President’s Column
It has been a long time coming, but finally, in November this year, the Kent Archaeological Society has held in-person meetings, where actual human beings have been able to interact in the same space as they did before the pandemic set in almost 18 months ago.
The first meeting I attended was the book launch of the excellent volume on the history of Maritime
Kent edited by Stuart Bligh, Sheila Sweetinburgh and Elizabeth Edwards, which took place in the historic Guildhall Faversham in late October. It was good to see people turn out to celebrate a timely and substantial work, the fruit of almost five years of planning and researching. Details of the book are here (https:// boydellandbrewer.com/9781783276257/maritime- kent-through-the-ages), and the Membership Secretary Rachel Hills can furnish members with a code to unlock a generous discount.
I was struck while reading parts of the book before the launch event by the way the sea, surrounding Kent’s 240 miles plus of coastline, is such a huge factor in the county’s history and one that takes on many guises. It is, of course, a natural barrier, a source of economic activity and livelihood, a means of transportation, and a magnificent and epically beautiful and impressive landmark. But it has also been a space for confrontation, exploration, mythmaking and, perhaps most fascinatingly of all, one that is intrinsically mixed up with people’s identities. Even today, the seas around Kent are spaces in which events like the recent arrivals of refugees have promoted international concern and notice, as we saw right at the end of November in the tragic deaths of 27 people. Bligh et al.’s book makes powerfully clear that the history of Kent makes less sense if we exclude the crucial role of the sea and its relationship with the land it surrounds.
Continuing this theme, the excellent conference on 21st November on fieldwork made clear, to the more than 80 that attended at the University of Kent, that while the lockdowns had been occurring, digs and discoveries had also been continuing. Each case study unfolded remarkable narratives which had been underappreciated or simply unknown before archaeological teams did their meticulous work. The Roman settlement at Newington was the subject of one presentation, with a temple basement unearthed. Then, with the support of the property developers, it was moved and reconstructed as a permanent display earlier this year. Another talk on discovering the site of a long-abandoned and lost priory at Lossenham, on the Kent border with Sussex, was also a remarkable record of detection and rediscovery.
A similar process was described around the Guildhall in the centre of Dover, which disappeared in the nineteenth century, but the foundations of which were uncovered in the last few years by a team there.
The quality of the talks, and the contents that they outlined, were awe-inspiring and made clear why the archaeology of Kent is so fascinating and important. Listening to the lecture on the market square in Dover, it struck me that in this relatively small patch of what is now urban space, there were threads of different kinds and phases of history going back 2000 years and beyond, from remnants of a vast church to the indications of Roman constructions of a riverbank wall, and shifting patterns of roads and thoroughfares.
We hope that in 2022, with luck, we will be able to continue with more in-person lectures, with support for digs, and, perhaps, an exhibition with some of our historic and more recently unearthed finds. I am grateful for our members’ continuing support of our work, my fellow trustees, and the wider community that engages with the issues we support. Here is looking forward to a dynamic, exciting and successful 2022!
Best wishes,
Kerry Brown
President