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Newsletter No. 663 – June 2026

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HADAS Newsletter No. 663 – June 2026

No. 663 June 2026 Edited by Melvyn Dresner

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Tuesday 9 June 2026 Annual General Meeting at 7:30pm followed by a lecture given by our President, Jacqui Pearce, entitled ‘The Parish Scavenger’s Tale’. Recycling household waste is not new. This talk looks back at the activities of a Parish Scavenger in London’s West End during the 18th century, as demonstrated by a particularly rich assemblage of finds recovered during excavations in Duke Street. These present a vivid picture of everyday life in the neighbourhood at a time when the area was being developed and acquiring a respectable status. Free tea, coffee and biscuits at the AGM.

Lectures are held in the Drawing Room, Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. 7.45 for 8pm. Tea, coffee and biscuits available for purchase after each talk.

Buses 13, 125, 143, 326, 382, and 460 pass close by, and it is a five to ten minute walk from Finchley Central Station on the Barnet Branch of the Northern Line, where the Super Loop SL10 express bus from North Finchley to Harrow also stops.

The Barnet Medieval Festival 2026 takes place on the weekend of 6th and 7th June 2026 at Lewis of London Ice Cream Farm. Marking the 555th anniversary of the 1471 Battle of Barnet, the weekend features re-enactments, live equestrian displays, falconry, and a living history village. HADAS will have a stall there. barnetmedievalfestival.org

Subscriptions

A polite reminder that HADAS membership renewals were due on the 1st of April. Please pay by direct bank transfer if possible, to CAF Bank Account 00083254, Sort Code 40-52-40, stating your surname and Mem26 if there is not enough space. Members who pay their subscription by standing order need take no action. Please send cheques to Roger Chapman; his address is on the back of the newsletter. Membership fees are still only £15 per person; add £5 per person per household. Fees for the under 18s and full-time students are only £6.

Treasurer Role

Roger Chapman is stepping down as HADAS Treasurer, although remaining on the committee. This is an important role for the functioning of HADAS. Please contact him for more information; his email is on the contact list on the last page.

Vine Cottages – Dig in July

This summer HADAS will be returning to the site of Vine Cottages for another excavation. Work this year will target the western area around Trench 3, where a few features were unable to be fully excavated and from where the most interesting finds were discovered. The dig will run between the 23rd and the 26th of July, and the site is located across from the Greyhound Pub in Hendon. Participation in the excavation is free for members, and temporary membership can be purchased on the day for £1 per day. Everyone is also welcome to come and have a look and a chat, without needing to dig!

More information about Vine Cottages can be found on our website: hadas.org.uk/hadas/vine-cottages/ and hadas.org.uk/hadas-excavations/vine-cottages-excavation/ and in previous newsletters.

Catie Teodorescu’s report on last year’s dig can be found in the September 2025 newsletter (654). Specialist reports on last year’s digs on glass and ceramic building material are published in this newsletter; the pottery report will follow in a future newsletter. The clay pipe report was published in March 2026 (660).

Vine Cottage Hendon (VCH 25) Glass Report

Andy Simpson, Tim Curtis. All photos: Susan Trackman.

A wide variety of mostly modern vessels was found, the earliest items being fragments of a wine bottle dated 1750–1770, possibly overlapped in date by a wine bottle base and body fragment dated 1735–1850, followed some decades later by two wine bottle necks dated around 1820. Perhaps someone had a decidedly vintage wine cellar! The upper modern dump layers in centrally placed Trench 2 were particularly rich in modern glassware fragments, especially Dump layer 001 which filled three sheets of glass recording form.

WINDOW GLASS (WIND)
Modern sheet window glass was found in all three trenches, mainly in the topsoil and upper dump layer 001 in each trench, and discarded after recording. From Trench 1 dump layer 001 came six fragments of Soda/mixed alkali (SMA) ribbed clear glass (RIBV), of which four conjoined, possibly from an internal office-style partition door, thickness varying between 3 and 7mm, and two fragments of thin clear glass. The topsoil from Trench 2 yielded twelve colourless and Aqua SMA fragments, with a much larger number of colourless SMA fragments – some 45 in total – in dump layer Trench 2 Context 001, 25 of which were probably from one 2mm thick window as several pieces conjoined, as similarly did 20 fragments 3mm thick. There were also three fragments of ribbed blue-green reinforced glass of two types, 4mm and 7mm thick. There was a single fragment of colourless sheet glass from Trench 2 rubble layer 002. Perhaps the earliest window glass recovered was four fragments of 2mm thick co-joining and delaminating glass dated post-1800 from Trench 2 dump layer 001. Trench 3 topsoil yielded five fragments of clear glass and a single fragment of partition type glass. Trench 3 dump layer 001 contained 16 fragments of clear sheet glass of varying thickness, and a piece of partition/clouded glass with a single colourless fragment in Trench 3 dump layer 010. From Trench 3 dump layer 010 there was a single colourless fragment.

LATTIMO GLASS (LATT) – Single sherd of white glass from Trench 3 topsoil, and one more from Trench 3 dump layer 001.

WINE BOTTLE – Notably, Trench 2 dump layer context 001 contained five fragments of one potash green hand-blown glass wine bottle with a rim diameter of 4cm, wall 5mm thick but delaminating, dated 1750–1770 and retained, as was a cylindrical body fragment from near the base of the bottle, of the same date range. The same context also contained the high-kicked base of a cylindrical potash green wine bottle, base diameter 66mm, dated 1735–1840. Trench 2 dump layer 002 contained two conjoining fragments of green SMA glass from a modern wine bottle dated 1940–2000. Trench 3 dump layer 010 – green glass complete wine bottle rim and neck, plus eight body and neck fragments from a second bottle, both dated circa 1820. Rim diameter for both was one inch.

MILK BOTTLE (BOTT-MLK) – Trench 1 dump layer 001: one SMA body fragment marked ‘FL’. Trench 2 topsoil: possible SMA milk bottle, MAC B type, base diameter 100mm. Trench 2 dump layer context 001: nine fragments of colourless SMA glass milk bottle, one marked ‘(U)NITED (Glass Bottle Co)’, which was retained, as was the body fragment marked ‘~D’ from the same context. Trench 2 dump layer 002: single SMA body fragment. Trench 3 dump layer 001: some conjoining bases, rims and body sherd fragments of two locally sourced bottles, A1 Dairies, Whetstone, 1905 to 1980s. Most stamped ‘Whetstone N20 A1 UGB’ and other numbers, thought to be A1 Dairies quart bottles. Maker’s mark UGB stands for United Glass Bottling (1913–1968). The same context also held 46 fragments of clear glass thought to be from bottles and drinking vessels. Trench 3 dump layer 010: two 8cm diameter base fragments marked 1-A-UG and 1-A-U-G (United Glass Bottling).

BEER/MINERAL BOTTLE (BOTT-BEER) – Surprisingly few given the proximity to the long-established Greyhound pub opposite. Trench 2 topsoil contained five fragments of brown bottle glass, all discarded. There were three fragments of cylindrical brown beer bottle from Trench 2 dump layer 001, possibly from three separate bottles, and five body and base fragments from the Trench 3 topsoil plus 14 fragments of brown beer bottle from Trench 3 dump layer 001.

SQUARE/SPIRITS BOTTLES (BOTT-SQU) – Single fragment in Trench 2 topsoil plus a broken blue-green SMA glass base fragment in Trench 2 Context 001.

MEDICINE/POISON BOTTLES – Single SMA glass fragment in Trench 2 dump layer 001, which was discarded.

PERFUME BOTTLE (BOTT-PERF) – Single example in Trench 3 dump layer 001, Small Find 12.

WINE BOTTLE NECKS DATED C.1820 – [see photos]

MILK BOTTLE BASE A1 DAIRIES – [see photo]

MISCELLANEOUS BOTTLE (BOT-MISC) – Trench 1 topsoil: a variety of miscellaneous vessel fragments plus one blue glass bottle fragment and one of green glass, all discarded after recording. Trench 1 context around E-W wall 005: two fragments of colourless moulded modern bottle, a similar neck/shoulder fragment, and two aqua coloured bottle fragments, one with a mould line on it that conjoins with a piece from Trench 1 outside deposit 006. That context contained a fragment of colourless rectangular bottle (BOTT RECT) dated 1830–1940 and the matching fragment of aqua bottle with that in context 005. There was also a small colourless fragment possibly from a picture frame. Trench 2 topsoil contained ten fragments of modern green bottle glass, all discarded, and an SMA oval glass bottle marked DOSS, which was retained, as was an SMA machine-made base fragment marked RETURN. Trench 2 dump layer 002 contained three fragments of colourless SMA bottle glass – body, base and shoulder fragments; there was also a thin-walled body fragment of green potash glass bottle broadly dated 1600–1900. Trench 3 topsoil: a number of miscellaneous clear glass fragments, one lettered ‘AW’ on the outside; three clear glass moulded fragments, a fragment with a grid of white lines, and also three fragments of green glass bottle. Trench 3 dump layer 001 contained eight fragments of green bottle glass of various thicknesses, plus at least 32 fragments of clear bottle glass, some from milk bottles. One small fragment from Trench 3 posthole fill 004, and three colourless body sherd fragments from Trench 3 dump layer 010, plus two aqua bottle fragments from that context.

CYLINDRICAL BOTTLE (BOTT-CYL) – Two machine-made fragments from Trench 2 topsoil, both discarded. Nine mould-blown base and body fragments from one vessel in Trench 3 dump layer 010.

HEXAGONAL BOTTLE (BOTT-HEX) – Two blue glass fragments from Trench 3 dump layer 010, plus a single colourless fragment from the same context.

RECTANGULAR BOTTLE (BOTT-RECT) – Three modern fragments including body and shoulder from Trench 2 topsoil. Two conjoining fragments of a green SMA glass bottle from Trench 2 dump layer 002, dated 1830–1940.

BOWL (BOWL) – One fragment of clear glass decorative bowl with a geometric design in Trench 3 dump layer 001.

STOPPER (STOP) – One colourless modern SMA stopper from Trench 2 topsoil, discarded. One broken-off tip of a green SMA glass stopper from Trench 2 dump layer 001. One almost complete example in Trench 3 topsoil, missing its tip.

JAR (JAR) – Complete white SMA Ponds Cold Cream glass jar from Trench 1 Context 001, base diameter 7cm, which was retained, as was a large round green SMA glass modern jar with a horseshoe marking and a base diameter of 100mm. Also retained from the same context were two possible base and top fragments of a modern colourless SMA glass jar or dish with ribbing and Fleur de Lys decoration and a base diameter of 68mm. Seven colourless SMA fragments from Trench 2 topsoil, one with a rim diameter of 60mm, one machine-made, and one rim fragment of a square jar, all discarded. One colourless SMA jar marked MBD was retained. Six other colourless mostly mould-blown SMA jar fragments from this context with flanged and collared rims of 5/10cm diameter were also recorded. Complete moulded glass paste jar in Trench 2 dump layer 001, anonymous maker but similar to the well-known Shipham’s paste jar, Small Find 030. Rd No. 444681, issued to William A. Bailey, 7 November 1904. Single colourless SMA base fragment from Trench 2 dump layer 002. Fragment of food paste jar or similar in Trench 3 topsoil.

WINE GLASS/GOBLET (WINE/GOB) – Trench 1 dump layer 001: SMA clear glass base fragment, 90mm diameter. Trench 1 outside soil layer 006: part base and bowl, facetted design. Quite a heavy vessel, perhaps suggesting use in a pub rather than domestically; facetted on base of bulb and not completely round, base 60mm diameter, broadly dated 1700–2000. There were seven fragments of modern SMA wine glass body and base, thickness 1mm, from the Trench 2 topsoil, all discarded. Trench 2 dump layer 001 included a fragment of goblet-type modern wine glass, which was retained. The only glass find in Trench 3 dump layer 002 was a single body fragment of green potash goblet. Trench 3 context 004 had one small body fragment of green glass goblet. The single identifiable glass find in Trench 3 orange clay layer 009, other than an unidentifiable form modern green glass fragment, was a rim fragment of a colourless SMA wine glass, both being discarded after recording.

WINE GLASS BASE – [see photo]

PHIAL (PHIAL) – An interesting find from Trench 1 dump layer 001 was Small Find 011: a presumed medical ‘pipette’ or dropper, hand blown, 72mm long, 5mm wide at the closed end and 2mm wide at the open end. This type of vessel was invented in the USA in 1846 and used internationally from the 1920s. The straight-sided form of this example suggests that it dates from the 1920s–30s. Trench 2 dump layer context 001 contained six fragments of an SMA cylindrical glass phial, 1mm thick wall, all discarded. From Trench 2 Context 002 came a single body fragment of colourless glass phial, and also a body fragment from a green glass cylindrical phial, possibly with part of the shoulder, only loosely dated 1650–1880.

FLASK (FLAS) – From Trench 2 dump layer 001 there were four fragments of a flanged rim flask or jar with a rim diameter of 5cm, dated only loosely to post-1700, which was retained.

TEST TUBE (TUBE) – Single example in Trench 2 topsoil, Small Find 5.

AMPOULE – Single example in Trench 2 dump layer 002, Small Find 34.

Vine Cottage Hendon (VCH 25) Ceramic Building Material Report

Andy Simpson

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the selection of Ceramic Building Material (CBM) from the Vine Cottage site was very similar to that from the nearby Bennett’s School site on the Burroughs, excavated by HADAS in September 2024. The reader is referred to the report on the CBM from the above excavation for background details on common building materials such as roofing slate and peg tile. See HADAS newsletter No. 653, August 2025, pp. 4–6. Only a representative sample of each type of material was retained from the upper dump layers and much of this was disposed of following recording, leaving two small boxes retained for the site archive presently held by HADAS at Stephens House, Finchley.

BLUE-GREY ROOFING SLATE (ROOF) – Widely distributed throughout the site in the topsoil and upper dump layers (001–2) of all three trenches plus the original garden soil (context 006) alongside the outbuilding in Trench 1. All except one large sample piece from Trench 2 discarded after recording.

RED FABRIC CERAMIC PEG ROOFING TILE (PEG) – Usually hand made. Widely distributed throughout the site, generally around half an inch thick, the standard thickness for post-medieval tile; some with holes cleanly punched through the damp clay during manufacture, others with a suggestion that the stick/rod went in asymmetrically at a slight angle. Found in Trench 1 Context 001: round hole with traces of sooting. A concentration of four fragments in Trench 2 Context 001, one with a noticeably large hole, the other three with only part of the hole remaining. Three of these fragments have the same shaped hole with a noticeable ‘upcast’ of clay around it; two have come from the same mould since they have the same line mould markings. One is noticeably poorly fired with a black reduced core. Three with peg holes or partial holes in underlying rubble dump layer T2 002, of which two have asymmetrically punched holes of different sizes. One presumed peg tile fabric from this context, Small Find 009, has two small, possibly child’s, finger impressions from the moulding process (see illustration below). Found also in Trench 3 topsoil: one fragment and two in Trench 3 dump layer context 010, one with a well-punched smooth-sided hole, and one curved.

RED FABRIC CURVED IMBREX/RIDGE STYLE ROOFING TILE (CURV) – Widely distributed throughout the site, generally half an inch thick. Found in Trench 1 dump layer 001 and garden soil 006; Trench 2 Context 001 (three fragments, hand made with notably rough surface; one with large quartz inclusions); Trench 3 topsoil Context 001 and dump layer 010.

RED CERAMIC FLAT PANTILE TYPE ROOF TILE (PAN) – Again widely distributed throughout the site with a ‘standard’ thickness of half an inch; plain finish. Found in Trench 1 topsoil, 001 and garden soil 006; Trench 2 Context 004 (single fragment lying on pebble surface); found in Trench 3 topsoil, and contexts 001, 002, a concentration in brick rubble dump layer context 003, and fragments in Trench 3 clay context 009 and dump layer 010, one in the latter with a large iron concretion attached, and one orange-red fabric fragment lying on pebble surface context T3 012.

RED CERAMIC CURVED, NIBBED ROOF TILE (NIB) – One large fragment with part of nib, Trench 1 garden soil context 006; thickness half an inch.

HAND MADE BRICK (BRIC) – A number of fragments, though not complete bricks, were recorded. Two fragments in Trench 1 Context 001, one with many white, possibly quartz, inclusions; four small dark red fabric fragments in garden soil T1 context 006; T2 001 included one notable broken fragment with one corner/two sides in well-fired red fabric, ¾ inch thick. T2 rubble layer 002 included one piece in salmon pink fabric with small inclusions, one in a more reddish fabric with small quartz inclusions, and one in a darker fabric, again with quartz inclusions. Trench 3 dump layer 002 had one piece with stone and flint inclusions in a coarse dark red fabric with traces of white mortar.

MACHINE MADE BRICK (BRIC) – Modern; fragments and part bricks widely distributed, mostly in a dark red fabric, some with frogs and lettering. Found in Trench 1 topsoil, 001, and floor layer 011. In the latter context there was quite a selection: one frogged brick had the letter H in a small circle, three others had the inscription ‘LETT’ and another the letter ‘N’ in a small circle. Trench 2 topsoil had a single fragment of yellow brick, which typically is nineteenth-century London Stock type. T2 rubble layer 002 had a machine-made fragment with no frog; pebble surface 004 had a small red fabric brick fragment; Trench 3 topsoil had two fragments of red brick; T3 dump layer 001 a half brick; T3 post hole fill 004 five small fragments.

BLUE ENGINEERING BRICK (BRIC) – Large fragment from Trench 3 dump layer 001.

SANITARY WARE – Trench 2 dump layer Context 001 only. Fourteen pieces of white glazed stoneware; wide rim; two pieces had small inlet holes – presumed fragments of wash basin or water closet pan.

DRAIN/SEWER PIPE (DRAN) – Total of seven fragments from Trench 3 topsoil and underlying dump layer 001 only, all with typical brown lead glaze of two different types; fabric mostly grey, but two conjoining pieces had a more orange fabric.

LIMESTONE (STON) – Trench 3 dump layer 001: one large, heavy possibly shaped piece of possible kerb with brick and mortar adhering to it.

NATURAL WHITE CHALK (STON) – Two small pieces from Trench 2 dump layer 001 and two more small pieces in Trench 3 contexts 002, and two more in stake hole fill context 006.

GRANITE CHIPPINGS (STON) – Single pieces from Trench 1 topsoil and Trench 2 dump layer 001.

TARMAC – Fragments in Trench 1 dump layer 001.

MORTAR – Modern mortar fragments in Trench 1 topsoil and dump layer 001, both with brick fragments, plus Trench 2 topsoil and dump layer 001 and cut 004 below it; that from 001 with a slight curve on one edge, the latter with a noticeable creamy colour. Also found in Trench 3 dump layer 001.

BREEZE BLOCK (COMP) – Single fragment, Trench 3 topsoil only.

CONCRETE (COMP) – One piece from Trench 2 dump layer 001, with traces of red paint on one face.

UNGLAZED FLOOR TILE (FLOR) – Red fabric; five fragments found in T2 context 001, all 1cm thick, smooth faced.

GLAZED WALL TILE (WALT) – Found in Trenches 2 and 3 topsoil and underlying dump layer 001 only. The example from the Trench 2 topsoil is a thin and quite dainty, almost mosaic-like 1.5-inch square brown tile, presumably decorative. Trench 3 topsoil yielded several fragments of wall tile: one brown painted, and six in white glaze, 1¼ to 1½ inches thick. Underlying dump layer Trench 3 001 included more wall tile fragments: fourteen fragments of ½ inch thick white slipped and glazed tile, and two conjoining fragments of grey tile. Most notable in this context was a tile shattered into three parts but almost entirely present: a six-inch (15cm) square decorated tile, half an inch thick, featuring four panels of geometric floral decoration. Markings of two types on the back indicated it was made by Minton Hollins & Co Patent Tile Works, Stoke on Trent, between 1845 and 1962. It is perhaps of note that the front corner of Trench 3 has a concentration of larger modern building material fragments including engineering brick, sewer pipe, and breeze block.

Most of the Sunday morning team were involved in the CBM recording. Particular thanks to Bill Bass, Tim Curtis, Melvyn Dresner, Janet Mortimer, Peter Nicholson and Susan Trackman.

CHILD’S FINGER IMPRESSIONS ON TILE FRAGMENT – [see photo]

DECORATED TILE FRONT AND REAR – [see photo]

All photos: Susan Trackman.

Archaeologists Finish Four-Year Jigsaw Puzzle to Reveal Roman Paintings

Stewart Wild

An excavation has revealed one of the largest collections of painted Roman wall plaster ever to be discovered in Britain. Archaeologists spent four years working on thousands of fragments of shattered plaster discovered in 2021 at a site in Southwark, near London Bridge station and Borough Market. The researchers pieced together the artwork of a high-status Roman building. It is believed the frescoes decorated at least twenty internal walls between AD 40 and 150, before the building was demolished and the wall plaster dumped into a pit before the start of the third century.

The reconstruction of the wall art has shed further light on high society in Roman Britain. The paintings display yellow panel designs with black intervals, decorated with images of birds, fruit, flowers and lyres. They demonstrate both the wealth and taste of the building’s owners, according to the excavation team at MOLA, the Museum of London Archaeology. Yellow panel designs were scarce in the Roman period, and repeating Roman panels found at the site in Southwark were even scarcer, making the discovery extremely rare.

Among the fragments is rare evidence of a painter’s signature, the first known example of this practice in Britain. Framed by a tabula ansata, a carving of a decorative tablet used to sign artwork in the Roman world, it contains the Latin word fecit, which translates as ‘has made this’. But the fragment is broken where the painter’s name would have appeared, meaning their identity will likely never be known. Unusual graffiti of the ancient Greek alphabet has also been reconstructed, the only example of this inscription found to date in Roman Britain.

It took three months for Han Li, a MOLA senior building material specialist, to lay out all the fragments and reconstruct designs to their original place. He said: “This has been a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ moment, so I felt a mix of excitement and nervousness when I started to lay the plaster out… The result was seeing wall paintings that even individuals of the late Roman period would not have seen.” Work to further explore each piece of plaster continues.

Source: The Daily Telegraph, 20 June 2025.

Hidden Cave Under Castle with Prehistoric Hippo Bones is a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ Find

Stewart Wild

A cave hidden beneath an 11th-century castle in Pembrokeshire is “a truly remarkable site” which could rewrite Britain’s prehistory, researchers say. Small digs of the cave under Pembroke Castle, known as Wogan Cavern, have so far uncovered “extremely rare” evidence of early humans and animals, including the bones of a hippopotamus which roamed Wales 120,000 years ago. The University of Aberdeen will now lead a larger five-year exploration of the site, which archaeologists hope could reveal a great deal about our early prehistoric forebears.

“There is no other site like it in Britain – it is a once in a lifetime discovery,” said Dr Rob Dinnis from the University of Aberdeen. Pembroke Castle, the birthplace of Henry Tudor, is a popular tourist attraction. Wogan Cavern, thought to have been dug out by the Victorians, is accessed via a spiral staircase from the castle. Measuring 23m (75ft) in length, with a height of up to 10m (32ft), the cave has been described as “enormous”.

It was long assumed that there was little archaeological material left at the site, but small excavations between 2021 and 2024 uncovered evidence of both humans and animals over more than 100,000 years, including stone tools and mammoth, hippo and woolly rhinoceros bones. The bones have been described as well preserved, and researchers said the cave was emerging as one of the most important prehistoric archives in Britain.

Dinnis, who directed the initial digs and will lead the new excavation project, said he was optimistic about what they would uncover: “Despite the limited work done so far, we can already say that Wogan Cavern is a truly remarkable site. Not only is there extremely rare evidence for early Homo sapiens, there are also hints at even earlier human occupation, probably by Neanderthals. There is no other site like it in Britain. With this new project we can learn a great deal about our early prehistoric forebears, about how they lived and what their worlds looked like. We are optimistic that the cave can chart a long sequence of human activity, from hunter-gatherers living there immediately after the last Ice Age around 11,500 years ago, back to Britain’s earliest Homo sapiens between 45,000 and 35,000 years ago, and maybe also earlier traces likely left by Neanderthals. We have also found hippo bones, which probably date to the last interglacial period, around 120,000 years ago. The site could therefore tell us about how multiple changes in climate and environment affected people living there over 100,000 years or more.”

The university will lead on the exploration supported by the Pembroke Castle Trust, which said the finds from Wogan Cavern would be curated and kept in Pembroke. “This is incredibly exciting news for everyone at the castle,” said manager Jon Williams. “We have watched with great interest as Wogan Cavern has started to reveal its secrets – it’s very different from the medieval history we usually deal with at the castle.” The new excavations are scheduled to begin at the end of May.

Source: BBC News Wales, 16 April 2026.

Behind the Battle of Barnet Banners: People of the War of the Roses

14th April 2026

An excellent lecture by Scott Harrison gave a very thorough overview of the characters, events and overall chronology building up to, during, and in the aftermath of the Battle of Barnet 1471, covering the life, society and culture of the late 15th century. It was unfortunate that so few members were able to attend this excellent lecture. The banners can be seen on Barnet High Street and Wood Street and in the Barnet Museum pop-up exhibition in the Spires Shopping Centre.

From the Basement Room

The Sunday morning team continue to make good progress with recording the flint, stone and other finds from the second West Heath dig WH2 1984–86. Although many of the flints have very precise co-ordinates in three dimensions, some to the third decimal place, there are occasional examples of less precise recording – blamed on rabbits. Two examples that came up recently: “trench fall, rabbit action” and “trench fall, rabbit action top to bottom”. The rabbits had no comment.

[see photos]

Other Societies’ Events

Eric Morgan

As always, please check with the societies’ websites before planning to attend, since not all societies or organisations have returned to pre-Covid conditions.

Friday 12 June, 7pm. C.O.L.A.S. Talk on Zoom. The Melsonby Iron Age Hoard by Sophia Adams (British Museum). Please book via Eventbrite. Visit www.colas.org.uk

Sunday 21 June, 12–6pm. East Finchley Festival. Cherry Tree Wood, East Finchley, London N2 9QH (entrance off High Road, opposite Tube Station). Lots of stalls including Finchley Society, Friends of Cherry Tree Wood (Roger Chapman, HADAS), North London U3A. Also crafts and food and drink stalls and music stages. Free entry.

Wednesday 24 June, 7.30pm. Friern Barnet and District Local History Society. North Middlesex Golf Club, The Manor House, Friern Barnet Lane, London N20 0NL. C20th Trent Park. Talk by Sue Elliott. Please visit www.friern-barnethistory.org.uk for further details. Non-members pay £3. Bar available.

Thursday 2 July, 7.30pm. Finchley Society. Drawing Room, Avenue (Stephens’) House, 17 East End Road, London N3 3QE. Annual General Meeting. For further details please visit www.finchleysociety.org.uk. Non-members pay £2.

Sunday 5 July, 10am. Heath and Hampstead Society. Meet at the Flag Pole by Whitestone Pond, top of Heath Street, London NW3. The Unique Geology of the Heath with Diana Clements (Natural History Museum). Guided walk, lasts approximately 2 hours. Free. Further information from Tereza Pultarova on 07776 649163, email hhs.walks@gmail.com, or visit www.heathandhampstead.org.uk. Turn up 5–10 minutes before start time.

Sunday 5 July, 12–5pm. Hampstead Summer Festival – Big Fair in Heath Street, London NW3 (up from Hampstead Tube Station towards Whitestone Pond). Over 100 stalls of craft, clothes, food and drink. Music. Free. Please visit www.hampsteadsummerfestival.com

Tuesday 7 July, 2–3pm. Headstone Manor and Museum, Pinner View, North Harrow HA2 6PX. A Museum for Harrow. Talk by Trustees of the Friends of the Museum, celebrating 40 years of The Friends and highlighting key moments in the Museum’s journey. Held in the Granary. Cost £4. Please book at www.headstonemanor.org or telephone 0208 863 6720.

Sunday 12 July – Sunday 26 July. Enfield Archaeological Society. Elsyng Palace Excavation in the grounds of Forty Hall, Forty Hill, Enfield EN2 9HA. This year will focus on relocating extensive palace structures uncovered by 1963 and 1966 excavations. To join the dig please contact research@enfarchsoc.org or visit www.enfarchsoc.org or email martin.dearne@talktalk.net. If you are not already a member, please join (cost £16) by Sunday 28 June. On Saturday 18 July, 11am–4pm there is a Public Open Day.

Saturday 18 July – Sunday 2 August. CBA Festival of Archaeology. Visit www.archaeologyuk.org/festival.html

Monday 13 July, 3pm. Barnet Museum and Local History Society. St John the Baptist Church, Chipping Barnet, corner of High Street and 2 Wood Street, Barnet EN5 4BW. History of Allotments. Talk by Kate Harwood. Please visit www.barnetmuseum.co.uk for details. Visitors pay £3. Refreshments available afterwards.

Tuesday 14 July, 8pm. Amateur Geological Society. Finchley Baptist Church Hall, 6 East End Road / corner Stanhope Avenue, London N3 3LX (almost opposite Avenue House). 200th Anniversary of Iguanodon – talk by Dr Chris Duffin (Natural History Museum). Last year marked the anniversary of the naming of the 2nd named dinosaur (after Megalosaurus) as Iguanodon. Please visit www.amgeosoc.wordpress.com for details. Refreshments available afterwards.

Friday 17 July, 7pm. C.O.L.A.S. Talk on Zoom. Imperial Suburbia: New Excavations on the Highway, Shadwell by Harry Platts (PCA). Please book via Eventbrite. Visit www.colas.org.uk

With thanks to this month’s contributors: Eric Morgan, Susan Loveday, Andy Simpson, Susan Trackman, Stewart Wild.

Contact Details

Chair: Sandra Claggett, c/o Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. Email: chairman@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Secretary: Janet Mortimer, c/o Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East End Road, London N3 3QE. Email: secretary@hadas.org.uk Phone: 07449 978121

Hon. Treasurer: Roger Chapman, 50 Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QP. Phone: 07855 304488. Email: treasurer@hadas.org.uk

Membership Secretary: Vacant. Email: membership@hadas.org.uk

Website: www.hadas.org.uk

The July 2026 Newsletter Editor will be Melvyn Dresner
28 Puller Road, Barnet EN5 4HF
melvyndresner@hotmail.com
07941 391932
Copy to him by 20th June 2026, please.

May 24

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Newsletter – No. 662 May 2026

By LWDadmin Latest Newsletter No Comments

No. 662 May 2026 Edited by Sue Willetts

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Tuesday 12 May 2026 Grace Jarvis from the West Essex Archaeological Group (WEAG) on ‘Copped Hall – a mansion of pleasure and privacy’. Tuesday 9 June 2026 Annual General Meeting at 7:30pm followed by a lecture given by our President, Jacqui Pearce, entitled ‘The Parish Scavenger’s Tale’. Recycling household waste is not new. This talk looks back at the activities of a Parish Scavenger in London’s West End during the 18th century, as demonstrated by a particularly rich assemblage of finds recovered during excavations in Duke Street. These present a vivid picture of everyday life in the neighbourhood at a time when the area was being developed and acquiring a respectable status. Free tea, coffee and biscuits at the AGM. Lectures are held in the Drawing Room, Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. 7.45 for 8pm. Tea, coffee and biscuits available for purchase after each talk. Buses 13, 125, 143, 326, 382, and 460 pass close by, and it is a five to ten minute walk from Finchley Central Station on the Barnet Branch of the Northern Line, where the Super Loop SL10 express bus from North Finchley to Harrow also stops.

Subscriptions

A polite reminder that HADAS membership renewals were due on the 1st of April. Please pay by direct bank transfer if possible, to CAF Bank Account 00083254, Sort Code 40-52-40, stating your surname and Memfee 26 (or shorten to Mem26 if there is not enough space). Members who pay their subscription by standing order need take no action. Please send cheques to Roger Chapman; his address is on the back of the newsletter. Membership fees are still only £15 per person; add £5 per person per household. Fees for the under 18s and full-time students are only £6.

Treasurer Role

Vine Cottages – Dig in July

The Clay Tobacco Pipes from West Heath

Susan Trackman Between 1984 and 1986 HADAS carried out the second set of its excavations on a site on part of the West Heath. Whilst almost all the recovered material consisted of flints and stones, HADAS also collected six pieces of clay tobacco pipe (five in 1984 and one in 1986). All the pieces of pipe found in 1984 were decorated and/or marked. The small piece of bowl found in 1986 (undatable) was plain but had been burnished. Set out below are the details of the pieces of pipe found in 1984. Photos 1 & 2 With its upright bowl and heel this small piece of pipe is datable to 1850–1910 (AO 31). The pipe was decorated with the front depicting a partial face. Unfortunately, with only the initial letter (‘D’) of the maker’s first name being present, it is not possible to establish the maker. Photo 3 Even this tiny fragment shows that the original pipe was decorated with leaves leading up from the stem to the bowl. Photo 4 The bottom half of a small figure is visible. Photo 5 The simple decoration around the top of the bowl marked this out as the plainest of the pipe pieces. Photos 6 & 7 This piece of bowl was the largest of the pieces recovered and consequently showed the most decoration, which had been well modelled. Leaves ran up at least one seam and a partial horseman in 18th century dress is visible. There is sufficient bowl present to indicate that this pipe also dated 1850–1910 (AO 30). In addition to the decoration, the letters ‘H I G’ are visible and they may give a clue as to the pipe’s maker. From about 1854/5 until 1907/8, John Harrison and his brother Francis ran the pipe factory in Muswell Hill Road. They had taken over the business started by William Andrews in the late 18th/early 19th century. Harrison pipes were usually marked ‘Harrison of Highgate’ along the stem. However, ‘Highgate’ sometimes also appeared on the bowl. Given the date of the pipe and the possibility that the letters ‘A T E’ would have been on the other side of the bowl, it is possible that the pipe was made at the Highgate factory by the Harrison brothers.

Salonika Campaign – The Finchley Connection

Andy Simpson Newsletter readers may remember that in HADAS newsletters 623 (February 2023) and 647 (February 2025) I discussed the lives and burial places of the four Hendon men buried out in Greece, having fought and died as part of the British Salonika Force in Greece and Macedonia during the Great War. It was my intention then to look for other Salonika casualties originating in the current London Borough of Barnet, and I recently began studying those from Finchley, initially by checking names on Finchley area memorials against casualty records on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website. Finchley has a number of public war memorials. Perhaps the most visible is that in North Finchley, outside Finchley United Services Club, Ballards Lane, unveiled in November 1925. It is flanked left and right by the recovered war memorials from the now demolished former Metropolitan Electric Tramways Finchley tram depot. This stood almost opposite in Woodberry Grove, opening in June 1905, later serving as a trolleybus depot from August 1936 until January 1962 and then as a motorbus depot, finally closing on 4th December 1993. It was replaced originally by a Homebase store and in 2025–2026 by the inevitable blocks of flats, which saw the demolition of remaining sections of depot wall. The tramways memorial lists eighteen men, mostly now buried in France or Belgium, with one in Egypt. None appear to have died during the Salonika Campaign. The former Hendon bus garage memorial, originally unveiled in 1921, lists 31 men plus two killed in air raids. The garage itself opened in March 1913, operated by the London General Omnibus Company, and was closed by London Buses after services on 5th June 1987, after which the memorial was relocated. One of those listed is bus washer W. McLaughlin. According to the LGOC Staff Register, washer W. McLaughlin of 19 Hardington Street, Marylebone, a single man with no recorded dependants, left the LGOC on 22 January 1915 and served with the Royal Field Artillery. Killed in Action 10 June 1915. I did think at first that he may have served in Salonika with the Northumberland Fusiliers as 28336 Private William McLaughlin, who now lies in Struma Military Cemetery. However, the surviving pension record indicates that this Private McLaughlin left a widow, Margaret, née McGregor, and three children including son Robert and daughter Janet Miller Hutchinson. The others listed on this memorial all lie in France and Belgium, with one in Italy. Thanks to SCS chair Alan Wakefield for the following: I was looking at Vol 1 of the Macedonia Official History for the 2nd Battalion Northumberland Fusiliers for 10 September 1916, the date Pte McLaughlin died. It appears the battalion attacked the village of Nevolyen in the Struma Valley as part of XVII Corps operations to hold Bulgarian forces to that front and prevent any troops being taken out of the line and sent to assist in the Central Powers offensive against Romania. Although the village was reached relatively easily, a large Bulgarian counter-attack led to close quarter fighting in which a number of Fusiliers were captured. By the time the battalion withdrew back across the River Struma at 7.40pm, it had suffered 124 casualties. McLaughlin was most likely one of these men. The rafts constructed by the Royal Engineers assisted with the crossing of the river and the evacuation of casualties after the attack. The other names on the garage memorial include Hendon-born Driver, later Private M/321615 Ormand William Woodford of the Army Service Corps Motor Transport Section, attached to 15th Light Armoured Motor Battery, Machine Gun Corps (Motors). He is buried in Baghdad (North Gate) Military Cemetery. He died on 11 January 1918, aged 29. Son of Mr and Mrs W. Woodford of Deenfield, Hendon, he was still living at 42 Deerfield Cottages, The Hyde, Hendon in 1911; these stood near the former Schweppes factory on the Edgware Road until demolished in the 1970s. He was the husband of the presumably later remarried Winifred Alice Hitchens (formerly Woodford), of “Rosemary,” East Street, Fine Dock, Sydney, Australia. His grave is marked EVER REMEMBERED, HONOURED IN DEATH BY WIFE AND CHILDREN. There are however two Finchley men remembered who definitely served in Salonika. Over at St Mary-at-Finchley Church there are 36 names on the memorial. One of them is William Vickers Dunfee. As Flight Lieutenant Dunfee in the newly formed Royal Air Force (RAF), he died at or near Stavros seaplane base, Macedonia, aged just 18, on 1 May 1918. This seaplane base hosted aircraft for spotting and reconnaissance duties, keeping an eye out for Bulgarian submarines operating along the coast, with the front line and mouth of the Struma only a few miles away. There was also an airfield for landplanes a short distance inland from Stavros. Army Death Records indicate he suffered skull injuries in a flying accident whilst serving on the Salonika Front with No. 2 Wing (based at the large, safe anchorage at Mudros Bay, on the east side of the island of Lemnos in the North Aegean Sea), leaving effects valued at £37 4s, transferred in September 1919. This gave him posthumous entitlement to the Victory Medal. The published probate record dated 31 May 1919 shows that his estate, total value £104 17s 6d, went to his mother in Finchley. William was born in Whitchurch, Shropshire, on 19th May 1899; son of Mrs Helen Dunfee, latterly of 56 Church Crescent, Finchley, and the late William Lobeys Dunfee. Church Crescent lies just yards from the actual church. The 1901 census has the one-year-old William living in Buckhurst Hill, Essex with his five-year-old, Ventnor, Isle of Wight-born sister Eleanor Gladys, and his 39-year-old mother Helen, at his Yorkshire-born 44-year-old single aunt Annis Robinson’s home. In the 1911 census, he is at boarding school. He had originally joined the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS), being appointed Probationary Flight Officer (temporary) on 5 August 1917 whilst at Crystal Palace, appearing as such in the Active Officer List, and Flight Sub-Lieutenant (temporary) on 12 December 1917 whilst at Cranwell, and Lieutenant effective 1 April 1918. Officer’s Records indicate he had been posted from the Royal Naval Reserve Training Depot HMS Victory VI at Crystal Palace to the main RNAS pilot training base at Chingford, Essex on 8 September 1917, and from there to the RNAS Central Training Establishment, HMS Daedalus, Cranwell, Lincolnshire on 27 October 1917. Operating a variety of aircraft types, Cranwell served as the base for finishing courses and graduation for RNAS personnel. From Cranwell, he was posted to No. 2 Wing on 30 January 1918. He is buried at Mikra British Military Cemetery, Kalamaria, south of Thessaloniki. Also on the St Mary’s memorial is Finchley-born Second Lieutenant Maxwell Halford Carne, 2nd Battalion (46th Foot), The Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry. Died of Wounds 23 December 1916 at Tigne Military Hospital, Malta, aged 26. Buried at Pieta Military Cemetery, Malta. Born in Finchley on 14 March 1889 and baptised there on 31 January 1890, he was the third of four children and the eldest son of Henry and Agnes Miriam Carne, living in Elm Park, Finchley. A career bank official, Henry was latterly Principal of the Issue Department at the Bank of England, who on 21 May 1917 inherited his late son’s estate valued at £265 12s 3d. Maxwell was also remembered on the nearby war memorial at Christ’s College, Church End, Finchley, unveiled in 1921. He later moved to City of London School. On 7th March 1913, aged 24, he sailed on the SS Grampian along with his younger brother Harry Carne as a second-class passenger from Liverpool bound for Halifax, British Columbia; his occupation was listed as ‘Manufacturer’ (the 1911 census lists him as ‘artificial eye maker’). He worked on the Welland Fruit Ranch, Nelson, British Columbia. Returning to London on the outbreak of war, departing Montreal on 7 September 1914 and arriving at Liverpool as a third-class passenger listed as ‘Lumberman’ on 18th September 1914, he promptly volunteered for foreign service and joined the newly mobilised Artist’s Rifles that same month. Originally enlisted as a private, he first served in France and Flanders with the 28/London Regiment from 22 January 1915, regimental number 2828, entitling him to the 1914/15 Star. Early in 1915 the regiment established an Officers Training Corps in France, and as a result he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant with the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry on 9 July 1915, moving to Salonika in November 1916. The unit had been Salonika-based since late 1915. After the taking of the southern Serbian town of Monastir from the Bulgarians on 19 November 1916, Carne was promoted to temporary Captain and given his own company to command, but had to relinquish that when three Captains were sent out from London to fill vacant posts. He died in Tigne hospital from wounds received in action on 7th December 1916 while leading an attack on Bulgarian lines south-east of Serres in the River Struma Valley. The Struma flows from the Bulgarian mountains, through Macedonia to the Aegean Sea. Its valley, some nine miles wide, is low-lying and was then prone to flooding, with its malaria-inducing swamps and marshes particularly unpleasant in the summer months, hence it was known as ‘Death Valley’ to the locals. Beginning at 06.40 hours, this failed attack at Tumbitza Farm by the 2nd Gloucesters with the 2nd DCLI in support was intended to aid pushing Serbian troops out of the Struma Valley. Despite preliminary artillery bombardments at 5am and 6am, and a third just before the actual attack, heavy Bulgarian artillery, machine gun and rifle fire caused a total of 365 British casualties of all ranks, with withdrawal ordered at 07.35 hours after barely an hour of attacks. Located near Lake Tahinos, the farm was a large, isolated farmhouse in fertile tobacco and grain-growing country, occupied by the Bulgarians as a permanent post in front of their main front line. A previous costly and unsuccessful attack on it had been made on 17 November as a diversionary attack during the advance on Monastir. British Commander Lt General ‘Uncle’ George Milne was so angered by the losses in these two attacks that it was the only time he relieved an officer of his command, sending Brigadier General Ravenshaw back to England. By 1919, Maxwell’s mother Agnes’s address for correspondence was 41 Upper Tollington Park, London N14; she was the daughter of William Halford, presumably hence Maxwell’s middle name. Additionally there are 42 names on the memorial at All Saints’ Church, East Finchley, but seemingly none with a Salonika connection. See allsaints-eastfinchley.org.uk. With grateful thanks to Susan Trackman (Archivist, Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution); SCS Chair Alan Wakefield; and my sister Alison Hitcham, for their assistance with researching this article.

Bibliography

Falls, Capt. C. History of the Great War – Military Operations in Macedonia: From the Outbreak of War to the Spring of 1917. HMSO, 1933. Wakefield, A. & Moody, S. Under the Devil’s Eye: The British Military Experience in Macedonia 1915–1918. Pen & Sword Military, 2011. Wakefield, A. ‘The Principles of the Offence in the Struma: a study of three operations 1916–1918.’ The New Mosquito: The Journal of the Salonika Campaign Society, Issue No. 34, September 2016, pp. 2–12. Watson, K. ‘Onward Christian Soldiers: On Campaign with 2/DCLI.’ The New Mosquito, Issue No. 17, April 2008, pp. 9–18.

Other Societies’ Events

Eric Morgan As always, please check with the societies’ websites before planning to attend, since not all societies or organisations have returned to pre-Covid conditions. Wednesday 13 May, 5pm. Royal Archaeological Institute. Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J 0BE. The Lamp of Knowledge: The Symbol of the Society of Antiquaries. Presidential address given by Natalie Cohen. The Lamp has been used since the 18th century, originally identified as a Roman artefact, subsequently re-dated to the medieval period, and more recently suggested to be a Jewish Sabbath Lamp. The talk will discuss other examples identified in collections in the UK and beyond during the medieval period, the context of the Lamp’s discovery, and lived experiences of Jewish communities in England. Preceded by AGM at 4.45pm. Tea served at 4.15/4.30pm. For enquiries please phone 07847 600756. May also be available online. www.royalarchinst.org Friday 15 May, 7pm. C.O.L.A.S. Talk on Zoom. Witch Bottles Concealed and Revealed by Nigel Jefferies (MOLA). Please book via Eventbrite. Visit www.colas.org.uk Monday 18 May. London Archives. London’s Jews and the Roman Wall. From medieval to modern times, London’s Wall has played an important role in defining Jewish life in our city. Utilising historic maps and other primary sources you will learn how it impacted the locations of Jewish settlement throughout the past millennium, and what it meant both religiously and culturally to this community. Talk delivered by Rabbi Shalom Morris as part of Jewish Culture Month. Book via Eventbrite. Wednesday 20 May, 5.30pm. London Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London EC1R 0HB. The Medieval Monastic B&B Hotspot. Talk by Lester Hillman (City of London Guide Lecturers Association). How monastic and episcopal lodgings in Clerkenwell served as strategic stopovers for legal business, charter work, fundraising and hosting. Highlights the Hospitallers, Gilbertines and Bishop of Ely, and reveals how local attractions made the area a lively hub of temporary residence, networking and cultural activity. Cost £5. Book via Eventbrite. Wednesday 20 May. Finchley Society. Outing to St Mary’s Hendon, courtesy of Rev. Prebendary Dr Julie Gittoes (Vicar). Cost £10. Morning visit. Further details not yet available. Please visit www.finchleysociety.org.uk nearer the time. Thursday 21 May, 7pm. London Archaeologist. Room 612, UCL Institute of Archaeology, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY. Discoveries from 50 Fenchurch Street including Roman Pottery Findings. Annual lecture given by Jessica Bryan (MOLA), Vincenzo Castaldo and Isabelle Diggle. Also on Zoom. Preceded by AGM. Please visit www.londonarchaeologist.org.uk for further details and the Zoom link. Wednesday 27 May, 7.30pm. Friern Barnet and District Local History Society. North Middlesex Golf Club, The Manor House, Friern Barnet Lane, London N20 0NL. Annual General Meeting followed by speaker (TBA). Please visit www.friern-barnethistory.org.uk for further details nearer the time. Non-members £2. Bar available. Saturday 13 June, 12–5pm. Highgate Festival. Pond Square and South Grove, Highgate, London N6 5BS. Stalls including the Highgate Society and Highgate Literary and Scientific Institute. Also books, clothes, craft and food stalls, music stage, tower and crypt (for Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s tomb), and tours of the church. Free entry. The Highgate Festival runs from 13th to 21st June. Please visit www.highgatefestival.org. Monday 8 June, 3pm. Barnet Museum and Local History Society. St John the Baptist Church, Chipping Barnet, corner of High Street and 2 Wood Street, Barnet EN5 4BW. The Holiday Camps: Summer Holiday Memories. Talk by John Lynch. Please visit www.barnetmuseum.co.uk for details. Visitors £3. Refreshments served afterwards. Friday 12 June, 7.30pm. Enfield Archaeological Society. Jubilee Hall, 2 Parsonage Lane / Junction Chase Side, Enfield EN2 0AJ. The Ancient Near East. Talk by Mark Altaweel (UCL). Please visit www.enfarchsoc.org. Visitors £1.50. Refreshments from 7pm. Thursday 18 June, 6pm. Gresham College, Barnard’s Inn Hall, Holborn, London EC1N 2HH. The Death of the Roman Republic? Talk by Professor Melissa Lane. Also live online. Free. Register via the website at www.gresham.ac.uk. Telephone 0207 831 0575. Friday 19 June, 7.30pm. Wembley History Society. St Andrew’s Church Hall (behind St Andrew’s new church), Church Lane, Kingsbury, London NW9 8AZ. Confessions of a Roman Bath Attendant. Talk by Lester Hillman. Visitors £3. Refreshments in the interval. Sunday 21 June – Sunday 5 July. Hampstead Summer Festival. Including Sunday 21 June, 12–5pm: Art Fair, Keats House and Garden, 10 Keats Grove, London NW3 2PR. Also craft stalls of pottery, jewellery and designer clothes, wine and food. Free entry. Also throughout June and July: Art Street, canvasses in Keats Grove, London NW3 2RS. Please visit www.hampsteadsummerfestival.com. Saturday 27 June – Sunday 5 July. Proms at St Jude’s Music and Literary Festival, Central Square, Hampstead Garden Suburb, London NW11 7AG. Includes talks and heritage walks. For details visit www.promsatstjudes.org.uk. Tickets for guided walks must be booked in advance including Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th June. Litfest at Henrietta Barnett School, London NW11 7BN with book sales. Tuesday 30 June, 6pm. Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury, London EC2V 7HH. Compliments to the Chef. Talk by Lester Hillman on Daniell Clarke (Master Cooke to Elizabeth I and James I), marking the 400th anniversary of his death, including the Armada, Gunpowder Plot and Shakespeare and more. Refreshments available. Book via the City of London website.

With thanks to this month’s contributors: Eric Morgan, Andy Simpson, Susan Trackman.

Contact Details

Chair: Sandra Claggett, c/o Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. Email: chairman@hadas.org.uk Hon. Secretary: Janet Mortimer, c/o Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East End Road, London N3 3QE. Email: secretary@hadas.org.uk Phone: 07449 978121 Hon. Treasurer: Roger Chapman, 50 Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QP. Phone: 07855 304488. Email: treasurer@hadas.org.uk Membership Secretary: Vacant. Email: membership@hadas.org.uk Website: www.hadas.org.uk

The June 2026 Newsletter Editor will be Melvyn Dresner 28 Puller Road, Barnet EN5 4HF melvyndresner@hotmail.com 07941 391932 Copy to him by 18 May 2026, please.

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Apr 24

Love0

Newsletter No. 661 – April 2026

By LWDadmin HADAS, Latest Newsletter No Comments

No. 661 April 2026 Edited by Sue Willetts

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Tuesday 14 April 2026 Scott Harrison on ‘Behind the Battle of Barnet banners: People of the War of the Roses.’ The lives of people that fought at the Battle of Barnet and the life, society and culture of the late fifteenth century. See below for details of the Barnet Medieval Festival.

Tuesday 12 May 2026 Grace Jarvis from the West Essex Archaeological Group (WEAG) on ‘Copped Hall – a mansion of pleasure and privacy’.

Tuesday 9 June 2026 Annual General Meeting at 7:30pm followed by a lecture given by our President, Jacqui Pearce, entitled ‘The Parish Scavenger’s Tale’. More details to follow.

Lectures are held in the Drawing Room, Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. 7.45 for 8pm. Tea, coffee and biscuits available for purchase after each talk.

Subscriptions

A polite reminder that HADAS membership renewals are due on the 1st of April. Please pay by direct bank transfer if possible, to CAF Bank Account 00083254, Sort Code 40-52-40, stating your surname and Memfee 26 (or shorten to Mem26 if there is not enough space). Members who pay their subscription by standing order need take no action. Please send cheques to Roger Chapman; his address is on the back of the newsletter.

Membership fees are still only £15 per person; add £5 per person per household. Fees for the under 18s and full-time students are only £6.

Barnet Medieval Festival

The Barnet Medieval Festival will return on 6th–7th June 2026 to the beautiful setting of Lewis of London for another action-packed weekend of medieval history. This year marks the 555th anniversary of the Battle of Barnet, fought on Easter Sunday 1471. The Festival team is working closely with the War of the Roses Federation to create a really memorable festival weekend. We are delighted to announce that we will have two brilliant equestrian teams at this year’s Festival – History’s Maid and Destrier – as well as falconry displays by HawkingAbout. Updates will follow in due course and tickets will be available to purchase in April.

Update on the Proposed Trip to Derbyshire

Unfortunately, the numbers required to make this trip viable were not reached. It might be possible to go ahead with this later in the year if it were possible to invite another local group, as the number taking part affects the pricing, especially regarding the travel arrangements.

Sue Loveday has done a good deal of research including visiting the area, and can provide details of what was planned if anyone feels they would like to take this further to organise or help. It was hoped that the trip would involve working with a travel company, but if anyone feels otherwise we would be pleased to hear from members regarding advice or suggestions.

Remembering Sheila Woodward

Bill Bass with HADAS contributors

Sadly, we must report the death of Sheila on the 3rd of February 2026. She was 101 years old (approaching 102). She was a long-time and prominent member of HADAS, digging at West Heath in the 1970s (where she impressed fellow diggers by speaking to visitors in fluent French!) and joining the HADAS Committee in 1976. She held a Diploma in Archaeology. Originally from Derbyshire, she was a Senior Civil Servant by profession. In later life she travelled to Syria, Africa and China.

Sheila was keen on organising and taking part in HADAS outings and events, and was fondly remembered being at the front of the coach with her cohorts such as Dorothy Newbury, Tessa Smith and Bridgit Grafton-Green, directing matters. One member mentions “her outings which were always educational (for me at least) as well as enjoyable”.

Up to a few years ago she was a regular at HADAS lectures and talks, being given a lift by her friends. Sheila was for many years an active member of the congregation of St Lawrence’s Church, Little Stanmore (another place where she organised for HADAS to visit), and where her funeral took place on 20th March.

Whalebones Park, Barnet

There have been concerns raised about the development of this 14-acre site in Chipping Barnet, featuring a 19th-century Grade II listed house and an iconic arch made from blue whale jawbones. Following approval in 2024, construction is set for late 2025 on 115 homes, with 50% of the land becoming public space.

The following information is from the Barnet Post. The development, which was approved by Barnet Council’s strategic planning committee in March and then referred to the Mayor’s office where it was also approved, has been controversial due to its use of a conservation area.

Gina Theodorou, the chair of the local residents’ association Quinta Village Green, launched a petition in the lead-up to the Mayor’s decision that received over 2,000 signatures, urging the office to refuse the plan. Gina said the development would cause “substantial harm” to the area: “It will result in the loss of the last remnant of countryside in the conservation area and would be out of character, too dense and would blur the conservation boundary. Objectors do not believe that the benefits of the development outweigh the harm, particularly as it would only contribute 0.76% to the borough’s five-year housing target. It would result in a significant loss of green space and cover and cause harm to the historic environment and local character, as well as a loss of habitat network and increased fragmentation.”

In contrast, Barnet Residents Association member Gordon Massey said the association considered the plan “one of the best schemes” they had ever seen. He did acknowledge the “negative impact” of the loss of green space, however he noted that of the green space that would remain, almost 50% would qualify as public open space, while the area currently was not publicly accessible. He did not think the plan was dense and approved of the housing mix.

What Did the Romans Ever Do for Us? They Brought Cats to Britain.

Stewart Wild

Cats arrived in Britain in the first century AD as a result of the Roman conquest, a study has found. The origin of the domesticated cat has long been debated, with some people believing they emerged in ancient Egypt and others saying they came to Europe from Stone Age farmers in what is now Turkey.

A genetic analysis of 87 cats dating back 10,000 years, including seventy ancient specimens, found that the lineage of felines seen in the modern world only emerged around 2,000 years ago in North Africa. The Roman Empire, with its famed network of roads spanning from the Levant to Scotland, then allowed cats to conquer the continent alongside humans. The household cat evolved from the African wildcat, and domestication led to a new species being created.

“Since the Roman imperial era, cats more genetically similar to present-day domestic cats were spread across Europe from a distinct North African population,” the scientists write. “The earliest sample carrying the ancestry found in present-day domestic cats was dated to 50BC to 80AD, from the site of Mautern in Austria.” This was an important port on the Danube known as Favianae in Roman times.

After the cats began to appear, they spread rapidly. A cat in Fishbourne, southern England, that may have lived at the time of the Roman conquest, proves this. “The ancient DNA records a quick spread of these domestic cats throughout much of Europe, often in concert with the Roman military, appearing in Britain around 100AD,” said Prof Jonathan B. Losos, an evolutionary biologist at Washington University in St Louis.

The exact origin of the pet cat we know and love today remains unknown. The scientists traced it back to North Africa but were unable to narrow it down any further. Scholars have long touted ancient Egypt as the birthplace of the pet cat because of that society’s veneration and deification of the animals. However, the latest study is unable to prove this and suggests that Moroccan or Tunisian wildcats may be more likely than the Egyptian Pharaohs’ animals as a source population.

“Our results suggest that the dispersal of domestic cats occurred several millennia after the Neolithic, and likely from North Africa rather than the Levant,” the scientists write in their latest paper, published in Science. “Our studies offer a new interpretive framework for the geographic origin of domestic cats, suggesting a broader and more complex process of domestication that may have involved multiple regions and cultures in North Africa.”

The scientists also found that the modern domestic cat arrived in Sardinia and Corsica about 1,000 years before it spread to the rest of Europe. This initial wave created a wildcat colony on the island which still exists today and is closely related to wildcats in Morocco.

“The study is part of an ongoing programme, Project Felix, which also aims to tackle other outstanding questions concerning cat domestication,” Prof Losos added. “Ever sphinxlike, cats give up their secrets grudgingly.”

Source: The Daily Telegraph, 28 November 2025. Item edited by Stewart Wild.

Other Societies’ Events

Eric Morgan

As always, please check with the societies’ websites before planning to attend, since not all societies or organisations have returned to pre-Covid conditions.

CORRECTION
Friday 10 April, 7.30pm. Enfield Archaeological Society. The talk shown in the March newsletter has had to be changed. It is now at Jubilee Hall, 2 Parsonage Lane / Junction Chase Side, Enfield, EN2 0AJ, and is Everyday Life and Accidental Death in Tudor Middlesex by Steven Gunn. Please visit www.enfarchsoc.org for details. Visitors pay £1.50. Refreshments from 7pm.

Friday 10 April, 7pm. Geologists Association. Talk on Zoom. Hertfordshire Pudding Stone: History, Uses and Folklore by Gerald Lucy (Essex Rock and Mineral Society) and Mike Howgate (Amateur Geological Society). For further details and how to get the link please visit www.geologistsassociation.org.uk or telephone 0207 434 9298.

Wednesday 15 April, 7.30pm. Highgate Society. 10A South Grove, Highgate, London N6 6BS. The Saving of Copped Hall – talk by Alan Cox, also on Zoom, on the restoration of the burnt-out shell of a Georgian Hall in Epping (HADAS did a resistivity survey here a few years ago). Cost £7.50 (includes a glass of wine) or £3 on Zoom. Please visit www.highgatesociety.com for booking and the Zoom link.

Wednesday 22 April, 7.30pm. Friern Barnet and District Local History Society. North Middlesex Golf Club, The Manor House, Friern Barnet Lane, London N20 0NL. On the Beat at Kings Cross – talk by Chris Foster. Please visit www.friern-barnethistory.org.uk. Non-members charge £2. Bar available.

Friday 8 May, 7.30pm. Enfield Archaeological Society. Jubilee Hall (address as for Friday 10 April above). Bermondsey Square – Prehistoric and Roman Settlement, Medieval Abbey and Post Mansion – talk by Alastair Douglas (PCA). Please visit www.enfarchsoc.org. Visitors charge £1.50. Refreshments from 7pm.

Monday 11 May, 3pm. Barnet Museum and Local History Society. St John the Baptist Church, Chipping Barnet, corner of High Street and 2 Wood Street, Barnet EN5 4BW. The Life and Times of Oscar Linkson – Barnet F.C., Manchester United and the Somme – talk by Dennis Bird (Barnet LHS). Please visit www.barnetmuseum.co.uk for details. Visitors £3. Refreshments available.

Tuesday 12 May, 11am. Enfield Society. Jubilee Hall (address as for Friday 10 April above). Discovering MacDonald Gill: Architect, Artist and Mapmaker – talk by Caroline Walker. ‘Max’ Gill was the younger brother of sculptor Eric Gill and worked in the first half of the 20th century on map posters for the London Underground and painted map panels for the Palace of Westminster. Visitors charge £1. Please visit www.enfieldsociety.org.uk for further details.

Friday 15 May, 7.30pm. Wembley History Society. St Andrew’s Church Hall (behind St Andrew’s new church), Church Lane, Kingsbury, London NW9 8RZ. Letters to Miss Baker – talk by Jeremy Waxman. Visitors £3. Refreshments available in the interval.

Wednesday 20 May, 7.30pm. Willesden Local History Society. St Mary’s Church Hall, bottom of Neasden Lane (round the corner from the Magistrates’ Court), London NW10 2DZ. Brave New World: Step into the Past with AI – talk by Irina Porter (Chair). Please visit willesden-local-history.co.uk for further details.

Exhibition

Until Thursday 30 April. The Guildhall Library, Aldermanbury, London EC2V 7HH. Exhibition marking the 600th anniversary of the library’s founding in 1425 – how the library was created, what a medieval library looked like, and what books would have been included.

Also on Thursday 30 April, 2–3pm – History and Treasures of Guildhall Library. Join the librarians and view the collections.

Also on Saturday 11 April, 11am and 2pm – Exhibition viewing and Curator’s Tours.

With thanks to this month’s contributors: Bill Bass, Eric Morgan, Stewart Wild.

Contact Details

Chair: Sandra Claggett, c/o Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. Email: chairman@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Secretary: Janet Mortimer, c/o Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East End Road, London N3 3QE. Email: secretary@hadas.org.uk Phone: 07449 978121

Hon. Treasurer: Roger Chapman, 50 Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QP. Phone: 07855 304488. Email: treasurer@hadas.org.uk

Membership Secretary: Vacant. Email: membership@hadas.org.uk

Website: www.hadas.org.uk

The May 2026 Newsletter Editor will be Sue Willetts
3 Sunrise View, The Rise, Mill Hill, London NW7 2LL
Sue.willetts@london.ac.uk
07702 424435
Copy to her by 18 April 2026, please.

Mar 02

Love0

Newsletter 660 – March 2026

By Don Cooper HADAS, Latest Newsletter, News, Past Newsletters, Volume 12 : 2025-2029 No Comments

No. 660 March 2026 Edited by Catie Teodorescu

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Tuesday 10 March 2026 Les Capon from AOC Archaeology will talk about ‘archaeological materiel evidence from Bricks to Gold’

Tuesday 14 April 2026 Scott Harrison on ‘Behind the Battle of Barnet banners; People of the War of the Roses. The lives of people that fought at the Battle of Barnet and the life, society and culture of the late fifteenth century.

Tuesday 12 May 2026 Grace Jarvis from the West Essex Archaeological Group (WEAG) on ‘Copped Hall – a mansion of pleasure and privacy’

Tuesday 9 June 2026 Annual General Meeting at 7:30pm followed by a lecture given by our President,Jacqui Pearce, entitled ‘The Parish Scavenger’s Tale’ more details to follow.

Lectures held in the Drawing Room, Stephens House& Gardens, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE.7.45 for 8pm.Tea/Coffee/biscuits available for purchase after each talk.

Buses 13, 125, 143, 326, 382, and 460 pass close by, and it is a five-ten-minute walk from Finchley Central Station on the Barnet Branch of the Northern Line where the Super Loop SL10 express bus from North Finchley to Harrow also stops.

SUBSCRIPTIONS

A polite reminder that HADAS Membership renewals are due on the 1st of April. Please pay by direct bank transfer, if possible, to CAF Bank Account 00083254 Sort Code 40-52-40 stating your surname and Memfee 26 or shorten to Mem26 if there is not enough space. Members who pay their subscription by standing order need take no action. Please send cheques to Roger Chapman his address is on the back ofthe newsletter.

Membership fees are still only £15 pp add £5 to this per person per household. Fees for the under 18 and full-time students are only £6.

CLAY PIPE REPORT FROM VINE COTTAGES DIG (VCH25) Sue Trackman

Introduction

All three trenches produced pieces of clay tobacco pipes and all showed signs of having been smoked. No intact pipes, pipe bowls or stems were recovered. Almost all fragments of bowl are either sufficiently large or have sufficient pieces of heel attached to a stem to enable the fragments to be classified and dated in accordance with Atkinson D. and Oswald A. (1969) typology as set out in London clay tobacco pipes: Journal of Archaeology Association, 3 series, Vol:32:171-227. Stem bores were evaluated following the range of time periods of Harrington J. C. (1954) Dating Stem Fragments of Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Clay Tobacco Pipes: Quarterly Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Virginia 9 (1):10-14.

Bowls, Stems and Mouthpieces

A total of one hundred and thirty pieces of pipe were recovered with the majority coming from Trenches2 and 3. Only one tiny piece of bowl from Trench 3 Context 003 was undateable. A total of eleven fragments, spread over the three Trenches, could potentially be dated using Atkinson and Oswald typology (See Table below).

The majority of the pipe material consisted of pieces of pipe stem. These were found in every Trench. Only four pieces of stems and one mouthpiece were recovered from Trench 1. Forty-eight stem pieces and three mouthpieces were recovered from Trench 2 and sixty-one stem pieces, and three mouthpieces were recovered from Trench 3. All pieces were straight. Many bore holes are off-centre, suggesting care was not being taken by the maker when pushing the wire through the stem to create the bore. None of the mouthpieces show signs of having had a wax coating on their tips.

Maker and decoration

Only Trench 3 Context 003 contained a pipe (identified as AO 25) with makers’ marks. The marks are the initials ‘I’ and ‘S’ on either side of the heel. Since the Museum of London Archaeology database lists thirteen London makers with those initials for the period 1700-1770, it is not possible to identify the maker.

Figure 1: Pipe stem from Trench 1 Context 006

Trench 1 Context 006 produced a piece of decorated stem consisting of a single raised dot on either side of the upper central seam and a spur on the underside (Photograph 1). The bowl itself is missing but the spur has been recorded as AO 25 (1700-1770) on the basis that it would sit close to the underside of the bowl. However, as the bowl itself is missing the position of the spur is questionable. If the spur is not part of the underside of the bowl but part of a stem decoration its dating, based on its stem bore diameter,would date it to 1750-1800.

Figure 2: Trench 2 Context 002 decorated bowl base

Trench 2 Context 002 produced a very well moulded bowl base with a trident or possible anchor on it (Photographs 2 and 3). Again, the bowl was missing but the stem diameter would indicate a date of 1750-1800.

Figure 3: Trench 3 Context 011 moulded decoration

Trench 3 Context 011 also produced a pipe with very well moulded decoration consisting of leaf and dot decoration on either side of the stem and reaching to the underside of the bowl (Photographs 4 and 5). The small fragment of bowl would indicate a date of 1850-1910. The stem bore diameter suggests a date of post 1800 for the pipe’s manufacture.

None of the pieces of pipe were coloured. With so few pieces of decorated pipe, it is not possible to determine whether the local inhabitants were buying them on a regular basis or whether they represent a special purchase for a special occasion.

Dating and discussion

None of the pieces of pipe can be dated to before 1650. The vast majority of the material appears to date from the late seventeenth century (from 1680) to the beginning of the nineteenth century (1800).

Just twenty-three pieces of pipe (co-joining sherds treated as 1 item) can be dated as being post 1800 to1910. Either the local smokers were taking care of their clay pipes and/or were not disposing of them as they had in previous centuries or more likely the paucity of finds is due to a decline in clay pipe smoking. The availability and increasing popularity of cigarettes after the Crimean War (1853-1856) must be regarded as the major factor. Additionally, the more durable alternatives of meerschaum and particularly briars pipes were available to dedicated pipe smokers.

HADAS AFTERNOON TEA Andy Simpson

On Sunday 18th January, some 20 HADAS members enjoyed a most convivial ‘Festive Afternoon Tea’ for three hours or so at Stephens House and Gardens.

There was an excellent finger buffet, supplemented by two delicious big cakes kindly made and provided by Liz Cooper. Janet Mortimer provided a suitably challenging 40-question Christmas Quiz. The raffle was well supported with members providing a LOT of (not always alcoholic!) prizes. Herewith a couple of photos of the attendees…

Extraordinary archaeological finds unearthed during works for HS2 Stewart Wild

A trove of ancient objects, some of which may date back at least 40,000 years, has been unearthed during excavating works for the HS2 train line.

About 1,000 archaeologists have been involved in 60 digs along the route between London and Birmingham since 2018, with some 450,000 treasures being discovered.

The “unprecedented” number of items, stored across 7,300 boxes in a Yorkshire warehouse, will help provide new insights into Britain’s past, the Centre for British Archaeology said.

Highlights of the collection were shown to the BBC, including a 19th-century set of gold dentures and a Palaeolithic hand axe found in Northamptonshire thought to have been made by Neanderthals more than 40,000 years ago. Mementoes of the Roman occupation include a gladiator tag, the heads of statues, and an Urbs Roman coin from the reign of Emperor Constantine.

Neil Redfern, of the Council for British Archaeology, said the number of objects was “extraordinary”. Headded: “It is the length of the scheme and the landscapes that HS2 passes through that make the collection of sites and material so interesting. The research potential is remarkable.”

A spokesman for HS2 told the BBC that under English property law, the items legally belong to the government or landowners. “Landowners may wish to retain objects, in which case they will be returned,” the spokesman said. Charlotte Self, archive manager for HS2, has encouraged landowners to donate items to allow others to enjoy them.

Archaeologists have said that their work is largely complete despite HS2 not being due to open until after2033.

SOURCE: The i newspaper, 30 January 2026. Item edited by Stewart Wild.

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS Eric Morgan

As always, please check with the Societies’ website before planning to attend, since not all Societies or organisations have returned to pre-covid conditions.

Thursday 5th March, 6.30 pm. Eclectic Tours. Golders Green Library, 156, Golders Green Road, London. NW11 8HE. Come See the Empire. Talk by Lisa Lu which explores how the image of the Empire at the time of the British Empire Exhibition of 1924 compares with the realities of today, focusing on recent visits to Singapore, Penang, Hong Kong and Shanghai – and how these places now present themselves to the world. Cost £3.50. Booking is essential. Please telephone 0208 359 2060 or emailgoldersgreen.library@barnet.gov.uk or visit info@eclectic-tours.com.

Tuesday 10th March, 11 am. Enfield Society. Jubilee Hall, 2, Parsonage Lane/Junction Chase Side, Enfield, EN2 0AJ. The South Lodge of Enfield Chase. Talk by Ian Jones (Chair, E.A.S.) It was established in the early C15th and for some of the C19th that it was a school. The talk is about the site’s history and what lies there today. Visitors £1. Please visit www.enfieldsociety.org.uk.

Wednesday 11th March, 7 pm. Hornsey Historical Society. Union Church Hall, corner Ferme Park Road/Weston Park, London. N8 9PX. Mavericks – Empire, Oil, Revolution and the forgotten Battle of WW1. Talk by Nick Higham. Please visit www.hornseyhistorical.org.uk for more details and possible link as may also be on Zoom.

Wednesday 18th March, 12 noon. Willesden Local History Society. Meet at outside of St. Mary’s Church, bottom of Neasden Lane, London, NW10 2TS. Walk around St. Mary’s Churchyard. Please visit www.willesden-local-history.co.uk for further details.

Saturday 21st March, 11 am. – 5.30 pm. L.A.M.A.S. Archaeology Conference, Wilberforce Room, London Museum Docklands, West India Quay off Hertsmere Road, London. E14 4AL. Also on Zoom. Morning Session. Recent Work including Ralph Merrifield Award Presentation for 2025. 1-2 pm -Lunch break. Afternoon session. Highgate Wood Roman Pottery Kiln. 3.25 – 4 pm tea break. Tickets priced £20 visit www.lamas.org.uk.

Friday 10th April, 7.30 pm. Enfield Archaeological Society. Talk on Zoom. Recent finds from Roman Vindolanda and Magna. By Barbara Birley. Please visit www.enfarchsoc.org for details and link.

Monday 13th April, 3 pm. Barnet Museum and Local History Society – St. John the Baptist Church, Chipping Barnet, Corner High Street. 2, Wood Street, Barnet, EN5 4BW. What I did on my holidays in 1892. Talk by Chris Hillier. Please visit www.barnetmuseum.co.uk for further details. Refreshments afterwards. Visitors charge £3.

Wednesday 15th April, 7.30 pm. Willesden Local History Society. St. Mary’s Church Hall, bottom of Neasden Lane (around the corner from the Magistrates’ Court) London. NW10 2DZ. London in the Sixties. Talk by Nick Dodson. Please visit www.willesden-local-history.co.uk

Thursday 16th April, 8 pm. Historical Association, Hampstead and N.W. London Branch. Fellowship House, 136A, Willifield Way, London, NW11 6YD. (off Finchley Road, Temple Fortune).The East India Company: The Corporation that changed the World. Talk by Dr. John McAleer (F.R.H.S.A). Also on Zoom. Please email Dudley Miles (HADAS) on dudleyramiles@googlemail.com or telephone 07469 754075 for details of link and how to pay (there may be a voluntary charge of £5).Refreshments will be available.

Friday 17th April, 7.30 pm. Wembley History Society. St. Andrew’s Church Hall (behind St. Andrew’s New Church), Church Lane, Kingsbury, London, NW9 8RZ. A.G.M. Followed by a talk on My Little Bit of History. Visitors charge £3. Refreshments in the interval.

Monday 20th April, 7 pm. Hornsey Historical Society. Union Church Hall (Address as for Wednesday 11th March) Joshua Tolmin Smith and his family. (Speaker to be confirmed). Possibly also on Zoom. Please visit www.hornseyhistorical.org.uk for details.

Saturday 25th April, 3 pm. Barnet Museum and Local History Society. St. John The Baptist Church(address as for Monday 18th April). The Queens at War. The Gillian Gear Memorial Lecture given by Dr. Alison Weir. Admission £5 for visitors and £3 for members. Entry by ticket. To book please visit www.barnetmuseum.co.uk. Refreshments to be available.

Thursday 30th April, 7.30 pm. Finchley Society. Drawing Room at Avenue (Stephens’) House, 17, East End Road, London. N3 3QE. Barnet from Above. The story of Aerofilm Ltd. and its aerial photographs of Barnet. Talk by Hugh Petrie (Barnet Heritage Officer). For further details please visit www.finchleysociety.org.uk. Non-members charge £2. Refreshments available in the interval.

With thanks to this month’s contributors: Eric Morgan; Andy Simpson; Sue Trackman; Stewart Wild.

Hendon and District Archaeological Society

Chair Sandra Claggett c/o Stephens House & Gardens, 17 East End Road Finchley
N3 3QE e-mail: chairman@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Secretary Janet Mortimer c/o Stephens House & Gardens 17 East End Road London E3 3QE
e-mail: secretary@hadas.org.uk Phone 07449 978121

Hon. Treasurer Roger Chapman 50 Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QP
(07855 304488) e-mail: treasurer@hadas.org.uk

Membership Sec. Vacant; email membership@hadas.org.uk

Website at: www.hadas.org.uk – join the HADAS email discussion group via the website.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Feb 04

Love0

Newsletter 659 – February 2026

By Don Cooper HADAS, Latest Newsletter, News, Past Newsletters, Volume 12 : 2025-2029 No Comments

No. 659 February 2026 Edited by Andy Simpson

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Tuesday 10 February 2026 Dr James Bromwich ‘Great archaeological discoveries and great archaeologists of France’ POSTPONED DUE TO UNFORSEEN CIRCUMSTANCES

Speaker will now be

An old friend of HADAS – Robert Stephenson – LABYRINTHS WORLDWIDE & IN LONDON

The labyrinth pattern is thousands of years old and found in nearly every culture around the world. This talk examines their construction and the secret of their enduring fascination with examples from abroad, the UK and in London. It also demonstrates how to draw a labyrinth.

Tuesday 10 March 2026 Les Capon from AOC Archaeology will talk about ‘archaeological materiel evidence from Bricks to Gold’

Lectures held in the Drawing Room, Stephens House& Gardens, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE.7.45 for 8pm.Tea/Coffee/biscuits available for purchase after each talk.

THE APRIL HADAS TRIP SUE LOVEDAY

If interested, do let HADAS Chair Sandra Claggett know (contact details on back page) as we are currently under the number needed for the trip to go ahead at the price quoted. We are investigating other options such as the impact on the cost for less people and/or possible deferment of the trip to later in the year.

LAST DAYS OF POMPEII JANET MORTIMER

A few months ago myself and fellow HADAS member Barbara Thomas went on a tour in Italy where we were lucky enough to have a hotel room where we could sit on our balcony and gaze across the Bay of Naples, dominated by the magnificent Mount Vesuvius. On this tour we also visited both Pompeii and Herculaneum to see for ourselves the devastation caused by the eruption. So when we saw the Last Days of Pompeii immersive experience advertised at the Excel London, we were keen to go.

And what a fun experience it was. It started with exhibits and information on Pompeii and you proceeded through several different rooms all with different experiences.

One room told the story of life before and during the eruption, and in others you wore a headset to become part of the action with frightening reality. You are right in the centre of the arena with two fighting gladiators and you find yourself shrinking away from them as they almost brush past you.

When the volcano starts erupting and flaming boulders hurtle towards you, you actually dodge out of their way.

There is another room where you wander around with your headset on, becoming a disembodied statue’s head and hands, moving from room to room in a Roman villa where it shows you how rooms would have looked before and after the destruction. In reality you are just wandering around one room, where the staff are greatly amused by your actions as you try to touch things or avoid things that are not really there.

It really was a brilliant way to spend an hour or two and to experience what life must have been like then.

THE SANDERS LANE BRIDGE ANDY SIMPSON

Some readers will know of Sanders Lane NW7, which joins Bittacy Hill just north of Mill Hill East station on the Northern Line. Until August 2025 it crossed the disused tracked of the former Edgware, Highgate and London Railway, later successively Great Northern Railway/London North-Eastern Railway/British Railways operated line by a bridge constructed around 1880.

The line itself had received Parliamentary Authorisation in June 1862, and opened to Edgware on 22

August 1867, a month after the financially troubled original company was absorbed by the Great Northern Railway, forming one of the three ‘Northern Heights’ lines also serving Alexandra Palace and High Barnet on a low range of hills forming the Hampstead Ridge and the 430ft summit at High Barnet.

Steam- hauled passenger services shuttling the four mile, ten-minute journey between Finchley Church End (renamed Finchley Central 1 April 1940) via Mill Hill East and Mill Hill the Hale (Bunns Lane) to Edgware LNER ceased on 10 September 1939, replaced by buses, supposedly a temporary suspension to permit electrification and the planned and part-built extension beyond Edgware via Brockley Hill (where the part demolished uncompleted arches can still be seen) and Elstree (South) to Bushey Heath with anew depot at Aldenham (later used to assemble Halifax Bombers during WW2, and then as a London Transport bus overhaul works) as part of the 1935-40 New Works Programme.

The sleepy Edgware line was known locally as ‘The Pig’ for reasons lost in time, with 26 trains a day each way by 1938 on a ‘one engine in steam’ basis with limited signalling.

Work actually began at East Finchley in November 1936, and beyond Edgware in June 1939. This work was never completed, being suspended due to wartime conditions in November 1939, the section beyond Brockley Hill to Bushey Heath abandoned in October 1950 and eventually the whole extension was cancelled on 9th February1954.

Although double track with current rails had been laid as far as Mill Hill (The Hale) intended as an interchange with Mill Hill Broadway LMS station on the St Pancras – Bedford main line, the only part actually completed was the 0.9 mile-long single line branch from Finchley Central to Mill Hill East, opened mainly to serve Mill Hill’s Inglis Army infantry Barracks on Sunday 18th May 1941. Passenger services beyond to Edgware never resumed.

With closure initially proposed in October 1962, the last regular freight service to Edgware Goods, carrying mostly inwards bound coal and other bulk goods, which from December 1961 were all diesel hauled using 800hp Type 1 Bo-Bo locos, ran on 4th May 1964 with official closure from 1 June 1964.

Due to construction of the M1 motorway extension in the Mill Hill Broadway area the track beyond the current buffer stops at Mill Hill East was rapidly lifted for scrap, the last few yards beyond Sanders Lane bridge to Mill Hill East using a demolition train hauled by diesel D8235 on Saturday 19th September1964; the last BR train of all to Mill Hill East ran four days later to remove redundant materials. The land was gradually auctioned off.

A dwindling need for BR locos on Underground stock transfers to Highgate Sidings south of East Finchley saw the last BR train leave Highgate Sidings for Drayton Park via Crouch End on Sunday 4thOctober 1964. Since then only London Underground stock has run on these lines, although the three miles of former BR track from Highgate to Drayton Park was last used on 29th September 1970 and was lifted in January 1972.

In recent years the bridge has become badly cracked with areas of brickwork falling away, making it unsafe for further use. It was closed to road vehicles in 1993 and to pedestrians in March 2023.

In the 1960s B/W view on the following page, the current Mill Hill East terminus is behind the photographer; on the left is the site of part of the former Mill Hill East North Goods Yard, extended around 1942 to accommodate wartime army traffic, but closed 1 October 1962 along with the BR goods yards on the Barnet branch of the Northern Line.

These sidings had included a private siding serving the former Mill Hill East gasworks, opened in 1886, which under later North Thames Gas Board auspices ceased gas manufacture – and hence the need for coal trains, invariably hauled by LNER Gresley 0-6-2 tank engines which handled all freight on the Edgware and High Barnet lines – in November 1961.

By 1956 four coal trains a day were needed to serve the gasworks plus two daily goods trains to Edgware. In 1960 the gasworks received some 68,000 tons, mostly coking coal for coal gas manufacture at the gasworks, in 5,640 wagons – a significant loss of traffic.

Despite rules on number of wagons on tube lines, on a Monday morning trains of over 60 empties frequently came out of Mill Hill Gas Yard, since the Saturday and Sunday trains always returned to King’s Cross light engine, leaving their loads to be emptied over the weekend. They ran via East Finchley at 40mph or more. All those clanking and banging coal wagons must have been a sight (and sound) to behold…

In the opposite direction, the rules permitted one train down the single line to Mill Hill at any one time, so the Edgware goods train could be followed by a gasworks train and then one for Mill Hill Military Yard.

Each train was protected by a ground frame controlling the points that was locked by a passenger train being in the platform at Mill Hill, so the signalman could let all three goods trains out, one at a time.

After the gas works coal trains ceased, there was a reduced freight service on the Edgware branch as of 6th November 1961 with just one train to High Barnet and one to Edgware daily. A regular morning freight worked to Edgware via Finchley Central and Mill Hill East throughout 1963, becoming an ‘as required’ service in 1964 until final closure.

Just to confuse matters, Edgware was part of the London Midland Region, served by Eastern Region trains running over tracks maintained by London Transport!

Steep gradients of up to 1 in 59/60 meant trains were normally limited to 14 loaded wagons worked at 20 mph over LT tracks.

The Edgware branch averaged 12 loaded wagons a day outward to Clarence Yard, Finsbury Park. There was a rule that no more than 19 wagons, including the brake van, were to work over the tube lines.

Sanders Lane bridge in the mid- 1960s, not long after track lifting looking towards Edgware;
Original photographer unknown; Author’s Collection.

(next page) View from similar angle just prior to demolition, August 2025.

The area behind the photographer is now occupied by two blocks of 1960/70s houses, recently extended, with the grassed area as their communal garden. They would have been in the way of a proposed late1980s re-extension of the line as a single track around 1.3km to serve a basic station and probable shuttle service to serve Copthall Stadium and golf course and the surrounding parkland.

The original 1930s scheme had also considered a station in that vicinity. Barnet Council wanted to improve access to the stadium, but they were somewhat startled when London Underground announced that it was investigating the proposal on 16 July 1990; it would also serve the housing planned for the 22-acre Inglis Barracks site. It was anticipated that if the million pound plus funding could be found it would open by 1997. The scheme was halted on cost grounds but discussed again in 1992, but the cost-benefit analysis did not support the plan, and it does not seem to have been mentioned since.

A decade or so later The Brent Cross Coalition, in advance of the construction of Brent Cross New Town, proposed a similar route extension, to be built as a light railway extended beyond Copthall past the RAF Museum via Grahame Park Way to Colindale and Kingsbury Road to Hendon National Rail station. Again, nothing came of this proposal.

The recent housing extensions and blocking of the track bed by the new pedestrian/cycleway causeway now blocking the track bed where the bridge used to stand would seem to mitigate against any further such proposals.

The HADAS connection

Interestingly, HADAS excavated close to the Sanders Lane bridge between 27 July and 28th August 1967, Site B, at OS ref. TQ 23239139, SMR ref 081961 and 081877. Directed by Brian Robertson, HADAS dug in the south bank of the disused railway cutting of the former line to Edgware, at a point where a stile adjacent to a public footpath had formerly permitted pedestrians to cross the track.

This was during investigations into the line of a postulated late Roman Road from Verulamium to Londinium via Mill Hill, known as Viatores route 167 from the 1960s research group who suggested it.

As reported by Robertson, Site B comprised both the south bank of the railway cutting and the relevant portion, of Copthall Fields (Areas 1 and 2) which were included in one grid based on the Sanders Lane road bridge over the railway at TQ 232914. The base line of the grid was laid along the track bed from a point 14 ft. along a line joining the west face of the two supporting piers. This point was at a perpendicular distance of 11 ft. 1in. from the brickwork of the northern pier. The north-west corner of the grid was located 240 ft. from this point and a grid of 10 ft. squares was laid.

Following a resistivity survey HADAS found not this road but another one, relatively short-lived and of mid-late first century date from the 120 or so sherds of mostly greyware pottery (some of native Celtic British style, and others similar to pottery from the Highgate kilns) found in or near the roadside ditches,21 feet wide with a packed pebble and cobble surface, running north-south.

The Society corresponded with a Mr. Morris, the Clerk of Works of the Estates and Surveying Department of the London Midland Region of British Rail as the cutting was still BR property at the time just three years after track lifting, and he visited the site and approved the proposed works.

It was reported in Helen Gordon’s paper ‘A Roman Presence in the Borough of Barnet’ HADAS NL 102,10-11 (1979) and AN INVESTIGATION OF ROMAN ROAD No. 1671 BY BRIAN ROBERTSON (Hendon and District Archaeological Society) TLAMAS 22 pt 3 1

The original site archive folder, including the excavation diary and exhibition captions, is held by HADAS. Herewith the original site plan;

Further view taken August 2025

Note the unused London Transport iron cable brackets for the intended 1930s ‘New Works Programme’ Northern Line electrification to Edgware over the central arch; the track to Edgware would have been doubled and much of the line side cabling structure as far as Edgware was in place by 1940.

The bridge immediately after demolition earlier that day, 20th August 2025; the work of two JCBs.

For details of the Barnet Council Sanders Lane project, including construction of a replacement footpath, seemingly using crushed brickwork from the former bridge as a foundation, see

Sanders Lane Bridge works | Barnet Council Landscaping work ongoing when site visited 18 January.

Bibliography

The First Railway to Edgware Opened 22 August 1867 (Church Farm House Museum Exhibition guide) London Borough of Barnet 1967

Underground Number 9 The Northern Line Extensions Edited by David Hayward The London Underground Railway Society 1981

The Hampstead Tube A History of the First 100 Years A. Badsey-Ellis Capital Transport 2007

The Northern Line Extensions Brian Hardy & MRFS Supplement to Underground News No. 599 November 2011 London Underground Railway Society

Plus various issues of Railway Magazine from 1919 to 1973, Railway World, Railway Observer and London Railway Record.

Membership Matters

Members are kindly reminded that the HADAS membership year runs to 31st March, so renewals are due in April.

We are also in need of a membership secretary – contact our secretary Janet Mortimer if you are willing to stand for the post. And from the next AGM we will be looking for a Treasurer.

SUNDAY MORNING POST EXCAVATION WORK continues on the material from our 2025 Vine Cottage Hendon dig. All finds are now washed and sorted with the Bulk Finds Sheets completed, ‘Small Finds’ picked out and listed and virtually all the individual finds type record sheets have been filled out, with thoughts now turning to specialist reports on various categories of finds. There is certainly a smattering of seventeenth/eighteenth-century material amongst them.

RETURN TO CLITTER HOUSE ANDY SIMPSON

On Sunday 7 December 2025 several HADAS members attended a small informal event at Clitterhouse Farm in Claremont Road NW2, near the Brent Cross shopping Centre, site of HADAS excavations in 2015, 2016 and 2019.

This was at the invitation of Jenny Lawry from the volunteer group, hosted by the Our Yard Clitterhouse Farm social enterprise team (www.ouryard.org), who wished to mark the 2026 centenary of the adjacent extensive Clitterhouse playing fields established by Hendon Urban District Council on the Eastern/North Eastern fields of the farm after the last of the farm’s dairy cow livestock and equipment was auctioned off in 1925. The volunteers – The Clitterhouse Secret River Sweepers (SRS) – clear the Clitterhouse brook of accumulated rubbish and monitor its condition through citizen science techniques on the first Sunday of every month. They meet in the café built exactly on the site of the HADAS 2019 excavation.

The HADAS team took along a display produced by the Sunday morning team made up of Clitterhouse maps, plans, photos and finds, plus HADAS publications and souvenirs, which were much appreciated by the small but engaged group of volunteers and visitors of all ages. The coffee and cake kindly provided went down well too!

Above; The HADAS display. Below – Janet and Bill gave short but informative presentations to
visitors. More photos on the HADAS facebook page…

BILL BASS adds …

As well as our work on immediate environs of Clitterhouse Farm we also spoke on the survey and evaluation undertaken on the Clitterhouse Playing Fields in conjunction with the possible redevelopment of the sports surfaces and such like. In 2015 a large ranging geophysical survey was done by Cranfield University led by Peter Masters, HADAS worked with Peter a year or so ago when surveying Old Fold Golf Course and in Kew Gardens Archive in connection with alternative theories on the Battle of Barnet. The Clitterhouse survey revealed a number of features and targets including possible a medieval farming practice called ‘ridge and furrow’. These features could be tested by a field-evaluation and in 2021/2022Museum of London Archaeology undertook a project of 72 trenches placed over the fields and likely targets.

The evaluation found Roman pottery, brick and tile as well as environmental evidence in association with Roman field boundary ditches. This provided a useful context as Watling Street Roman-road (now the Edgware Road) runs not far west of the site. Also found were many Victorian glass bottles. Some of the known buried air-raid shelters surrounding the fields were investigated.

Mola archaeologist Giulia Rossi and some of the Roman pot found on site. (Photo: Mola website).

Other Societies’ Events Eric Morgan

As always, please check with the societies – for example via their websites – before planning to attend in case of any late changes, since not all societies and organisations have returned to pre-covid conditions.

Friday 13th February, 7.30 pm. Enfield Archaeological Society. Jubilee Hall, 2, Parsonage Lane/Junction Chase Side, Enfield, EN2 0AJ. Roman Cemetery at Holborn Viaduct. Talk by Alex Banks. Please visit www.enfarchsoc.org.uk for further details. Visitors charge £1.50. Refreshments, sales and information from 7 pm.

Wednesday 18th February, 7.30 pm. Willesden Local History Society, St Mary’s Church Hall, bottom ofNeasden Lane (Round corner from Magistrates’ Court) London, NW10 2DZ. The Grodzinsky Family. Talk by Jonathan Grodzinsky (4th Generation Master Baker). Will talk about the history of his family and the Grodzinsky Bakery in Willesden Green. Grodzinsky’s Bakery firm had late C19th roots in the East End of London and went on to become the largest Kosher Bakers in Europe. Please visit www.willesden-local-history.co.uk for further details.

Monday 9th March, 3 pm. Barnet Museum and Local History Society. St. John the Baptist Church,Chipping Barnet, Corner High Street/2, Wood Street, Barnet, EN5 4BW. Remembering Bungo: The life and Career of Field Marshall Lord Byng of Vimy. Talk by William Frank. Please visit www.barnetmuseum.co.uk for further details. Refreshments available afterwards. Visitors £3.

Wednesday 11th March, 2.30 pm. Mill Hill Historical Society. Trinity Church, 100, The Broadway, London. NW7 3TB. Farms and Farming in Mill Hill. Talk by Michael Worms. Please visit www.millhill-hs.org.uk. Preceded by A.G.M.

Friday 13th March, 7.30 pm. Enfield Archaeological Society. Jubilee Hall (Address as for Friday 13thFebruary). A.G.M. followed by Review of 2025 Excavations and Further Plans. By Martin Dearne (Director of Archaeology).

Thursday 19th March, 8 pm. Historical Association: Hampstead and N.W. London Branch. Fellowship House, 136A, Willifield Way, London, NW11 6YD (off Finchley Road, Temple Fortune).P.G. Wodehouse and the Decline of the British Empire. Talk by Dr. Sean Lang. Also on Zoom. Please email Dudley Miles (HADAS) on dudleyramiles@googlemail.com or telephone 07469 754075 for details of link and how to pay (there may be a voluntary charge of £5). Refreshments available.

Friday 20th March, 7.30 pm Wembley History Society, St Andrew’s Church Hall (Behind St. Andrew’s New Church) Church Lane, Kingsbury, London, NW9 8RZ. The Early History of the Grand Junction Waterworks. Talk by Bob Casey. Visitors charge £3. Refreshments available.

Wednesday 25th March, 7.30 pm. Friern Barnet and District Local History Society. North Middlesex Golf Club, The Manor House, Friern Barnet Lane, N20 0NL London Underground Architecture. Talk by Mark Andrew Pardoe. Please visit www.friern-barnethistory.org.uk. Non-members. £2 Bar to be available.

Thursday 26th March, 7.30 pm. Finchley Society. Drawing Room. Avenue (Stephens’) House, 17, East End Road, London. N3 3QE. Alexandra Palace Theatre. Talk by Pat Brearey and Nigel Willmot. (Friends of Alexandra Palace Theatre). For further details please visit www.finchleysociety.org.uk. Non-members. £2. Refreshments in the interval.

With thanks to this month’s contributors; Bill Bass; Sue Loveday; Janet Mortimer; Eric Morgan

Hendon and District Archaeological Society

Chair Sandra Claggett, c/o Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE
email : chairman@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Secretary Janet Mortimer 34 Cloister Road, Childs Hill, London NW2 2NP
(07449 978121), email: secretary@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Treasurer Roger Chapman, 50 Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QP (07855 304488)
email: treasurer@hadas.org.uk

Membership Sec. Vacant; membership@hadas.org.uk

Website: www.hadas.org.uk – join the HADAS email discussion group via the website.

Jan 05

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Newsletter 658 – January 2026

By Don Cooper HADAS, Latest Newsletter, News, Past Newsletters, Volume 12 : 2025-2029 No Comments

No. 658 January 2026 Edited by Peter Pickering

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming lectures and Events

Lectures take place in the Avenue House Drawing Room.17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE, 7.45 for 8pm. Buses 13, 125, 143, 326 and 460 pass close by, and it is a five to ten-minute walk from Finchley Central Station on the Barnet Branch of the Northern Line. Bus 382 also passes close to Finchley Central 3QE, 7.45 for 8pm. Buses 13, 125, 143, 326 and 460 pass close by, and it is a five to ten-minute walk from Finchley Central Station on the Barnet Branch of the Northern Line. Bus

382 also passes close to Finchley Central Station. We are also on the SuperLoop Bus, Tea/Coffee/biscuits will be available for purchase after the talk.

Tuesday February 10th, 2026. Dr James Bromwich. “Great archaeological discoveries and great archaeologists of France: Alexandre du Mège: a founder of archaeological research in France – or rogue? Léon Joulin: an outstanding intellect and a founder of modern archaeology. Émile Chénon: a leading nineteenth century lawyer with a love for archaeology. Sophie Krausz: in the forefront of twenty-first century archaeology and museum presentation”

Tuesday March 10th, 2026. Les Capon from AOC Archaeology is back after his last very interesting lecture. This time he will talk about archaeological material evidence from Bricks to Gold.

Tuesday April 14th, 2026. Scott Harrison on “Behind the Battle of Barnet banners. People of the War of the Roses. The lives of people who fought at the Battle of Barnet and the life, society and culture of the late fifteenth century.”

PROPOSED HADAS TRIP 23 APRIL 2026 Sue Loveday

Step out of town for a while, group get together, see more and explore… the Peak District. Britain’s First National Park.

As mentioned in the previous Newsletter we are looking to resume a HADAS trip. 4 days, 3 nights, Bed, Breakfast and Evening meal staying in Derby. An area of various natural resources including lead, limestone, brought settlers over time. Its water powered the first Industrial revolution bringing roads, canals and railways. Visit to the Mills which brought change in production. Find out how the area also became a main place for the railways and have ride on heritage railway and later how it became a Centre of manufacturing, including even the red post box! A visit also to one of its caves – it has a few – and will also go to the Plague Village, site of an early lockdown and see its interesting museum with further information on the epidemics. Couple museum stops, church and other stops where settlers left their mark. Coventry Cathedrals on way there and intention to see Stoke on way back.

Price as per previous newsletter includes entrance fees. A Preferred number to make trip viable as can reflect coach price. Chance to see more together. Please email Sandra, Chair if interested. Deposits would be collected in January.

On 14 December a number of HADAS members had a most enjoyable Christmas Sunday lunch at

Avenue House, with all the seasonal trimmings. Thanks to Eric Morgan for organising.

Rutland Barbara Thomas

Rutland may be the smallest county in England but in 2022 it proved to be huge in respect of discoveries of the past. Not only were the remains of the largest ever ichthyosaur found at Rutland Water but a unique mosaic was uncovered in a village called Ketton. This is the story of the mosaic.

Ketton is the fourth largest area in Rutland for population with a count of some 2000 souls. It’s not a sleepy village by any means, being bisected by the busy A47 and is also home to a huge cement works and one of the largest solar farms in the UK at 9MW which supplies power to the works. It is also an area for farming.

The winter of 2019/2020 was very wet and farmers were struggling to grow crops in wet and sometimes flooded conditions. Ketton has the River Chater running through it and the river had risen over many fields.

The spring of 2020 brought drier weather – and the Covid lockdown. Jim Irvine, the son of a Ketton farmer, was visiting his family farm with his daughters in June of that year as there were few places available to visit in lockdown. They walked through a field on the banks of the Chater which had previously flooded, the girls picking up bits and pieces on the ground that they found interesting. These scraps included pottery shards and oyster shells which surprised Jim as he had ploughed this field many times before but had never seen such items. He reported the finds to Historic England and started investigating further.

Looking at the field on Google maps proved fruitless until he looked at the maps for 2018 which had been a particularly long hot summer. These maps showed crop marks which looked as if there was the outline of a building underground.

The family returned to the field and started to dig. Jim expected to find some sort of wall and dug an 8 ft trench. Instead of a wall, he found a floor made up of tiny tiles and as he cleared the soil away, there was a face.

Photo : Jim Irvine

Realising there was something extraordinary under the ground Jim contacted the County Archaeologist who in turn brought in University of Leicester Archaeological Services. Further digging was done and geophysical analysis carried out.

The mosaic has been painstakingly drawn and detailed for record by David Neal, who has been a mosaic expert since the early seventies.

A more detailed dig under the auspices of Historic England was done in 2022. At this time the Digging for Britain programme was involved and the episode can still be found on iplayer (series 9 Episode 1).

Prof Alice Roberts uncovering the mosaic

The mosaic is now covered up with sand and stones, and the land is able to be farmed again. If there is any further funding in the future, more work could be carried out. Only 10% of the site has been excavated to date.

What we know so far:

The mosaic covers an area 11m x 7m of a Roman villa dating from 2nd to the 4th century AD. It is the floor of an area probably used as a dining room or entertainment area and was designed to impress visitors to the villa. The mosaic depicts the story of the Trojan War and the battle between Hector and Achilles in a series of pictures reading from bottom to the top, but not quite in the way described by Homer in the Iliad. For example, where Homer describes the battle between the two being on foot, the villa owner has them on chariots.

The mosaic is part of a villa which is part of an estate covering about 5 hectares. For every villa there were about four wooden farmsteads. The estate was principally for the production of food but also a place for meetings and worship. After the Romans left the building had a more industrial use with evidence of burning, some of which has damaged the mosaic.

There is an aisled building on the estate which is built in a particular “British Roman” style. There is an east wing where work and productivity was carried out and a west wing for living quarters. This building also has a domestic bath suite with hypocaust, sauna and plunge pool. This building was later used for drying grain, principally sprouted spelt which was used for beer making.

Interestingly a lot of the building materials were found to be locally sourced. The roofing was either Collyweston slates or ceramic tiles made at a workshop near Corby. The marble came from Alwarton near Peterborough. Pottery came from the Nene Valley. 300 boxes of artefacts have been removed, containing some personal items such as jewellery, hairpins, brooches, buckles, gold rings; Styluses for writing; oyster shells and animal bones; and grinding stones which indicate that it was a mill at some point.

At the moment they have just come to the end of the assessment phase of the current project, next comes the analysis phase.

The subject matter of the mosaic is of great interest to scholars. An article appeared in the 2024 journal of the Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman Mosaics (ASPROM) and another is being published in ‘Britannia’ published by the Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.

The Archaeology of Rapa Nui by Sandra Claggett

I recently had the opportunity to visit Easter Island or Rapa Nui for a few days to see the main archaeological sites led by a local guide. Rapa Nui is located in the southeastern Pacific Ocean; it is one of the most remote inhabited places on Earth. Despite its isolation, the island is world-renowned for its monumental stone statues known as moai.

This is an overview of the places I visited rather than a detailed guide.

We began with a visit to the quarry area Rano Raraku where the statues or Moai were cut out of the surrounding rock and the work started on the figures. The moai were carved between approximately 1250 and 1500 CE by the Rapa Nui people. The head size by itself is around a third of the total height with a large part of the statue buried below the surface. Some unfinished moai reach up to 20 meters in height and weigh over 150 tons, there are completed examples of average 4–10 meters tall. (Van Tilburg, 1994). We were observing the incomplete examples that are still in-situ. The styles of the faces of these varied and I was informed by our guide that this was due to the period when they were started.

Rano Raraku quarry site (Author’s own photo)

The Moai main body was constructed out of grey hardened volcanic ash and the pukao or topknots pieces out of hardened red volcanic ash. A large moai could take 2 years to be carved by a team of workers under a master carver. (Grant-Peterkin, 2019).

There has been debate about how the completed pieces were moved to their standing platforms or ahu and there have been various suggestions and archaeological experiments discussing the use of wooden rollers, but it is now accepted that the moai were not dragged horizontally but moved vertically using ropes in a rocking motion like walking (Hunt & Lipo 2011). This fits the local oral history that says the Moai ‘walked to their resting places’ that they were imbued with a special spirit or mana.

The Moai were nearly always placed facing inwards to protect the islanders and represented the deified ancestors. (Fischer, 2005) They were not considered complete until their eyes made out of coral were added and this would be at the last stage as they were placed on the platforms or ahu. There is currently only one moai on its ahu that has eyes this is Ahu Tahai.

Ahu Tahai (Author’s own photo)

One of the best restored sites is Ahu Tongariki above (Author’s own photo)

Much later in the history of the settlement of the island there was internal conflict and war over the increasing population and territorial demands part of this conflict resulted in the toppling of the island’s moai. (Many are reconstructed into their upright position). In order to create peace, the Bird man competition linked to the fertility god Make-Make was inaugurated. This competition was carried out by a designated representatives of each of the seven tribes of the island; he was to climb down from the rocks into the sea and swim to the nearby island or motu where he would collect an egg from the returning migratory birds that were nesting. If he was the first to return with the unbroken egg his chief was to be the overall leader for a year. It was not without casualties. This site is called Rano Kau and is where the Orongo Ceremonial village is.

References

Fischer, S.R. (2005) Island at the End of the World: The Turbulent History of Easter Island. London: Reaktion Books.
Grant-Peterkin, J. (2019). A companion to Easter Island. Grafica LOM, Chile.
Hunt, T.L. and Lipo, C.P. (2011) The Statues that Walked: Unraveling the Mystery of Easter Island. New York.
Van Tilburg, J.A. (1994) Easter Island: Archaeology, Ecology and Culture. London: British Museum Press.

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS compiled by Eric Morgan

Please check with the organisations before setting out in case of any changes / cancellations and since since not all Societies or organisations have returned to pre-Covid conditions. Many organisations expect a small contribution from visitors.

Friday 9^th January, 7.30 pm. Enfield Archaeological Society. Talk on Zoom. Spies, Lies and Amnesia: London’s Civil War Rewritten by Peter Mills. Please visit www.enfarchsoc.org.uk for further details and the link.

Monday 12^th January, 3 pm. Barnet Museum and Local History Society. St. John the Baptist Church, Chipping Barnet, corner of High Street/2 Wood Street, Barnet EN5 4BW. Buried Voices: Stories of St Mary’s, Hendon. Talk by Reverend Dr. Julie Gittoes. Please visit www.barnetmuseum.co.uk for further details. Refreshments to be available after the talk. Visitors pay £2.

Thursday 22^nd January, 7 pm. Hornsey Historical Society. Union Church Hall, Corner of Fermepark Road/Weston Park, London. N8 9PX. The Tower Gardens Estate: A Jewel in the heart of Tottenham. Talk by Ruth Crowley. Also on Zoom. Please visit www.hornseyhistorical.org.uk for further details and possible link.

Wednesday 28^th January, 7.30 pm. Friern Barnet and District Local History Society. North Middlesex Golf Club, The Manor House, Friern Barnet Lane, London. N20 0NL. London Colney Airfield, Talk by Guy Thomas. Please visit www.friern-barnethistory.org.uk. Non-members pay £2. A drinks bar will be available.

Sunday 1^st February, 10 am. Heath and Hampstead Society. Meet at the entrance to the Kenwood Walled Garden, opposite the Stable Block, off Hampstead Lane, London, NW3 7JR. Explore the Hidden History of the Heath with Michael Hammerson (Highgate Society Archaeologist). Guided walk lasts approximately 2 hours, Free. Further information from the organiser, Tereza Pultarova on 07776 649163 or email hhs.walks@gmail.com or please visit www.heathandhampstead.org.uk Turn up 5 – 10 minutes before start time.

Monday 9^th February, 3 pm. Barnet Museum and Local History Society. St. John the Baptist Church (address as for Monday 12^th January). On the Beat in Kings Cross. Talk by Chris Foster. Visitors pay £3.

Tuesday 10^th February, 6 pm. L.A.M.A.S. Also on Zoom. A.G.M. and Presidential Address Given by Professor Vanessa Harding (Birkbeck, U.C.L.) on Mapping Restoration London. Please visit www.lamas.org.uk for the link.

Wednesday 11^th February, 2.30 pm. Mill Hill Historical Society. Trinity Church, 110, The Broadway, London, NW7 3TB. The Hunting of Hephzibah (A Family History), Talk by Jim Nelhams (HADAS). Please visit www.millhill-hs.org.uk

Thursday 19^th February, 8 pm. Historical Association: Hampstead and N.W. London Branch. Fellowship House, 136A, Willifield Way, London, NW11 6YD (off Finchley Road, Temple Fortune). 1983 – The World at the Brink of Nuclear Armageddon. Talk by Taylor Downing. Also on Zoom. Please email Dudley Miles (HADAS) on dudleyramiles@googlemail.com or telephone 07460 754075 for details of the link and how to pay (There may be a voluntary charge of £5). Refreshments to be available.

Friday 20^th February, 7 pm. C.O.L.A.S. Also on Zoom. The Serpent Column, Istanbul, talk by Robin Densem (HADAS). Please book via Eventbrite. Visit www.colas.org.uk. HADAS may send out a link details to its members.

Friday 20^th February, 7.30 pm. Wembley History Society. St. Andrew’s Church Hall (behind St. Andrew’s New Church), Church Lane, Kingsbury, London. NW9 8RZ. Journeys for the Brotherhood of Man! Talk by Jim Moher (Chair). Visitors pay £3. Refreshments to be available.

Wednesday 25^th February, 7.30 pm. Friern Barnet and District Local History Society. North Middlesex Golf Club (Address as for Wednesday 28^th January) Chicken Shed Theatre History. Talk by Adam Blackwell. Non-members pay £2.

Thursday 26^th February, 7.30 pm. Finchley Society. Drawing Room, Avenue (Stephens’) House, 17, East End Road, London. N3 3QE. Postman’s Park/Watts Memorial –Uncovering historical secrets of London. Talk by Dr. John Price who will describe heroic stories of individuals in the 19^th and 20^th century London who have been memorialised in Postman’s Park, including a couple relatively close to Finchley. For further details please visit www.finchleysociety.org.uk Non-members pay £2. Refreshments to be available in the interval.

Saturday 28^th February, 9.30 am – 5 pm. Current Archaeology Live 2026. U.C.L. Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way (off Russell Square) London, WC1H 0AL held in partnership with U.C.L. Institute of Archaeology. Tickets now on sale and are available until 15^th January from www.archaeology.co.uk/live at an early bird rate of £49 (after which the price increases to £65). Further details in next month’s Newsletter.

Exhibition London in WW2 extended to Thursday 19^th February at the London Archives (as detailed in the September 2025 Newsletter).

Hendon and District Archaeological Society

Chair: Sandra Claggett, c/o Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE email: chairman@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Secretary: Janet Mortimer 34 Cloister Road, Childs Hill, London NW2 2NP (07449 978121), email: secretary@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Treasurer: Roger Chapman, 50 Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QP (07855 304488), email: treasurer@hadas.org.uk

Website: www.hadas.org.uk

HADAS Festive Afternoon Tea Sunday 18^th January 2026

If you have not already booked and would like to attend and meet up with other members.

Time: 2.30pm to 5.30pm. Place: Avenue House, 17 East End Road, N3 3QE. Cost: £20 per person

Includes: Finger Buffet (and tea/coffee) – Good company, Cash bar – Raffle – Quiz

Please contact Roger Chapman by the 2^nd of January 2026 latest at treasurer@hadas.org.uk by email to see if there are places left (and how to pay).

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Dec 01

Love0

Newsletter 657 – December 2025

By Don Cooper HADAS, Latest Newsletter, News, Past Newsletters, Volume 12 : 2025-2029 No Comments

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

No. 657 DECEMBER 2025 Eds. Don Cooper / Bill Bass

On behalf of the HADAS Chair and Committee, we would like to take this opportunity to wish all our readers a Merry Christmas and Healthy, Happy and Prosperous 2026.

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming lectures and Events

HADAS Festive Celebration will take place at Avenue House on Sunday 18th January 2.30-5.30pm. £20 per head with quiz and buffet. The cost is £20 pp as last year. The booking forms have already been sent out and we are asked for them to be returned by the end of November in order to establish numbers. However, if members . guests are still deciding we can have some flexibility here and extend the deadline to around mid-December. Payment to the Treasurer as per the forms.

Tuesday February 10th 2026. Dr James Bromwich. “Great archaeological discoveries and great archaeologists of France: Alexandre du Mège: a founder of archaeological research in France – or rogue? Léon Joulin: an outstanding intellect and a founder of modern archaeology. Émile Chénon: a leading nineteenth century lawyer with a love for archaeology. Sophie Krausz: in the forefront of twenty-first century archaeology and museum presentation”

Tuesday March 10th, 2026. Les Capon from AOC Archaeology is back after his last very interesting lecture this time he will talk about archaeological material evidence from Bricks to Gold.

Tuesday April 14th, 2026. Scott Harrison on “Behind the Battle of Barnet banners. People of the War of the Roses. The lives of people that fought at the Battle of Barnet and the life society and culture of the late fifteenth century.”

Lectures are held in the Drawing Room, Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. 7.45 for 8pm. Buses 13, 125, 143, 326, 382, and 460 pass close by, and it is a five-ten-minute walk from Finchley Central Station on the Barnet Branch of the Northern Line where the Super Loop SL10 express bus from North Finchley to Harrow also stops.

Tea/Coffee/biscuits available for purchase after each talk.

A note from Susan Loveday on the proposed HADAS TRIP TO DERBY IN APRIL

We have looked into resuming a trip for the group. Reserved Date 23rd April 2026. – 3 nights to Derby area, Dinner, Bed and Breakfast. This area is one of considerable natural resources that brought settlers there through a long period of time. We’ll hear about discoveries and how the area became a centre of innovations. We would get a group rate on the hotel, but coach price reflects numbers.

To stop at Coventry on way, once a wealthy medieval town. Hear more and visit Cathedral and its story via a talk. Propose to include visit to a Cave, Plague Village and its interesting Museum, with new information, Mills and other stops. Centre of Railways, a ride on heritage railway. Updated price I have been given is £589 sharing and £685 for single occupancy. Numbers reflect coach price. Entry fees included. If viable, deposits would be collected during January.

HADAS members visit to Tudor Hall in Barnet on 23rd October 2025 Don Cooper

This visit had been arranged by Mike Noronha, the Curator of Barnet Museum and Sandra Claggett our chairman. We assembled at Barnet Museum at 16.00 on a damp cold evening and had time to explore this fascinating museum. Once all had arrived, we walked to Tudor Hall.

The history of this Grade II listed building (List entry 1286564) goes back a long way as witnessed by the date over the entrance. The 1573 date refers to the granting of a charter by Queen Elizabeth the first on a petition of Robert Dudley, the Earl of Leicester. The charter allowed for creating of a Free Grammar School. The charter describes its role as:

“Bringing up and instruction of boys and youth, to be brought up in grammar and other learning, and the same to continue for ever, and the said School for one Master and one Usher for ever to continue and remain and that there shall be for ever four-and-twenty discreet, honest governors.”

However, the present building was not erected until 1577 funded by collections from London Churches and the first governors of the school.

Throughout the next two and a half centuries the school continued to expand and prosper. For example, a masters house was added, dormitories for pupils built and ancillary buildings added. By 1932 the Queen Elizabeth school had outgrown the building, and it moved to its present site in Queens Road, Barnet where it has continued to prosper.

The Tudor Hall building was then bought by the Jesus Hospital charity for £1750 and was used by them as offices and for their meetings. The rest of the site was bought by Hertfordshire County Council for £3000. South Herts. College moved on to the site in 1948, and the college was built on land surrounding the hall. Jesus Hospital Charity sold the hall to Hertfordshire County Council to be used for educational purposes.

In 1965 Barnet Council assumed responsibility for the whole site and embarked on a large expansion including demolition the Masters House, other classrooms and ancillary building around the hall.

In 1968 the Hall was remodelled by Barnet Council at a cost of £30,000 and became part of Barnet and Southgate college. The Hall continued to be used as classroom.

In 2024 the College decided that the hall was surplus to their requirements, and the college have put the hall up for sale. The target price is £1m.

A number of local societies (Barnet Museum among others) have looked at purchasing the property, but it has no land around it and is an isolated building in the midst of Barnet and Southgate College and would need refurbishing to the upper floor.

Estimated running are expected to around £50k a year.

At the time of HADAS visit the hall was empty but was occasionally used for classes, conferences etc. The upper floor is not in use.

Description of inside of the hall.

On entry the is an entrance lobby with toilet facilities. The main hall (see photo below) is currently laid out has a classroom. It is well lit and heated. The only reminders of its history surviving are the Inglenook fireplace with its shield and the so called “Whipping Post”. There is a mezzanine gallery overlooking this hall. From the mezzanine gallery there is a staircase leading to the 1st floor and it also goes down to a fire exit.

There is another staircase at the far end of the building that serves the same purpose

In their current state the staircases are not suitable for regular access.

Figure 1 Main Hall

Figure 2 Fireplace in the hall

Figure 3 Spiral staircase

The rooms on the upper floor need some TLC.

Summary

The Elizabethan Tudor Hall is the last remaining building standing of what had been an extensive complex of structures including the Masters House, classrooms, dormitories, kitchen, laundry and laboratory etc. supporting a successful school.

It would be a great shame if this iconic building was lost to community use.

Thanks are due to Mike and Sandra for making this interesting visit possible.

Below are three photos showing the upper floor area:

Figure 4 Upper floor area

Figure 5 View to offices spaces

Figure 5 Large office space

HADAS bus pass outing to London Docklands Museum

At the beginning of November we had a HADAS “bus pass” outing to the Secrets of the Thames exhibition at the London Museum in Docklands.

The exhibition set out information on the history of mudlarking and had a fine collection of finds, ranging from tiny pins and Roman intaglios to the Battersea Shield.

All who attended enjoyed the exhibition very much, as well as the adjournment to the pub next door for lunch afterwards.

CVA24 Church Road – Pottery Report – Trench 2 and Trench 3. Melvyn Dresner

Please see newsletters August and September 2025 for previous Church Road dig finds articles.

Trench 2

Trench 2 included pottery in context 001, 006 and 007.

Context 001 (Topsoil)

This context is dominated by 18th, 19th and 20th pottery refined white earthenware (REFW), post medieval redware (PMR), also English stoneware (ENGS), English porcelain (ENPO), transfer printed ware (TPW), one piece of tin glaze ware (TPW H) and two pieces of Staffordshire slipware (STSL).

Image (below) shows Staffordshire slipware, and tin glaze ware with geometric design compared to reference examples

Of the REFW, over half of circa 200 sherds are burnt and too fragmented to represent identifiable vessels. This includes mainly plain ware and some decorated ware with blue and gold banding, green and brown glaze. Where identifiable, the sherds represent a typical domestic assemblage of cups, plates and bowls.

The second largest group (8 sherds) include transfer printed ware (TPW and TPW3) including blue and white, buff, yellow and orange decoration, and one with vine or grapes. 11 pieces of PMR include PMR Slip with brown glaze and white slip. There were three sherds of English porcelain (ENPO), blue and white with red scrolling on one piece. The twelve pieces of English stoneware included burnt pieces, bowls and jugs. Also, four pieces of cream ware (CREA) dating from late 18th century/ early 19th century, with applied decoration (compare to examples from Downer 1978, below) with the tin glaze wear and Staffordshire slipware, probably represent 18th century occupation of the site.

This context also includes a possible saltshaker in the form of a porcelain mouse.

Creamware from Donald Towner’s Creamware (1978, Faber and Faber)

Context 006

This pottery assemblage is mainly 19th and 20th century, with traces of 18th century pottery. This context includes post medieval redware (PMR) and refined white earthen ware (REFW), as well as post medieval black glazed redware (PMBL), English stoneware and Staffordshire slipware, sewer pipe and piece of tin glaze ware (TGW Blue).

Handle (T2, context 006)

Handle (T2, context 006)

PMR, stoneware and PMBL

Context 007

Seven pieces of post medieval redware (PMR) – base and body sherd- and one piece of stoneware handle.

Trench 3

Context 001

This represents 19th and 20th century occupation of the site. Sixteen pieces of refined white earthen (REFW), three pieces of English stoneware, two sherds of tin glaze ware (TPW), and five sherds of post medieval redware.

Context 005

Complete stoneware (ENGS) ink bottle or boot black, 3 ½ inches tall (circa 89mm)

This ink bottle alongside the slate pencil found on site (trench 1. Context 001), may link to the school on site.

Examples in museum collections at the National Trust Museum of Childhood: https://www.nationaltrustimages.org.uk/image/1265085.

Portable Antiquities Scheme: https://finds.org.uk/database/artefacts/record/id/476756/recordtype/artefacts.

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS Eric Morgan

As always, please check with the Societies’ website before planning to attend, since not all Societies or organisations have returned to Pre-Covid conditions.

Tuesday 13th January, 6.30 pm. L.A.M.A.S. Talk on Zoom. Digging Up the Future – 23 years of the Central London Young Archaeologists Club. By Karen Thomas and Annie De Saulles (Central London Y.A.C). Please visit www.lamas.org.uk for further details and link.

Tuesday 13th January, 8 pm. Amateur Geological Society. Talk on Zoom. Dinosaurs: New Visions of a Lost World by Professor Michael J. Benton. Please visit www.amgeosoc.wordpress.com for further details and link.

Tuesday 13th January, 8 pm. Historical Association (North London Branch), Jubilee Hall, 2, Parsonage Lane / Junction Chase Side, Enfield, EN2 0AJ. Nicholas II and Stalin – A Comparison in Tyranny? Talk by Dr. George Gilbert. Non-members £2, payable at the door.

Wednesday 14th January, 2.30 pm. Mill Hill Historical Society. Trinity Church, 100, The Broadway, London NW7 3TB. Tales of a Mill Hill Amateur Clock Maker. Talk by Martin Bourn. Please visit www.millhill-hs.org.uk.

Thursday 15th January, 8 pm. Historical Association: Hampstead and N.W. London Branch. Fellowship House, 136A, Willifield Way, London NW11 6YD (off Finchley Road, Temple Fortune). The Fourth Crusade. Talk by Professor Jonathan Harris. In the year 1204, Constantinople was attacked, captured and pillaged by an army composed of Christian co-religionists who were supposedly on a crusade to recover Jerusalem.

The talk explores how that strange contradiction came about, what the consequences were and how the events still resonate today. Also on Zoom. Please email Dudley Miles (HADAS) on dudleyramiles@googlemail.com or telephone 07469 754075 for details of link and how to pay (there may be a voluntary charge of £5). Refreshments to be available.

Friday 16th January, 7.30 pm. Wembley History Society. St. Andrew’s Church Hall (behind St. Andrew’s new church) Church Lane, Kingsbury, London, NW9 8RZ. Remembering the General Strike 1926-2026. Talk by Christine Coates. Visitors £3. Refreshments available in the interval.

Tuesday 27th January, 7.30 pm. Hounslow and District History Society. Talk on Zoom. Thames Islands by Nick Pollard. Non-members charge £2. For log-in please contact James Marshall at ajmarshall@gmail.com.

Thursday 29th January, 7.30 pm. Finchley Society. Drawing Room, Avenue (Stephens’) House, 17 East End Road, London, N3 3QE. The White Lady…Another fascinating talk about Espionage in WWII by Helen Fry about the British Secret Service networks in Belgium behind Enemy lines in the First and Second World Wars. For further details please visit www.finchleysociety.org.uk. Non-members charge £2. Refreshments to be available in the interval.

With thanks to this month’s contributors: Don Cooper, Melvyn Dresner, Sue Loveday, Eric Morgan

Hendon and District Archaeological Society

Chair: Sandra Claggett, c/o Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE email : chairman@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Secretary: Janet Mortimer 34 Cloister Road, Childs Hill, London NW2 2NP (07449 978121), email: secretary@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Treasurer: Roger Chapman, 50 Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QP (07855 304488), email: treasurer@hadas.org.uk

Membership Sec: Vacant email: membership@hadas.org.uk

Website: www.hadas.org.uk

Nov 02

Love0

Newsletter 656 – November 2025

By Don Cooper HADAS, Latest Newsletter, News, Past Newsletters, Volume 12 : 2025-2029 No Comments

No. 656 November 2025 Edited by Sue Willetts

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Tuesday November 11th 2025 Dr. Signe Hoffos – “Lost Churches of the City of London: 500 years of City churches lost to fire, war and urban redevelopment”

No lecture in January 2026

Tuesday February 10th 2026 Dr James Bromwich. “Great archaeological discoveries and great archaeologists of France: Alexandre du Mège: a founder of archaeological research in France – or rogue? Léon Joulin: an outstanding intellect and a founder of modern archaeology. Émile Chénon: a leading nineteenth century lawyer with a love for archaeology. Sophie Krausz: in the forefront of twenty-first century archaeology and museum presentation”

Lectures held in the Drawing Room, Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. 7.45 for 8pm.

There is a correction to the last newsletter (Oct 2025). Page 2, second paragraph, ref the Avenue House Sunday morning working parties. If you are interested in these please contact me at: bill_bass@yahoo.comThe address given in the newsletter will not work

HADAS Festive Celebration will be on something to look forward to in the new year it will be on Sunday the 18th of January 2.30-5.30 pm in the larger Drawing room of Avenue House. Please return the Booking Form to Roger Chapman by the end of November if you are interested. The cost is £20 pp and will be finger food as before. The booking details are on the enclosed booking form.

PROPOSED HADAS TRIP 2026 DATE. April 3 nights, 4 days Sue Loveday

We have looked into resuming a HADAS trip for next April 2026 as so many people enjoyed the previous trips organised by Jim and Jo. The trip would be to the Derby / Peak District area and would only be viable if enough people were interested. Some have visited the area before but there is a lot to see in the area. The outward trip would be with a stop in Coventry and tour / history of Coventry Cathedral – possibly another site – before heading to Derby to the hotel where we will be based. Our stay will include Dinner, Bed and Breakfast there. (Looking into lunch stops/if individuals can request packed lunch). The next day it is our intention to visit one of the area’s larger caves (Derby is known for the number of caves) with wondrous formations and to learn about its history through the ages, explored by archaeologists. The main chamber /entrance has accessibility to mobility users – there are some steps up and down involved in inner chamber. The Visitor Centre, Shop and cafe site says it’s accessible. Another day we will

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visit the Mills, very much part of the area and we’d hope to include a heritage train ride. Then going on to some museums with archaeological finds and also learn more about the area’s history of innovation.

The higher price is for single occupation/supplement but looking to see if anything can be done further. Entrance fees also included in price, i.e. cavern, train ride plus other etc. The coach price reflects number of people we get. If would like to come please email Sandra, chairman@hadas.org.uk.

Open day Janet Mortimer

On Sunday 21st September HADAS held an Open Day at Stephens House and Gardens. Despite there being rain predicted earlier in the week, the sun shone bringing lots of visitors to the gardens. HADAS had a stand in the courtyard showing finds from their summer dig in Church End, Hendon where their star find was a Saxon pin dating back to the 7th or 8th century.

The HADAS stand – with new table covers showing our logo- showed why, where and how we carry out archaeological digs and what happens to the finds as they are processed afterwards. On the lawn a resistivity demonstration took place with members of the public able to try out the equipment for themselves. Inside the house were more finds from previous digs including a display of flint artefacts made by Mesolithic people over 7,000 years ago which were discovered during a dig on Hampstead Heath.

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There was a display of clay pipes with explanations of how they are a useful dating aid and a collection of ancient fossils. Children were catered for with free activities such as colouring roman mosaics, making their own Saxon shields on paper plates, making bookmarks with their name in Viking runes and a fun quiz. There was also a popular tombola with children’s items with an archaeological theme. It was very pleasing to see a steady stream of visitors throughout the day.

CVA24 Church Road – Pottery Report – Trench 1 Melvyn Dresner

Toast Rack (Tim Curtis, text and photos)

It comprised 9 conjoining fragments of about 2/3 of a white glazed ceramic toast rack base, with the attachment scars of 4 vertical partitions for holding toast slices (see picture 1).

Picture 1

The base was a flat hexagonal plate with raised edges to retain stray toast crumbs. The partitions were constructed from hollow tubes in a figure-8 pattern (Picture 2).

Picture 2

Only 1 separate partition tube fragment was recovered.

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There were probably 5 partitions to hold 4 slices of toast, with a ring handle on the central one for carrying and passing round the table (see example picture 3).

Picture 3

The earliest known examples of toast racks date from the 1770s,

This decorative ceramic example is probably of mid-Victorian age. It’s location in context 003 places it potentially in phase 3 of the occupation of the site, the Baptist Church and the working men’s club.

Stove top (Susan Trackman, pers comm)

Ceramic tiles, with ridges and perforations, probably from stove top or room heater, probably imported from continental Europe (Belgium, France, or German/ Austrian), decorative and small scales suggested used to warm parlour.

Photo shows perforations of stove top:

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Photo shows lip to enable cover to sit securely on stove:

Photo from below

Bat roosts may halt study of Marlborough Mound Stewart Wild

Plans to cut into a 4,000-year-old mound to allow further research on its history could be stopped by the presence of bats. The Castle Mound in Wiltshire, also known as the Marlborough Mound, is the second largest Neolithic mound in Europe at 62ft high. Marlborough College has applied for planning permission to try to “enhance its setting” by demolishing school buildings that “cut into” the west side of the mound. The aim is to carry out further archaeological research when the buildings are gone – and eventually put in a curved stone-faced support to reinforce the mound.

But the presence of bats, which are protected, could halt the project. In documents to support the application, the College said the mound was a “nationally important scheduled monument” with significance including its prehistoric use, artistic interest and historic links to the Seymours, the family of Henry VIII’s third wife Jane. The mound has been carbon dated to 2400BC and features part of a medieval castle as well as some 17th- and 18th-century garden features.

Wiltshire Council is expected to decide on the application in September, but the council’s ecology team has raised concerns that the buildings being earmarked for removal could be a haven for bats. It said in a report:”The buildings on site appear to have some potential for roosting bats and there are records of bats in the local area. “The ecology team should be reconsulted once the results of all the surveys are available. In carrying out its statutory function, the authority must be reasonably sure that the proposal will not result insignificant adverse effects on protected habitats or species.”

The works are intended to enhance the visitor experience of the new Mound Information Centre which is being completed in the College grounds. The buildings embedded into the mound include a decommissioned plant room, disused toilet block and a carpentry workshop which all have little or no heritage value, according to the College. SOURCE: Daily Telegraph, 21 July 2025, item edited by Stewart Wild

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Ancient Egyptian’s handprint found on clay model Stewart Wild

A hand print left 4,000 years ago on a clay model crafted to go inside an Egyptian tomb has been discovered during preparation for an exhibition later this year. The imprint was left on the base of a “soul house”, a clay model in the shape of a building which would then be placed inside a burial chamber. The model on which the hand print was discovered has been dated to around 2050 to 1650 BC. It had an open front space where items of food were laid out, in this example, loaves of bread, a lettuce and an ox’s head. Soul houses may have acted as offering trays or provided a place for the soul of the deceased to live within the tomb.

Helen Strudwick, senior Egyptologist at Cambridge’s Fitzwilliam Museum, said: “We’ve spotted traces of fingerprints left in wet varnish or on a coffin in the decoration, but it is rare and exciting to find a complete handprint underneath this soul house. This was left by the maker who touched it before the clay dried. I have never seen such a complete handprint on an Egyptian object before.”

The researcher, who is also curator of the museum’s new Made in Ancient Egypt exhibition, continued:”You can just imagine the person who made this, picking it up to move it out of the workshop to dry before firing. Things like this take you directly to the moment when the object was made and to the person who made it, which is the focus of our exhibition.” Analysis of the item suggests that the potter who made it first created a framework of wooden sticks and then coated it with clay to make a building with two storeys supported by pillars. Staircases were formed by pinching the wet clay. During firing the wooden sticks burnt away, leaving empty spaces in their place. The hand print found underneath was probably made when someone, perhaps the potter, moved the model out of the workshop to dry before firing in a kiln.

The soul house will be on display in the museum’s Made in Egypt exhibition which opens to the public on Friday 3 October. SOURCE: Daily Telegraph, 28 July 2025, item edited by Stewart Wild.

Exhibitions

Bloomberg Mithraeum – Exhibition. 17 July – 10 January 2026 https://www.londonmithraeum.com/bloomberg-space/

Jane and Louise Wilson: Performance of Entrapment. This exhibition centres 2,000-year-old oak stakes discovered during excavations for Bloomberg’s European headquarters believed to have once supported a crossing over the River Walbrook – an ancient waterway that flowed beside the Temple of Mithras and still runs beneath the streets of modern London. Using microscopic imagery, the Wilsons draw inspiration from the wood’s structure and DNA sequencing, to create large-scale, visually layered artworks.

Performance of Entrapment investigates parallels between the Roman Temple of Mithras and Ise Jingu shrine in Japan — two sacred sites – the Roman Temple of Mithras (3rd Century AD) and Japan’s Ise Jingu shrine (4th Century BC). Though geographically and culturally distant, they both feature similarities in iconography and house significant relics: the head of Mithras in London, and the Sacred Mirror of the Emperor at Ise Jingu. A film by the Wilsons, created with shrine authorities within the grounds of Ise Jingu, explores sisterhood, duality and renewal. Please note: this exhibition contains occasional flashing lights, which may affect individuals with light sensitivity or photosensitive epilepsy. Strobe lighting is not in use.

British Library, London. Secret Maps. 24 October 2025 – 18 January 2026.

Who shapes your world? Who decides what you see? What hides behind grid lines? Tickets £20

Concession and off-peak pricing available. Step into the shadows at Secret Maps, a major new exhibition revealing the stories hidden in some of history’s most mysterious maps from the 14th century to the present day.

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OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS Eric Morgan

As always, please check with the Societies’ websites before planning to attend, since not all Societies or organisations have returned to Pre-Covid conditions.

17th November, 7.30 pm. Enfield Society. Jubilee Hall, 2 Parsonage Lane/Junction Chase Side, Where are London’s Monasteries? Talk by Andrew Gray on the monasteries that existed in London before the Dissolution. Please visit www.enfieldsociety.org.uk Non-members charge £1.

Tuesday 25th November, 1 pm. Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BE.Wedded to the Realm: Queen Mary I, The Guildhall Speech, and a Spousal Ring. Talk by Valerie Schutte. Also on Zoom. Free. Visit https://www.sal.org.uk/events/ to book.

Tuesday 25th November, 7.15 pm. Hornsey Historical Society. Union Church Hall, Corner Ferme Park Road/Weston Park, London. N8 9PX. English Public Libraries’ Architecture, 1850-1930. Talk by Ray Rogers (HHS). Please visit www.hornseyhistorical.org.uk here may be a request for a donation of £5.

Tuesday 2nd December, 11am. Enfield Society. Jubilee Hall, 2 Parsonage Lane/Junction Chase Side, Enfield, EN2 0AJ. Pleasure Gardens: A Place to see and be seen. Talk by Julie Chandler on London’s famous Pleasure Gardens. Please visit www.enfieldsociety.org.uk Non-members charge £1.

Wednesday 3rd December, 4.30 pm. Thames and Docklands History Group – London Museum of Docklands, No 1, West India Quay, off Hertsmere Road, London. E14 4AL. The Thames Tunnel- 8thWonder of the World! Talk by Robert Hulse (Brunel Museum). https://www.tdhg.org.uk/event-details/the-thames-tunnel-eighth-wonder-of-the-world.

Sunday 7th December, 10.30 am. Heath and Hampstead Society – Known and Unknown Landmarks of the East Heath. Meet at Parliament Hill Bandstand, off Gordon House Road, Gospel Oak, NW5. Walk from Bandstand to Kenwood House. Led by Jeska Harrington-Gould. Lasts approx. 2 hours. Free. Further information from Tereza Pultarova on 07776 649163 or email hhs.walks@gmail.comhttps://www.heathandhampstead.org.uk/.

Tuesday 9th December, 6.30 pm. L.A.M.A.S. Talk on Zoom. Farms, Playhouse and Taverns: by Sarah Wolfaston and Steve White. Radical Experiments and Liberation in Whitechapel. Excavations on the site of Stepney Way, Whitechapel in 2018-19 and its main discoveries from Iron Age to Medieval and Tudor. Please visit www.lamas.org.uk.

Tuesday 9th December, 8 pm. Amateur Geological Society. Talk on Zoom. Fossil Bryozoans from the Chalk, by Dr. Paul Taylor (National History Museum). Among the most common fossils in the chalk of colony forming animals. Please visit https://amgeosoc.wordpress.com/meeting-dates/ for details and link.

Tuesday 9th December, 8 pm. Historical Association (North London Branch). Jubilee Hall (Address as for Tuesday 2nd December). Christmas on Trial during the English Revolution. Talk by Dr. Ariel Hassayon (U.C.L.). Non-Members charge £2.

Wednesday 10th December, 2.30 pm. Mill Hill Historical Society. Trinity Church, 100, the Broadway, London, NW7 3TB. Baths and Bathing through the Ages. Talk by Ian Betts. www.millhill-hs.org.uk.

Thursday 11th December, 5 pm. Society of Antiquaries. Burlington House (Address as for Tuesday 25th November). Scholars and Scandal – The First Publication of Samuel Pepys’ Diary. Talk by Professor Kate Loveman (FSA). Also on Zoom. Free. To book visit www.sal.org.uk/events.

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Friday 12th December, 7.30 pm. Enfield Archaeological Society. Talk on Zoom. Roman Painting and Decoration. By Han Lie (MoLA). Please visit https://www.enfarchsoc.org/ for further details and link.

Thursday 18th December, 10.40 am. The Arts Society, Enfield, Revival Christian Church, 47, London Road, Enfield. EN2 6DS. Christmas in Bach’s Leipzig – The Christmas Oratorio of 1734/5. Talk by Sandy Burnett. Visitors fee £10. https://theartssocietyenfield.org.uk/Lectures/FutureLectures.aspx.

Thanks to our contributors this month: Melvyn Dresner, Sue Loveday, Eric Morgan, Janet Mortimer, Stewart Wild

Hendon and District Archaeological Society

Chair Sandra Claggett, c/o Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE
email : chairman@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Secretary Janet Mortimer 34 Cloister Road, Childs Hill, London NW2 2NP
(07449 978121), email: secretary@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Treasurer Roger Chapman, 50 Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QP (07855 304488)
email: treasurer@hadas.org.uk

Membership Sec. Vacancy. A new volunteer is needed. If you are interested please contact
Sandra on the Chairman email address above to discuss.

Website: www.hadas.org.uk

HADAS is registered with the UK Charity Commission (Registration number 269949)

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Oct 01

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Newsletter 655 – October 2025

By Don Cooper HADAS, Latest Newsletter, News, Past Newsletters, Volume 12 : 2025-2029 No Comments

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

No. 655 OCTOBER 2025 Edited by Robin Densem

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming lectures and events

Tuesday October 14th 2025. Dr. Wendy Morrison – “Our Cross to Bare: Chalk carvings in the Central Chilterns”

Tuesday November 11th 2025. Dr. Signe Hoffos – “Pre Fire Churches of the City of London churches lost to the great fire of London in 1666” this replaces the previous lecture entitled “Lost Churches of the City of London: 500 years of City churches lost to fire, war and urban redevelopment” as this had been heard by members a few years ago.

No lecture in January 2026

Tuesday February 10th 2026. Dr James Bromwich. “Great archaeological discoveries and great archaeologists of France: Alexandre du Mège: a founder of archaeological research in France – or rogue? Léon Joulin: an outstanding intellect and a founder of modern archaeology. Émile Chénon: a leading nineteenth century lawyer with a love for archaeology. Sophie Krausz: in the forefront of twenty-first century archaeology and museum presentation”

Tuesday March 10th 2026. Les Capon from AOC Archaeology is back after his last very interesting lecturethis time he will talk about archaeological material evidence from Bricks to Gold.

Tuesday April 14th 2026. Scott Harrison on “Behind the Battle of Barnet banners. People of the War of the Roses. The lives of people that fought at the Battle of Barnet and the life society and culture of the late fifteenth century.”

Lectures held in the Drawing Room, Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. 7.45 for 8pm.

Events news

Some HADAS members are going on a “bus pass” visit to the Secrets of the Thames exhibition at the London Museum in Docklands in early November. This will be on a Saturday and the cost of entry is from £16. If you are interested in joining them, please email secretary@hadas.org

HADAS have been granted special access to Tudor Hall in High Barnet on Thursday the 23rd of October before this Barnet Museum is staying open beyond normal hours from 4.30 pm just for HADAS we will visit the Hall afterwards. This will be a rare opportunity to have access to a genuine Elizabethan Building especially as the building is likely to be privately sold. I urge members to take advantage of this one off special access for the Museum and the Hall. Please email chairman@hadas.org.uk to express interest or if you have questions. Meanwhile here is a link to Barnet Museum BARNET MUSEUM – Home and information on the building: https://www.highlivingbarnet.com/tudor-hall/

HADAS Coach trip. HADAS are planning a coach trip next April the cost would be between £599 and £699 for 4 daysand 3 nights to the Peak District area. However, we would need a minimum number to go ahead. If you are interested please email stating whether you require a single or double room with your name and the name of any guests coming with you by the 14th of November to the chairman@hadas.org.uk

The archaeology and heritage working party sessions in the HADAS workroom at Avenue House are held on Sunday mornings, from 10.30am. The sessions are open to all HADAS members and are both important and convivial. It would be wise to check with the committee (committee-discuss@hadas.org.uk) that the session will be held before you travel as just occasionally a session is cancelled.

Images of St Pancras Old Church, Kings Cross: A Worthwhile Site to Visit. Robin Densem

I visited the church in late 2024 and early 2025 while assembling this article. I had walked past the church some 40 years ago and its location, away from a visible ancient settlement, was mysterious to me, as was its name. Recently, one of the owners of the main archaeological firm I work for wrote a piece extolling the worthwhileness of visiting the church that he often saw from his train window. And that spurred me on.

There is a plaque in the church listing of the pretty much continuous succession of priests at the church since 1181, and a list 1183-1938 can also be seen on the internet at https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol19/pt2/pp124-131#h2-s1 (accessed 28th January 2025).

The church was restored and enlarged in 1847-8 when the tower that had stood at the west end was demolished, and the building was extended in that direction, over the site of the old tower. A new tower was built on the south side of the church. When excavating in the old foundations of the west tower workmen stumbled across a trove of treasures that had probably been hidden there during the course of the 17th century English Civil War when the church had been used as military lodgings. Six feet down, the current guidebook explains, the workers found an Elizabethan silver chalice, and a paten that is used nowadays, every Sunday at mass. They also uncovered an altar stone believed to date from the eleventh century, but which might be earlier, and that is kept behind a clothe below the present altar.

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS Eric Morgan and Sue Loveday

As always, please check with the Societies’ website before planning to attend, since not all societies and organisations have returned to pre-covid conditions.

Wednesday 8th October, 2.30 pm. Mill Hill Historical Society. Trinity Church, 100, the Broadway, London.NW7 3TB. Brent Cross Town, An exciting new development in North London. Talk by Carol McNish. Please visit www.millhill-hs.org.uk

Saturday 1st November, 10.30 am. – 4.30 pm. Geologists’ Association Festival of Geology. Geological Society, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London. W1J 0BG. Free. Lots of stalls from Geological Societies from all over the country including The Amateur Geological Society selling jewellery, gems, fossils, rocks, minerals, books, maps, etc. Also talks. Please visit www.geologistsassociation.org.uk

Wednesday, 12th November. 2.30 pm. Mill Hill Historical Society. Trinity Church (address as for Wednesday8th October above). St. Lawrence Church, Little Stanmore (Handel’s Church). Talk by Stuart Cawthorn. Please visit www.millhill-hs.org.uk

Wednesday 12th November, 7.30 pm. Willesden Local History Society, St. Mary’s Church Hall, bottom of Neasden Lane (around corner from the Magistrates’ Court) London, NW10 2DZ. Volunteer for the International Brigade. Talk by Dave Chapple. The story of young Howard Andrews of Kilburn who joined the International Brigade in July 1936 to volunteer to fight in the Spanish Civil War against Fascism. Please visit www.willesden-local-history.co.uk for further details.

Friday 14th November, 7.30 pm. Enfield Archaeological Society, Jubilee Hall, 2 Parsonage Lane/Junction Chase Side, Enfield, EN2 0AJ. The Battle of Barnet, 1471. Talk by Peter Masters (Cranfield University).Please visit https://www.enfarchsoc.org/ for further details. Visitors charge £1.50, Refreshments to be available, Sales and Information from 7 pm.

Saturday 15th November, 10.30 am. – 5.30 pm. LAMAS Local History Conference. Wilberforce Room,London Museum at Docklands, West India Quay, off Hertsmere Road, London. E14 4AL. Food Glorious Food, on the theme of Food in London History. Conference starts at 11 am. Afternoon refreshments included. Tickets are £15 (£17.50 after 1st November or £20 in cash only on the day, subject to availability).For more information, including the full programme and to book online please visit www.lamas.org.uk/conferences-and-lates/ via the Events page.

Wednesday 19th November, 3 pm. Edmonton Hundred Historical Society. Jubilee Hall (address as for E.A.S. Friday 14th November, above). 150 years of Christ Church, Enfield Chase Side. Talk by Stephen Gilburt (Enfield Society). Please see Saturday 13th September in the August Newsletter.

Thursday 20th November 8 pm. Historical Association. Hampstead and N.W. London Branch. Fellowship House, 136A Willifield Way, London, NW11 6YD (off Finchley Road, Temple Fortune). The Armenian Genocide. Talk by Paula Kitchin, also on Zoom. Please email Dudley Miles (HADAS) on dudleyramiles@googlemail.com or telephone 07469 754075 for details of link and how to pay (there may be a voluntary charge of £5). Refreshments to be available.

Friday 21st November, 7.30 pm. Wembley History Society. St. Andrew’s Church Hall (behind St. Andrew’s new church) Church Lane, Kingsbury. London. NW9 8RZ. Victorian London’s Health Crisis. Talk by Rob Casey will show how water and sanitation infrastructure made London susceptible to water born disease. Visitors charge £3. Refreshments in the interval.

Wednesday 26th November, 7.30 pm. Friern Barnet and District Local History Society. North Middlesex Golf Club, the Manor House, Friern Barnet Lane, London. N20 0NL. How the Trains came to Barnet. Talk by Denis Bird (Barnet Local History Society). Please visit www.friern-barnethistory.org.uk. Non-members charge £2. A Bar will be available.

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With many thanks to this month’s contributors: Eric Morgan and Sue Loveday

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______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hendon and District Archaeological Society

Chair Sandra Claggett, c/o Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE
email : chairman@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Secretary Janet Mortimer 34 Cloister Road, Childs Hill, London NW2 2NP
(07449 978121), email: secretary@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Treasurer Roger Chapman, 50 Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QP (07855 304488)
email: treasurer@hadas.org.uk

Membership Sec. Jim Nelhams, 61 Potters Road, Barnet EN5 5HS (020 8449 7076)
email: membership@hadas.org.uk

Website: www.hadas.org.uk

HADAS is registered with the UK Charity Commission (Registration number 269949)

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sep 03

Love0

Newsletter 654 – September 2025

By Don Cooper HADAS, Latest Newsletter, News, Past Newsletters, Volume 12 : 2025-2029 No Comments

No. 654 September 2025 Edited by Sandra Claggett

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Tuesday October 14th 2025 Dr. Wendy Morrison – “Our Cross to Bare: Chalk carvings in the Central Chilterns”

Tuesday November 11th 2025 Dr. Signe Hoffos – “Pre Fire Churches of the City of London churches lost to the great fire of London in 1666” this replaces the previous lecture entitled “Lost Churches of the City of London: 500 years of City churches lost to fire, war and urban redevelopment” as this had been heard by members a few years ago.

No lecture in January 2026

Tuesday February 10th 2026 Dr James Bromwich. “Great archaeological discoveries and great archaeologists of France: Alexandre du Mège: a founder of archaeological research in France – or rogue?Léon Joulin: an outstanding intellect and a founder of modern archaeology. Émile Chénon: a leading nineteenth century lawyer with a love for archaeology. Sophie Krausz: in the forefront of twenty-first century archaeology and museum presentation”

Tuesday March 10th 2026 Les Capon from AOC Archaeology is back after his last very interesting lecture this time he will talk about archaeological material evidence from Bricks to Gold.

Tuesday April 14th 2026 Scott Harrison on “Behind the Battle of Barnet banners. People of the War of the Roses. The lives of people that fought at the Battle of Barnet and the life society and culture of the late fifteenth century.”

Lectures held in the Drawing Room, Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. 7.45 for 8pm.

Events news Janet Mortimer

Some HADAS members are going on a “bus pass” visit to the Secrets of the Thames exhibition at the London Museum in Docklands in early September. This will be on a Saturday and the cost of entry is from £16. If you are interested in joining them please email secretary@hadas.org.

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We are also going to hold another HADAS Open Day at Stephens House and Gardens, East End Road in
Finchley on Sunday 21st September between 10am and 4pm. Volunteers to help set up the stall from
9.30am and help out in the day would be very welcome.

Sandra Claggett

HADAS have been informed that they can visit Tudor Hall in High Barnet. This would be a rare opportunity to have access to a genuine Elizabethan building especially as the building is likely to be privately sold.

More information concerning the visit will be sent out to members as it is known. Meanwhile here is a link
to information on the building. Tudor Hall // High Living Barnet.

The following site phasing and Pottery Report is further analysis from HADAS 2024 excavation:

Church Road, Hendon, NW4, HADAS Excavation 2024, Site Code CVA24 Bill Bass

Part 3 Site Phasing – Andy Simpson and Tim Curtis

CVA 24 site phasing based on the Small Finds

Phase one – pre- Bennet’s School:
A fragment of pipe bowl is large enough to ascertain that its internal diameter at the rim would have been 16mm. The fragment is also large enough to ascertain that the bowl would have had an upright shape. This size together with its shape would indicate that it was probably manufactured during the 19th century. None of the pipe stems are datable but according to the National Pipe Archive NPA home
(NPA home) the bore hole size is consistent with pipes manufactured from the late 18th century.

Phase two – Bennet’s School 1766/72 – 1857:
Slate pencil frags, Trench 1 [001], Trench 2 [001] and Trench 3 [001].
Stove top, Trench 1 [003] small find 7.
Stoneware ink bottle Trench 3 [005], small find 18 contained in mortar floor.

Contexts [001] in trenches 1,2, and 3 is topsoil.

Phase three – Hendon Baptist Church/ Working Men’s Club:
Toast Rack, Trench 1 [003] small find 8.
Trench 1 [003] was an 18cm deep mortar layer – yellow/white mortar demolition layer.

Phase four – Kings Furniture Warehouse 1888-1937:
Furniture fitting, Trench 1 [003] small find 6.
Keyhole cover, Trench 1 [003] small find 19.

Phase five – WW2
(unknown use).

Phase six Public Open Space
Coins
2p 1975/ 20p 1993, Trench 1 [001].
1p 1980/10p 1995, Trench 2 [001].
1p 2001, Trench 2 [006].
Finger ring, Trench 1 [001].

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Dairy bottle Express Dairies, Trench 3 [001] small find 17.
Bottle base, Trench 3 [001] small find 16.
Milk bottle base, Trench 2 [001] small find 13.

CVA24 Church Road – Pottery Report – Trench 1 Melvyn Dresner

Trench 1
Context 001 (Topsoil)
Typical 19th and early 20th century domestic pottery, refined white earthenware (REFW) plate, circa 180mm, white stoneware (WHIST) jar base with 40mm diameter, and transfer printed ware (TPW2) tea cup, rim circa 80mm.

Context 002 (Demolition layer, silty clay and construction building material)
Mainly 19th and 18th century pottery including refined red earthenware, transfer printed ware (TPW 4, TPW Flow, TPW) plates with green decoration and flow blue, white salt-glazed stoneware (SWSG) cup and bowl, and London-area post medieval redware (PMR) flower pot and cookware.

Context 003 (and Context 004) both mortar layers
Context 003 includes English porcelain (ENPO) bowl, white salt-glazed stoneware (SWSG) and London
tin-glazed ware with pale blue glace (TGW Blue). This context also includes a REFW toast rack, ceramic
stove top, curtain pull and ceramic door furniture (key hole cover). The ENPO bowl has a rim dimension of
50mm, in three fragments circa 63% of the bowl recovered.

English porcelain from Context 003:

**Ceramic Door Furniture (Key hole cover)**
Rear view For scale (and inked up for the archive)

**Ceramic Door Furniture (Key hole cover)**
Front view

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Context 004
As noted silty clay similar or same as context 003. This included one fragment of English porcelain (ENPO)
saucer, hand painted, also clay pipe stem.

Context 005 (clay with bone and ceramic building material)
This context also included oyster shell and worked stone. Refined white earthenware (REFW) and London-
area post medieval redware (PMR), all forms unidentified apart from one PMR bowl with rim dimensions of 190mm.

A further article on the pottery report for this excavation will appear in a later newsletter.

Vine Cottages Excavation 2025 Catie Teodorescu

Introduction

Between the 31st of July and the 4th of August, members of HADAS and the public undertook a programme of trial trenching on the site of the Vine Cottages opposite the Greyhound pub in Hendon. This project was advertised as part of the Council for British Archaeology’s Festival of Archaeology, which, themed ‘archaeology and well-being,’ was well suited for the community focus of the project. The objectives of the excavation were as follows:

Establish the phasing, uses, occupation and development of Vine Cottages and the adjoining site (Church House — part of which appears to be on our open space site).
Establish likely date of construction of Vine Cottages
Establish whether there is evidence of earlier buildings and use of the site.
Understand the wider context and setting of Vine Cottages, drawing on previous historical and excavation work undertaken by HADAS and others.

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Historical Background

Research compiled by HADAS members prior to the excavation revealed that late Post-Medieval and early
modern buildings were well documented through historical maps, newspapers, and other documents — even including aerial photographs. There is not much evidence for archaeological remains from earlier periods on the site. St Mary’s church is of medieval fabric and includes Norman elements, and it is speculated that Hendon has Saxon roots based on its etymology. An excavation at Church Terrace in 1973/1974 uncovered early medieval features in the form of ditches and human remains near the Medieval church ground, but the finds were predominantly from the Post-Medieval period. The Historic Environment Records (HERs) showed a scattering of find spots of individual artefacts across the various historical periods within one kilometre from the site, but not many surviving monuments. The potential for prehistoric and Roman remains was low. The potential for Saxon and Medieval remains was moderate due to its location by the church, although it was likely that later development truncated older archaeological deposits. The potential for Post-Medieval and early modern remains was high, but the extent to which they survived phases of development and demolition was unclear.

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Historic Maps

The earliest historical representation of a building on the study site was in the James Crow Map of 1754.
Further details can be seen on the Hendon Tithe Map of 1840, the OS Maps in the 1860s, and the OS Maps in the 1890s.

Methodology

A baseline was laid on an east-west axis, and three trenches were laid in locations that would allow for an
overview of as much of the site as possible while staying clear of known service lines. Two trenches were
placed with their northern edge along the baseline and the third was aligned on its southern edge. All

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three trenches started as 1m by 1m squares and were extended to varying degrees throughout the excavation. All digging was done by hand, using mattocks, shovels, trowels, and even a spoon borrowed from The Greyhound pub. Single context recording was used to document archaeological deposits and features, and a stratigraphic matrix was kept for each trench. Multi-context plans were used in most cases, althoughcontexts which were seen uniformly within the trench were not planned.

Trench 1

Trench 1 was the easternmost of the three trenches, with its northern edge along the baseline. The wall
foundation (003), which has been interpreted as belonging to one of the outbuildings that can clearly be seen in the aerial photographs, was quickly uncovered. The inside of the outbuilding was found on the east side of the wall, where a large deposit of concrete (007) prevented further digging. A possible perpendicular wall (005) on the southern end of the trench was visible as well. The outside of the building on the west side was made up of rubbly deposits and contained a lead pipe which was not able to be removed. The trench was extended 50cm at a time, three times, until the modern concrete path stopped further expansion. A floor surface (008) was uncovered at a shallow depth, as well as a possible cut [012] in between this floor and the wall (005). The trench was extended a final time, this time 50cm to the south, in order to determine the extent of wall (005) and reveal whether the interpretation of cut [012] was accurate. This final extension revealed a small area inside the building with another lead pipe that may relate to outdoor toilets known to have existed on the site. Another, newer brick floor (011) bounded this on the west, and was levelled underneath with concrete that was likely the same as the deposit (007). The sequence could clearly be seen, with floor (008) as the older surface, and floor (011) being the newest levelled by concrete (007). The hardness of the early modern concrete made it impossible to dig to earlier levels, but the bottom of the wall was found on the outside. The presence of asbestos-containing materials in the southwestern corner stopped any further extension.

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Trench 2

Trench 2 was located in the middle of the site with its southern edge along the baseline. Just four layers
were found, and it was the only trench to definitively hit the natural ground at the bottom. The top layer,
(001), seemed to be garden soil which overlaid a rubbly layer (002) that may be related to demolition of
older structures or made ground. Beneath these thicker deposits, there were two pebble floor surfaces ((003) and (004)) that could have been garden paths or other outdoor surface areas. The trench was extended 50cm to the east when the first floor (003) was found. Both floors continued beyond the extension. The natural was hit about 80cm deep into the trench and was composed of clay densely packed with pebbles.

Trench 3
Trench 3 was located on the western end of the site with its northern edge along the baseline, and had the challenge of being bisected by a large tree root. It contained a similar initial deposit (001) of darker coloured soil, possibly from the garden areas of the cottages, that was found in Trench 2. This was covering a pebble surface (002) overlying made ground containing rubble (003). Underneath this layer, a post-hole [005] and a stake-hole [007] were cut into yellowy clay (009). This clay was only in the southwest part of the trench, next to a darker brown clay (008). The relationship between the two deposits was unclear at this point, so trench 3 was then extended 50cm south. Two different surfaces were found, which both seemed to end exactly where the original limit of excavation had been. The levelling layer (011) between the two floors contained a large variety of broken pot and other domestic finds. The older surface (012) also contained a stoneware bottle and was overlying the same yellow clay layer that was found in the original extent of the trench. It was discovered that the yellow clay (009) was on top of the brown (008), and there was a narrow deep cut on the western edge of the trench. The extent of this feature was not able to be excavated fully, but interestingly, two Anglo-Saxon finds were discovered one

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was a pin head and the other a spiral glass bangle. It is clear that the archaeology was disturbed by later Post-Medieval development, but it is possible that this deep feature could relate to older activity on the site. It is unclear whether the natural was reached in this trench.

Conclusion
Now that the fieldwork has ended, the finds and paperwork will be processed. Finds will be washed, sorted, and analysed for evidence to help date deposits or learn more about life in the cottages. The context sheets, plans, and matrices will be assessed to gain a deeper insight on the chronology of the site and the relationship between the features that were excavated. This work is being done on Sunday mornings.

Finally, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who took part in this project and supported it
throughout. Having only just been elected Field Officer in the last couple months, it was an exciting
challenge to jump headfirst into the role. A special thank you to Roger and Bill for organising this project
from the start. To everyone who came to dig, including our five new members, I hope you all enjoyed it as
much as I did! I look forward to providing updates as we analyse the findings.

Jurassic-era winged reptile found on Skye Stewart Wild

A new species of flying dinosaur has been discovered on the Isle of Skye. The winged reptile lived between 168 and 166 million years ago, during the Middle Jurassic period, and has been named Ceoptera evansae by palaeontologists.

It was first unearthed during a field trip in 2006, when excavations revealed an incomplete skeleton made up of the shoulders, wings, legs and backbone. Almost two decades of work at the village of Elgol have
involved preparing the fossil and making scans of the bones, some of which remain embedded in the rock. Researchers say the specimen belongs to the group of pterosaurs known as Darwinoptera, with many similar dinosaurs found in China.

The Skye individual is rare, the scientists say, and could help shed light on the evolution of pterosaurs. The study, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, suggests that Darwinoptera may have been more diverse than previously thought, living for more than 25 million years.

Professor Paul Barrett, a researcher at the Natural History Museum, said, “Ceoptera helps to narrow down
the timing of several major events in the evolution of flying reptiles. Its appearance in the Middle Jurassic
was a complete surprise, as most of its close relatives are from China.

“It shows that the advanced group of flying reptiles to which it belongs appeared earlier than we thought and quickly gained an almost worldwide distribution.”

Ceoptera evansae gets its name from the Scottish Gaelic word cheo meaning mist or fog, and the
Greek/Latin word ptera meaning wing. The second part, evansae, honours Professor Susan Evans, a British
palaeontologist, for her years of scientific work, especially on Skye.

SOURCE: Daily Telegraph, 6 February 2025.

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Flying dinosaur fossils unearthed Stewart Wild

The fossilised remains of North America’s oldest known flying dinosaur – dating back more than 200
million years – have been unearthed.

Researchers say the “seagull-sized” pterosaur would have been small enough to comfortably perch on a
person’s shoulder.

Pterosaurs lived alongside other dinosaurs, as well as frogs and turtles, and were the first vertebrates to
evolve powered flight. The jawbone of the new pterosaur species was discovered alongside hundreds of
other fossils, including one of the world’s oldest turtle fossils, at a remote bonebed in Petrified Forest
National Park, Arizona.

The fossils, dating back to the late Triassic period about 209 million years ago, preserve a “snapshot” of a
dynamic ecosystem where older groups of animals, including giant amphibians and armoured crocodile
relatives, lived alongside evolutionary “upstarts” such as frogs, turtles and pterosaurs.

SOURCE: Daily Telegraph, 8 July 2025

Roman coin haul sells for £27k Stewart Wild

A hoard of Roman silver coins that were discovered by a grandfather and grandson metal detectorists has
sold for more than £27,000. The 374 Denarii coins were unearthed on North Yorkshire farmland by Ray
Stobbs, 50, and his 10-year-old grandson Thomas.

Mr Stobbs, a welding supplies salesman from Middlesbrough, dug down 12 inches and uncovered a broken pot that is believed to have been buried for safekeeping in the second century BC by a Roman soldier. The hoard was found in June 2021 in a field near the village of Little Busby. “We are over the moon with the results,” said Mr Stobbs.

SOURCE: Sunday Telegraph, 30 March 2025

Note: Suspect Telegraph proofreading. Surely AD not BC.

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OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS Eric Morgan

As always, please check with the Societies’ website before planning to attend, since not all Societies and organisations have returned to pre-covid conditions.

Wednesday 17th September, 7.30 pm. Willesden Local History Society – St. Mary’s Church Hall, bottomof Neasden Lane (Round corner from the Magistrates’ Court) London, NW10 2DZ. Cricklewood Library: A History. Talk by Sally Long on how a much loved Community Asset had survived closure and re-building, thanks to the efforts of local residents in Cricklewood. For further details please visit www.willesden-local-history.co.uk.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

*Until Thursday 30th October, London Archives, 40 Northampton Road, London. EC1R0HB. London in WW2. Free (Closed Fridays and Sundays). Explores experiences of Londoners during WW2 and the effect it had on the City, using bomb damage maps,diaries, art works, and photos.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tuesday 7th October, 11 am. Enfield Society. Jubilee Hall, 2 Parsonage Lane/Junction Chase Side,Enfield. EN2 0AJ. Unlocking Broomfield. Talk by John Cole (Trustee) on a project focussing on Broomfield Park and House. Please visit www.enfieldsociety.org.uk. Non-member charge £1.

Friday 10th October, 7.30 pm. Enfield Archaeological Society. Talk on zoom. Tudor coin hoards in England and Wales. By Murray Andrews (U.C.L). Please visit www.enfarchsoc.org.uk for further details and link.

Monday 13th October, 3 pm. Barnet Museum and Local History Society. St. John the Baptist Church, Chipping Barnet, Corner High Street/2 Wood Street, Barnet EN5 4BW. London Colney Airfield and the Royal Flying Corps. Talk by Guy Thomas. Please visit www.barnetmuseum.co.uk for further details.Refreshments available afterwards. Visitors charge £2.

Wednesday 15th October. 7.30 pm. Willesden Local History Society. St. Mary’s Church Hall (address as for Wednesday 17th September). Street Signs in Willesden. Talk by Simon Morris (London Topographical Society). How Willesden and neighbouring parishes chose and erected them and how local residents reacted to them.

Thursday 16th October. 8 pm. Historical Association- Hampstead and N.W. London Branch.Fellowship House, 136A Willifield Way, London. NW11 6YD (off Finchley Road, Temple Fortune) History of Backchannel Talks and Nascent Peace Processes in Northern Ireland. Talk by Dr. Tony Craig.

Looks at secret Backchannels in their wider form as used in Northern Ireland to communicate with both Republican and Loyalist Para-militaries and to evaluate their role in both guiding and as part of a wider Government strategy. Also on Zoom. Please email Dudley Miles (HADAS) on dudleyramiles@googlemail.com or telephone 07469 754075 for details of link and how to pay (there may bea voluntary charge of £5). Refreshments available.

Friday 17th October, 7.30 pm. Wembley History Society. St. Andrew’s Church Hall (behind St. Andrew’s new church) Church Lane, Kingsbury, London. NW9 8RZ. A Scrapbook History of 40 years of Barn Hill Conservation Group. Talk by Maria Gold (Barn Hill Conservation Group) on a potted history of their work. Visitors charge £3. Refreshments available.

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Wednesday 22nd October, 7.30 pm. Friern Barnet and District Local History Society. North Middlesex Golf Club, the Manor House, Friern Barnet Lane, London N20 0NL. The Miners’ Strike. Talk by NickJones. Please visit www.friernbarnethistory.org.uk for further details. Non-members charge £2. Bar to be available.

Thursday 30th October, 7.30 pm. Finchley Society. Drawing Room, Avenue (Stephens’) House, 17 EastEnd Road, London. N3 3QE. Jean Scott Memorial Lecture. Talk by Frank Kelsall on the life of the Society’s founder. For further details please visit www.finchleysociety.org.uk. Non-members charge £2. Refreshments in the interval.

Thanks to our contributors this month: Bill Bass, Eric Morgan, Janet Mortimer, Melvyn Dresner, CatieTeodorescu and Stewart Wild.

Hendon and District Archaeological Society

Chair Sandra Claggett, c/o Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE
email : chairman@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Secretary Janet Mortimer 34 Cloister Road, Childs Hill, London NW2 2NP
(07449 978121), email: secretary@hadas.org.uk

Hon. Treasurer Roger Chapman, 50 Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QP (07855 304488)
email: treasurer@hadas.org.uk

Membership Sec. Jim Nelhams, 61 Potters Road, Barnet EN5 5HS (020 8449 7076)
email: membership@hadas.org.uk

Website: www.hadas.org.uk

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No. 662 May 2026 Edited by Sue Willetts

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Subscriptions

Treasurer Role

Vine Cottages – Dig in July

The Clay Tobacco Pipes from West Heath

Salonika Campaign – The Finchley Connection

Bibliography

Other Societies’ Events

Contact Details

Recent Posts

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No. 663 June 2026 Edited by Melvyn Dresner

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Subscriptions

Treasurer Role

Vine Cottages – Dig in July

Vine Cottage Hendon (VCH 25) Glass Report

Vine Cottage Hendon (VCH 25) Ceramic Building Material Report

Archaeologists Finish Four-Year Jigsaw Puzzle to Reveal Roman Paintings

Hidden Cave Under Castle with Prehistoric Hippo Bones is a ‘Once in a Lifetime’ Find

Behind the Battle of Barnet Banners: People of the War of the Roses

From the Basement Room

Other Societies’ Events

Contact Details

No. 662 May 2026 Edited by Sue Willetts

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Subscriptions

Treasurer Role

Vine Cottages – Dig in July

The Clay Tobacco Pipes from West Heath

Salonika Campaign – The Finchley Connection

Bibliography

Other Societies’ Events

Contact Details

No. 661 April 2026 Edited by Sue Willetts

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Subscriptions

Barnet Medieval Festival

Update on the Proposed Trip to Derbyshire

Whalebones Park, Barnet

What Did the Romans Ever Do for Us? They Brought Cats to Britain.

Other Societies’ Events

Exhibition

Contact Details

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

CLAY PIPE REPORT FROM VINE COTTAGES DIG (VCH25) Sue Trackman

HADAS AFTERNOON TEA Andy Simpson

Extraordinary archaeological finds unearthed during works for HS2 Stewart Wild

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS Eric Morgan

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

THE APRIL HADAS TRIP SUE LOVEDAY

LAST DAYS OF POMPEII JANET MORTIMER

THE SANDERS LANE BRIDGE ANDY SIMPSON

Membership Matters

RETURN TO CLITTER HOUSE ANDY SIMPSON

Other Societies’ Events Eric Morgan

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming lectures and Events

PROPOSED HADAS TRIP 23 APRIL 2026 Sue Loveday

Rutland Barbara Thomas

The Archaeology of Rapa Nui by Sandra Claggett

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS compiled by Eric Morgan

HADAS Festive Afternoon Tea Sunday 18th January 2026

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming lectures and Events

HADAS members visit to Tudor Hall in Barnet on 23rd October 2025 Don Cooper

HADAS bus pass outing to London Docklands Museum

CVA24 Church Road – Pottery Report – Trench 2 and Trench 3. Melvyn Dresner

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS Eric Morgan

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

PROPOSED HADAS TRIP 2026 DATE. April 3 nights, 4 days Sue Loveday

Open day Janet Mortimer

CVA24 Church Road – Pottery Report – Trench 1 Melvyn Dresner

Bat roosts may halt study of Marlborough Mound Stewart Wild

Ancient Egyptian’s handprint found on clay model Stewart Wild

Exhibitions

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS Eric Morgan

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming lectures and events

Events news

Images of St Pancras Old Church, Kings Cross: A Worthwhile Site to Visit. Robin Densem

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS Eric Morgan and Sue Loveday

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Events news Janet Mortimer

The following site phasing and Pottery Report is further analysis from HADAS 2024 excavation:

Church Road, Hendon, NW4, HADAS Excavation 2024, Site Code CVA24 Bill Bass

CVA24 Church Road – Pottery Report – Trench 1 Melvyn Dresner

Vine Cottages Excavation 2025 Catie Teodorescu

Jurassic-era winged reptile found on Skye Stewart Wild

Flying dinosaur fossils unearthed Stewart Wild

Roman coin haul sells for £27k Stewart Wild

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS Eric Morgan

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HADAS Festive Afternoon Tea Sunday 18^th January 2026