Past Newsletters

HADAS Diary

Saturday 20 July Outing: FLAG FEN AND LONGTHORPE TOWER with Tessa Smith and Sheila Woodward, At Flag Fen we shall see the latest developments at one of the largest collections of bronze age artefacts in Europe; and at Longthorpe Tower the remains of a fortified manor with the finest examples of 14th c domestic wallpaintings in Northern Europe.

Saturday 17 August Outing: FARNHAM/WAVERLEY ABBEY with Bill Bass and Vicki O’Connor

Thur/Fri/Sat/Sun 4 DAY VISIT TO CORNWALL. We have had a good response to this

29/30/31 August/ 1st Sept and the group is full. Names for the waiting list are welcome, we had several late cancellations last year.

(Tel: Dorothy 203 0950).

Saturday 28 September Outing: WHITECHAPEL/BELL FOUNDRY with Mary O’Connell

DIGGERS WANTED S.O.S. from Vikki O’Connor

Excavation News: Oh, come all ye faithful!

The two trenches currently under excavation at the rear of Church Farmhouse Museum have reached their initial objectives insofar as the eastern trench has revealed the continuation of the ditch with its medieval fill (as found in 1993) and the western trench has now reached the level of the ‘old land surface’ and appears to contain the gulley which ran along the northernmost trench excavated three years ago.

Work will continue within these trenches, after which we shall open a third trench close to the area where post holes and ditches were found in 1993.

This new trench, which will be quite large and deep, will require a good size team of excavators, as will the possibility of opening a fourth trench nearer the pond, and you are therefore reminded that the success of the Society’s fieldwork does depend on volunteers. Our initial response of 14 volunteers has dwindled somewhat. There is also the need for a processing team to undertake the washing and labelling of finds. We shall be at the Farmhouse every Sunday until the end of July and on certain weekdays as well, depending on the response. So please contact Brian Wrigley on 959 5982 or Roy Walker on if you are interested in assisting in the excavation.

The Amazing Discovery of the Coelacanth by Stewart J. Wild

Many HADAS members will, I feel sure, be aware of the bizarre discovery of the coelacanth, the prehistoric fish that was thought to be extinct until a specimen was caught off South Africa in 1938, and again near the Comores Islands in 1952.

On a recent trip I was able to inspect and photograph a coelacanth in the museum in Moroni, Grand Comore, and learnt more of the fascinating story behind the discovery of this amazing deep-sea relic of prehistory.

The coelacanth gets its name from the Greek coelus akantha, meaning ‘hollow spine’. Fossil records show that the species appeared over 350 million years ago, and was abundant over much of the world. It might well have been amphibious, and members-of its related but extinct suborder Rhipidistia are generally considered to have been the ancestors of land vertebrates.

Present-day coelacanths are bigger than most fossil coelacanths, and are powerful predators with heavy, mucilaginous bodies and highly mobile, limblike fins. It was long supposed that they became extinct, like the dinosaurs, about 60 million years ago, but in 1938 a dead, evil-smelling specimen was caught by trawlermen off East London, South Africa.

This would probably have been the end of the matter had it not been for the earlier efforts of a South African scholar, Professor Smith, who was passionately interested in the creatures of the sea, and established marine museums along the South African coast, including one at East London. He encouraged trawlermen to hand in any unusual finds, and employed a keen young curator at East London by the name of Marjorie Courtney-Latimer.

So it was that the strange rotting fish, four and a half feet long, was brought to the museum at East London, where Marjorie measured and sketched it and wrote excitedly to the Professor that an extinct fish seemed to have appeared. The species was named Latimeria chalumnae, the first part to honour Marjorie, and the second after the river estuary at East London near where the fish was found.Professor Smith spent the war years working on his book Fishes of South Africa which was published in 1949. The following year, he distributed posters along the coast offering a reward of £100 for any coelacanth specimen that was brought to his notice. Then in December 1952, a schooner skipper from Zanzibar netted a dead coelacanth while fishing off the Comores Islands, and sent Smith an urgent telegram from Mayotte.

The professor had just arrived in Durban aboard a Union Castle liner, but it was the week before Christmas, and there was no way to reach Dzaoudzi, Mayotte’s main port. Smith was desperate, and through the intervention of a Durban MP, Prime Minister Dr Malan was persuaded of the importance of the find, and agreed to place an Air Force Dakota at the professor’s disposal.

So it was that on Christmas Eve the professor and his wife landed on the grass strip at Pamanzi Island, Mayotte, eager to feast their eyes at last on this prehistoric wonder. Capt. Hunt had packed the fish in salt, and the professor flew back to Durban with his trophy.

This specimen, which apparently lacked a dorsal fin, was named Melanie Anjouanae, honouring Dr Malan and the Comores island of Anjouan, where it was found, although subsequently it was found to be exactly the same species as Latimeria chalumnae which is the only Latin name now used. Professor Smith later wrote about the fish in a book entitled Old Four Legs.

Since that time, six more coelacanths have been found; the most recent was caught off Madagascar last year. A specimen has been on display in London’s Natural History Museum since 1955.

About ten years ago a National Geographic expedition used a special submarine to look for coelacanths off the Comores Islands. Some were found living at depths between 550ft and 650ft, and their total numbers were estimated to be no more than 100, so they are truly an endangered species.

It just goes to show that our World is still full of secrets – what other prehistoric wonders might be there be lurking in the depths of the oceans?

HADAS outing to Rye and Bodiam by Vikki O’Connor

Our first stop was at Sutton Valence, Kent, a village built in terraces on a ridge overlooking the Weald, although the mists somewhat obscured our view that day. Bill Wilson, a master at Sutton Valence School, gave us a short talk and walk, pointing out that the school of some 350 pupils, now including girls, has acquired other buildings in the village for its history and art departments at the old church and the Almshouses. The School was founded by clothworker William Lambe in 1576 (Lamb’s Conduit Street in London was named after him because he was responsible for the bringing of fresh water to Holborn in 1577).

He also donated six almshouses to Sutton Valence in 1580. Many of the older buildings in this charming village are white weather-boarded, and it has a fair sprinkling of public houses. However, we settled for coffee at the Swan Inn; the Landlady has only recently taken over, but she believed an inn on that site originated in the 13th century. A few people found time to trek up the hill to the remains of the Norman keep, an 8′ thick ragstone structure, and another couple of members were fortunate to get invited by a friendly villager to have a peek inside his house!

Our coach driver took us at an un-bumpy, steady pace (such a change from London buses!) to another hilly destination – The Ancient Town of Rye. The coach dropped us off beside the old Warehouses opposite the Quay on the River Tillingham and we first looked at the displays in the Tourist Centre to get our bearings. The Centre has acquired the Rye Town Model, built by a local couple in only four years, after much research, to represent Rye in the last century. The model is used to demonstrate the development of the town, using artfully placed spotlights, internal lighting and an informative commentary. Rye was one of the seven head ports, or Cinque Ports and Two Ancient Towns – whose duty was to provide ships for the Royal fleet. Rye is enclosed by three rivers, the Rother, the Brede and the Tillingham and on the fourth side the Ashford to Hastings railway line. It is fortunate in having kept the 20th century, if not at bay, then under control. The streets are uncluttered by bill boards, pavement advertising signs, neon intrusions, fast-food litter, satellite dishes, etc. Rye appears to be thriving – local industries include boat-building, fishing, pottery making, electronics, etc. The many tea shops are competing for attention with the largest cakes I’ve ever seen on a HADAS outing – slices of three-decker chocolate, coffee or vanilla cake at least 6″ tall! Another important industry was the smuggling ‘trade’, stemming from Edward I’s imposition of import and export taxes, and thriving until Victorian times when it was curtailed by free trade and public disapproval. Smuggling was known locally as `owling’ because of the bird calls used as signals. Illegal exports included wool, cloth, leather, gold, silver and guns, and wine, spirits, tobacco, tea, coffee, chocolate, silks and lace were amongst the imports. We walked up Mermaid Street, past the Mermaid Inn, a favoured haunt of the 18th century Hawkhurst Gang – a local smuggling fraternity.

Our party re-formed at the Gungarden – a former gun emplacement now occupied by ornamental cannon, for a guided tour with a lady (I apologize for not having caught her name) who had stepped in to replace a colleague at the last minute. We looked at the Ypres Tower, built around 1250 as a fortification; it has subsequently been used as a dwelling, prison, mortuary and presently the Rye Museum. Unfortunately, the roof needs vital repairs and until the local authority obtains funds, the museum will remain closed.

The town has attracted many well-known poets and authors: Henry James; H G Wells; Kipling; Belloc; G K Chesterton. E F Benson also stayed here and his Mapp & Lucia stories were actually filmed in Rye. There are, however, plenty of real stories to entertain as our guide told us of gruesome goings-on. A monk from the Augustinian Friary (built in 1379) eloped with Amanda, the daughter of a local merchant who lived in the Tower House nearby, but the couple were caught, brought back and bricked-up alive together. People claim to have seen Amanda’s ghost in her house, and the monk’s ghost was said to have become a turkey and was heard in Turkey Cock Lane. We heard how two skeletons were in fact discovered behind a bricked up wall and that they were re-buried in the churchyard and, of course, the ghosts have now disappeared. Another gruesome tale was that of local butcher/innkeeper by the name of Breads who, bearing a grudge against the local magistrate James Lamb, set out to stab him to death in the churchyard. However, it was Lamb’s brother-in-law Allen Grebell who died because he had borrowed Lamb’s cloak. Breads was hanged and chained to a gibbet and his skull, still within the gibbet cage now resides in the Town Hall.

None of our party were impressed to learn of the medieval custom of the Mayor and Councillors of throwing of hot pennies to the local children from the Town Hall windows. The race not to the swiftest but to the asbestos coated?

Lamb House was built by James Lamb 1722-3, who was mayor of Rye thirteen times. I was unable to establish whether William Lambe, the clothworker of Sutton Valence and London, was related to the Rye Lambs. Can anyone enlighten me?

The Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin sits at the summit of the town, and the tale of the bells is ‘told’ with pride. In 1377 the French attacked Rye, torched the 12/13th century church and captured the church bells. Next year Rye and Winchelsea sent a force to Normandy, recapturing and restoring the bells.

Our last port of call – Bodiam Castle – was accompanied by a summer shower. After cake and several cups of tea, we walked over to the moated castle, noting that a small entrance faced the river presumably for boats only, but the main entrance is on the far side, and the straight approach over the moat originally dog-legged in from one side. The castle was built in 1385, when Sir Edward Dalyngrydge was granted a licence to crenellate.

Much of the structure remains intact, making it possible to picture what life there could have been like – probably very busy and quite noisy, with up to 200 people when visitors and entourage arrived. Most of us tried to shelter in a little room to watch a video on medieval life but the rain soon eased off and the warm air had dried off the excess damp by the time we returned to the coach. Our thanks to Micky Cohen and Micky Watkins for selecting three picturesque and interesting places for this outing, and for those members who have not yet visited Rye – recommended!

FLAG FEN :

A report in the GUARDIAN on 30 May reveals a new theory about the Fen. Frances Pryor suggests that the small Bronze Age fields around the site are evidence of inten­sive sheep rearing (thousands of animals) and therefore of a much larger population than envisaged up to now.

A full report will appear in ‘Antiquity’. Frances Pryor expects to be slaughtered by unconvinced colleagues

FROM THE NEWSPAPERS

MEXICO : What could be the earliest sporting facility in the world – a court on which the ball was bounced off two walls -­3,500 years ago. Losers were sacrificed (TIMES – 11 June)

COVENT GARDEN : evidence of a lost Saxon city beneath the Opera House, west of Roman Londinium. Archaeology could hold up redevelopment of the site – a dilemma for the Opera House and the Museum of London. (SUNDAY TIMES – 9 JUNE)

IRELAND, DRUMANAGH : A coastal headland with rampart and ditch fortification may have been a major trading station – not Roman occupied. (TIMES – 20 JUNE) See also NEWSLETTER of February ’96.

AVBURY : Stones farthest from the village have been vandalised with daubed symbols; security is a problem in a site so open and dispersed. (TIMES – 20 JUNE)

MOROCCAN SAHARA : Dinosaur, the largest ever found, dated to 90 million years ago. A skull over 5 feet long implying a body 45 feet long : This is the first Dinosaur find in Africa. Previous discoveries confined to North and South America. This report in the DAILY TELEGRAPH of 17 May, was illustrated by a fearsome photograph of a reconstruction of this monster’s skull, dwarfing a human skull superimposed on the lower jaw of the dinosaur. Below is reproduced a diagram which also accompanied the report – showing a tiny man about the size of half the leg of the creature which once roamed Morocco’s Sahara when it was a vast flood plain laced with rivers, edged by coniferous trees.

No. 304 AUGUST 1996 Edited by Peter Pickering

DIARY

Saturday 17 August Outing: Farnham/Waverley Abbey – Bill Bass & Vikki O’Connor

Thurs/Fri/S at/Sun Four-day visit to Cornwall. We have had a good response to this and

29/30/31 Aug the group is full and booked in at hotels. Names for the waiting list are

and 1 Sept welcome: ‘phone Dorothy Newbury: 203 0950. (Last year there were

several late cancellations)

Saturday 28 September Outing: Whitechapel Bell Foundry Mary O’Connell

Tuesday 8 October Lecture: The Temple of Mithras & Cripplegate Fort – John Shepherd

Saturday 12 October MINIMART

NEW MEMBERS

The committee would like to welcome the following new members who have joined HADAS this year:- lain Macmillan, Ron and Louise Glover, Linda Barrow, James Lonsdale, Ernest Kirk, Joyce Fisher, Ray Gibbs, Dr David Grant, Jack Richardson, Michael Hooper, Miss C Troddyn (rejoined), Angela Gill and Tim Gillott. Some of these new members came along to our recent dig. Perhaps other new members would like to introduce themselves to members of the committee at meetings or outings or our famous Minimart.

MILL HILL WORKHOUSE

There is a lot of interest in the Bulletin of the Mill Hill Historical Society, and we are indebted to Richard Nicholls of that Society for sending it to us. Here is a section entitled “Did you know that Mill Hill once had a workhouse?”

The Middlesex Records show that in 1712 there was a workhouse in Mill Hill situated near Ridgeway House – probably at the top of what is now Wills Grove. It would have been a cottage owned or rented in the name of the Hendon Overseers of the Poor to house paupers. There was also one such cottage on Highwood Hill (location unknown), and two at the Hale, of which the last was sold in 1837. This was in addition to the almshouses at the top of Milespit Hill.

The Mill Hill workhouse was not in use for very long. A much larger one was opened in the Burroughs in 1735. It was mostly for orphan children who helped to maintain themselves by spinning flax and weaving threads into sheets. As the name suggests these were workhouses. Exactly one hundred years later in terms of the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 Hendon joined with Harrow, Pinner, Edgware, Kingsbury, Willesden, and Great and Little Stanmore to form a “Union”, as such shared workhouses were known in Victorian times. A substantial redbrick building in Tudor style was erected at Redhill, roughly where the Edgware Hospital car park is now. It could accommodate no fewer than 350 paupers.

In 1859 a school was built for 150 pauper children, and then in 1865 an infirmary. The Medical Officer from 1877 was Dr W Blasson who lived in Partingdale Lane and was also Medical Officer to Mill Hill School. In 1889 it became necessary to enlarge the workhouse. But after the war the need declined, and with all such institutions it was closed in 1930. As the Redhill Institution the building was not demolished until 1971 when it was replaced by a block of flats. Meanwhile in 1937 Redhill Hospital had been built and in terms of the National Health Service in 1948 it became Edgware General Hospital.

It might also be recalled that for twenty-five years the house which is now known as Highwood Ash was used to accommodate pauper children. In 1819 Thomas Nicholl, who lived at Copt Hall but also owned the house, let it to the Overseers of the Poor of the parish of St Martin’s in the Fields for the housing of poor homeless infants under the care of matrons. It is recorded that at one time as many as forty-seven children and sixteen adults were accommodated there.

SOLDIERS SLAIN AT THE BATTLE OF BARNET

Jeannie Cobban wrote an interesting piece in the April Newsletter about the burial of soldiers slain in the Battle of Barnet, and the chantry chapel that Edward IV is said to have erected near the burials. Cyril Pentecost has now drawn attention to a fascinating passage in “One Hundred Years of Playing the Game”, a history of Finchley Football Club edited by Harold Whiddon and published in 1974. According to that book, in the days of Totteridge Park School (who were original founder members of the Football Association), a “house on Totteridge Common called ‘Montebello’ and previously called Lincoln Lodge” was the home of the Headmaster. “The school was opposite the long ponds, and the house still remains (1971). On each side of the entrance gates are pillars on which are mounted stone eagles whilst the famous playing fields are at the rear. Incidentally deep in the grounds is a mound reputed to be the burial place of many soldiers killed in the Wars of the Roses, Battle of Barnet, April 14th, 1471”

THAMES FORESHORE SURVEY

At our April meeting Mike Webber told us about the Thames Foreshore survey. According to the Guardian of 5th July this survey has discovered the remains of a Tudor jetty used by Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and the diarist Samuel Pepys. Perhaps when the survey has been completed we shall have another talk reporting on all the discoveries.

SITE WATCHING Bill Bass

Tree Planting at Whitings Hill Open Space, Barnet

This is an area of fields and open land south-east of Chipping Barnet, probably used as farm/pasture land for many years and known also as part of Barnet Common until Barnet’s Enclosure Act of 1815.

The fields are defined by NCR:

a) 22739552 b) 22909562

c) 22979512 d) 23299542 e) 23029546

and

a) 22709500 b) 22979512

c) 22759482 d) 23059499

(field adjacent to Mays Lane)

The trees were planted from November 1995 to April 1996 as part of the Watling Chase Forest Scheme and also by the Woodland Trust. ‘Compartments’ were marked out in the above areas.

Several methods were used to plant the trees including: digging/augering of pits, and insertion into 2-3m wide strips of rotavated topsoil.Beneath the grass, most observation revealed a layer of approx 20-30cm of clayey topsoil which sits on top of natural London Clay; generally there were little or no finds.

Pits (60 cm sq x 60cm deep), dug into the north and east sides of Whitings Hill itself, revealed some finds of Victorian or modern pottery (china and stoneware), window/bottle glass and clay pipe. Some of the ground here was thought to be made-up, as there was a lack of topsoil and the subsoil appeared `graded’; this may be due to a possible levelling of the surrounding area.

The large field adjacent to Mays Lane had many hundreds of trees planted. The nature of the planting (narrow augered holes) made it difficult to see the underlying subsoil, but inspection of several post-holes showed a slightly deeper topsoil at approx 40-50cm, again directly above the natural clay. The only finds to be seen were scattered modern building materials on the surface.

. . . and the digger wends his weary way home . .

THE END OF CFM 96 Roy Walker

The second phase of our excavation at Church Farm House Museum, Hendon, has now concluded and it is pleasing to note that all three “matters requiring further investigation” listed in the Interim report produced after Phase 1 have been further investigated. Here is a very brief summary, which will be followed by a detailed report once post-excavation work has been completed. This should be read in conjunction with the CFM93 interim report (Newsletter No 279 of June 1994).

Three trenches were opened, one continuing further west of the old land surface, another on the line of the mediaeval ditch and the third within the known area of the old land surface close to where features cutting it had been found previously. These trenches were numbered 4, 5 and 6 to avoid confusion with trenches 1, 2 and 3 of CFM93.

Trench 4: The old land surface was located beneath garden and cultivation soils. Beneath were two gullies, which it filled; one gulley terminated within the trench, and the other ran beyond it Both were orientated EM/ The sandy “drift” located further east was not present. Disappointingly there was no dating evidence recovered from within this trench.

Trench 5: A three metre stretch of the mediaeval ditch was located, the fill excavated, and the cut exposed. It ran N/S rising as it neared the farmhouse. Many shards of mediaeval pottery were recovered together with possible Roman tile.

Trench 6: Due to lack of time, it was only possible to expose a small area of the old land surface which was at a far greater depth than that in trench 4 owing to the overlying depth of drift, i.e. the sandy soil that had drifted onto the old land surface from some distance away. There were no features.

Auger survey: A gridded, auger survey was conducted to build up a picture of the stratigraphy outside the excavated areas, correlating the results with known contexts. It confirmed that the mediaeval ditch excavated in trench 5 continued north and south of that trench.

On the logistics side, we worked ten Sundays and managed an additional eight weekdays including one Saturday. A total of twenty-seven volunteers contributed to the work, some for only a day, others for longer, including five non-members – Greg Hunt, Nilam Naidu, Daniel Seedburgh, Daniel Susman and Tessa Smith’s grandson (who assisted with the pot-washing). We thank Susan Bates, Jean Bayne, Graham Bromley, Tony Crawley, Ray Gibbs, Helen Gordon, David Grant, Victor Jones, Tom Real, Denis Ross, Kim Russell, Tessa Smith, and Stewart Wild

for their assistance and hope to see all of them again on future excavations. It is appreciated that it is not always possible to commit oneself to every Sunday for two months but any additional help is very welcome and it is rewarding for the regulars to know that they are not alone when it comes to this aspect of the Society’s work. The basic team comprised Brian Wrigley (site director and )/C augering), supervisors Roy Walker (trench 4), Bill Bass (trench 5) and Gareth Bartlett (trench 6), Brian McCarthy, Andy Naidu (HADAS’s only junior member), Vikki O’Connor, Peter Pickering and Andy Simpson.

We are grateful to the London Borough of Barnet for allowing us once again to excavate at the Farmhouse and especially to Gerrard and Derek at the Museum for their tolerance and patience during our disruptive works.

PREHISTORIC SOCIETY CONFERENCE JUNE 1996 – ST IVES Brian Wrigley

I think we can say that HADAS was well represented at this Conference by six members, forming about one-eighth of the party. We were made very welcome by members of the Cornwall Archaeological Unit (CAU), some of whom we shall I think be seeing again on HADAS’s forthcoming trip.

From the seminar on the opening day, one gained an impressive view of the richness of Cornwall’s archaeology, with visible land patterns dating from mediaeval times commonplace, and many from prehistoric times – so that detailed survey of them, and of their relationships is very rewarding, and is being eagerly pursued by CAU. The sort of research framework, one might say, which many would dearly love to be able to achieve in London! (No-one mentioned PPG16 in Cornwall!)

And so for the next four days we travelled round to see some of these landscapes and monuments. I cannot mention them all, but must make a selection.

Leskernick, on Bodmin Moor, is an area of presumed Bronze Age settlement in roundhouses (outlines still visible), with stone circles and a stone row, amid higher ground seemingly in every direction, nearly every peak of which has its stone (ritual?) monument. Survey of the settlement was going on whilst we were there, and it was really amazing to see the strings and tapes measuring this enormous surviving ancient landscape.

Then further to the south on Bodmin Moor, in the area of The Hurlers (three stone circles in line), are The Pipers, Rillaton Barrow, Craddock Moor Stone Circle, an embanked avenue and a prehistoric round cairn, sharing a number of alignments. (it was quite a walk seeing them all.)

Our guide for Carn Brea neolithic hill-fort was Roger Mercer who excavated it in the 1960s. It was in a dense fog for our visit, which was disappointing, but he kept us entertained with frequent remarks like “I had been going to say, if you look in that direction you can see (so-and-so) .. but you can’t”, We heard of the vast amount of neolithic arrow-heads found around the entrance area, and of arguments as to whether this represented a battle for possession of the fort.

Bodrifty Iron Age settlement consists of eight round houses within a low enclosing bank. We took our lunch amongst them, observing the solidity of the wall remains, and of the remains of banks defining garden plots and animal enclosures attached to some of the houses, within quite a small area. Excavation has found hearths, drains, cooking and storage pits, much pottery, spindle whorls and querns; all in all, a feeling of a busy, close little community – perhaps the Iron Age equivalent of a dormitory suburb?

As for the most enjoyable social side, one must end by mentioning our hospitable reception by Truro Museum with wine and a tour of the Museum: and the Conference dinner, at which, by invitation of President Tim Champion, Past President Thurston Shaw entertained us with an account of our doings, in verse.

FINCHLEY MANOR HOUSE, EAST END ROAD (STERNBERG CENTRE) Brian Wrigley

On 3rd July, by invitation, I represented HADAS at a site meeting of the estate manager and representatives of English Heritage and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV), to discuss plans for vegetation clearance, planting, path construction and a possible pond. The project was, in essence, the laying down of a nature trail with disabled access, including some replanting, whilst English Heritage’s concerns were, of course, preservation, clearance, and a view of the old moat feature. The upshot was a general consensus on a path (Hoggin gravel between wood sideboards) – to include an offshoot to an area giving a good view of the moat -and clearance, but no excavation for replanting. There was also discussion of providing an interpretation board, and possible leaflets, to explain the site, on which I said HADAS would be glad to help.

I have since been give a copy of the draft new specification for the work. This, if adopted, will provide for clearance, the making of the path, including the interpretation board, and continuing maintenance.

It now appears, unlike my first impression, there will be no earth disturbance to need archaeological work such as sampling or observation, but we clearly should make our best possible contribution to the interpretation board. I have assembled a small bundle of relevant records, and if any members would like to help in getting these into suitable form, or in supplying further information, I should be delighted to hear from them.

A VISIT TO THE LEBANON Peter Pickering

Marie and I went on a British Museum Tour to the Lebanon over Easter When we set off things were peaceful – though there were numerous military road blocks – but a couple of days before our return the Israelis started bombing guerrilla strongholds, and we were relieved to get out safely_

Lebanon has one ancient monument of stupendous grandeur – the temple of Baalbek – several excavated sites of very early civilisations, and numerous other features of interest. Beirut is properly described as `war-ravaged’; and when the great Museum will re-open who can tell. But as the work of reconstruction proceeds – and it is, encouragingly – archaeology is not forgotten. The Museum of London is helping, and some sites of great interest have been found – for instance what may be remains of the law-school, of fame throughout antiquity.

We visited two extensive excavations. First, Tyre, an island in early times linked to the mainland by a mole under Alexander the Great – there were many finely carved Punic sarcophagi, a vast Roman stadium for chariot racing, colonnades, an aqueduct, ritual pools, and complex jumbles of ancient masonry. Second, Byblos, which dates as far back as 5000 BC, though the slight remains from then are suffering from the elements. It is dominated by a Crusader castle, and has a restored Roman colonnade and odeon. But it is the temples that are most absorbing – so absorbing indeed that Marie and I failed to notice the Israeli jets overhead. The earlier temple (about 2800 BC) is L-shaped; the later, Amorite, one shows strong Egyptian influence, being crammed full of small obelisks. The second temple was built over the first, but has been restored some 50 yards away, so that both of them can be seen,

Neither words nor pictures can do justice to Baalbek. The union of exotic Syrian cult and Roman determination to impress has produced a colossal complex, with an enormous ruined temple of Jupiter Heliopolitanus behind massive courtyards, a large and extremely well preserved temple perhaps of Bacchus, full of carvings, and a small circular temple, perhaps of Venus. All around there are carvings of We spent a whole day there, and then visited it at night under floodlights. We stayed within a stone’s throw of the site, in the most memorable, if least comfortable, of hotels – the last word when it was built in the. nineteenth century, and full of ancient objects from the site.

We were accompanied by two experts from the British Museum – George Hart and Simon James – and were therefore thoroughly well informed.

WHERE WOULD YOU SIT IN AN ANCIENT THEATRE? Peter Pickering

Anyone who has visited Turkey or Provence, in particular, will have seen great open-air theatres, often well preserved, and may have wondered what it was like to go to the theatre in antiquity. I recently heard a lecture by Charlotte Roueche, which answered some of one’s questions while, of course, raising more. She has worked particularly at the theatre of Aphrodisias in Western Turkey. There, carvings on the seats (disparagingly called graffiti) are particularly common, and give a fascinating picture of the audience. For seats seem to have been reserved by writing on them names – of important civic officials, of private individuals, or of groups of people who would sit together – for instance the goldsmiths or Jews. And yes – I hear the question- women did go to the theatre in Roman times, whatever may have happened earlier – since many names of upper-class ladies have been found, high up at the back, where men could not peer down at them.

We must remember that though people certainly went to the theatre to see plays, they were admirably suited, and used, for other sorts of public gathering – it was to the theatre in Ephesus that the populace rushed to meet when incensed at the preaching of St Paul. Nor was the theatre always filled by people absorbed by what they saw and heard – very many gaming boards are carved on the seats, for whiling away the time

CHANGE OF ADDRESS

The Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS to most of you) has a new address -Walker House, 87 Queen Victoria Street, London EC4V 4AB

Dark Age London Peter Pickering

Are you up to date on archaeological research work and excavations relating to London and its hinterland in the centuries between the end of Roman rule and the Norman Conquest? A Conference in the Museum of London on Saturday 5 October 1996 will ensure that you are

Speakers will include Martin Welch on why the Croydon cemetery should be excavated, John Hines on the early Anglo-Saxon evidence, Bob Cowie on the Middle Saxon trading and manufacturing settlement along the Strand (Lundenwic), Peter Rowsome on the exciting discoveries relating to Late Saxon London within the City walls, Lyn Blackmore on the crucial Anglo-Saxon and imported pottery sequences and James Rackham on the ever-growing contribution of environmental archaeology for the London region.

The conference is being organised by SCOLA (the Standing Conference on London Archaeology). It will cost C7.50 (C6 for individual members of SCOLA) to include tea and coffee. I am the Assistant Secretary of SCOLA, and if you will send me (P E Pickering, 3 Westbury Road London N12 7NY) a cheque payable to SCOLA I shall send you tickets. (A stamped addressed envelope would be helpful)

HADAS Diary

Saturday 8 June Outing: RYE AND BODIAM with Micky Watkins and Micky Cohen

Saturday 20 July Outing: FLAG FEN AND LONGTHORPE TOWER with Tessa Smith and Sheila Woodward, At Flag Fen we shall see the latest developments at one of the largest collections of bronze age artefacts in Europe; and at Longthorpe Tower the rema14th cf a fortified manor with the finest examples of 14thc domestic wallpaintings in Northern Europe.
(Application form in next Newsletter).

Saturday 17 August Outing: FARNHAM/WAVERLEY ABBEY with Bill Bass and

Vicki O’Connor

Thur/Fri/Sat/Sun 4 DAY VISIT TO CORNWALL. We have had a good response to this

29/30/31 August/ 1st Sept and the group is full. Names for the waiting list are welcome, we had several late cancellations last year.

(Tel: Dorothy 203 0950).

Saturday 28 September Outing: WHITECHAPEL/BELL FOUNDRY with Mary O’Connell

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

The 35th AGM of HADAS was held at Avenue House on 14th May with fifty people present. We were very pleased that our President, Michael Robbins, was able to make the cross-London Journey to be with us and chair the meeting. As usual the business matters were dealt with quickly. The annual report of the Chairman is published in this Newsletter. Victor Jones and Dr, Derek Renn were elected as new Vice-Presidents of the Society. The only item in the agenda which caused some discussion was the motion proposed by the Chairman on behalf of the Committee that the concession subscription rate for membership of people over 60 should be withdrawn and the annual subscription rates be amended as follows:

Standard subscription: £8.00 per year

Additional family members: £2.50 per year

Members under 18 years: £5.00 per year

This was agreed with the recommendation that the Membership Secretary should have the discretion to amend it for anyone finding the increase a problem.

When the formal business was over four members of the Society gave short talks with slides – Roy Walker on the Mount House, Monken Hadley dig and the Hampstead Heath survey; Brian Wrigley on the Church Farmhouse Museum garden dig, which has just recommenced; Bill Bass on Martin Biddle’s dig at St. Albans; and Andy Simpson on Transport in Barnet.

Hendon and District Archaeological Society

Chairman’s Report AGM, 14th May 1996

The Society continues to flourish and has had a successful 12 months. The Society carried out a small scale excavation last summer at St Martha’s Convent School, Monken Hadley in advance of a new classroom. Most of the finds consisted of modern pottery, but some fragments of clay pipes were tentatively dated to about 1750. Subsequently work continued on the Hampstead Heath Project to investigate the nearly vanished bank and ditch that runs across Hampstead Heath. This has long been thought to be Saxon in origin, a suspicion confirmed by the recent book The Westminster Corridor by David Sullivan. Work was carried out in the autumn by the excavation team surveying the course of the ditch in Kenwood notably in the area adjacent to the abandoned garden of the Elms House, though somewhat hampered by the lack of a resistivity meter, and we are applying for a grant from the Barnet Council charities to purchase a new one. The excavation team under Brian Wrigley, Roy Walker and Bill Bass looks forward this summer to continuing work at Church Farm hoping to follow up the medieval activity which we picked up two years ago, and volunteers will be welcome every Sunday. The main event of the excursions programme was the long weekend to Durham in September when the Society visited three World Heritage sites, Durham itself, South Shields and Hadrian’s Wall. Other notable excursions included one to the House of Commons by courtesy of John Marshall MP and outings to Avebury, Colchester, Silchester, Boxgrove and the Royal Institution. There was also a very successful Christmas dinner at St Albans.

The highlight of our fund raising activities was the Minimart held on 14th October when, thanks to the work of

Dorothy Newbury and her helpers we raised nearly £1,500. What always surprises me is that the Minimart is fun – a rare example of how to make money while also enjoying yourself.

The Newsletter continued to appear throughout the year. The March 1996 issue was in fact our 300th issue, a feature which was celebrated by a reprint of the very first issue – a single sheet flyer. An early members list of 1970 shows that 33 names arc still members, including our secretary, Liz Holliday.

On the personnel side, several changes must be reported. Will Parnaby, our Treasurer for the last three years is retiring and we welcome Mrs Michaela O’Flynn as our new Treasurer. Our thanks go to June Purges who has arranged a lively series of lectures now held on the ground floor at Avenue House. A particularly warm vote of thanks must as always go to Dorothy Newbury who not only arranged the excursions under a series of loyal lieutenants but who also oversaw the production of the newsletter throughout the year, and most of all masterminded the Minimart. My thanks too to Liz Holliday, our ever-efficient secretary, and to Vikki O’Connor who performs that most thankless of tasks that of Membership secretary.

Finally can I give a particular vote of thanks to Victor Jones who sadly had to resign from the Committee during the year because of his increasing infirmity, though I am happy to say that following an operation in the Royal Free, his backbone has been straightened up and he is now able to walk again. For long he was our Treasurer but perhaps more important than that was his work behind the scenes making arrangements for the well-being of the Society for which I was particularly grateful. We hope we will continue to see him at our Meetings for a long time to come.

Andrew Selkirk, 14th May 1996

CHURCH FARMHOUSE EXCAVATION. De-turfing commenced on Sunday 12th May with a splendid turnout of fourteen including some first-time diggers with HADAS. Two trenches have been opened and it is likely in the time available that it will be possible for two further areas to be investigated. We will be working most Sundays until late July and will certainly work OR weekdays depending on the numbers available to make it worthwhile. If you are interested in participating please contact Brian Wrigley (0181 959 5982) or Roy Walker (0181 362 1350) for confirmation that the site will be open.

THAMES FORESHORE. It has not been possible to find a convenient date in June for a visit to the foreshore with Mike Webber, but the tide tables are being consulted (along with the HADAS calendar and digging days) to pick a convenient time before the end of summer. Details will appear in a subsequent Newsletter.

MUSEUM OF LONDON. Cash cuts have forced the Museum of London to close its archeological archive, which includes material from some of the most important Roman, Saxon and medieval discoveries in the City and the surrounding area. Although some of the more spectacular objects are on display in the museum, hundreds of thousands of others, ranging from the Stone Age to Victorian times, are in study collections. These are complemented by drawings, photographs and descriptions of the sites and their excavations. Scholarly access to the archive has already been restricted and no new material will be accepted once current investigations have closed. The museum said it would enter into agreements to take finds and records only if funds were provided from private or public sources. (The Times 6.5.1996)

A STONE AGE VILLAGE has been unearthed beneath the site of the Newbury bypass. Wessex Archaeology think this could be one of the best six sites of its kind in Britain. Flint tools up to 10,000 years old, have been discovered during preliminary digs. A £300,000 contract will be awarded by the Highways Authority for excavation. But the bypass will be built above the area nevertheless, however significant it will turn out to be. (The Times 9.5. 1996)

MUMMIES, MUMMIES EVERYWHERE

– Nevada mummy oldest in North America. The mummy known as The Spirit Cave Man had a fractured skull and was tightly wrapped in tule mats and a fur robe. Using new dating techniques Nevada Museum researchers discovered he was buried 9,415 years ago, about 6,500 years earlier than had previously been estimated. The body was naturally mummified by the extreme dryness of the cave and the wrappings. Some of the man’s hair and skin was preserved, together with his well-made moccasins. Woven bags and other everyday artefacts were found nearby; also bags containing ashes and bone fragments of two people who had been cremated. (Cyprus Weekly, 3 May 1966).

– Chinese mummies. The discovery of white men in European style clothing of c.2,000 B.C. in northwest China was discussed at an international
archaeological conference in Philadelphia recently. There seems to be evidence of long term occupation of this part of China by Europeans. (The Times 10.5. 1996)

NEWSPLAN FOR LONDON AND SOUTH EAST REGION. This project is part of a nation wide scheme to identify and microfilm all local newspapers from their origins to the present day. The project is managed by the British Library in co-operation with other libraries and the newspaper industry. (Library Association Record

May 1996).

OTHER SOCIETIES AND EVENTS

Roman Fair: Sunday 2 June, 11am – 5pm (Adults £3.00 Children £1.50)

Welwyn By Pass, Welwyn Village. (Tel: 01707 271362)

Includes: Guided tour wi
th Tony Rook, excavator of the Roman baths; washing and sorting real Roman finds; Roman drama and mime; Roman food, etc

Hertfordshire History Fair: Sunday 16 June, 10am-5pm (Adults £3.00

Children £2.00) Sherrardswood School, Lockleys, Welwyn Garden City (Tel: 01763 848759).

Includes: Special opening of the Roman baths; talks on Victorian deaths, schools and underwear; the Panshanger Papers; films of old Herts; tradition) gardens; troubadours; Nordic story telling; Viking gathering.

Crofton Roman Villa Crofton Road, Orpington: till 30 October

Contacts: Dr. Alan Tyler, Bromley Museum, Orpington (Tel: 01689 873826) Brian Philp, Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit (Tel: 0181 462 4737)

Chiltern Open Air Museum: till 31 October

Newland Park, Gortelands Lane, Chalfont St. Giles, Bucks HP8 4AD (Tel: 01494 872163)

Mill Hill Historical Society Newsletter, Bulletin no.2 February 1996. Includes a number of interesting items:

– a description of the Barnet Local Studies and Archives Centre, 34 Egerton Gardens, NW4 and an appeal for more material. The Centre contains more than half a million documents, manuscripts, books, maps, prints, census returns, directories, rate books, church records, deeds, photographs and postcards.

– a note on the gas works at the bottom end of Bittacy Hill establihed in 1862. British Gas has notified Barnet Council that it plans almost complete disposal and redevelopment of the site which comprises over 24 acres. The future will depend in part on would-be buyers, and on planning approval.

– an item on the old fire station established in 1889 in a shed Just below the old Three Hammers which was demolished in 1939. From 1914-1929 Mill Hill became the responsibility of the Hendon brigade, until the fire station in Hartley Avenue was opened.

– the site of the only known maypole, on Fir Island. Towards the close of last century a substantial residence was built there; amongst better known occupants were Sir J.H.Cunliffe, K. C., M.P. and Captain W.A.Nell, chairman of the Express Dairy.

– a prison: location and use not known. The Hendon Vestry minutes for 1778 record “ordered that a cage be built at Mill Hill”.

– biographical note on James Le Marie, born in 1804 of French parents. He married Martha Ellen Garrud in 1828 and very soon afterwards became bailiff on the estate of William Wilberforce at Hendon Park on Highwood Hill. He later became the Mill Hill village beadle. The latter presumably on appointment by the vicar of St. Mary’s Hendon, the notorious Theodore Williams.

No: 302 MAY 1996 Edited by VIKKI O’CONNOR

DIARY

Tuesday 14th May Annual General Meeting – chaired by Michael Robbins, followed by the Excavation Team’s summary of their year’s work. Also, short slide-talks by Andy Simpson on transport in Barnet and Bill Bass on Martin Biddle’s excavation at St Albans last summer, in which some of our members participated.

8.00 for 8,30pm – Avenue House, East End Road.

(There is an induction loop system available in this room).

Saturday 8th June Outing: Rye and Bodiam. – Micky Watkins & Micky Cohen Details and application form enclosed.

Saturday, 20th July Outing: Flag Fen – Tessa Smith & Sheila Woodward

Saturday, 17th August Outing: Farnham/Waveriey Abbey – Bill Bass & Vikki O’Connor

Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday 29/30/31/ August 4-day visit to Cornwall. We have had a good response to this and the group is full. Names for the waiting list are welcome: ‘phone Dorothy: 203 0950. (Last year we had several late cancellations).

Saturday 28th September Outing: Whitechapel/Bell Foundry – Mary O’Connell

Tuesday 8th October Lecture: The Temple of Mithras & Cripplegate Fort John Shepherd.

HADAS member Tom Real phoned to say that his Field Archaeology class have spare places on their field trip to Portchester, Fishbourne & Bignor. The day trip ( Sunday 12 May) is being conducted by Harvey Sheldon, and will cost under £15 – they meet at the Embankment, 9am, Any HADAS members interested (and not planning to join us on our dig that day) should phone Harvey on 0181-693 9533 (evenings) for details.

Society of Genealogists “Family History Fair” 4/5 May, Royal Horticultural Society New Hall & Conference Centre, Westminster, £5 at door – offering lectures, regional societies’ exhibits, and ‘clinics’ for individual enquiries. Timing etc from: Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Bldgs, Goswell Rd, London EC1M 7BA.

MEMBERS NEWS

Gill Baker is home again after a month in the Royal Free, but few days before her return, her sister, Jean Brearley (also a HADAS member) was taken into hospital, Gill has now ‘phoned Dorothy to say that Jean died last week – our sympathies to Gill.

Micky Watkins ‘phoned Dorothy recently to say she ‘had joined the club’ – she has broken her wrist (the third HADAS member to do so in the last 9 months). Fortunately, she had made her preliminary trip for our June outing to Rye the previous week!

Dorothy Newbury would like to thank her team on the Programme Committee for their invaluable help in reducing the load of organising outings and lectures. It was becoming an almost full time job and she is very grateful to the two Mickys, Sheila and Tessa, Bill and Vikki, and, of course, Mary O’Connell.

We were pleased to see Victor Jones once again attending lectures, and our thanks go to HADAS members who have given Victor a lift to Avenue House.

‘BUDDIES’ We do, from time to time, get asked by members with temporary or longer-term mobility problems if is possible to get a lift to lectures. We realise that it is difficult to make a permanent commitment, but if car drivers would be prepared on an occasional basis to collect and take home another member from their own part of the Borough, please contact Vikki , Roy or Dorothy so that if a need arises we could take advantage of those offers.

Congratulation to Sian and David Plant on the birth of their son, Matthew – they joined HADAS during our Church Farmhouse dig but will have to drop out for a while. We look forward to seeing them again when they have more time!

RENEWALS – we have two thirds of renewals in already. If you have mislaid your renewal form, please phone Vikki O’Connor for another – there are plenty of spares!

SUBSCRIPTIONS: PROPOSAL FOR AGM

Three members of the Society contacted the Hon.Secretary with views on changes to the annual subscription rate, which were presented to the Committee at their meeting on 19th April. These, and several other ideas were discussed before the Committee finally agreed to recommend the following alterations to subscription rates, with effect from 1 April 1997: Standard subscription £8.00 per year

Each additional family member: £2.50 per year; Under 18s £5.00 per year.

All members will have the opportunity to give their views and vote on the proposed chances at the Annual General Meeting on 14th May.

THE THAMES FORESHORE SURVEY Roy Walker

The concept of a Thames foreshore survey was first mooted by Gustav Milne at the LAMAS Conference in 1994 under the title of “The Final Frontier”, for that was how he envisaged this neglected area of London’s archaeology, Mike Webber, the Survey’s full-time officer, thanks currently to funding from the National Rivers Authority, explained the aims of the Survey at our April meeting and was able to show some of the results of the first season’s work,

The foreshore can be regarded as a single site some two hundred miles long. Knowledge of water levels during the Roman period indicates that foreshore gravels were originally deposited on dry land hence modern low tide could reveal prehistoric contexts. As the river is 3 metres below Ordnance Datum the archaeologist has no need to excavate to that level nor to step-in at intervals, thus a ready-made trench with no inhibitions already exists. Past excavations at Tilbury had revealed sequences of prehistoric peats, Wheeler had located wattle structures at Brentford, and artefacts such as the Battersea Shield and the Waterloo Helmet confirmed the importance of the Thames to the archaeology of London. Yet it had not been treated in the same way as dry land sites – it did not appear on the Sites and Monuments Record (SMR), finds were not correctly provenanced and erosion together with human interference was destroying the archaeology.

The Survey operates by finding access to the foreshore, undertaking initial “fieldwalking”, making brief notes then returning for more detailed study and recording with the aim of notifying English Heritage of items relevant to the SMR. This

work was undertaken during the Pilot Study in 1995 primarily by local societies and students whose assistance will be required during the coming 1996 season.

Mike ran through the highlights of the year showing the nature of the foreshore and features that have been located and recorded. Watermen’s stairs (still used today, with caution, by the Survey) and jetties abound – the jetty at Richmond served the Tudor Palace – and within the gravels at Chambers Wharf, Southwark are prehistoric peats, stakes, barge beds and 18th/19th century gridirons, plus a dump of sugar refining moulds! This is genuine archaeology in need of interpretation and recording.

Marine archaeology, naturally, is to the fore. Barge beds of various construction (rammed chalk, gridirons, timber baulks) were illustrated. At Custom House the 19th century gridiron used for barge repairs had reused house timbers beneath. Similarly at Billingsgate, 18th century planking beneath the silts were reused ships timbers including a rudder from a frigate.

At Brentford Ait a “graveyard” consisting of the remains of over twelve boats was recorded. An almost 4 metres long, centre post of a 17th/18th century ship’s windlass at Bermondsey could actually be assigned to a specific stratigraphical level. Peats outcropping along the foreshore contain the environmental evidence needed to interpret the landscape and state of the river at the time of deposition. There are exposures even within the City areas as well as further out, and neolithic remains have been recovered from the peats at Bankside Power Station.

Many features have been recorded, especially fish traps evidenced by wattles and stakes, sometimes broken off with bases now eroding. The nature of the Thames fishing industry is not well-documented so this Survey is providing an insight into its character. An intriguing sequence was that of a tufa layer predating a peat deposit, surmounted by a wattle structure and within the tufa were aurochs’ remains. This deposit may represent an eroded walkway. Mike summarised the archaeology as being prehistoric all the way along with Roman mainly at the bridging points.

A spur to setting up the Survey was the threat to the resource. Development along the foreshore should not necessarily cause damage but we were shown how tracked vehicles could erode rammed chalk barge beds, how boats swinging on a single mooring could scour away the peats and gravels and how the river washing around firmly moored boats could also wash away deposits. Rudder and propeller cuts can increase the rate of erosion. A barge leeboard laying near to the MI6 building caused scouring by the tide which has left it further exposed and subject to drying out. The extent of this danger was illustrated by slides of a 19th century rowing boat comparing the 1988 situation with that in 1996. Treasure hunters pose a threat to both archaeology and the archaeologist. Holes dug by metal detectorists destroy the stratigraphy and leave pits up to two metres deep which are extremely dangerous to others using the foreshore such as those engaged on the Survey.

Mike’s lecture, presented in his usual enthusiastic style, certainly revealed the potential of this archaeological resource running the breadth of London. To supplement this lecture, he has kindly offered to conduct a foreshore walk later this year. Full details, hopefully, will be in the June Newsletter.

PLANNING APPLICATION ?? Bill Bass

The Building Management & Design Dept at the University of Northumbria, have compared the construction programme for Durham Cathedral from 1093 to 1242 with what would happen if construction were started today:-

“The original building period was prolonged by labour and materials being used on the construction of nearby Durham Castle and there were delays due to several outbreaks of hostilities. Our prediction, reflecting today’s building practices, was for a seven-year construction period, though the likelihood of the present-day construction industry being able to find or train the necessary number of stonemasons (200-plus) is debatable. Our best guess for today’s cost would be £167 million. This would includ such things as stained glass windows, but not furniture, fittings, pews, artwork, sculptures or even an organ – all of which could add another £15 million. The cost of the design would be another £9 million.” What about an archaeological evaluation?

BOOK REVIEW Roy Walker

“HERTFORDSHIRE INNS & PUBLIC HOUSES” Andrew Selkirk in Current Archaeology No 42 divided archaeologists into two types – beer drinkers and chocolate cake eaters. However, it may be that the cake-eating members of HADAS share Stewart Wild’s enthusiasm for the buildings within which beer is drunk (HADAS Newsletter, October, 1994) in which case the latest addition to the Society’s library will cater for all tastes. “Hertfordshire Inns & Public Houses” is subtitled “an historical gazetteer” and restricts its entries mainly to houses which were established before 1900 but which were still open in the 1990s. This differentiates it from Barnet Local History Society’s “Barnet’s Pubs” of 1995 which covers all houses whether extant or not and the two publications therefore cannot really be compared.

“Hertfordshire Inns” updates W. Branch Johnson’s two volume work of the 1960s and reflects changes over the last thirty years. Helpfully, it provides a detailed list of sources used, The entries are grouped under parishes each with a brief background to the area and in particular its licensing history.

The histories of the houses themselves are detailed and there is a selection of

photographs of the more picturesque buildings. Dates and names abound as should be expected in such a book but reference to events and personalities of national importance and the related local significance make it a valuable companion to students of local and social history. This also makes it very readable. For example, the entry for The Mitre in Barnet High Street tells of associations with General Monck (1660), Dr Johnson (1 774) and reveals that the licence to William Cobley was refused in 1869 following the finding of a rat pit (and two dogs and twenty-one dead rats) in the ballroom. This style runs throughout the book with the advantage that it is not necessary to know the inn or public house (or even the parish) to benefit from dipping into its pages. Indeed, it will probably encourage a trip into Hertfordshire to inspect the buildings for oneself and perhaps try a little of the produce on sale.

“Hertfordshire Inns & Public Houses” by Graham Jolliffe and Arthur Jones. Published by Hertfordshire Publications, 1995. Price £78.00.

HADAS member, Graham Javes, contributed the section on the Barnets, A rkley, Hadley and Totteridge.

Text Box: 4PLACES OF INTEREST …

The Beginnings of Egyptian Civilisation: Bull’s Toil and Bird Beaks is the the title of Professor Fekri A Hassan’s inaugural lecture to be held at the Darwin Lecture Theatre, Darwin Building, Gower Street, (near Euston Sq. station) on Tuesday 14 May at 5.30pm. The one-hour lecture is open to anyone interested in the subject, admission free without ticket,

How about a 45 minutes stroll along Scratchwood Nature Trail, taking you through a remnant of the ancient Forest of Middlesex? Spot the rare Wild Service trees, used as an indicator of undisturbed woodland, or the ancient boundary bank lined by old pollarded trees, The area is part of the Moat Mount and Scratchwood Countryside Park and is on the 232 bus route (Colindale -Edgware – Borehamwood, half hour service on Sundays).

For fans of Church Farmhouse Museum, an exhibition on The Fascination of Fans runs until 2nd June. Exhibits from the East and the West, dating from 1750 to the present day include examples made of lace, ivory, feathers, paper and silk. You may be surprised to learn of the existence of the Fan Circle international, an active society for people who collect or who are interested in the historical or artistic aspects of fans and fan-making. A permanent Fan Museum opened recently at 12 Crooms Hill, Greenwich, a terraced house built in 1 721 – but please visit ‘our’ museum first!

THE LATEST NEWS FROM BOXGROVE (HADAS lecture by Simon Parfitt, March 12th)

Last summer the Society arranged a visit to the now famous paleolithic site at Boxgrove in Sussex. it was inevitable therefore that a great degree of interest was generated for the visit of Simon Parfitt, who, as one of the leaders of the excavation, was to give us the most up to date report on materials recovered from the site as well as sharing with us the latest interpretations on those discoveries. A good attendence, augmented by colleagues from the City of London Archaeological Society, were privileged during the evening, to hear an informative and entertaining lecture.

Media excitement over Boxgrove has focused on the discovery of a ‘human’ tibia and two incisor teeth which have been dated to around 500,000 years old. However, Simon started by emphasising that, even without the discovery of the oldest fossil evidence for man in the British Isles, Boxgrove would have remained our richest site for information on human activity and environmental conditions in the Cromerian Inter- Glacial.

Simon outlined the climatic changes as revealed by the geological sequence and how, through evidence based on sea levels and the flow of archaic river systems, it is possible to determine when Boxgrove Man occupied the site. He emphasised the importance of the South Downs as lying just beyond the southernmost extremity of the ice sheets periodically effecting Britain over the last million years. Because it was never completely covered by glaciers, the site can inform us on the environment when the ice was advancing (when Tundra conditions would prevail) and on periods of ice retreat (when the fauna would resemble current sub tropical types). Simon illustrated this part of his talk with artistic representations showing how each environment might have looked. The crucial question was whether the occupation predated the Anglian Ice Age. Up until now the earliest fossil evidence for man in the Britain came from Swanscombe which was definitely post- Anglian, Simon referred to the fauna, in particular, water vole found at Boxgrove. Through examining teeth, the experts have been able to determine that these animals were primitive types which were extinct by the time we reached the same period as Swanscombe in the archaeological sequence.

Turning to the site itself, Simon described its position on the coastal plain below the South Downs near Chichester. Situated today in a quarry, the work is very much rescue archaeology prior to industrial development. English Heritage have fortunately come up with funds for next year to continue excavations. At the time of Boxgrove man the site was at the foot of a 100 metre cliff. The larger fauna included rhinoceros, elephant and hyena, which suggests proximity to a watering hole. Most exciting, is the evidence of man’s activity at the site through the huge number of flint hand axes of typical Acheulean design that were found.

It is fortunate that the area provides excellent raw materials for manufacturing axes, nevertheless, those found have amazed all by their exceptional quality in workmanship. Along with animal bones, 140 of these axes were recoverd from one trench alone. Simon stated that even the best modern-day flint napper would have difficulty in replicating the sharp cutting edges. Furthermore, in settling the debate as to how these were used, complementary finds of animal bones showing lateral cuts, testify to the effectiveness of these implements for butchering carcasses. Also, at least one bone has been pierced, perhaps by a spear. This is significant in revealing a hunting rather than a scavenging culture.

Turning finally to that tibia, Simon explained how the experts had given up the idea of finding Hominid remains until this discovery in 1993 and the excitement he experienced. Investigation by Chris Stringer has assessed the bone as belonging to a massive individual (assumed male) approx 6′ tall, heavily built and old at age 40 years. Fitting in with other finds in Europe from the Cromerian period we can probably say that Boxgrove Man belongs to the same Hominid group as the owner of the

Heidlberg jaw, and ancestor to later Neanderthal types, based on evidence of his massive build. The uncovering of the two teeth (the last of which was found on the final day of excavation) will tell us more about the diet of Boxgrove man.

This summer Simon wants to extend the excavations to the south of the find spots. We wish him the best of luck and wait with great anticipation for Simon’s next news bulletin when we hope more exciting finds will be announced, James Lansdale Thank you James for the report – nice to receive a contribution from a new member!

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Ed: Robin Holgate. Publisher: The Bookcastle, £16.99.

Resulting from a day conference at Luton in September 1990, this publication presents ❑ comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge of Chiltern archaeology, and of how archaeological work in the region is organised. Contributions were provided by archaeologists from Beds, Bucks, Herts, and Oxon. Included is a paper from Tom McDonald o n the Hertfordshire Archaeological Trust’s A41 project – this was the subject of a HADAS lecture.

Roman Hertfordshire, Rosalind Niblett . Publisher: Dovecote Press, £7.95.

Ras Niblett is the head Field Officer for the St Albans Museum Service, where she has conducted many excavations, including that of the Folly Lane royal burial in 1992. Hertfordshire is well-known for its Roman archaeology, which is well covered by chapters dealing with the conquest, towns, religion, burial, villas, farming and the economy. This is a wide-ranging and up-to-date study drawing on all currently available sources, useful as an introduction, or for those who wish to refresh their studies on the Roman period in this county. A very readable book, well illustrated with clear photographs and reconstruction drawings.

OTHER SOCIETIES

In their February ’96 Bulletin, Mill Hill Historical Society ask people in possession of old photographs, postcards or pictures of Mill Hill, property deeds which might be of historical interest, or memories of the area, to get in touch with Ralph Calder or Frances Bone who are constantly updating their Society’s local history records. Our contact is Mr R S Nichols, 29 Maxwelton Aenue, NW7 3NB, tel: 0181 959 3485.

COLLEGE FARM (Fitzalan Road, N3)

There has been much publicity given by the local press to the continuing fight by north Londoners and Local Societies to save the farm from re-development. The Dept of Transport bought it for a planned road-widening but these plans were scrapped and they are now obliged to sell at the best price, Acer Environmental have been commissioned to prepare a consultative report based on information from English Heritage, the local authority, and ‘other interested parties’. The report will aid the decision whether to seek planning permission for the site (from the Council or direct from the Planning Minister). HADAS has an added interest in the outcome – we store our excavation equipment in one of the outbuildings! HADAS members may transmit their views to the Highways Agency by writing to:

Mr Peter Wilson, Head of the London Branch of the Highways Agency, Land and Compensation Division, Room 5/10, St Christopher House, Southwark Street, London SE1 OTE, marking the letter ‘College Farm’, preferably by 9th MAY.

This Victorian model farm with its listed farm buildings is a local landmark, loved by generations of local children who have visited; the next monthly Country Fair will be on Sunday 5th May from 1pm, admission 52.00, concession £1.50, children ELM.

Diary

Tuesday 9th April Lecture: The Thames Archaeological Survey, by Mike Webber

An update on last summer’s work on the Thames foreshore, undertaken mainly by volunteers and students.

Tuesday 14th May Annual General Meeting, followed by the excavation team’s summary of their year’s work. Bill Bass will show slides of Martin Biddle’s excavation at St Albans, in which several of our members participated.

These two meetings are at Avenue House, East End Road, Finchley, N3, starting at 8pm for 8.30pm.

Saturday 8th June Our first trip in 1996, to Rye and Bodiam. It will be led by Mickey Watkins and Mickey Cohen. Details and application form will accompany the May Newsletter.

Trip to Ireland Regrettably, this has had to be abandoned, for various organisational and cost reasons. Instead, we are hoping to organise a trip to Cornwall. See the leaflet enclosed with this Newsletter for the latest details.

News of members

Sadly, we have to report the deaths of Enid Hill, Tim O’Connell and Ronald Kerman.

Enid, who died on February 22 aged 80, had long been a HADAS stalwart. She was involved in many of the society’s activities, regularly attending lectures, outings and weekends away. She dug at West Heath under both Daphne Lorimer and Margaret Maher, and for many years prepared the labels for the Newsletter envelopes each month.For many years, too, she was a volunteer at the Museum of London, working on finds from City excavations, and continuing until she became ill. Her funeral, at Golders Green Crematorium, was attended by several members, with vice-chairman Brian Wrigley formally representing HADAS.

Tim, the husband of Mary O’Connell who has guided the society to many fascinating locations, died suddenly in February. He had been a regular supporter of our Christmas dinners. We send our sympathies to Mary.

Ron, a member for several years, died at the end of February after a long illness. Our sympathies go to Phyllis, his widow, a regular Minimart helper.

As this Newsletter went to press, Gill Baker, a popular and long-standing member, was a patient in the Royal Free Hospital. Dorothy Newbury and Tessa Smith have visited her and given the society’s best wishes. Gill would love to hear from friends write to her at home, and letters will be forwarded.

A grandmother’s error no doubt caused by the excitement of the moment was responsible for a slight embarrassment in the March Newsletter, when the birth of a baby boy was attributed to Marion Newbury, rather than Marion Le Besque (nee Newbury). Sorry, Marion.

Members’ list

A new list of members is currently being prepared. If any member does not wish his/her address and/ or phone number to appear on it, please let us know. The list will only be circulated within the society. If you wish to receive a copy, please phone Liz Holliday, Hon. Secretary, on 01923 267483.

Concessionary subscriptions

The committee is considering ending the concessionary subscription for members over 60. Almost half the membership falls into this category and as expenses, particularly for the Newsletter and postage, are the same for all, the committee feels the concession can no longer be justified. Liz Holliday would welcome any comments before April 19, so they can be reported at the next committee meeting.

The medieval ‘synagogue’ in Guildford by Jack Goldenfeld

In the 13th century, the Jewish community in Britain numbered about 13,000. Many of them were expelled in 1290. Until then, the Jews enjoyed a certain degree of royal protection although they were discriminated against in terms of civil rights and economic and religious freedom. Nevertheless, they were able to benefit from periods of peaceful non-interference under some rulers.

Guildford, the county town of Surrey and a centre of the wool trade, had a Jewish community of which some individuals’ names have survived in documentary form Josce, Formosa, Floria and Abraham. Isaac of Southwark, a wealthy individual, had a house in Guildford which was attacked in 1272 and he was just the sort of man who is likely to have built a synagogue in his home.

The “synagogue”

The structure was discovered during the renovation of a shop and consists of the remains of a small underground room. It is about 10 feet square, built of chalk, and has a stone bench running round the room with decorative arches formed by pillars of which only the lower portions survive.

The upper part of the entire room was deliberately demolished from about 4 feet above floor level. The enclosed space was filled in with the rubble for the upper part, except for worked stone which would probably have been salvaged for re-use elsewhere. The architectural style of the structure dates it
to circa 1180, but it seems that the partial demolition occurred in the late 13th century, since pottery found in the rubble is dated by style to the 1270s.

The only object from the room itself with a positive dating is a silver penny of Henry III, minted between 1251 and 1272, found between two stones of the seating bench in the centre of the east wall. Coins of this type were withdrawn from circulation in 1279 and it is unlikely that this particular example was lost by accident. It is more likely that it was deliberately pushed down into the very narrow slot formed by the abutment of the stone slabs.

Another object is a slim iron pin which was found in one of two drilled holes, diagonally opposed, in a stone slab which had apparently formed part of the doorway. If the room was a synagogue, the two holes would have been the fixing points for a “mezuzah”, a piece of inscribed parchment with the texts Deuteronomy vi 4-9 and xi 13-21, enclosed in an elongated case and attached to the door post.

There are scorch marks near the base of a pillar on the eastern wall which may be from a lamp kept burning continuously, perhaps providing additional light by which to read the Torah, the scrolls of Mosaic law. There are faint traces of coloured decoration in the blind arcades, between the pillar columns, which

will be subjected to specialist examination. Stairs rise to the now destroyed upper section, leading perhaps to what once had been the ladies gallery, since male and female worshippers would have been segregated. The main doorway still has the iron stub of a hinge-swivel embedded in the wall, its size indicating that it could have supported the weight of a heavy door.

In conclusion

I agree with some authorities who are 80% sure that this was a synagogue, even though some unmistakeably Jewish form of evidence needs to emerge to be absolutely certain. The decoration and stonework suggest religious rather than secular use, whilst the discreet placement at the rear of the main property for this cell-like room seems compatible with what is known of the circumstances for Jewish worshippers at that time.

It does not, apparently, resemble any other building of that time known of in Britain and was too small and in the wrong location to have been used for a civic purpose. It is considered that it is unlikely to be a small Christian chapel because the shape and arrangements are wrong. I hope one day to be in a position to follow up this brief initial survey with a definitive interpretation of the Guildford medieval site but, in the meantime, would compliment the Guildford Museum Volunteer Excavation Unit on their discovery and thank them very much indeed for allowing me to visit it and write about it. I am sure other members of HADAS will join with me in wishing them much success in their on-going endeavours.

Sites under scrutiny

English Heritage have recommended an Archaeological Watching Brief for a proposed development at the Hadley Brewery Site, Hadley Green, Barnet.

They have also indicated that an assessment of archaeological implications should be carried out for a planning application at Copped Close, 15 Totteridge Village, N20.

Would you believe it!

From the Guardian:

A plaque on the deck of HMS Victory in Portsmouth, marking where Nelson fell during the Battle of Trafalgar, is to be moved because visitors keep falling over it.

From the Ham & High:

A reader in Brunner Close, Hampstead Garden Suburb, recounts an incident whose remains could leave a puzzle for future archaeologists.

“Today a large fox shot through our hedge and attacked a small white duck sitting on the lawn. After a five-second tussle, the fox zoomed away, leaving a broken tooth behind and scratch marks on the duck’s head. The duck was made of concrete!”

Places to go…

A distinguished line-up of specialists will be leading the weekend seminar on Bronze Age Britain organised by Oxford University’s Department of Continuing Education, on April 19-21. Contributors include Stuart Needham of the British Museum on chronology, Mike Olney of the Fenland Archaeo­logical Trust on the role of ritual at Fengate, Sean McGrail formerly ofthe National Maritime Museum on water transport, and Martin Bell from the University of Wales on changing environments.

Residential fees are £98.50 (shared), non-residential £68.50 (with meals) or £41 (without). There may well be some places left ring the Archaeology Course Secretary on 01865 270369 to check.

Other OUDCE forthcoming courses, part of the Postgraduate Diploma in Field Archaeology but open to all, include a field survey week June 23-27 and archaeology and the law, November 20. Further details on the number above.

Birkbeck College with Harvey Sheldon is this summer again proposing urban training excavations in Southwark, with the co-operation of the London Borough of Southwark, on sites that are awaiting development there. The sites are close to areas of Roman and medieval settlement near the Old Kent Road and Peckham.

The courses, run in conjunction with MoLAS, will provide training in surveying, excavation and recording techniques, initial finds processing and other aspects of archaeological investigation.

They are non-residential, and will run over the five weeks beginning June 24. The fee will be £125 per week of attendance, to include all tuition. Contact Lesley Hannigan, Centre for Extra-Mural Studies, Birkbeck College, 26 Russell Square, WC1B 5DQ, for further details.

Training excavations also continue this summer at Wortley Roman villa in Gloucestershire, running from June 22. through most of July and the first half of August. Tuition fees are £83 a week, and local B&B is available at around £12-£15 a night. For more information, contact Vicky Wilson, 01453 542708.

A new course aiming to offer a complete introduc­tion to archaeological fieldwork runs at St Mary’s University College, Twickenham (a college of Surrey University), from next September.

The 28 two-hour sessions, which will each consist of an introductory slide-lecture followed by structured practical work and discussion, run on Friday afternoons. The course will be linked to the Sedgeford Hall Archaeological Research Project, covering an area where deposits range from neolithic to medieval. Summer fieldwork is planned.

The fee is £195, and a £50 deposit is asked for advance enrolments. Contact David Bellingham, Classical Studies, St Mary’s University College, Waldegrave Road, Twickenham, TW1 4SX, 0181-240 4109 for more information.

Bill Bass reports on the February lecture

There was a good turn-out for the first lecture of 1996 in our new downstairs room at Avenue House. As well as HADAS’s President, Michael Robbins, it was good to see some new faces and some longer-term members returning to the fray.

Our lecturer was Mike Hutchinson, Archaeological Project Manager with the Museum of London Archaeological Service. He spoke about their work on the Jubilee Line Extension Project in the Westminster and London Bridge areas. Stratford, also affected, has been reported in a previous Newsletter. This extension to the Underground is a major undertaking and has provided MoLAS with several years’ work. Most excavation concentrated around the sub-surface ticket hall and access areas, the tunnel-bores being too deep for any archaeology.Mike described how in the prehistoric andRoman periods the Thames was wider and slower moving, its banks formed by marshy areas and mud-flats with channels flowing around sandy-gravel islands or eyots.Westminster stands on one such eyot Thorney Island, mainly created by channels of the River Tyburn meeting the Thames. The station is located on the northern branch of one of these channels, and here MoLAS found a sandy foreshore overlain with a sequence of alluvial deposits and peats formed by varying changes of river and sea levels. Finds from sand under the alluvium included worked flints, some neolithic in date, and pottery, probably of the late Bronze or early Iron Age. Unfortunately, there were none of the votive-offering type Iron Age artifacts sometimes associated with these watery deposits. From the post-medieval period, a barrel-lined well contained fine examples of “watering can” vessels in Guys-ware fabric.

Over at the north Southwark site there were several excavations running concurrently. Mike concentrated on one adjacent to Borough High Street. A new ticket hall was to be built close to the present London Bridge Station.

Members may have seen the debate recently as to whether there was a Plautian invasion base in or near London, eg Southwark, Mayfair or Westminster, and to where Aulus Plautius crossed the Thames. This area in general could be important to help establish a firm date for the crossing and to indicate whether it was of military or civilian origin. Borough High Street aligns well with the known Roman road leading from Kent, an alignment which has survived for some 2,000 years and has accounted for the fairly good preservation of earlier Roman deposits. Alas, later truncation has destroyed much of the archaeology post 250AD.

A piled wall was sunk around the excavation site and an artificial road-deck constructed above, the archaeologists digging carefully to avoid a mass of service pipes, cables and sewers. Unfortunately, the main north-south Roman road was not encountered, being just west of the dig.

The earliest phase uncovered dated to about 60AD and showed narrow timber-framed buildings aligned on east-west side streets, assumed to be lanes off the main road. In places these lanes showed evidence of wheel ruts and repairs. Fire, indicated by red and black deposits, had destroyed these rooms of mud-brick walls, and pottery dated the conflagration to 60 or 61 AD. Boudica’s calling card, perhaps?

The next firmly dated phase was c.120AD, the intervening years being difficult to interpret and unravel. Buildings of stone foun­dation replaced the previous timber slot beams or post holes, and walls were of tile. There appears to have been a mixture of residential and industrial use. The presence of blacksmiths was shown by kiln remains and the accumulation of hammer-scale, their workshop being in use for around 100 years. Bread ovens were evident, as well as butchered bones.

An unusual and puzzling feature was a “pad stone”, a small plinth of stone and tile possibly used in a colonnade base. This led to suggestions of a monumental and prestigious building lining the road to London, maybe a fitting sight for Hadrian’s arrival.

A selection of finds included amphora (one with inscription), decorated Samian ware, mortaria and domestic ware in many fabrics. Among the oil lamps found was one particularly fine example, from Holland, in the form of a foot wearing a thonged sandal with the wick protruding through the big toe. It can be seen in the newly refurbished Roman gallery at the Museum of London.

Michael Robbins put his experience in running London Underground to good purpose in giving the vote of thanks for this entertaining lecture.

An extensive survey by MoLAS of the Westminster area in general, covering contours, environmental and documentary evidence, was published in the London Ar­chaeologist (Vol 7, No 14); other monographs are planned.

News from our neighbours

April 27 is an important date in the calendar of the Finchley Society. The society will be celebrating its 25th anniversary with a social event, including buffet and wine, a celebration cake, musical enter­tainment from the Hertsmere Choral Group and a pictorial display of the society’s many activities.

The party will be held in the Professional Devel­opment Centre, 451 High Road, N12, from 7.15pm. Guests will include Councillor Suzette Parker; Mayor of Barnet. Tickets cost £9.50, including all drinks and buffet, from Mrs G. Davison, 36 Sherwood Hall, East End Road, N2 OTA (0181-444 8395).

HADAS sends best wishes for the anniversary.

April is AGM month for Enfield Archaeological Society, and the meeting on April 19, at the Jubilee Hall, junction of Chase Side and Parsonage Lane, Enfield, starting at 8pm will include reports of the society’s work, including information about Forty Hall and its previous owners, and a look at recently-discovered underground air-raid shelters.

The society has also arranged a conducted tour of Forty Hall and its grounds on Saturday April 27 (starting at 2.30pm from the main entrance). The cost is £1, but names, addresses and phone numbers of those who wish to attend must be sent beforehand to Mr G.R. Gillam, 23 Merton Road, Enfield EN2 OLS (0181-367 0263). A second tour the next day, Sunday April 28, is possible if the event is over-subscribed.

News of the Mill Hill and Hendon Historical Society is provided by R. J.. Nicholson. He writes: Two more of our members have become authors, in each case writing their autobiography.

Sir Cyril Philips, former president, describes in Beyond the ivory Tower (Radcliffe Press,£24.95) how he was born in India and learned Hindi, Urdu and Malay before coming to England to complete his education. A fascinating aspect of the story is his war service, including spells in Gibraltar —where he found the pupils remarkably knowledgeable about horse racing, their previous teacher having been George Wigg, a noted racing enthusiast and India, Where his experience was particularly valuable.

There are Indian connections, too, in Ron Davies’ book, Some Blessed Hope: Memoirs of a Next to No­body (The Book Guild, £9.99). Few people can have had the distinction of carrying Mahatma Gandhi’s spinning wheel into the family home in Lancashire, when the Indian leader visited them pre-1939.

Ron Davies was brought up a Quaker and at the outbreak of war he joined the army in a non-combat­ant unit. He came to the conclusion that he should take a more active part in a fight against what he saw as a great evil, was posted to the Intelligence Corps and sent to India. On demobilisation he completed his degree at Oxford, then practised as a barrister. Later he joined the legal department of the Inland Revenue, and after that lectured in law, finally be­coming a full-time industrial tribunal chairman.

A call to all diggers:Out with your trowels

Barnet Council has kindly agreed to allow HADAS to carry out a further excavation of the garden at Church Farmhouse Museum. At the completion of our work in 1993 we suggested that additional investigations on a smaller scale which would complement our initial exploration, and we now have the opportunity to implement these proposals.

Our primary interests will be the medieval ditch feature located on the east site and the nature of the buried old land surface on the northern edge. The interim report of June 1994 provides full details of our previous work.

Start date: Sunday May 12, 10am till about 4pm. Location: Rear of the Museum, Greyhound Hill, Hendon NW4.

Requirements: Sturdy footwear, site clothing, hard hat (a few may be available on site) and if possible a good quality (forged) 4″ pointing trowel.

Facilities: Tea and coffee will be provided. Bring a packed lunch or buy from The Greyhound next door where the food is reasonably priced and quite good. Please note: toilet facilities are only available in the pub from midday or the museum from 2pm. There are none on site.

Public transport: Hendon Central on the Northern Line is about a 15-minute walk away. Buses 113 and 186 stop at Watford Way, 143 and 183 stop in The Burroughs closer to the site.

Open weekend: It is planned to hold an Open Weekend on Saturday and Sunday June 1-2 when the public will be introduced to the work of the society. Non-digging volunteers will be needed for this weekend.

If you are interested in taking part in our first excavation of 1996 or would like further informa­tion, please contact Brian Wrigley on 0181-959 5982 or Roy Walker on 0181-361 1350.

Jennie Cobban investigates Edward IV’s missing memorial to the soldiers slain in the Battle of Barnet:

Right royal mystery of the chantry chapel

What was it? Where was it? Why was it built? The mysteries associated with the chantry chapel built by Edward IV after the Battle of Barnet appear to be endless, and as I am presently trying to write about the subject, I wonder if any HADAS members could give me a helping hand on various points. Certain aspects concerning this chapel puzzle me very much indeed.

We are told, time after time, in local publications that the common soldiers were buried “on” or “near to” the field of battle, and it is constantly repeated that Edward later (how much later?) had a chantry chapel erected near to the burials, and appointed a priest to sing masses for the souls of the slain. Whenever this information is offered, the same source always seems to be trotted out, i.e. the Tudor historian, John Stow. However, I now understand it is mentioned in the Great Chronicle of 1512.

We are told in various modern local sources that when Stow visited Barnet and was shown the remains of the chapel, it was being used as a dwelling house, and that the upper quarters of the chapel still remained (how?). Local information also states that in Stow’s time the house was being rented out at a rent of 20/- per annum, by permission of the king’s officers, and that a later passage may provide a clue to the location of the chapel. The extract is said to run thus:

“And when the king and his company were come to the open space which lieth to the north of Barnet Town, they turned somewhat to the left hand, where three hundred yards or thereabouts from the highway there standeth a clump of trees. There did the king and they that were with him light down from their horses and having uncovered knelt for a space. Then the king rose up, and after he had talked for a space with Master Aston, he mounted his horse, as also did his company. Then sticking spurs, they rode northwards…”

Well, all this is far too vague and out of context for me, and unfortunately I do not have sufficient time during the day to chase down Stow’s original work, The Chronicles of England, first published in 1580, in order to check either the accuracy or the context of these oft-used snippets of information. My first question must therefore be, does any HADAS member have access to a reliable transcript of the section of Stow’s Chronicle relevant to the chantry chapel of the Battle of Barnet, or alternatively, has anybody produced an index to this document? Meanwhile, I am also trying to pin down the exact 1512 reference in the Great Chronicle.

The Battle of Barnet chantry chapel has several traditional locations. One is Hermitage Cottage, now within Wrotham Park because the writer of a c17 survey of the manor of South Mimms was told that this was where the chapel used to be. Another location favoured by some, including the historian Frederick Cass, is Pymlicoe House on Hadley Green because it has a couple of supposedly c15 or c16 timber-frame walls within the building and is said to fit the location as indicated by Stow, quoted above.

Yet another traditional location is the Mount House in Hadley, because of its mound, and the site of the Priory at Hadley, because of its name. Presumably because of Stow’s description of the chapel as having been converted into a house, all local historians, when seeking the chantry chapel, have thus concentrated on particular houses which may, or may not, have been chapels at one time.

The problem is that if our chantry chapel were indeed a free-standing building, erected by Edward from scratch on a virgin site, then it was very unusual. Research into chantry chapels in general suggests strongly that when these mortuary chapels were established (the medieval sources, in fact, use the word “built”), what this actually meant was that they were set up within the fabric of existing churches, and were not separate chapels at all. A chantry priest could not be kept fully employed, after all, in singing masses for the dead all the time, even if he was employing extremely elaborate intercessions such as the Trental of St Gregory, which necessitated the singing of thirty masses over the period of a year.

Most chantry priests were expected to assist in parochial services also, and it would surely have made more sense for Edward to utilise an altar in one of the local churches for his chapel, rather than erect a special building. Hadley church, for instance, was presumably on the battlefield itself and therefore “close to” the burial place of the soldiers.

It is also worth pointing out that many chantry chapels were always intended to be of a temporary nature, and were often established for a fixed period of time only, often ten years. If the chantry had been erected at, say, Hadley church, then the church’s rebuilding 23 years after the battle may account for our surprising lack of local records for a chapel which was built by a king after a major battle.

I am aware that there are certain objections to this theory which is, of course, pure speculation, but I put these ideas forward in the hope of stimulating further research. Perhaps it is time to look at the evidence for Battle of Barnet chantry chapel a little more critically, and to get some fresh ideas flowing.

Stow may simply have been shown a location for the chapel by the locals who came up with something just to keep him happy.

Edward’s motivation for erecting the chapel has never been examined by local historians, but his reasons for doing so are quite understandable, when we consider that he was responsible for sending a vast number of soldiers precipitately off to Purgatory without the benefit, presumably, of the last rites. The medieval Catholic Purgatory was almost indistinguishable from Hell itself lots of red hot pincers and the like and not a nice place in which to find yourself abandoned when you died.

Edward would have been well aware that he might actually come face to face with these resentful souls when he eventually entered Purgatory himself, unless he had done his best to help the soldiers through as quickly as possible by having masses sung for their souls. Local Barnet people would also, no doubt, have been anxious that everything possible should be done for the hundreds of dead, lest they hung around the area as vengeful spirits.

I would welcome any comments on the above, and I would especially welcome any information concerning our earliest references (the exact wording being important) to the Battle of Barnet chantry chapel. I understand that HADAS once undertook a research project into the chapel, and I would be grateful for any further details.

Many thanks to Pamela Taylor, Graham Javes and John Heathfield who have already given me much assist­ance in trying to penetrate the mysteries of the Battle of Barnet.

A giant hoax?

There’s a splendid controversy raging over the Cerne Abbas giant, which HADAS visited during the week­end in Dorset in 1992. A major article in the Sunday Times last month reported new research which sug­gested the figure a “well-endowed warrior” as the newspaper modestly put it had been cut into the chalk hillside only 300 to 400 years ago, not nearly two millennia earlier.

The proponents of this argument believe the giant was the work of the “ruder inhabitants of Cerne Abbas” and was intended to tease the local Puritans. Their claims are based on a discovery that although there are many references to the giant in local records from the 17th century onwards, nothing appears before then. But English Heritage and local archaeologists and historians cling resolutely to the belief that the carving dates from Roman times.

Good news, and bad

While the British Museum is celebrating its £3 million National Lottery grant for a major development, including a glass-roofed central square and transformation of the round Reading Room, things are less happy at the Museum of London.

It is facing severe financial difficulties follow­ing a cut in its government grant. After inflation and cuts from the Corporation of London, the mu­seum will be £1 million short in 1997-98, leading to the loss of up to 40 jobs and affecting such services as cataloguing and conservation. MoLAS, however, as a separate trading activity, is not affected.

Notice of AGM

The Annual General Meeting of the society will be held at 8.30pm on Tuesday May 14, 1996 at Avenue House, East End Road, Finchley, N3. Coffee will be available from 8pm.

Nominations for officers and members of the committee must be submitted to me on the nomination form below, to reach me no later than May 7, 1996. The consent of your nominee(s) must be obtained in writing before submitting their name(s).

Resolutions submitted by members for consideration at the AGM must be received by me not later than April 23, 1996.

Derek Batten goes west for his archaeology,

In the footsteps of Custer and the Cheyenne

My continued involvement in archaeological surveys of Indian Wars Battlefields seems to have begun more by accident than design, but once bitten, the phone has only to ring, an American accent has only to enunciate the word “dig” and I’m on my way. So in the first week of November 1995, I found myself at the Washita Battlefield in Western Oklahoma.

The land on which Black Kettle and his Cheyennes camped and where, on November 27 1868, George Armstrong Custer led his dawn attack (and established his Indian Fighter reputation) is in private ownership. All that is available to the visitor is an overview just off the highway and a diorama.

Most of the land is owned by a charming lady, Betty Westner, who was out in the field with us each day. It was hoped that the whole area would eventually be purchased by State or Federal agency or a combination of both so a National Monument could be designated. All that seemed to be missing was the political will and the money, but we hoped the archaeological survey would help.

The whole exercise was under the control of the Oklahoma Historical Society, represented in the field by Dr Bill Lees, a giant of a man with the largest walrus moustache I have ever seen. Others in the team were names familiar from the archaeological work previously carried out at Little Big Horn.

The main site problem was topographical. It is generally agreed that the course of the Washita River has changed. Several floods have occurred over the years, altering the ground level.

There was a ceremonial beginning when Laurence Heart, a local full-blood Cheyenne elder, performed a traditional herb fire ceremony. Each participant sprinkled a small quantity of tobacco on the fire and incantations were made to the gods to look kindly on our week’s work. They must have been oversleeping as the first three days’ recoveries were not very startling. We worked particularly hard on Day Three for just four artifacts.

By the end of the week, however, a total of nearly 200 battle-related artifacts had been recovered, most being Spencer cartridge cases. These established troop positions and gave a number of useful clues as to the location of the village.

Final conclusions must await the final report but by the end of the week, Bill Lees’ moustache was elongating sideways with his smile.

I have since received an encouraging letter from Betty Westner. There is now a bill before Congress, part of which includes the purchase of the Washita Battlefield by the Federal Government and its subsequent classification as a National Monument. So it looks like our week’s hard work was not in vain.

No: 300 March 1996 Edited by REVA BROWN

DIARY

Tuesday 12 March Lecture: The latest news from Boxgrove – Simon Parfitt.

You’ve visited the site, watched the TV programme – now hear the lecture!

Tuesday 9 April

Tuesday 14 May

Lecture: The Thames Archaeological Survey – Mike Webber An update on last summer’s work on the Thames foreshore, undertaken mainly by volunteers and students.

-Annual General–Meeting, followed by the excavation team’s summary of their year’s work. Bill Bass will show slides of Martin Biddle’s excavation at St Albans at which several of our member’s participated

IRELAND 5 days We have contacted Trinity College, Dublin for accommodation and

archaeological contacts, but as yet, have received no reply. A phone call has brought forth charges, however, and possible available dates. Jackie Brookes has been investigating flights and times. Everything appears to be pretty expensive. The most advantageous dates and prices appear to be mid- to-late June. It is on this basis that we are pursuing the possibility of 5 days (4 nights), leaving early by coach on a Wednesday morning, flying from Stansted, and returning on a Sunday evening, thus giving us 5 full days for our itinerary. As a guideline, would any members who are interested, please let me know as soon as possible? Further details and cost will follow, if and when available.

Dorothy Newbury, 55 Sunningfields Road, Hendon, London NW4 4RA (0181) 203-0950

NEWS FROM OUR NEIGHBOURS

Saturday 9 March 11.00 – 4.00: North London History Fair, organised by Islington Archaeological and History Society at the Union Chapel, Highbury Corner, (HADAS visited the Union Chapel with Mary O’Connell in September 1989)

Saturday 23 March 11.00 – 5.00: 33rd LAMAS Conference on London Archaeologists. HADAS will have a display at the conference; please visit our stand – constructive comments welcomed. Morning session: recent work in the City and Southward, Thames Archaeological Survey, and the new Roman Gallery at the Museum of London.

Afternoon session: the 50th anniversary of the Roman and Medieval London Excavation Council, instituted by the late Professor Grimes.

Tickets are £3 (members) and £4 (non-members) and are available from Jon Cotton, Dept of Early London History and Collections, Museum of London, London Wall, London EC2Y 5HN.

Thursday 28 March 7.45 pm at Avenue House: The Finchley Society lecture on “Boswell’s London” by Geoffrey Toms (formerly of the Museum of London). Many HADAS members will remember our first weekend away at Attingham Park Adult Education College, Shropshire in October 1974. Mr Toms, then warden at Attingham Park, hosted our group. He was secretary of the Shropshire Archaeological Society and excavated under Dr Graham Webster at Wroxeter.)

MEMBERS’ NEWS

Mrs Banham, one of the founder members of HADAS (1961), writes to send her best wishes to all our sick members. She wishes she could still join us on outings, lectures and weekends away. She was a regular on all of these, but her spinal ailment has severely curtailed her activities. She is now in her 90th year, and says she is with us in spirit when she reads the reports in our newsletters. Several of us will remember her habit of sneaking a bottle of sherry in her luggage on our weekends, and gathering us in her room for a reviver after an exhausting day. In the early days of the society, the late Mr Banham dealt with the dispatch of our newsletter, addressing the envelopes by hand.

Percy Reboul, another long-standing member (1972), is reported in an extract from a Plastics Industry Journal. The Greater London Industrial Archaeological Society (GLIAS) heard an entertaining history of ‘The Material with a Thousand Uses”. The history of Bakelite was presented by Percy Reboul, who is chairman of the Plastics Historical Society. The golden age of bakelite radios and telephones has now passed, bringing the closure of the 26-acre Tyseley plant in Birmingham, operated by BXL for whom Percy worked. The thrust of the lecture, which stimulated considerable interest among the GLIAS members, was firmly in the past. Percy’s gift for bringing this to life and his unfailing enthusiasm for the subject were clearly on display. (Percy gave the same lecture to the Finchley Society on 29 February.)

Marion Newbury, another early member (1972), has had a son on Monday, 12 February, a brother for Grace.

PLANNING APPLICATION Tessa Smith

Planning application has been received for the Bury Farm area at Edgware to be developed as another golf course. As some members may recall, HADAS field-walked this in 1976 and found a scatter of Roman sherds, rims, handles and mortaria in fields abutting the M1. Later, we investigated the water pipeline and its associated spoilheaps, but finds were minimal, although the area is close to Brockley Hill where 14 Roman kilns have been excavated in the past. Bury Farm is encompassed by the A41, the Ml, the tunnel by the Scratchwood Service Area, and Clay Lane.

MOLAS Tessa Smith

MOLAS is at the moment doing a desk-top survey gathering together historical documents and relevant data, part of which includes our evidence of field-walking finds. At a later stage, if planning goes ahead, the museum will be doing a field survey which will include field-walking, and in which HADAS will be welcome to participate. In view of this exciting possibility, we are making a list of interested member who would want to join in the field-walking – I imagine everybody would be enthusiastic and want to! Contact the committee! We will keep you posted of further developments.

HERTFORDSHIRE INNS AND PUBLIC HOUSES is a gazetteer of over 700 licensed houses open by 1900 and still serving today. HADAS member Graham Javes has contributed historical information on 31 houses in Chipping, East and New Barnets, Arkley, Hadley and Totteridge which fulfil these criteria. The book may be purchased from Hertfordshire County Record Office, or ordered from bookshops. ISBN 0-901354-79-1. Price £18.00

BARNET’S PUBS Richard Selby £8 . 95 Reviewed by Bill Bass

This is a book that will be close to the heart of several HADAS members. It mentions all of the public houses, inns, taverns, hotels, brew- and ale-houses that have ever existed in Chipping

Barnet, Arkley, Hadley. East and New Barnet since the 14th century. together with their locations, dates and histories.

Richard’s exhaustive research has unearthed a wealth of facts, details and anecdotes. The earliest houses include the Swan on the Hoope, established in 1398, and the present Dandy Lion in Barnet High Street, which has been in existence for over 550 years, having been the Red Lion, the Cardinal’s Hat and the Antelope, established before 1449. This once-extensive pub at one time stabled 100 horses, which explains the presence of most of these houses – The Great North Road.

Travellers have long found Barnet a convenient stopping-off place to and from London, culminating in the stage-coach era in the late 18th century. There are stories of the Red Lion in “commercial friction” with other houses competing for the early postal trade, with postboys brawling. “The Red Lion thought nothing of taking out the posthorses from any private carriage passing the house, and putting in a pair of their own, to do the next stage to St Albans. This, too. free of charge, in order to prevent the business going to their hated rival” – the Green Man.

There’s a chapter called “So, What’s a Pub?”. Is it a tavern, inn, hotel, alehouse? Richard has sampled them all and explains, also Barnet’s several breweries are recalled and described. Alas, in the 1920s, there was the “Barnet Comb-out”, following the Balfour Act of 1904, and pressure from the temperance lobby, nine of the town’s public houses did not have their licences renewed.

At the northern end of Barnet, there once flourished a community called Kick’s End, an area now composed of Hadley Highstone, Wrotham Park and Kitt’s End Road. Here, the old medieval route to St Albans and The Great North Road met. This disparate hamlet took advantage of the coach trade. Richard describes the village and its pubs, which were previously unkown to him (and myself). Eventually, the “New” St Albans Road was built (1826) bypassing this area, which then fell into obscurity, later to become part of the Wrotham Park Estate.

This is a fascinating book illustrated with maps, photos and prints. As well as the pubs’ histories, it gives further insight into the townspeople, their trade, and the passing traveller down the centuries.

HADAS have so far dug at three of Barnet’s pub sites: The Mitre, Red Lion and the Old Bull -only 197 to go!

AND A PINT FOR MUMMY

The “Daily Mail’ reports (7 February): The beer the Egyptian pharaohs took to their tombs is being reincarnated – in Newcastle. With the help of Cambridge University scientists, brewers Scottish and Newcastle have recreated a 4,000-year-old recipe to produce 1.000 bottles of Tutankhamen’s Ale.

THE MOUNT HOUSE, MONKEN HADLEY COMMON Bill Bass

Further to HADAS’ excavation of a mound base at the above site (Newsletter 292), further research has turned up an article in LAMAS Transactions (Vol. V, Part II, 1925) by Mr Fredk. L. Dove; a previous owner. Amongst other things, he removed a portion of earth from the north side of the mound and planted a cedar tree (which still exists) at ground level. This clears up a slight mystery as photographs have shown a tree on top of the mound: this one was replaced, as it was blown down. Mr Dove, like us, also dug a trench following the circumference of the mound, at 8 feet down – The trench was half on virgin gravel and half had been previously excavated. At 12 feet, he found the water table. Dove then excavated a shaft near to the centre of the mound, finding “two foot six inches of ordinary soil and six inches of a greyish white sand”. He then found dirty gravel and loamy bright yellow virgin sand. He also mentions a previous owner who “drove a heading into the mound, but was not rewarded by making any discovery” Dove felt that his mound and others on the common were “soil excavated from the adjoining ponds”. There is, however, evidence from this article and elsewhere that the mounds on Hadley Common may have contained rubble and ‘brick bats’, but from which period, it is not known. Also, it seems that the locals used to allude to the `hillocks’ on the Common as “Soldiers’ Graves”. Dove’s methods may not have been totally scientific, but with his evidence and that of HADAS, remains of any medieval or earlier occupation at The Mount House appear to be elusive.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL ILLUSTRATION

Madingley Hall, the residential course centre of the University of Cambridge Board of Continuing Education, is offering a course on Archaeological Illustration, tutored by Sandra Rowntree, on 11­13 October, 1996. The fee of £115 includes accommodation. Phone (01954) 210636 to book, or for the Courses Programme.

CLASSICAL SHIPS

The exhibition at Church Farmhouse Museum is open till 17 March. Modelled by George Fantides, there are Greek warships, Roman merchant ships, and Egyptian barges. This unique collection will be leaving the country this summer for permanent display abroad, so take this chance to see.

This, the 300th edition of the Newsletter, is accompanied by a copy of the very first Newsletter produced. Its editor is still a member, and for around 30 current HADAS members, who were members then, this will be the second time they receive Newsletter No. 1! They are: Daisy Hill, Reva Brown, Christine Arnott, Mrs Banham, Mr & Mrs Bergman, Mr & Mrs Canter, Dr Cogman, Mrs Corlet, John Enderby, Mr Harvey, Enid Hill, Mr & Mrs Hurst, Bryan Jarman (our chairman for 20 years), Alec Jeakins, Chris Leverton, Dr Livingstone, Daphne Lorimer, William Morris, Dorothy Pavasar, Peter Pickering, Ted Sammes, Liz & Mr Sugues, Ann Saunders, Sally Shulman, Margaret Taylor, Ann Trewick, Freda Wilkinson, Helen Gordon, Celia Gould and Liz Holiday.

No: 299 FEBRUARY 1996 Edited by ANDY SIMPSON

DIARY

Tuesday 6 February

Second evening visit to The Royal Institution and Faraday Museum. Meet 6.30pm at 21, Albemarle Street, Wl, Our January visit was overbooked, so a return visit has been arranged Phone Dorothy Newbury (018 L203. 0950) if you would like to join this second group price S4. (Recommended/ See report on first visit on page 5 – Ed)

Tuesday 13 February Lecture: Archaeological finds from the Jubilee Line –

by Mike Hutchinson, the Archaeological Project Manager with the Museum of London, which is conducting the work on the Jubilee Line extension. Much of interest has been found including not only medieval, but also artifacts dating to between 4,000 & 8,000 years BC, in the Westminster area, and Roman finds in the London Bridge station site.

Tuesday 12 March Lecture: The latest news from Boxgrove – Simon Parritt

You’ve visited the site, watched the TV programme – now hear the lecture!

Tuesday 9 April Lecture: The Thames Archaeological Survey – Mike Webber

An update on last summer’s work on the Thames foreshore, undertaken mainly by volunteers and students.

Tuesday 14 May Annual General Meeting

Important Reminder – Lectures are now on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, in the Drawing Room, Avenue House, East End Road, Finchley, N3. The room is on the ground floor so has easy access for anyone with walking difficulties, We meet from 8pm for coffee and a chat, and the lecture begins at 8.30pm.

Your 1996 programme card should be with this Newsletter; if you haven’t received your copy, please contact either Vikki O’Connor or Dorothy Newbury.

The 33rd LAMAS Conference of London Archaeologists – Saturday 23rd March 1996. Morning session: recent work in the City and Southwark, Thames Archaeological Survey and the new Roman Gallery at the Museum of London, Afternoon session: the 50th anniversary of the Roman and Medieval London Excavation Council, instituted by the late Professor Grimes, To be held at the Lecture Theatre, Museum of London, commencing at 11 am and finishing at 5.00pm. Tickets are S3 (members), £4.00 (non­members) and are available from Jon Cotton, Dept of Early London History & Collections, Museum of London, London Wall, London EC2Y 5HN. HADAS will have a display at the conference; please visit our stand – constructive comments welcomed!

MEMBERS NEWS Dorothy Newbury

We have been receiving enquiries about the whereabouts of some of our sick members:

Ted Sammes – was transferred from the Royal Brompton to a Slough hospital before Christmas and is hoping to return home by the end of January, so he will be pleased to hear from you.

Victor Jones is home from the rehabilitation centre in Surrey and will also be pleased to hear from friends.

Enid Hill – on top of her other problems, we are sorry to hear she has developed shingles and is in hospital at present but hopes to be home again before the end of January, and looks forward to hearing from friends.

Mary O’Connell – hopes to get clearance on her knee replacement and returns to London soon to arrange our Whitechapel visit in September.

Helen Gordon is in the wars again. She was out of action last summer with a broken shoulder but has fallen again, broken a leg and is hobbling around on crutches. Marjorie Errington – a new casualty was hospitalised while away over Christmas, but is back home now and we hope it won’t be too long before we see her back serving tea at lectures.

And as for me, Dorothy, the plaster is off my arm, but it is crooked and painful and awaiting further X-ray results. Jean Henning, who did the same in the summer (broke her wrist) says I’m too impatient!

CLASSICAL SHIPS at Church Farmhouse Museum

An amazing collection of carved model ships goes on how for the first time at Church Farmhouse Museum from 3 February until 17 March. They will be leaving the country this summer for permanent display abroad. This unique collection, which took over 20 years to make, was created by Hendon barber, George Fantides, Each model has taken hours of research and months to carve and assemble. The result is an incredibly detailed miniature ancient port and an extraordinary fleet of scale model ships.

If you want to see the type of warship that literally smashed the Persian navy to pieces at the Bathe of Salamis 500 years before the birth of Christ, you will find a four-foot long model of an ancient Greek warship, under sail with three banks of 90 minute oarsmen on show. There is also a five-foot long model of the type of Roman galley that carried Julius Caesar and his army to invade Britain. Vessels from Ancient Egypt, Crete and Phoenicia also feature together with a Roman merchantman. Three ships, loaded with grain from Egypt, tin from Britain, wine, marble, olive oil and dozens of other commodities from the corners of the Roman Empire, sailed to and from the Roman port of Ostia. The 3ff by 4ff model of Ostia depicts a bustling dock-side scene, complete with slave market, butcher’s shop, brothel, a miniature replica of the sea god Neptune and a tiny copy of a mosaic pavement found on the site. Using power tools, the mode! took George Fantides nine months to assemble, carved out of paving stones, with six kilograms of Italian clay and 14 kilograms of special glue to hold it all together.

All the classical ships in this exhibition show how one man using the evidence of the past has created three thousand years of history – in miniature.

(Liz adds that some of the HADAS collection of Brockley Hill Pottery will be Included in the exhibition to relate the exhibition to local events and sites and provide some publicity for HADAS – Ed)

HENDON AERODROME Bill Firth

About two months ago a proposal was put to Barnet Council by the Mercury Group, a property development business, for a massive “American-style ‘auto-mall’ and a 20-screen cinema” on the Hendon Aerodrome site (East Camp) together with the offer of a £2 million sweetener.

Barnet Council’s immediate response was to “look forward to seeing what the planning application actually sets out and hope it fits in to the planning brief for the area and meets the criteria for development following consultation with residents.”

“To discuss money on the table is totally the wrong approach. Barnet Council and indeed no council sells planning approvals.”

This seemed such a controversial proposal that I have been expecting more reaction from the council but there has been none. For the present we must be content that the council is awaiting a planning application and has said that applications are not for sale. This is one to watch

PLANNING APPLICATIONS Bill Firth

English Heritage have commented on two recent planning applications.

The first is 140-150 Cricklewood Broadway which lies beside Roman Watling Street and in the extent of the medieval village of Cricklewood. This might prove to be an interesting site.

The second site is 86-100 West Heath Road and is of interest for its proximity to the West Heath dig and the possibility that there could be interesting finds.

OTHER LECTURES AND COURSES

Miss A M Large reminds us that residential weekend courses, many of them historical with strong archaeological connections, are run by the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education, Rewley House, 1 Wellington Square, Oxford, OX1 2JA. She recommends these university-level lectures with good accommodation and food, all easily accessible in the centre of Oxford – a free mailing list gives further information.

The Historical Association – the Hampstead and NW London Branch meet at 8pm on Thursdays at Fellowship House, Willifield Way, NW11. On 15 February their speaker is Dr Margaret Roxan of University College, London, speaking on “Life in Britain’s OTHER Roman Army – the Auxiliaries”. Details from Association Secretary, Mrs J Wheatley, 177 Hampstead Way, NW11 7YA.

The Museum of London offers 40-minute Gallery talks on Thursdays at 2.30pm, including:

15 Feb: Time Out: entertainments & leisure in Roman London

29 Feb: Dormice, Peacocks and Fish Sauce – food and cooking.

From 13 Feb – 31 March the “Londinium Live” event offers visitors to the new Roman London Gallery the chance to meet actor/interpreters “bringing Roman Londoners to life”. (A similar scheme at the London Transport Museum, Covent Garden, proved successful with Victorian streetsweeper, navvy building the Underground and wartime ‘clippie’).

RESCUE – The British Archaeological Trust

Following their mid-day AGM on Saturday 17 February, RESCUE are holding an open meeting entitled Archaeology Today. Public Service or Secret Society? The invited speakers are: Andrew Selkirk, Bill Startin, John Walker and Jan Wills. Views will be invited from all attendees. Venue: Museum of London Lecture Theatre, 2pm.

INSTITUTE OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Gordon Square, 7pm – £4 per lecture, pay at the door, Continuing the excellent series arranged by Harvey Sheldon,

Thurs 8 Feb Roads & Communication in Roman Britain – Prof Barri Jones

Thurs 15 Feb Coinage in Roman Britain – Dr Richard Reece

Thurs 22 Feb Revealing Roman Suffolk – Judith Plouviez

Thurs 29 Feb Religion in Roman Britain – Dr Martin Henig

STUDY DAY Roman London – Sat 2 March 10am – 5pm, Museum of London, to mark the launch of the Museum’s new Roman London Gallery. Tickets £15, concessions £7.50 available from the Museum’s Interpretation Unit (tel: 0171 600 3699, ext 200),

ROMAN FORT AT DRUMANAGH

A Sunday Times article (21.1.96) revealed details of a 40-acre coastal site, some 15 miles north of Dublin, which has been known to the National Museum of Ireland for over 10 years but kept secret due to legal problems. The heavily defended fort is interpreted as a beach-head supporting military campaigns, developing into a large trading town, and coins found on the site date it to AD79 – AD138. It is the first positive evidence of the Roman frontier in Ireland, and will probably link in with various small finds of Roman material – some finds have previously been explained away as ‘imported’.

CIFLIK

The University of Warwick January ’96 newsletter reported on the 1995 (2nd) season of their excavations at Ciftlik, Turkey, (sited by the Black Sea) carried out in collaboration with the Sinop Museum, and directed by Dr Stephen Hill of Warwick. The site is under threat of erosion, 7 metres of land having been washed away since their first season -fortunately they had already lifted a mosaic pavement from that area. The ’95 excavation concentrated on the early Byzantine church, dating from the 5th to 14th centuries, after which it fell into disuse and was then robbed out, Marble was burnt to make lime for mortar and for agricultural use, parts of the church was re-used for building this century, and the western area was used for road-building.

The excavators found that the mosaic floors were well-preserved, and the finds included fragments of very fine mosaic wall and vault decoration and fragments of architectural sculpture. The patterns are described as a “vast range of geometric motifs, which, in the central nave, were arranged in the squares of a regular chequerboard”. These were photographed and computer imaging will be used to re­create the original patterns.

An underwater survey was carried out to plot the line of the ancient coastline, also, to recover some architectural sculpture. They were able to confirm that the area is not only suffering coastal erosion but is also sinking.

The University is planning a third season this year, and are currently fundraising to this end.

HOW WAS THAT? – as the Guardian entitled its recent report that archaeologists investigating a cluster of 500,000 years old chalk balls found in a Chichester gravel pit are considering whether they were used for a form of cricket or boules. Presumably umpired by a sort of Palaeolithic Dicky Bird…

Mary Wood, a member of HADAS since the early 1980s, wrote to advise that she has moved to a new address at Canterbury and sends her best wishes to us.

A MONUMENTAL MISTAKE Andy Simpson

Archaeology and Politics continue to make sometimes uneasy bedfellows. A recent Guardian article under the above title highlighted the role played by modern-day travelers and anarchists in protecting archaeological sites from development. We are all familiar with these members of an ‘alternative society’ as seen on TV at Newbury By-Pass and other road schemes. The Dongas ‘tribe’ of travelers actually named themselves after a set of archaeological features. They and their fellow protesters face farmers who argue that the granting of class consents to plough over ancient scheduled monuments is part of the historical process in pursuit of EEC grain subsidies. The process continues – a recent survey found that 145 of the 202 schedules hillforts and earthwork enclosures in Dyfed had been substantially degraded since scheduling. The CBA has criticised the Government’s Rural White Paper which scarcely mentioned the historical environment, and called for consideration of the wider landscape and for environmental protection to be firmly linked to farm subisdies. This month, collection of data will be completed for Bournmeouth University’s “Monuments at Risk” survey, which is expected to show there are some one million recognised archaeological sites in England, of which some 15,000 are scheduled – some may be protected by English Nature and English Heritage’s “countryside character programme” recommending that certain landscapes be given special treatment by planners. The Government’s proposed Heritage Green Paper has, however, been delayed – it remains to be seen whether this will rectify any of the anomalies.

The above article generated a leered response from academics and the CBA; one correspondent called it’s simplistic and glib’ and argued for a sense of proportion in a crowded island where any ground disturbance could affect evidence of past activity. Asking what are archaeological remains for – material for helping us understand better our remote past, or a playground for alternative lifestyles. Other discussions centred on the problems of much archaeology now being funded by developers and the presence of ‘cowboy’ archaeological contractors who will supposedly do the bidding of developers cheaply and with minimal fuss. The CBA points out that whilst wildlife can still be regenerated in protected environments, elements of the historic environment cannot be replaced. Forthcoming changes to social security entitlements may well thin out the numbers of travelers involved in environmental schemes – it will be interesting to see who replaces them.

THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN and THE FARADAY MUSEUM Andy Simpson Some two dozen HADAS members met at the Albemarle Street, W1, home of the Royal Institution for a most informative evening. The Royal Institution was founded in 1799 by Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, an American who had served as a British spy in the American War of Independence and moved to Britain when the British lost the war. He was an able scientist in his own right, interested particularly in the study of heat and light. The Institution has occupied the same premises since 1799 and received its Royal Charter in 1800. A public appeal raised funds to buy the building – originally a private house, first mentioned in 1746 – and it was converted to house laboratories, libraries and lecture theatres. The famous Lecture Theatre, home of the annual Christmas lectures was added in 1800-1801 and the facade of Corinthian columns in 1838. The adjoining 18th century house was acquired in 1894 and this now contains a Wedgwood plaque from 32 Soho Square, the home of Sir Joseph Banks.

Our expert guide, Mrs McCabe, the Institution’s Libraries and Information Officer, informed us that the lecture theatre is acoustically near perfect and was built to accommodate 1,000 people – reduced to 450 today due to modern safety regulations. It now accommodates teachers’ workshops, Open University lectures, and many of the 20,000 school children that visit the Institution annually. The Christmas

lectures have run since 1826, except for a break during the last war, and have been televised for some 30 years. Also in 1826 began the Friday Evening Discourses – from the beginning open to both women and working people, but at first kept out of the way in the balcony until an experiment went wrong and choked some of the ladles. Gallant as ever, Faraday invited them downstairs, away from the rising fumes. The workers stayed where they were, presumably.

Michael Faraday (1791-1867), the bookbinder’s apprentice who went on to discover electromagnetic induction, is commemorated at the Institution in paintings, by a statue, and by his magnetic laboratory, restored in 1972 to how it was portrayed in paintings of 1845. The museum adjacent to the laboratory contains some of Faraday’s personal effects as well as a unique collection of original apparatus illustrating his 50 years’ work at the Institution; he built the first transformer in 1831. now displayed in the museum.

The lecture theatre ambulatory contains display cases commemorating other members of the Royal Institution including Humphry Davy, inventor of the miner’s lamp and Faraday’s first scientific employer (he began by washing bottles for Davy). John Tyndall (1820-1893) was the first to measure the absorption and radiation of heat by gases and vapours, explained the flow of glaciers and recognised what is now called the greenhouse effect. Sir James Dewar invented the vacuum flask in 1902; Thomas Young, who lectured at the Institution 1801-3, first translated the Rosetta Stone; he also established the wave theory of light. The last display was on Lord George Porter’s work on photochemistry. Faraday, incidentally, used to ride his bicycle round the ambulatory – but we weren’t told why!

The Institution’s library contains over 60,000 books, reflecting the emphasis on popular science and bridging the gap between Science and the Arts, with scientific literature going back to 1500. Many books are also contained in the elegant “Conversation Room, and we spotted a book on Hampstead Heath in another room. Altogether ❑ splendid evening, particularly for a certain ex-BT employee who was greatly taken by the static electricity generating “Wimshurst Influence Machine” – an early precursor of modern particle accelerators. Thanks again to Mrs McCabe, also to Mary O’Connell for initially arranging the visit. There is much 1 have had to leave out of this brief summary, so, book now for the repeat visit on February 6th!

Issue No 298 January by Liz Holiday

DIARY

January: No lecture meeting this month

Tuesday 9 January Evening visit to The Royal Institution & Faraday Museum. Meet at 6.30pm at The Royal Institution, 21 Albemarle Street, W.1 Phone 018

to reserve your place. Price £4 per person.

Please note new lecture day: second Tuesday in the month, 8pm for 8.30pm in the ground floor Draw

House, East End Road, Finchley, N.3

Tuesday 13 February (Not 11 February!) The Archaeology of the Jubilee Line Extension .Mike Hutchinson

Tuesday 12 March

Boxgrove Discoveries. Simon Parfitt

CHRISTMAS DINNER A Reveller reports A freezing night with snow in the air and ice underfoot did not deter the stoic band who ventured into darkest Hertfordshire on 5 December. The party was welcomed to Verulamium Museum by Museums Director Mark Suggitt and his hospitable staff. There was just time to look round this wonderful collection, make a brief visit to the conservation laboratory, whip through the museum store, and enjoy a glass of wine before going on to the Waterend Barn Restaurant in the centre of St. Albans. The Little Barn, where the dinner was served, was brought from Great Hormead in the 1960s and re-erected next to The Large Barn, already in use as a restaurant. The Large Barn dates from 1610 and was brought to the city in 1938 from the farm at Waterend Manor, Wheathampstead by Ralph and William Thrale, who owned and ran a long established bakery business. Waterend Manor was the birthplace in 1660 of Sarah Jenyns, who as wife of John Churchill became Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, Queen Anne’s favourite and confidant. The pure air of St. Albans is said to have contributed to her longevity – she died aged 85 at Holywell House.

However, HADAS revellers preferred the festive atmosphere of the Little Barn to the cold air outside and adorned with paper hats, eagerly despatched an excellent traditional Christmas dinner.

Heartfelt thanks to Dorothy Newbury who arranged the evening; Mrs Rosamund Adlard who organised things at Verulamium Museum and the Manageress and staff at the Little Barn. Both venues are highly recommended for a visit – the museum for its superb disnches and teas.

LOCAL STUDIES AND ARCHIVES Local History Librarian, Jill Barber has left Barnet for Westminster and until her replacement is appointed the opening hours of Local Studies and Archives have been altered. Until further notice the hours are:

Monday

Closed

Tuesday

9.30-12.30

&

1.30-5.00

Wednesday

9.30-12.30

&

1.30-5.00

Thursday

12.30-7.30

Friday

Closed

Saturday

9 .30-12 .30

&

1.30-5.00

Before visiting the collection, it is best to make an appointment by telephoning 0181-359 2876.

MEMBERS’ NEWS

Ted Sammes is no longer in intensive care, but remains in The Brompton Hospital, following a heart by-pass operation; Victor Jones has left the Royal Free and is staying at a convalescent borne in Surrey; Mary O’Connell is in hospital in Bristol for a knee operation and Dorothy Newbury is sporting a broken wrist (right hand, of course!) after a tumble while feeding the birds in her garden. (Dorothy hopes members will excuse her for not writing her little personal notes on their Newsletters this month).

Our best wishes to Ted, Victor, Mary, Dorothy for speedy recovery and to any other members who are not on top form at present.

JANE AUSTEN – A HENDON CONNECTION A note from Joanna Gorden

The recent interest in Jane Austen, her works, life and world, inspired a search at the Local Studies and Archives Centre for some additional information behind part of a facsimile letter from Jane Austen to her niece Anna Lefroy, wife of Benjamin, who lived for a time in Hendon.

“If your uncle were at home he would send his best love, but 1 will not impose and Base fictitious remembrance on you – Mine I can honestly give, and remain Your affectionate Aunt. J. Austen”

The letter was written when Jane was at Han Place and addressed to “Mrs B. Lefroy, Hendon”. After looking through the rate books, it was established that she was recorded in the poor rate books from May 1814 to the last entry in February 1819, when the entry reads “Mr.Lefroy or occupier”. They were in possession of a house valued at £40 per annum and a field at £10 per annum. Rate payers at this date are recorded alphabetically, which is not helpful for tracing location. However, the new occupier of a property usually refers back to the previous one, so it was possible to find the next occupier, a Mr.Beale and after him, from April 1821, a Mr.Holgate.

There was only one Mr. Holgate in Hendon at this time: William Wyndham Holgate, who lived at Heriot House, Brent Street, Hendon where he practised as a doctor for more than30 years. His daughter, Agnes Beattie Holgate, was born in 1828 and in later life painted scenes round Hendon, including Heriot House itself. The paintings and sketches were donated to Hendon Library in 1934 by her niece Mary Holgate. Agnes herself married the Lavaliere Giacomo Filippo Angelo Medori of Rome in 1859. She died in 1880 and is buried in Florence. Heriot House no longer exists, although Heriot Road and Christchurch are built on part of the site.

Book Review by Roy Walker

A Walk Along Ancient Boundaries in Kenwood by Malcolm Stokes. Published by Hornsey Historical Society, 1995. Price 12.00

Malcolm Stokes has undertaken extensive research into the various ancient boundaries of Hornsey and has now produced a pocket-sized guide to one location – Kenwood. Hopefully this is the first of such guides as it not only provides a detailed map, noting all features relevant to the boundaries being followed, but a wealth of historical background. All this in twenty-four well-illustrated pages for just £2.00 (This is almost the price of a pint at The Gatehouse, Highgate where an iron boundary plate of 1791 survives).

Malcolm, a HADAS member, but writing under the aegis of his local group, The Hornsey Historical Society, traces the old St.Pancras parish boundary, together with those of Hornsey, Finchley and Hampstead parishes. The location of each visible marker is given and we are told where they should be if they have now vanished. The importance of the landscape is not neglected and the changes effected by Lord Mansfield in 1793-96 are discussed. The publication provides a timely link by HADAS’s current work on Hampstead Heath. The Saxon ditch which we are recording forms, in part, the boundary of St.Pancras with Hampstead. The clear descriptions of the boundary markers, notes from boundary reports of 1854 and 1874 have put flesh on the bones we face most Sundays. A copy of Malcolm’s guide has been bought for the HADAS library but I strongly recommend that you add this book to your own shelves and support this project undertaken by the Hornsey Historical Society.

TRAINED SPOTTERS Dan Lampert

When I read of the abandoned viaducts near Brockley Hill in a recent Newsletter, I realized that I must he a walking fossil because I worked on the engineering design of this intended Underground Railway extension.

The countryside where the line was to be built was then known as Metroland. It was mostly fields and villages. The line route was agreed in 1932 and it required a viaduct in the vicinity of Brockley Hill. There were three structural possibilities for the viaduct – a series of steel girders on concrete abutments, reinforced concrete bridges on abutments or red brick arches. Coloured pictures were prepared by the London Passenger Transport Board showing how the different designs would look. These were exhibited at various locations in Meroland and the public were asked to chose. The choice was for red brick arches – this was said to be more in keeping with the surroundings.

In 1939 engineering projects which were considered non-essential to the war effort were stopped. The LPTB worked on supporting existing viaducts against bomb damage, providing water seal doors each end of the Tube tunnels under the Thames, protecting power generating stations etc. As an engineer I was designated to be in a “reserved

occupation” and I was assigned to repairing bomb damage from the 1940 London blitz. When this ended I joined the armed forces.

In 1945 the Edgware branch of the Northern Line had a very low priority. Green Line bus services and extended bus routes began to serve the area until finally the rail connection was abandoned.

Continuing the engineering theme, The Millennium Commission is considering ideas and designs for projects to celebrate the year 2000. The Evening Standard magazine gave details for some schemes from London’s past which never made it. They include:

Unbending the Thames. In 1796 Willey Reveley unveiled a radical plan to straighten the river Thames to relieve congested shipping. This plan, described as novel, grand and

captivating proposed that three massive channels should he cut through the City from Woolwich to Wapping and the old curves could he used as three huge docks. Alas, the engineering work was too complex and the scheme was rejected.

A few years later in 1799, the sculptor John Flaxman suggested a colossal statue of Britannia to be sited near Greenwich Observatory. Standing over 230 feet high, flanked by lion and shield, clutching a spear in her raised right hand this impressive monument could act as a beacon for shipping. But, alas…

In the early 1880s when Egyptmania was sweeping Britain, Thomas Wilson, an architect, came up with the idea of building a replica Great Pyramid of Primrose Hill to serve as a burial vault. The immense structure, taller than St.Paul’s on a base larger than Trafalgar Square, would contain 215,296 catacombs and accommodate 5,176,104 individual burials. Parliament did not share Wilson’s enthusiasm for the project and rejected it in favour of a more conventional cemetery in Kensal Green.

Then there was London’s answer to the Eiffel Tower at Wembley Park. Building started in 1891, was abandoned in 1894 when the money ran out and the stump was finally blown up in 1907.

The grandiose idea of an Overhead Airport with eight radiating runways, each half a mile long, resting on the rooftops of St.Pancras and Kings Cross stations was proposed in 1931. (Unfortunately, technology available at the time couldn’t match this vision… and the plan was dropped.

New book

Public Record Office Publications have recently published Maps for Local History (£8.95 ISBN 1 8731 6217 0). It provides a guide to the records of the tithe survey 1836 – c.1850, a national land tax survey 1910-1915 and a national farm survey 1941-45. This helpful hook (with such a misleading title) explains the historical background of the surveys, lists the information content (with indexes) and tells you how to use and find the records.

CHURCH FARMHOUSE MUSEUM The current exhibition features over 25 homemade and commercially manufactured dolls’ houses, dating from the 1840s to the

present day. Sizes range from a matchbox to a five foot high cabinet. There is also a wonderful assortment of miniature furniture and fittings on show.

If you’re intrigued by small things, you will marvel at the skills used to make such detailed miniature objects. All the material on show has been specially lent to the Museum by local residents and collectors from slightly further afield. Well worth a visit, particularly if you have children or grandchildren who would enjoy a treat.

The dining room remains decorated in full traditional Victorian style for Christmas until Saturday 6 January and Dolls Houses closes at 5.30pm on Sunday 7 January.

The Museum will be open on Wednesday 27, Thursday 28, Saturday 30 and Sunday 31 December, closed on New Year’s Day and then open again as usual at 10.00am on Tuesday 2 January.

NEWS FROM OUR NEIGHBOURS Enfield Archaeological Society welcome visitors to their meetings in the Jubilee Hall, junction of Chase Side and Parsonage Lane. Tea is served at 7.30; meetings start at 8pm. On Friday 19 January Ian Jones will be talking about Iran Before Islam_

Pinner Local History Society meets at 8pm on the first Thursday of the month in the Village Hall, Chapel Lane, Pinner. On 4 January Sue Selwyn will be speaking on Dante Gabriel Rosetti and the Pre-Raphaelites and on 1 February Dr. Colin Bowlt will describe North London Woodlands in History.

The Society’s annual Local History Day will he held from 10am to 4.30pm on Saturday 24 February at the Winston Churchill Hall, Ruislip. The theme is People on the Move.

Speakers include Dr. Jonathan Cotton (Prehistoric Footprints in the West London Landscape); Dr. Isobel Thompson (Incomers and Natives: Harrow Weald, 1845); Eddie Cohen speaking about movement of the Jewish community from the East End and Dr. Philip Sherwood who describes how the building of Heathrow destroyed a community.

Tickets for the day cost £4 and if you would like to go please phone Liz Holliday on 01923

267483 by 31 January.

THE MUSEUM OF LONDON

The Roman London gallery re-opens on 30 January, with new models, extra room settings and a reconstructed street. Nearly 2000 objects will be on display. From 30 January to 9 February visitors can watch a craftsman plastering and painting the walls of the room settings using Roman methods.

On Sunday 14, 21 and 28 January at 2.30pm and 3.15pm, as part of their family events, the Museum of London will be holding thirty-minute object handling sessions on the theme Winter Warmers. Suitable for all over the age of 7 years, visitors will have the chance to handle a fascinating selection of winter things from the Museum’s handling collection.

In their series of fifty-minute lectures Excavating London Today on Fridays at 1.10pm:The Jubilee Line: excavations update by Alistair Green on 12 January; Excavations in Eden Street, Kingston-upon-Thames by Patricia Miller on 19 January and Bullwharf Lane, City of London by Julian

Ayres on 26 January.

For sale: a 400 page Roman history in mint condition – From Constantine to Alaric by F.P.Stevens. Price £5. Phone Rosemary

Bentley on 0181-959 5830.

Issue No.297 DECEMBER 1995 Edited by Deirdre Barrie

HADAS DIARY

Tuesday December 5th VISIT TO VERULAMIUM MUSEUM followed by CHRISTMAS DINNER at WATEREND BARN RESTAURAUNT, ST.ALBANS.

Tuesday January 9th, 1996 EVENING VISIT TO ROYAL INSTITUTION and FARADAY MUSEUM with Mary O’Connell (application form enclosed).

There is no lecture in January 1996, and in February we commence our new lecture day – the second Tuesday in the month in the Drawing Room at Avenue House, East End Road, Finchley N3 (8 pm for 8.30 pm). This is on the ground floor, with easy access, so we hope that members who have found the stairs difficult will

join us.

Tuesday February 11th Mike Hutchinson – “The Archaeology of the Jubilee Line Extension”. Tuesday Tuesday March 12th Simon Parfitt – “Boxgrove Discoveries”.

We may have the opportunity of an empty shop in Church Road, Hendon, for a few days to try and sell our 1995 surplus – especially clothes. Could any member help for a few hours if this plan materialises?

HADAS has a mystery to solve – or a ghost was on the outing to Silchester last August 19th. Vikki and Tessa both reported one passenger over and above the applications and cheques received. For morning coffee, entrance to the Museum of Rural Life and then tea, there were always 45 instead of 44. Who was the mysterious 45th? We can only assume someone’s cheque and form was lost in the post. To solve this mystery, would everyone who went on the trip see if a cheque hasn’t gone through. PS: It’s not the money—we want to solve the mystery. Vikki didn’t do a further roll-call on the coach, assuming an application had come in too late to go on the list.

MEMBERS NEWS

We have several members on the sick list.

Victor Jones has had an op in the Royal Free.

Ted Sammes is in the Brompton Hospital. Following heart tests, he is being kept in, probably for a heart by-pass.

Jean Henning had a fall in August, breaking her wrist, which happily is now on the mend.

Enid Hill is having to curtail her activities including labelling our Newsletters and finds at the Museum of London. She is now regularly attending the Royal Free.

Both Mrs. Banham and Frieda Wilkinson, two of our longest- joined members are totally housebound, but they still enjoy our Newsletter, and we hear from them both occasionally.

Malcolm Stokes is the author of “A Walk Along the Ancient Boundaries in Kenwood” recently published by the Hornsey Historical Society, 24 pages, price £2.00. The old parish stones in Kenwood mark the centuries old boundaries of parish and manor long since gone. This walk looks at their ancient course today and considers how Lord Mansfield’s landscaping in 1793-6 has changed their appearance.

THE PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS Roy Walker

HADAS President, Michael Robbins, CBE, FSA, addressed the Society in November on a topic that had affected most churches during the Victorian period – restoration. He first explained his approach to archaeology. His understanding of the history of mankind came from the examination of all physical objects, it was immaterial whether they came from trenches or art galleries. Age too was immaterial – the past started this morning! Our President’s interests in fact awoke around 1800 AD and the following lecture well-illustrated his depth of knowledge of his favoured period.

Antipathy to the works of a previous generation is usually followed by a favourable reaction and the 19th century is no exception. It is now viewed with detachment and Victorian taste is sympathetically considered. However, the restoration of churches has not yet been rehabilitated. “Restored in 1850. . .” strikes a chill in most hearts. The Victorians were self-confident and swept away anything that did not conform and the restorations of the mid-19th century attracted critics even contemporary ones such as John Ruskin.

The term “restoration” was reviewed – a dictionary definition would be “to go back to something taken away, alterations and repairs to restore to its original form”. Under this definition, the works undertaken at Ely and Lincoln cathedrals were more of the nature of structural repairs than restoration. The reference to “original form” when applied to buildings with several architectural styles begs the question “which original form”? The 19th century church restorations (although this word was now treated as though in quotes) were carried out for four main reasons. They were major reconstructions, often pure rebuilding, to make good the centuries of decay. Works of enlargement were undertaken with the replacement of box pews with benches and the destruction of funerary monuments. This clearance could not be regarded as restoration. At this time there was a reversion to the liturgical practices of 1550. Fonts were repositioned by the west door, altars moved, chancel steps introduced (often for the first time in that building) and changes made to the number of lights in the windows. Not restoration. The final cause was simply “taste” to conform to what a church should look like. Gilbert Scott, for example, gave “tone” to St Michael, Cornhill.

By 1840 the style to which churches confirmed was “decorated, 2nd pointed”, English Gothic of the period 1250-1350. This style, strongly advocated by the Cambridge Camden Society (later the Ecclesiological Society) was considered the height of church architecture – previous styles building up to this, later styles simply a decline. Accordingly, under the guise of restoration all later styles, if present, were removed. As well as the liturgical changes outlined above, this “pure” style included no ceilings, no plaster, decorated style windows and 13th century pulpits (even if one had not been there ever). Other features were restored away. St Alban’s is a good example of this destructive school. George Gilbert Scott in 1848 spoke against this practice. Ancient details should not be obliterated, the individual character of the parish church should not be expunged. Restoration should not be undertaken to make the church look new but to repair. Modern surfaces should be removed only to check dilapidation and decay. Another architect, G. E. Street, pleaded for the authentic to be spared and William Butterfield (restorer of St John the Baptist, Barnet) similarly endorsed these views.

Mr Robbins then raised the problem that encountered these prominent architects of the day – they had opposed these restoration methods yet had themselves been attacked for the restoration works they undertook. William Morris spoke out against Scott’s work at Tewkesbury Abbey, Gilbert Scott jnr opposed the demolition of Hampstead church tower. It is sad that Scott, influenced no doubt by the laity and those who paid for the works of restoration, had a conflict of opinion and action. He admitted that he had not lived up to his own precept. His words had been tempered by phrases such as “there cannot be a strict rule” and “tone of feeling”. At Ripon cathedral, 1862-70, he had replace mullions of 1379 with ones of 13th century design and at Harrow-on-the-Hill he created a 14th century chancel where one hadn’t previously existed and refaced the exterior with flints for the first time in its history. G.E.Street too had this paradox. There was a problem of dualism. Most architects, disliking contemporary styles, selected a perfect age to which they adhered but this produced a dilemma – they were not single minded enough to keep to this.

The question session following the lecture produced two interesting points. In the mid-19th century, most major churches had reworked interiors, the smaller ones would have had partial workovers. Mr Robbins suggested an investigation into the records of local churches to examine the debate ongoing at that time – it would reveal arguments about how they should be restored, not if they should be restored. A comment

regarding the failure of a recognisable Victorian style to emerge evoked the question “what if Albert hadn’t died?” This sounds like a suitable title for next year’s Presidential Address.

ASPROM by June Porges

No, it isn’t a cure for a headache – its the Association for the Study and Preservation of Roman
Mosaics. I was told about it while poring over mosaics at the Dorchester Museum, and

attended their 32nd symposium, a most enjoyable weekend in Canterbury during the summer.
Papers were given by Tom Blagg, Anthony Beeson, David Johnston, Roger Ling and David

Neal, who also guided us round the Lullingston Roman Villa. Members are a mixed bunch

ranging from professors to ignoramuses like me – archaeologists, classicists and historians and
someone who is designing jumpers for her HND knitting exams – all very friendly and good

fun.

ASPROM was formed in 1978 as the British section of L’Association Internationale pour
l’Etude de la Mosaique Antique (AIEMA). ASPROM is now the largest and most active of the
national sections, organising two major meetings/symposia a year and publishing an annual

illustrated journal, Mosaic. The subscription of £10 per annum (Hon. Secretary: S. R. Cosh, 38 OaIdea, Ash Vale, Aldershot, Hants. GU12 5HP)

The AGM and 33rd symposium take place at the Museum of London on December 2nd.

Seven papers are featured on the programme, including one on Mosaic pavements from Ostia and another on the newly found Muses mosaic from Luxemburg.

Site Watching: Bill Bass

Tree planting along the south side of Totteridge Lane, Barnet (TQ 229939), resulted in several holes approx 2m sq by lm deep. Inspection showed about 30cm of topsoil sitting directly on solid yellow/brown (natural looking) clay, with some sand/gravel patches. No archaeological features were seen. Totteridge is thought to be an Anglo-Saxon place-name, Tata’s ridge, recording the ridge of drier land providing

the east-west route along which Totteridge Lane still runs.

View from the top Bill Bass

According to the CBA magazine, 1995 has been a very productive year for air photography, at least on a par with the hot summer of 1976. As well as the weather, the organisation of aerial survey is more advanced now than then and is in a better position to take advantage of the favourable conditions.

RCHME fliers have recorded at least 200❑ sites this year, a large proportion of which are new. These include a Neolithic causewayed camp near Peterborough, new Neolithic long barrows in Lincolnshire and Wessex, a dozen new Bronze Age round barrows near Andover, numerous new Iron Age settlements throughout England and three new Roman camps in the north of England. Sites have also been found in Europe such as

Germany and Hungary, where Neolithic features once thought to be unique to Britain – Curses monuments and pit alignments, for instance, can be observed.

Museum of London – No 1 Poultry P E Pickering

I went on 3rd November to a lunchtime lecture at the Museum of London by Peter Rowsome on the continuing excavations on the site of No 1 Poultry. He repeated what he had reported in his article in the Autumn 1955 London Archaeologist, and brought us up to date with later finds. The site is very rich indeed – the Victorian buildings left between 2 and 4 metres of Roman, late Saxon and mediaeval deposits beneath them – and although the planning permission pre-dated PPG 16 the archaeologists have had good allocations of time and funding; they hope to excavate fully 55% of the site, and sample the rest.

The important discoveries include a Saxon cobbled market place, sunken-floor buildings and a Saxon well made out of a tree-trunk; the 11th century church of St Benet Sherehog, not rebuilt after the Great Fire, and a cemetery that replaced it; the Great Conduit (a vaulted 13th-century cistern); the Merchants of Lucca House (an important 13th century financial centre). From the Roman period there was a stone building complex with walls a metre high, and mosaic floors from which three central pictorial panels had been carefully lifted in antiquity – perhaps the owners took them with them when they sold their town house and moved out to a villa.

Although the comprehensive nature of the redevelopment of the site means that no other remains will be preserved in situ, the Great Conduit will be preserved under Cheapside.

WHERE YOU SAT IN A MEDIAEVAL HOUSE P. E. Pickering

I went to the open meeting of SCOLA (the Standing Conference on London Archaeology) on 4th November, at which Dr Philip Dixon gave a lecture with this intriguing title. Our own President, Michael Robbins, was in the chair.

Dr Dixon was not talking about the sort of house you or I might have lived in, but about much, much grander (and, he told us, much more draughty) places; his slides were of Tattershall Castle, Knaresborough Castle, Castle Rising, Castle Hedingham and the like. He explained that the lord of these places would sit in a very strategic place in the audience chamber, near the fire and lit by the largest window, while those who wished to see him kicked their heels in the uncomfortable but impressively decorated “mooching chamber” until he had them admitted. These castles were built, according to Dr Dixon, not for defence but to impress – not only one’s social inferiors but also one’s peers,

I was personally especially interested because Dr Dixon, who is at Nottingham University, talked a lot about places near my own home town of Lincoln. He fascinated me by arguing that the suburban building which was called John of Gaunt’s Stables in my youth, and has since been renovated (it needed it) by the Lincoln Civic Trust and called St Mary’s Guildhall, was actually built specially for Henry II in 1157 when he came to Lincoln for a ceremonious crown-wearing.

Issue No 296 NOVEMBER 1995 Edited by Bill Bass

HADAS DIARY

Tuesday 7th November

Lecture: “Not What They Used To Be”

Presidential Address by Michael Robbins, FSA.

The reasons for the massive work of church restoration undertaken in the 19th century, some of the principal figures engaged in it and the controversies it gave rise to, and the intellectual, artistic and social background to the process.

Tuesday 5th December

Christmas Dinner: This has not yet been finalised as we go to press. However, the enclosed leaflet and application form contains full details of this annual HADAS event. NB:The date may have been changed.

Tuesday 9th January, 1996

Evening Visit: Royal Institution and Faraday Museum with Mary O’Connell

HADAS Lectures are held in the Stephen’s Room, 1st floor, Avenue House, East End Road, Finchley Central. Doors open at 8.00 pm for refreshments, lectures commence at 8.15 pm. The Society’s library in the Garden Room will be open on lecture evenings and can be accessed via the ground floor of Avenue House.

Details of non-NADAS events are given on the back page.

1995 MINIMART – ALMOST THE BEST EVER! Dorothy Newbury

We have made a clear profit of f1,500, all expenses paid. This is our second best result. Every stall exceeded last year’s takings. Our pre-Minimart sales were nearly f 600 which included income from our monthly Sales and Wants slips, Margaret Marshall’s bead stringing and donations kindly sent by several members who could not come on the day. Forty eight stalwarts helped on the Saturday, mostly regulars who by now know the routine and set to with gusto. The day didn’t pass without incident – so great was the lunch demand that Tessa had to send out for a pound of ham. The three ladies on the gift stall came to me trembling with fear – a customer was threatening to fetch her husband and sue the Society. In the crush she was seen to be filling her bag with goods and objected when asked to empty it so that the helpers could count the cost. Then before the start, the “bush telegraph” sent a message up to me

that a dealer had sneaked in. When I approached her she said she was not a dealer, nor a member but “a doctor’s wife”. Did she think HADAS stood for Hendon and District Association of Surgeons?

Anyway, tough guy Roy Walker quickly ejected her! When the whistle blew, everyone was ready for the off and, as always, everyone,I think and hope, found it a fun-day as well as a fund-raising day.

Thanks to everyone who made it such a success especially to Bill, Roy, Arthur and Alec who did the heavy transporting and lifting and the dismantling and transporting afterwards.

It is fair to record that those Society members involved throughout the year in all aspects of the Minimart are fully aware that the success of this venture is due to the time and effort expended by Dorothy in controlling the Sales and Wants slips, storing the sale items in her home and factory, as well as organising the hall, helpers and transport. The motivation and encouragement comes from Dorothy to whom the Society is greatly indebted.

MEMBERS’ NEWS

· Malcolm Stokes has successfully completed the second year of Birkbeck College’s Certificate in Field Archaeology

· Gareth Bartlett has had a letter published in Current Archaeology, he was concerned about neglect and vandalism at the Deserted Medieval Village site of Wharram Percy.

SITE WATCHING

HAMPSTEAD HEATH DITCH

After a small break work is continuing on the boundary ditch (weather permitting). Anybody interested in volunteering, or just interested, is welcome to drop by and find out what’s involved (see map in September’s Newsletter)

· HADAS has been asked to help in watching work in roads to be affected by re-routing of services in preparation for the roadworks/widening of the North Circular Road. At present this is around the Golders Green Road area. Nothing of any note has yet been seen.

n From Tessa Smith: Planning applications have been received for the Upper Welsh Harp, where a Bronze Age barrow was destroyed when the Welsh Harp Reservoir was constructed, and for land at 217- 227 West Hendon Broadway. which is close by. English Heritage has asked the applicant that archaeological assessments be carried out.

EXCAVATION REPORTS FROM OTHER UNITS

Bridgedown Evaluation: The Herts Archaeology Trust kindly sent a report of their evaluation at the Bridgedown Golf Course, just north of Chipping Barnet, (August Newsletter), here are some extracts. “200 trenches were cut, these being between 10-30m in length and 2m wide, spaced at approx 30m intervals. The areas trenched encompassed significant ground disturbance associated with construction of the golf course. These comprise the clubhouse, tree planting, lakes, greens, tees, fairways and bunkers. The entire site has been extensively drained to combat the heavy subsoil, and much evidence of land and mole drainage was observed. A number of man-made pits and ditches were located, the majority are post-medieval, i.e. relatively modern, but a handful contained Saxo-Norman and Roman pottery. Very few archaeological features were found. Those that were are dispersed and not readily indicative of concentrated activity i.e. an archaeological site”. There then follows a list of trenches with features and their fills, perhaps the most interesting being:

“Trench 36 contained a number of shallow depressions, filled with a light grey/brown, silty clay and flint nodules (5%) and charcoal (I%)- They contained sherds of coarse, flint tempered, Saxo-Norman (11th­12th century) pottery. Trench 121, feature 100 is an elongated pit 0.75m long 0.45m wide. It is filled with a light/mid grey silty clay, with flint inclusions and charcoal. It contains iron nails and thin-walled, dark grey pottery of Roman date (no other details). Feature 101 is a gully with similar fill to F100 and also contained Roman pottery. Features in trench 121 may be indicative of an archaeological site located beyond the north-western boundary of the area of development”.

The shallow hollows with 11/12th century pot mentioned, sound remarkably similar to features that were found during the laying of a gas pipe line near Dyrham Lane, Hertsmere, about 1.5 miles N/W of the golf course (August 1993 Newsletter). Here, the pottery was thought to be domestic and looked very similar to that from the Arkley kiln site.

Field Evaluation, 86 West Heath Road, NW3: A report of the work undertaken by Mike Webber (independent archaeological consultant) on behalf of developers London and Argyle Ltd has also been received. Twelve test pits were dug which revealed features associated with modern horticultural activity. Two unabraded flint blades and a blade fragment, mesolithic or neolithic, were recovered as well as sherds of Border Ware (1550-1750), Post Medieval Fine Redware (1600-1800), an early 17th century clay tobacco pipe bowl and other more modem domestic wares. The unabraded condition of the prehistoric artifacts suggests they were found close to their place of original deposition showing that full use was made of the local environment – not just the well-watered and dry sands of West Heath but also the less-well drained, wooded areas that surrounded it. It was concluded that post-medieval activity destroyed the earlier deposits.

Both reports are held in the HADAS library at Avenue House and are available for loan.

A LETTER SENT FROM THE TRAVELLERS’ CLUB, 5th October, 1995 Author unknown

Dear Bungle,

The strangest thing happened this morning at the Club and I don’t really know what to do about it. I was in the library, the most valuable club library in the country, perusing the fine collection of 1st editions and, as always, admiring the frieze cast from the Temple of Apollo at Bassae in Arcadia and as is my wont, occasionally leaning against the corinthian columns that divide the room into three, when 1 heard the sound of voices, mainly womens’ voices, coming from downstairs. At first they came from the Morning Room or it could have been the Ladies Dining Room next to it. That was fine but I realised it was too early for luncheon when the ladies are usually admitted so who could it be? Then I heard the House Manager explaining some of Charles Barry’s architecture – how the unusual feature of the Club was its central well open to the sky with three rooms and a corridor surrounding it. The narrow corridor allowed the three rooms to be larger and the well made for a light and airy feel to the building. Tourists! I settled down into my favourite leather armchair but soon was back on my feet. They were in the Gentlemen’s smoking room. I could hear them admiring the leather armchairs, the country house style fireplaces and making some unkind comments about the stale tobacco smell. And they weren’t even members! I bet they looked at the bound copies of Punch too! The quiet of Carlton House Gardens impressed them – I couldn’t wait until they heard the noise of Pall Mall within the dining room, should they be allowed to progress upstairs. Damn it all. I travelled to four countries outside Europe and America, had to have two nominations from people who had known me for over five years and be elected to membership without opposition by the committee for the privilege of using this building. And pay an annual fee of £750. These interlopers were now in the corridor, marvelling at that trick fireplace that backed onto the well with a window immediately above it. The Manager then told them that the smoke was extracted via a flue running to the left not above as in normal fireplaces. With indignation I sank back into my chair.

I must have dozed for a few moments for I then heard them declining to travel upstairs in the second oldest lift in London. Upstairs! It was no consolation that I had guessed right – they disliked the noise of Pall Mall in the first floor dining room but appreciated the mirrors at each end which gave reflections of the chandeliers through to infinity. The dome over the staircase had been restored to its former glory which they also appreciated. They moved on into the Castlereagh Room named after one of our founders in 1819, although, as you know, we have only been here since 1832 when this Italian Renaissance design of Barry’s was completed. I heard the Manager tell more of our secrets, the two suicides in the mid-19th century, one a failed gambler, the other a manic depressive and they were even shown our voting boxes.

The secret door in the library, the one with the fake books on it, opened and Jones came through carrying some bottles of sherry. For me? I joked. No, the chap said, it’s for our visitors. That’s it, I thought. I am all for friendliness, but when a chap can’t have some peace and quiet in his own club or a snooze in its library then the world is a worse place. You know, old boy, while supping our sherry, they would want to see Thackeray’s chair, the frieze, another country house fireplace and stare at the Gardens from the balustrade. Time for action I thought. 1 enquired who these people were. He told me HAAS. Never heard of them! They are interested in dusty old relics, he said, looking me straight in the eye. Well, discretion being the better part of valour, I laid back, put The Thunderer over my face and quietly sank into dreams of the Hindu Kush where life was so different those many years ago. There were no tourists!

A VISIT TO PALL MALL & ST JAMES’S, 5th OCTOBER, 1995 Roy Walker

Mary Connell braved the discomfort of a painful leg to lead a small group around the Travellers’ Club, the work of Sir Charles Barry, and then for a tour of Pall Mall and St James’s. The Club was virtually unoccupied that early in the morning so we had a rare opportunity to inspect a piece of grand Georgian architecture under the guidance of the House Manager, Nigel Sharpe. The tour finished with a glass of sherry in the library, disturbed only by the flutter of that day’s Times newspaper. Mary’s tour then encompassed the architecture of Clubland – exteriors only. We were shown the homes of clubs, both past and present including the former United Services Club, now the Institute of Directors: the Athenaeum with its external Parthenon frieze and the Duke of Wellington’s mounting block: the Reform Club (next door to the Travellers’ also designed by Barry, completed in 1841) and the massive RAC Club. The home of Neil Gwynne next to the late-17th century Schonberg House gave rise to speculation as to the origin of the Dukedom of St Albans. Clubland was followed into St James’s Street now the home of the Carlton Club, Boodles, Whites and Brooks. Pickering Place, once the home of the Ambassador to the Lone Star State of Texas was inspected and Mary drew our attention to the commercial aspects of this select part of London -Berry Bros &Rudd, Lobb’s and Lock & Co noted for wines, shoes and hats, operating from premises dating from the early 18th century to the early 19th. Shining shoes and furry hats were in evidence when we had paused between Pall Mall and St James’s Street to watch the guard change at St James’s Palace. No doubtText Box: 4 the wine would have been in evidence when the officers fell out.

On that morning, courtesy of Mary, we had in a very small circuit seen the architecture of Nash, Decimus Burton, Sir Charles Barry, Norman Shaw, Robert and Sidney Smirke, Luytens, James Wyatt and Pennethorne. We had supped sherry in a Club established for travellers some 170 years ago and enjoyed the Changing of the Guard at a Tudor palace built on the site of a hospital for leper maidens! Those that enjoyed the morning thank Mary for sharing her love and knowledge of London with us – it is a very generous thing to do.

THE SPITALFIELDS’ PROJECT Roy Walker

Hawksmoor’s Christ Church, Spitalfield’s, opened in 1729, has been claimed to be London’s finest Baroque church. At the October lecture we delved deep into its history, down into the crypt which had been sealed since 1860. Here, coffins compacted to a height of 9 feet were removed by a MoLAS team and their grisly contents cleaned and measured on site over an eighteen month period. Further scientific analysis followed and is still ongoing. Theya Molleson of the Natural History Museum took us through the results of this work and indicated the areas where future research is needed. The excavation provided skeletal material of known age and sex, details given on coffin plates and in Parish records. Significantly, this enabled the methods of bone dating and sexing to be applied to a controlled sample and to test the efficacy of these methods. First some statistics -385 individuals, one third of the sample, had dates and names; the earliest was born in 1648, the latest in 1853; the earliest burial was in 1729, the last in 1852; the age at death covered all ranges, they did not all die at 30! They were on average shorter than today, males 5 feet 5 inches, the females four inches shorter. Historically, this was a period of scientific exploration. It was the beginning of medical schools, dissection and (ironically perhaps) grave robbing. One recovered skull showed signs of an autopsy. There were signs of dental work on others – the first mercury/silver amalgam filling of modern time, “Waterloo” teeth and porcelain ones on springs. The measurement of teeth provides an accurate indication of age and it was possible to compare the Spitalfields sample with modern growth rates. As it was with other parts of the skeleton and we were shown graphs of bone analysis. Comparison of the long bones indicate that at birth the sample were equal to 20th century population but by the age of one or two years there was a falling away and growth never catches up. The reasons for this were explored – sickness perhaps, the age of weaning or poor diet when being weaned. However, the sample had not necessarily died young nor had the development caught up in later life when the diet had improved. The Spitalfields weaving community would have started work from the age of seven or weight and a contributing factor to poor development may have been this working beyond adequate energy intake. The average age of death was 56 years, male and female but the low 90s were achieved.

With the wealth of known age and sex, “blind” tests were run to compare estimated age and sex (as would be carried out on unknown archaeological samples)with the known facts. The results showed that the younger individuals had higher estimated ages and the older samples were given younger ages. for example, Louisa Courtauld who died aged 77 years had the bones of a 50 year old. And she had eight children!

Further investigations were carried out. Bone achieves full thickness at 30 years and women in the sample thin out from the age of 50. Today’s woman thins out from the age of 30 to 35 – there is now less density at an earlier age. This indicates a change over the last 150 years in the life style of women living in London – perhaps less physical activity is the reason.

One example emphasised the need to involve experts in forensic interpretation. Two holes in a skull were not recognised as gunshot wounds until the death certificate was consulted – white marks on a subsequent x-ray revealed lead from the bullet. It was a suicide who had suffered from abscesses – evidently gout and toothache were major causes of suicide! There was an 18th/19th century epidemic of gout due to kidney damage from a high intake of lead. Theya pointed out that this was dietary lead not inhaled lead which would have come from lead cisterns or lead-lined wooden barrels. Diet was examined but there was a problem over possible contamination of the sample from the coffin metals themselves. A skeleton from a wooden coffin had four times the modern lead content so this was obviously a dietary intake not influenced by the coffin materials. To test whether skeletal metals from those interred in lead coffins were dietary or absorbed from the coffin involved a piece of statistical logic for which Theya apologised as being difficult to follow so I shall not apologise again for failing to repeat it here! Other metals could be linked to diet -potassium from vegetables, copper from shellfish especially when stored in verdigris used as a bactericide. We finished with the relevance of oysters in the diet of that period – 3 million a year from Whitstable alone – common to the rich and the poor alike. Theya wondered if this was why they had such large families!

Theya was impressed by the standard of questions at the end of the lecture so much so that she complimented the Society on its interest in the Project.

CALLEVA ATREBATUM Bill Bass

Following our outing to Silchester and walk around the Roman town wall, I recently managedto visit the Museum of Reading where the principal collection of finds are kept. At present the refurbished
galleries are based on three floors with The Silchester Gallery being on the third. Here you can see a wealth of objects relating to everyday life from the site including jewellery, fine glass and pottery, sculpture,

mosaics, locks and keys, coins and craftsmen’s tools. The exhibition also explains how the political and legal life of the town functioned from the Forum/Basilica and the social centre of the baths;and how trade in

the province was conducted in the shops, inns and work-shops of the town. Also of interest on the floor below is a full-scale replica of the Bayeux Tapestry displayed in a continuous show- case Sewn by thirty five Victorian ladies, the replica was the idea of Mrs Elizabeth Wardle, leader of the Staffordshire Leek Embroidery Society, no less. It is faithful to the original in every detail, recreating the original colours, fabric, design and embroidery stitches. There are brief interpretive panels below the scenes.

THE WHOLE TOOTH AND NOTHING BUT. • •

Well not quite, it wasn’t a whole one and it was found in association with a load of other stuff!

A few weeks after our visit to the Boxgrove site, it was announced they had discovered Britain’s oldest human fossil (we didn’t forget anybody did we?). The tooth was found surrounded by animal bones, lumps of chalk And the waste products of flint tool manufacture. It is probable that the dental clue – a lower central incisor – belonged to a mature or elderly male, 17mm of its length survived of an estimated 25mm. Its enamel covering was at least 50% thicker than that found in modern human teeth. Together with evidence from the tibia, found 30 feet away, the tooth found slightly deeper, supports the conclusion that the early humans of Boxgrove were big – between 5 feet 10 inches and 6 feet tall.

Also noted by several members when visiting Boxgrove were similarities between the excavation here and that of West Heath. – careful trowelling of sandy material, finding flint and accurate three-dimensional recording. It was also interesting to see the use of baulks between trenches, in a time when “open area” excavation appears more fashionable.

TRAINED SPOTTERS

Under the guise of industrial archaeology, two members of HADAS joined a walk exploring old railway trackbeds in north London earlier this summer. The railway in question used to be the old LNER branch from Finsbury Park to Highgate, Alexandra Palace, High Barnet and Edgware. It was proposed that the branch would be electrified and extended to Bushey Heath (via Edgware) as part of the Northern Line but due to a lack of resources after the War and the creation of the Green Belt it was decidedto modify these plans to the tube system we have today. In fact, it was more than proposed. An estimated f2 million ( pre – War value) was spent on works such as cable-runs, signalling, civil engineering and, in the case of Highgate, a completely new high level station – all abandoned!

The tour concentrates on features of this uncompleted project, many of these items are still in situ and can be inspected especially between Finsbury Park and Highgate as this section has been left as a footpath. The line can be traced through Highgate Wood, now rather overgrown, to Ally Pally. From here buses took the party to view sections past Mill Hill East to Edgware. Further north, the only remaining evidence are traces of a brick-built arched viaduct which would have supported a station at Brockley Hill. A tunnel under the hill would have reached Elstree and thence Bushey Heath.

Organised by Jim Blake, this walk is an annual event held on the first Sunday in July and is documented by him in his book “Northern Wastes”.

THE ABBEY HABIT Bill Bass

Martin Biddle has continued his excavations at St Alban’s Abbey this year. A five weeks campaign during August and September saw three or four HADAS members taking part. Trenches from last year were left open over the winter so that rain and frost could work on the difficult clay subsoil and more features were observed and planned for the forthcoming dig. These included further graves from the Romano-British and Anglo-Saxon cemeteries, with more work on the cellarium with excavation of the north-west corner. Several more Roman burials were investigated, most contained evidence for coffins (e.g. nails) and grave goods such as pottery and glass attested to possible graveside ceremonies. There was an example of a “flexed” burial; another had signs of a healed bone fracture. Of the Saxon burials at least three generations were identified. These graves can be broadly dated to the 10th and 11th centuries by the presence of “pillow stones” supporting the heads.

Those members who have seen Fountains Abbey will have some impression of what the vaulted cellarium would have looked like. Last year’s trench in this area was extended to reveal more of the northern end, again with remains of the ribbed vaulting and decorated floor tiles which had collapsed into the cellar on demolition. Study here of the different mortars, wall facings and floor surfaces will give further understanding of the phasing and relationship of the cellarium to the outer court and Abbot’s reception parlour. Usually there were twenty or so people on site, all volunteers except the Biddies, ranging from local diggers to students, others from America, Germany etc. The work in sweltering conditions was hard but enjoyable. In future, Martin would like to excavate further south of the medieval complex, where he feels St Alban was originally buried 700 years before Paul of Caen, the first Norman abbot, built his Abbey.

CUTTING COMMENTS

· In the Daily Mail (25 September) there’s a report on a new site, 10 miles from Skara Brae in the Orkneys. It was found by a local farmer when ploughing and a team from Glasgow University used geophysical techniques to pinpoint further walls. Excavation has revealed stone furniture, recesses in the wall which look like beds, a polished stone axe and worked flints, This was contained in two complete houses with walls still standing eight to ten stones high. The team are confident that Stonehall, as it is now called, is several centuries older than Skara Brae: carbon dating of charred hearth wood may confirm this.

· Thinking of moving? The same newspaper pictures a fort in the mouth of the River Cleddau at Milford Haven. Historic Stack Rock fort is up for auction at a guide price of £50,000, the buyer however will need plenty of extra cash – not to mention a boat to get there, as “substantial renovation” is required. The limestone structure, with brick and stone interior, has 29 rooms on three levels. Built in the 1850s to protect the Royal Naval Dockyard at Pembroke from Napoleon Ill, it remained in military use until the end of World War II, but has since been in private hands.

Text Box: 7HAVE TROWEL – WILL TRAVEL Jean Bayne

It was in the best field archaeological tradition; cockroaches in the kitchen, ants in the shower and alcohol in the fridge !. These were the high profile features of the small, dark spartan flat which was our living quarters this summer at Roda de Ter, about 50 miles north east of Barcelona. I had gone there with a friend from a field archaeology class to undertake a week’s excavation in connection with the course. To complete the picture, ten young, lively, funny, caring students were crammed into the tiny flat with us !. Every morning we were on site, L’Esquerda, by eight o’clock, trowel in hand and we worked through until nightfall. Our afternoon break was for a large 4 course meal with wine in the local workman’s cafe, but ‘siesta’ seemed to be an unknown English concept 1. Another large 4 course meal was taken about 10.00-

10.30 at night. After this the students went dancing but we couldn’t stand up!. Even the weather took us by surprise: in other years, we were told, the temperatures reached 43°c. This year was an exception: rain, mists and early morning chilly cold!. Everyone except us was very excited about the rain – during which we processed finds – and told us constantly about high temperatures in London while we shivered in our ‘hot summer’ gear!.

The site was spectacular. Perched alongside the village on a hilltop with the river Ter running around it below and forests on the nearby hillsides, we looked out across a wide valley surrounded by mountains. Ruins were clearly visible at the furthest northern end of the long flat hilltop and at the southern end was an earlier prehistoric site.

The local villagers were fiercely proud of their site and could trace their involvement back to the beginning of the century. Back then all that was visible was one wall of the ruined medieval church as the site had been farmed continuously since the 14th century. Nevertheless, they knew that there were extensive archaeological remains running the length and breadth of the hilltop. When the villagers heard of plans to build a factory there they dug up the fields to expose the archaeology in an attempt to thwart the plan. No factory was ever built, and the University of Barcelona began to take an interest in the site. It has always, though, acknowledged its debt to the villagers by giving them priority places on their annual two week summer dig. Some young people there had been coming to the dig for more than 10 years. Also, every October they would hold a meeting in the village, attended by over a hundred people, to explain their progress and findings. A small museum in the village houses the finds. During the rest of the year the villagers keep an eye on the site and, recently, when someone set fire to the grass on the hilltop, the fire engine was accompanied by most of the villagers!. The other diggers were university students from all over Catalonia, specializing in archaeology as part of their history degrees. We were the only foreigners out of approximately forty people.

The site spanned several chronological periods from the late Bronze Age, 7-8th century BC, (for which pottery has been found) until the late medieval period of the early 14th century. The main phases of interest are the 4th century BC, in which a fortified Iberian oppidum was built, and the 10-13th century when the medieval village was begun and expanded. The medieval site, at one end of the hilltop may have extended to the walls of the Iberian site at the other. There is also a suggestion that it is partly built over the original Iberian site as ancient water cisterns there are clearly pre-medieval. Curiously, little evidence of Roman occupation has been found although they were in the area and the village has a Roman bridge over the Ter. By the 14th century the hilltop village was deserted for the lowlands nearer the river, where it lies today.

So there are two main sites, rich in structures and finds. At the medieval end, the stone walls of small medieval houses, graves dug into the soft rock near the church, and evidence for a central square and road are clearly visible. House building appears to have been planned rather than spontaneous. Unfortunately, agricultural practice over the centuries has removed much of the stratigraphic evidence. Archaeologists suggest that its early 8-9th century use is likely to have been as one of the fortification points along the river Ter to counter the advance of the Muslim army. In later times, the area seems to have been divided into three storage places, living areas and units for agricultural production e.g a granary, a mill and floors for threshing and haystacks. Finds include stone mills, grey & black pottery, animal bones and carbonized seeds.

Whilst we were there, further wall structures were uncovered but they appeared less compact and uniform than the house walls and went off at angles and in diverse directions. This caused much interest and also seem to show that the area of occupation was extensive, built on former structures and possibly included a variety of building types.

The Iberian was also dominated by structures though less immediately visible. It was a fortification with evidence for walls, tower and gateways. Four large post-holes suggested timber construction and a major street was evident. Storage rooms for weaponry, pottery and other objects have been found. An example of early urban living Greek pottery suggests that it was also a community involved in trade.

We worked on the smaller Iberian site, cleaning features and trowelling several new walls; gateways came to light and a more precise picture of the overall layout was exposed. Former ploughing, though, made it difficult to find clean stratigraphic levels with any precision: the soil was very mixed. There were a few areas where the soil changes were dramatic and one or two spots which were jealously guarded as it was thought that they might have escaped deep ploughing because of the stone walls. (These were to be explored last – a bit like leaving your favourite morsel of foodto the end!). Finds were abundant: pot of different kinds, bones, a few coins and some iron objects. Charcoal deposits were common. It seems that the site was thriving in the 4th century BC, destroyed by a major fire in the 3rd century BC and reconstructed during the Ist/2nd century BC.

As there was only enough money to finance a fortnight’s digging, the pace was relentless, albeit very good-natured. The people we worked with were easy-going, charming, gentle and courteous and there was much fun and laughter. We were very well looked after, though we had to, graciously, decline offers to go disco-dancing at midnight!. They all spoke Catalan and I soon discovered that my efforts to show off my few words of Spanish were defined as “politically incorrect”. The site directors were two delightful women, dedicated to the Catalan cause. So we made do with their English which they enjoyed practising and a lot of guesswork and gesture. The last Saturday we spent in Barcelona in a luxury hotel – soft beds with pillows, an enormous bath and fluffy towels. We felt more like ‘stretcher’ archaeologists by then than ‘field’ or even armchair ones! But we will always remember our experience in Catalonia with great affection!

FURTHER DIARY DATES

Museum of London, Friday lunchtime lectures, 1.10 pm – 1.50 pm

The general theme is “Excavating London Today”

November 3rd Digging at No 1 Poultry (Peter Rowsome)

November 17th Cranford Lane: a prehistoric site in west London (Mark Birley & Nick Elsden) November 24th Medieval London Bridge: lost and found (Trevor Brigham & Bruce Watson) Museum of London Study Day

PHOTOGRAPHERS’ LONDON

Saturday 25th November, 1995, 1 0.00 am – 5.00 pm Fee f15.00 (concession £7.50)

Complements the exhibition Photographers’ London7839-7994 which runs until 31st December, 1995. Essex Archaeological Symposium

Saturday 4th November, 1995, 10.00 am – 4.30 pm, at St Charles Hall, Holland Road, Clacton-on-Sea. Tickets f 4.50, includes tea and coffee, from Pamela Greenwood, Newham Museum Service, Archaeology and Local History Centre, 31 Stock Street, Plaistow, London, E13 OBX (tel 0181-472 4785)

Recent Archaeological Discoveries in Kent

Saturday 11th November, 1995, 2.15 – 5.30 pm, at Christ Church College, North Holmes Road, Canterbury. Organised by the Council for Kentish Archaeology, 5 Harvest Bank Road, West Wickham, Kent, BR4 9DL from whom tickets are available at £2.00, cheques payable to CKA, sae required.

LAMAS Local History Conference

BANISHING LONDON’S SLUMS

Saturday 18th November, 1995, 10.10 am – 5.00 pm at the Museum of London.

Tickets (f 3.50) and enquiries from LAMAS, 36 Church Road, West Drayton, Middlesex, 1JB/ /PX. SCOLA Open Meeting

WHERE YOU SAT IN A MEDIEVAL HOUSE (AN ARCHAEOLOGIST’S VIEW) Dr Philip Dixon, President of CBA Saturday 4th November, 1995, From 2.15 pm, Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly. All welcome, admission free.