Sussex Archreological Society Newsletter

Thirty-four ISSN 0307 2568 Sussex August 1981 Archreological Edited by Dr Sue Farrant. Society 36 Brangwyn Drive, Patcham, Brighton BN1 8XD Published by the Society at Barbican House, High Street. Newsletter Lewes THE OPENING OF THE STONE AGE AND BRONZE and its location in the building. This finally made it AGE ROOMS AT OUR MUSEUM OF SUSSEX possible to look with some degree of confidence for ARCHA:OlOGY material needed for new displays or which researchers On Saturday, 2nd May (on the day of the Society's expected to find in the Museum. AGM), Professor Cunliffe, our President, formally opened the newly refurbished rooms in Barbican House, Lewes. Professor Cunliffe paid tribute to the meticulous work of the museum's Curator, Miss Fiona Marsden and her helpers. The attractive, colourful and very interesting displays are weillit and easily seen by adults and children. In conjunction with the Iron Age and Roman Rooms (which Miss Marsden tackled first) these new displays offer a lively interpretation of the archreology of our county. Congratulations to Miss Mesolithic transchet axe on display Marsden and her helpers for excellent work. The archreological theme of the Newsletter is in honour At about this stage, in 1974, with the formation of the of this event. Sussex Archreological Field Unit, and the prospect of greatly increased numbers of archreological finds being THE NEW EXTENSION AT BARBICAN HOUSE made in Sussex, there again seemed some possibility A major phase in the reorganisation of Barbican House that the Museum might be bypassed in the distribution is nearing completion. An extension has been built in of important site material. There were also likely to be the Museum's backyard near the Barbican, mainly for considerable problems in accepting and accommodating storage and workspace; it was made possible by the such material if it were offered. By now, however, we bequest by I. D. Margary. The Curator, Miss Fiona were in a much better position to estimate the Marsden describes the history of the project. Museum's real storage requirements and Phase III was abandoned in favour of a less costly project to renovate IMPROVEMENTS TO MUSEUM STORAGE and greatly increase the storage capacity of the FACILITIES AT BARBICAN HOUSE Barbican House cellars which began in 1977-78. With the expansion of archreology as a university Effectively it involved lowering and damp proofing the subject in the later 1960s and a tendency for floor, improving ventilation to counteract dampness in researchers and students to want to re-examine old the walls and installing a system of Remploy mobile excavation finds it was becoming increasingly clear that racking that resulted in a four-fold increase in shelf the Society's methods of looking after this material left space. A gra nt from the Area Museum Service for South much to be desired. Though evasive tactics were often East England defrayed approximately 40 per cent of the effective in deferring the students, more direct external cost of this shelving. The material in the cellar is now pressures such as the unwillingness of some archreo organised in alphabetical order of sites and comprises logists to donate finds from important local sites to the the flints, bones and sherds - the bulk of any excavation Museum were beginning to make themselves felt. For finds - which do not require careful handling or a this reason improved storage provision did feature in controlled environment. Almost all are now reboxed in plans for extensions to the Museum in the early 1970s standard 12in x 12in x 8in containers, tailored to fit the but only as a Phase III whose realisation seemed very racking, while washing marking and registering of remote at a time when the funding of Phase 1- now the material that past excavators failed to process properly Roman Room - was precarious. However, a modest still continues, principally through the efforts of Beryl programme of self help, aimed merely at sorting and Darby. Present day excavators should note that we now re-boxing the material piled at random in the damp expect much higher standards from them and material cellars at Barbican House did soon get under way, coming into the Museum should be clean, marked and thanks largely to the efforts of Philip Burstow, the then well organised. Chairman of the Museum Committee and earlier a very A further opportunity to carry out some of the active pa rticipa nt in ma ny of the excavations represented improvements to the Museum's storage and workroom by the stored material. Gradually these efforts gained facilities, originally envisaged in the plans at the early momentum - new boxes required some form of 1970s as Phases I and II came with the generous shelving, the shelving started to displace accumulated bequest of Mr. I. D. Margary in 1976. Once again the Society junk which had found its way into the cellar and Museum's actual needs were reassessed and it has finally it was possible to give the area a thorough clean. been possible to restrict building work to a modest Meanwhile two new volunteers, Marion and Ken extension running northwards behind the Roman Suckling, had arrived on the scene and gradually Room, parallel to the workroom, and to the remodelling managed to list the entire contents of the cellar and of the workroom itself. The principle material still other storage areas of the Museum and to organise a requiring more suitable storage provision were the much needed cross referenced index of site material archreological 'small finds' - basically objects liable to 239 deteriorate in a damp atmosphere or too small or delicate to box up with flints and sherds in the cellar - and also the Society's extensive and increasingly varied collections of negatives. Until recently small finds were stored mainly below display cabinets where they had survived fairly well, but were difficult to get at when the Museum was crowded with visitors. The negatives were divided between a small room beside the library and overflowing cupboards in one of the attics with a mounting pile of reference prints and transcripts of catalogues accumulating on an office floor. Meanwhile the Museum workroom was not suited to its various uses including carpentry workshop and research room. The new extension therefore comprises four small Early Bronze Age axehead in the nev. gallery rooms suited to specific needs; an archffiological small finds store, a negative store, a dark room and a small ARCHtEOLOGY IN WEST SUSSEX: laboratory. In both storerooms provision has been made THE COUNTY COUNCIL'S INVOLVEMENT IN 1980 for those either cataloguing or researching the collections to work in the rooms themselves but all The provision of a replacement radio mast within the cabinets and cupboards can be individually locked so existing compound on the west side of the hillfort on the that there is no unrestricted access to the entire Trundle allowed for a small excavation in January contents of each room. The negative store is also which, after clearing topsoil under a light fall of snow, designed to accommodate all reference prints, cata revealed a ditch terminal of the Neolithic causeway logues and card indexes relevant to the photographic enclosure previously investigated by Curwen in 1928 collections. The adjoining dark room provides an (see SAC 70 1929 pp. 33-85 Plate II Section SDCI). The opportunity both to make contact prints from the excavation prod uced anoth er section of the ditch a nd an negatives on the premises and to develop photographs important collection of dateable pottery and animal of museum objects taken for the purposes of bone, as well as soil samples to complement the cataloguing. Though these activities are rather depen environmental evidence recorded by Curwen. Also dent on the talents of volunteers the Museum has discovered was a more recent rubbish pit full of bottles proved fortunate so far in attracting people able and and saucepans which may well date to the time of willing to do this work and it seemed worthwhile to Curwen's camp on the site which is nicely recorded in provide the relevant facilities. Rather similar thinking the Society's photographic collection in Barbican lay behind the provision of a laboratory. Though in House' practise the room concerned serves pri ncipa IIy for basic During the first half of the year the Weald and Downland washing and marking of finds and simple pottery Open Air Museum, with help from the County Council restoration, more ambitious conservation work cou Id be and a Margary Research Award from the Society, carried out should the skills become available. dismantled a Medieval and 17th century cottage at In the area of the old workroom the opportunity has been Walderton, near Stoughton, for immediate re-erection taken to relocate and modernise the staff catering at Singleton. The project, filmed by a BBC TV Chronicle facilities which are now closer to the custodian's desk team for screening later this, or early next, year, and can be reached by a newly opened corridor leading produced evidence to show how a Medieval timber past the fireplace immediately behind the desk. Those framed open- hall house, of which only the roof survived, who have enjoyed the hospitality of the Museum in the was re-'used and underpinned in brick and flint soon primitive conditions of the old 'tea room' will readily after 1600 AD. Despite aIterations made to the house by appreciate the clean surroundings, modern sink, successive generations, it was remarkable that sufficient kitchen units, fridge and central heating. Internal survived to show architectural detail of the two main alterations have restored some natural light, lost by the periods of construction, including plastered brick construction of the new rooms, and opens up an window mullions of the later house and the position of attractive view of the Barbican.

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