No: 191 December 2008

Society News The Bulletin of the Enfield Archaeological Society

2 Forthcoming Events: EAS 16 January: Southgate before World War 1 13 February: Algeria: Nomads, Merchants and Oil Barons 13 March: Roman Enfield 17 April: Excavations & Fieldwork of EAS 2008 & AGM 3 Other Societies 4 Society Matters 5 Meeting Reports 19 October: London Cemeteries

6 Book Review: Middlesex Tales of Mystery and Murder 7 Will Shelton: The Highwayman of Maidens Bridge 8 Lower Palaeolithic Handaxe from Grange Park, Enfield 9 Fieldwork Report: Elsynge Palace 2008 12 Pastfinders News

Society News is published quarterly in March, June, September and December The Editor is Jeremy Grove ’ ’

http://www.enfarchsoc.org Meetings are held at Jubilee Hall, 2 Parsonage Lane, Enfield (near ) at 8pm. Tea and coffee are served and the sales and information table is open from 7.30pm. Visitors, who are asked to pay a small entrance fee of £1.00, are very welcome.

If you would like to attend the EAS lectures, but find travelling difficult, please contact the Secretary, David Wills (Tel: 020 8364 5698) and we will do our best to put you in touch with another member who can give you a lift.

The full lecture programme for 2008, organised by Tim Harper, is as follows. You should also find a programme card enclosed with this newsletter. 16th January – 17th April – ‘’ 15th May

13th February 19th June 18th September ’ 16th October

13th March 13th November ’ December - Christmas Break. ______   Meetings of other LONDON & MIDDLESEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Societies 8 January ______ ______ – EDMONTON HUNDRED HISTORICAL SOCIETY 19 February

21 January 12 March – 10 February 14 March 20 February 16 April 18 March  WEST ESSEX ARCHAEOLOGICAL GROUP 16 April 9 February  –

HENDON & DISTRICT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 10 March – 13 January 14 April – 10 February  WALTHAM ABBEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY  HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION NORTH LONDON BRANCH 29 January 13 January 26 February – 10 February 26 March – 10 March

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– New members who joined the Society after 30 September 2008 need take no action, as their subscriptions are valid until 31 December 2009.

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‘ London Cemeteries ’ – – ‘’ ’ – – ‘’ – – – – – 5 ’ Book Review MIDDLESEX TALES OF MYSTERY AND MURDER

JEREMY GROVE By Mike Hall

th LAMAS 46 Annual Conference of London Archaeologists Saturday 14 March 2009: Wilberforce Lecture Theatre, Docklands ’ ’ ’

6 WILL SHELTON: THE HIGHWAYMAN OF MAIDENS BRIDGE ’ (see Pastfinders report, p. 12) ‘’ ‘’

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Fig. 1: The Handaxe

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’ ’ Aerial Photograph Interpretation ‘’ Excavation 2008 ’ – 9 10 Fig. 2: The New Aerial Photo Evidence as Enhanced and Annotated by John Pinchbeck ’

Conclusions

11 ancestors hunting and perhaps settling close to PASTFINDERS NEWS the stream we know today as Maidens Brook. News of the Excavation and Fieldwork Group We hope to reveal further evidence of Neolithic occupation on this site with the excavation we are In October I was asked by Broxbourne Council to currently undertaking close to Jesus Church in conduct a 'Ghost Walk' around the site of advance of the annex soon to be built at this Theobalds Palace in Cedars Park. This seemed location. Quite a number of enthusiastic diggers like an excellent opportunity to weave some of the turned up to help us excavate a 6x4 metre trench history of the site into tales of its darker and more on a cold wet November morning. The trench had sinister side. Expecting a turn out of perhaps a been set out and the top turf layer had been dozen or so brave souls on such a cold dark stripped the previous afternoon by machine which Autumn evening I must confess I was quite meant we were able to get stuck straight into the unprepared for the gathering of between 150 and archaeology. A thin layer of top soil cleaned down 175 people who turned up on the night! Families to a layer of redeposited brick earth mixed with with grand parents and children armed with plough soil. This material was probably laid down twinkling torches hung onto my every word and when the foundations were dug for an annex to the evening went off without a hitch ,despite the the church in the 1920s. Initial finds included a numerous health and safety issues of such a large th complete clay pipe bowl (19 century) a number of people being assembled in pitch decorated piece of bellermine salt glazed darkness. Alas no one saw any ghosts but there is th stoneware (17 century) and brick and tile always next year! possibly related to the demolition of nearby Sparrow Hall, a ?17th century building demolished A week later members of the Pastfinders prior to the building of the church in 1835. (A later Excavation team were back at the park helping th 19 century building known today as Sparrow Hall local volunteers to uncover a dump of building stands to the south of the site.) material which contained a number of fragments of dressed stonework. The stone which had After a lot of hard trowelling we were rewarded by originated from demolition of William Cecil's a quantity of burnt flint, quite a number of flint Theobalds represented parts of window, door waste flakes, small flint tools and microliths which surrounds and cornice. Some pieces once were recovered from this layer. Heavy rain the cleaned revealed carved masons marks and first weekend turned our trench into a sad and amazingly a date of 1579 which corresponds with timely reminder of the conditions at Ypres and the the construction phase of the palace. (A feature Somme 90 years earlier. A full report on this article with photographs will follow in a future excavation will no doubt appear in a future bulletin.) The dressed stonework was recorded in bulletin. All that remains as always is to wish all situ, photographed, then removed by tractor trailer our members the compliments of this Yuletide to a safe location in the park. It is possible that season, to thank all our diggers who have helped some of the dressed stone originated from a large with our excavations this year and of course our window in Old Palace House nearby which was members who have attended lectures and burnt down in 1968, and which incorporated purchased raffle tickets, which helps support the original windows from Theobalds. work of your Society. We were called into action once again in October MIKE DEWBREY when the opportunity arose to sift through a large quantity of spoil excavated during construction of an extension to School. As this location is known to have revealed evidence of Prehistoric settlement in the recent past we were puzzled that no archaeological conditions were attached to the EAS building work. Fieldwork Ignoring the virgin brick earth we concentrated our efforts on the top soil and plough soil and were If you would like to be involved in our busy rewarded with pieces of burnt flint, struck flakes of programme of excavation and other practical flint from tool working and what may be a activities, contact Mike on 01707 870888 (office fragment of Neolithic pot, but looks like an old dog number) for more details. biscuit! Although it doesn't sound much, these finds represent evidence of our prehistoric 12