SurreyDiscovering,R Heritage Preserving, Celebrating R

www.surreycc.gov.uk

Making a better place Contents Welcome from Pat Reynolds 3

Stewards of the past: uncovering and preserving Surrey’s heritage 5

Spreading the word, forging partnerships 13

Supporting communities, enriching lives 19

Celebrating diversity, revealing hidden histories 23

Looking to the future: working with young people 27

To the ends of the earth: digital developments 31

Front cover image: Home educated children discovering the delights of Roman food Left: Bramley church looking east, watercolour by Edward Hassell, 1828, SHC: 8877/2/357 2 Welcome from Pat Reynolds

Surrey Heritage unites Surrey County Council’s expertise in discovering, Among the developments in 2011 which you can learn more about in the preserving and celebrating our County’s amazing history. We are based following pages are the community archaeology excavation of the site of at in Woking where the written memory of our Woking Palace; the deposit of a magnificent collection of papers relating County – archives and rare books – as well as maps, engravings, sound to the notorious pub bombings; the celebration throughout recordings and digital records is stored on more than six miles of the year of Surrey’s sporting heritage; and our partnerships with a host of shelving. These rich materials illuminate all aspects of Surrey’s past but other organisations to ensure Surrey’s past is treasured for everyone to be are also a major source for national and international history, as relevant inspired by. for people today as they will be for our successors, looking back on the cultural legacy of this Olympic year. Surrey Heritage is currently undergoing a public value review, which will set the direction of our work over the coming years. I am confident that Our skilled staff can help you to discover and use these historic materials it will enable us to develop and enhance our stewardship of our County’s and also protect and understand Surrey’s archaeology, historic buildings heritage, for the benefit of everyone. and artefacts. We provide impartial advice on all aspects of managing and preserving the County’s historic environment and offer high quality Dr. Pat Reynolds archaeological services to commercial and public sector clients. We Heritage Manager also provide a vital link with schools, colleges, museums and a wide range of partners to help you discover Surrey’s history and ensure that www.surreycc.gov.uk/surreyheritage the experiences of the County’s diverse communities are recorded and www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk preserved.

3 ‘You do such important work there. Without

your work nothing would be secured for future

Mrsgenerations, Bras, depositor it’s absolutely vital.’

Between April 2010 and March 2011 478 enthusiastic volunteers gave Surrey Heritage a spectacular 13,504 hours of their time 4 Stewards of the past: uncovering and preserving Surrey’s heritage

An ever-growing collection: new accessions to the archive bombings in October 1975 - Gerald Conlon, Paul Hill, Patrick Armstrong and Carole Richardson. Conlon’s testimony implicated his aunt Annie Maguire and her family and they were convicted in 1976. Two appeals The archive and local studies service, represented by our Public Services failed but profound questions remained about the safety of the verdicts and Stewardship and Preservation Teams, is a front line service that and police conduct during the investigation and the case was taken up rescues, preserves and makes accessible the documentary history of by Cardinal Basil Hume, Roy Jenkins, Merlyn Rees, and the Law Lords Surrey. In addition to the Four Star rating awarded us by The National Scarman and Devlin. In 1989 the verdicts were quashed and a public Archives, we were delighted to receive a 100% user satisfaction rating inquiry chaired by Sir John May revealed the depth of malpractice and in the national Survey of Visitors to British Archives in early 2011 and collusion among the authorities. Mr Logan was involved at every stage gratified, in March 2012, to be voted ‘Archive of the Year’ by readers of of the trials and appeals and the copious records he kept will be a key Your Family History Magazine. source for the legal battles and the wider events surrounding them. In 2011 we received 298 new accessions from external depositors With the approach of the Olympics, sporting organisations were (ranging from single documents to over 70 large file boxes) and well represented among depositors. The Surrey County Football 26 transfers from Surrey County Council departments. That is Association deposited records stretching back to 1897 and the Cyclists approximately 16 cubic metres. A full list of these accessions is on our Touring Club deposited papers documenting their activities since website. 1924. We were also delighted to receive the records of The Centurions walking club, established in 1911 for amateur walkers who had completed The largest deposit comprised papers accumulated by the solicitor 100 miles in 24 hours in competition. Their major event was the London Alastair Logan OBE, relating to the notorious case of the Guildford to Brighton and Back (104 miles) promoted every four years by the Four and Maguire Seven. The bombings of the Horse and Groom Surrey Walking Club. and the Seven Stars public houses in Guildford by the IRA took place on 5 October 1974. Five people died and at least sixty-five people were In a year of profound economic gloom, some accessions recalled earlier injured. Some 46 people were arrested and four were found guilty of the periods of crisis, when the very survival of the nation appeared to be

5 in question. The Godley Hundred Yeomanry was formed in 1803 by Edgell Wyatt when war with Napoleon’s France had broken out again and at a time when “everything which is dear to us is threatened with annihilation by the implacable enemy of mankind”. This troop of volunteer cavalrymen, decked out in dark blue, silver-trimmed uniforms, aimed to ensure domestic peace and thwart any invasion. A minute and account book document their activities through to their dissolution in 1824. In 1914, when Britain was again faced with global war, many large houses were requisitioned as temporary war hospitals. Clandon Park Military Hospital opened on 14 October 1914 and was equipped by Lord and Lady Onslow as a first line hospital, receiving casualties from the front and staffed by a matron, a theatre sister, five sisters in charge of wards, three staff nurses and members of the Voluntary Aid Detachment. Letters sent to Lord and Lady Onslow document the difficulties of running such an establishment. Local civilians were called on again when war broke out in 1939. Helen Lloyd (1899-1977) of Albury became Women’s Voluntary Service Centre Organiser in Guildford Rural District, overseeing the billeting of evacuated children and the reception of exhausted soldiers returning from Dunkirk. The ten volumes of her diary cover the years 1940 to 1945 and are particularly detailed for the period 1940-41 when the fear of invasion and the possibility of defeat haunted the country.

We have also been active in salerooms. In July, with assistance from Surrey Archaeological Society, Surrey History Trust and , we acquired two beautiful volumes of engravings, printed ephemera and original drawings and watercolours of Guildford and its environs, compiled by the bookseller Thomas Thorp of Guildford. In November, aided by the Friends of the National Libraries and Surrey History Trust, we purchased two 18th century surveys containing meticulous, hand drawn maps of the estates of the Clayton family of Marden Park in Woldingham, covering over 10,000 acres in eastern Surrey.

Guildford Bridge, watercolour by anonymous artist, c.1800, SHC: 8877/1/327 6 Archive conservation and preservation Our conservators have also repaired 52 maps relating to the implementation of the 1910 Finance Act. The Act was one of Lloyd George’s measures in his 1909 ‘People’s Budget’ to raise revenue through Ensuring the long term preservation of our collections is one of taxing increases in property value. Detailed maps and schedules were our chief concerns. Damaged documents are repaired by our skilled compiled recording owners, occupiers, property details and values – conservators so they can be consulted. Such work requires scientific rather like a 20th century Domesday Survey. The maps arrived from local knowledge of the composition of paper and other record media over the valuation offices having suffered from decades of rough handling and centuries and superb craft skills. Our work this year included the repair have required extensive repair. of the first male case book for the Manor Hospital in Epsom covering the years 1899 to 1901, which had been badly damaged by damp. The Repair is a long and costly process and much of our work is preventative, hospital was established by London County Council for care of the ensuring documents do not deteriorate. Good cleaning and packaging mentally disabled and this haunting volume includes photographs of is crucial, and volunteers play a large part. One volunteer has been patients. flattening and repackaging a superb, but tightly folded set of 19th century sale particulars of the Dorking auctioneers and valuers, White and Sons, and others have rebound a series of reports on the furnishings of Surrey churches by local groups of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies.

One of the great challenges facing archives internationally is preserving records in digital formats, when software and hardware become obsolete so quickly. This year we have begun working in partnership with The National Archives in a pilot project to preserve through the Internet Memory Foundation websites of significance for the history of the County.

Development control

Our Heritage Conservation Team plays a key role in development control across the county. One of the busiest teams in the UK, they provide expert advice to local authorities across Surrey on developments affecting Water damaged Manor Hospital male patients case book, 1899- archaeological sites and historic buildings and landscapes. In 2010-11, 1901, before and after repair, SHC: 6282/14/1

7 the team dealt with over 900 planning applications, and recommended ‘conditions’ on over 400 sites.

The Historic Environment Record (HER) continues to advise planning authorities and developers of the implications of proposed development. We have seen an increase in enquiries this year and received funding from Natural England for the SHINE 2012 project, which has enabled us to create more accurate maps of Surrey’s archaeological sites.

The implications of the new Planning Policy Statement no. 5: Planning and the Historic Environment, are still being assessed. For example, Tandridge District Council now requires all non-householder applicants for planning permission to consult the HER. This has increased our workload but greatly improved the protection of the Historic Environment.

Heritage Conservation Team Manager Dr Joe Flatman has recently published two books including references to his experiences at Surrey County Council that highlight the economic value of heritage to the community and the strategic leadership of Surrey Heritage. Becoming an Archaeologist: A Guide to Professional Pathways (Cambridge University Press, 2011) is a guide to careers in archaeology and has been voted Current Archaeology’s ‘Book of the Year’ for 2012. Archaeology in Society: Its Contemporary Relevance (Springer Press, 2012), explores the place of archaeology in the modern commercial world.

Staff from Surrey Heritage investigating human remains found at Fetcham 8 The Portable Antiquities Scheme In 2011 nearly 2000 archaeological finds, chiefly by metal detector users, were added to the Portable Antiquities Scheme’s database by Surrey’s Finds Liaison Officer. The number of Surrey finds recorded to date is nearly 8000, of which almost half are coins. Of these coins nearly 1400 are Roman. The year’s star find was a medieval seal matrix from Cobham, identified as the seal of the Augustinian Priory of St Mary and St Wulfad in Stone, Staffordshire, and now on display in Stone church. Comparison with a cast seal impression at the British Library showed that this originated from the Cobham matrix. Other finds from Surrey in 2011 have included a fine Late Bronze Age socketed axe from Wonersh and an interesting new site near Charlwood which has been producing Iron Age and Roman gold and silver coins. The seal of the Priory of St Mary and St Wulfad in Stone, Staffordshire. The impression held by the British Library is on the left, and the seal matrix from Cobham on the right.

The Archaeological Unit

Surrey County Archaeological Unit (SCAU)’s programme of development-led fieldwork in 2011 has primarily consisted of small scale evaluations or watching briefs across Surrey and its neighbours. This work was undertaken on behalf of clients in order to satisfy their requirements regarding planning permission. Excavation of a site near Bletchingley revealed that people in the Mesolithic period (8000-4000 BC) used the area as a frequent stopping place in their hunting expeditions and also uncovered remains of 12th century field systems obliterated by a new hunting park for the lord of the manor.

Iron Age gold quarter stater coin found at Charlwood It is vital that a full report is prepared of archaeological discoveries, and that wherever practical this is published so the knowledge gained can

9 be appreciated by the widest possible public. The highlight for SCAU in 2011 was the completion of a major monograph on prehistoric sites near Chertsey, the fourth volume in our own SpoilHeap Publications series. Other major reports made excellent progress, and the next two SpoilHeap monographs will be on the very rare and important Late Upper Palaeolithic sites at Church Lammas, Staines, and Wey Manor Farm, near Addlestone, and the Mesolithic site at Bletchingley, periodically visited over a scarcely imaginable period of around 4000 years. We also published a popular full colour account of the Woking Palace excavations.

Medieval pottery is commonly found in archaeological work and, because its forms and fabrics change frequently through time, it is the fundamental basis for dating periods of occupation. It is a complex subject and Phil Jones of SCAU is a widely recognised expert and has often assisted members of Surrey Archaeological Society to identify medieval pottery types, notably those uncovered during test-pitting around the villages and towns of Surrey. We have therefore created a fabric type series collection to assist independent identification and held two training sessions for Society members.

Wealden glass project

English Heritage commissioned SCAU to undertake surveys of medieval glass production sites in the Weald. Keen to involve the community in heritage projects, SCAU sought a group of volunteers to assist with surveying and processing and cataloguing the artefacts discovered. The project will further our understanding of the medieval glass industry of the Surrey and Sussex border. Thus far, we have investigated 19 suspected furnace sites using geophysical and topographic surveys and field walking and have accurately located several furnaces for the first time. The glass recovered was found to be from bottles, windows and the manufacturing process.

Local people taking part in the Woking Palace Archaeology project 2011 10 Woking Palace Archaeology Project (Old Woking) The team uncovered Tudor kitchens, the gatehouse and a lovely gold hatpin, set with precious stones (probably rubies) in a fleur-de-lys pattern of c1450-1550 which surely belonged to someone of very high status, A third season of excavation work at Woking Palace organised by SCAU, perhaps royalty. the Friends of Woking Palace and Surrey Archaeological Society (SAS), supported by Woking Borough Council, took place in July 2011. This A key part of the project was public involvement. Nearly 200 people, large moated site was the manor house of Woking soon after the manor including 50 children, had their first taste of life in an archaeological was granted to Alan Basset in 1189. During the next three centuries it trench and experienced at first hand the processes through which was occupied by royalty and those close to the throne, most notably Lady evidence of the past is obtained from the soil. Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII. In 1503 Henry VII made it a Palace, and it remained a royal house until 1620, when it was granted to Sir Edward Zouch, and soon after mostly demolished. Exceptionally ‘Thank you (and the team!) I had such a great afternoon. Eyes interesting remains include well-preserved moats, ruined and standing opened to the wonders of Tudor Surrey. Feel very privileged to structures, and fishponds. have been part of your dig. Will be watching the website to see what else you uncover!’

Local people taking part in the Woking Palace Archaeology project 2011

11 ‘Finally, on behalf of the Club, may I

thank you and your staff for all the hard and

painstaking work that you have done. We

are happy that our records are now in safe

hands, while I hope they will prove useful to

Mrother Graham researchers.’ Ashton, Thames Ditton Cricket Club

Our Heather D Hawker searchroom provides an ideal environment for the public to consult historical records. 12 Spreading the word, forging partnerships Using the collections ‘I’m writing to give my highest possible praise to the staff, and the holdings, of the Surrey History Centre. I depend upon the In 2011 6,000 people visited our public searchroom and looked at 26,749 reading room’s entire staff--for information, instructions and documents. advice. I have never worked in such a congenial environment, in which every staff person seems genuinely delighted to be We handled nearly 14,000 archive or local studies enquiries by phone, there; they are unfailingly generous and patient with each email or letter. Many people are researching their Surrey ancestors or tracing the history of their house or village but our rich collections have person who needs their assistance. The reading room is filled also been used for studies of early photography, Surrey artists, garden with people searching for all kinds of information--often about history, the planning of the M25, Surrey in wartime, 18th century musical their own families’ histories, and I have witnessed firsthand instruments and the experience of patients in county asylums. Some how profound an impact the collection has had on their enquiries, because they relate to sensitive and sometimes distressing lives. … the Centre has holdings of international, scholarly records, require particular care in handling. In 2011 we dealt with 260 significance, and a staff that knows those holdings inside and requests under the Freedom of Information Act (2000) and Data Protection Act (1998) for permission to access records relating to patients out--and makes them readily available. The future of my in Surrey’s mental hospitals, children in care and inquests presided over research--and that of many others--depends upon the Centre, by the county coroner. and I hope it continues to receive the support it deserves.’ Professor Susan Sidlauskas, New Jersey The expertise we can offer to family historians has been greatly enhanced by the success of Jane Lewis in obtaining a Diploma in Genealogical ‘I can’t thank your team enough for what you have done for Studies from Strathclyde University. Now a fully qualified genealogist, Jane regularly trains her colleagues in the latest online genealogical me by sending all the copies of his name on the log books and material. his inquest. For me that was important. I never thought any of this information would ever be found after all these years.’ Mrs LJ about her late brother’s inquest.

13 Images and details of items from our collections appeared in many books, magazines, website, electronic media and exhibitions across the world

1,126,195 pages were viewed on 454,148 visits to our websites

We maintained a strong media presence with interviews on local radio, press features and contributions to television programmes such as ‘The Queen’s Hidden Cousins’ on Channel 4.

Our Outreach Work

Heritage helps people discover and value their local community and our extensive programme of talks, events and displays promotes learning and community cohesion.

In 2011 we gave 41 talks to local societies and took part in 207 events, ranging from the world’s largest family history event, ‘Who Do You Think You Are? Live’ at Olympia, to historical re-enactments of cricket, baseball, cycling and horse racing at venues across the county (about which more below).

RC Sherriff and Journey’s End: the man behind the play

The Great War inspired an outpouring of poetry and fiction, which still resonates today. The most famous British play inspired by the war is undoubtedly Journey’s End by Robert Cedric Sherriff, which depicts life on the Western Front with a realism based on his own experience with the 9th Battalion of the East Surrey Regiment. First performed in

Private Sherriff in uniform, shortly after enlisting, c.1916, SHC: 2332/Box 12 14 1929, with an unknown Laurence Olivier as Captain Stanhope, the play in Redhill from 1926 until 1935. It included recorded interviews with convinced audiences that they were being shown trench life as it really former pupils recounting happy memories of games, mischief and was. Sherriff ’s papers are among our most treasured collections. They friendship and the pain of growing up in a loveless and often harsh include his letters home from the trenches and scripts for the many environment and was accompanied by rare archive footage of everyday stage, screen and radio adaptations of his masterpiece along with his life in the Hospital. Transcripts of the interviews will soon be deposited later output as a major Hollywood scriptwriter, such as scripts for The with Surrey History Centre. Invisible Man, The Dambusters and Goodbye Mr Chips.

In Autumn 2011, David Grindley’s acclaimed production of Journey’s End came to The New Victoria Theatre, Woking. In a joint initiative with the theatre, Surrey Heritage produced a display revealing Sherriff ’s experiences as an officer in the East Surreys and how the horrors of life in the mud of Flanders directly inspired the play. The display, based at both Surrey History Centre and the theatre, was seen by over 7500 people.

Foundling Voices - the links between Surrey and the country’s oldest childcare charity

England’s oldest childcare charity, the Foundling Hospital, was the first purpose built home for children whose mothers were unable to care for their babies themselves because of poverty or social exclusion. The hospital, now children’s charity Coram, was established in Bloomsbury, by Royal Charter in 1739 by shipbuilder and philanthropist, Thomas Coram. He received support from many leading figures of the time, including William Hogarth and George Frederic Handel.

In Summer 2011 we hosted a fine exhibition based on the Heritage Lottery funded project ‘Foundling Voices’. The exhibition, seen by 1,983 people, explored Surrey’s links with the Hospital, which was based The Foundling Voices exhibition was in our foyer in May 2011.

15 Surrey History Centre is a winner!

A unique photograph from our archives won a national competition to capture ‘100 Images of Migration’, organised by The Guardian in partnership with The Migration Museum Project. The photograph, of around 1870, shows John Springfield of Guildford, a freed slave from Zanzibar. His extraordinary story caught the eye of judges Barbara Roche, former Minister for Immigration, Kwame Kwei-Armah, actor and playwright, Afua Hirsch, The Guardian’s legal correspondent, and Danny Sriskandarajah, director of the Royal Commonwealth Society. According to family legend, John was the son of a Zanzibar chief and was kidnapped aged 9 by Portuguese sailors. Rescued by David Livingstone, he served on HMS Victoria and was renamed. He preached against slavery in America but finally settled in Guildford with his wife, working as a bootmaker and teaching cobbling at the Guildford Mission Industrial School. He died in 1891 and is buried in Stoughton Road cemetery. For his full story see our Exploring Surrey’s Past website at http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/news/001009.html

Surrey Museums Month

Surrey Museums Month each April celebrates our 43 museums and galleries and promotes the outstanding events, family activities, workshops and exhibitions they offer all year. The 2011 theme was “A History of Surrey in 50 Objects,” inspired by the successful BBC and British Museum project. This highlighted ‘stars’ of our museums’ collections, reflecting significant moments, people, industry and discoveries whose impact not only shaped Surrey history but spread far beyond. Alongside a wide range of events and a family Treasure Trail competition, we recruited a previous heritage work experience student to

John Springfield of Zanzibar and Guildford, c.1870, SHC: 1714/1 16 conduct and edit video diaries of curators talking about their objects for One of the historic sporting landmarks celebrated was the baseball our website. Our launch event evening of speakers and a photographic game which the diarist William Bray of recorded as taking place exhibition was hosted by The Lightbox in Woking. on Easter Monday 1755, the earliest known manuscript reference to the sport. On Sunday 19th June 2011, a historic re-enactment of the match ‘Surrey Museums Month is such a great way of pulling us all took place at the Surrey Sports Park, alongside 2,400 competitors at the together and the object talks were fascinating.’ Surrey Youth Games. A team dressed in fine 1755 costumes, provided by Surrey Heritage, took on a team from the Guildford Mavericks, dressed P.Cox, Elmbridge Museum. in modern baseball kit.

Our Sporting Life and Surrey’s Sporting Life 2011 Other events staged through the year included a vintage women’s cycling event demonstrating the famous knickerbocker suits made famous by Lady Harberton’s daring stand for women cyclists; a re-enactment of The ‘Our Sporting Life’ and ‘Surrey’s Sporting Life 2011’ programme the 1775 match that changed the rules of cricket when Lumpy Stevens’s celebrated Surrey’s rich sporting heritage through a display and re- exceptional bowling resulted in the introduction of the third stump and enactments, and was awarded the London 2012 Inspire Mark. The ‘Our penny farthing races at Brooklands. Sporting Life’ display, part of a unique and ambitious national celebration of British sport organised by the Sports Heritage Network, was exhibited at 13 venues across Surrey.

Lord Coe with ‘Lady Harberton’ and Surrey Heritage staff at Box Hill, May 2011. Mrs Handa Bray, descendent of William Bray of Shere, Austin Playfoot, 1948 Olympic torch runner, with with the baseball teams, June 2011. Chairman of the Council, Mrs Lavinia Seeley, at Box Hill, May 2011.

17 ‘The course was really interesting and I learnt

a lot of new skills. A great deal of thought

had been put into the course packs and the

organisation of the course, and it was very

well run. The staff were really friendly and

helpful.’ Anonymous comment from a volunteer on a Sayers Croft training day.

Our volunteers provide invaluable help in sorting, cataloguing and packaging our collections. 18 Supporting communities, enriching lives

Volunteering Robert Peel, serving as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Tory governments of the Duke of Wellington, 1828-30, and Peel, 1841- 46, and his letters are full of political intrigue and indiscreet gossip. Between April 2010 and March 2011 478 enthusiastic volunteers gave • A fine series of building control plans submitted to Dorking Urban Surrey Heritage a spectacular 13,504 hours of their time, some in Surrey District and Dorking and Horley Rural District Councils between History Centre, others on site or at home. They include retired people, 1937 and 1969. unemployed people, disabled people, students and employed people • 6,675 photographs of Surrey’s historic buildings accumulated by the looking to enrich their spare time. For some, volunteering provided a County Council. way to develop skills for a future phase of life, such as a change of job or a return to employment; for students and young people it provided invaluable training and experience. Many of the finding aids the volunteers have helped us to prepare are now accessible on our website, including indexes to Chertsey Poor Law The quantity of incoming archives places a considerable strain on our Union admission and discharge books, 1894-1932, Godstone Poor law cataloguing resources and (like almost every county record office) we Union application and report books, 1869-1915, and admission registers have a backlog of uncatalogued accessions dating back many years. Our to the Royal Philanthropic Society’s School at Redhill, 1788-1906. volunteers provide invaluable help, tackling priority accessions or adding detail to existing catalogues of documents with rich and varied content Volunteers coordinated by Surrey History Trust have also completed such as letters and diaries. a superb database detailing the cases of over 20,000 people hauled up before the magistrates of the Surrey Court of Quarter Sessions for a Collections catalogued by volunteers in 2011 include: very wide range of offences between 1780 and 1820. The data is now • Papers accumulated by the court of Quarter Sessions in the years available on CD with an introduction to the work of the court and a to 1828. They include witness statements relating to criminal name index of the 54,208 defendants (and aliases), accusers, victims and cases, often resulting in the offender’s transportation to Australia, witnesses. All human life will be found on the CD. Examples range reports on the condition of the county’s prisons and papers relating from the case of William Baker, aged only 15, who was sentenced to to appeals against orders to remove paupers from one parish to transportation to Australia for seven years in 1820 for stealing a pair of another. stockings, to William Winter, a particularly zealous magistrate, who in • Letters written by the politician Henry Goulburn (1784-1856) of 1783 committed 13 women for being ‘common night walkers and picking Betchworth to his wife, Jane. Goulburn was a close friend of Sir

19 up men and committing other acts of lewdness’. The CD is already proving to be a major resource for Surrey’s family and social historians.

Volunteers with the HER team have continued to enhance the database entries relating to the 1939-1945 bomb damage archive, further aircraft crash sites and site condition information on pillboxes along the General Head Quarters (GHQ) line across the county. Other regular volunteers help process finds and samples from projects undertaken by SCAU. Work this year has included finds from the Hatch Furlong project, excavation of a cremation urn from Flexford and work on samples from a site near .

Community Archaeology

Public involvement in Surrey’s archaeology is an important part of the work of the Archaeological Unit, allowing people to learn archaeological techniques and providing an opportunity for hands-on digging. The Wealden Glass project and Woking Palace dig, described above, included community involvement as did the Preston Manor dig, featured in last year’s review, but much else has been happening. The ‘Digging Surrey’s War’ project investigated the hidden air raid shelters at Sayers Croft, Ewhurst, an evacuation centre built in 1939 for students from Catford Central Boys School in London. The project was organised in the summer of 2011 by Paul Bowen (SCC Youth Development) and David Quorroll (Sayers Croft), with SCAU providing the archaeological expertise. Over 100 local children took part, with a further 40 families involved in the Basic Archaeological Skills training, and 350 visitors on the open day. The children learned about life in World War II by completing a History Trail and descending into one of only two remaining bomb shelters on site to brave the Sayers Croft Air Raid Experience. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYxRk8t0jSk

Schoolchildren in the air raid shelter at Sayers Croft 20 Also in the summer, the KuTAS Hogsmill Project was organised by the local youths from around Kingston and Surbiton. The metal detecting Archaeological Society, to study the history of survey attracted young and old alike and finds included a lead token, a the Hogsmill River at Southwood Activity Centre. The volunteer team musket ball, and a pendant with a sundial and French lettering that may was supported by professional archaeologists from SCAU and Reading have a military connection. University. Most of the fieldwork was undertaken by scouts and other

Volunteers at the Hogsmill Project, summer 2011

21 Addressing the Stigma of Mental Illness

Surrey was once home to many mental hospitals due to its proximity to London and its healthy climate. We rescued many of their historic records when the institutions closed in the 1990s and we are using these records to engage with mental health users in discovering the history and heritage of hospitals such as Brookwood and Netherne.

In the ‘Looking Around Us’ project (funded by Renaissance), members of Woking Mind visited Surrey History Centre and five museums to explore what is freely available to them. We provided simple ‘point and shoot’ cameras and after some basic tuition asked the group to photograph what interested them, encouraging them to look more closely at what is to be found at Surrey History Centre and other heritage sites. With funding from Paralympics Accentuate and The Collections Trust, Surrey Heritage has also been recording the experiences of people who worked in some of Surrey’s hospitals from the 1940s to their closure, a time of great upheaval as patients moved from institutions to care in the community. Transcripts of the interviews will be added to the archive and extracts will appear on Exploring Surrey’s Past website http://www. exploringsurreyspast. org.uk.

The thrill of touching the past at Guildford Museum

Members of Woking Mind handling the finds with the curator at Shere Museum 22 Celebrating diversity, revealing hidden histories Woking Ahmadiyya Muslim Community - ‘Love for all, hatred display for Woking Inter-Faith Week in November, seen by 1,597 people. for none’ Entitled ‘Qur’an, Islam and a message of Peace’, the display gave an insight into Qur’anic teaching, the history of Islam and the Ahmadiyyat and featured over 30 translations of the Qur’an. Surrey Heritage has a long established relationship with Woking’s Muslim community through the Shah Jahan Mosque, the oldest purpose-built ‘Masha’ Allah! Beautiful exhibition, very inspiring for the mosque in England. However, there are several different branches of Islam in the county and to ensure this is reflected in our holdings, Muslim Community’. our Collections Development Archivist approached the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community (AMC). The community’s first overseas mission was established in the UK in 1913, originally based at the Shah Jahan Mosque. However, following a split in the community, the Fazl London Mosque was built in 1924 and there are now branches across the UK. The community’s Baitul Futuh Mosque in Morden, built in 2003, is the largest purpose-built mosque in Western Europe, accommodating over 4,000 worshippers. In May 2011, as part of Surrey Heritage’s ongoing commitment to community engagement, eight members of staff visited this astonishing building with representatives of the Woking AMC.

The Woking branch has now deposited its records with us, including publications, newsletters and Qur’anic literature published in Surrey, as well as a fine collection of recordings of Friday prayers, sermons from The Arch Community Centre, Woking, and video footage of community events. To nurture this new relationship, the Woking AMC supplied a

Mr Ahmad Syed of Woking Ahmadiyya Muslim Community with the display

23 Working with the Gypsy and Traveller Community

Our project, funded by the European Commission’s Culture programme, to work with partners from Germany, Slovenia, Greece and Romania to develop a network of heritage organisations and representatives of Gypsy and Traveller Communities has continued. Each country is organising events showcasing Roma culture that will lay the groundwork for a Roma Route of Culture and Heritage, supported by the Council of Europe. One aspect of the Roma Routes project is to carry out research into the Gypsy Roma Traveller artefacts and archives which are held in UK museums. We are already learning about some fascinating collections; some are well known but others we are hearing about for the first time.

We organised a Gypsy Display at the Epsom Derby on 4 June 2011 to promote the culture and history of Gypsies and Travellers at the famous race-meeting. It included traditional Gypsy wagons, modern trailers, children’s activities, history displays and advice on tracing Gypsy ancestry. Surrey County Council Chairman Lavinia Sealy opened the stage, stressing how such events ‘break down barriers between communities’. We worked with Surrey Arts and Rhythmix to showcase a variety of Romany artists: Kerieva with their modern electronic interpretation of songs in the Romani language; The Romany Diamonds, a family of performers spanning three generations, who played their fast and exciting music; and the guitarist Cristofe Sors. The ‘Travellers Got Talent’ South East heats also entertained the crowds.

24 Gypsy display at the Epsom Derby, June 2011 Celebrating the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT ) preserved as part of the LGBT archive. An article praising the project Community has been published in Citizenship magazine. Youth workshops and school information packs for use in history and citizenship lessons are now being developed. The group contributed to events for Holocaust It is vital we represent all sectors of society and we have continued our Memorial Day and Gay Surrey’s IDAHO (International Day against work to uncover the stories of the county’s LGBT community. For Homophobia) celebrations at County Hall, where they were thrilled to be LGBT History Month in 2011, we mounted a display which included named winners of the Gay Surrey Heart of Equality award. more about Surrey LGBT icons Dirk Bogarde, Edward Carpenter and Ethel Smyth. Further details of our LGBT projects can be seen at www. exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/subjects/diversity We have also worked with the ‘Out, Loud & Proud!’ Youth Group supervised by Nikki Parkhill and Gemma Rutter from Surrey’s Youth ‘I feel now that people have taken notice of our work and are Development Service. They have been exploring the impact of World War II and the holocaust on the LGBT community. Extraordinary taking us seriously’. fundraising activities throughout 2011 allowed the young people to Sian visit Krakow, and Auschwitz-Birkenau and their experiences will be

Out, Loud & Proud with Gino Meriano of Gay Surrey, International Day against Homophobia, County Hall, May 2011

25 ‘Being able to see, touch and discuss actual

items from the war, is truly inspiring.’

‘Probably the best workshops we have ever

been on – more please!’ Comments from parents

Home educated children discovering the delights of Roman food 26 Looking to the future: working with young people Schools tours of the Centre to Looked After Children and their carers to help them better understand their heritage and are now seeking funds for a larger project that will help to develop a sense of place, identity and Surrey Heritage works closely with teachers to show how the County’s heritage for children in care. heritage can complement the curriculum and our local history source packs and archaeological loan boxes were used by local schools The theme for Surrey’s Looked After Children’s summer party in 2011 throughout the year, with particular favourites being those relating to was the Olympics. We took along a display on the past Olympic Torch World War II and the 1948 Olympic Torch Route. We continue to drive Relay race through Surrey and talked to foster carers and adoptive museum education forward in Surrey by ensuring that all those involved parents about the range of events and activities that Surrey Heritage puts meet regularly to develop skills and programmes, have a presence at on. school network meetings and feed into national initiatives such as the ‘Kids in Museums’ manifesto. Out of term time, our regular school holiday activities have continued and grow in popularity. Home education

Working with Surrey’s Looked After Children During autumn 2011 Surrey Heritage provided educational workshops to a group of 30 home educated children. The multi-disciplinary sessions, with staff from across Heritage and Surrey Museums, focused on World Embracing the County Council’s role as the corporate parent we are War II, including rationing, air raid shelters, evacuation, the Home Guard now working closely with colleagues in Children and Families. We have and Women’s Voluntary Service, and gave children an opportunity to read created a simple guide on using Surrey History Centre’s resources in Life original records, handle artefacts and find out about the archaeological Story Work, a government requirement for each child in care, and have legacy of the war. identified ways in which we can make this work easier for already very busy colleagues in social care. We have also offered behind the scenes

27 Work Experience, Apprenticeships and Placements

Surrey Heritage offers regular work experience placements for schoolchildren, A-level students and undergraduates to prepare for the workplace and help them gain employment. The broad scope of our service provides the ideal environment for training in a wide range of careers across the heritage sector.

Alex Egginton came to Surrey History Centre for a placement when at school. Inspired, she went on to take a BA degree in Archaeology and an MSc in Archaeological Computing and recalls “the opportunity to complete work experience here, provided a brilliant introduction to the varying job roles related to the preservation and communication of local history. It was the spark for a long-term interest in the use of digital methods for recording, managing and communicating heritage data.” She has now joined the staff as a temporary Historic Environment Record Assistant (HERA).

In 2011 two undergraduates from Kingston University’s history department spent several weeks preparing listing photographs from the former Netherne mental hospital at Coulsdon and the glass plate negatives of patients at the Royal Earlswood Asylum at Redhill, learning in the process about archive preservation and cataloguing.

In 2010 we appointed an apprentice as part of Surrey County Council’s apprenticeship scheme. The two-year apprenticeship enables a young person not in education, employment or training to achieve a NVQ level 3 qualification in Cultural and Heritage Venue Operations. Our apprentice has been particularly involved in outreach work, helping with family activities, poster design and promotional mailshots. Placements

Netherne mental hospital, Coulsdon, c.1960, SHC: 6376/12/4/1/5 28 in museums and in the County Council’s Communications Team have broadened his skills and understanding.

Our Heritage Conservation Team and Archaeological Unit also benefited from an Institute of Archaeologists Heritage Lottery Funded ‘Workplace Learning Bursary’ placement for a year. The placement provided training in the role of archaeology in the planning process, and provided opportunities to respond to enquiries to the Historic Environment Record and also undertake some fieldwork and finds evaluation.

Community Archaeology was also boosted by a year long Heritage Lottery Funded ‘Workplace Learning Bursary’ placement, made by the Council for British Archaeology, recognising our particular expertise in this expanding field. The trainee was involved in all aspects of the role, notably organising and delivering courses for children and helping provide training and support at fieldwork projects such as Sayers Croft and Woking Palace.

Our apprentice played a key role with our education and outreach work

29 ‘A great website and easy to navigate. I

really like how interactive the website is and

that people can add themes.”’

Jessica Hogan-Smith, Project Officer, Infrastructure Network for Disability Information South East

30 To the ends of the earth: digital developments Exploring Surrey’s Past The website also allows us to create online exhibitions so that our travelling and foyer displays can continue to be enjoyed by people across the globe. Subjects of displays in 2011 have included the topographical The ever more popular Exploring Surrey’s Past website watercolours of the artists John and Edward Hassell (http://bit.ly/ (http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/) offers a collection of searchable xuWIxo); the 650th anniversary of the creation of the office of Justice general interest information and databases from the county archives, Historic of the Peace, one of the cornerstones of the UK legal system (http:// Environment Record and local museums and history societies. It showcases bit.ly/yz6AiM); the 1948 Olympic Torch Run through Surrey (http://bit. information about Surrey related themes and projects. ly/hlDMnV); and a History of Surrey in 50 Objects for Surrey Museums 2011 2010 % Increase Month (http://bit.ly/wukkHk). Visits 315,860 200,708 57 Users 275,597 169,620 62 Page Views 738,648 623,706 18 ‘I’m honoured and feel very proud that you have uploaded Countries/territories 177 168 a picture of my late father [Mr R J Turner, 1948 Torch Bearer (Walton A.C.)] on to your website, and very The website allows visitors to comment on what they find, offering impressive it looks too along with the other photos.’ additional information or correcting a mistake. Our catalogue of Sue Hammond research papers relating to the Surrey builder, W G Tarrant (1875-1942) inspired this typical observation; Linking archives and archaeology, interactive maps have also been created to demonstrate the Saxon and medieval origins of Surrey’s churches and ‘Our ‘family home’ from 1978 to 1992 was in Ellesmere Road illustrate locations of castles in Surrey. Clickable links enable browsers (in one of the timber semidetached cottages at the end of to explore the origins of individual churches and castles through the road) and I have always been intrigued about the Tarrant information in the Historic Environment Record and other links take properties. I am so pleased that this has been documented browsers to information on the parishes, towns and villages, the parish and take my hat off to the level of research that has been records held in the archives at Surrey History Centre and the amazing 19th century John and Edward Hassell watercolours. (http://bit.ly/ undertaken ..... Many many thanks for this brilliant work!’ wda9wN and http://bit.ly/wQ3My2)

31 Twitter and Facebook

Surrey Heritage has also begun to explore the exciting new opportunities for communication with our public that social media offers. In April 2011 we launched a Twitter account @SurreyHeritage, to share news about our work and talk to new and existing users. We now have nearly five hundred followers and on 9 June 2011 participated in #AskArchivists day, an international Twitter event to advertise the work of archives. Over 140 organisations participated and Surrey Heritage fielded questions such as ‘How do you decide what records you keep?’, ‘What is your favourite record?’ and ‘What is the best way to store paper documents?’

Our Twitter account has now been joined by the Surrey Heritage Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/surreyheritage, an ideal showcase for our activities.

SURCAT

We are always looking to improve access to our holdings, through cataloguing and providing online access to digital images of documents or to indexes. A major development in 2011 was the migration of our existing catalogue data into a system called CALM, specially SURCAT: Surrey History Centre’s online catalogue of archive holdings

The Surrey Tithe Records project has created digital images of the county’s large tithe maps. This detail of the 32 Haslemere tithe map of 1842 shows the town centre. SHC: 864/1/81 designed for the creation and online publication of archive catalogues. been prepared for each parish and can be consulted in our searchroom Archivists at the Centre have been wrestling with the intricacies of the or purchased. The project has revolutionised access to one of the most new software, used by record offices all over the country and far more fundamental 19th century sources for local, economic, social and family powerful than the previous software we used. It also allows us to add historians. images to catalogue descriptions. The new public web interface is named SURCAT (see http://www.surreyarchives.org.uk/Calmview/). ‘It was very interesting to be involved in such a project and I can only imagine how much work you had to put in to Surrey Tithe Records Project organise all of this. A phenomenal effort so very well done’

A major event of 2011 was the completion of our Surrey Tithe Records ‘This is an exceptional archive service offering great value and project. This partnership with Surrey Wildlife Trust and Surrey public service. One of the best in the country. Well done Archaeological Society was inspired by the need for the Wildlife Trust to Surrey County Council.’ consult the parish tithe maps and apportionments to revise the inventory of ancient woodland surviving in the county. Highly detailed maps Anonymous comment by a respondent of the Survey of Visitors to survive for almost every Surrey parish, drawn up in the 1840s, when tithe British Archives in February and March 2011. payments to the church were converted into money payments under the 1836 Tithe Act. Funding from several sources enabled us to digitise the maps and a team of volunteers, mainly working at home, transcribed the tithe apportionments for each parish which list all the landowners and occupiers of the plots shown on the maps and record land use, acreage and the amount of tithe payable. CDs containing the map, navigational software and the transcript of the apportionment have Viewing a tithe district in the searchoom

33 Above: W F Baker winning the Surrey Walking Club London to Brighton Walk, Sep 1928. SHC: 8923/3/1/139 Right: The south prospect of Flower House, part of the Clayton family estates, Godstone: Surveyed by William Chapman 1761. SHC: 8948/1

34 Right: Original watercolour showing Womens’ Voluntary Service office with an officer on the telephone to her husband, who is cooking supper at 11.30 pm. Part of the personal papers of Helen Lloyd of Albury, SHC: 1532/9/1

35 Created by the Communications Design Team. 05.12.AS.CS2294.