddock is seeking to locate the early workings by collecting slag. He concluded that the majority of the bronzes do come from the Igbo-ukwu area and said with confidence that it shows a completely indigenous industry with a very long tradition to have attained such high proficiency.

The superb slides of the area, excavation sites and artefacts made me want to revisit the Museum of Mankind and the British Museum to admire their collections. A fascinating and exhilarating lecture.

MEMBERS’ NEWS

John Hooson has completed his (“most interesting”) four year course at the Polytechnic of East London and has been awarded a BSc in Archaeological Sciences. Our hearty congratulations, and good wishes for his hope of a Postgraduate research project connected with the analysis of prehistoric pigments or similar residues.

Myfanwy Stewart has an excavation going, all on her own. As a result of subsidence she has rebuilding work at her house in Galley Lane, Arkley (late Gallows Lane) and has pottery galore coming up, probably from a local kiln. It is C.13 or 14, and could be Herts Greyware.

Daphne Lorimer fell in her garden on Orkney, with a cut leg, stitches and much bedrest. We wish her a sound and a speedy recovery.

Isobel McPherson is at Edenhall, 11 Lyndhurst Gardens, London NW3. She would welcome a line (or postcard) from any members who would like to write to her.

Paul Beevor, who joined HADAS nearly 20 years ago as a small boy, is off to do postgraduate teacher training at St Peter’s College, Oxford, after doing preliminary practice at St Mary’s and St Joseph’s School in Hendon. He has travelled abroad a good deal.

THE THREE RIVERS PIPE LINE – THE CROSSING OF WATLING STREET

Victor Jones

With this Newsletter comes Victor Jones’ report on the Water Pipeline crossing Watling Street. A report on It@ Pipeline has been received’ from the Museum of London, and now awaits our next Newsletter.

Note – Tessa Smith has collected many of the finds from our walks and has offered to hold an exhibition, with those any other members may have. This will be at her house, 94 Hillside Gardens, Edgware, 081 958 9159.

In the October Newsletter I reported that Watling Street had been crossed, but we had little warning of the timing. The work was undertaken in a very concentrated way over one weekend. This, of course, had to happen only a day or two before I was to go on holiday, so there was only time for a brief note. Since then, not only has that work been finished but most other work is also completed.

The track across the golf course is now within a short distance of the Motorway, and the tunnel underneath has been constructed. Same of the pipes are in place on the north side, and may well be so on the Edgwarbury side as I have not recently walked there. The tunnelling is under both the A1000 and the A41.

The field walking has been continued and further observation obtained inthis way, However, the major remaining item of interest is the result of theexcavation at Watling Street, to take the pipeline across this major Roman road, now used as the route of the A5 and so still one of our great trunk roads.

The place chosen for the crossing is towards the top of Brockley Hill. It is interesting both because of the close proximity of the early manufacturing site of Roman pottery at Sulloniacae, and because we might hope to find remains of the original Roman road. Watching of this special area was undertaken as a joint interest-of HADAS and the Museum of London.

The work was planned to be undertaken in August and, to avoid major traffic disruption, limited to four days around a weekend, first intended for August and then rearranged for 6-9 September, at a final starting time advised only shortly before the event.

As reported earlier, the wide soil-cleared track and its deep central pipe trench had only been taken to within about 40 yards of Watling Street.

The first stage of the preparations for making the deep trench to take the pipe across the road was to clear the trees and bushes and level the approaches to the road edges, in order to get the heavy earth-moving and other equipment to the road. This work was started on Friday 7th, and I and a representative of the Museum watched that day until late in the evening. On both sides the road surface is below the fields levels, so a considerable depth of soil had to be removed. The big water-supply pipe had, for safety reasons, to be

taken deeply below the road, and the central trench was of the order of 8ft below it.

On the east side the ground slopes irregularly but steeply, upwards and risessharply at the road edge, from 4 to 10 ft. When the soil was cut through to the road, there was exposed a section of heavy clay with a varying gravel-clay mix of 1-2 ft at the surface. A few brick and tile fragments were found in it.

On the west side of the road there is a drainage ditch and a short flat area and the ground then slopes steeply to above the road level. The field on the west is the one in which a number of Roman kilns were found by Stephen Castle in the 1960s (reported in LAMAS Trans. V.23 Pt 2 1970). In the 1960s the field was used as a dump for demolished materials (Young Archaeologists, please note for future reference). They were probably from London bomb sites and raised the ground level by over 10 ft in places. Nothing of interest to us was to be found here. The broad trench had to be dug through this stuff and then the pipe trench down a further 8-10 ft across the road. This produced a volume of soil to be dug and moved, making the site more like a mine than a building operation.

A section was produced on the east side of the road, well below the natural (pre 1960s) level. Next day, Saturday 8th, John Mills of the Museum saw a small dark section in this exposure which he thought interesting. We worked on this through the day, extending it and cleaning it, and when fully exposed it proved to be a section of a small road.He photographed and drew it in some detail using his portable equipment.

I arrived on the Sunday to find the pipe already laid at the bottom of the road-crossing section, which must have been worked on during the night. Two large machines were operating either side of the road, still clearing away further materials and men were working on the pipe at the bottom of the cutting with others repairing various disturbed services. A sort of approach-reinforcement for machine had been made at the centre of the road and I was able to perch on it. Made of two thick steel plates covered with clay, it was the only way to see, at a right angle, into the narrow cutting (less than 1 M wide and ¾ m deep.

I was surprised to see that the section was very cleanly cut; there were very sharp outlines in the clay of various coloured materials across as much of the road as I could see. The view on the left was restricted but I had a clear view at an acute angle to the right and down to the base of the trench. The layers extended down a long way with the clay appearing at about 9 ft, near the pipe at the bottom. At the top was tar with small gravel; then large tarred granite chips; then a lighter layer appearing to be a concreted gravel; below, a layer of brown gravel-and-sand. Under this was the outline of a section very similar to that of the road found on the previous day, but much wider and several times thicker with a deep central section. Photographs were attempted but the acute angle of view and the low level of light in the trench gave poor results. However notes were taken and a rough measurement made, even this being difficult in limited space on a slippery surface, A sketch was completed in situ and further activity was curtailed by the approach of a large excavating machine. These observations of the trench were made facing north, up the hill.

HADAS THAT NAME

Pat Alison writes: ‘Why change the name of HADAS? Does it matter what words the initials stand for? People join HADAS for the wealth of information and enjoyment the Society offers. People from far and wide belong. The fact that H stood for Hendon never deterred me from remaining a member when I moved from FINCHLEY to POTTERS BAR.’

Harold Cover writes ‘as I no longer live in the area that enables me to participate in the Society’s activities, the name HADAS means more to me than a geographical location. HADAS is a compact sturdy logo that to me signifies a group of archaeologically minded, enthusiastic and friendly people eager to share any knowledge gained with others. I still treasure the memory of

Daphne Lorimer in her best dress on the floor at Flower Lane classes – giving us a demonstration of flint-knapping to her admiring pupils – Happy Days!! I am still interested in all archaeological activities and look forward to the monthly Newsletter. Please keep the name of HADAS untarnished. (from Kirby Cross, Essex)

Fraternal greeting from Mr Richard Nichols, Mill Hill Historical Society ­’I should stick to HADAS by which you made your reputation over a very wide field, in more senses than one’.

BOOKS The Story of Mill Hill can be bought from some of the Barnet libraries, including that at Mill Hill; Maxfields in Mill Hill Broadway, Whites, newsagents in Hale Lane, Lodges paper shop in Daws Lane (opp.main sorting office) and Kelly’s paper shop Mill Hill East.

The Museum of London have published Recent Archaeological Excavations in Greater London, the work of the Department of Greater London Archaeology, 1990. This covers prehistoric, Roman, Saxon and medieval London excavations in brisk text, sketh maps and plans, and generous coloured photographs.A good buy for £3.25. (References to such outlying places as Harlington, Merton Priory and West Heath)

THINGS TO GO TO

Day School on The Archaeology of Greater London, Sat November 17th. at the Museum of London, from 10.0am to 16.45pm. Various DGLA speakers on Prehistory, Uxbridge site, Roman Southwark, Roman burial practices and Hooper Street cemetery, Saxon London, Med. Religious Houses incl. St Mary Graces, the Post Med. Archaeology of Limehouse Link Project, and Post Medieval Theatres. Fee £10, concessionary £5 further information and tickets from Education Dept. at the Museum, London Wall, EC2Y 5HN. If by post, send SAE.

REWLEY HOUSE WEEKENDS, Oxford Flints November 24-25, 1990. Surveying in Archaeology.

16-17 March 1991. Jean Snelling has further information.

ISSUE No 235: October 1990 Editor: Micky Cohen

DOROTHY’S DIARY

Tuesday, 2nd October First lecture of the Winter Season

“Excavation in West Africa” Origins of West African Bronze Work by Dr Paul Craddock

Paul Craddock, who works at the British Museum, is well known to the Society. He has given us some excellent lectures over the years, taken us on day trips to Rochester, Canterbury and Swanscombe, and provided us with scrumptious teas at his home in Rochester. He conducted us on our tour of the Fakes’ exhibition at the B.M. in April this year, and this time he is coming to talk to us about his work in Nigeria last year.

Saturday, 6th October Minimart at St. Mary’s Church House, Hendon NW 4 11.30 a.m. to 2.30 p.m.

Help is urgently needed on various stalls. Please ring 203 – 0950 if you can offer your services – if only for the first hour when the rush starts (we hope’.) or for the last hour of cut-price time and clearing up. And ALL members, please come for lunch – Tessa’s special! A REMINDER for jam and cake makers – your contributions are particularly welcome, as well as goods for other stalls. Remember – this is our only fund-raising event of the year, and crucial for keeping the Society going. If anyone can display a small advert for the Minimart in their local shop window or their car, please send for one – ring 203 – 0950. The Exhibitions at Church Farmhouse Museum, opposite the Hall will be well worth a visit at the same time (see last months’ notice for the Minimart).

Thursday, l8th October Historical Association – Illustrated Lecture at 8 p.m. at Westfield College Kidderpore Avenue, NW 3. “Feeding the City – London’s Market Gardens, 16th to 18th century.” HADAS members welcome.

Tuesday, 6th November Lecture: “Waters Sweet and Fresh for London” Dr Michael Essex Lopresti

Tuesday, 4th December, Christmas Dinner – more details later. We are having some difficulty with this event at the moment.

Tuesday, 22nd January 2.00pm “Behind the Scenes” – Private Tour of the Museum of London’s Reserve Collection at Ironmongers’ Row.

Numbers are limited, so if you would like to participate in this visit, please send in quickly with a cheque for £1.50 to Dorothy Newbury, 55 Sunningfields Rd., Hendon NW 4. Tel: 203 – 0950.This event is in place of the January lecture, as the first Tuesday falls on New Year’s Day. LAMAS members will see that the HADAS “Behind the Scenes” visit was advertised in the LAMAS September Newsletter for October 9th. This as an error – sorry.

NOTE; LECTURES are held at the Central Library, The Burroughs, Hendon NW 4 8.00 p.m. for 8.30 p.m. NEW MEMBERS, please make yourselves known

PROGRAMME SECRETARY: Dorothy Newbury (203 – 9050) for information on outings, lectures and walks.

MEMBERS’ NEWS

Sick reports first – we are pleased to tell members that – Mary Barnett is out of hospital, home and feeling stronger.

Ann Lawson is also home from hospital and recovering. (Both these members were booked for the Ironbridge weekend and had to cancel.)

Isobel McPherson is home from hospital too, and is pleased to have had letters and cards from members. Last weekend she was able to visit the pipe-line route where it crosses the A 5 at Brockley Hill.

Member Mr X left a message on June Porges’ Ansaphone. His name was inadvertently rubbed off. He wanted information regarding the review of the book on Mill Hill. It is as follows – “The Story of Mill Hill” by John W. Collier, published by the Mill Hill Historical Society at £3 + 50 p & p, from Mr Ralph Calder, 2 Feather­stone Road, NW? 2BN.

Brian Wibberley Artistic Director and scene-maker for HADAS “period” banquets, has changed career course. After many years with Johnson Matthey, he has taken redundancy and taken up lecturing at Hatfield Polytechnic. Our best wishes to him.

Alec Jeakins We are delighted to report the birth of a second son to Alec and Ursula in August.

Nigel and Ann McTeer, Nigel was our coach driver for the Ironbridge weekend and writes: Please thank the members of HADAS for their welcoming into their midst of Anne and myself. The trip was excellent, marred slightly by my coach. Please give in your next Newsletter my thanks to all who contributed to my gift; it was not really necessary as I enjoyed the whole trip (Bridges as Well). But most of all, thank you for the grand way you accepted us “new boys” into HADAS. I look forward to driving you again and joining in your trips.

Mrs McNicol a member who moved to the Isle of Man in 1989 writes:” the Isle of Man is archaeology rich, to put it mildly. So very glad HADAS gave me such a “taste” for it, and taught me how much I had to learn. What a feast it was to an Australian with only 200 years of European buildings, etc.

The Newsletter is a delight – brings such happy memories, such tempting trips, more gaps filled into my slim knowledge. When I have the operations on my feet I can put my feet up and properly study this year’s file of Newsletters….” She sends her best wishes and thanks to all.

George Inghram wishes to convey to everybody, his very grateful thanks and appreciation for the many cards, gifts and good wishes received on the occasion of his 90th birthday. Also to thank the Newsletter (September) for the so aptly-written report of the party, which, indeed, was a great surprise and gave him much happiness – it was nice to meet so many friends and the time went all too quickly.

Malcolm Jack Goldenfeld Congratulations to Malcolm, HADAS member from Chorley-wood, who has just finished a long trek. In 1980 he started studying for the extra-mural Certificate in Field Archaeology – and got it. Then he decided to cap the Certificate with the Diploma in Archaeology. This summer, after ten years hard labour in all, he has passed that, too, with flying colours.

“Someone suggested evening classes once, when I was helping at the Museum of London,” he told me. “Then, getting the Diploma seemed like the heady heights of Olympus.” However, that’s not the sum of Mr Goldenfeld’s ambitions. Now he has his eye on a post-Diploma course in the subject he knows best and enjoys most: Archaeological draughtsmanship.

Are there any other HADAS success stories among the summer examination results ?

If so, the Newsletter would love to hear of them.

CHANGING THE NAME OF HADAS

We have had a lively correspondence (more than 30 letters) on changing the name of HADAS. Three more letters are published in this issue. So far more than 80% of opinions expressed are not in favour of any change. Those, who do favour change have made many different suggestions; no consensus has emerged.

The Committee of HADAS has had an opportunity of considering all the letters received to date. They have decided to wait until all those who wish to express a view have had the chance to do so. On present form, the Committee are inclined against a formal change to our name, but in favour of adding “Based on the Borough of Barnet” beneath the heading “Hendon and District Archaeological Society” on our letter paper and elsewhere.

This form of words shows that our interest covers the whole of Barnet, but does not confine our activities within the Borough.

Members views are represented by:

Mr Stewart Wild, 33 Cyprus Road, Finchley, London N3 3SD (28th August, 1990)

I have been following the correspondence regarding a possible change to the Society’s name with great interest.

I am surprised that some folk should feel that a new name might be desirable, and support wholeheartedly the views so eloquently expressed by Daphne Lorimer, writing from Orkney in the last Newsletter. Perhaps distance lends perspective.

If the HADAS name were lost, no matter what name might replace it, I can just imagine that in years to come, there could easily be a public misconception that the Society had expired along with its name. Any marketing man will tell you that you don’t change a brand name without spending a fortune on an advert­ising campaign to re-enforce the message.

Since we don’t have thousands of pounds to spend on advertising, common sense suggests that we leave well alone.”

Mr John Whitehorn, 16 Falkland Road, Barnet. (30th August, 1990)

I suggest that the Society’s name be changed to “Hendon and Barnet Archaeological Society”.

It would be easy for insiders or outsiders to get used to the very slight change in the acronym: HABAS for HADAS; and only a very small change to the logo ”

Mrs Olive Banham, a Founder Member, 72 Bertram Road, Hendon NW 4 (5th Sept. 1990) ” Please don’t change the name of HADAS It is known world-wide. We want to be different. I’m sure Mr Constantinides would agree. ”

MORE ABOUT AMPHORAE from Mrs Nell Penny

Is there space for me to challenge Brigid Grafton Green’s scholarly article about the universally useful amphora in the September Newsletter ? Where there is no documentary corroboration, archaeological arguments are informed guesswork, possibly to be modified or contradicted by the next “dig”. Is there any eulogy of the humble amphora in those Greek and Roman manuscripts which survive ? I’m sure I could find a nineteenth century ode to the domestic teapot and a twentieth century paean about the plastic jerrican and bucket. Both of these have flat bottoms. And if the amphora was so easy to handle, why did it not survive the Western Roman Empire ? Were the Celtic and Teutonic tribesmen mindlessly destructive of anything so useful, or were they truly innovative when they “threw” pots which could stand on their own feet or bottoms ?

STOP PRESS I!

Brian Wrigley reports that Richmond Archaeological Society have arranged a PANEL DISCUSSION on ENGLISH HERITAGE’S PLANS FOR LONDON ARCHAEOLOGY, to be held on FRIDAY, 12th OCTOBER,1990, commencing at 8 p.m. in THE VESTRY HALL, RED LION ST., RICHMOND. Admission; £1.00

CHRIST’S COLLEGE ARTS CENTRE TRUST

HADAS members will know that Christ’s College is due to move from its present site to new premises at the end of this year. A Trust has been formed to secure the site for a much needed arts and leisure centre for Barnet residents. Our own June Porges is on the board of the Trust though not as a HADAS representative. The Trust has found that the new “Unitary Development Plan” for Barnet, which goes to Public Enquiry this month, has defined specific sites for particular leisure developments and in the case of Christ’s College proposes the use of the site for an hotel development.

Barnet is lacking in facilities for cultural activities and performing arts. The opportunity to use a site that is central, well served by public transport and of reasonable size for arts and leisure purposes may not arise again for many years. The Trust objects to the possible use of the site as a “Civic Centre” being excluded from the Plan, and has put in a formal objection. HADAS is equally concerned that the possibility of the site being used for arts and leisure purposes should be safeguarded and has also submitted an objection to the Plan, seeking the inclusion of this alternative use in the proposals.

VISIT TO THE ROMAN VILLA AT PIDDINGTON by Micky Cohen

We left for the last day’s outing of the season in wonderful weather and a surprising lack of traffic. Our coffee stop at Newport Pagnell was the “Swan Revived” Hotel. Partly, Tudor, one of the bars was unusually decorated with shelves of baked clay painted models of local shops and homes of note, complete with timbered façades, window boxes, awnings and shop signs. A local artist takes commissions. We had time for a short visit to the town and the much restored church of St. Peter and Paul. This has a fine ceiling and set of bells which were being rung into position for an afternoon wedding.

The next stop was our main objective: the Romano-British villa at Piddington. Roy Friendship Taylor lectured HADAS on this site last October. The Nene Arch­aeological Society have dug here at weekends for ten years. Some of the excavation area has been covered over after recording what remains presents a striking example of a rich villa – the furnace, bath house and pillared wing of rooms, cellar and courtyard clearly visible. The walls remain to a good height. Vents, pillar bases, hypocaust system, tiles, window and door openings can be distinguished and are visually graphic. Fragments of painted plaster tiles and mosaic indicate that the villa was decorated and painted inside and out and must have had an almost garish appearance. There is no doubt that the villa was the centre of a thriving settlement and rich area. It is and active dig – about eleven years of work remain to be done.

After our packed lunch (tea from a refreshment stand the Nene Society provide on open day) we went on to Towcester, the site of Roman Lactodorum; a staging post with Watling Street running straight through it. The area is the site of Saxon and Danish clashes and later Roundheads and Cavaliers. A member of the local Historical Society took us round buildings of note – a Chantry School, and old windmill and a now reduced Roman mound among the sights.

We finished with tea provided by the Women’s Institute in the modern Riverside Leisure Centre, a most welcome stop after a long, hot, but most interesting day.

THE THREE RIVERS PIPELINE PROJECT by Victor Jones (crossing Roman Watling Street)

Work on this project in our Borough is now nearly finished. It has involved in effect the digging of a huge ditch, as wide as a large road and about a foot deep.

It has a central deeper section, wide enough to take the huge water supply pipe, one metre in diameter. In places, the ditch is as deep as the height of a small house.

The work is now almost complete; the pipe is laid and covered for most of its route across the North West section of the Borough. There is now only one gap left and since my last report, the section from the Arkley side of the A1000 is to be tunnelled under the road. The route has been cut through the Scratch-wood Open Space (a little-known but large Bird sanctuary with wooded walks and picnic area) to the edge of the Edgware Golf Course. I have seen it suggested that the woods might be a remnant of the ancient Middlesex Forest and would welcome any suggestions on how this could be traced.

The crossing of the Golf Course will take place soon and then a tunnel will be laid under the M1 to join the Edgwarebury Farm section, which is complete, and continues to join a nearly complete Brockley section. This brings me to the main news. Watling Street was crossed last week and, as most members will know, it was hoped would perhaps reveal something of the orig­inal Roman road. Both we and the Museum of London were only alerted a day or so before the event.

Arrangements for watching were hurriedly made, and both Museum and HADAS were present during the whole weekend. Isobel McPherson, who many members will know is unwell, managed a visit with June Porges’ help. Tessa Smith and I were there, and representatives of the Museum, particularly John Mills who spent so much time and effort on a possibly early road construction.

Reporting all this will take some time; I hope it will be possible in the next Newsletter, but it is quite a long story.

WEEKEND IN SHROPSHIRE by Stewart Wild

Our members know a good thing when they see one. Discovering that the 1890’s pharmacy and chemist’s shop at Blists Hill stocked hair restorer, they asked for two gallons of it. The friendly staff, in true Victorian style and garb, enjoyed the joke. Alas, they said, we only have eight-ounce bottles, priced at three farthings

Forty-one of us were spending a thoroughly enjoyable weekend in Shropshire, a pleasant, largely rural county where the sleepy upper Severn valley belies the fact that 250 years ago it was, to coin a phrase, the cradle of the Industrial Revolution. With Roman remains, some excellent museums, a restored Georgian mansion, a ruined abbey, a stately home, a church made of recycled building materials, and industrial archaeology all around, the latest HADAS outing had something for everyone.

We left Finchley early on Friday morning, 31st August, with the added pleasure of discovering that our coach driver, Nigel McTeer, was also a HADAS member, and that our guide for the weekend would be Fred Bishop, secretary of the London branch of the Friends of Ironbridge Gorge Museum.

Our first stop was at Wall Roman Site (Letocetum) near Lichfield, the remains of a Roman fort and staging post on Watling Street, where we visited the tiny museum and enjoyed a short talk by the curator before attacking our picnic lunches. Excavations here at the end of the last century revealed the remains of a large bath house and a furnace room; the rest of the sprawling site, dating from about 70 A.D. remains buried under the houses, gardens and fields of the present-day hamlet of Wall, now mercifully by-passed by the heavy traffic on the A5.

On to Coalport for a short tour of the kilnsand workshops of the former china works which, under the control of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust, opened to the public in 1976 after half a century of disuse. There’s a dazzling display of porcelain ware on show, a fascinating museum which explains the manufact­uring process (do you know what a saggar is ?) and an adjacent shop. The Trust has ambitious plans for further renovation on the site, including digging out a blocked canal.

A short walk brought us to the Tar Tunnel, at extraordinary relic dating from 1786, and the only place in the Gorge where one can venture any distance underground. The tunnel was dug horizontally from a riverside meadow into the hillside, to connect with the shafts of the Blists Hill coal mine about 1,000 yards away. The intention was to build an underground canal which would facilitate the removal of the coal by barge instead of hauling it up the shaft and then carting it back downhill to the river. Such an ambitious scheme had an unusual outcome when the miners struck a spring of natural bitumen about 300 yards from the entrance. To start with, the tar flowed at a rate of some 600 gallons a day, but by 1820 the flow was reported to be only one barrel per month. The discovery brought wealth to the area as the bitumen was used in a great variety of products from skin ointment to varnish and pitch for the preservation of wood.Although the canal was never built, the tunnel was used for extracting coal until 1930. It fell into disuse and was forgotten about until 1965. Since 1973, visit­ors have been allowed to venture a short distance – tar still comes through the brickwork, and it’s heads down all the way.We stayed two nights at Harper Adams Agricultural College, near Newport, where the single-room accommodation in sixties-style-blocks was surprisingly comfortable. There were no complaints about the catering either, particularly as )orothy paid for the wine ! After dinner on Friday we were treated to a most interesting talk and slide show by Ken Jones, secretary of the F.I.G.M., who proved to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the Ironbridge area and its history. We were thus well prepared for the day ahead.

We would all have liked to have stayed longer at the Museum of Iron in Coalbrook-dale. On three floors of an historic building, it features all you could ever want to know about iron and the part it played in our industrial history. The fame of the Ironbridge Gorge in the late 18th century, its thriving ironworks, collieries and lime works, its steam engines, its innovations in the use of iron and in the ceramic and chemical industries, all depended ultimately on mineral wealth, on the extraction of coal, iron ore, clay and limestone from the earth. Here in the Gorge they had all this, plus the use of the River Severn to transport the finished goods.

The museum also dealt with social history: the Bristol Quaker families Darby and Goldney, who provided the necessary private funding; William Reynolds, scientist, engineer and founder of Coalport; and Thomas Telford, born in Scotland in 1757, who achieved fame by building roads and iron bridges, and after whom the thriving new town of Telford is named. We learnt too of the original John Bull, and iron­worker named William Ball (1795 -1852) whose massive strength and size (80″ round the waist) made him a local legend. In 1850 he was exhibited in London and else­where as “John Bull the greatest man in the world”.–Weighing 36 stones, he must have been an awesome sight – it took 20 men to carry his coffin at his funeral.

A short walk took us to Rosehill House, built in the 1730’s and home to several generations of the Darby family. It has been beautifully restored by the Trust, and provides an insight into the daily life of a wealthy family in the 19th cent­ury. Nearby, a row of cottages is being restored to illustrate the living conditions of the working classes.

At last to the Iron Bridge itself, the world’s first, dating front 1789, when it was constructed as a demonstration of the ironmasters’ skills. we admired the Tollhouse, walked over and under the bridge, took photographs galore, and some of our party were fortunate to meet a riverside resident who still builds coracles in the traditional way. Then we passed the ruined Bedlam furnace on our way to the Jackfield Tile Museum, a remarkable collection of ceramics adjacent to derelict workshops which will one day also be restored. Quality bricks-and tiles were essential to the ironmaking process.

The rest of the afternoon was spent at Blists Hill Open Air Museum, a wonderful collection of buildings, some on their original sites. The complex re-creates a typical Shropshire industrial community of the 1890’s, complete with shops, bank, pub, printer, candlemaker, cobbler, locksmith and so on. The site includes a canal, the original pithead of a working coal mine, a mission church, the remains of blast furnaces, and a rebuilt wrought iron foundry. Houses include a doctor’s surgery, a tollhouse and a squatter’s cottage. Local residents and shopkeepers (Friends of the Museum in Victorian costume) complete the illusion wonderfully, and once again Ken Jones was a wonderful guide, setting the scene with an astonishing amount of knowledge as we walked around.

That evening our guide to Wroxeter Roman City joined us for dinner. A former HADAS member, Dr Roger White is a young and enthusiastic archaeologist with a great knowledge of Wroxeter gained by working there over several seasons. His erudite talk and slide show was the perfect introduction to this important site.

Sunday morning found us on the way to Wroxeter, with a stop first at Buildwas Abbey. These ruins of .a Cistercian monastery and abbey are remarkably well preserved, and the guardian proved an excellent guide for our visit.

Wroxeter (Viroconium Cornoviorum) was the fourth largest city in Roman Britain, covering an area of 180 acres (the size of Pompeii). Begun in A.D. 60, it served as a garrison fort for the troops massing for the assault on Wales (the Severn nearby was fordable at this point). The remains of the forum and extensive bath houses have been excavated; quite a lot is known about public buildings, but very little about private dwellings. The site contains Britain’s largest piece of standing Roman wall, a section about 18 feet high that is affectionately known as “The Old Work”. Yet again we had an excellent guide – Roger seemed to know everything. A small museum on the site has some of the more interesting finds.

It was a short walk to St. Andrew’s Church nearby, now redundant but still cared for Michael Watson, the county archaeologist, did a fine job showing us round and pointing out some of the unusual features, including a font made from the upturned base of a Roman column.

It was a pity time was so short, but we had to be on time for our lunch at Attingham Park, a magnificent mansion built for Lord Berwick in 1785, and now in the care of the National Trust. We had time to look over the house and stroll in the grounds. It was a nostalgic visit for five of our party who had stayed there on the occasion of the first HADAS weekend in 1974.

Roger White then accompanied us to Shrewsbury where we enjoyed a walking tour of the streets and back alleys of the medieval town, finishing with an orgy of calories as we tucked into tea and scones at the 17th century Lion Hotel.

We returned to London via the A5, the journey taking rather longer than planned on account of heavy traffic in places. But nobody seemed to mind – we had had a splendid weekend with fine weather throughout, and once again Dorothy’s org­anisation had been faultless. Thanks go to her and our guides Fred, Ken and Roger, and driver Nigel, for all their hard work.

Where to next year?

PROGRESS AT 19 – 25 HIGH STREET, CHIPPING BARNET by Andy Simpson

With the onset of cooler weather, work at this site continues apace; the developer, Bishops, have again kindly made available a “JCB” and driver. The opportunity was taken to back-fill three “worked out” trenches and to open up three new ones.

The smallest of these three new trenches, in the far north-west corner of the site, close to the street frontage, exposed, below the concrete shop floor, a small pit, cutting the natural clay. This was excavated and proved to be of medieval date, containing grey ware and animal bone. A long narrow East-West trench, further back, has exposed more of the medieval cobbled surface, also with associated “grey wares”. The new trench at the rear of the site, linking two earlier trenches, has proved to be perhaps the most productive yet: the first feature noted is a short length of wall foundation, constructed of flint rubble and red tile. John Mills of the Museum of London tells us that he has seen sim­ilar examples, serving as dwarf walls for timber buildings, in the Uxbridge area dated to 1400-1700. A structural feature at last! This wall is butted on one side by a large pit: this was found to contain a superb pottery assemblage of c. 1700 A.D., including tinglaze, stonewares, slipwares, and mottled wares. Many of the sherds should be reconstructible into identifiable vessels.

The “portakabins” on site will shortly be moved, making more space available for excavation. However, we can do little without rather more bodies on site.

Come and help us make the most of this sizeable slice of medieval High Barnet

Details, as always, from Brian (tel: 081-959-5982; Arthur (tel: 081-368-6288) or your ever-pushy scribe, Andy (tel: 081-205-6456). WE NEED YOU!!

OTTOMAN JOURNEY by Rosalie Ivens

In June, I flew to Istanbul, then took a coach across the Anatolian plateau to Ankara, thence to Cappodocia. This area has the most amazing rock formations, for example the “Tuff” which was formed by volcanic ash millions of years ago, and sheltered by hard rock boulders above from wind and rain, which ate away the rest. Thus gradually appeared tall columns capped with rocks to look like fossilized mushrooms, called “fairy chimneys” by our guide. In the valley of Gorene, strange cone-shaped sandstone rocks had been hollowed out by Christians of 1,400 years ago, hiding from persecuting Arabs. Until quite recently people lived in an ancient monastery and a convent, built in the rock, with chapel walls painted with frescos, carved altars, and refectories with long tables and benches carved along the walls.

At the ancient ruins of Hieropolis, we swam in the Sacred Pool in hot thermal spring water, surrounded by roses, hibiscus, oleanders, cedar and cypress trees ­and under the water, fluted columns and Corinthian capitals from the Roman portico nearby. Outside the city is the necropolis – some 1,230 tombs unearthed in recent excavations.

On to Ephesus, one of the best preserved Greco-Roman cities in the world, and the site of the temple of Artemis, once one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. Now it is rather a mournful site, just a single reconstructed column standing beside the excavation pit with foundations stones and architectural members. The rest of Ephesus is most impressive: colonnaded streets and avenues, the great theatre seating 25,000, the Market Place, the Library of Celsus, and the large pub-ic bath house of the Scholastics, in front of which stands the Temple of Hadrian, with its reconstructed porch sheltering the. bust of Tyche, protectoress of the city. For light relief (?) our party was photographed sitting in the ancient public latrines! We also visited the 6th century Basilica of St. John (which marks the spot where the apostle spent his last years and died) and the Virgin Mary’s House, discovered 100 years ago through the visions of a German woman. It is now a place of pilgrimage, venerated by Moslems as well as Christians.

A few nights’ rest at a small seaside village Altinoluk, and then a trip to ancient Pergamum, where Asclepion, dedicated to Asclepius the god of healing, was a highly reputed medical centre. It provided hot baths, massage, spring water for drinking, primitive psychiatry and interpretation of dreams. We saw the ruins of the library (Antony stole the books and gave them to Cleopatra) the very steep theatre, and the site of Zeus’ altar, removed by the Germans in the Second World War and now to be seen in East Berlin.

At last came Troy, where nine different cities have been built over the centuries. Now there are signs to tell you.which layer you are looking at L Then the ruins of Assos, whose massive walls still remain on the western side,with an arduous climb above for a rewarding panoramic view over the Aegean, and the ruins of a temple to Athena. Finally, we returned to Istanbul via Bursa – Ottoman capital of the 14th century, now famous for two great mosques and a beautiful Green Tomb – a pleasant city. Many more sites to visit in Turkey – I hope to go back !