KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER ISSUE NUMBER 86 WINTER 2010

Sheltering from bombs Graffiti in Ramsgate tunnels

INSIDE THIS ISSUE: 2-3 Making their Mark 4 Notes from the Archive 5 New books 6 -7 What’s On 8-9 You and Your Society 10-11 Pioneers, Powerbrokers and Saints 12-13 East Farleigh Roman Buildings Update Letters 14-15 liDAR 16 HER

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Neanderthal Occupation

Main picture: Incised Field Cannon Insert Above: Stenography, not yet decoded Insert Left: Breach caused by groundworks Front cover: Popeye

MAKING THEIR MARK

The urge to embellish a wall with a name, a comment or a cartoon was as strong 70 years ago as today, although pencils, rather than aerosols, were construction is apparently typical of used on the soft chalk of Ellington School’s air raid shelter. First World War chalk-cut tunnels observed elsewhere. The method In April 2010 groundworks for a Provision of shelters was made towards follows the mining methods employed housing development on the site of the the end of the war in response by colliers and it is suggested that men former Ellington Girl’s School, to Zeppelin raids and naval from the collieries were drafted Ramsgate, breached the roof of an bombardments, but many were not in to carry out the tunnel construction. entrance tunnel leading into a set of completed until late 1918. The graffiti The tunnels are chalk-cut with no tunnels beneath the former school. The present within the shelter indicates lining, shoring or supporting arches, school buildings were demolished in fairly extensive use during the Second except at the south-west entrance where early 2010. The site had already been World War. Although much of it is a concrete lining was present. They the subject of an evaluation carried out indicative of use by the school, there average 1.3m wide by 2m high, with by Archaeological Trust is some indication that the wider local variations, most notably in the and a watching brief was being community also used the facility. height, as the roof appears to have been maintained during the groundworks. The shelter was of simple form with cut following natural seams within the The Trust was commissioned to carry two tunnels, lined by benches, linked chalk. The side walls are near vertical out a survey of the tunnels, their fittings by cross passages terminating in toilet or slightly bowed out, to a height of and of the significant amount of cubicles, marked girls and boys. Three c.1.5m, then slope in to meet a flat or graffiti they contained. They also stairways entered the c.12m-deep concave roof c.1m wide. Tool marks, carried out a brief documentary study tunnels, corresponding to the Boys’, from round-bladed shovels, trenching to place them in their historic context. Girls’ and Infants’ departments of the tools and picks, are evident on all the The well-preserved tunnels are school. Two vertical shafts cut from the surfaces. Traces of fittings survive, such thought to belong to an air raid shelter surface are thought to represent as stair risers, bench support brackets, dating to the end of the First World construction shafts, excavated to the toilet cubicles, electrical (light) fittings War. It is unlikely, however, that they required depth and the tunnels cut and candle ledges. These are generally saw much, if any, use at this time. from their bases. This method of in poor condition.

2 Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk The tunnels contain many graffiti, dating, for the most part, from between late 1943 and late 1946. Due to the sealing of the tunnels after the war, these are relatively free from later additions, and thus provide an interesting ‘snapshot’ of the time. Already, however, at least six individuals have contributed new graffiti, since the rediscovery of the shelter in April! The more significant historic examples were recorded, together with a representative sample of the remaining graffiti in order to characterise its nature. Most of the graffiti were simply outside of school hours. unlike any artillery in use during the incised or in pencil, probably brought One group of graffiti reveals the Second World War, or probably even into the shelters to continue an antipathy of a faction at Ellington during the First. It is most likely, interrupted lesson. In contrast to what School towards the pupils of St George’s therefore, a historical depiction. might be found in today’s school spaces, School, Ramsgate. An inscription Swastikas are present in abundance, the toilets contained almost none, asserts: ‘St Georges are stacked painted together with a number of simplified perhaps due to the confined space! chads’, whilst another provides what union jacks. Pictures and patterns abound; was presumably intended as a Collections of strange symbols are human faces and their variants were generalized portrait of a St George’s evident, perhaps representing some common motifs. As one might expect, pupil, with crazed expression, curiously kind of phonographical shorthand. many of the graffiti comprise the formed upper lip, and thin, untidy, Girls at the school may well have names, or more usually initials, of hair. St George’s School pupils were studied stenography in preparation for individuals using the shelter, sometimes typically from wealthier families than secretarial careers – especially, perhaps, accompanied by other details including Ellington’s. By 1942 the term ‘stacked’ considering Ramsgate’s historical links their age, form, and the year, or even was well-established within American with that science. The script has not the precise date, of the inscription. slang, meaning ‘shapely,’ with regard been decoded. Together, these provide some useful to the female figure. By 1944 it may The tunnels are being resealed, clues to the use of the shelter. The great well have been known in Kent. The leaving them in a stable state with the majority were of 1944, with only two term ‘painted’ often referred to the use graffiti preserved. for 1945. It would be interesting to of cosmetics, frequently with some CAT would like to thank developers compare the graffiti giving a precise disreputable implication. ISG Jackson and the sub-contractors, date with details of known raids on Perhaps the most striking of the Cliffe, for their assistance during these Ramsgate – 12 dates are given in 1944. pictorial graffiti are two depictions of works. Particular thanks are expressed Several graffiti commemorated D-Day the American cartoon character to ISG Jackson for arranging confined on 6 June 1944. ‘Popeye’, closely similar except in size spaces training. Thanks are also One ‘Mable Jenner’ inscribed her and probably copied directly from a extended to Rod LeGear and the Kent name twice, once aged sixteen and comic strip. To the larger depiction, Underground Research Group for their again at seventeen – on both occasions someone has added Popeye’s signature assistance and comments. using the same slightly unusual spelling tobacco pipe, albeit disproportionately of her first name, and reversing the ‘N’s small. in her surname. Assuming she existed, Among the inanimate objects The photographic survey was undertaken by Andrew Savage, assisted by Adrian depicted, maritime and military themes Mable Jenner was above the normal Murphy, and the documentary research and school-leaving age when she carved her seem to have predominated, including name, perhaps reflecting the use of the an anchor, a small steamship and a field the tunnel was conducted by Crispin shelter by members of the public cannon with spoked wheels. This is Jarman, assisted by Russel Henshaw

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter 3 NOTES FROM THE ARCHIVE

the French slides, which A Lecture on cannot be replaced. She also makesm a number of technical Stained Glass with specificationss for the lantern equipment.e Grinling, Lantern Slides delighted,d agrees only to find thatth Mrs. Arnold has left for by Pernille Richards SwitzerlandS with her children, beforeb he has had a chance to “My Lecture came off last night. We An exchange ofof mmake his selection. He is left had an excellent attendance and the correspondencece choosingch from the 50 slides slides were much enjoyed. A number follows from whichch stillsti held by Dr. Legge. The of the audience told me afterwards how we learn that thehe selectionsel includes good pictures beautiful they were.... I did not use the slides belonged ttoo of Canterbury Cathedral, West three from Sens, as Dr. Legge told me her late husband,d, WickhamW and Dartford, but that these could not be replaced if any Hugh Arnold (18722 notnot nearly enough for a lecture accident happened to them”(Letter to -1915). He was a on Kent glass. Grinling is Mrs. Arnold 4/11/1920) stained glass artistt rescuedresc by fellow antiquarians Mr. C. H. Grinling (1861 – 1947) influenced by thee F. C. Eliston Erwood and collected information relating to Arts and Craftss LockwoodLoc who both lend him stained glass. Although the topic cries movement whoo momorer slides, but he still ends up out for illustration there are only a had his own studio hhavingavi to rewrite the lecture. small number of sketches among his from 1903-1914 DespiteD these stresses, the papers as well as a few photographs of working closely lecturelectu appears to have been a the windows of the Beauchamp Chapel with Lowndes & success.succe The mention of the slides in Warwick. The need for illustration Dury at the Glass arousedarou the interest of Percy was obviously keenly felt when House in Fulham. DearmerDear (1867 – 1936), an lecturing and Grinling’s correspondence In 1913 he eminentemin liturgist and historian of introduces some interesting slides, published the ChristianChris worship, at this point eminent people and a poignant personal influential book: lecturinglectur on ecclesiastical art at story of an artist. Stained Glass of the Middle Ages in King’s College London. Dearmer was On the 3rd of November 1920 Mr. and France. Despite his family also interested in borrowing Mrs. Grinling was due to give a lecture on commitments Hugh Arnold Arnold’s slides for his lectures. At this Stained Glass to Woolwich Antiquarian volunteered for active service in 1914. point Mrs. Arnold asks for copies to Society. In the month before this he He obtained the rank of Lieutenant be made by a company she refers to as is engaged in a flurry of correspondence and was killed in action at Gallipoli in “the Lumière people” and then these trying to obtain slides to illustrate his August 1915. He is among those copies could be studied, but she points talk. He writes to Dr. T. M. Legge, commemorated on the Helles out that neither Percy Dearmer nor later Sir Legge (1863 -1923), best Memorial. King’s College London are to keep the known as the first medical inspector of The correspondence shows Mrs. copies. On the 19th of January 1921 factories and a leading expert on Arnold being very protective of the Grinling writes to Dearmer that the occupational diseases. Sir Legge was slides, partly for copyright reasons, slides will be sent by messenger. Then also enthusiastic about the arts and an partly because of their fragility, but the trail goes cold. We don’t know authority on stained glass. Dr. Legge especially because the collection what happened to the slides from then undertook a lecture tour of America in contained photographs of stained glass on. Given their fragile nature they may 1919 and had borrowed some slides destroyed in the War. The majority of no longer exist, but it is an intriguing from a Mrs. Hugh Arnold. Dr. Legge these lost windows are French. She puzzle and they would be a valuable suggested that Grinling should ask Mrs. agreed to lend Grinling the slides, on historic record, if by some chance they

Image: Queen Victoria, designed by Hugh Arnold in 1910, in St Mary in St Magdalene, Barnstaple. Hugh Arnold in 1910, Image: Queen Victoria, designed by Source: for permission to With thanks to The Stained reproduce Glass Museum and Kate Lycett the image Arnold to borrow some of her slides. the understanding that he does not use still survive somewhere.

4 Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk NEW BOOKS

Schools and Colleges in the Area Herne Bay Historical Records Society, Past Series No.4 John Fishpool & Pauline Turner ISBN 987-1-904661-14-6

Herne Bay seems to have been a popular location for schools and colleges over the years. The introductory text includes an overview of the education system in Kent, thus setting the scene for a detailed listing of the many educational establishments. Coverage includes the wide variety of schools run by the church, local authorities and privately, that have existed in the town for over 170 years. The book is well illustrated, with images of buildings and classrooms as well as staff and pupils. A4, 48 pages, 46 illus. Price £5.95 (+ £1.55 if posted), from Herne Bay Museum, 12 William Street, Herne Bay CT6 5EJ or from Pierhead Publications Ltd, PO Box 145, Herne Bay CT6 8GY, tel: 01227 370971.

Shoreham Past and Present, New & Revised Edition Joy Saynor and Garry Weaser, Shoreham District Historical Society ISBN 978-0-9539543-3-9

This booklet is a revised version of the original which appeared in 2000. It aims to contrast varying scenes of the village at a time when maps, watercolours, drawings and photographs were becoming widely available, with the same views of the present day. A concise and thoughtful introduction to the history and changes in the village precedes the illustrated ‘comparative’ pages. Price £5.00. Cheques should be made out to Shoreham and District Historical Society and copies can be obtained from Jill Webster, Rising Sun Cottage, Church Street, Shoreham, Sevenoaks, TN14.

Iron Age and Roman Discoveries at Crayford Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit

This little known site, at Perry Street, Crayford, was discovered accidentally about 20 years ago. Members of the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit inspected the workings when gravel extraction started on a small site north of St Paulinus Church. They found slight traces of Iron Age settlement; further visits revealed many features including pits, ditches and post-holes. Nearly 200 features were eventually found, partially excavated and recorded. Some contained important groups of pottery, mostly of Iron Age and Roman date. Of special interest was a large Iron Age pit, found to contain more than 25 loomweights, several of which were complete. A nearby Roman ditch contained a small domestic altar. An extra bonus was the discovery of a nearly complete Early Bronze Age beaker, almost certainly representing a much earlier burial on the site. The site has now been published, with 33 pages and many illustrations. Copies are £4 + 80p P&P, and can be bought from the KARU, Roman House, New Street, Dover, Kent CT17 9AJ.

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter 5 WHAT’S ON

KAS EVENTS CONFERENCES 7.30pm. Non-members welcome to attend at a fee of £3.00 per lecture KAS PLACE NAMES COMMITTEE Council for Kentish Archaeology & (except for December when there is an CONFERENCE Surrey Archaeological Society additional charge). Saturday 6 November 10.30am – Joint Conference - Roman Villas in 4.30pm Kent and Surrey Enquiries to Mrs J. Hearn-Gillham, Rochester Visitor Centre, 95 High Saturday 23 October 2 – 5.30pm phone: 01322 551279, email: janet. Street, Rochester Old Sessions Lecture Theatre, [email protected] Canterbury Christ Church University Three speakers from the Institute for Details of the Society’s summer Name-Studies, University of » Introduction to the Surrey Villas Dr David excursions from Mr L.Davies on 01322 Nottingham Bird 525335. » Abinger Roman Villa Nikki Cowlard & Programme: Emma Corke » Coffee » Ashtead Roman Villa Dr David Bird Canterbury Archaeological Society » Place-names in the Rochester area Dr » Rescuing Roman Villas in Kent Brian Philp Winter Programme Paul Cullen Ramsey Lecture Theatre, Canterbury Tickets £5.00 available from CKA, » Christ Church University Coining names: legends and language in Sandy Ridge, Borough Green, TN15 Anglo-Saxon England Dr Jayne Carroll All talks start at 6pm 8HP. Please include SAE. Further » Lunch (there are many eating places details from Ruth Plummer, email: » Saturday 20 November 2010 nearby) [email protected] or 0208 Recent Discoveries at St Alban’s Court, » The place-names of Anglo-Saxon 7777872, or from Richard Ansell on Nonington Peter Hobbs governance Dr John Baker 01732 884059, or at www.the-cka. » Saturday 4 December » Kentish surnames in the Middle Ages Dr fsnet.co.uk St Mildred’s Tannery Site, Canterbury Paul Cullen – archaeological discoveries Simon Council for Kentish Archaeology & Pratt We are grateful to the three speakers Kent Local History Federation, joint » from the Institute for Name-Studies for Conference Saturday 15 January 2011 their time and expertise - this should be The Game of Kings – a history of chess Saturday 7 May 2011 at Crofton Halls, Richard Eales a very good day. Orpington » Saturday 29 January (lecture theatre Tickets £7.50 each. Cheques in Details to follow in the January may differ) advance please, payable to KAS, to be Newsletter The Frank Jenkins Memorial Lecture: sent to Anita Thompson (KAS), Brattle annual review of the work of Canterbury Farm, Five Oak Lane, Staplehurst. Kent. TALKS Archaeological Trust Paul Bennett TN12 0HE. Phone 01580 891222. » Saturday 12 February Email anita@anitathompson9. Crayford Manor House Historical & Liturgy and Archaeology in Medieval wanadoo.co.uk. Archaeological Society Canterbury Dr Helen Glass EVENTS AROUND KENT PROGRAMME OF TALKS 2010/2011 » Saturday 5 March Investigations at – the BEXLEY ARCHAEOLOGICAL GROUP » Saturday 13 November history of a Kentish village David One Day Workshop: make a Neolithic A Country Christmas Pat Mortlock Gilmour arrow, with Will Lord » Saturday 11 December Friends of CAT and other visitors most Saturday 23 October 10am - 4.30pm Kipling - his life and work (in costume), Geoff Hutchinson welcome. £2 per lecture. !"# barbed & tanged), make a shaft from » Saturday 8 January 2011 COURSES A Brief Education Crayford Town Archive $%"' LOCAL HISTORY - SOURCES » Saturday 12 February 2011 St Leonard’s Social Centre, Deal arrow. Gad‘s Hill Place - Dickens‘ Little Mondays 2 - 4pm from 7th Kentish Freehold Anne Carter Cost: £45. To be held at Bexley-Sidcup March 2011 » Conservative Club, 19 Station Road, Saturday 12 March 2011 Tutor: Maureen Criddle How Charing got its Cross John Halligan Sidcup, Kent An introduction to the wide range of » Saturday 16 April 2011 sources available to enable you to For further information or to book a AGM and President’s Lecture place contact Pip Pulfer at: pipspad@ discover the fascinating story of your hotmail.co.uk or 07961 963 893, or go All meetings held at The Baker Trust area’s past and the people who lived to www.bag.org.uk. Hall, Maxim Road, Crayford at 7pm for there. Topics covered include: the

6 Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk WHAT’S ON house, parish, military, the poor, taxes, EVENTS ELSEWHERE » Brede High Woods, Cripps Corner the census etc. The knowledge gained (woodland landscape with woodland CONFERENCE will allow you to access archives with management, iron working and The Archaeology of Wooded routeways) led by David Brown, South "" Landscapes East Woodland Archaeology Forum research. The tutor is a historian with Saturday 12th February many years experience in local and » Broadwater Warren, Tunbridge Wells Field trips, morning of Sunday 13th family history research. (military use in the Napoleonic period February and both World Wars) led by Vivienne Course fee £75.00 Meridian Hall, East Grinstead Blandford RESEARCHING LOCAL HISTORY A joint Conference between the Historic Conference tickets £30 (students £20). 20 sessions Environment Awareness Project (East Optional hot buffet lunch £5. Book Thursdays 2 - 4pm, 23rd Sept 2010 to Sussex County Council Archaeology online at www.sussexpastshop.co.uk or 4th June 2011 Team) and the Sussex Archaeological tel: 01273 405737 or email members@ Tutor: Maureen Criddle Society sussexpast.co.uk for booking form. The Landmark Centre, Deal Programme: 129 High Street, Deal CT14 6BB » Woodland Usage in Anglo-Saxon Fortnightly tutor-guided practical England as illustrated in contemporary course researching topics of interest in documents and place names Dr Della Upper Deal’s history. The period to be Hooke (University of Birmingham) investigated is c.1750 -1830. We shall » Hunting, Farming and fuel: the discover material from the original transitory character of English sources to create a picture and present woodlands Dr Mark Gardiner (Queens it in an exhibition. This is the third year University, Belfast) HAVE YOU JUST the course has been offered, the » You can’t see the wood for the trees – JOINED THE SOCIETY? previous two have uncovered a wealth locating and recording modern military Do you wish you could of detail about Upper Deal. features in woodlands Roger JC Thomas !"*$+" collect all the back issues Course fee £150.00, payable in two Heritage) of Archaeologia Cantiana? instalments. » ;"" For further details about these and any sites in woodlands Dr Patrick Roper, other WEA courses in the Dover/ Deal (Ecologist) area contact Alan Buckman on 01304 » New technology, new sites, new 367711 insights: Discoveries across the Weald Forest Ridge through LiDAR Vivienne Blandford (Landscape Archaeologist) EGYPTOLOGY with FRANCES » Wyre Forest – on transcription and validation of LiDAR using volunteers WILLIAMS Adam Mindykowski (Worcs County Based in Canterbury or Tonbridge Council) Courses planned for after Christmas » Our woodland – divided, but still include ‘Old Kingdom Egypt’, and ‘The united! A case study of multiple Art of Amenhotep III and Akhenaten’, ownership and archaeological investigation Owners of Waste Wood, Now you can have 125 volumes as well as ongoing hieroglyph groups. A Buxted trip to the Louvre is being considered, of Archaeologia Cantiana at the with perhaps a short course or single » Understanding the history of wooded amazingly low cost of £31 for preparatory class session beforehand landscapes: Are we asking the right individual members and £76 for – please contact me if this might be of questions? Towards a new research agenda Dr Nicola Bannister (Landscape institutional members on the KAS interest to you. Archaeologist) Sesquicentennial DVD. All courses £57. To reserve a place on a "=>X>#=XZ>' –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– course or if you have any queries, (free) to: To order your copy, send a cheque please contact 07789 661616 (if payable to Kent Archaeological » Gravetye Manor, West Hoathly leaving voicemail please give telephone Society to Peter Tann, Town Place, number within your message) or (designed landscape incorporating iron working remains) led by Nicola Belmont, Nr Faversham ME13 0HE. [email protected]. Bannister

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter 7 YOU & YOUR SOCIETY

MEMBERSHIP Many local people heard David speak please get in touch with me. about his discoveries or took part in MATTERS digs with him. An acknowledged "]'" This year seems to have gone by so quickly authority on the archaeology of Thanet and it is nearly time for me to think about We are pleased to welcome the following by this time, David was awarded a sending out the renewal letters or invoices for new Members: Doctorate by the University of London those of you who pay by cheque. Please bear in mind that cheques are scheduled to Institutional Membership in 2001 for his thesis on the prehistory disappear in a couple of years time so if you Highworth Grammar School, Ashford of the Isle of Thanet – The Gateway wish to ‘convert’ to paying by standing order maybe now is the time to do so. Please get in Life Member touch so that I can send a form for you to Mr Paul Ledger, complete; I can then send this to your bank in plenty of time for the due date of 2nd Student Members January. Miss J H Farrell, Lynsted, Sittingbourne This reminds me to ask all of you who already pay using the banker’s order method to Joint Members check that you are paying the correct amount Mr E & Mrs L Cavalli, Gillingham and only once a year! It is surprising the ^_$`$ number of queries I have each year and the Gravesend number of letters I have to write, so anything that can be sorted out before January 2011 Mr & Mrs A Harding, Faversham would be of great help to me. Ordinary Members \'"'' _+]"$${ Newsletters and Archaeologia Cantiana that Mr D Bright, Boughton under Blean, are returned marked ‘gone away’, or even Faversham stranger, ‘not known at this address’. If you move, or know of any other member who has, Mr H R Clayton, , Canterbury please let me know. A few of these returns |$}"$~" are from Life Members and in many cases I Mr C K Robbins, Stelling Minnis, am not aware if these members are still alive, Canterbury Isle. Battling against the poor health which could explain a lot. Mrs R Smalley, Gravesend that had affected him since childhood, If you have any questions about any aspect of Ms B Ward, Kings Langley, Hertfordshire David remained an enthusiast for membership or would like to have some $}"$~" membership application forms to distribute Thanet’s archaeology after his retirement. His last publication on the Bronze Age round barrows of Thanet of the Ozengell Anglo-Saxon cemetery. appeared in Archaeologia Cantiana this Dr David Perkins Formal qualifications through part- year. time study were added to his growing Despite his growing reputation and 1938 - 2010 professional reputation. A BSc in long list of published work, David r David Perkins, Thanet’s first archaeological science was followed by Perkins remained an ordinary man, full time professional an MSc gained through studying pleased to share his knowledge and Darchaeologist, died at Margate Roman and Anglo-Saxon glass. David encourage others to take part in his on Tuesday 10th of August aged 72. A gained the respect of archaeologists work. Concerned to keep up the link local man brought up in Ramsgate, around the country through excavations between amateur and professional David had a passion for the history of he directed. archaeology, David remained the his area, inspired by his family. After The Trust for Thanet Archaeology president of the Isle of Thanet training as an artist at Margate Art was formed in 1988 with David serving Archaeological Society until his death. School, David encountered his first as the first professional Director until David leaves behind many friends and archaeological dig at Lord of the his retirement in 2003. Notable students and an unrivalled body of Manor, Ramsgate in 1976 and amongst his achievements were the research on his beloved Isle of Thanet. volunteered to help on the same day. excavation of Iron Age sites at Dumpton His work is continued by the Trust for Progressing quickly from volunteer to and North Foreland as well as directing Thanet Archaeology which he worked full time supervisor, his career in seasons of training excavations on the so hard to establish as a centre for archaeology began with the excavation Roman Villa at Abbey Farm, Minster. archaeological research and education.

8 Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Churches Committee Visit by Mary Berg

he evening visits this year were nearer the railway station. St Mary seems to have been about the length it to St Mary, Lower Higham served as the nuns church as well as a is today since the late 12th century but Tand St Peter & St Paul, Shorne. parish church and that is why are there the Randall chapel was added at the Not only was the weather perfect but are two naves and two chancels side by east end of the south aisle in the late the churches were delightful and the side. Its outer appearance is of ragstone 13th or early 14th century, when the speakers informative. We were met at and knapped flint in a pattern typical central chancel was remodelled. John St Mary’s by John Vigar of the Churches of this part of north Kent. The late de Cobham, whose estate was Randall, Conservation Trust (CCT) who own 14th or early 15th century work of the was the patron of the chapel and it was and care for the church. First, John told north chancel screen, the pulpit and used as the schoolroom in the 18th us about the Trust and how they work. the south door alone merit a visit. The century. There is a fine 15th century The Trust was created in 1969 and until area, including St Mary’s, has close screen between the south aisle and the 1994 was known as the Redundant Dickens connections – it is not far from chapel. The splendid tower has a Churches Fund. It became clear that Dickens home at Gad’s Hill. fireplace at first floor level, implying the buildings in the Fund’s care were At St Peter & St Paul we were met that it was used as a tower chamber. often far from redundant but had by the familiar figure of Andrew There is a lot to see in this fine church, changed their emphasis. In many Moffat, until recently KAS Hon. Sec. too much for one short visit. We were churches, including St Mary’s, services and a churchwarden at Shorne. Andrew served with tea and biscuits before we are held a number of times a year but, gave an interesting and informative set out for home after a very satisfactory sadly, they are no longer licensed for introduction to this charming parish evening. weddings. The 16 CCF churches in church. It is possible to see vestiges of Kent are all open every day and are still its Saxon origins but nothing is to be Erratum consecrated. seen of any Norman rebuilding. Kent and Cluny, Summer Newsletter The church of St Mary is Norman However, there is documentary and St Paul, Shorne. Image: St Peter It was, of course, not King Stephen’s with a nunnery nearby and there is evidence that the church was given to son Eustace but Prince William the son Norman work in the north wall of the Bermondsey Abbey in 1133 and the of King Henry I, (Stephen’s uncle & nave. The church was rebuilt and Textus Roffensis mentioned a church predecessor), who drowned in the white enlarged in the centuries that followed at Shorne in the 11th century. The ship. until, in the 19th century, the railway north aisle is dated at around the last Many apologies, triggered a growth in population to the part of the 12th century but it was south and a new church was constructed rebuilt in the 15th century. The church Mary Berg

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter 9 PIONEERS, POWER BROKERS and SAINTS The Churches Committee is always keen to emphasise that its remit encompasses beliefs and people as well as ecclesiastical buildings and |"!"\€> and Issue 82) focuses on people in our own county whose impact has been noteworthy. The contributors will be those knowledgeable in their areas of interest. The series will run to about ten articles. Thomas Becket by Liz Nussbaum

he story of Thomas Becket is recommendation, Becket had been to tighten their grip on the former one of the best-known chapters appointed to the chancellorship. Now, cathedral demesne of Saltwood: a small Tin English history. Church and free of the archbishop’s tutelage, he detail in this complex tapestry but an state had clashed before and would carried out the king’s will with a zeal important one. continue to throughout the Middle that led him at one point to join the When Henry told Thomas he Ages, but no confrontation ever came king’s war with his own company of wanted to make him archbishop the near the drama of that December day knights, and in a dispute over royal latter answered, with a gesture at his in 1170. privileges to support the king against own rich attire: ‘How religious, how Becket had been born in Cheapside his old employer. (‘He won his way by saintly is the man you would appoint where his father was a successful trader. being all things to all men,’ is Knowles’ to that holy see and over so renowned After school in London and Paris and wry comment.[2]). and pious a body of monks!’ [4] – a later study of civil and canon law at Was there a competitive element in virtual rejection, cloaked in irony. But Bologna and Auxerre, Thomas had his relationship with the king? William the king was not to be deflected. He acquired a cosmopolitan education that fitzStephen’s contemporary account needed a pliant archbishop, and that served him well in his first major describes Thomas and Henry meeting was what he thought he would have. appointment, in the household of a ragged beggar on a ride through Henry chose to drive his programme Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury. London, prompting the following through at the famous councils – By the time he was 36 he had been exchange. Henry: ‘Would it not be an Westminster, Clarendon and promoted to the position of archdeacon. act of charity to give him a thick warm Northampton – where in full feudal The year was 1154. coat?’ Thomas: ‘It would indeed, and assembly he set out his claims. The In that same year Henry II came to you, O king, ought to have a mind and details were minute, the overarching the throne, heir to a vast Anglo-French an eye to it’ [3]. Henry then proceeded design hugely ambitious: to secure empire and an English kingdom that to try to pull off the chancellor’s cape. barons’ and bishops’ obedience to the had been in a state of virtual civil war In the ensuing tug of war they both ‘ancient customs’ that would be codified for nearly 20 years (‘never did a country nearly fell off their horses. Henry won; into written constitutions. But endure greater misery,’ recorded the the beggar got Thomas’ cape, in a literal statecraft soon turned to vendetta as Anglo-Saxon Chronicle [1]). The king’s investiture contest aptly symbolising Becket blocked him. The latter’s failure task was clear - to shore up his empire their relative power. Thomas, 15 years to attend the first day at Northampton and above all strengthen its centre by Henry’s senior, might have been his gave Henry the excuse he needed to reviving the royal rights and customs equal in intelligence and force of distrain his goods; at which point that had been eroded during Stephen’s character, but Henry was feudal Becket fled to France. anarchic reign. For this he needed an monarch by divine right. During the next six years of his exile efficient chancellor, a kindred spirit of In 1161 Archbishop Theobald died. the drama took on the form of a lethal like energy who could share his vision. While the see was still vacant a local chess game involving not just the Within a year, on Theobald’s family, the de Brocs, used this interval English church and its divided

10 Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk episcopacy but leading European the battle. Henry did penance; the ‘evil’ changing. Other eyes than theirs had players too. When diplomacy failed, clauses in the constitutions of the cathedral treasures in their sights. the weapons on the church side were Clarendon were annulled. Within 3 decades the monarchy would interdict and excommunication; on the And the war? Canterbury’s primacy, claim the final victory and Canterbury’s king’s side more brutal ones - arrest, challenged by bishop Roger of York fortunes would plummet. From being mutilation and execution. What when he crowned Henry’s son heir to a treasure-store of three and a half actually happened at the end had been, the throne, was never questioned again. centuries’ accumulated wealth, plunder if not foreseen, certainly feared by Thanks to the miracles, the pilgrim and the ban on pilgrimages would onlookers at Northampton. trade and the attraction of the cathedral reduce the city to ‘poverty, nakedness The knights who happened to be at as final resting place for those seeking and decay.’ [7]. the king’s court in Argentan in the saint’s protection, untold wealth December 1170 when Henry raged flowed in. Pilgrim inns, lodging houses against his followers for allowing him and monastic guesthouses sprung up [1] Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Everyman der Malerei. 10.000 The Yorck Project: Source: Meisterwerke Francke. by Meister Image: St Thomas & the men of Strood to be mocked by a low-born clerk, inside the city and along the roads edition, Dent 1953 p.254 nursed their own grudges. After leading to it, while the tourist trade in [2] M.D.Knowles: Archbishop Thomas Becket, a character study. The Raleigh crossing the Channel the murderous relics and souvenirs boomed. Lecture, British Academy 1949 p.14 gang joined Robert de Broc at Saltwood. In the early 1500s Erasmus and [3] Life and Death of Thomas Becket based It was the de Broc axe that shattered Dean Colet, visiting the shrine, saw it ~""'ƒ$ the party wall, enabling the marauders ‘crusted and buried in gold and jewels,’ clerk. Edited by George Greenaway. Folio to get into the archbishop’s hall [5]. evoking the following comment from Society 1961 p.44 When Thomas entered the cathedral Colet: ‘To what end are these fonts [4] Ibid. p.51 [5] Ibid. p.153 after his earlier confrontation with and candles and golden images…while [6] A.L.Smith: Erasmus, Lothian Essay, them, he knew exactly what would our brethren, who are living temples Clarendon Press 1864 p.45 happen. of Christ, are perishing of hunger?’ [6]. [7] William Lambarde: A Perambulation of Through his murder Becket had won Times – and perceptions – were Kent 1570

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter 11 East Farleigh Roman Buildings August 2010 Update Image: Open Day in August

The Maidstone Area Archaeological Group has been which ended its life as a kitchen. Construction appears to investigating a number of Roman buildings overlooking the be early third century and its original use is still open to River at Lower Gallants Farm, Lower Road, East speculation. Farleigh since 2005. This was initially reported in Newsletter The building consists of two rooms lying east/west, each no.76, with subsequent updates in no.79, no.82 and no.84. 4.5 metres square. These are surrounded on the north, east The foundations and south sides of Building 1 were by a 2.3 metre located by wide corridor. resistivity survey Just inside the and excavation in entrance 2005/6 uncovered between the two a domestic building rooms is a similar in plan to mortar scar on that reported in the floor, Smith’s Topography indicating the of Maidstone and position of a its Environs, 1839, quern. A large p57. During 2007 greensand quern a further four top stone broken contemporaneous into five pieces, non-domestic and half of a buildings second one, (Buildings 2, 3, 4 were scattered and 5) were found on the floor of about 40m to the southeast, where they were preserved this room (see Newsletter no.84, page 5). Also found was behind a lynchet with some walls remaining to a height of part of a millstone grit lower stone. The quern was adjacent over a metre. All the buildings appear to have been constructed to where two pots were found built into the floor last year. in the early to mid-third century, and demolished at the end The northwest corner of the room contained a stokehole- of the fourth century. like hearth consisting of a fire channel between two rows of Excavations this year have concentrated on Building 5, stone. This may have heated a cauldron placed over it. The

12 Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk LETTERS walls of the room contained evidence Berengrave Local Nature Reserve of the site from the early 1900s? of burning where small fires had Dear Editor I can be contacted on fraseen. been lit. Stake holes and daub I am a member of The Friends of [email protected]. indicated the position of a small Berengrave, whose function is to try Fraser Miller 350mm-diameter oven. Against the and keep the Berengrave Local Nature Vice-chairman Friends of Berengrave south wall a patched area of floor Reserve open to the public and produced a possible hoard of 130 investigate its history. The site is owned Sevington Court mid-fourth century copper alloy and managed by Medway Council as Dear Editor coins, ranging in size from 3mm to part of Riverside Country Park but due My mother is the direct descendent of 15mm diameter. Fifty coins were to cut backs has suffered some neglect, Robert Goulding of Sevington Court, 4mm in diameter, and these are hence the forming of our group. granted a coat of arms in 1617. The believed to date from 350-365 AD. We found a map dated 1934 of the coat of arms was ‘Argent a cross voided These coins are being studied by staff chalk pit which showed the layout of between four lions passant gules’. The at the British Museum. the wash ponds, light railway track and family appears to have moved to The east room produced a second a building. The site was started in 1911 Letcombe Regis in Berkshire, where oven, 700mm in diameter, located and sold in 1927 to another cement Robert’s only son, Henry, married in in the southeast corner opposite the company, which went bankrupt in 1630. 1.2 metre bread oven located last 1931 with the site being asset stripped We are trying to find out why they year. A common stokehole for these around 1934. We asked Medway were awarded the coat of arms (my ovens is under investigation. This Council for permission to try and mother is possibly the heiress to the stokehole built into the floor has left locate the building and other features coat of arms) and why they moved. the decayed mortared floor of the as the only visible items were eight Did they have a disagreement with the room covered in a sooty/ash deposit. concrete blocks and two wash ponds. king? Sevington Court was purchased The corridor has a mortar floor The building proved to have been a by Sir Radcliff, physician to James I on the north and east sides. The walls timber framed shed clad in cement from the Goulding’s. at the west end of the north corridor asbestos sheeting which had a concrete Robert Goulding senior lived at were plastered with a layer of op-sig floor laid after its construction and Sevington Court. Robert Goulding on a base coat of yellow mortar. This clearly shows the layout of the walls. junior (Henry’s father) was Mayor of had at some time been painted A 5ft-deep cement lined sump had also Maidstone in about 1620 and was one white. Nearby a small D-shaped been excavated which seems to have of the Maidstone jurats from 1617- alcove 600mm wide was located at housed the boiler and steam engine. 1621. He died in 1623, owning the floor level on the inner wall. We have recovered some of the smaller lease of Allington Castle and Longsole The external painted and cast-iron artefacts (listed on www. Park. He left a widow, his fourth wife decorated render previously located friendsofberengrave.btck.co.uk) but Mary, and Henry, not quite 21. Henry was proved to cover the whole of the none of these carries any makers name was therefore cared for by his uncle outside of the west wall. or patent numbers. The largest piece Henry Goulding, (Robert Goulding An Open Day held on the 1st is a single cylinder water pump which junior’s brother) who lived in Dover. August as part of the Festival of had been repaired during service and I think the whole family had British Archaeology attracted over was not sold during the stripping of connection with the Virginia Company 300 people to the site. the site, this also has no I.D. The pump and America’s first settlements. There Excavations will continue until is in the compound at Riverside is a reference to a Robert Goulding the beginning of October, when the Country Park. being the Treasurer of the Inner Temple site will be backfilled. We had a visit from Jim Preston in in London in 1598. This certainly fits July 2009 who gave us some ideas as with the family history. to how these plants worked. It might If you are able to provide any help our investigations if any KAS information, please email samantha@ members have done similar work on samanthalee.co.uk the local cement industry, common in On behalf of Mrs Lee (formerly the Medway area. Do any pictures exist Golding)

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter 13 LiDAR survey pulses lasers from a plane to the ground. The resulting data can be modelled to produce a landscape stripped of vegetation, revealing the landscape’s topography and archaeological features usually obscured by woodland.

These images of Homestall show (left) the Digital Surface "$ the lasers which looks similar to an aerial photo, and (right) the Digital Terrain Model, the last return of the lasers, showing the complex of previously hidden earthworks.

Homestall Wood Earthworks, ,

A recent comprehensive LiDAR survey Brent had also reported a find of iron remarkable since the banks and ditches of The Blean, to the north and west of fire-dogs and had assumed that all the here appear to surround a prominent Canterbury, carried out for The Blean finds from gravel- digging had derived hill, overlooking Bigbury to the south Initiative, has revealed previously from Roman graves since he was and Harbledown to the south-east, with unknown earthworks both west and unaware of any earthworks on what he the Stour valley and the Tonford manor north of Bigbury Camp. Kent Wildlife termed Bigberry Hill. It was R. C. crossing beyond. At its foot to the Trust now own and manage several Hussey who, thirteen years later, south is the line of the Roman road woodlands in the area and, supported recognised the defences and published into Canterbury. Springs feed streams by a Heritage Lottery Grant, were the an excellent plan of the ‘British around the base of the hill to the north key funders of the project. Additional Settlement in Bigbury Wood’, marking and east and one stream rises within contributions from Kent County the findspot of the ironwork within the area. The apparent earthworks Council, Canterbury City Council, the the southern defence line (Hussey enclose an area of approximately 800m Woodland Trust and the Forestry 1874). Hussy also expressed surprise east-west by 550m north-south, Commission enabled the survey to be that the significance of the site had not approximately 35 Ha, the circuit extended across The Blean. This note been recognised since it lay in ‘a district perhaps 2.2km in length. Other works concerns particularly an extensive referred to by several writers as the extend over an additional 40 Ha to the enclosure first noted by Neill Morris, supposed scene of some of Caesar’s south and west into Willows Wood, a one-time warden for KWT, in most vigorous military operations’. As these features slighter than the Homestall Wood, immediately north he commented ‘readiness in the use of Homestall Wood enclosure. In plan of the presumed line of Roman Watling the pen is not always accompanied by the main earthwork is approximately Street at Upper Harbledown and 1.5km a taste for topographical explorations an oval, following the contour of the north of Bigbury Camp. in woods and byeways’. hill, with the more rounded end to the It is salutary to remember that as It seems that since then there still west. Where most prominent on the late as the mid-nineteenth century the has not been sufficient exploration in west and north-west, the main earthworks of the now-famous Bigbury the extensive woodlands surrounding earthwork consists of a bank 9m wide Camp had not been recognised, the Bigbury to exhaust its potential for and an external ditch 6m wide, first recorded finds here being the iron hidden surprises and that other measuring approximately 2-3m from agricultural tools, iron tire and horse earthworks remain undiscovered. The the peak of the bank to the base of the bit recovered by John Brent in 1861. Homestall Wood site is particularly ditch. The general impression is of a

14 Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Kent by Christopher Sparey-Green, Canterbury Archaeological Trust

once substantial earthwork, the bank section and may have served as almost an outpost, overlooking the river heavily eroded and the ditch heavily boundaries to the woodland on that crossing and linking with the earthworks silted. side. extending west into the south Blean. The eastern side of the enclosure, The only finds from the area are The Homestall Wood site deserves towards the valley that separates the some sherds of Late Iron Age pottery further study which would allow a site from Stock Wood and Rough recorded by Frank Jenkins as found proper comparison with the rest of the Common, appears to be breached in close to the line of the Roman road to extensive earthworks in the South Blean two places, one coinciding with the the south. and at Bigbury Camp. If this is part course of a stream, the other with more While some of these earthworks of a single prehistoric earthwork substantial earthworks flanking a may relate to medieval and later complex then it would be analogous causeway leading into the enclosure. woodland management, the scale of to the largest Iron Age oppida in The outer extensions of the flanking the main enclosure suggests a major Britain. The historical context of such banks were especially prominent as if boundary of earlier date, defining the a site must also be considered, since, defensive features in the outer part of hilltop with a bank and ditch, once of as Hussey first suggested, the Bigbury an entrance. substantial proportions but now heavily complex should be considered as the Within the enclosure, near the eroded and silted. At present these woodland stronghold described in summit of the hill towards the western earthworks are undated but they seem Julius Caesar’s commentaries as the end of the interior, is a more clearly out of scale with normal woodland object of an assault early in the defined rectangular enclosure, its bank enclosures or deer park boundaries. campaign of 54BC. The identifying and ditch slighter than the main They are more comparable to prehistoric of archaeological sites with events earthworks. Much of the circuit lies earthworks, in the form of the boundary recorded by historical sources is within woodland and appears unrelated and the hilltop location. In scale this notoriously difficult, in view of the to the present layout of the parcels of enclosure has a circuit considerably different forms of evidence and the tree cover. Only on the south-west does greater than Bigbury Camp, its location numerous possibilities for mis- the earthwork coincide with the present suggesting it served as a pair to that interpretation, but the scale of these woodland limits; here at least it serves earthwork, but set back further from earthworks reinforces the case for as a wood bank. The slighter outer the river. Bigbury appears, then, as Bigbury, Homestall Wood and the works on the hillside above Harbledown only an element within a previously other earthworks as being the object village are more sharply defined in cross un-recognised defensive complex, of this campaign.

www.kentarchaeology.org.uk - Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter 15 Heritage Asset Information Management in Kent - A new project

n March 2010 the government introduced a new planning policy Istatement called PPS5. This new policy replaced the older policies, PPG15 and PPG16, which had underpinned how historic buildings and archaeological sites had been managed in the planning system. One consequence of the new policy affects databases of information about historic sites, called Historic Environment Records (HERs, formerly known as Sites and Monuments Records). The Kent HER, maintained by Kent heritage sites, and more accessible. It support information-gathering projects County Council and available online needs to become the ‘one stop shop’ and help ensure that people or at www.kent.gov.uk/HER, has to for people looking for information organisations using this information become more comprehensive, storing about the heritage of Kent, can have the widest access possible. The information on a wider range of whether they want information on project is due to finish in March 2011. aarchaeological sites, artefacts, In the last few weeks, most local historich buildings (whether listed history and archaeology groups in Kent oro not) or historic landscape should have been sent a small information.in questionnaire in which we asked them To help the HER develop in to tell us about their information- thist way, Kent County Council gathering projects. Responses have hash won a small grant from included information on a range of EnglishE Heritage to develop a set projects including carrying out surveys ofo guidelines for the management of historic gravestones, producing lists ofo heritage information in Kent. of buildings of local character and WWe are working with Maidstone researching information on historic anda Gravesham Borough buildings in conservation areas. CouncilsC and the Campaign for If any group has not been contacted tthe Protection of Rural England in this way Kent County Council (Kent Historic Buildings would be very grateful to hear from Committee) to try to understand them so that we can get a fuller picture better what heritage information of what kind of information people are is being collected and what it is gathering. used for. This will help us to For more information please contact expand the HER and keep it up Paul Cuming at paul.cuming@kent.

Images: Volunteers recording heritage information to date, produce new ways to gov.uk or call 01622 696918.

If undelivered, please return to The editor wishes to draw attention to the fact that EDITOR: LYN PALMER ]'"$€~}$ neither she nor the Council of the KAS are answerable 55 Stone Street, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2QU Hildenborough, Tonbridge, Kent TN11 9HD for opinions which contributors may express in their Telephone: 01892 533661 Email: evelyn.palmer@ signed articles, each author is alone responsible for virgin.net or [email protected] Copy deadline for the next issue is 1st December 2010 the contents and substance of their work.

16 Winter 2010 - KAS Newsletter - www.kentarchaeology.org.uk Published by the Kent Archaeological Society, Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Gallery, St Faith’s Street, Maidstone, Kent. ME14 1LH.