Reports on the Year 1984

Proc. Hampsh. Field Club Archaeol. Soc. 41, 1985, 289-296. REPORTS ON THE YEAR 1984 THE FIELD CLUB Secretary's Report Proceedings. The whole affair illustrated, once 1984 was a relatively quiet year for me, as the again, that the running of the central main burdens fell on others. As usual, there administration rests in too few hands. were four Council meetings, but meetings of A new combined newsletter was launched the Executive were discontinued after a single this year and was favourably received. Mr meeting. Attendances always fall when affairs Stagg, the Editor as well as our President, are going smoothly. The Annual General deserves great credit for it. Local History was Meeting was unusually early this year, on 18 over-represented because not enough material April, and was poorly attended as usual in was submitted by the other sections. Also, for spite of the provision of refreshments. No the first time, the New Forest Annual Report was major issues were raised and there were no distributed to all members. The reduced amendments to the Rules. The Secretary and format has kept expenses within bounds and Treasurer were re-elected and Mrs Clelford, has relieved sections of the main call on their Mr Rothery and Mr Surry were elected to resources. It is no longer necessary to make Council. The Annual Conference was again every event profitable, it was pointed out at the held separately, this time in September and September meeting of Council: sections organised by the New Forest Section: it was an should spend their grants and subsidise outstanding success. events, as far as possible, to maximise the The year began with the introduction of new benefit members receive for their subscriptions. Advance warning and the subscriptions. Members should also be advance circulation of those paying by bankers charged less than non-members. order had little effect, so most subscriptions 1984 is also the year before the Centenary were incorrect and required compensatory Year and preparations proceeded meth action by the Officers. In my absence at York, odically. At the "time-of writing, the Annual there was too much work for the Treasurer and Conference, AGM and OGS Crawford the new Membership Secretary: even the Memorial Lecture are planned; Miss Robinson appointment of Mr Hanna as Assistant is organising the Centenary Exhibition; Treasurer was not enough. Everybody, Proceedings will contain a centenary article by whether they had paid or not, received the Mrs Taylor and other related articles; the March posting; reminders were sent out late; sections arc preparing their own programmes; and some new members received nothing. and a school essay competition is being plan Only in July were the difficulties ironed out. ned. With limited resources, the Field Club Not surprisingly the Society lost members, cannot afford lavish junketings, but some of whom rejoined for 1985. Many Joint substantial sums have been assigned to make Members chose to subscribe as Ordinary 1985 a special year. Members rather than pay the new subscription Finally, the Society lost three longserving and most of those who resigned altogether former Officers, to whom we all owe a were Programme Members, who do not pay considerable debt: Mr R L P Jowitt, a former the full subscription. Income therefore fell less Secretary and President, Miss Frances Collins, than membership and it is still hoped to avoid a past Deputy-President, and Mr F Cottrill, for raising subscriptions again for four years: the many years Programme Secretary. upheaval caused is compelling here. Ironically, one effect of this chaos is that, for the first time Annual Conference at Cadland House, Fawley since 1980, a majority of members subscribe to On Saturday 29 September eighty members of 290 HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Tubbs recounted how invasion of spartina Society attended their annual conference at anglica in the 1930s, and its rapid recent Cadland House, seat of former President Mr regression, the revival of zostcra, and the Maldwin Drummond, whose family have advance of green algae had changed the cha owned the estate since 1772. The comfortable racter of the mudflats, encouraging the modern house, adorned with historic records proliferation of Brent geese and the decline of and pictures, standing in a timbered park, and waders. Intangible biological influences were overlooking the historic Solent, admirably supplemented here by the action of man, illustrated the theme 'Where the Forest Meets whose discharge of effluent encouraged algae the Sea'. and whose reclamation of 11 % of the Solent Mr Adrian Ranee reviewed the maritime basin had caused a rise in the sea level, halving importance of the Solent estuary, which is so the inter-tidal area by erosion of mudbanks, obvious in the twentieth century in Fawlcy and had thus rendered existing sea-walls Refinery, the site of the old Cadland House, in inadequate. the seaplane base at Calshot, and in the devel Whereas Mr Tubbs was anxious to protect opment of the hovercraft. All this originated in nature against further artificial threats, Mr the Roman need for a port of embarkation for Coughlan, a marine biologist employed by the the Seine and in the maritime invasion of CEGB, was concerned with the protection of Cerdic and his West Saxons, but for many man against the sea: zostcra clogged up power centuries only small ketches and other sailing stations, sea creatures could now bore even craft frequented the small ports and muddy into fibreglass, and large Korean sea-squirts creeks of the New Forest, admirably drawn for were colonising piles and sea-walls. These the charts of Adelard Cole by a member of the sea-squirts, American clams and spartina were audience. Always strategically important, the all immensely successful imports that were waterway became more easily protected with changing the biological and geological char the development of cannon and was fortified acter of the Solent basin. The reasons for against continental invasion by Henry VIII change were often unclear, but biological with a network of castles, of which Calshot — research was an essential preliminary to fur skilfully described by Mr Jude James - was ther development. one. Whether local residents welcomed such Like the sea-squirts and indeed Cerdic, the protection is doubtful, as the guns were only Drummonds were foreign invaders, who had once fired in anger — against English mur adapted to circumstances and had come to derers fleeing to France - and officers of HM stay. Supposedly originating with Attilla the Customs were liable to attack from local Hun, the Drummonds emerged in Scotland in smugglers. Nelsons Place was formerly called the thirteenth century as inventors of the Lazytown, because nobody worked during the caltrop, so effectively used against the English day: at night, however, they were active at Bannockburn and now a decorative motif on smugglers and poachers, varying their the carpets at Cadland House. Continuing maritime activities with forays against Squire their discomfiture of the English by supporting Drummond's coverts. " Only recently has the Old Pretender and the Young Pretender, Calshot Castle been dwarfed by hangars and two sons of the Jacobite Lord Strathallan become successively ancillary to the seaplane joined Drummonds Bank at Charing Cross base, modern coastal defences,, and the actually during the '45. These two prospered, activities centre. It illustrates admirably the bought Hampshire estates and built adaptation to circumstances that emerged as a Northington Grange and Cadland House. secondary theme of the conference. The Cadland estate, acquired in 1772, was Even the sea, it emerged, was not a constant landscaped by Capability Brown, and the factor. Focussing on the inter-tidal zone and, existing house contains portraits by Zoflany in particular the vast mudbanks, Mr Colin and china by Wedgwood, all of whom banked REPORTS ON THE YEAR 1984 291 with Drummonds! The original, modest man more common than villas and probably sion cost the enormous sum of £19,309 but agriculturally more significant: we need to subsequent generations, dazzled by their excavate more sites like Owlesbury before we noble connections, expanded it to truly tackle any more villas or hillforts. unmanageable size, even though there was no The site was occupied continuously from the bathroom until 1926. They moved to the fourth century BC to the fourth century AD. It existing house in 1935 and the old one was originated as a 'banjo' enclosure, like those at demolished to make way for Fawley refinery in Bramdean and Micheldever Wood, and was the 1940s. That the historic family will associated with coarse hand-made pottery, continue was forcibly demonstrated, when the post-holes and storage pits. In a second phase, youngest member impeded his father's perhaps about 100 BC, ditched trackways were account of the family history! laid out and about 50 BC there is evidence of The first Drummond of Cadland also built a extensive trading contacts. Dating from these cottage orne for recreation. The surrounding phases there arc a few prestige finds, 15 acres were landscaped by Capability Brown indicating the presence of some wealthy with the same range of views to be found at his individuals. Little was changed at first by the infinitely larger Blenheim Park. This was not Roman conquest, but the abandonment of the appreciated by subsequent Drummonds, who ditches and, c 130/140 AD, changed burial preferred their steam yachts, but fortunately customs, suggest changed agricultural did not destroy the original, increasingly practice and increased reliance on a servile overgrown, plan. Guided by Brown's original male labour force. Prestige articles ceased to plan,- the Drummonds have now cleared the occur, perhaps because the richer inhabitants accretions of centuries and restored the garden moved to Winchester, and there were some as Capability Brown conceived it.

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