President’s Column
Countdown to the KAS CIO
In 2014 Peter Stutchbury and Ian Coulson started the process to incorporate the Society. This is now coming to fruition with the Society becoming an operational Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) on the first of January 2019.
On Saturday 19 May 2018, two annual general meetings were convened in Canterbury. The first held elections for officers and Council members to serve until 31 December 2018 and the second to elect officers and Council members to serve with the newly-established CIO from 1 January 2019.
After the close of the first meeting, our former president, Paul Oldham, gave an entertaining talk on the history of the Society since its formation in 1857. Paul joined the Society in 1960 and became a Council member in 1971. He served on many committees and was President of this Society from 1998 until 2005. He assisted with the formation of the Maidstone Area Archaeological Group in 1969 and like many others involved in Archaeology during the 1960s, he assisted Brian Philp with the formation of the Kent Archaeological Research Groups’ Council which later became the Council for Kentish Archaeology (CKA).
The Society held a successful study day in Rochester Cathedral on Saturday 14 April. Lectures were given by Graham Keevill, the Cathedral Archaeologist, describing the findings in the Crypt, and Jacob Scott talked about the graffiti found in the nave and the crypt.
The Lees Court Estate project is now in full swing. So far there are three elements to note: firstly, a mound at Holly Grove is thought to be the remains of a Bronze Age barrow; secondly, metal detectorists uncovered four Bronze Age hoards in the adjacent field in Sept 2017, and lastly, an evaluation excavation carried out at Stringmans Field in May this year confirmed the presence of a substantial ring ditch of Mid-Neolithic date. Further excavations of the surrounding area are planned for September to fit in with the LCE agricultural diary. Members are invited to help with the project by contacting the designated LCE website address at:
http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/lees-court-project-register-interest/
This summer, excavations will continue in Cobham Village, at the Roman Villa in Otford and the medieval site in Bredhurst. Unfortunately, work at the Roman Villa site at East Farleigh has ceased, but an article detailing excavations since 2016 can be found in this issue.
Finally, I should like to thank all those members who are doing sterling work on behalf of the Society. Clive Drew and Barrie Beeching have both worked hard behind the scenes, Chris Blair-Myers is progressing the development of the new website while Chris Broomfield is maintaining the existing one. Ruiha Smalley (assisted by Peter Titley and others) continue to update the library catalogue, and Elizabeth Blanning is doing the same with the Society’s collection of artefacts. Finally, I must thank Shiela Broomfield for all her membership work including ensuring that the Society complies with GDPR. Keep up the good work!
Gerald Cramp, President