Reviews

351 REVIEWS The Roman Watermills and Settlement at Ickham, Kent. By Paul Bennett, Ian Riddler and Christopher Sparey-Green. 396 pp. 123 b/w line drawings, 29 b/w plates. Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2010. Hardback £40.00 (Friends of CAT £30). ISBN 9781870545198. The publication of this volume completes one of Canterbury Archaeological Trust’s earliest projects and is dedicated to Jim Bradshaw, who died in 2001. Strictly speaking the site at Ickham was not a Trust site. The work was begun before the unit was a twinkle in anyone’s eye, and in 1994 the Trust was commissioned to collate the existing site records and reports with a view to eventual publication. The Roman Watermills and Settlement at Ickham, Kent is the result. The book gives an account of ‘rescue’ excavations undertaken during gravel quarrying beside the Little Stour at Ickham. Local amateur archaeologist Frank Jenkins was alerted by reports in the local press of gravel quarrying about to take place early in 1972. Having recently spent three summer seasons excavating at the nearby Roman villa at Wingham, he was well aware of the potential for more Roman finds surviving at Ickham. He arranged for a member of the Canterbury Archaeological Society to be present when the quarrying began to maintain a watching brief. After part of a Roman road and other traces of Roman occupation were seen, Frank enlisted the help of Jim Bradshaw, another local amateur archaeologist, and together the pair mobilised volunteers from the Canterbury Archaeological Society and the Ashford Archaeological Society. A small excavation took place in the late summer of 1973, during which a wooden structure later found to be part of a watermill was uncovered, and recording during quarrying continued through the winter and into the spring of 1974. The difficult nature of this work merits mention. The volunteers worked in front of the advancing drag-lines as the quarry advanced in strips. As each strip was cleared of topsoil, Jim Bradshaw and his volunteers recorded what they could. The pit behind quickly flooded, so sections were drawn from boats floating on the water. The richness of the site became apparent. Numerous features were being recorded and a large assemblage of coins and metal objects were REVIEWS 352 retrieved. At a time when the growing hobby of metal detecting was becoming a controversial issue in archaeology, Jim Bradshaw enlisted the help of detectorists. Some thirty years later, their use at the site has been described as ‘inspired’. As a result of the combined discoveries, Jim lobbied the then Department of the Environment to provide funds for a formal excavation. He was successful and a short season of work was then directed by Christopher Young on a margin of land left on the south-western edge of the quarry. It was during this time that the remains of three Roman watermills were excavated. Four watermills were ultimately identified at Ickham. These flanked a road, possibly the main Richborough to Canterbury route. The earliest mill was in use in the early third century ad, the others during the fourth and early fifth century. The timber mill buildings and channels were associated with fourth-century pottery, coins, a wooden votive figurine and many other finds. Metalworking waste, furnace debris and tools suggest the mills formed part of an industrial settlement. Other metal objects include parts of pewter dishes, fragments of a lead tank and a group of unusual lead alloy pendants which may have been made on site in the late fourth or fifth century. Specialist reports on the many small finds, the mills and millstones and the extensive assemblages of Roman pottery, constitute a large part of the volume. jane elder Kentish Sites and Sites of Kent. A miscellany of four archaeological excavations. By Phil Andrews, Kirsten Egging Dinwiddy, Chris Ellis, Andrew Hutcheson, Christopher Phillpotts, Andrew B. Powell and Jörn Schuster. Wessex Archaeology Report 24, 2009. xxiii + 275 pp. 110 figures, 34 plates, 54 tables, 7 on-line figures, 31 on-line tables. £10.00. ISBN 978-1-874350-50-7. This is an eclectic volume of excavation reports from east and mid Kent. Mainly large-scale projects, the excavations revealed a wide range of structures and artefacts of all periods. The resulting publication suffers accordingly from an overall lack of focus, though it benefits from containing something for most researchers with an interest in Kent’s past and, being reasonably priced, should be within the reach of even the most impecunious digger. The excavations reported include the West Malling and Leybourne by-pass, the Weatherlees-Margate-Broadstairs pipeline and a sampling exercise on a large proposed industrial development site at Manston Road, Ramsgate. The periods represented range in date from the Mesolithic (flint scatters on the by-pass route) to World War II (a possible searchlight REVIEWS 353 battery and air raid shelters on the Thanet pipeline). The inclusion of a short report on the excavations of an unusual, possibly uniquely Kentish, type of sunken-floored bakery or kitchen from Fulston Manor, near Sittingbourne, provides an opportunity for some degree of unity in the volume as two other examples (at Leybourne and Star Lane, Manston) are included. If the Fulston Manor site had been excavated some five or six decades ago it would undoubtedly have formed the basis of an article entitled ‘Sunken-floored Baking Ovens from Kent – A Note on the Type’. Published as such in this journal it would have attracted a wider professional and amateur readership and more widespread interest. As it is, the impact of this interesting type of medieval site is likely to be hidden in this multiperiod miscellany. Eight examples of these bakeries or kitchens, ranging in date from the 11th to the 14th centuries, are recorded from Manston in east Kent to Gravesend in the west of the county, and plans of five are published. Elements of a domed oven superstructure with a supporting framework of stakes were found at three sites. The precise function of these structures, however, remains unclear though the presence of quernstone fragments at Fulston Manor and charred, ungerminated seeds at both Fulston Manor and Star Lane supports the interpretation that bread-making was a specific function of at least some of these sites. At least three of these sunkenfloored Kentish ovens were located in enclosures associated with possible or known manor houses, and the authors (Schuster and Stevens) speculate whether such sunken buildings may have existed at every farmstead in the county, at least between the North Chalk Downs and the coast, or were only present at higher status sites. Apart from the medieval bakery structures, there is no common thread to the volume and most, if not all, will dip into the volume in order to find parallels for sites and artefact types relevant to their particular lines of research or simply because there are unusual discoveries which catch the eye. The recovery of a near complete beaker within a small pit just to the north-west of Leybourne village is a case in point. Though widespread across the country, beakers are comparatively rare finds and this example is an important addition to the county’s repertoire. Associated charcoal provided a date in the range of 2450-2060 cal bc which places it amongst the earliest beakers from Kent. Of a similar level of interest to prehistorians are the two hoards of Late Bronze Age metalwork from the Ebbsfleet area which were recovered during initial evaluation work along the route of the Weatherlees to Broadstairs wastewater pipeline. Further metalwork was recovered during excavation. The material all comes from a relatively limited area on the sheltered, eastern side of the Ebbsfleet ‘peninsula’, a tongue of REVIEWS 354 land which would originally have formed part of the entrance to the Wantsum channel. Evidence of settlement, dated to 1100-400 bc, was observed in this area in the early 1990s and the present volume adds to our knowledge of that activity with the recovery of ditches, postholes and pits and midden material. The examples described above are very much chosen through the personal interest of this reviewer but it is possible to dip in and out of the volume and find sites, structures of artefacts from every period of human activity: Roman inhumation and cremation burials and a c.7th-century Grubenhaus from the Cottington Road area at Cliffsend; Late Iron Age and Roman enclosures at Leybourne; a Late Bronze Age rectangular postbuilt structure from Manston. The size of the areas subject to fieldwork and excavation recorded in this miscellany will also mean that there is solid body of evidence for landscape research on Thanet and around Leybourne. Although the diversity of the contents in this volume may not make for a ‘good read’, it will nonetheless prove invaluable to researchers, and the various sponsors are to be congratulated for supporting an attractive publication at an accessible price. mi chael eddy Roman Mosaics of Britain Volume III: South-East Britain. By David S. Neal and Stephen R. Cosh. 606 pp. 531 colour and b/w illustrations. Society of Antiquaries of London, 2009. Hardback, £200. ISBN-13: 978- 0-85431-289-4; ISBN-10: 0-85431-289-7. Volume III in this monumental work of scholarship covers mosaics from south-eastern Britain. There are four volumes in total, which together comprise a detailed survey of all the mosaics currently known from Britain. Volume III is in two large parts and is organised alphabetically by county; the sites within each county are also arranged alphabetically. It is a full colour publication and the illustrations are magnificent. The numerous coloured paintings by the authors are remarkable works of art in their own right, the maps and plans are also of the highest quality. In many ways these large volumes feel as if they are from a previous age; with a list of venerable subscribers, beautiful illustrations and quality cloth bindings. However it is not just in presentational terms that these volumes hark back to earlier scholarship; in the best possible sense they also do so in terms of their content. Comprehensive catalogues of a specific artefact have been considered rather passé in recent times, and modern artefact studies tend to be linked to larger thematic questions. These volumes unashamedly seek to list, describe, discuss and where possible illustrate REVIEWS 355 every mosaic and mosaic fragment known from Britain, so they provide a huge quantity of data in one place, which is precisely what current and future researchers need. This is not to say that there is no discussion or analysis, but the authors do steer away from getting embroiled in a discussion of, for example, Romanisation. There is however plenty of context especially in the thirty-page Introduction. In the Introduction the authors discuss the differences between this region and the rest of Britain and note that there many more towns in the south-east and more examples of early mosaics than other regions. They also explore the architectural context for mosaics, both urban and rural, with a good discussion of villa design and how this influences the layout of mosaic pavements. Particular patterns and motifs are also explored and this feeds into a discussion of long-standing theories concerning regional schools of mosaicists. There is also an important discussion of chronology in which the various mosaics discussed are placed within their chronological context. Overall the Introduction is nicely balanced, giving just enough background and context with which to discuss the mosaics which follow. The section in which Kentish mosaics are discussed is thirty-eight pages in length and begins with its own short introduction. There are surprisingly few high quality mosaics from the county with only ‘fourteen fine mosaics where substantial parts of the design survives’ (p. 357). Of these, nine are from Canterbury, one is from Springhead and four are from villa sites; there are also four more ‘that can be restored from loose fragments’ (p. 357), all from villa sites. The authors also discuss those mosaics recorded in the past but now sadly lost. All the major Kentish sites at which mosaics have been found are discussed and illustrated. The attention to detail is admirable, with the tiniest surviving fragments, consisting of just a few tesserae, being thought worthy of illustration. For example, there are only a few small fragments associated with the two Faversham villas, one of which consists of only six tesserae, but it is still illustrated. Usefully, small fragments of mosaics are when possible placed within a reconstruction of the complete mosaic, which are then located on a plan of the structure. Fifteen mosaics are included in the section on Canterbury, with the well known and well preserved Butchery Lane pavement receiving the most attention. However there is also a very useful discussion of the more recently (2002) discovered Whitefriars mosaics. Of those mosaics found in non-urban context it is once again the most well-known, also the best preserved , that receive most attention. There is a very detailed discussion of the Lullingstone mosaics, in which all the existing scholarship is gathered together. For example, various theories concerning potential hidden meanings within the famous ‘Jealous Juno’ couplet are presented, such as the suggestion that it may be a Christian cryptogram, concealing REVIEWS 356 the name ‘IESVS’ or that it was intended to ward off the evil eye (p. 385). For all the mosaics discussed existing precedents for particular motifs, designs, subjects and themes are listed; both from Britain and elsewhere in the empire, which is particularly useful to the researcher. Discussions of important Kentish sites, from which the mosaics are less well known such as the Eccles villa, particularly stand out in this volume. Making sense of the numerous small fragments which survive from this site is a real achievement and substantially adds to our understanding of this very significant Kentish villa. Another site from which the mosaics are often overlooked is the important ritual centre at Springhead. This study of the mosaics from South-East Britain ends with a very comprehensive and useful glossary of patterns, symbols and motifs used in the mosaics which have been discussed. Overall this volume represents scholarship of the highest order and suggesting that there are any weaknesses seems a little churlish and there are not any which detract from the work as a whole. Perhaps because of the brevity of the Introduction there are statements which some would consider injudicious such as a reference to ‘the official policy of Romanisation’ (p. 5). However this study is about mosaics and does not set out to present a wider discussion of the many associated issues. Its main value is a resource for future scholarship, and as such it will remain a hugely important research tool for many decades to come. colin andrews Canterbury Cathedral Priory in the Age of Becket. By Peter Fergusson. 190 pp. 50 colour illustrations and 100 in b/w. Published for the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art by Yale University Press, 2011. Hardback, £50. ISBN 978 0300 17569 1. Until now, Prior Wibert’s name has been familiar only to relatively few scholars, probably because he died just before Archbishop Becket was murdered in the cathedral Priory and his was the big story of the 12th century but also because Wibert’s work in the choir was largely destroyed in the disastrous fire of 1174. This is the first book entirely dedicated to the study of the work carried out at Canterbury Cathedral Priory while Wibert was prior (1153-1167) and uses what is known as the ‘The Waterworks Drawing’ from the Eadwine Psalter as a starting point. Whatever the original purpose of the drawing – and that is discussed in Chapter 4 of nine chapters – it provides the only contemporary illustration of the Priory in the mid-twelfth century. Fergusson’s book is essentially a monograph, but one with splendid illustrations and beautifully produced. One of its purposes is to consider the building programme in the context of Benedictine monasticism with REVIEWS 357 its tradition of hospitality, hygiene, care of the sick and administration of the law as well its concerns with the liturgy. Each of these is considered together with the standing architecture and the new building during the period. There are three useful appendices: Prior Wibert’s Obit with a translation, a list of pre-Reformation archbishops and priors, and a contribution by Christopher Wilson on the ‘mystery marble’ used. There is also a comprehensive bibliography and a good index. The expansion of the Priory precincts by purchasing adjoining properties was started while Wibert was sub-prior and continued with new building and rearrangement of earlier schemes. The development of the Green Court in the north-western corner of the precincts is of particular interest and Fergusson makes his case for the area as ‘united by function and planned together to serve the legal needs of the Priory’. He supports his argument by close examination of the buildings themselves, such documentary evidence as exists and comparisons with other complexes in England and elsewhere in Europe. This chapter alone provides material for many an academic debate! Fergusson has lived in the United States since he was an undergraduate the end of the 1950s and is a Professor Emeritus at Wellesley College. He has a body of academic articles on medieval architecture embracing much of interest concerning the 12th and 13th centuries but, while this is not a coffee table book, it is accessible to the non-specialist. There is no question that Wibert is the main character in the story and, if more are aware of him and his achievements as a result of his book, this reviewer is sure the author will be satisfied. This is a valuable addition to the corpus of work on the architecture of Canterbury Cathedral Priory, including the precincts. Fergusson does not shirk from the debt he owes to his predecessors (William Somner in 1640, Robert Willis in 1845 and 1868, Frances Woodman in 1992, and Margaret Sparks in 2007 to name but four) but he has made a significant contribution to the debate about the development of the buildings. mar y berg Cathedrals, Communities and Conflict in the Anglo-Norman World. Edited by Paul Dalton, Charles Insley and Louise J. Wilkinson. 274 pp., 5 b/w plates, 3 maps. The Boydell Press, 2011. Hardback £50.00. ISBN 978 1 84383 620 9. This is a book which arose from a conference held in December 2007 and is long overdue. There is a plethora of books which discuss and analyse the development of the church in England and on the continent in terms of spirituality, hierarchy and architecture. This book puts forward a different and welcome approach. Twelve contributors offer chapters on subjects as REVIEWS 358 wide-ranging as the Sack of Canterbury of 1011 and ‘theft’ of St Dunstan’s relics, the place of memory and forgeries at Exeter, the episcopal twostep (as C.P. Lewis terms it) at Lichfield, the Acta archiepiscoporum Rotomagensium in 11th-century Rouen, the importance of getting the right saint to stand as patron to your church in Wales, the extraordinary bishop Philip of Bayeux’s legal legacy, ecclesiastical responses to war using ex-soldiers turned abbots and saintly interventions as your weapons, how the Anglo-Norman aristocracy interacted with secular cathedrals, the Lives of Becket, a row over the establishment of a community of secular canons at Hackington (near Canterbury), conflict and King John, and French possessions held by English monasteries, as opposed to the usual reversed arrangement. Four out of the twelve chapters specifically examine issues based in or near Canterbury as might be expected given the contributors whilst others, such as Nicholas Vincent, refer to Canterbury in their analysis. The reader should not be seduced into thinking that this makes the book parochial in its discussions or concepts. On the contrary, it is useful to have a geographical focus as well as thematic and chronological ones because it enables more in-depth discussion to occur. Despite the diverse subjects themes quickly appear, the main one being that while religion was more important then than now, neither the man in the street nor the clergy were so in awe of their spiritual salvation that they weren’t prepared to fight to the bitter end to get their own way in their earthly life. That is an over-simplification of course, but the book teems from the outset with disagreements, as its title suggests. The Introduction lays out the full range of disputes and conflicts between church and community whether it be Vikings rampaging through Canterbury, the people versus the church, the church versus the king, a cathedral versus an abbey or one bishop versus another, not to mention rivalries in terms of building and status. The reader is quickly introduced to recalcitrant brawling monks, scheming abbots, bishops with frightening faces and archbishops under physical attack, along with incredulous and scornful chroniclers. This makes it a fascinating, not to say riveting, read. The intricate relationships surrounding church government, patronage and election is an issue that raises its head regularly. Paul Webster’s description of King John’s angst when the monks of Christ Church, Canterbury held a secret election for their new archbishop and then lied about it offers a different view of the often vilified king. This led to his own excommunication, an interdict on the whole of England and the exile of the monks. The wily monks eventually reverted to forgery in the hope of gaining what they falsely claimed were liberties granted by Thomas Becket. Forgery was so widespread that it was almost common practice as the chapters written by Ann Williams and Charles Insley plainly show, reminding the reader of the difficulty of using material written perhaps a REVIEWS 359 century after the events or, indeed, at the time but by a chronicler with an agenda. Unfortunately it will ever be thus as a Russian historian recently remarked about her own country: it is a place with an unpredictable past. However Richard Allen uses a contemporary text in a different way from the norm. He uses the description of conflict contained in the Acta archiepiscoporum Rotomagensium to help reconstruct the fabric of the Romanesque church of St Ouen in Rouen, extrapolating details such as the archbishop feeling threatened by those people who were above him in the sense of being on an upper floor. His whole account is fascinating as is the skilful negotiation of material by Sheila Sweetinburgh concerning Master Feramin and the Hackington difficulty which began as a local one and became a matter of concern and side-taking across France and to the Vatican. Sweetinburgh helpfully defines conflict and makes the valuable point that the meaning of the word may have had a different nuance for our medieval ancestors. Violentia is a word/case in point and may not have been a ‘great social unpleasantness’ but a ‘mutual jostling for position among some [of the] population by, or about, or in reference to whom’ it was ‘used.’ Nonetheless rioting occurred in Canterbury and, with her usual lightness of touch, she discusses conflict theories which help the reader to understand the case. No book on conflict and cathedrals of this period could ignore Becket. Michael Staunton’s highly readable chapter on the subject also contains a quote from John of Salisbury that could almost stand to sum up the whole book. Writing to the monks of Christ Church about their attitude towards the archbishop: ‘... they said it was no wonder, since the monks of Canterbury always have a sort of hereditary right to hate their archbishops ...’. Space does not permit further praise of this excellent book. It provides a captivating insight into conflicts and cases within the development of church history which are usually overlooked. If students at any level read this book through in the space of a few days as this reviewer had the privilege to do, they would find themselves enormously better informed about the world of the Anglo-Norman church without necessarily feeling that they have had to study. Only real scholarship can produce such a result. imogen corrigan Canterbury: A Medieval City. Edited by Catherine Royer-Hemet. 230 pp. 13 b/w illustrations. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle upon Tyne, 2010. £39.99. ISBN 1-4438-2552-2. Following a successful conference that drew speakers from England and northern France, this essay collection covers a range of topics linked to Thomas Becket, Christ Church Priory and/or the city of Canterbury. Leo REVIEWS 360 Carruthers, Marthe Menash, Anne Duggan and Marie-Pierre Gelin employ printed sources such as hagiographical texts, chronicles, and miracle accounts to provide details of the lives of famous churchmen, especially SS Augustine, Dunstan and Thomas, who had strong links to the cathedral. Other essays employ a looser connection to medieval Canterbury, as in Lauren Moreau’s consideration of the textual influences on the Oxford Franciscan William Herbert in his sermon 3, Manuel Jorbert’s assessment of C.L. Grace’s A Shrine of Murders, and Martine Yvernault’s examination of reliquaries produced in 12th-century Limoges. Literary links through Chaucer are discussed by Arlette Sancery and Gloria Cigman who concentrate on the great writer’s pilgrims. Two further contributions explore aspects of life at Christ Church Priory: Catherine Royer-Hemet uses the published letter collection from Christ Church to look at Prior Eastry’s relationship with Archbishop Reynolds, while John Moon utilises this but also manuscript sources from the priory’s archive now held at Canterbury Cathedral. Moon is presently working on his doctorate which is primarily based on the cathedral archive, but it is interesting to note that he appears to be the only contributor to have used such primary sources. Myriam Mear-Coulstock, whose essay opens the collection after a brief Introduction by the editor, relies heavily on William Urry and Marjorie Lyle in her analysis of Canterbury’s topography. A short essay cannot do justice to the city’s many features, but it seems strange that there is no mention of two telling street names: Jewry Lane and Martyrs’ Field Road. It is not surprising that Urry’s Canterbury under the Angevin Kings is probably the most cited book in the whole collection because it remains the best and almost only book on medieval Canterbury, yet it is a pity at least some of the contributors did not explore the rich civic as well as ecclesiastical resources held at the cathedral. As a result the city is more of a backdrop that moves in and out of the picture, which makes the choice of book title somewhat misleading. There are a few common misconceptions which are worth correcting: the term ‘White Friars’ was first used in Canterbury in the late sixteenth century; before that the friars were correctly known as the Austin Friars, the Carmelites settling elsewhere in the county; and Wincheap has nothing to do with a wine market, rather it comes from the Old English and so indicates the site of the wagon market, close to the city’s timber market. Notwithstanding these comments, there are some intriguing and imaginative uses of a broad range of published medieval texts in this book that shed light on a number of people and places associated with this internationally important cathedral city. sheila sweetinburgh REVIEWS 361 The Pilgrims’ Way: Fact and Fiction of an Ancient Trackway. By Derek Bright. 158 pp. 47 b/w illustrations, maps and tables, 25 colour plates. The History Press, 2011. Paperback, £14.99. ISBN 978 0 7524 6085 7. A welcome addition to the recent quality landscape studies of Kent, this is a fascinating look at the Pilgrims’ Way and North Downs Way routes from Winchester to Canterbury (and beyond). Bright tackles the questions still surrounding the origin and exact routes through careful and detailed engagement with the latest researches as well as the full range of historical maps and accounts. Rather than merely demolishing the evidence for a thronged Pilgrims’ Way route determined by those attracted to Becket’s shrine at Canterbury, Bright thoughtfully considers the conclusions of ‘Pilgrimists’ such as Belloc and Cartwright who built on the enthusiasms of Victorian revivalists. However, from the outset it is clear that the author is not convinced of the importance of the trackway as a pilgrims’ route or that it was ever as busy as the Pilgrimists believed. Using the work of Ivan Margary, among others, and a careful study of the geology and geography of the North Downs, Bright examines the strong evidence for a prehistoric origin for a major route that had a crucial role for millennia. The route of the trackway may have shifted in response to seasonal conditions, but the evidence for a trackway terraced on the southern slopes below the summit to provide good drainage and a tree-shaded path, while remaining at a safe but accessible distance from the spring-line settlements on the lower slope of the Downs is strongly argued. However, it is clear that the summit may also have been used as a trackway giving greater visibility of landmarks to determine the route. Bright cannot give a certain conclusion whether the summit or terraced route were preferable in summer or winter, and this lack of a definitive explanation of many of the questions about the trackway, despite the enormous amount of work that the author has done, add to the charm of the study. The two main themes of this book are the evidence for the exact route of the ‘Pilgrims’ Way’ from its pre-historic beginnings to the modern walkers’ route, and the evidence which counters the Victorian and Edwardian myths about the ‘hordes’ who used this route. The latter is dealt with in a detailed and very cogently argued chapter (8 ‘Population and Pilgrimage), using accepted population figures and multipliers in the context of the records of donations at Becket’s shrine, the structure of society, and the limitations and restrictions imposed on many of the lower orders in the late medieval period. Bright concludes that on average only 2-5 ‘pilgrims’ were likely to be setting out at any one time and therefore the pressure on the towns and villages along the route would have been minimal. In his conclusion he suggests that the route is probably far busier with 21st-century walkers. REVIEWS 362 The route of the trackway is far more difficult to determine and Bright admits that no consensus has yet been reached, but his discussion within the broader history of the trackway is full of fascinating detail of its use by early migrants crossing the land bridge from the Continent, possibly the transport of tin from Cornwall to the south-east, medieval royal progresses, as well as a safe and relatively dry route across Kent as an alternative to the problems and dangers of the north Kent route along Watling Street. By careful study of maps and distances around the Medway Valley, where pilgrims and other travellers may have transferred from one route to the other, Bright proves that although Watling Street has long been assumed to be the shorter route, in effect the difference between the two routes is only 2-3 miles and therefore negligible given the overall distance from Winchester to Canterbury and of the order of distance that travellers would take as detours to villages and towns along the way. Finally, Bright’s thesis is set within a clear delineation of the natural and built landscape highlighting prehistoric, historical and more modern features. If there is a negative criticism to be made it is the lack of a large scale comprehensive map of the Downs, which could usefully have been included perhaps inside the front and back covers. The schematic maps provided are clear enough for the detailed discussions they are associated with, together with the flow charts of the Belloc and Cartwright routes in the appendix, but the reader does not get a sound sense of the possible routes and the wider geographical context from them. Nevertheless, this book is an excellent read and will remain a useful reference work. eli zabeth edwards The Naval Mutinies of 1797: Unity and perseverance. Edited by Ann Veronica Coats and Philip MacDougall. xviii + 316 pp. Boydell, Woodbridge, 2011. Hardback, £60. ISBN 978-1-84383-669-8. In the early summer of 1797, when Britain was at war with France and her allies, serious naval mutinies occurred in the British fleets at Spithead and the Nore. Sailors from the North Sea fleet at Yarmouth brought their ships to the Thames estuary, while other acts of mutiny occurred in home and distant waters. The cause of the unrest was widespread dissatisfaction among sailors over working conditions and terms of service. These grievances were set out in petitions sent to the Board of Admiralty, a long-standing accepted practice, asking for action to increase pay (which remained at levels set in the 1650s) and pensions, more fairly allocate prize money, improve provisions, reduce harsh punishments and remove brutal officers and provide better attention for sick and injured seaman. The unrest at Spithead in May 1797 involved sailors refusing to weigh anchor and putting ashore unpopular officers. It was not a disorderly REVIEWS 363 ‘mutiny’. Sailors proclaimed their loyalty to the Crown and willingness to defend the realm, maintained a firm self-imposed discipline, and effectively publicised their cause to a not unsympathetic civil public. With haste the Admiralty agreed to deal with some of the sailors’ claims and granted a wholesale pardon to the mutineers. Having pursued an ameliorative line towards the combined strength of sailors in the Channel fleet, the Admiralty was not inclined to be gentle with a much smaller number of mutineers, probably 3,500 sailors, at the Nore in late May and early June. Government (and not for the last time!) believed fears of its own creation, that this unprecedented large scale mutiny was part of a revolutionary movement fed by foreign ideas. An eight-point petition by the Nore sailors was rejected and, to the government’s advantage, many ships remained loyal. Food supplies to mutinous ships were cut off, navigational buoys in the Thames estuary removed to hinder attempts to take ships to sea, and official efforts were made to prevent the sailors of ‘the floating republic’ from communicating their grievances to people on land. By mid June the mutiny collapsed and retribution followed. The mutiny at the Nore has received considerable attention from historians, and will no doubt be of greater interest to those concerned with the history of Kent. Philip MacDougall is well-known for his scholarly work on naval history, and his essays in this volume along with those of his co-editor and also Christopher Doorne (chs 8-13), not only dissect the motivation and course of the mutiny but also interrogate existing claims as to the political context of the outbreak. A prominent view advanced by E.P Thompson was that the mutinies were part of a ‘revolutionary movement’, an idea further refined by Roger Wells who has argued that the mutinous seamen were strongly influenced by democratic elements favouring peace with France and also revolutionary United Irishmen. MacDougall and his fellow authors do not deny radical ideas influenced certain seamen, for example from the London Corresponding Society, but they fail to see any strong revolutionary strand either from abroad, from Ireland, or from a British movement intent on overthrowing the government. The mutiny was not a parochial affair, but it had more the form of a labour dispute, the kind of action and responses to be seen among contemporary working people on shore. Irish sailors, who constituted 12 per cent of seaman, were divided in their support for mutiny and also the cause of a United Ireland; indeed, fewer than 120 men in the navy appear to have belonged to United Irishmen. The claim that Quota men, those 30,000 sailors recently enlisted or impressed under the Quota Acts of 1795, harboured Jacobin sympathies also seems to be unfounded, most proving to be good and loyal seaman. For the government the mutiny was a serious threat as it occurred in the navy which formed the first line of defence against foreign attack. No doubt the debates will continue on the mutinies of 1797, events REVIEWS 364 that Coats describes as ‘the largest and most successful radical event in British history since the Civil Wars’. In the meantime readers have in this book a useful and stimulating collection of essays that pose some challenging questions. There is some repetition of detail in many of the essays which more careful editing might have reduced. Further maps would have enhanced the text, while a more extensive index would have increased the value of the book as a reference work. david killingray Out of the Hay and into the Hops – Hop cultivation in Wealden Kent and hop marketing in Southwark, 1744-2000. By Celia Cordle, xiv + 183 pp. 19 appendices plus select bibliography and index. University of Hertford Press, Hatfield, Studies in Regional and Local History, vol. 9, 2011. Paperback £35. ISBN 978-1-907396-04-05. Celia Cordle was the first winner of the Society’s biennial Hasted Prize for the best ph.d. thesis completed and submitted in the two years to 2007. The purpose of the prize is to help the winner find a suitable academic publisher of a book based upon the thesis. This book shows that the model works. Notwithstanding the picture on the front cover, this is not another book about ’oppin down in Kent. The sub-title tells us that it is about cultivation, and about marketing. Together, these aspects have not been adequately dealt with for over seventy-five years (Clinch [1919] and Parker [1934]), so this business book is well overdue. Its coverage of the changes in hop varieties and of the institutionalisation of hop marketing bring both topics right up to date, and are most welcome. They are also among the strongest elements in the book, perhaps because the author benefitted from first-hand discussions with a leading grower (David Wickham) and the last hop factor (Ben Wright). At the outset, Cordle attempts to draw some socio-political-economic similarities between the Weald and Southwark (‘the Borough’) as if the marriage between the two areas was somehow meant to be. ‘Like some of the parish boundary settlements and decayed market towns in Kent, Southwark was associated with nonconformity and sometimes with illicit trade and criminality’. Certainly business and trade, not all of it wholesome, flourished in Southwark; but the same could be said for other places located on the City fringes, such as Finsbury and Moorgate. Let us not forget that Defoe wrote in 1722 that Stourbridge Fair, Cambridge, was the centre of the trade, and that hops were brought directly (by water) from Canterbury and Maidstone. A well-known engraving of the busy Hop Market in the Borough, however, dates from 1729. The first mention in this book of a delivery of hops to Southwark (from Tatlingbury in REVIEWS 365 this case) was in 1758 (p. 31). But for the Kentish grower, the markets at Canterbury, Maidstone and Ashford were as important, or more important, than Southwark, well into the nineteenth century, as testified by crop reports and market prices published weekly in the local papers. Cordle demonstrates the point that local market access for a hop grower in Biddenden was greatly facilitated by the mid-century expansion of the railways in Kent (p. 45). The interrelationship (if any) between these local markets and Southwark is not discussed. As to the reasons for Southwark’s eventual pre-eminence, it is sufficient to point out that by the eighteenth century it already had a couple of industrial-scale breweries of its own (Thrale’s – later Barclay Perkins – and Courage), and that by road, river or rail it was easier to get to than to remote Stourbridge! As we know, hops have only one customer – the brewer. It is a disappointment, therefore, not to hear his voice in this book. Perhaps Cordle doesn’t drink beer? The byzantine arrangement of middlemen, (factors on behalf of growers; merchants on behalf of brewers), and the range of business services they provided, is fully explored, but it is as if the brewer didn’t exist. Marketing is about knowing your customer. What did the brewer know or care about hops grown in the Weald? And viceversa? We are not told. On the other hand, we know that not all hops were intermediated through Southwark, or even through local markets. Canterbury brewer Rigden’s Hop Book 1788-1822 shows that he bought directly from local growers and merchants. This brings me to another important area for examination that is missing entirely from this book. If the nature of the relationship between grower and brewer was as arm’s length as Cordle describes (this was undoubtedly the case for the bulk of the trade in the 19th century), did that not work to the disadvantage of the Wealden grower? There was little incentive for him to work on product development, quality control, branding and all those innovative things we associate with marketing. Cowboys entered the market. These were the ‘illegitimate’ hop growers, the ones with no capital, in and out of the market for a fast buck (if they were lucky); they grew the ‘spurious’ hop, the prolific low quality hop, such as the Colegate, sold by weight or mixed indiscriminately with the better varieties. But because growers were so fragmented and lacked organisation, there was little the ‘legitimate’ grower (the one with capital, experience and continuity) could do about it. On the other hand, growers in Hereford and Worcester, for whom access to Southwark was more difficult and costly, tended to develop a more direct relationship with Midlands brewers, to their mutual advantage. As befits a book coming out of a ph.d thesis, it is rich in appendices and lists of sources. These are very valuable. There are four great enquiries into the working of the hop industry. They are the Excise Commissioners’ report of 1825, and the Parliamentary enquiries of 1857, 1890 and 1908. REVIEWS 366 The first and the last do not appear in the list of source documents. The enquiries of 1857 and 1890 get one mention each (p. 134 and p. 51 respectively). These are where the authentic voices of brewers are to be found. The conclusion must be that Cordle didn’t use them. Her aversion to brewers must also account for her omission of the Journal of the Brewery History Society as a source. On the other hand she makes copious use of the report of the 1868 Parliamentary enquiry into the employment of children, young persons and women in agriculture. Cordle does a good job summarising the complexity of the legislation around the commutation of tithes in 1836 and later. But this super-tax on hop grounds was an anachronistic annoyance rather than anything else. Cordle does not try to assess the impact on growers, for or against. That more hop acreage came on after 1836 is a matter of fact. Hops were taxed at source, and taxed upon weight rather than sales value. This was unique, arbitrary and unfair. (Today’s historians benefit because taxation of the hop mean that it is the best documented of crops.) Excise tax was repealed in 1862, but the quid pro quo was the lifting of import duty on foreign hops. In the Parliamentary report of 1857, the eponymous Mr Bass said that, price apart, he would buy all his hops in Bavaria if he could – even in preference to the best East Kent Goldings, a variety usually held to be better than Wealden hops. This single comment puts the story of both Wealden hops and Southwark into a wider perspective. The structure of this book leaves a lot to be desired. Chapter 6 is about tithes and duties. Chapter 4 is entitled ‘The Twentieth Century: futures’. Which editor thought this makes sense? All of which is to say that the transition from a ph.d thesis to a good book is not an easy one. peter tann The Shepherds and Shepherd Neame Brewery, Faversham, Kent, 1732- 1875. By John Owen. 68 pp. plus illustrations, maps, tables and Shepherd family fold-out pedigrees and index. 124 pp. Soft back with cover £13.45, available from Shepherd Neame. ISBN 978 0 9559997-3-4. This slim volume is excellent in every respect. It is well-researched, cleanly presented on good quality paper, well illustrated, and short. Besides these attributes, it is published privately by the author. Samuel Smiles would approve. The book is about what it says on the cover. It is an extended family history of the Shepherd family and their chief business interest, brewing. Readers in Kent will be familiar with Shepherd Neame, Britain’s oldest brewery, ‘since 1698’, so it comes as a bit of a surprise to learn that the Shepherds were not there quite at the beginning, that they tried to sell the REVIEWS 367 brewery in 1822, and that the Neames didn’t arrive on the scene until the 1860s. The family history side of things has been carefully researched and meticulously footnoted, as one would expect from a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. The business side could not have been written unless the author had spent some years working in the brewery as its archivist, and learning the arcane language of that trade. He has learned how to look at a bought ledger, the head brewer’s journal, the inventory of utensils passed on from one generation to another, and to make an informed stab at barrelage, revenues and profits. This is no small achievement. His effort to compare and contrast size and scope with other brewers in East Kent and London should be applauded. Most impressive is the way the author combines knowledge of local property deeds with an intelligent use of fire insurance records to measure business growth or decline. Insurance records are a fabulous but under utilised resource. Readers are recommended to look at the ‘The Place in the Sun’ online index of Sun Fire Office policy registers. John Owen’s professional career was spent as an underwriter at Lloyd’s. In his lunch hour he was to be seen in the Guildhall Library searching policy records for Faversham. Readers cannot say the time was misspent. This book felicitously brings together many of his strands of research by one of Faversham’s leading local historians. peter tann A History of Charing: The parish from earliest times to 1900. By Members of Charing and District Local History Society, 2011. 126 pp. including c.100 maps, drawing, colour and b/w photographs. Paperback £12. ISBN 978-0-9570299-0-3: Ditton: The Story of a Kentish Village. By Alan Dodge. 176 pp. 130 illustrations. Ditton Heritage Centre, 2011. Paperback. £13.45, available from Liz Day, Ditton Heritage Centre Ltd, 28 St Peter’s Close, Ditton, Aylesford, ME20 (tel: 01732 840937; email: day.liz@btinternet.com) ISBN 978-0-9569567-0-5. These two splendid local studies exemplify the most welcome aspects of local history. Both bring a sound academic approach into an attractive and readable format. Both provide comprehensive indexes and suggested further reading. And both ensure that the reader can see how Charing and Ditton fit into the wider County and national context. One particularly pleasing aspect of both these studies is the balance between the early and later periods. And in both obscure terms are skilfully and unobtrusively explained within the flow of the text. REVIEWS 368 A History of Charing is a collaborative work by members of the Charing and District Local History Society, with specialist historians taking responsibility for individual chapters: Brian Easton, Peter Kidson, Sarah Pearson, Stephanie Reed and Pat Winzar. The volume is divided into two sections. The first four chapters cover the history and development of Charing. Chapter 1 outlines the physical setting, the Romano-British evidence and the first Anglo-Saxon Charter of Egbert II of 799 endorsing the ownership of lands acquired by the Archbishop of Canterbury up to the end of the pre-Conquest period. This chapter includes a useful text box on the Roman measures and their legacy in England. Chapter 2 deals with medieval Charing with an informed analysis of what can later be identified as the manor in Domesday. The presence of the archbishop’s manor determined the infrastructure and society of medieval Charing and these are illustrated by a careful study of tenancies and rents, including market rents, which concludes that ‘a sizeable proportion of the population lived in a nucleated settlement or village near the manor house’. The effects of the Black Death in the later medieval period are examined through a study of wills which provides snapshots, but not a comprehensive view of life in Charing. Chapter 3, ‘Early Modern Charing’, benefits from the greater survival of written sources and visual remains, although the authors are aware how difficult it is to identify fully the impact of the Reformation on individual parishes. But, by 1676 and the Compton Census nonconformists were a very small minority. The importance and influence of the Dering and Honeywood families emerges with the Civil War and the swings of support among the local gentry for either King or Parliament provides an unclear picture of whether support for one side or the other was really definite. The rest of this chapter provides a very useful survey of the way of life of the inhabitants, covering infrastructure, farming and associated trades, education, and the lives and treatment of the poor. Chapter 4 is a short study of 19th-century Charing including a comprehensive table of trades and occupations drawn from the censuses from 1841-1891. The 19th-century growth in population and the coming of the railway significantly changed the occupation profile of the area. The increased ease of transport of goods to and from the area, rather than leading to a fall in the use of horses, led to more local transport by carters, until the advent of motorised transport. From being a mainly agricultural parish in the early 19th century, by the 1890s Charing was a significant local hub, large enough to maintain its own professional services and well enough connected to accommodate commuters. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 benefit from the skills and knowledge of the authors to study the historic buildings of Charing, the survival of which provide a wealth of evidence for the architectural historians: Brian Easton on the REVIEWS 369 Church of SS Peter and Paul, Sarah Pearson on the Archbishop’s Palace and also on the Historic Houses of Charing. These sections, as well as the earlier chapters are beautifully illustrated, with the quality of both old and new photographs a credit to the printers; and the relevance of figures is always clear. It would have been a real bonus if this volume had been available when this reviewer led a Field Study of Charing a few years ago. Ditton: The Story of a Kentish Village (written with the help of a grant from the Allen Grove Local History Fund) is slightly less polished than the study of Charing and follows a strong chronological format with due attention paid to each period. Dodge sets the scene in the first chapter with a detailed analysis of the possible origin of the place and field names and the importance of the setting of the parish within the Hundred of Larkfield. The influence of the neighbouring parishes of Aylesford and East Malling highlights the local government links with Sevenoaks and Tonbridge and ecclesiastical links with Rochester diocese. A careful study of maps has been used to show the developments of communications from the ancient to modern road patterns. The geology and soils have contributed to the economic pattern of the area with the balance between woodland and farming, and quarrying shifting in favour of the latter during the expansion of building and population in the 18th and 19th centuries. In a short second chapter Dodge deals with the prehistoric and Roman periods for which the scant evidence has been used to postulate the existence of a possible Bronze or Iron Age settlement in the area of Well and Broke Woods. Remains of Roman occupation in the area are found only in Aylesford and East Malling, but Dodge argues that such proximity supports the theory that many of the orchard and sweet chestnut coppice in Ditton are probably part of the heritage of that occupation. The Anglo-Saxon and early Norman years are dominated by the influence of the early church with the evidence of the Textus Roffensis detailing the churches in the area dependent on the Minster church at Aylesford. Bishop Odo was granted the manor of Ditton after the Conquest, but the management of the estate quickly became a secular administration, and the parish/village settled into an existence dependant on the land and the important river communications to Rochester and the routes to London, Canterbury and Dover. The population of Ditton barely changed from the 12th to the 19th century (pp. 36-38), but in the 12th century (chapter 4) the major influence was monastic with Ditton close to the religious houses at Malling and Aylesford, and with its rectorial tithes held by Leeds Priory. Communications were greatly enhanced with the building of the 13th-century bridge crossing the Medway at Aylesford, but Ditton remained a small hamlet, recovering from the Black Death through the excellence of the agricultural land and the easy access to markets. REVIEWS 370 The proximity of the religious houses made the effects of the Reformation very visible to Ditton and Dodge shifts his enquiries to the land owners in the 16th and 17th centuries and the administration of the manor, with the importance of the produce of the land always to the fore. Ditton was, for example, one of the important providers of poles for the newly developing hop gardens. In the Civil War the support for the Crown followed that of the lord of the manor, Sir William Boteler, apparently without the shifts of allegiances so evident in Charing. From the evidence of inventories and wills, as well as buildings, Dodge identifies a small, cohesive population without huge differences between the social classes below the major landowners. In the late 16th century an additional boost to the local economy came with the development of paper utilising the pure, iron free water, and the easy access to the London markets. Nineteenth-century growth in population reflected national trends but from the starting point of only 94 in 1801, had only reached 336 by 1881, when Ditton was still a largely rural farming community. Ten years later the population had nearly tripled as the lower Medway industrial expansion in brick, cement and pottery began to take effect. This growth had been in evidence over 20 years earlier in other parts of the Medway Valley, and even with the expansion for some time the working population of Ditton remained equally divided between industry and agriculture. The final two chapters follow the traditional pattern or local histories using recorded memories and photographs to discuss changes to local infrastructure starting with the impact of the railways and local government reorganisation and covering the effects of the two world wars. Dodge neatly brings the story of Ditton as an essentially agricultural settlement full circle with the changing role, and names, of East Malling Research, and a plea for the tensions between the modern economic need for stonequarrying and the preservation of the local woodland to be handled with sensitivity. eli zabeth edwards A History of Music at Sevenoaks School from 1877-2010. By Peter Young. 76 pp. plus illustrations, appendices and index. 96pp. Paperback. £7.50 plus p+p from the Development Officer (email: os@sevenoaksschool. org). This short chronicle of Music in this booklet is aimed principally at readers who will be intimately aware of the much broader history of the School itself. As a result it is difficult for an outsider to come to terms with the events and changes described. In the opening chapter there is mention of the school having a mere 90 pupils in 1890, but by 1919 this number is recorded as having dropped to REVIEWS 371 48. There is also mention later of a considerable number of ‘day pupils’ but very little information on how or why, the school has expanded to its present roll of around 2,000 pupils. It would have been helpful to have a discussion of the changes in how music developed within the context of such dramatic changes. Similarly, there is no reference to the school becoming co-educational until suddenly there is mention of Emma Johnson becoming the BBC Young Musician of the Year. By inference she was a former pupil! Various changes can be inferred of the general ethos in the School with respect to music, but it is not always clear whether the role of the music was regarded as academic or educational, cultural, recreational, or merely social at the various stages. A discussion on such changes would have been beneficial and enlightening for readers unfamiliar with the broader history of the School. Similarly, whilst the achievements of many of the staff associated with Music in the School are often reported in some detail it is not always apparent whether these had any lasting effect. The fact that the School now enjoys such an elevated status surely deserves rather more analysis of exactly how that was brought about. andrew parry Isle of Sheppey Through Time. By John Clancy. 96 pp. c.180 illustrations. Amberley, 2011. Paperback. £14.99. ISBN 978-1-4456-0647-7. This volume provides a good contextualised narrative to mainly comparative pairs of photographs of the settlements on the Isle of Sheppey, showing change from the nineteenth to the twentieth centuries. In many cases little has changed, but the lost village of West Minster, a victim of the 1853 floods and the Church at Harty without a population since the demise of the ferry, tell a different story. Clancy has provided a fascinating picture of a neglected part of Kent, but has focused mainly on the survival of older properties, with only a few pictures of the truly modern. It is a pity that very little is said of the prisons or the steelworks, which have played such an important part in the history of twentiethcentury Sheppey. Chatham Through Time. By Philip MacDougall. 96 pp. 93 colour and 91 b/w illustrations. Amberley, 2011. Paperback, £14.99. ISBN 978-1- 84868-635-9. A quality addition to the series again based on comparative pairs of pictures, and including older drawings and aerial views. The volume is helpfully divided into chapters drawing on MacDougall’s established reputation REVIEWS 372 as a historian of Chatham: ‘The Town Centre’, ‘The Outer Boundaries’, ‘The Naval and Military Connections’ and ‘The Dockyard’, showing the construction of the Medway Tunnel and its impact. The illustrations are supported by a sensitive and informed textual commentary. Folkestone’s Disappearing Heritage Through Time. By Pam Dray. 96 pp. c.180 illustrations. Amberley, 2011. Paperback, £14.99. ISBN 978- 1-4456-0290-5. A personal record of change stimulated by the proposed demolition of older buildings around the railway viaduct in the Foord Road area, this study is largely influenced by the impact of the coming of the railway to Folkestone and how the heritage of the mid-nineteenth century is succumbing to modern developments. But Dray brings a positive note to the potential losses showing how some derelict areas are benefiting from restoration projects, to survive alongside the new. Gravesend Through Time. By Robert Turcan. 96 pp. c.180 colour illustrations. Amberley, 2011. Paperback, £14.99. ISBN 978-1-84868-125-5. This further contribution to the ‘Through Time’ series is a relentlessly cheerful and optimistic presentation of modern Gravesend, celebrating both the preservation of the earlier heritage and the positive elements of modern expansions, including the nearby Bluewater shopping complex and the new International Station at Ebbsfleet. Indeed, the vibrant town centre, shown through the format of comparative photographs, appears as busy and prosperous as its 19th-century counterpart. The river features strongly, with easy access to London and Tilbury, its quasi seaside front and the early role of the ferries as an alternative to the dangerous Watling Street route to east Kent, crucial to the development of the 19th-century heritage. Old Maidstone’s Public Houses from Old Photographs. By Irene Hales. 96 pp. B/w illustrations throughout. Amberley, 2011. Paperback, £12.99. ISBN 978-1-84868-800-1. A new edition of this study of the many public houses of Maidstone originally published in 1982. The outline histories of the breweries tells a fascinating tale of the rise and subsequent decline of the industry for new readers, but unfortunately has not been updated beyond the early 1980s and therefore omits the further contraction of major breweries and the more recent changes in public houses. The Whitbread Brewery in Faversham, the remnant of Maidstone’s Fremlins Brewery, is now Tesco (p. 22), and the Beefeater Inns have long given way to new chains (ibid.), while town centre public houses have suffered changes of names, further REVIEWS 373 losing the significance of their heritage and potentially making it difficult for the reader to identify the sites shown in this volume. A History of Murston. By Bryan Clark. 160 pp. 314 b/w illustrations. Amberley, 2011. Paperback, £14.99. ISBN 978 1-84868-998-5. A very personal account of the changes to Murston and its relationship with Sittingbourne. The core of the book is a fascinating detailed look at the brick and cement industries, mainly through photographs, the author having spent most of his working life in the brick industry.