KAS Newsletter, Issue 104, Winter 2016
Written By KAS
Frindsbury
Palaeolithic Material
Boughton Bronze
Age Hoard
East Wear Bay Shorne Doodlebug
President:
Dr Gerald Cramp
Vice Presidents:
Mrs S Broomfield
Mr l.M. Clinch
Mr E.P. Connell
Mr R.F. Legear
Hon. General Secretary:
Clive Drew
secretary@kentarchaeology.org.uk
Hon. Treasurer:
Barrie Beeching
treasurer@kentarchaeology.org.uk
Hon. Membership Secretary:
Mrs Shiela Broomfield
membership@kentarchaeology.org.uk
Hon. Editor:
Terry G. Lawson
honeditor@kentarchaeology.org.uk
Hon. Curator:
Dr A ndrew Richardson
andrew.richardson@canterburytrust.co.uk
Research:
Ted Connell
ted.connell@kentarchaeology.org.uk
Press:
Paul Tritton
paul.tritton@kentarchaeology.org.uk
Library Manager:
Ruiha Smalley
librarian@kentarchaeology.org.uk
Newsletter:
Richard Taylor
newsletter@kentarchaeology.org.uk
WELCOME FROM THE EDITOR
It gives me great pleasure to introduce myself as the new Editor of the
KAS Newsletter. I have spent many happy hours reading through
previous issues over the years and, indeed, contributing on occasions.
So, despite a busy triple professional life as field archaeologist, author
and teacher, being father of two children and husband of one wife, the
opportunity to become Editor of the Newsletter is one I could not resist
and I'm very pleased to be here.
I'm pleased primarily because the Newsletter is held in such high regard.
This seems an appropriate place to thank my predecessor, Lyn Palmer,
for setting the bar so high by continually producing a Newsletter of such
high standards. It is only after editing my first edition do I now realise
the sheer volume of collective work and co-ordination that goes into this
publication, from contributors to the designer. It is my intention to
maintain these high standards in future issues and ensure KAS members
both communicate and enjoy the historical and archaeological work
going on in the county.
I also wish to express my gratitude to all the Newsletter's contributors.
I realise you do this for no financial gain, it takes up a considerable
amount of time but, without your articles and notices, the Newsletter
would not exist and the collective knowledge of what is happening
throughout Kent would be compromised. I therefore encourage as many
members as possible to think about writing articles and help inform the
wider historical and archaeological community of what is taking place in
our heritage-rich and diverse county. Forward your articles or notices to
newsletter@kentarchaeology.org.uk.
On more official business, we welcome our new President, Dr Gerald
Cramp and new Hon. General Secretary, Clive Drew. Both Gerald and
Clive are working extremely hard to raise the profile of KAS by building
on Ian Coulson's legacy of cooperation and modernisation and working
with colleagues, affiliate societies and other stakeholders to develop
innovative ways to take the society forward. You can read more about
Gerald on Page 23.
Enjoy this issue of the Newsletter and look out for the Spring issue
which will carry all KAS and affiliated groups' events for the next 12
months, together with updates on existing projects and excavations
throughout Kent.
Best wishes
KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
KAS Library
Maidstone Museum & Bentlif Art Gallery
St Faith's Street
Maidstone ME14 lLH
The oldest and largest society devoted to the history and
archaeology of the ancient county of Kent
2 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
IN THIS ISSUE
46
FRONT COVER
Hig/J level view of tile P&O
office excavation showing
street and building
Further Palaeolithic Material from Frindsbury
The Ring of the Barhams
Cobham Landscape Detectives are go!
Boughton Malherbe Bronze Age Hoard
Allington Pots
The Dover St James's Redevelopment
You and Your Society
New Books
Events
Mystery of the Shorne Doodlebug Strike
Medieval Canterbury weekend
New Tavern Fort, Gravesend - Vanishing Ramparts
The High Halstow Duck Decoy
East Wear Bay Archaeological Field School: 52
Short Wood otherwise known as Church Wood, Blean
Water Line model battleship
YAC finds battleship at Shorne Woods Country Park
4-7
8-9
10 - 13
14 -16
17
18 • 21
22 - 23
24 • 25
26 - 27
28 - 31
32 - 34
34
35
36 • 39
40 • 45
46 • 47
48
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk I 3
By Frank Beresford
4 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeolog]c al Society I www.kentarch aeo logy.org.uk
'
Af r an open day at
orne Woods, about
o years ago, a small
collection of palaeolithic
material was brought to the
group for further research.
Labelled the Killick collection
it includes material from
Barnfield Pit, Swanscombe
marked Milton Street and from
Tw ydale on the Medway
Estuary. Probably the most
interesting part of the collection
however was a group of 14 large
long flakes from the chalk
quarry at Frindsbury, which is
opposite Rochester on the River
Medway. Close to the site of All
Saints, Frindsbury, this site was
excavated by W Cook and J.
Killick in August 1923 (Cook
and Killick, 1924.)
On a prior visit to the pit,
they had noticed that in
removing "callow" in a
depression on the west side of
the quarry, the workmen had
uncovered four piles of worked
flints with sharp unabraded
edges indicating a working
floor. In the subsequent
excavations, "upward of 4000"
LEFT The excavation
team on the first
morning of the dig
with W. Cook on the
left and J. Killick on
the right
BELOW The
"working floor" that
was revealed by the
end of the first day
artefacts were uncovered in an
area of about 400 square feet.
Cook subsequently sold 16
cores, 478 flakes and two
handaxes to the British
Museum for £25 where some
were quickly put on display.
Despite the fresh condition
of the assemblage, the site's
location in a hollow within
chalky drift directly above chalk
bedrock rather than being
associated with a fluvial deposit
means that it cannot be securely
dated. It has been proposed that
palaeolithic activity took place
within a minor relatively
horizontally based depression
within an area of sloping
ground. The material was then
buried by fine-grained colluvial
slope wash deposits that have
sealed it with minimum
disturbance. However, the
chalk bedrock was above the
bank of a river terrace which
has been broadly correlated to
Marine Isotope Stages 10 - 8
(Wendban-Smith et. al.
2007, 34.)
On typological grounds the
Frindsbury material has been
associated with that found at
Botany Pit, Purfleet, Essex
which is linked to late Marine
Isotope Stage 9/early Marine
Isotope Stage 8 - about 300 000
years ago. Both are described as
simple prepared core and flake
industries which generally
produce slightly larger and
longer flakes than other
techniques, the flakes from
Frindsbury being comparatively
longer than those from Botany
Pit (White and Ashton 2003,
601.)
In the British Museum's
Frindsbury collection there are
also some refitting groups. One
group consists of five refitting
flakes all knapped from a single
plain platform.
These flakes are similar to the
14 flakes in the Killick collection
..... .
"I)
......
,.... "' - !
-<--1 -
'i..... 1 Clf
' '
,• ....
" -
-.......:
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 5
SELECTION FOM P-LINT WORKINC-l=LOOR
ABOVE ;THE 100 l=T. TE'RAACE OF THE MEDWAY f Ai l=RINDSBURY, OPPOSITE CHATHAM DOCKYARD,
EXCAVATED BY MESSRS. W.M .. COOK &J. R_KILLJCK:
PERIOD OF LE MOUSTIEA. Purr!hasea 1925.
[Proc. Pre hist. Soc. E. Anglia 7 1924, p.133]
'
,,.., _-..
,.
lLLJJj
ABOVE A flake (dorsal and ventral
faces) from British Museum's
Frindsbury collection
LLLJLJ
6 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
10c
ABOVE A simple
prepared core from
British Museum's
Frindsbury
collection
LEFT A group of five
refitting flakes from
Frindsbury made
from a simple
prepared core
(British Museum
collection
although no refitting has yet
been accomplished with these
even though rwo Aakes are
marked with the numbers
I & 2 respectively on their
plain platforms. The Killick
collection Aakes match those
in the British Museum and are
all generally characterised by
plain platforms and mainly
linear Aake scar patterns on
the dorsal face.
A report is in preparation
which will include a full
description of the 14 Aakes
from the Killick collection.
The Killick collection also
contains a large number of
smaller Aakes that are
unmarked bur match the 14
Frindsbury flakes in colour and
patina. A small amount of
similar material is in the British
Museum and this material
could form part of the "upward
of 4000" artefacts originally
reported. Any further
information about J. R. Killick
would be helpful. Rochester
Museum also contains a
collection of palaeolithic
material from Frindsbury.
LEFT Flakes from the Killick collection
showing both ventral and dorsal faces
REFERENCES
ABOVE Flakes from the Killick collecuon
showing both ventral and dorsal faces
Cook, W. H . and Killick, J.R., 1924. On the discovery of a flint-working
site of Palaeolithic date in the Medway Valley at Rochester, Kent, with
notes on the drift stages of the Medway. Proceedings of the Prehistoric
Society of East Anglia 4:133-49.
Wenban-Smith F.F, Bates M.R. and Marshall G., 2007. The Palaeolithic
Resource in the Medway Gravels, Kent, Medway Valley Palaeolithic
Project, Final Report (available online.)
White, M. J. and Ashton, N. M., 2003. Lower palaeolithic core
technology and the origins of the levallois method in North-Western
Europe., Current Anthropology., 44 (4). pp. 598-609.
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeolog ical Society I www.kentarchaeolog y.org.uk I 7
THE RING OF THE B
By Roger Cockett
B I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology. org.uk
s
Nicholas Barham, Queen'
erjeant-at-Law. MP for
lvlaidstone and the owner
of Ch_illingcon lanor Hou e, had a
ring made of gold. le was a signet
ring bearing his coat of arms and
icholas used ic to seal documents
with wax, though he often signed
them as well. His branch of the
Barhams came from Wadhursc in
Sussex, bur they were distant
relatives of the arms-bearing
Barhams of Tes con near Maidstone.
In 15 7 4 the herald Robert Cooke,
Clarenceux King
of Arms visited ChiUingron and
granted the Barham arms to
Nicholas Barham. He and his son
Arthur could now bear the ancient
family arms of three muzzled bears,
two marders and a fleur-de-lis. It
was probably Nicholas who had the
ring made - his son was more
inclined co sell his old rings than to
have new ones made.
Then Nicholas Barham had two
misfortunes. First, he lost his gold
ring. le slipped somewhere our of
sight and he never saw it again.
Second, in 1577 he died of gaol
fever in Oxford, immediately after
sending a Roman Catholic to the
pillory co have his ears cut off.
Maidstone grieved, all except for
the devour, who thought it was a
judgement upon hjm.
For nearly 300 years the ring lay
quiet. It was in Chillington House,
bur the house had become a
warehouse and then a factory and
then the Maidstone Museum. The
first curator starred work there in
1858 bur after only seven years he
died. A second curator, one
William Lightfoot arrived. He was
a man of action and keen to restore
the old building. He was vexed char
the east wing of Chillingron House
remained a coal and straw store and
in 1868 he raised funds and began
its rebuilding. And then somebody
found the ring.
Humphry Woolrych recorded
the finding of a signet ring with the
Barham arms in his book of 1869.
At that date, the only rebuilding
had been of the east wing. One
account says that the ring was
found in a hearth or mantelpiece. A
LEFT William
Ughtfoot photo from
painting courtesy of
Maidstone Museum
later story says it was found when
moving a.n altar stone in the chapel
at Chillingron house, bur char
cannot be right as the house had no
chapel until one was built in 1874.
Edward Hughes, a family friend,
had a third story that a silversmith
showed William Lightfoot a ring
which he had received from
Tunbridge Wells and which had
"been dug up nor far off' - wruch
could mean anything bur was
probably the find from the fireplace
again. All accounts agree that
William Lightfoot was now
convinced it was Nicholas Barham's
ring and he wore the ring until his
death in 1875.
Edward Hughes persuaded
William's sister Mary Ann co give
the ring to her brother's old
sponsor, the Revd. Edward Muriel,
rector of Ruckinge, on condition
he returned it to her in his will.
Meanwhile Sir George Barham,
a descendant of the Wadhurst
Barhams, must have read
Woolrych's book. In a letter of
1879, probably responding to Sir
George, Edward Hughes expressed
second thoughts and suggested
the ring ought co pass back co
the Barhams.
Sir George made another
approach in 1890, this time co the
Revd. Muriel, who now had the
ring. Muriel insisted that Mary
Ann Lightfoot, then in Canada,
should first be consulted. Nothing
seems co have happened before the
Revd. Muriel died in 1895. Mary
Ann remained unmarried and died
in 1908, leaving the ring co
Constance the daughter of her
friend Edward Hughes. Sir George
Barham wrote co Constance
Hughes that year and again in
1910, asking if she would agree co
sell him the ring.
An historian Firzgerald Uniacke,
who was writing a Barham family
history, wrote co Constance three
rimes in April 1910. Each time he
asked co buy the ring or to borrow
it or to have a photograph or a
drawing of it. Constance agreed co
the drawing, bur she kept the ring.
Time passed. Edward Hughes
and Sir George Barham died in
1913. The Grear War came and
went, as did the 1920s, the 1930s
and World War II. In 1961 an
American descendant Robert
Young Barham, read about the
ring in Woolrych's book and
visited the Barhams, only to be
cold chat they did not have it.
But, in I 965 the ring appeared
again. A Mr and Mrs Relph wrote
co the grandson of Sir George
Barham. They cold of an elderly
widow of 88 named Connie
rungham living in an old people's
home in Heathfield, who wished
co return a gold signer ring co the
Barham family. The widow was
none other than Constance
Hughes, who had married a Mr
Steuart rungham in 1915; the
Relphs had been in ber service
ever since. Connie had worn the
ring herself for 57 years and now
she wanted co make sure ir rud nor
get lost. The ring was duly
despatched back to its famjjy,
though the Relphs feared at one
stage that Mrs rungham was going
co change her mind and keep it.
The story continues in the dull
days between Christmas 2015 and
New Year 2016. Ben Barham,
another of the American Barhams
who lives in Lierle Rock Arkansas,
emailed the Kent Archaeological
Society's website to enqwre the
whereabouts of the ring described
by Humphry Woolrych in 1869.
Some rapid researches revealed
that it was now in Kent again with
the rightful owners, who at that
very same moment were looking
into the history of the ring
themselves.
Just at the moment, the ring
seems to have disappeared again.
But, it has not gone for ever and it
will make itself known when the
time is right.
I am most grateful co the
Barham family for letting me see
their family papers on this subject.
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 9
Following a successful application to the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Cobham
Landscape Detectives Project is adding to our understanding of Cobham
parish and its environs.
hree-year project in
cope, volunteers led by
enc County Council's
community archaeologist will
explore che archaeology, history
and natural environment of this
hidden gem in the Kentish
landscape. The project has
extensive support from local
stakeholders including key land
managers and owners. Building
on cen years of community
archaeological activities at
Shorne Woods Country Park,
chis new scudy will place past
findings into a wider context.
The project aims to examine the
land scape of Cobham parish for
clues to its past and tell the
ch anging story of the area from
ABOVELiDAR
groundtruthing
surveys of the
National Trust land
in Cobham Woods
Prehistory co the Present.
Volunteers will groundcruch
resulcs of the Medway Valley of
Visions LiDAR (Light Detection
and Ranging) survey, record
veteran and ancient trees,
undertake geophysical surveys,
research local archives, gather
oral history testimonies, dig test
pits and undertake carefully
focussed excavation casks. All of
this work will be documented
through social media, the project
website and in a series of reports.
At the time of writing, we are
six months into year one of the
project. So far we have
conducted extensive LiDAR
groundcruthing surveys of the
National Trust land in Cobham
10 I Winter 2015 I Kent Archa eolog ical Society I www .kentarch aeology.org.uk
Woods. Beneath the tree
canopy is a remarkable
fossilised field system, perhaps
dating back co the medieval
period, when che Manor of
Cobham held much of the land
across the east end of what is
now Cobham parish. As the
Parkland and Deer Park at
Cobham Hall were expanded,
so much of this former
farmland was incorporated into
the new boundaries of the Park.
The surviving veteran and
ancient trees provide further
clues to the age of some of the
boundary banks and lynchers
identified. One incredible oak
tree, standing on a relic bank
could be over 500 years old .
We held our first Cobham
Landscapes Detectives dig in the
late summer of 2016. Our
survey work in Cobham Woods
identified the site of one of the
former Cobham estate houses,
known as Mausoleum or Park
cottage. The ruins had featured
in the extensive Cobham and
Ashenbank Management
Scheme reports, but they had
not been investigated. Our
rwo-week excavation revealed
the footings of both the
Georgian building dating to the
late 1780's and the outbuilding
added over one hundred years
later . The buildings were
knocked down in the l 950's
when the last incumbent Lord
Darnley moved our of Cobham
Hall and sold off much of the
estate. The dig was a great
success, with help and support
from many local archaeology
volunteers and enthusiasts and
RIGHT Footings of
Georgian building
from cl 780 and
later outbuildings
RIGHT Oak tree
standing on a relic
bank circa 500
years old
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk I 11
the North Downs Young
Archaeologists Club. Just
before the dig scarred we also
conducted a magnetomecry
survey around the Darnley
Mausoleum, co see if we could
identify any evidence for an
earlier building. Unforcunacely,
che damage wrought to the sire
over the past fifty years had lefc
the ground littered with
rubbish char disrupted the
results. After che dig we also
fieldwalked a number of the
local fields, recovering a range
of evidence, including worked
flint, pottery, brick and rile.
Roger Cockett is producing a
number of research papers to
sec the historical scene in each
area covered by the project and
dispo se of a few myths.
The remainder of year one
will be spent conducting
further LiDAR groundcruching
exe rcises, tree surveys,
ABOVE North
Downs Young
Archaeologists Club
excavating the
Georgian building
RIGHT
Magnetometry
survey around the
Darnley Mausoleum
geophysical surveys and archival
research. We will also be
planning our project for year
two, a test pit survey across
Cobham village. If the weather
allows, over the winter we will
dig a trench across an old hollow
way in Cobham Woods, marked
on maps as far back as 1641 and
thought to be medieval in dace.
The project owes its successes
to dace to the hard work and
12 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeologica l Soci ety I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
enthusiasm of the many
volunteers who have taken part.
Many of chem have worked on
projects at Shorne Woods
Country Park over the past ten
years bur we are also
encouraging and recruiting new
volunteers. To find our more
about the project, do have a
look at our website www.
shornewoodsarchaeology.co. uk/
cobham-landscape-dececcives
Visit our facebook page
ArchaeologyinKent for all
things community archaeology
and volunteer related, follow
@Archaeology Kent on Twitter.
You can also contact Andrew
Mayfield, Kent County
Council's Community
Archaeologist direct on
an drew.mayfield@kent.gov. uk
or 07920 548906.
BELOW Part of a cricket
mug found on the Darnley Estate
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk I 13
BOUGHTON MALHER
HOARD PROJECT AT
By Sophia Adams
The Boughton Malherbe Late Bronze Age hoard has been tfle subject of a project spread over
several months from September 2015 to March 2016, supported by tfle Kent Archaeological
Society Allen Grove Fund.
The work was carried our
by Dr Sophia Adams with
support from Maidstone
Museum staff and other academic
researchers including Dr Brendan
O'Connor. Every item in the
Boughton Malherbe Bronze Age
hoard has been studied,
photographed, recorded,
, catalogued on Adlib and repacked.
Sixteen selected items are
currently on display in the
Museum prehistory gallery.
As part of this project, in liaison
with Christine King, a public talk
was planned and delivered to the
local community at Grafty Green
Village Hall on Sat 5th March.
This free talk was attended by 80
people, mostly adults and a couple
of children. These included local
residents, academics, and
archaeologists from Kent and
further afield. The local press also
attended and reported on the talk
in the Kent Messenger newspaper
(ML Mar 11th 2016). Response
from the talk was very positive.
Alongside images of the objects
from the hoard Sophia was able to
show a selection of the actual
artefacts and replica objects
including swords produced by
Neil Burridge and presented by
Matt Knight, postgraduate student
at the University of Exeter. A
further talk was delivered at
Maidstone Museum on 30th July as
part of the Festival of Archaeology.
Results
The Boughton Malherbe hoard was
acquired by Maidstone Museum
through the treasure process with
grants from The Art Fund, the
MLNV&A Purchase Grant Fund
and the Headley Trust. The
Treasure Report lists 352 items
consisting of both fragments and
complete objects (PAS ID: KENT-
15A293). The Maidstone Museum
project has been able to refine this
figure because some of the tiny
fragments were originally counted
as a single item while those stuck
together were grouped as one item.
The current count is 358 pieces
from no more than 340 objects,
rwo of which were inserted into the
sockets of other items. Perhaps the
best way to describe the size of the
hoard is by its total weight: 64.2kg
or c.l0stone 216. An impressive
quantity of bronze and copper
indeed. In the future when the
hoard has been cleaned the overall
weight will need to be recalculated
to account for the loss of weight
with the removal of sediment
currently attached to a number of
the objects. The objects include 50
sword fragments, 25 complete axes
and fragments from 83 axes,
spearheads, knives, further tools
14 I Winter 2016 I Kent Ar chaeologica l Society I www.kenta rchaeo logy.org.uk
including gouges, pieces of
ornamental items including
plaques and bracelets, copper
ingots (the heaviest weighing
7.446kg), parts of bronze moulds
for casting bronze axes and the
metal debris from casting.
The majority of the artefacts are
of Late Bronze Age date bur there
are four fragments of potentially
Middle Bronze Age palstaves, a
form of un-socketed, wedgeshaped
axe. Research is ongoing
into the precise dating of
individual items within the hoard
but it appears to have been
deposited in the ground sometime
between of c.850-750 BC.
Further details about the specific
objects in the hoard are to be
published in the next edition of
the Kent Archaeological Society
journal: Archaeologia Cantiana.
The hoard is of vital importance
to Bronze Age studies both in
Britain and on a wider European
scale. It has even been proposed as
the name for a specific type of
Carp's Tongue hoard found in
England and France: BoughtonVenat
Type (Brandherm, D. and
Moskal-del-Huyo, M. 2014. Both
Sides Now: The Carp's Tongue
Complex Revisited. The
Antiquaries Journal 94. 1-47).
The articles stemming from this
current project will in no way be
E BRONZE AGE
IDSTONE MUSEUM
ABOVE Sophia Adams undertaking X-ray
f/uoresence
ABOVE
Socketed axe
Winter 2016 \ Kent Archaeologlcal Society \ www.kentarchaeology.org.uk I 15
the enJ or research on this
fascinating hoard.
A further benefit of this project
has been to build on the interest
the hoard has provoked in the
academic community and to
connect this project with other
research on Bronze Age
metalworking and hoards. The
information recorded from the
hoard is feeding into a current
research project at the University
of Bristol on the Social Context of
later prehistoric non-ferrous
metalworking conducted by Dr
Sophia Adams, Dr Jo Bri.ick, and
Dr Leo Webley.
We were also fortunate to
coincide with Dr Xose Lois
Armada's Marie Curie Fund
research at University College
London on the composition of
Late Bronze Age metalwork. As a
result Lois undertook X-ray
Fluorescence analysis on 63 items
within the hoard (18% of the
hoard) selected for their suitability
for analysis based on condition of
the object and typological
information. This XrF will provide
quantitative information on the
composition of the copper alloys
for comparison within the hoard
and against other hoards and
individual objects. He also
sampled eight ingots for Lead
Isotope analysis (15% of the coral
number of ingots and ingot
fragments in the hoard). Lead
Isotope Analysis assists in
ascertaining the possible source of
the copper. These results will be
compared with those from other
Kent hoards held in Maidstone
Museum's collection and
comparative hoards in northwestern
Europe. The results are
currently being processed and will
be reported on and published in
due course.
Future W>rl<
The hoard is in need of
conservation grade deaning and
some pieces need more intensiv e
conservation treatment. It is not
possible to fully recognise the
specific types of objects present and
the specific decoration on some
pieces without cleaning. Such work
is also important to the long-term
preservation of the hoard.
Conclusion
Maidstone Museum and Sophia
Adams are grateful to the KAS and
Allen Grove Fund for the financial
support they have given to this
work without which none of it
16 I \Wirt1Jrr2111Hj II limimlllBmletW II WftWMentlmJlhmulqftyaJigull< I Registered Charity No. 223382
would have been possible. The
talks have provided a good
opportuniry to show the
communiry the research value of
metal detected finds and the
importance of careful recording
and derailed srudy. We hope the
local interest inspired by this find
and the resea.rch will continue and
be encouraged through future
activities related to the impressive
prehistoric collections held at
Maidstone Museum.
ABOVE
Sword grip
THEALLIGNTON POTS
By Albert Daniels
Following a request for help to the KAS Fieldwork Committee
by a house owner living in Trevor Drive, Allington, Maidstone,
two members of the Maidstone Area Archaeological Group
visited the back garden of the house to view
a pit that had been excavated.
The house owner had dug the
pit co prepare the ground for
planting a magnolia bush. At a
depth of 450mm the 140mm
diameter rim of a black pot was
encountered. The owner had
partially cleared around the pot
which was cracked and
damaged.
The following day the two
members returned to further
investigate the find. The pit was
1200mm by 900mm and dug
into the Silty-day of the
Sandgate Beds. The pit was
enlarged to 1200mm square to
expose the edges of the pit into
which the pot had been placed.
The enlargement revealed a
second damaged pot with a
diameter of 280mm. The
smaller pot was excavated
around and the body
bound up with tape,
measurements and photographs
were taken prior to lifting the
pot. The rim was in many
pieces and the base too cracked
to recover complete. The
contents were removed but only
soil was recovered.
The second larger pot was
cracked into many pieces. The
rim diameter was 280mm,
other measurements
and photographs were taken
prior to lifting the pieces. The
interior of the pot was excavated
and cremated bone fragments
found. The cremated bone was
removed and wet sieved on site
through 4mm and 1mm
diameter sieves.
The burial pit was recorded.
The removal of the upper soil
precluded identifying the level
the pit was excavated from.
The sections of the two pots
were reconstructed and drawn.
The cremation urn appears to
be of the Aylesford-Swarling
type of late Iron-age pots. Nigel
MacPherson-Grant was
contacted to comment on the
find. He thought the urn was
classed as a type F2-squat,
elaborately cordoned pedestalled
bowl according to the Isobel
Thompson system of
classification (Thompson 1982).
The smaller pots classed as a type
C2-2 small plain evened rim jar
(Thompson 1982). Dating
of the pot and urn appears to
fall in the 25 BC tol0AD
date range (Pers. Comm.
Malcolm Lyne).
The cremated bone recovered
on the 4mm diameter sieve
amounted to 105gm with a
maximum size of 35mm, and
chat recovered on the 1 mm
diameter sieve was 90gm with a
maximum size of9mm. No
bone fragments could be
identified as being parts of a
human or animal skeleton.
No finds of a similar age
have been found within 1 km
of the site. Twenty six
Aylesford-Swarling pots and
four brooches were found in
Tassel's Quarry which once
stood 1.4km to the North
(Evans 1890). Two AylesfordSwarling
type pots and a
brooch were found in 1923 just
over a km to the South-west on
Hermitage Farm (Bush-Fox
1925).
REFERENCES
Bush-Fox J.P. 1925. Excavations
of a late celtic urnfield at
Swarling , Kent
Evans A.J. 1990, On a later celtic
urnfield at Aylesford, Kent,
Archaeologia 52/2, p350
Thompson Isabel, 1982.
Grog-tempered"Belgic" pottery of
South-east England. Parts i-ii, Bar
British series 108 ( i-ii )
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 17
I
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end of che twelftli century.
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MEMBERSHIP MATTERS
I am very pleased to welcome the You will notice that those of you who
following people who have joined the have agreed to the use of your email
KAS since the previous newsletter. Many address will have received various
apologies if I have omitted anybody! notices, mainly concerning outings,
Affiliated Societies
Cliffe at Hoo Historical Society
Folkestone Research & Archaeology
Group (FRAG)
Barham Downs History Society
Student Members
Miss G A Phythian
Individual Members
Mrs J Burgess, Tonbridge
Mr R Cochlin, Chatham
Mr M Cowley, Cranbrook
Mrs E Day, Ditton, Aylesford
Mrs C Finch, Maidstone
Mr C Holden, East Malling
Mr J Holland, Rochester
Mrs J Morris, Orpington
Ms S A Relton, Sevenoaks
Mr C Stevens, Maidstone
Mrs P Thomas, Orpington
Mrs D Weir, London SE12
Mr M Witten, Wrotham
Joint Members
Mr P Ethelston, Ashford
Ms A Sheehan, Ashford
It is good to see many new members
from all over the County as well as
elsewhere but we always welcome
more especially from the younger
generation as they are our future.
visits, study days or conferences. This
is a good and cheap way to keep
members aware of what is going on. I
can assure you that I make sure that
your email address is only used for
KAS matters. Of course most of these
also appear on the website and I urge
you to look at this for updates on
news in the historic and
archaeological world especially in
Kent.
Remember to send me any
amendments to your details and also
any changes of circumstance so that I
can keep the membership database
well and truly up to date. Those of you
who pay by cheque will be sent your
renewal letters in December. Please
renew promptly to avoid me having to
send reminders. Those of you who pay
through your bank please check that
this has been actioned with the
correct amount. (£10 - students
under 25, £25 individuals; £30 for 2
people living at the same address and
£25 for Affiliated Societies).
With the new General Secretary and
President KAS is facing a more
modern approach and taking us into
the 21st century.
Shiela Broomfield; Membership
Secretary membership@
kentarchaeology.org.uk
LETTER TO AFFILIATED SOCIETIES
Dear Colleagues
From comments made at the
KAS AGM ic became apparent
char members of the affiliated
societies felt somewhat left out
of the activities of the society.
Although secretaries receive a
copy of Arch Cant and the
newsletters ic is almost
impossible for them to circulate
the information to all the
members. In addition there is
not an effective communication
system between the 50 or so affiliated
societies. This was discussed at the
Council meeting following the AGM
and I was asked to contact the
societies to see how we could improve
the situation.
One of the ideas that came forward
was to arrange a meeting to which
members of the affiliated societies
would be invited. Apart from being
a chance to meet socially with
members of other groups it would
present an opportunity to find out
22 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
who is doing what and where they
are doing it. Such a meeting would
enable the members of groups to say
what support they would like from
the KAS and what support they
could give each other.
The Society is looking to a major
rebuild of ics web site and it would
be possible to have a section devoted
to the affiliated societies. What are
your views on this?
If you feel such a meeting would
be useful please get in couch with
me. I would also like any ideas as co
the format. Should it be a day or
half day? Ideas for a suitable venue
would be appreciated.
I look forward to hearing from
you. My e-mail address is Mike.
clinch@kentarchaeology.org. uk
Mike Clinch,
Vice President
ELECTION MAY 2016
Parr of my duties as
membership secretary
includes arranging and
overseeing any election for
officers and council members and, as
you are fully aware, this happened this
year. Once I was aware char there was
need for an election, especially for a
new President after the sad and
untimely death of Ian Coulson I
notified my loyal band of elected
scrutineers and we met in the KAS
Library for the packing of the ballot
papers so they could be sent out in the
time scale as required by the KAS
NEWS UPDATE FROM THE KAS
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
21st May 2016
By your new President, Dr Gerald Cramp
Your Council appreciates that
many members may be
unaware of the changes that
occurred at this year's AGM. During
the last year 2015/ l 6, the society lose
two stalwarts due co their untimely
deaths, Ian Coulson our president
and Peter Stutchbury formerly
our secretary.
I was elected co be your next
president and look forward to
continuing the programme of
modernisation started by Ian.
The other contested election was
initially for four places on council and
there were five candidates. My
election as president resulted in one
additional vacancy on Council and
hence all five candidates were elected
at the AGM. Unfortunately, some
members present at the AGM did not
appreciate that all five candidates were
Constitution. The decision was taken to
provide a stamp on the return envelope to
encourage members to vote. This proved
to be the case and I had a higher number
of returned ballot papers than on
previous occasions. Once the final date
had been reached I once more assembled
my band to open the envelopes and count
rhe votes cast for each candidate. These
were double checked and all candidates
were encouraged to attend so that they
could be sure that the count had been
done properly according to the rules set
our in the Constitution. I had no
complaints!
duly elected without the need for
stating the result and this was clarified
at the meeting
At the AGM, the society elected
two additional patrons, Professor
David Kiliingray who has been chair
of the publications committee and Sir
Robert Worcester who is a member of
the Canterbury Archaeological Trust.
Bob Cockcroft stood down after a
most difficult year as Honorary
General Secretary and Clive Drew was
elected to replace him. Bob now
assists Clive and I would like to rake
this opportunity to thank him for all
his hard work.
I would also like co thank Mike
Clinch who took over the role of
President during the last year.
Ruiha Smalley, ably assisted by
Anne Atkinson brings considerable
knowledge on cataloguing to the post
A few more ballot papers were handed in
at the AGM and these were added to the
final count again under the eagle eyes of
the scrutineers.
This was then declared with the figures
of 347 for Dr Gerald Cramp and 134 for
Dr Brian Philp. Dr Cramp was therefore
elected as the new President. As he had
been an ordinary member of Council this
meant that all 6 candidates for Council
were elected to fill the 6 places available
and there was no need to give out the
voting figures although these had also
been prepared as no-one was quite aware
of the final Presidential count until it had
of Librarian after Pernille Richards
resigned ro concentrate on her other
work in Maidstone.
After many years as editor of the
KAS newsletter, Lyn Palmer stood
down and Richard Taylor will be
producing his first newsletter in the
autumn. Boch Lyn and Richard have a
background in education. I must
thank both Lyn and Pernille for their
hard work on behalf of the society.
ABOVE KAS President Or Gerald Cramp
been declared.
I am grateful for the friendly and
efficient support of the scrutineers for this
non-trivial event. Although there is a
certain amount of work involved with my
organisation of the procedure I find it an
interesting pan of my duties. As this sec
of scrutineers has been in place for several
years they have now stood down and a
new set elected at the AGM.
Shiela Broomfield
membership@kencarchaeology.org.uk
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk I 23
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24 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
TRACING YOUR KENT ANCESTORS
BY DAVID WRIGHT
Published by Pen &
Sword Books Ltd.
ISBN 978 147 383 3456 • RRP. £14.99
This new book joins Pen & Sword's
substantial list of county volumes
devoted to genealogical research and
resources and is based on the author's
nearly 40 years of working in Kent.
After an historical and geographical
introduction, there is a concise
summary of how to get started,
based on his own forays as a young
genealogist. Principal sources of civil
registration, the census returns, parish
registers and probate records are
considered before substantial chapters
follow on 1) local records such as
borough, cathedral and church courts;
the parish chest; poor law; quartersessions;
maps; trades and industry;
schools and hospitals; and 2)
national records including crime
and punishment; heraldry; land and its
possession; the mediaeval manor;
the professions; the services; and tax
records. The volume ends with a
comprehensive gazetteer of
organisations, a dozen or more
bibliographies, and a parish map and
index of all ancient parishes. There are
several dozen photographs illustrating
a wide variety of Kent's historical
sources, and up-to-date information
on Kent's many genealogical indexes.
The author has written this book to
encourage both those who have yet to
investigate the fascinating fields of
genealogy and local history as well as
researchers who have proceeded so far
but may be unaware of (or daunted by)
the many later mediaeval sources which
can enormously increase our knowledge
of families and their lands and
properties set in individual historical
and social contexts.
Email: davideastkent@gmail.com or
Web: www.drdavidwright.co.uk
OF THE NORTH KENT MARSHES
EDITED BY IAN JACKSON AND
KEITH ROBINSON
Privately published by the authors by
the L-13 Light Industrial Workshop
with the assistance of Billy Childish in
a limited edition of 500 copies of
which 50 copies are hardbound.
ISBN 978-1-908067-14-2
The North Kent Marshes can be a cold,
damp, lonely place or a bright, warm
refuge from the hurly-burly. Their
savage beauty inspired many writers
and artists including Dickens and
Turner. In times past few would venture
into their disease ridden swamps.
Haunted by smugglers, the saltings and
seaways played host to preventative
men and coast guards. When war was
threatened, the army and navy mounted
guard on their rivers, creeks and
foreshores. The marsh folk have grown
the crops and raised the cattle and
sheep to feed the London market.
The marshland nature reserves are
internationally important for the future
well-being and survival of breeding and
migratory birds. In these days of
industrial and environmental peril this
wilderness on London's doorstep is
threatened as never before.
The history of the marshes and their
people has rarely been told. Surviving
archaeological notebooks offer insights
into his working practice.
THE WIFE OF COBHAM
BY SUSAN CURRAN.
More than 130 illustrations,
most in full colour.
Paperback, published by Lasse Press.
RRP: £19.99.
ISBN 978-00033069-1-4
From the Peasants" Revolt, through
the Lollard Disendowment Bill to
Oldcastle's doomed attempt to remake
his country; from Richard ll's rise and
deposition, through Henry IV's dour
reign and his son Henry V's glorious
one; through the rise and dramatic
downfall of other relations, and through
wars, rebellions and plague, the life of
this real-life contemporary of Chaucer's
Wife of Bath was a dramatic and eventful
ore. Susan Curran draws on a wide
variety of sources to trace its course,
and to illustrate it and give a sense of
its texture. In exploring what its patterns
suggest, she brings out from the
shadows and extraordinary true story.
THE AMIABLE MRS PEACH
BY CELIA MILLER.
38 Illustrations, Including some in
colour. Paperback, published by
Lasse Press 2016,
RRP: £19.99.
ISBN: 978-0-9933069-0-7
Betsey Peach's surviving diaries and
correspondence provide the core of
Celia Miller's spirited account of a life
lived to the full, but the author also
sets the events in a broader social and
political context. From Woodstock to
Norfolk and Kent (and back to Norfolk),
Betsy travelled, chatted, and always
wrote. From those letters and diaries an
enthralling picture emerges of a sometimes
exasperating but always likable
woman, and of the relatives and friends
who made up the patchwork of her life.
DRINKING IN DEAL: BEER, PUBS AND
TEMPERANCE IN AN EAST KENT TOWN
1830-1914
BY ANDREW SARGENT
Published by Bettany Press 2016.
RRP £25 hardback & £20 paperback.
Over 80 illustrations.
ISBN 978-1-908304-20-9
Drinking in Deal draws on reports in
Victorian and Edwardian newspapers
and many other sources to discuss the
role of pubs and beer-houses in the life
of this fascinating seaside town. It tells
the history of the men and women who
DRINKING IN DEAL
OLER. runs AND 'fl:MPBRA 'CE
IN AN IlAST KONT TO\\'N
l83(H9I
ran them, the boatmen and marines
who used them, and the local disputes
generated by the "drink question".
Developments in Deal, a small town
on the east Kent coast, are set in their
wider county and national contexts. In
its heyday, Deal had over 90 pubs and
beer-houses. Drinking in Deal shows
why they were so many.
Available from Roper's Booksellers,
High Street, Deal or from
www.dealbookseast.co.uk
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk I 25
NOVEMBER 2016
VILLAS IN THE ROMAN LANDSCAPE
Saturday 26th November 2016
A Day Conference organised by the Kent Archaeological Society
Rutherford College Lecture Theatre 1
and 2, University of Kent at Canterbury
CT2 7NX
Tickets: £25 (£20 KAS members)
Booking form: https://goo.glj1BKTcf
Contact Chris Blair-Myers
Email: chris.blair-myers@kentarchaeology.
org.uk.
Becoming Roman a
perspective from rural Kent
by Dr. Elizabeth Blanning
Te _Roman period is often seen as quite
distinct from the preceding Iron Age and
does indeed bring with it a material
culture that is often easy to recognise.
Despite much recent scholarship
questioning traditional views of
"Romanization", the Romans/natives
dichotomy lingers on and it is still easy to
get the impression that in AD 43, "the
Romans" arrived, displaced the local
population and in AD 410 equally as
suddenly left, leaving the natives to
resume their uncivilised ways. This view is
particularly problematic in Kent, where
similar forms of settlement and material
culture straddle the apparent dividing line
of AD 43, which is thus all but invisible
archaeologic ally.
This paper will look at changes in the
settlement record in terms of spatial
distribution and chronology. What was the
historical context of change occurring
before the conquest? What specific
changes do we see in settlement
morphology, material culture and
agricultural practices and how might
these have affected the rural population?
11.20 - 11.50 Session 2
34 kilometres of Romans
by Kevin Fromlngs
The River Oarent rises at Westerham and
travels some 34km to join the River
Thames at Dartford. The Darent is an
important feature in Roman Kent, we
already know about Roman villas at
Otford Shoreham, Lullingstone,
Farningham, Horton Kirby, South Darenth
and Dartford. This is a very incomplete
picture of the Roman occupation of the
Darent Valley. This lecture will describe
what we already know but then look at what
is missing in our knowledge. We will look at
the timeline in the development of these
villas and pose some questions about that
timeline in view of some new thinking.
11.55 - 12.25 Session 3
Ragstone to Riches
by Simon Elliott
From the mid 1st to mid 3rd century AD
much of the building material used to
construct the built environment in the South
East of England, including Roman London,
was sourced from the ragstone quarries in
the upper Medway Valley above the tidal
reach of the River Medway. This involved an
enormous industrial enterprise featuring five
vast quarries (one 2.6km long}, a fully
integrated transport infrastructure utilising
the River Medway and Thames Estuary, and
associated villa settlements where the elites
who managed the quarrying industry lived.
Here Kentish historian Simon Elliott explains
this industrial operation in detail, discussing
how it shaped the entire regional
environment and the mystery of its demise.
12.30 - 13.00 Session 4
Controlled or spontaneous? The pattern of
Roman Settlement in Central North Kent by
Dr. Patricia Reid
Various theories will be offered for discussion
about the reasons for the remarkably regular
spacing of the string of modest villas lying to
the north and south of Watling Street
between the Blean and Durobrivae, and also
the settlements next to Watling Street. From
this discussion, it is hoped that suggestions
as to further research will emerge, not just to
explain the spatial patterns but also to look
at the practicalities of assessing the
chronological relationship with the local
pre- and post-Roman landscapes, about
which there are conflicting ideas.
13.00 - 14.00 Lunch
14.00 - 14.45 Session 5
'Pottery, beer and salt: the north Kent
coast as a corridor of trade and Industry'
by Edward Biddulph
The north Kent coast is well known as an
area of Roman pottery and salt production,
and now recent fieldwork at the site of
Ebbsfleet International railway station has
added malting and brewing to this zone of
industrial activity. The scale of production,
distribution of products (benefiting from the
trade routes of Watling Street and the
Thames Estuary}, and hints of official
involvement in the industries, suggest that
26 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Soci ety I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
the region was of considerable econ?mic
significance. Edward Biddulph eammes
the evidence for this Roman-period
'northern powerhouse'.
14.50 - 15.25 Session 6
Local landscapes: two case studies from
the Canterbury Hinterland Project
by Dr. Lacey Wallace
The relative paucity of high-status
Roman-period structural complexes
around Canterbury has informed models
suggesting a distinct difference between
the indigenous social structure in this area
and that in the Medway and Darent valleys.
Such assumptions have, however, recently
been problematised through the discovery
of the buildings at Bourne Park,
Bishopsbourne. The other nearest so-called
'villa' to Canterbury lies at Wingham,
making a comparison of the function
and significance of these two areas of
importance to our understanding of social
change in Romano-British Kent.
Through recent work at Bourne Park and
at lckham/Wingham, we have found that
these high-status structural complexes are
best understood not as 'sites' but rather as
elements of their complex surroundings on
a wider scale-what might be though of as
'local landscapes'. Wide-area geophysics
and aerial photograph analysis are at the
core of the project, allowing for huge
swathes of the landscape to be studied.
We have drawn together details of spatial
context through a layering of methods that
feed into interpretations with broader
implications than consideration of the
structures alone would otherwise have.
While working on such a large scale has
significant drawbacks-e.g. reduced
resolution-it allows greater consideration
of relationships and allows us to address
more broad questions of social
significance.
15.30 - 16.00 Break for tea
16.00 - 16.40 Session 7
Villas of North-East Kent
by Keith Parfitt
In east Kent there appear to be no villas on
the high chalk downs. Instead, they mostly
occur at the foot of the downs, either close
to the shores of the former Wantsum
Channel or in the vale below the scarp
slope. The talk will consider several
Wantsum villa sites in north-east Kent
including Minster, excavated by the KAS
during the 1990s. For comparison we will
also briefly look at Folkestone viii situated
on the coast below the scarp of the Downs.
The coin graphs for the Minster and
Folkestone are worth comparing as being
similar but unusual.
16.45 - 17 .00
Thoughts on the emerging themes
by Dr Steven Willis
17 .00 Meeting finishes
RESUME
Elizabeth Blanning is an Honorary
Research Fellow at the University of Kent.
Having initially studied music, Elizabeth
became a nurse and Health Visitor. After a
break which included living in Tokyo and
bringing up four children, the University of
Kent's part-time programme enabled her to
achieve a long-held ambition to study
Archaeology; she graduated with a BA in
2006, MA in 2009 and PhD in 2015 (for
which she was awarded the KAS Hasted
Prize). She is particularly interested in
aspects of daily life in the Roman provinces
and in issues of culture and identity. She is
a keen fieldworker and has excavated in
Ostia and Lincolnshire with the University
of Kent, at East Farleigh with the Maidstone
Area Archaeological Group and at The
Meads, Sittingbourne with Canterbury
Archaeological Trust.
Kevin Fromings cut his archaeological
teeth at Fishbourne Roman palace 1997-
99. After graduating from his BA in
Archaeological Studies at University of Kent
in 2002 he directed the Kingshaugh
Environs Project for 10 years, a rural
Romano British site in Nottinghamshire.
During this time he completed his MA in
Field Archaeology at University of Sussex.
Since 2012 he has been Chairman of West
Kent Archaeological Society, and it was
work by WKAS on the villas at Progress and
Church Field, in Otford, that led to him
forming Discover Roman Otford Project in
early 2016.
Simon Elliott is just completing a PhD in
Archaeology at the University of Kent, has
an MA in Archaeology from UCL and an MA
in War Studies from KCL, and his first
factual history book (Sea Eagles of Empire,
the Classis Britannica and the Battles for
Britain) was published through the History
Press in August 2015.
Dr Pat Reid is the Director of the
Faversham Society Archaeological Research
Group (FSARG), which she founded in
2004. Pat completed her degree in
Anthropology at the LSE in the 1960s and
spent many years teaching, acquiring an
MEd in Curriculum studies. For the last 20
years, she has been involved full time in
archaeology, especially in London, Norfolk
and Kent, completing a Research Masters
and PhD at the Institute of Archaeology,
UCL. Pat has published papers in
magazines and has written many reports on
Faversham investigations, which can be
seen on the website www.communityarchaeology.
org.uk. At present, she is
writing Volume 1 of the Faversham book
(earliest times up to AD1550) , due for
publication in 2017.
Edward Biddulph graduated with a BA
(Hons) in Archaeology from UCL Institute of
Archaeology in 1995, and a MA in
Archaeology in 1996. His professional
archaeological career began as a field
archaeologist in Bedfordshire and
Lincolnshire, before becoming a Roman
pottery researcher in Essex. Edward joined
Oxford Archaeology in 2001, and is a
senior project manager responsible for
managing post-excavation projects. His
major projects include Northfleet Roman
villa on the line of HS1 and Stanford Wharf
Nature Reserve, an Iron Age and Roman
salt production site in south Essex. Edward
continues to work as a Roman pottery
specialist mainly on assemblages from
southern Britain, including Kent. He is a
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries (FSA),
a Member of the Chartered Institute for
Archaeologists (MClfA), and a member of
the Kent Archaeological Society.
Lacey Wallace graduated with a BA in
Archaeology from Boston University 2004,
a MPhil 2007 and a Doctor of Philosophy
2011 from the Faculty of Classics,
University of Cambridge. She has held a
number of research and teaching posts in
Roman Archaeology at the University of
Cambridge, University of Reading, and the
Institute of Continuing Education at
Cambridge. She is currently a lecturer in
Roman History and Material Culture at the
University of Lincoln. She has a particular
interest in the origins of urbanism and the
relationship between towns and their
hinterlands. She also has an interest in the
function of large rural complexes in Roman
Britain. She is currently the primary
investigator and director of the Canterbury
Hinterland Project. Her book "The Origin of
Roman London" was published by
Cambridge University Press 2014.
Keith Parfitt graduated with a BA in British
Archaeology at University College, Cardiff,
1978. Joined the Kent Archaeological
Rescue Unit, working on a variety of
excavations across Kent and S.E. London
and spent several years writing-up Keston
Roman villa. Moved to Canterbury
Archaeological Trust in 1990 and worked
on the Dover A20 project which culminated
in discovery of the Bronze Age Boat in
1992; on Buckland Anglo-Saxon cemetery
in 1994 and Townwall Street, Dover in
1996. Director for K.A.S. excavations at
Minster, 2002-2004. In collaboration with
the British Museum excavated and
published the complex Bronze Age barrow
site at Ringlemere, 2002-2006. Supervised
excavations at East Wear Bay Roman villa,
Folkestone, 2010-2011. Presently directing
the major excavations in Dover town centre.
Running parallel with full-time career,
Director of Excavations for amateur Dover
Archaeological Group since 1978. Elected
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of
London in 2000 and currently a Member of
the Chartered Institute for archaeologists.
Steve Willis studied at Essex and Durham
Universities before coming to Kent
University in 2004. At Durham he took a
taught MA in Roman Archaeology and then
studied for his PhD. He has a variety of
teaching and research interests which cover
landscape and environments, and the
archaeology and culture of coasts in
northern Europe. His main areas of
expertise include the archaeology of
settlement, society and material culture in
the Iron Age and Roman era in western
Europe, and the ceramics of these
societies, including samian ware and
briquetage. Steve is a Member of the
Chartered Institute for Archaeologists and
is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries. He
has been an active field archaeologist for
over 25 years, including periods working for
Colchester Archaeological Trust and the
Museum of London. Steve is currently
investigating a Roman villa site on the
Lincolnshire Wolds, through survey and
excavation, as part of his wider research
and training project in that area He was
president of the Study Group for Roman
Pottery for a term of three years and is
currently editor of the Study Group's
journal. He has been a member of the
Council of the Kent Archaeological Society
since 2006, and since 2013 he has taken
on a role as trustee of The Trust for
Thanet Archaeology.
MARCH 2017
CENTRE FOR KENT HISTORY & HERITAGE
AND CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL LIBRARY
& ARCHIVES TUDORS AND STUARTS
HISTORY WEEKEND
FRIDAY 31 MARCH - 2 APRIL 2017
Old Sessions House, Canterbury Christ
Church University
Speakers include Anna Keay, Alison Weir,
Kenneth Fincham and Paul Bennett
For details see:
http:/ /www.canterbury.ac.uk/tudorsstuarts
or email artsandculture@canterbury.
ac.uk or phone 01227 782994 [MondayThursday
office hours]
In aid of the Ian Coulson Memorial
Postgraduate Prize
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www. kentarchae ology.org.uk I 27
SWAG decided to seek our rhe
land owner of rhe purported
impact sire to search for clues and
if any visible evidence remaining
to back up rhe story. SWAG were
granted permission to investigate
an overgrown area containing six
concrete bases where the army
huts had once stood been. On
closer investigation, there were in
fact five and a half bases; one base
appeared to have been either been
partially demolished or subjected
to a traumatic event. In view of
this discovery, Trevor again met
with rhe landowner and arranged
for an archaeological investigation
of the sire ro rake place and carried
our by SWAG, the objective of
which was ro determine the exrenr
of the truth of the stories and add
ABOVE Badly
damaged sixth base
displaying
considerable
damage
this fascinating story to rbe Shorne
Woods archaeological record.
The archaeological investigation
began in the Autumn of 2010 and
starred with the clearance of the
five intact ground level concrete
bases, recording and photographing
them as we went. The next stage
moved onto the sixth, interesting
and badly damaged base.
The remnants of a crater were
clear from the topography close ro
the sixth concrete base; (North
West corner) it had been backfilled
at some stage bur a depression in
the ground surface was visible. As
with the other five buildings (which
remained largely intact to ground
level), the undergrowth was cleared
and revealed that the remaining
brick foundation walls had been
30 I Winter 2016 I Kent Ar chaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
blown over and foundation blocks
underpinning these walls were out
of place by up to a metre. Faced
with this evidence, the fact that
half the concrete base was missing
and the visible remnants of a
crater, ic was hypothesised that the
sixth concrete base was a candidate
for the VI impact.
Further excavations targeted
the area around the sixth concrete
base. The natural ground make
up was sand and rounded pebbles.
Excavations discovered evidence
for a large crater filled with pebble
fragments, nearly a metre in
depth, and five to seven metres
across, confirming where the
impact occurred. We found a layer
of rusty metal buried at che base of
the crater that was lacer identified
as a section of a probable wing
spar from a VJ.
The sire had been extensively
cleared at some point in rhe past
and there was very little evidence ro
suggest a military encampment had
been present over 70 years ago.
A few contemporary personal
artefacts were found on the site
including a tin of Dubbin (still
useable) and a brass button stick,
twisted and one end broken off.
Once excavations ceased, Trevor
visited the National Records Office
and found a 'War Diary' relating to
rhe incident. The VJ strike
occurred at 3.50am on 3rd August
1944. The VI caused a direct hit on
a Nissen hut (sixth concrete base),
resulting in the death of six military
personnel and minor damage to
ABOVE RIGHT Metal
buried at the base
of the crater, later
identified as part of
a wing spar from a
V1
surrounding residential property in
Shorne. Further investigations
discovered that the six soldiers
killed were from the Pioneer Corps.
They were stationed to support
mobile Anti-Aircraft guns kept at
the top of Woodlands Lane,
Shorne.
A Vl weighed about 2000
pounds and carried the same
amount of explosive and was a
'blast' weapon. The 'War Diary'
reported minor damage to property
when in fact verbal accounts
suggested the house some 50 yards
away was very badly damaged. The
property in question was patched
up for people to live in and pulled
down after the war was over.
Windows were blown out of houses
some 200 yards away and shrapnel
embedded in trees.
Trevor attempted to contact
relatives of the soldiers and was
successful in tracking down the
great niece of one of rhe soldiers, a
Private Boniface. She knew her
great uncle had been killed in the
war bur had no details except from
the telegram that was sent to his
wife, rhe transcript of which is
below:
Mrs Boniface,
5 Bullbourne Tring Herts
Deeply regret to Inform you 1303321
Pte Boniface G.G. died from enemy air
action on 2nd August ' 44 and is now
removed to the R N Hospital Chatham
If you desire to carry out the burial at
own expense the body will be sent
home at government expense and cost
of coffin will be met from government
funds in addition you will be allowed
£5 towards funeral expenses
otherwise all funeral expenses will be
made by their service Full details will
be notified to you later If in order to
attend the service funeral a free
warrant providing third class return
travel to Chatham for not more than
two persons one of whom must be a
relative may be obtained from a police
station on production of this telegram
Please advise which arrangement
to make.
C O 504 Coy of PI Corps
JEROME Square, Aldershot
This seems a fitting point to end
the story. SWAG is pleased with
its efforrs in bringing the account
of the six soldiers, who tragically
lost their lives, ro rhe public's
attention.
I
I
Winter 2016 \ Kent Archaeological Society \ www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 31
F or much of the weekend
the air of excitement,
expectation and
enthusiasm was palpable
in first Old Sessions House,
Canterbury Christ Church
University, on the Friday and
Saturday, and then at Canterbury
Cathedral Lodge on the Sunday.
Nor were events confined to the
lecture theatres because the guided
tours of St Mildred's church
- 'How to read a Medieval Church'
and 'Investigating a Medieval Stone
Building' at the Poor Priests'
Hospital led by Paul Bennett
(Canterbury Archaeological Trust);
and the Westgate Towers and St
John's Hospital by Richard Eales
and Sheila Sweetinburgh,
respectively, were all fully booked
long before the weekend.
Moreover, for those who were
especially interested in
archaeology, the weekend
coincided with Canterbury
Archae ological Trust's 40th
anniversary exhibition at the
Beaney in Canterbury High Street,
and it appears some of those
attending the Medieval Weekend
took advantage of this opportunity.
For some attendees had come from
as far away as Cornwall, Wales,
Manchester and Newcastle, hence
to have an opportunity to see
first-hand the treasures excavated
over this 40-year period was too
good an opportunity to miss.
To return to the lectures, the
joint organisers from the Centre for
Research in Kent History and
Archaeology (soon to be renamed
the Centre for Kent History and
Heritage) and Canterbury
Cathedral Library an d Archives
were keen to provide talks by
32 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology. org.uk
leading academics and more
'popular' historians under five
themes: Book and Manuscripts;
The Medieval Church; War and
Politics; Kings and Queens, and
Social History. These themes were
chosen because they offered a
broad flavour of the Middle Ages
and had attracted excellent
speakers as well as an appreciative
audience. For example, Professor
Carole Rawcliffe from Norwich
had an attentive audience who
were fascinated by her assessment
of market regulations concerning
'Poky Pigges and S cynkyng
Makereles', and other food stuffs
that were sold in medieval markets
across England. Another lecture
within the Social History strand
that drew ,in appreciative audience
was lmogen Corrigan's exploration
of the impact and implications of
che Black Death on lace medieval
ociery, and she drew anention rn
the range of evidence available
which provides insights inrn how
people felt and how they sought rn
cope with this apocalyptic disaster.
Among the highlights of the
Kings and Queens strand were calks
by Dan Jones, Helen Casrnr and
David Starkey, who drew large
audiences as they discussed,
respectively, Plantagenec kings,
powerful queens and Henry Yll. As
David Starkey explained, Henry's
claim rn the throne by inheritance
was extremely shaky, and even
though he was able rn manipulate
maners in his favour, he was beset
by plots during the first years of his
reign. Yee it was his attention rn
derail with respect co financial
ir.mes and his deployment of other
royal governmental agencies that
marks him out as a particular type
of king. Consequently, with
consummate skill Dr Starkey
explained why he believes the first
of rhe Tudors is perhaps England's
most enigmatic monarch.
For chose interested in Books
and Manuscripts, there were
opportunities on the Saturday
morning lO visit a special
exhibition of early printed books
that Karen Brayshaw, the cathedral
librarian, had organised in
Canterbury Cathedral Library. Also
within this strand were lectures by
two of che foremost experts on
early medieval manuscripts:
Professors Michelle Brown and
BELOW Well Richard Gameson. Boch examined
attended Medieval Anglo-Saxon manuscripts
Canterbury associated wich two of the most
weekend important religious houses in
England, St Augustine's Abb ey
and the communiry at Canterbury
Cathedral. In Richard's talk, which
opened the Weekend, he discussed
one of the most ancient and
precious books still surviving: the
lace 6th-cenrury Gospels of Sc
Augustine of Canterbury.
As well as Paul Bennm's guided
church tour, the strand on The
Church included lecrures by
Diana Webb and Professor
Nicholas Vincent who considered
different aspects of pilgrimage and
the cult of relics, using evidence
from miracle narratives that are
especially rich for Sc Thomas of
Canterbury, bur also survive for
other saints, including some
political saints from the lacer
Middle Ages. Diana has written
extensively on these rnpics and
members may also know her from
her extremely helpful sessions on
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological S oci ety I www.ken tarchaeolog y.org.uk I 33
Canterbury weekend cont
reading historic doc uments in the
KAS library.
The fifth strand: War and
Politics also drew on a personage
who is buried at Canterbury
Cathedral. Michael Jones is
currently completing a biography
on the Black Prince and this most
famous heir apparent who never
became king was another complex
individual. For as well as being
remembered for his chivalry and
military brilliance, he is also seen
as the man responsible for the
massacre of 3,000 inhabitants at
Limoges after he had taken the
city. Another speaker who
examined late medieval warfare
was Gordon Corrigan. He drew
on his own military experience to
show his audience why the
revolutionary ways English forces
were organised and deployed
during the Hundred Years' War
had far-reaching consequences that
are still relevant today.
Such a rich diet of medieval fare
was aided by the generous
sponsorship provided by a number
of organisations from Kent,
including Kent Archaeological
Sociery, Canterbury Archaeological
Trust, The William and Edith
Oldham Charitable Trust and
Canterbury Christ Church
Universiry. The organisers were
very graceful for this financial aid
and the far higher than expected
ticket sales meant chat the surplus
could be used to give considerable
donations to che four iconic
medieval buildings visited in the
ciry, and to provide funding for
postgraduate prizes for students
investigating Kent history topics.
The first of these will be awarded
this autumn and the Ian Coulson
Memorial Postgraduate Prize is
now established at Canterbury
Christ Church Universiry.
ONCE YOU SAWTHEM BUT NOW YOU DON'T
NEW TAVERN FORT'S VANISHING 19TH
CENTURY EARTHEN RAMPARTS by Victor Smith
Apart of Gravesham
orough Council's
major 'Great
xpectations' scheme
to improve Gravesend's Riverside
Leisure Area, during 2010 an
obscuring mass of bushes and
vegetation was removed from the
front of the 19th century earthen
ramparts of New Tavern Fore.
This not only dramatically
increased their visibility but in
doing so promoted recognition
of the site as a fort. There was an
understanding and an expectation
that the historical views chat had
been re-established would be
retained. Unfortunately, they
have become obscured through
regrowth. As the Riverside Leisure
Area is an enduringly popular
visitor destination, heritage
exposure has a strengthened
public value and this situation
of going backwards is especially
disappointing. Gravesham
Borough Council, the owner
of the fore, has been asked co
consider whether it can find
a way co retrieve the important
visibility chat has been lost.
ABOVE 19th century earthen ramparts obscured
ABOVE 19th century earthen ramparts on view
New Tavern Fort was built in 1780 to cross its fire
with Tilbury on the north bank of the Thames, so
defending the river approaches to London. It was
modernised on several occasions and was active
until shortly before the Great War.
The importance of the fort and the rarity of some
of its historical features led to the award of
statutory protection. The later phases of the fort
were described and discussed in Victor Smith,
'New for Old: the development of New Tavern Fort
in the Industri al Age', Arch. Cant. CXXXIII (2013),
131-166.
34 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
THE HIGH
HALSTfJ
DUCK
B Keith Ro •
On 17th September a parry of
nine, consisting of members of the
KAS Marsh Group and the
Faversharn Society Archaeology
Research Group, visited the site
of the recently listed duck decoy
at High Halstow.
This is the only example of a
'pipe-decoy' - which used a small
dog to entice wild ducks to their
death in curved netted channels -
extent in Kent. Probably built
cl680 and in operation until
cl 737 when there is evidence char
the surrounding woodland was
felled. This is one of the four
documented ponds in the county.
Despite the sweltering heat
earlier in the week the day dawned
grey and overcast. The well-defined
nature of the pond and pipes
suggest that the field in which it
lays has always been pasture rather
than having been cultivated other
than for hay.
In 1697 the decoy was part
of a I 06 acre farm, known as
Nordowne, rented by Abraham
Snusher from Chatham brewer
ABOVE A pipe
decoy in operation
using a small dog
to entice wild
ducks
BELOW High
Ha/stow duck
decoy showing
woodland cover
and former
buildings
Thomas Best. Snusher's farm house closure.
stood close by with the usual range The creation of a decoy pond
of barns, stables and sheep house. involved considerable investment
A small cottage - Little Decoy in money and labour but was
Cottage - was later built closer to always at the mercy of the weather
the pond. All these buildings are and rhe changing habits of the
now gone. fowl. It has been calculated that
The four pipes leading from rhe catches of 2,500 to 5,000 birds in
reed-choked, one acre pond are a season were required for a pond
clearly discernible, the fourth pipe to be economically viable.
being part of the water feed The High Halstow decoy is on
channel connected to rhe marsh's land owned by the RSPB
drainage system. Three alternative Northward Hill Nature Reserve
pipe positions can be clearly seen, whose permission is required to
probable evidence of works visit. English Heritage's Research
undertaken to improve the Report series No 17-2014 is an
efficiency of the pond before invaluable guide to the site.
5
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society \ www.kentarchaeology.org.uk 35
bottomed. Finds incl uded BELOW V-shaped
numerous sherd of flint- ditch section 2016
tempered pottery, possibly of
Bronze Age or early to mid-lron
Age date, plus quantities of
worke d Aint. The latter
assemblage included a blade
thar on initial assessment may
be of Upper Palaeolithic dare;
this is yet to be confirmed.
The next major feature in the
sequence was a large ditch, with
a V-shaped profile, which ran
across rhe western end of rhe
trench from north to south,
continuing into the area planned
for excavation next season.
The fills of this ditch contained
residual quantities of early co
middle Iron Age pottery, along
with sherds dating to the second
to first centuries BC. It is
probable that it was dug no later
than the second century BC,
and had been filled by rhe end
of the first century BC at the
latest. The ditch is probably not
large enough to be regarded as
defensive, although it was
certainly a significant feature;
until more of ics length is traced
its role within the layout of che
!are Iron Age settlement remains
unclear
A round house, defined by a
sequence of semi-circular drip
gullies, lay a short distance east
of the dicch. As noted in the
previous newsletter article, it
had a rectangular chamber cur
into its Aoor, lined with
Greensand slabs. Partial remains
of a Greensand slab floor, set on
a chalk rubble base, were also
found. Excavation of che house
this season revealed the
articulated partial remains of
a baby (estimated co be aged
about nine months at rime of
death) in a small pit within the
interior. A dog skull, complete
apart from the lower jaw, had
been placed on rhe base of the
second phase drainage gully,
facing cowards rhe interior
of the house.
The round house gullies also
produced a large quantity of
pottery. This is still being
analysed, but Nick Wacrs (one
of our Trustees) has partially
reconstructed one vessel and
provisionally identified it as a
late Iron Age sand tempered
38 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
coarseware storage jar, dating ro
circa J 50-75/50 BC. 1r is likely
to be a local product, perhaps
produced at rhe sire itself, with
rhe sand sourced from the
beach. Although the late Iron
Age inhabitants at East Wear
Bay had access to a wide range
of imported materials, it seems
very clear that this was also a
place of production, whether
that be of querns and other
stone products, salt or, in all
probability, pottery and
coinage; indeed, the high
incidence of Flat Linear II
potin coinage at the site
(dating to circa 50-35 BC),
may indicate East Wear Bay as
a possible production site for
this coinage.
Overall, the pottery associated
with the round house, along
with a coin of the Durotriges
(from Dorset), minted between
40-20 BC and found in the fill
of the primary drainage gully,
seems to indicate that it was in
use during the second half of
the first century BC. Further
analysis of the finds will
hopefully allow us to refine the
dating of the construction and
abandonment of this structure.
As we move into the first
century AD, both the large ditch
and the round house fell out of
use. A succession of field
boundary ditches were then cut
across the site. Interleaved
between these, a series of scone
surfaces, dumps of partially
made querns, and Greensand
debitage, spread across the
western part of the excavated
area, and extended beyond it co
the south (where they will be
further investigated next season).
These spreads seem co form a
roughly rectangular area, and it
is possible chat they represent
the footprint of a large building.
Certainly a number of poscholes
have been identified, but further
study of the records, and
excavation of che southern
extent of these deposits, will be
needed before this can be
confirmed. What is not in doubt
though, is that these deposits
represent clear evidence of che
production of rotary querns
(and mortars) at this spot in the
first century AD, probably in
the decades immediately before
and after the Roman conquest
in AD 43. Querns had been
ABOVE Drone
image of round
house 2016
produced at the site for many
decades before this, and the
Romans would later produce
millstones from the Folkescone
Greensand. The production area
excavated in 2015/16 was,
therefore, just one of many chat
would have existed across the
wider cliff top area over the
course of at lease two centuries.
Nonetheless, it is believed co
be the first such production area
subjected to systematic
excavation anywhere in
Britain to date (Chris Green
pers. comm.).
Interestingly, the quantity of
Iron Age material recovered
during the 2015-16 seasons of
the Field School far outweighs
the quantity of Roman material,
despite the fact that the site of
two successive Roman villas,
occupied from about AD 100 to
400, lies only a short distance co
the south. Future seasons of the
Field School will extend the
excavated area towards the villas,
whose northern extent was
excavated during the A Town
Unearthed project in 2010/ 11,
so we can expect co find greater
quantities of Roman material
culture in successive seasons.
CAT have now secured a
licence from Shepway District
Council which allows
excavation at the site until at
least 2020. The Trust and its
partners, including the KAS,
will continue co promote and
grow the project, and the
author will be lecturing about
East Wear Bay and its potential
as a field school at Texas State
University, Austin, in April
2017. le is also hoped that the
Field School will be welcoming
trainee archaeologists from the
Middle East and North Africa
from next year. A major British
university has also expressed
interest in collaborating on the
project. Looking further ahead,
thought is of course being given
co the eventual publication of
this diverse and significant site;
ideally this would cover all
previous work, including the
1924 excavation of the villa by
Winbolc." Bue before chat there
is still much digging to be
done, co ensure that more of
the very special archaeology of
this unique site is not lost to
the oblivion of erosion. If you'd
like co gee involved in helping
with this cask, please contact
the author.
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk I 39
By Alexander Wheaten
Church Wood, as an ancient
wood, has a history of over
eight hundred years, which
can be studied in
Canterbury Cathedral Archives. Some
even earlier history also came to light
recently following field walking by
adult students of the former School
of Continuing Education of the
University of Kent ac Canterbury.
They found a quantity of various
worked Rines e.g. cords and blades in
a field previously pare of what had
been known as Shore Tenement,
which had been pare of Church Wood
until the seventeenth century. le is
near a stream, the Fishbourne, which
comes out of the wood and flows
in the direction of the main road
(A290), which it crosses, and also
of the nearby parish church of St.
Cosmos and St. Damian in the
Blean. [I]
As so much was found it was
shown to archaeologists of the
university of Manchester and
Canterbury Archaeological Trust.
The conclusion reached by them was
that many of the flints found were
either Mesolithic or Neolithic. It
seems chat the scream, which flows for
over a mile from one end of the wood
to the other, attracted people, who
chose to be near it. More finds were
also recorded from, in or near the
stream not far further down the
stream by the Canterbury
Archaeological Trust. [2]
The road that crosses the
Fishbourne stream is an old road that
comes from the Westgate in
Canterbury and is of Roman origin.
It went to the north coast possibly to
W hitstable or more likely to
somewhere near Seasalter. As the road
approaches Blean village on the other
side of the road is Church Wood.
Where there is a village the land is
suitable for agriculture as had already
been discovered when farm buildings
were built there during the Roman
period. It also seems chat about this
time an attempt was made to create
more agricultural land over the road.
Ditches found there appear to form a
pattern whose character and situation
suggest a 'planned field system' of
Roman origin; the fact that the
possible field system is parallel to
the road is significant. [3]
This area along the side of the
road extends northward as far as
neighbouring woods, Crawford's
Rough and Mincing Wood. These
woods like Church Wood are ancient
woods which must date from after the
departure of the Romans. The land
there did not make good quality
farmland. [4]
Sometime after the departure of the
Romans in the fifth century Kent
became a Christian kingdom ready to
make endowments to the church
including monasteries. Such an
40 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
endowment was made in 724 by
JEthelbert, son of Wihtred King of
Kent, to one of his cousins Abbess
Mildred and her nuns of the convene
in Minster in Thanet.5 Some of the
land given was described as 'pascua
porcorum' in East Kent and some was
said to have been 'on blean'. It appears
therefore chat this name, in use today,
goes back before 724; but it is not
known for certain if the woodland
containing the pasture for swine was
first given the name of Blean after the
departure of the Romans by those
speaking a language used on the
continent as would appear from the
definition in the Oxford Book of
Place-Names. If the name's origin
may have been earlier it may be a
version of a similar word in old
Welsh 'blaen' .[6]
Although the Domesday Book
generally does not record large woods
in Kent, it states that there was one
near Canterbury that was the king's.
It does not make it clear that it was
part of the Blean woods although it is
not likely to have been anywhere else.
It does, however, given an estimate of
its size 'mille acrae' i.e. a large wood,
whose size, as is inevitable, is not
exactly the size given in Domesday -
a thousand acres. It also described the
wood as being unproductive
(infructuosa). This description is most
likely to mean that it was
unproductive because of its situation.
Even today the Blein woods are
renowned for poor quality oaks. [7]
When in 1189 Richard I gave
Canterbury Cathedral Priory an
endowment of a large wood described
in the king's charter as 'totum boscum
nostrum de Bien' it was co be a piece
of land valuable mostly for its healthy
underwood. [8] By this gift much
more of the Blean woods now ceased
co be royal woodland as a result of
gifts of endowment principally to
monasteries but also co the
archbishop. Ac first the name of the
wood did not appear on charters
giving wood in the Blean. If a name
did appear it was 'sorocce' or a version
of it such as 'srune'. [9] After some
time however, perhaps after two
hundred years, the name for Church
Wood became Shore Wood.
After the charter of 1189 the
cathedral priory carried out a great
deal of work on the construction of
large earthworks around their woods.
Some such work was done in 1236 on
a woodbank for the wood given by
King Richard I. This was, however, a
year when very much more was spent
'in fossacis de Pornden' i.e. on
woodbanks in Thornden where they
had another wood. [10] The lesser
amount spent than elsewhere could
have been because much had already
been done previously in the wood
given by King Richard I.
Noe long after much work had
been done on boundary woodbanks
there were changes co the cathedral
priory's newly acquired land. In one
case the cathedral priory and Leeds
priory were involved in a dispute and
had to appear before the king's justices
concerning woodland in the Blean,
some of it co the north of the highway
going cowards Canterbury i.e. Watling
Street; this was where Leeds priory
had a right of common of pasture,
which by agreement they surrendered
co the cathedral priory in exchange for
150 acres of other land. [l l] This
woodland is where at this time
archaeologists are conducting
investigations co show whether there
was occupation of the land in
prehistoric times possibly as another
hill fore. [12] On the boundary of
Church Wood, there are woodbanks
unusually of considerable size.
In the same year 1278 the cathedral
priory gave ninety acres of its wood in
the Blean to Sc. Sepulchre's Priory, a
convene in Canterbury. This was given
in exchange for their giving up an
opportunity to collect fuel there. In
this case the chirograph gives the
boundaries of the wood transferred:
to the west of it was Bosindene Wood
of Faversham Abbey, co the south the
king's highway (regale' viam or
Watling Street) elsewhere woodland of
the cathedral priory. The woodland
received by the nuns came to be
known first as Mincing Wood,
meaning woodland of nuns and lacer
as Manson wood. [13] Next to this
wood the main road continues in the
direction of Canterbury or to
Ospringe with a large woodbank.
This was made at a distance back from
where those travelling along the road
usually used co go. This would have
been done to make it more difficult
for robbers to surprise passing
travellers. This kind of precaution was
required by a statute of 1285. [1 4]
The space created was called a trench.
It is not certain if the woodbank
was made before or after the date
of the statute.
Another woodbank can be seen
about a mile away. le is along the
northern boundary of the wood and
although eroded is up to about four
feet in height. [15] An old road
followed this boundary on the other
side of which are several ancient
woods such as Great Oen Lees, until
recently owned by Eascbridge
Hospital in Canterbury since
medieval times.
Not long before chose caking part
in the peasant's revolt had killed
Archbishop Simon Sudbury it had
been seen chat there might be trouble
coming. The archbishop needed co
attend a provincial council in London
co adopt measures co be taken against
chose doing damage to property
of the people of the church (persone
ecclesiastice). In the year after the
killing of the archbishop in 1382 his
successor Thomas Courtenay applied
the decisions of that council to those
chopping trees in the coppiced wood
(silva cedua) in the Blean belonging to
the cathedral priory. The archbishop
therefore issued a mandate authorising
his commissary general to cake
measures against chose responsible.
[16] About this time would have been
a suitable time for other measures co
be taken against chose who might
cause damage co the wood and also
his own wood that adjoined it, North
Bishopsden Wood. In this wood there
was built a moated site, which could
have been used by those responsible
for dealing with trespassers as the
archbishop would have been aware.
[17]
After the peasants' revolt and after
measures to preserve order had had
some success it was possible for the
monks and probably most likely for
Thomas Chillenden, one of the
treasurers and later prior from 1391
co seek to obtain more from managing
woods. [18] That this was done can
be seen from the lace fourteenth
century account rolls of the treasurers
of the monastery. Until then little had
been recorded of what exactly the
woods produced. From the beginning
of the fifteenth century however,
several foresters' accounts have more
detail. Thus accounts for the wood
called 'Shurte' or 'Shore' for several
years ending at Michaelmas record the
cost of making various kinds of
faggots in thousands and of cartloads
of stubyll; the word stubyl may have
meant stumps with their roots but in
view of the large amount of it sold
over the years it may have come to
mean old wood also. Various other
items occur, for example in 1413/14
there were 'vynrodd' costing 12d. for
the monastery's vineyards; 1434/35
work on repairing a pound for
animals ( claustura) for 18d.; in
1437 /38 'lorgh' sold for 22d.; in
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeolog ical Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk I 41
I ......,.. w,a ' ,d.w
1441/2 'oscwode' for hearths; in
1461/ 62 bark for tanning leather ( tan)
sold for 15s. 2d. and in 1488/89 an
account of Thomas Morys, forester,
has the cost of making Advencwode
for the approaching winter. The
foresters were paid more than sixty
shillings for each year. [19] Very little
is said in these accounts, which were
written in Latin, about timber as they
relate almost all of them to coppiced
wood. Timber was not normally sold
to the public.
In the years before the dissolution
of the monasteries there were changes
in Short Wood as it was now known.
A salaried forester for a particular
wood or woods does not seem to have
been any longer needed to give
derailed accounts of the making of the
numbers of items previously show.
This was, however, before there was a
decrease in the demand for wood for
fuel. Meanwhile, however, the timber
continued to be the monastery's use or
of its associates.
After che time of the dissolution of
monasteries the newly created Dean
and Chapter of Canterbury did not
have the same needs of amounts of
underwood or timber. Many of the
monastery's buildings were not
required as before. They were also free
to sell quantities of both underwood
and timber. In the case of timber there
therefore was a need to consider what
was available after the Dean and
Chapter of Canterbury had been
recently despoiled of their estates. A
survey was therefore commissioned of
the timber in their largest woods. The
survey was headed "A survey of Shoort
alias X't Church Wood" that is co say
of Short or Christ Church wood. As
42 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
the largest of the Dean and Chapter
of Canterbury's woods it was
estimated co be of between 1200 and
1400 acres with a total of about
32,000 oaks. The condition of the
land varied; the survey seated chat
'about 800 acres is an indifferent good
soile but the remainder is generally
very barren and poor soile'. The
surveyors report added that on the
poor soil 'che wood thrived very
indifferently and the tillers thrived
even worse; the tillers were young
oaks allowed to develop into trees
from coppiced stools. [20]
The timber surveyor's report 1702
was supplemented by an excellent
large map by the cartographer Jared
Hill in 1718. It is headed 'The map
of Christ Church wood'. [21] At the
middle of this map is a stream called
on the map 'The grill' now known as
che Fulbourne; it Aows from the West
for about 2 miles through the wood as
far as the road co Whitscable and
beyond. 1l1ere the road crosses the
srream where there had been a bridge
since at least the 13th century, when it
was called 'fissemanebregge' [22] and
the stream 'Vischmannysbourne'. [23]
The J 718 map calls the bridge 'Scott
bridge' named perhaps after a sponsor
when repairs needed co be done.
Going cowards Canterbury the map
shows a 'moated house' where there is
a turning leading co other woods and
which may sometime have been the
house of wood reeve. The road leads
co one of the woods of the archbishop,
Stock Wood, which is next to
Homestead Wood. This wood is now
known as Homestall Wood, where
archaeologists are now looking for
evidence of a possible very ancient
settlement or hill fort. So far images
have been produced by lidar which
have aroused interest. The woodbanks
of Church Wood along the woods
hereabouts have Features unlike chose
of other wood banks of the cathedral
monastery suggesting chat some of
chem could dace from before 1189.
Woodbanks appearing co have been
made after chat dace include the large
woodbank and trench along Watling
Street. That woodbank extends
towards Mincing Wood (now known
as Manson Wood), where the
boundary of Church Wood turns
north cowards another of the
archbishops woods, North
Bishopsden; this is where there was a
recent find of a mediaeval moated site
in the middle of the wood. [24]
At the north end of this there are
the remains of an old pound
(clausura) for herding animals
pasturing in the woods. The cost of
repairs of this were one of the
expenses of the monastery's forester of
the Shore Wood in the year 1413/14.
[25] The pound was situated at a
point where ancient tracks crossed.
One of these was on the northern
boundary of Church Wood with a
Woodbank along it , which appears to
be made in the 13th century along
one side of an ancient road, now
disused. This road is called on che
1718 map Mearencold Lane and
today as the Radfall Road. On the
other side of the road were other
ancient woods with their own
woodbanks. A mile along this road
was another Mincing Wood. The
name may refer to the same convent,
St. Sepulchres Priory in Canterbury,
which owned the Mincing Wood next
Watling Street as it owned a number
of properties in its day. [26)
This wood is not far from fields
next to the stream chat crosses the
wood where scone age artefacts were
found. An account of what the 1718
map can show us is largely about the
boundaries of Church Wood and
something around them. It shows
/.,.,J., I,.). . ••U e.,t
.J.l. c;...\\
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology .org.uk I 43
little of tl1e inside tl1e wood except
roads or ways and a scream. The only
oilier prominent features shown in me
middle is me kind of ming to which
me surveyors of me 1702 survey drew
tl1e attention of the Dean and
Chapter of Canterbury. They referred
co large areas described as 'very barren
and poor soile', which muse mean
much more man is shown on me
1718 map where the woodland on
'barren land' came to a total of only
104 acres. These barren acres when
added to 853 acres of woodland and
a total of ways of 59 acres give a total
of 1016 acres. When a large part of
Church Wood became a nature
reserve, in which Mr. Michael Walter
became warden, he found consulting
the 1 718 map useful as mere were
still pares me wood not very fertile.
The map also shows mat me
condition of me soil did not wholly
change over me centuries since me
Domesday Book.
Towards me end of me 18m
century when Edward Hasted was
writing his history he may have
possibly found some uncertainry
about the name of Church Wood. The
1702 survey of oak timber gave two
alternative names, one of which was
its old mediaeval name Short, spelt in
various ways. When me 1718 map
was made, it was called 'A mapp of
Christ Church Wood', probably the
Dean and Chapter of Canterbury's
preferred name; but this name was
new and the old name was to
continue in use for more than a
century. These different names
existing at me same time could be an
explanation why the historian omits
to mention its name. He did, have
however; give a short description of
this wood and its management. He
wrote the woods of me Dean and
Chapter of Canterbury in the Blean
were "reputed to consist of about
1000 acres of land though by
measurements made by order of the
state mey are said co contain 14 03
acres Or. 30p. they are mostly oak
coppice and are felled yearly in
portions .... The yearly profit of me
oak timber felled of which mere are a
great quantities growing over the
whole of these woods, is applied to
the use of me common fund. [27] At
this time mere were of course oilier
trees not mentioned by Hasted. One
of these, chestnut was to become an
important source of hop poles. The
planting of these trees had already
begun in Hasted's lifetime; stools of
chestnut from his time still to be
found. The growing of chestnut
increased in me 19m century when
me management of Church Wood
ceased to be in me hands of
representatives of the Dean and
Chapter of Canterbury and passed
into the hands of those of the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners. They
appointed Cluttons as their surveyors
not only of the woods of deans but
also those bishops and archbishops.
In this way mey came into possession
of mousands of acres of woodland in
East Kent. As Church Wood adjoins
Norm Bishopsden, which they also
managed, a road was made to
continue mrough Church Wood into
North Bishopsden Wood. Another
improvement was mat made to the
drainage of the Wood. [28]
An attempt was even made to grub
out a part of Church Wood so as to
create a small farm in the middle of
me Wood. The existence of this farm
appears on maps at the end of me
century but its existence could not last
long. The Blean woods are not really
very suitable for farming; this is one
the reasons why they have continued
to survive so long in spite of most
attempts to make the land, where they
are, more useful for other purposes.
At mis time the Church Wood
came to be managed together with
Norm Bishopsden Wood just as me
Dean and Chapter of Canterbury's
wood, Thornden Wood, came to be
managed with West Blean Wood. The
management of Church Wood
continued much as before by the
Ecclesiastical Commissioners until
after the last war. Their successors the
44 I Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
Church Com missioners, however, in
1950 received advice from the
Forestry Commission which, if
followed, might have led to
unexpected expense of sme size.
This advice was given as It had been
decided mat Blean woods were men
in such a condition rhar mey required
'a minimum programme of
rehabilitation and replacement' which
would have affected among others
Church Wood.29 This advice was to
lead the Church Commissioners to
sell ancient woodland, whose
character was changed when new
owners began planting many conifers.
This kind of advice was nor of the
kind rhar might have been given by
rhe Nature Conservancy. At that time
they were looking for a wood as a
nature reserve in ancient woods next
to Church Wood. They began by
buying Crawford's Rough and
Mincing Wood next to the northern
boundary of Church Wood in 1953.
These two small woods became part of
one me first woodland national nature
reserves. This reserve was gradually
over the years increased in size.
Meanwhile however, the planting of
chestnut nearby was continuing.
It seems that the policy of the
Forestry Commission did not wholly
agree with the thinking of some omers
interest in conservation. Among mese
people was not only the Nature
Conservancy but also the Royal
Sociery for the Protection of Birds,
who in 1981 were able to buy 360
acres of the wood. In me following
years more woodland was bought e.g.
a further 80 acres in the following
year. The RSPB regarded much of the
wood as threatened and mis purchase
was intended to safeguard 'a large part
of me remaining woodland in the
Blean area'. By 1987 it seems mat
more doubts were beginning to arise
about the benefits claimed from a
programme of rehabilitation and
replacement of ancient woodland.
Some such doubts had already arisen
when the School of Continuing
Education at the Universiry of Kent ar
Canterbury propo ed a course for
adult tudent on the archaeology
and ecology of the Blean. The course
amacted cudenrs, and the annual
report were made and circulated
until the closure of the school in
1996. Meanwhile the RSPB warden
Michael Walter was able to let the
public know not only of birds e.g.
nightingales nesting in the wood, but
also of activities in the wood generally
not only through lectures bur also
through many reports in local
newspapers. At this time local
authorities began to consider what
further needed to be done for the
conservation of ancient woods and in
particular Church Wood. Eventually
REFERENCES
in 199 l a consortium was formed co
purchase those pares of Church Wood
which had not already been bought by
the RSPB as a nature reserve. These
local authorities were the Kent
County Council, the Canterbury City
Council and the Swale District
Council. Together with the RSPB
Church Wood was to be managed as
one unit by the RSPB's warden
Michael Walter, who had already been
looking after their wood for over 20
years. In the years chat followed much
more of the Blean woods were
purchased as nature reserves some of
which also came to be managed
together with Church Wood. When
this happened it was to be most
unlikely chat ancient woodland would
be grubbed out and that old oak
coppice of which Hasted spoke over
200 years before, should be replaced.
The history of Church Wood as
revealed in the archives of Canterbury
Cathedral stretching over 500 years
may no doubt be taken into account
in any future management plans of
Church Wood.
(1): W. Holmes and A. Wheaten (eds.), The Blean, (2002), Chapter V, plates 1 (A-D), fig. 4 (Ill to V) and fig.5.1.
[2]: R. Cross, 'Broad Oak Water' in Canterbury Archaeology 1991/1992 pp. 42-44.
[3]: 0. Rackham, Woodlands, (Collins New Naturalist Series, 2006) p. 215.
[4]: Blean (note 1) pp. 23-24.
[5]: W. de G. Birch, Cartularium Saxonicum (1865-93) no. 141.
[6]: J. K. Wallenberg, Kentish Place-Names, (Uppsala, 1931) p. 63.
[7]: Rackham (note 3) p. 80
[8]: CCA: DCc/ChAnt/B/319.
[9]: W. Somner, Antiquities of Canterbury, (1703, Reprint by E. P. Publishing) p. 37.
[ 10]: CCA: Assisa Scaccarii 4.
[11): Calendar of Patent Rolls 1272-1281 p. 266.
[12): Kent Archaeological Society Newsletter 2010 no. 86 pp. 14-15.
[13): CCA: ChAnt/B/319.
[14): Rackham (note 2) pp. 208-210.
[15): Blean (note 1) pp. 62-63.
[16): CCA: ChAnt/B/334.
[17): Blean (note 1) p. 57 & 61.
[18): R. A. L. Smith, The Canterbury Cathedral Priory, (1969) pp. 191-192.
[19): CCA: Rural Economy 114.
[20): CCA: U63/70313.
[21): CCA: Map 205.
[22): Somner (note 9) Appendix XVII p. 15.
[23): CCA: Eastbridge MSS B9.
[24): Blean (note 1) p. 57
[25): CCA: Rural Economy 114.
[26]: Valor Ecclesiasticus (Record Commission, 1810).
[27): Edward Hasted, The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: 1st Edition Vol. 3 page 573 note (a).
[28]: Ecclesiastical Commissioners: Church Commissioners Records Section file no. 28417.
[29): Blean (note 1) p. 41.
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk I 45
■
1ne
By Don Blackburn
46 I Winter 2016 J Kent Archaeological Society I www.kentarchaeology.org.uk
RIGHT Model
battleship found at
Shame Woods
Country Park
BACKGROUND
Example of Leander
class cruise
-
Winter 2016 I Kent Archaeo1oglcal Society \ www.kentarchaeology.org,uk 47
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