Past Newsletters

Newsletter

Page 1

HADAS DIARY

Tuesday 13 June — Annual General Meeting

Saturday 24 June — Outing to Minster Lovell, Rollright Stones, Hailes Abbey, and Chedworth Roman Villa with June Porges and Stuart Wild. If anyone has not received an application form please contact Dorothy Newbury

Saturday 22 July — Outing to Leicestershire with Tessa Smith and Sheila Woodward Wednesday

30 August — Sunday 3 September — HADAS Long Weekend to Devon and Cornwall, staying at Plymouth University.

Lecture programme from Stephen Brunning, Lectures Coordinator

The lecture programme for the 2005/6 season is now over. I hope you enjoyed them. Many thanks to all who attended, and I hope to see you all in November for the next season. Among the topics arranged so far, are: The queen of Sheba (postponed from March 06), The Early Days of Lamas, and The Greater London Sites and Monument Record (GLSMR) for Barnet. Please keep an eye on the website and monthly newsletters for more details. The GLSMR lecturers have asked if there is anything specific we wanted them to focus on, such as the initial creation of the SMR for Barnet, a summary of the contributions from HADAS, etc. Please let me have any suggestions by 15 August 2006, in time for the lecture content to be prepared. My telephone number is 020 8959 6419,or write to me at 1 Reddings Close, Mill Hill, London NW7 4Th.

Religious site could reveal cult secrets from Peter Pickering

By Kevin Barnes

Archaeologists hope to uncover a glimpse of the mysteries of cult worship in Roman Britain by excavating a vast religious complex in Ewell. A series of deep shafts found cut into chalk bedrock at Hatch Furlong gave researchers the clue that a ritual site existed there about 1,900 years ago. Over the next fortnight an expert team led by Harvey Sheldon of Birkbeck College, London, intends to unearth the sacred stone building lying near the Ewell bypass. Although similar temple complexes have been discovered in Britain, the dig may provide new evidence about Roman religion. Ewell was the largest Roman settlement in Surrey, divided by Stane Street, a major flint road between Chichester and London. It is believed that weary travellers would refresh their spirits at springs in Ewell before making offerings to native deities. In the 1840s evidence for a cult centre emerged as pottery vessels, wares, coins and dog bones were retrieved from the 30ft shafts. Many of the finds are exhibited now at the Museum of London. The latest project will ensure the National Trust can manage effectively land given as a wildflower area not “a lost Roman ritual site full of votive gifts”. Caroline Thackray, the trust’s territory archaeologist, said: “This is a great opportunity for us to learn more about the mysteries of this place using modern techniques. What is its meaning and importance? Who were Ewell’s earlier inhabitants? And what was the reason for the chalk shafts that seem so bizarre to us today? We look forward to sharing a greater understanding and interpretation of our site with the local and wider academic community.” The excavation is supported by Surrey County Council, Epsom & Ewell History and Archaeology Society, Surrey Archaeological Society and the Council for British Archaeology South. Local people can tour the site during two open days on May 5 and 6. Talks and an exhibition are planned at Bourne Hall Museum in Ewell later this month, from where leaflets with directions to the site are being distributed next weekend. In September, Birkbeck College will run an archaeology course at Ewell Court House. For more local news go to our website www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk and click on Epsom Guardian.

Page 2

Remembering Julius Baker (1907 — 2006)

We regret to announce the passing of HADAS’ oldest member, Julius Baker. Julius, who died aged 98 in hospital on April 20 after a fall at his Hampstead home, was well known in this country and South Africa as a staunch Communist and a leading figure in the African National Congress’s struggle to end apartheid. He was a member of HADAS for well over twenty years, and will be remembered as a fiercely independent yet very lovable friendly person who continued to participate in HADAS activities and outings well into his nineties. He was interested and knowledgeable in a great variety of subjects, was a competent violinist and very fond of classical music. He seemed to have boundless energy, and tinged his stubbornness with a great sense of humour. Julius was born in the Transvaal in 1907, one of six children. He trained as a lawyer, and became one of the most reliable volunteers of both the ANC and the South African Communist Party during the 1940s. He played an important role in the struggle against apartheid and, having participated in a number of demonstrations and liberation activities, was hunted down by the apartheid regime. In order to avoid imprisonment he fled to London with his wife Tamara and children in the late 1960s and continued his close contacts with other exiles and comrades in South Africa, fighting ceaselessly against racism and social injustice. In 1997, he was involved in an art mystery when a controversial painting banned by the South African government was recovered. Ronald Harrison’s The Black Christ, depicting ANC leader Chief Lithuli crucified, with two apartheid politicians dressed as Roman centurions guarding him, had been smuggled out of South Africa by Canon Collins and passed on to Julius for safekeeping. Many years later, after a major media appeal, Julius realised that the missing artwork was the one that had been safely housed in the basement of his home in Kidderpore Gardens. There was great media interest in its recovery and the following year Julius attended a ceremony in Cape Town when the painting was put on display. In 1962, at the age of 55, Julius gained an A-level in Russian, and in 1999, aged 92, went to the Okavango and got lost in the bush. Energetic as ever, a few days later he flew in a microlight over Victoria Falls. At the age of 96 in 2003 took part in London’s great anti-war demonstration, joining a million others as he walked from Embankment to Hyde Park. Julius is survived by his son and daughter and three grandchildren to whom we offer our sympathies. His humanist funeral took place at Golders Green Crematorium on 26 April, attended by a large congregation of family, friends and colleagues. HADAS was represented by June Porges and Stewart Wild, who jointly penned this appreciation of his long and fruitful life.

Page 3

The Origins of the Place-Name Whetstone by Philip Bailey

I was looking through the translation of Barnet Manorial Court Rolls in Barnet Museum recently and came across the name Richard Bywesten (1246). I had noted this name several years ago but because of the copperplate writing in which the translation is written I had mistakenly thought it said Richard Bifwesten. Apart from thinking what a strange name it was, I had thought no more about it. However by comparing it to a typed transcript of the early rolls in A.E. Levett’s book ‘Studies in Manorial History’ (1938) I saw that what I had previously thought said Bifwesten did in fact say `Bywesten’. Not long after this it dawned on me that I was probably looking at a surname containing the place-name Whetstone and that Richard had lived `by’ Whetstone. At first glance this may not seem very likely. However I had remembered reading in the introduction to `Finchley and Friern Barnet’ by Stewart Gillies and Pamela Taylor that they felt that ‘The original settlement [of Friern Barnet] was probably by the church [St James’s] but moved up to Whetstone, whose name almost certainly reflects this westward move; certainly since it is recorded by 1398 it has nothing to do with the legendary stone outside The Griffin used as a whetstone by soldiers sharpening their swords en route to the Battle of Barnet in 1471.’ The English Place-Name Society’s Survey of Middlesex (1942) explains the name as ‘at the whetstone’ from the Old English hwetstan. It notes that ‘Tradition holds that there was once a large stone here, on which the soldiers sharpened their weapons before the Battle of Barnet in 1471.’ Other books note other reasons why ‘Whetstone’ may be the correct spelling. Despite the- erroneous explanation of this name in the EPNS survey; it lists some early spellings which may support an original spelling containing ‘west’: Wheston 1417; Wheston 1486-93; Wheston 1496;Westone 1535 And some which don’t: Whetestonestret 1437; Whetstone 1492; Whetstone 1516; Whetstone 1535; Whetston Strete 1571 If the name contains the word west then it must also contain the word tun thus meaning ‘western estate or farm’. The Old English words ‘west’ and ‘tun’ would normally give a modern place-name spelt Weston as in (Weston-Super-Mare). It is tempting to think of this medieval farm being centred around the site of the Pizza Express building, part of which has been excavated by HADAS and which seems to have originally been a medieval hall occupied at least back to c.1490 (HADAS Journal Vol.I 2002). I then looked up modern surnames beginning with By… in P.H. Reaney’s ‘Dictionary of Surnames (1976). All those listed had been noted in the thirteenth century in various places around the country and the ones listed below had the prefix `by’with the meaning ‘by/alongside’: Byard (by the yard); Byatt (by the gate); Bygrave (by the grove); Byfield; Bysouth; Bywater; Bytheway; Bythesea; Bythesseashore (apparently this is pronounced Bitherseyshore with stress as in Battersea). The explanation that Whetstone got its name from being situated west of the medieval parish church in Friern Barnet Lane, seems to make sense. So given this and the survival of several examples of medieval surnames containing the prefix `by’ meaning alongside, It seems to me quite plausible that Richard Bywesten had lived alongside Weston, the western estate! Although the centre of Whetstone is west of that of Friern Barnet, it is actually distinctly north-west. It may be interesting to note given the theory that Friern Barnet and the other Barnets were once linked, that Whetstone is almost due west of the centre of East Barnet which has the oldest parish church of all the Barnets, and contains the place-names Wakeling Mor (moor/morass of the Waeclinga tribe) and Arrowes possibly denoting Anglo-Saxon hill shrines. Perhaps Weston was actually the western estate of an Anglo- Saxon settlement at East Barnet. It may be of interest to historians from Southgate that an early spelling of this place-name can also be found in Barnet Court Rolls, again in the form of a surname: John de la Suthgate (1246). Although other old versions of the name may have come to light since the 1942 EPNS survey of Middlesex, the only ones it lists are: S(o)uthgate 1370,1372 and le Southgate 1608.

Church Farm Museum’s Summer Exhibition

Church Farmhouse Museum’s Summer exhibition traces the connexions of Barnet Borough with the story of popular music since the 1950s. It includes displays on artists and bands as different as Cliff Richard, Hawkwind, George Michael, the Spice Girls, the Kinks, Marc Bolan and Fairport Convention, including material never before publicly shown, and also features a big section on our area’s major music venue – The Torrington Arms, in North Finchley – sadly, no longer with us. The exhibition ends on 10 September.

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS by Eric Morgan

Thursday 8 June 8pm. Finchley Society Local History Group, Avenue House, East End Rd, N3. EARLY FILM MAKING IN FINCHLEY talk by Gerard Turvey. Non members £1.

Monday 12 June 3pm. Barnet & District Local History Society, Church House, Wood St. THE BOYS’ FARM HOME, EAST BARNET talk by Gillian Gear . Wednesday 14 June 8pm. Hornsey Historical Society, Union Church Hall,corner of Ferme Park Rd/Weston Park, N8 THE STORY OF BARRETTS SWEET FACTORY talk by David Evans. Refreshments 7.45pm.

Wednesday 14 June 7.30pm. Camden History Society, St. Pancras Old Church, NW1 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH talk by Michael Ogden & AGM.

Friday 16 June 7pm. COLAS, St. Olave’s Parish Hall, Mark Lane EC3. BRITAIN’S ROMAN ROADS talk by Harvey Sheldon (HADAS President) £2.

Sunday 18 June 3-7pm. Finchley Society A SUMMER AFTERNOON IN THE PARK. Comedy, Jazz, Choir, Big Band, Barbeque and Drinks. £8 per family, £4 per adult – proceeds to Spike Milligan statue fund.

Sunday 25 June EAST FINCHLEY FESTIVAL Cherry Tree Wood, opp. Station, N2 Stalls, HADAS information. Street Procession, Music and Dance stages. Local Artists Exhibit at All Saints Church, Durham Rd. N2.

Tuesday 27 June 10.30am Enfield Preservation Society, Jubilee Hall, junction Chase Side/Parsonage Lane, Enfield. ENFIELD PAST talk by Stephen Sellick.

Wednesday 28 June 8pm Friern Barnet & District Local History Society, St. John’s Church Hall (next to Whetstone Police Station) Friern Barnet Lane, N20. MILESTONES talk by John Donovan. £2 +Refreshments.

Thursday 29 June 8pm. Finchley Society, Avenue House, East End Rd. N3. AGM followed by MORE FROM THE FINCHLEY SOCIETY ARCHIVES talk by Derek Warren.

Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 July 12-7pm EAST BARNET FESTIVAL Oak Hill Park, Church Hill Rd. East Barnet. Stalls, Theatre in Woodland, Music and Dance Stages & Festival of Transport.

Page 1

HADAS DIARY

Tuesday 13 June — Annual General Meeting

Saturday 24 June — Outing to Minster Lovell, Rollright Stones, Hailes Abbey, and Chedworth Roman Villa with June Porges and Stuart Wild. If anyone has not received an application form please contact Dorothy Newbury

Saturday 22 July — Outing to Leicestershire with Tessa Smith and Sheila Woodward Wednesday

30 August — Sunday 3 September — HADAS Long Weekend to Devon and Cornwall, staying at Plymouth University.

Lecture programme from Stephen Brunning, Lectures Coordinator

The lecture programme for the 2005/6 season is now over. I hope you enjoyed them. Many thanks to all who attended, and I hope to see you all in November for the next season. Among the topics arranged so far, are: The queen of Sheba (postponed from March 06), The Early Days of Lamas, and The Greater London Sites and Monument Record (GLSMR) for Barnet. Please keep an eye on the website and monthly newsletters for more details. The GLSMR lecturers have asked if there is anything specific we wanted them to focus on, such as the initial creation of the SMR for Barnet, a summary of the contributions from HADAS, etc. Please let me have any suggestions by 15 August 2006, in time for the lecture content to be prepared. My telephone number is 020 8959 6419,or write to me at 1 Reddings Close, Mill Hill, London NW7 4Th.

Religious site could reveal cult secrets from Peter Pickering

By Kevin Barnes

Archaeologists hope to uncover a glimpse of the mysteries of cult worship in Roman Britain by excavating a vast religious complex in Ewell. A series of deep shafts found cut into chalk bedrock at Hatch Furlong gave researchers the clue that a ritual site existed there about 1,900 years ago. Over the next fortnight an expert team led by Harvey Sheldon of Birkbeck College, London, intends to unearth the sacred stone building lying near the Ewell bypass. Although similar temple complexes have been discovered in Britain, the dig may provide new evidence about Roman religion. Ewell was the largest Roman settlement in Surrey, divided by Stane Street, a major flint road between Chichester and London. It is believed that weary travellers would refresh their spirits at springs in Ewell before making offerings to native deities. In the 1840s evidence for a cult centre emerged as pottery vessels, wares, coins and dog bones were retrieved from the 30ft shafts. Many of the finds are exhibited now at the Museum of London. The latest project will ensure the National Trust can manage effectively land given as a wildflower area not “a lost Roman ritual site full of votive gifts”. Caroline Thackray, the trust’s territory archaeologist, said: “This is a great opportunity for us to learn more about the mysteries of this place using modern techniques. What is its meaning and importance? Who were Ewell’s earlier inhabitants? And what was the reason for the chalk shafts that seem so bizarre to us today? We look forward to sharing a greater understanding and interpretation of our site with the local and wider academic community.” The excavation is supported by Surrey County Council, Epsom & Ewell History and Archaeology Society, Surrey Archaeological Society and the Council for British Archaeology South. Local people can tour the site during two open days on May 5 and 6. Talks and an exhibition are planned at Bourne Hall Museum in Ewell later this month, from where leaflets with directions to the site are being distributed next weekend. In September, Birkbeck College will run an archaeology course at Ewell Court House. For more local news go to our website www.yourlocalguardian.co.uk and click on Epsom Guardian.

Page 2

Remembering Julius Baker (1907 — 2006)

We regret to announce the passing of HADAS’ oldest member, Julius Baker. Julius, who died aged 98 in hospital on April 20 after a fall at his Hampstead home, was well known in this country and South Africa as a staunch Communist and a leading figure in the African National Congress’s struggle to end apartheid. He was a member of HADAS for well over twenty years, and will be remembered as a fiercely independent yet very lovable friendly person who continued to participate in HADAS activities and outings well into his nineties. He was interested and knowledgeable in a great variety of subjects, was a competent violinist and very fond of classical music. He seemed to have boundless energy, and tinged his stubbornness with a great sense of humour. Julius was born in the Transvaal in 1907, one of six children. He trained as a lawyer, and became one of the most reliable volunteers of both the ANC and the South African Communist Party during the 1940s. He played an important role in the struggle against apartheid and, having participated in a number of demonstrations and liberation activities, was hunted down by the apartheid regime. In order to avoid imprisonment he fled to London with his wife Tamara and children in the late 1960s and continued his close contacts with other exiles and comrades in South Africa, fighting ceaselessly against racism and social injustice. In 1997, he was involved in an art mystery when a controversial painting banned by the South African government was recovered. Ronald Harrison’s The Black Christ, depicting ANC leader Chief Lithuli crucified, with two apartheid politicians dressed as Roman centurions guarding him, had been smuggled out of South Africa by Canon Collins and passed on to Julius for safekeeping. Many years later, after a major media appeal, Julius realised that the missing artwork was the one that had been safely housed in the basement of his home in Kidderpore Gardens. There was great media interest in its recovery and the following year Julius attended a ceremony in Cape Town when the painting was put on display. In 1962, at the age of 55, Julius gained an A-level in Russian, and in 1999, aged 92, went to the Okavango and got lost in the bush. Energetic as ever, a few days later he flew in a microlight over Victoria Falls. At the age of 96 in 2003 took part in London’s great anti-war demonstration, joining a million others as he walked from Embankment to Hyde Park. Julius is survived by his son and daughter and three grandchildren to whom we offer our sympathies. His humanist funeral took place at Golders Green Crematorium on 26 April, attended by a large congregation of family, friends and colleagues. HADAS was represented by June Porges and Stewart Wild, who jointly penned this appreciation of his long and fruitful life.

Page 3

The Origins of the Place-Name Whetstone by Philip Bailey

I was looking through the translation of Barnet Manorial Court Rolls in Barnet Museum recently and came across the name Richard Bywesten (1246). I had noted this name several years ago but because of the copperplate writing in which the translation is written I had mistakenly thought it said Richard Bifwesten. Apart from thinking what a strange name it was, I had thought no more about it. However by comparing it to a typed transcript of the early rolls in A.E. Levett’s book ‘Studies in Manorial History’ (1938) I saw that what I had previously thought said Bifwesten did in fact say `Bywesten’. Not long after this it dawned on me that I was probably looking at a surname containing the place-name Whetstone and that Richard had lived `by’ Whetstone. At first glance this may not seem very likely. However I had remembered reading in the introduction to `Finchley and Friern Barnet’ by Stewart Gillies and Pamela Taylor that they felt that ‘The original settlement [of Friern Barnet] was probably by the church [St James’s] but moved up to Whetstone, whose name almost certainly reflects this westward move; certainly since it is recorded by 1398 it has nothing to do with the legendary stone outside The Griffin used as a whetstone by soldiers sharpening their swords en route to the Battle of Barnet in 1471.’ The English Place-Name Society’s Survey of Middlesex (1942) explains the name as ‘at the whetstone’ from the Old English hwetstan. It notes that ‘Tradition holds that there was once a large stone here, on which the soldiers sharpened their weapons before the Battle of Barnet in 1471.’ Other books note other reasons why ‘Whetstone’ may be the correct spelling. Despite the- erroneous explanation of this name in the EPNS survey; it lists some early spellings which may support an original spelling containing ‘west’: Wheston 1417; Wheston 1486-93; Wheston 1496;Westone 1535 And some which don’t: Whetestonestret 1437; Whetstone 1492; Whetstone 1516; Whetstone 1535; Whetston Strete 1571 If the name contains the word west then it must also contain the word tun thus meaning ‘western estate or farm’. The Old English words ‘west’ and ‘tun’ would normally give a modern place-name spelt Weston as in (Weston-Super-Mare). It is tempting to think of this medieval farm being centred around the site of the Pizza Express building, part of which has been excavated by HADAS and which seems to have originally been a medieval hall occupied at least back to c.1490 (HADAS Journal Vol.I 2002). I then looked up modern surnames beginning with By… in P.H. Reaney’s ‘Dictionary of Surnames (1976). All those listed had been noted in the thirteenth century in various places around the country and the ones listed below had the prefix `by’with the meaning ‘by/alongside’: Byard (by the yard); Byatt (by the gate); Bygrave (by the grove); Byfield; Bysouth; Bywater; Bytheway; Bythesea; Bythesseashore (apparently this is pronounced Bitherseyshore with stress as in Battersea). The explanation that Whetstone got its name from being situated west of the medieval parish church in Friern Barnet Lane, seems to make sense. So given this and the survival of several examples of medieval surnames containing the prefix `by’ meaning alongside, It seems to me quite plausible that Richard Bywesten had lived alongside Weston, the western estate! Although the centre of Whetstone is west of that of Friern Barnet, it is actually distinctly north-west. It may be interesting to note given the theory that Friern Barnet and the other Barnets were once linked, that Whetstone is almost due west of the centre of East Barnet which has the oldest parish church of all the Barnets, and contains the place-names Wakeling Mor (moor/morass of the Waeclinga tribe) and Arrowes possibly denoting Anglo-Saxon hill shrines. Perhaps Weston was actually the western estate of an Anglo- Saxon settlement at East Barnet. It may be of interest to historians from Southgate that an early spelling of this place-name can also be found in Barnet Court Rolls, again in the form of a surname: John de la Suthgate (1246). Although other old versions of the name may have come to light since the 1942 EPNS survey of Middlesex, the only ones it lists are: S(o)uthgate 1370,1372 and le Southgate 1608.

Church Farm Museum’s Summer Exhibition

Church Farmhouse Museum’s Summer exhibition traces the connexions of Barnet Borough with the story of popular music since the 1950s. It includes displays on artists and bands as different as Cliff Richard, Hawkwind, George Michael, the Spice Girls, the Kinks, Marc Bolan and Fairport Convention, including material never before publicly shown, and also features a big section on our area’s major music venue – The Torrington Arms, in North Finchley – sadly, no longer with us. The exhibition ends on 10 September.

OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS by Eric Morgan

Thursday 8 June 8pm. Finchley Society Local History Group, Avenue House, East End Rd, N3. EARLY FILM MAKING IN FINCHLEY talk by Gerard Turvey. Non members £1.

Monday 12 June 3pm. Barnet & District Local History Society, Church House, Wood St. THE BOYS’ FARM HOME, EAST BARNET talk by Gillian Gear . Wednesday 14 June 8pm. Hornsey Historical Society, Union Church Hall,corner of Ferme Park Rd/Weston Park, N8 THE STORY OF BARRETTS SWEET FACTORY talk by David Evans. Refreshments 7.45pm.

Wednesday 14 June 7.30pm. Camden History Society, St. Pancras Old Church, NW1 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH talk by Michael Ogden & AGM.

Friday 16 June 7pm. COLAS, St. Olave’s Parish Hall, Mark Lane EC3. BRITAIN’S ROMAN ROADS talk by Harvey Sheldon (HADAS President) £2.

Sunday 18 June 3-7pm. Finchley Society A SUMMER AFTERNOON IN THE PARK. Comedy, Jazz, Choir, Big Band, Barbeque and Drinks. £8 per family, £4 per adult – proceeds to Spike Milligan statue fund.

Sunday 25 June EAST FINCHLEY FESTIVAL Cherry Tree Wood, opp. Station, N2 Stalls, HADAS information. Street Procession, Music and Dance stages. Local Artists Exhibit at All Saints Church, Durham Rd. N2.

Tuesday 27 June 10.30am Enfield Preservation Society, Jubilee Hall, junction Chase Side/Parsonage Lane, Enfield. ENFIELD PAST talk by Stephen Sellick.

Wednesday 28 June 8pm Friern Barnet & District Local History Society, St. John’s Church Hall (next to Whetstone Police Station) Friern Barnet Lane, N20. MILESTONES talk by John Donovan. £2 +Refreshments.

Thursday 29 June 8pm. Finchley Society, Avenue House, East End Rd. N3. AGM followed by MORE FROM THE FINCHLEY SOCIETY ARCHIVES talk by Derek Warren.

Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 July 12-7pm EAST BARNET FESTIVAL Oak Hill Park, Church Hill Rd. East Barnet. Stalls, Theatre in Woodland, Music and Dance Stages & Festival of Transport.

Newsletter

Page 1

HADAS Diary

Tuesday, 9th May Kingsbury Old Church Andy Agate, Institute of Archaeology, UCL

Tuesday, 13th June Annual General Meeting

Saturday, 24th June Day trip to Oxfordshire, Rollright Stones, Chedworth Roman Villa June Porges and Stuart Wild

Saturday, 22nd July Day trip to Leicestershire Tessa Smith.and Sheila Woodward

Wednesday, 30th August to Sunday, 3rd September — Annual HADAS Long Weekend to Devon and Cornwall, staying at Plymouth University. The trip is fully booked, and to go on the waiting list, contact Jackie Brookes

History Matters – Pass it On! by Peter Pickering

A campaign is to be launched this summer to raise awareness, build support and encourage involvement in heritage in England and Wales. The idea is to get more people involved in looking after and learning from heritage, and to say how and why heritage moves them and inspires them. These views will be collected and brought together as a demonstration of the importance of history and heritage to national life, today and in the future. The aim is to enlist the support of one million people in a host of ways. There will be a badge, a special website, simple postcards to complete, and dedicated History Matters events, backed by a national communications strategy to raise and maintain media awareness. The founding partnership and supporters comprise the National Trust, English Heritage, The National Heritage Memorial Fund, and Heritage Lottery Fund, the Historic Houses Association, Heritage Link, the Civic Trust and Council for British Archaeology. If you are interested, look out for the launch of the campaign in July, and take advantage of the opportunities to get stuck in. A campaign pack is in preparation. and will be downloadable. For further information, or to register an initial interest in being kept informed, please contact Gregor Hutcheon Email: gregorhutcheon@nationaltrust.org.uk or Kate Pugh Email: kate.pugh@heritagelink.org.uk

Page 2

Two conferences sponsored by The Richard III Foundation, Inc.

1.Conference on 19th August 2006 from 9.30 to 4.00 at the Bosworth Battlefield Centre Programme Glenn Foard — Bosworth: Anatomy of a Battle

Professor Anne Curry — Knowing Too Much, Knowing Too Little — Agincourt and Bosworth compared

John Austin — Find Bosworth

David Baldwin – Bosworth – One Battle or Two?

Mick Manns — Mick the Fletcher — A demonstration of skills which illustrate life and experiences during the Wars of the Roses.

2.Richard III: Lord of the North 29-30 September 2006 from 9.30 5.00 at the York CVS, 15 Priory Street, York YO1 6ET.

Programme

Friday, 29 September

5:00 pm – Mass in honour of the 550th birthday of Queen Anne Neville at the church of St. Mary and St. Alkelda, Middleham

6:30 pm — Dinner at Friar’s Head at Akebar

Saturday, 30 September

Mr. Colin Holt – The Ridings of Yorkshire, their continued existence and relevance to Yorkshire’s Identity.

Prof. Anne Curry – Richard Ill of England and I of France

Andrew Morrison — The Middleham Jewel and Other Objects from Middleham

Prof. Craig Taylor – Chivalry in the 14th and 15th century?

Mr. Russell Butcher – The Diplomatic Triangle: England, France and Burgundy.

Dr. Peter Clarke — New Evidence Concerning Noble and Gentry Piety in 15th Century England.

Tickets for the conference are £20 for patrons and £25 for non-patrons, and for the Richard III — Lord of the North conference, tickets are £21 for patrons and £25 for non-patrons. To order your tickets, please give your name and address (including your email address), the number of tickets required, and the amount paid. Make your cheque out to The Richard III Foundation, Inc., and forward your form and cheque to Mrs. Mary Kelly, VP of the UK Branch, 77 Deacons Green, Tavistock, Devon PL19 8BN.

Page 3

Book Review by Percy Reboul

Hendon and Golders Green Past by Hugh Petrie, published by Historical Publications, ISBN 1-905286-02-3 Local history and local archaeology are never far from each other. For this reason, and many more, Hugh Petrie’s new book, Hendon and Golders Green Past, is to be welcomed as a valuable source of information over and above more scholarly works such as the Victoria County Histories.The range of topics covered is impressive — a fact revealed by the excellent index, which draws our attention to subjects as far removed as Roman times and as recent as World War II. Among the delights are comments on local crime, leisure, agriculture and Hendon Aerodrome, and it is always sobering to discover new facts that one should really have known about — for example, the achievements of one Frances Pettit Smith, related in the section called The Hendon Famous’. The photographs and illustrations (there are 175 of them) are particularly good, and some appear here for the first time. This book is a worthy addition to others on a similar theme produced in recent years. Together with organisations such as HADAS, it proves once again the interest and hard work that takes place by dedicated individuals to record and treasure the London Borough of Brent’s past. They deserve both recognition and support. Price £15.95 form bookshops, or you can get a copy from Church Farm Museum, where Hugh Petrie will be pleased to sign it.

Two snippets of information

The Church End Festival will take place at Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley, N3 3QE on Sunday, 14th May 2006. HADAS will have a stall there, selling our latest book, and many second-hand books from our library. The day will be an opportunity to meet fellow members and have a chat. We look forward to seeing you there. St Albans Museum have introduced a tour of Verulamium Park that you can take, using your mobile phone. The service is called VMAP. Contact the Museum for more details, or see www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk

Page 4

Other Societies’ Events in MAY by Eric Morgan

Saturday & 6th & 7th Alexandra Palace, Panorama Room, Alexandra Place Way, N10, Rock’n’Gem Show, The amateur Sunday 10.00- Geological Society will have a stand there. Admission charge 5.00

Monday 8th Barnet and District Local History Society, Church House, Wood Street (opposite the museum), 3.00 Barnet, “The Stuarts”. Talk by Collette McMenamin

Sunday 14th Church End Festival, Avenue House, East End Road, Finchley, N3. HADAS will have a display 1.00- stand there, as well as the Finchley Society. HADAS also meet in the Garden Room from 10.30-5.00

Thursday 11th The Finchley Society Local History Group, Avenue House, East End Rd, N3. Informal meeting for 8.00 anyone who would like to be involved in history projects in Finchley, including recording people’s memories of Finchley life or buildings under threat, and the history of Finchley.

Tuesday 16th Harrow Museum, Headstone Manor, Pinner View, North Harrow “Restoring Headstone Manor”.10.30 Talk by I. Wilson. £2.50

Wednesday 17th London and Middlesex Archaeological Society (LAMAS) Learning Centre, Museum of London, 6.30 150 London Wall, EC2 “post-medieval Burial Grounds in London”. Talk by Natasha Powers.Refreshments 6.00

Thursday 18th Edmonton Hundred Historical Society joint meeting with the Enfield Preservation Society, 7.30 Jubilee Hall, Junction Chase Side, Parsonage Lane, Enfield. “The Hospitallers and the Templars in Enfield”. Talk by Pamela Willis.

Friday 19th City of London Archaeological Society (COLAS), St. Olave’s Church Hall, Mark Lane, EC3. 7.00 “Boscombe Down, Amesbury: The People of Stonehenge”. Talk by Catriona Gibson. £2.00

Friday 19th Wembley History Society, St Andrew’s Church Hall, Church Lane, Kingsbury, NW9. “The History 7.30 of Kingsbury” Talk by Geoff Hewlett.

Tues 23rd Camden History Society joint meeting with the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institute(HLSI), 8.00 South Grove, N6. “Highgate New Town Hall in the 1920s”. Talk by Helen Day. Thursday 25th The Finchley Society, Drawing Room, Avenue House, East End Rd, N3. “The Chelsea Physic 8.00 Garden — London’s Secret Garden”. Talk by Mike Watts. Non-members: donation.

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HADAS DIARY- Forthcoming Lectures and Events

Tuesday 11th April – Kathryn Piquette, Institute of Archaeology, UCL: “Maintaining Order, Fighting Chaos: evidence in the Petrie Museum for Egyptian Warfare.” (Then judge for yourself how accurate those battle scenes in the recent Sunday evening BBC “Egypt” programme really were.)

Tuesday 9th May – Andy Agate, Institute of Archaeology, UCL: “Kingsbury Old Church”. (Andy is a member of the Wednesday Evening Course working on the Ted Sammes Hendon Church Terrace site for publication, and dug with us at Church Farmhouse Museum in 2005).

Tuesday 13th June – Annual General Meeting.

Saturday 24th June – Outing to Sussex with June Porges and Stuart Wild.

Saturday 22nd July – Day Trip to Leicestershire with Tessa Smith and Sheila Woodward.

Wednesday August 30th – Sunday September 3rd 2006: Annual HADAS Long Weekend – Devon and Cornwall, staying at Plymouth University. To book one of the few remaining places, please contact Jackie Brookes.

As ever, lectures and the AGM take place at Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley, N3 30E. Events begin at 8pm. Non-members £1. lea, coffee and biscuits 70p. Fifteen-minute walk from Finchley Central tube station. Several nearby bus routes; limited parking.

METAL DETECTOR by Andrew Coulson

The Society is buying a state of the art metal detector, and possibly a global positioning system, which will considerably enhance our survey capability, and which will also be used for scanning spoil heaps for small metal artefacts. Would anyone wishing to be trained in the use of this equipment please make themselves known, by writing to Peter Pickering, 3 Westbury Road, Woodside Park, London N12 7NY, ringing 020-8445 2807,

BATTLE OF BARNET RESEARCH by Andrew Coulson

The Battle of Barnet Working Group (BoBWG) would like members to send them any details they have or any military formation of any sort whatever using the Barnet and Hadley Green area to camp, manoeuvre or hold firing practice at any time from the Tudor period until the outbreak of the First World War. Please write to Peter Pickering, 3 Westbury Road, Woodside Park, London N12 7NY, ring 020-8445 2807, or e-mail.

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EDGWARE JUNIOR SCHOOL AIR-RAID SHELTER DIG: by Gabe Moshenska

In a cold and wet week in February a team of diggers including several HADAS members unearthed a large concrete air-raid shelter under the playing field of Edgware Junior School. The shelter had been sealed for almost sixty years and was excavated as part of a UCL project aimed at combining the archaeology, history and memory of the Second World War. History Records show that shortly after the start of the war the Hendon Education Committee contracted the construction of air-raid shelters in schools to Messrs Lavender McMillan Ltd, at a price of £259 10s each. A variety of different kinds of shelters were produced at this time by different companies. Some were built out of segments of panels, others were cast in situ with steel reinforcements. At Edgware School classes were taught in children’s homes until enough shelters, thirteen in all, were constructed for them to return to school. Air raid drill was practised regularly, with the children traipsing down to the shelters where lessons continued underground. The school was damaged by bombing in 1940, presumably because of its proximity to the railway sidings, and was nearly hit again by a V1 doodlebug in 1944. No children were injured in the bombings. Archaeology Although the archives record thirteen shelters at the school, only two are clearly visible on the surface. The archaeological work aimed to open up one of the shelters to get a good look at it inside and out, and also to establish the locations of at least some of the others. A resistivity survey was carried out in November 2005 by the UCL/HADAS team, revealing a number of rectangular shapes beneath the soil, some of them very clear. This appeared to show at the most eight shelters beneath what is now the school football pitchThe excavation began with the main trench, designed to clear the earth and rubble out of the entrance staircase, and gain access to one of the shelters. This began to produce artefacts of all ages, including a 20p coin and a variety of stoneware. An exploratory trench was dug to investigate a brick structure protruding from the grass, but this proved to be a mysterious wall of pre-war date. A third trench was opened over the roof of the shelters, to examine the roof and to locate the shelter in relation to the resistivity readout. As the main dig progressed it became clear that the staircase down to the shelter was a single piece of cast concrete, while the shelter was constructed from prefabricated panels of reinforced concrete, and at least partly from bricks and mortar. The staircase had shifted slightly, possibly due to root disturbance, and was no longer precisely aligned with the shelter. The pinnacle of the dig was the ‘Howard Carter’ moment: stepping into the newly opened dark doorway with a torch and announcing that we could see “Things! Wonderful things!”. In truth, the interior of the shelter was quite sparse, as fittings were stripped before they were sealed, and in the case of the two chemical toilets we were rather grateful for this! However, significant portions of the electrical fittings remained, as did a scattering of artefacts including a hurricane lamp, an inkwell, a fire bucket, a gas heater and a mysterious pair of shoes. As we had hoped, some of the graffiti left on the walls by the kids had survived — a chalk drawing of a sailing ship with a cross on the sail. There was also, remarkably, an entire wall of maths problems chalked onto the brick, as fresh as when it was first put up! Memories of the shelters On the second day of the dig we were lucky enough to be visited by Tessa Smith, HADAS member and former pupil at the school during the war. Tessa told us about the shelters she remembered, which interestingly were not under the present playing field, but elsewhere in the school grounds. This made the total of thirteen seem much more feasible. She described sitting in the shelter on benches, closely packed together in rows, singing patriotic songs to pass the time. Tessa also spoke to Year 6 children at the school, telling them about her recollections of school in wartime, and answering their questions. Her visit to the site provided valuable information for the archaeologists, and a wonderful experience for the children whose enthusiasm for the project as a whole was remarkable.Conclusion The dig was a resounding success both from an archaeological perspective, recording and studying the buried structure; and from an educational point of view by giving the experience of the Second World War a human voice and a physical presence in the school. The shelter will remain open, and the school hopes to use it in teaching the War both for themselves and for other schools in the area. We are continuing to work with the school, getting the children involved in other archaeological activities including finds cleaning and sorting. This dig was made possible by the participation of hardy and hard-working HADAS volunteers, and by the kind loan of HADAS equipment. My thanks to all involved.

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The archaeology of Buddhism in Eastern India: Report of February Lecture by Peter Pickering

Dr Robert Harding opened the eyes of HADAS members to a culture of which we had previously known very little if anything. He has worked in the city of Rajgir, which was the first capital of the kingdom of Magadha. This was where the Buddha started the religion that bears his name in the fifth/fourth centuries BC. He was the son of a king, and gave up wealth and power to embrace the Middle Way (between extreme asceticism and the comforts of the world); after achieving enlightenment he travelled around preaching. Dr Harding showed us many images of the Buddha and of his miracles. Buddhism was a minor religion until it was adopted by the Emperor Asoka, who propagated it throughout his Mauryan empire, and it was carried into other countries of south-east Asia along trade routes. Before Buddhism, temples and religious buildings generally in India had been insignificant, but with the royal patronage of Buddhism there began the construction of stupas (hemispherical mounds containing ashes or other relics of the Buddha, surrounded by a walkway for processions and surmounted by a tier of discs known as an umbrella), and of monasteries. The many spectacular Hindu temples in India are all later than the Buddhist buildings; the Brahmins learnt from Buddhism the value of royal patronage, and the way in which spiritual and temporal power can come together in magnificent construction projects. Buddhism has only a small presence in India to-day (having in some respects been absorbed into Hinduism), though various forms of it are still the dominant religion in several other Asian countries. Dr Harding described his own work on the landscape archaeology of Rajgir. Landscape archaeology is very fashionable in Britain nowadays, but is very new to India, where written texts have priority. Rajgir was surrounded by what was believed to be a fortification wall, 35 kilometres in length, but it is distant from settlement and even when complete would have presented very little of a barrier to an enemy. Dr Harding’s thesis is that it was a walkway, leading pilgrims from one stupa or similar site to another, and that Rajgir remained of great religious significance after the commercial and political centre had moved elsewhere.

Daniel Lampert: 1913- 2005 An appreciation by Margaret Maher

Dan, who died in December 2005 at the age of 92, had a long and distinguished career before he joined HADAS. He was a diver in WW 11 with the Royal Marines and his early academic achievements included a BSc in Engineering. He subsequently became a Fellow of the Institutes of Civil Engineering, the Mechanical Engineers and the Petroleum Engineers. He was a Freeman of the City of London and a founder Member of the Worshipful Company of Engineers. The Lamperts joined HADAS in 1974 and played active parts in the society, being generous with both their time and expertise. Helen frequently took items, donated to Dorothy Newbury’s garage Minimart store, to antique specialists for verification and valuation. Both were regulars on outings and the Christmas Dinners. Dan completed the Extra- Mural Diploma in Archaeology in 1979. I wonder whether he had an exemption from the compulsory one-week surveying course? A man of enquiring mind and many interests, he actively pursued his other hobbies which included bookbinding, calligraphy and furniture restoration.

In 1984 he dug at Southwark for the City of London Archaeology Society and in 1985 he offered to conduct a much-needed survey of the surface contours of the mesolithic site at West Heath. Unfailingly good- humoured and courteous, with a natural gift for teaching, he made the acquisition of new skills seem easy for the HADAS members and Extra-Mural students he taught. He was a popular figure on site and always a welcome visitor, and we were grateful for the survey which was conducted with minimum disruption. Dan and Helen had been together for seventy years and to her, and their daughters, on behalf of those members who knew him, I would like to say what a a pleasure it was to know and work with him.

MEMBERSHIP MATTERS by Mary Rawitzer

Our appreciative thanks to all those people who settle their annual HADAS membership by cheque and have done so very promptly. To the few still to come, a gentle reminder: the due date is 1st April. If you have any queries, just contact me (details on the back page). Further thanks are due to the many who had not previously done so, but have now kindly signed a Gift Aid form. We are now carrying out our final (I hope) promise to encourage as many others as possible to make their subscription under Gift Aid. Enclosed with this Newsletter is a Gift Aid form for anyone who pays by Standing Order but has not yet signed such a form. If you find one with your Newsletter, are a tax-payer and feel able to sign the form, please consider doing so and help HADAS to recover the extra income. Thank you in advance from myself and from our Treasurer.

THE LONDON ACADEMY (NORTH), EDGWARE

The following summary report of this site by AOC Archaeology appeared in the latest (November-January) Quarterly Review of GLAAS (the Greater London Archaeology Advisory Service). It has rather more detail than the earlier report in last month’s newsletter. The evaluation consisted of twenty two trenches. The western edge of the development area revealed a good level of survival of archaeological remains with a series of ditches and several isolated pits and portholes. These were cut from the surface of a layer of colluvium containing similar cultural material. Much of the pottery was 11-0M jars and other domestic vessels of low to medium status. The pottery was dated to the late Roman period, with no evidence of earlier activity. The large quantity of CBM recovered very probably came from the nearby Brockley Hill Kilns. The alignment of the linear features. parallel with, and at right angles to. the Roman road, support the idea that they formed part of a Roman roadside settlement. The site may represent late Roman expansion into the hinterland of Londinium as the city declined. Towards the east of the development area very few archaeological remains were observed. A shallow pit contained the remains of a terret ring, which would have been mounted onto a horse’s harness-pad, dating from the 1st century BC to the Roman period. Apart from one undated ditch. the remainder of the trenches contained only ill-defined variations in the natural clay. Mitigation in the western side of the site has been achieved by revision of the construction design.

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OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS Compiled by Eric Morgan

Tuesday 4th April 2-3 pm Harrow Museum, Headstone Manor, Pinner View, North Harrow. History of Headstone Manor. Talk by Patricia Clarke £2.50

Monday 10th April 3pm Barnet and District Local History Society. Church House, Wood Street (opposite Museum), Barnet. Barnet Almshouses (the Laurie Adams Memorial Lecture) by Peter Willcocks.

Wednesday 12th April 6pm LAMAS. Learning Centre, Museum of London 150 London Wall EC2. Re-Inventing the Middle Ages: the new Mediaeval London Gallery at the MoL. Talk by John Clark (mediaeval curator); refreshments 6pm.

Tuesday 18th April 2-3 pm Harrow Museum , Headstone Manor, Pinner View, North Harrow. Maintaining Health in the Tudor Still Room. Talk by H Lewis £2.50

Friday 21st April 7pm COLAS. St Olave’s Parish Hall, Mark Lane EC3 Surgery in the Roman World. Talk by Ralph Jackson (BM). Light refreshments.

Sunday 23rd April I lam The Battle of Barnet. Guided Walk. Meet at Junction of Great North Road and Hadley Green. Led by Paul Baker. £5 lasts 2 hours.

Monday 24th April -Sunday 7th May Barnet Borough Arts Council in The Spires High Street Barnet. Paintings and What’s On (including HADAS).

Wednesday 26th April 8pm Friern Barnet and District Local History Society. St John’s Church Hall (next to Whetstone Police Station) Friern Barnet Lane N20. History of Church Farm (Talk by Gerrard Roots) £2

Thursday 27th April 8pm The Finchley Society. Drawing Room, Avenue House, East End Road N3. Stained Glass in North London. Talk by Helen Davidian. Non-members donation.

SUMMER FESTIVALS

Church End Festival. Sunday 14th May from 1 to 5pm. Avenue House Grounds. HADAS will have a stall there promoting our organisation and selling books etc. Members are cordially invited to come along.

Cricklewood Festival Saturday 15th July not Sunday 16th July as announced in the March Newsletter.

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VICTOR JONES’ LEGACY by Don Cooper

As many of you will recall, Victor Jones, who died in 2002 and was a member for many years and HADAS treasurer for nine years in the 1980s, left £1000 in his will to HADAS to be used for the promotion of archaeology in Barnet schools. After a number of false starts, we have now fulfilled his wishes. We have done this by providing Barnet Education Services with three “finds and replicas” boxes. These boxes, one containing Roman, one Tudor and one Florence Nightingale material, were assembled with artefacts and replicas by an organisation called “Suitcases of History”, and have an insert remembering Victor’s legacy and HADAS. The boxes have been added to Barnet Education Services’ loan service, whereby they are lent to schools to support the teaching of the above subjects, and then returned to the lending services to be used by other schools. The task of fulfilling Victor’s legacy was facilitated by Gerrard Roots of Church Farm Museum, whose help and support we really appreciate. I am sure Victor would be delighted with the outcome as one of the “bees in his bonnet” was promoting archaeology and HADAS in our local schools.

HADAS DIARY – Forthcoming Lectures and Events in 2006

Tuesday 14th March – Meriel Jeater, Assistant Curator, Department of Early London History and Collections, Museum of London: “Reinventing the Middle Ages: the Museum of London’s New Medieval London Gallery.”

Tuesday 11th April – Kathryn Piquette, Institue of Archaeology, UCL: “Maintaining Order, Fighting Chaos: evidence in the Petrie Museum for Egyptian Warfare.” (Then judge for yourself how accurate those battle scenes in the recent Sunday evening BBC “Egypt” programme really were.

Tuesday 9th may _ Andy Agate, Institute of Archaeology, UCL: “Kingsbury Old Church”. (Andy is a member of the Wednesday Evening Course working on the Ted Sammes Hendon Church Terrace site for publication, and dug with us at Church Farmhouse Museum in 2005).

Tuesday 13th June – Annual General Meeting.

Saturday 24th June – Outing to Sussex with June Porges and Stuart Wild.

Saturday 22″ July – Day Trip to Leicestershire with Tessa Smith and Sheila Woodward.

Wednesday August 30th – Sunday September 3″ 2006: Annual HADAS Long Weekend – Devon and Cornwall, staying at Plymouth University. To book one of the few remaining places, please contact Jackie Brookes.

As ever, lectures and the AGM take place at Avenue house, 17 East End Road, Finchley, N3 3QE. Events begin at 8pm. Non-members £1. Tea, coffee and biscuits 70p. Fifteen-minute walk from Finchley Central tube station. Turn left on exiting the station and go down the hill – East End Road is a turning on the left; several nearby bus routes; limited parking.

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FIELDWORK ROUND-UP by BILL BASS

SWANLEY BAR (north of Potters Bar) – TL2590/0308 (approx ref)

In early September 2005 members of HADAS conducted a resistivity survey near Swanley Bar Farm in connection with medieval occupation. Fieldwalking over earthworks (possible house platforms) by Brian Warren and the Potters Bar Local History Soc has located amounts of medieval (and earlier) pottery in the location. The resistivity results look promising. 280 EAST BARNET ROAD – TQ2719/9528 Phillip Bailey (HADAS member) has conducted a ‘Watching Brief at the above site during extension work in November 2005. A small amount of medieval material was found with the majority being post- medieval. A report has been deposited with the HADAS library.

WEST HEATH

Work continues on the sorting, rebagging and reboxing of the Mesolithic material. With the advice of other bodies (EH etc) we have also disposed of a considerable amount of material e.g. burnt stone, soil samples and plaster casts of post-holes. Along with further work to sort the flint, a start will be made on the archive – site books/notes, maps, slides and photos etc. A recent visit to BURGH HOUSE MUSEUM, Hampstead, has established that the flints currently on display are well presented and secure. We may need to find out/record how much is not on display and where it is kept.

EDGWARE SCHOOL

A dig is taking place here w/c 20th Feb to investigate air-raid shelters in the grounds. It will undertaken by Gabe Moshenska (UCL) and the ‘Great War Archaeology Group’. HADAS will be lending some support and equipment.

THE LONDON ACADEMY (NORTH), EDGWARE – TQ 518437/192926

An evaluation by AOC Archaeology here last summer consisted of 22 trenches. The western edge of the development area revealed a good level of survival of archaeological remains with a series of ditches and several isolated pits and postholes recorded over 5 trenches. These features all truncated a possible Roman occupation layer, and much of the material recovered from the ditches and pits was dated to the Roman period. The alignment of the linear features, running north to south, and therefore parallel with known Roman road, and east west at 90 degrees to the road, support the idea that these features formed part of a Roman roadside settlement. (EH GLAAS Quarterly Review Aug-Oct 2005)

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Remembering Danny Lampert

Sadly we report the recent death of Danny Lampert. He and Helen have been members of HADAS for over 30 years, and will be remembered by all our members as they were regulars on outings and at Christmas dinners. Our sympathy goes to Helen and her family. We have also been notified of the sad death of Gillian Hartnoll who lived in Hendon, a member since 1993. Her friend Sheila Pearce particularly remembered, and regretted, having been unable to take up an invitation to join Gill on the HADAS trip that included the home at Fontwell Magna of HADAS member John Enderby, an acquaintance of long standing. Gill (like Sheila and John too, of course, was active in may different local organisations and a good friend to many.

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CONSERVATION AND ARCHAEOLOGY From our own correspondent

HADAS Lecture, Tuesday 10th January 2006 The inaugural lecture of 2006, entitled “Conservation and Archaeology”, was given by Mr Jon Finney, Planner and Architect from the Urban Design and Heritage Group of the London Borough of Barnet. Mr. Finney began by explaining that policy governing conservation has three main strands. Some sites required full protection, some could be enhanced whilst retaining their essential character, and some could be made available for growth. Barnet, it seems, in tres partes divisus est. The treatment of each of these categories would be designed to reduce the difficulties inherent in geographical and social division, and to conform as far as possible to the ideal of the mixed development. He concluded his opening remarks by stating that he did not intend to refer to the Hampstead Garden Suburb Conservation Area – presumably a law to itself – and that nothing he might say should be taken as anything other than a personal view. The degree of protection to be given to any particular site is, apparently, derived from the unified consent of concerned local and national bodies under the aegis of the Ministry for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). This mountain travails and produces mice in the forms of PPGs 16 and 15 which each require fundamentally different treatment. Sites subject to PPG 16 are preserved in situ or museumised in order to prevent change, and enjoy the strictest protection. Brockley Hill, Sulloniacis (0/S Roman Britain 5th Ed), and the moated manor site under the Sternberg Centre were mentioned in this connection. Apparently there are 19 similar sites in the borough; medieval settlements on the sites of something much older as at Church End Farm, hilltop settlements as at Totteridge and Mill Hill, the road at Watling Street, and, of course, the Battle. Mr. Finney commented on the lack of maps, guides and interpretations. Sadly true. Those old soldiers struggling in the mist have faded away, but the mist remains. PPGs 15 provided a marked change of function and emphasis. Now the talk was not of no change but of managed change, and not just any change but change for a purpose. An interesting purpose, and one with ancient roots: the enhancement of social well-being. The monasteries had a duty of hospitality and tending the sick, but between Henry VIII and the welfare state there was a void in alms giving and, perhaps, in belief which encouraged private enterprise. Mr. Finney used almshouses as examples of the function and working of PF 15 in preserving ancient fabrics whilst addressing social ills. He cited ten existing foundations in Barnet, the earliest dating from 1585, and provided many intriguing and amusing anecdotes about their foundation, their histories, their benefactors and their beneficiaries, besides indicating their buildings’ relevance to the history of architecture. The third strand, growth, is the most sensitive politically, and Mr. Finney restricted his observations to the effects of the wave of church rebuilding in the latter part of the nineteenth century on two parish churches in the borough. The fifteenth century Church of St John the Baptist in High Barnet was enlarged by William Butterfield, who installed two naves and two aisles with internal clerestory window spaces, besides decorating parts of the exterior with a striking system of chequer work. His object, apparently, was to cause the building to dominate the hilltop and the High Street, and the chequers certainly succeed in providing vivid focal points. The large medieval church of St Mary’s, Hendon, received similar treatment from Temple Moore, who rebuilt the nave and the south aisle and extended the church into the graveyard, thus bringing the grave of the famous Raffles within the body of the church. Mr. Finney asked us to note how the continuity of the site had been acknowledged by the installation of an ancient statue of St Mary in a niche in an outer wall, and also how the twentieth century approach to the building had been designed to be in keeping with it. He concluded by indicating that both buildings were, perhaps, good examples of growth combined with the enhancement of social well-being and, to an extent, with preservation and protection. Questions were asked. Ms Bayne wished to know how the inmates of almshouses were chosen. Apparently there is often a waiting list, and applicants are chose according to the terms of the Trust, which might include their occupation, age, need, origin, religion, sex, conduct and place of residence. Ms Rawitzer enquired about the rules governing environmental enhancement. Apparently Health and Safety considerations are paramount, after which the recently favoured Cognitive Approach is used. A question was asked about the demolition of the Cottage Homes (Drapers Homes?) on Mill Hill. Apparently the Council has no powers in this case. Mr Javes wished to know if the Day Almshouses in Edgware had one storey or two -apparently they had only one storey. Ms Gapp asked about the relationship between almshouses and the workhouse. Apparently the Parish ran the workhouse as a general short-term remedy for indigence, whilst almshouses were designed to benefit persons falling under an exact definition for an indefinite period. Mrs Porges wished to know the dates of Messrs. Buttersfield and Moores’ activities. Apparently William Butterfield was active between the 1870s and 1880, and Temple Moore was designing in 1911 and building between 1914 and 1915. * Our Chairman thanked Mr Finney for his very informative and entertaining lecture, and the audience showed their appreciation by applauding loudly.

Temple Lushington Moore, 1856-1920. Born in Ireland, pupil of George Gilbert Scott.

William Butterfield, 1814-1900, English; Gothic Revival architect associated with the Oxford Movement.

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SUMMER FESTIVALS 2006 Eric Morgan

This is a list of possible shows that we might attend if there are sufficient volunteers to help man a table at any of these events. HADAS has attended the East Barnet Festival in the past, and tries to attend the Cricklewood Festival when it is held. It has also been suggested that we could attend the Friern Barnet Show alongside the Friern Barnet Local History Society; and possibly the East Finchley Festival alongside the Finchley Society. East Finchley Festival – Cherry Tree Wood, opposite East Finchley Station on Sunday 25th June. East Barnet Festival – Oakhill Park off Churchill Road, Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd July. Cricklewood Festival – Clitterhouse Fields off Claremont Road, Sunday 16th July. Friern Barnet Summer Show – Friary Park off Friern Barnet Lane N12, Saturday 19th – Sunday 20th August.

THE TIME TO RENEW YOUR HADAS SUBSCRIPTIONS DRAWS NEAR

The HADAS subscription year runs from April 1 each year, so we are including a renewal form with this month’s Newsletter. Those people paying by standing order need do nothing. Everyone else who is due to renew this April should find a renewal form enclosed with this Newsletter. For anyone who would like to check their standing order instructions, subscription rats remain £12 per person or organisation, plus £4 for an additional family member at a single address, and £5 for students or those under eighteen. Gift Aid allows HADAS to reclaim some useful extra income, so we have also included a form for those who, according to our records, have not yet filled one in. Please return forms/cheques to Mary Rawitzer, Membership Secretary (address at end of newsletter), phone her for more information.

FROM THE PAPERS

The oldest British gold coin ever found has just gone on display in the British Museum, who bought it for £357,832. The Dark Ages “penny” (a mancus), found five years ago on the bank of the River Ivel (Beds.), was minted in London some time between 721 and 821 AD, in the reign of King Coenwulf of Mercia.. The coin would be worth £1,200 in today’s terms, and would then have paid a soldier for a month, bought five acres of really good farmland, or a cart with a team of four horses. An 18th Dynasty tomb (c.1400BC) containing five sarcophagi has just been discovered in the Valley of the Kings by American archaeologists. This is the first such discovery since the tomb of King Tutankhamun in 1922. Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s antiquities chief, has imaginative suggestions as to who is buried in the tomb; but a senior Egyptologist at the British museum felt that this probably was the private tomb of “significant officials”.

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OTHER SOCIETIES’ LECTURES AND EVENTS by Eric Morgan

(As mentioned in the February Newsletter, Eric Morgan has had an accident. His ankle was broken, but with any luck, by the time you read this, he will have had the cast removed from his leg. Best wishes for a speedy recovery, Eric!)

Sunday 5 March, 2.30 pm. Heath & Hampstead Society, Kitchen Garden, Kenwood house, Hampstead Lane, N6 “Hidden Heath” (its history and archaeology). Walk led by Michael Hammerson (HADAS member). Donation £2.

Wednesday 8 March, 8pm. Mill Hill Historical Society, Harwood Hall, Union Church, The Broadway, NW7. Dickensian London. Talk by Richard Jones.

Wednesday 8 March, 8pm. Hornsey Historical Society, Harwood Hall, Union Church, The Broadway, NW7. Dickensian London. Talk by Richard Jones.

Monday 13 March, 3pm. Barnet & District Local History Society, Church House, Wood Street (opposite Museum), Barnet. The History of Northaw House – Brian Warren.

Wednesday 15 March, 6.30 pm. LAMAS, Learning Centre, Museum of London, 150 London Wall, EC2. Danish Mesolithic Dwellings and Landscapes Preserved under Water. Talk by Ole Gren (Hon. Prof., Institute of Archaeology). Refreshments 6pm.

Wednesday 15 March, 8pm. Willesden Local History Society, Scout House, High Road/ Corner of Strode Road, NW6. “My Weird War”, talk by Joan Show (Local Historian).

Thursday 16th March, 8pm. Enfield Preservation Society, Jubilee Hall, Junction of Chase Side/ Parsonage Lane, Enfield. Alderman Thomas Sidney (1805-89), Last Incumbent of Bowes Manor – talk by Rachel Macdonald. Refreshments 7.30 pm.

Friday 17th March, 7 pm. COLAS, St Olave’s Parish Hall, Mark. Lane, EC3. Excavations at Leominster Priory, Hereford. Talk by Bruce Watson (MOLAS). Light refreshments.

Friday 17th March, 8 pm. Enfield Archaeological Society, Jubilee Hall, Junction of Chase Side/ Parsonage Lane, Enfield. Radio Valves and Enfield: an Industrial History. Talk by Bernard Eastwood. Visitors £1. Refreshments from 7.30pm. Sales and information table.

Friday 17th March, 7.30pm. Wembley History Society, St Andrews Church Hall, Church Lane, Kingsbury, NW9. “Ello, Ello!” A Brief History of the London Bobby. Talk by Michal Fountain.

Monday 20th-Sunday 20th March – Barnet Borough Arts Council at Brent Cross (East Mall by Boots). Paintings and “What’s On” (including HADAS).

Wednesday 22″ March, 8pm. Friern Barnet & District Local History Society, St John’s Church Hall (next to Whetstone Police Station), Friern Barnet Lane, N20. History of Christ’s College. Talk by Hugh Petrie £2. Refreshments 7.45pm and afterwards.

Wednesday 22nd March, 8pm. Edmonton Hundred Historical Society, Jubilee Hall, Junction Chase Side/ Parsonage Lane, Enfield. Three London Suburbs – Graham Dalling. Saturday 25th March, 11 am-5.30pm. LAMAS 43RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF LONDON ARCHAEOLOGISTS Lecture Theatre, Museum of London. Morning session: Recent Work (11am-1.05pm); Afternoon session: Recent Work on Roman Towns (2.15-5.30pm) Cost: LAMAS members £4 (non-members £5) incl. afternoon tea. For tickets and general enquiries: Jon Cotton, Early Department, Museum of London, 150 London Wall, EC2Y 5HN, jcotton@museumoflondon.org.uk. Please enclose a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Website with application form and fuller details under “Conferences”:

Thursday 30th March, 8pm. The Finchley Society, Drawing Room, Avenue House, East End Road, N3. The Work of the Enfield Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Service. Talk by Barry Smitherman. Non-members: donation.

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NEW SERIES OF TIME TEAM

That time-honoured feature of winter Sunday evenings is back-the new series of Time Team. Channel 4, around 5.30pm (times and transmission order may vary); Series started 22 January. See www.channel4.com/history/timeteam.

5 February 12 February 19 February 26 February 5 March 12 March 19 March 26 March 2 April 9 April 16 April

Rubble at the Mill-Birth of the Industrial Revolution in Manchester

The First Tudor Palace? — Esher, Surrey

The Boat on the Rhine — A Roman boat in Utrecht, Netherlands

Court of the Kentish King — Eastry, Kent

The monk’s manor — Brimham medieval monastic farm

Castle in the Round – Queenborough, Kent

Sussex ups and downs — Blackpatch, Sussex

Birthplace of the Confessor — Islip, Oxfordshire

Early bath — Ffrith, North Wales

Scotch Broth — Iron Age life at Applecross near Skye

The taxman’s tavern — A Roman Mansio at Alfodean, Sussex

HADAS DIARY-Forthcoming lectures

Tues. 14th February Our Valentine’s Day lecture is by Dr Julia Shaw, Institute of Archaeology, UCL ‘Archaeological Landscapes in Central India: approaches to religious and economic change, c.3rd century BC to 5th century AD

Tues. 14th March Merial Jeater — Assistant Curator, Department of Early London History and Collections, Museum of London; ‘Reinventing the Middle Ages; the Museum of London’s new Medieval London Gallery’

Tues.11 th April Kathryn Piquette, Institute of Archaeology, UCL ‘Maintaining order, fighting Chaos: evidence in the Petrie Museum for Egyptian Warfare’ (then judge for yourselves how accurate those ‘Battle’ scenes in the recent Sunday evening BBC ‘Egypt’ programmes really were)

Tues. 9th May Andy Agate Institute of Archaeology, UCL ‘Kingsbury Old Church’ (Andy is a member of the Wednesday evening course working on the Ted Sammes Hendon Church Terrace site for publication, and dug with as at Church Farmhouse Museum in 2005)

Wednesday August 30 — Sunday September 3 2006 Annual HADAS Long Weekend — Devon and Cornwall Booking form enclosed with this newsletter.

As ever, lectures take place at Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. Lectures begin at 8pm. Non-members £1; tea/coffee & biccie.s. 70p. 15-minute walk from Finchley Central tube station; several nearby bus routes; limited parking.

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PRIESTS AND STONES by Andy Simpson

In November 2005, an old Primary School Friend kindly invited me to his Licensing as Parish Priest, giving the opportunity for a few days exploration of the Gloucester region, as his new Church is St Mary the Virgin, Newent, in the Forest of Dean, some 9 miles west of Gloucester — ‘Diocese of Gloucester -The Parish of Newent and Gorsley with Cliffords Mesne’ His new church is actually a splendid medieval building with some interesting Saxon carvings visible. The licensing went splendidly, with a full church with the Bishop of Tewkesbury officiating over an enthusiastic and uplifting service, with the keys to the church formally handed over at the door. My comfortable accommodation was right opposite in The George Hotel, a typical coaching Inn, dating back to 1649, with some excellent real ale-and real cider, being Gloucestershire-available at the bar. The pretty market town of Newent is billed as ‘The Onion Capital of the World’, with the revived `Newent Onion Fayre’ held annually in September, attended by some 15,000 people. The smallest of four towns in the Forest of Dean district, it once lay on the Drover’s road from Wales, and has several local attractions including the Shambles Victorian village, two vineyards, and, close by, the National Birds of Prey Centre. Two miles away is May Hill, at 900 feet the highest point in Gloucestershire, with views of seven counties from the top, In the centre of the town is the half-timbered Market House, dated 1668, which in the summer houses the Newent Heritage Museum, with displays on the considerable Roman activity in the area; the second-century civil settlement spreads over some 117 acres, with evidence of iron working and a villa. The medieval priory fishponds survive as Newent Lake and Park, and a certain Dick Whittington lived at nearby Paultney. In the seventeenth century, Huguenot glassmakers settled in the area, with traces of their kilns near May Hill. The town centre has some lovely brick and timber Elizabethan/Georgian/Victorian buildings, some 50 of which are listed, and a comfortable atmosphere. The thirteenth century St Mary’s Church has the largest unsupported wooden ceiling in England, a portion of early ninth century Northumbrian style Saxon cross shaft in the porch, discovered in the churchyard in 1907. One face shows the Fall of Man, with the serpent entwined around the Tree of Knowledge between the figures of Adam and Eve. Alongside the cross-shaft are two huge seventh century grave slabs with incised decoration of Celtic workmanship, of unknown provenance. There are casts of other pre-conquest carvings found around the church on display inside, the originals being with Gloucester Museum. One of these, displayed in the Lady Chapel, is a cast of a unique carved stone tablet, ‘The Newent Stone’, just six inches across, which was found serving as a pillow stone in a medieval grave in 1912, and shows ‘The Harrowing of Hell’ on one side and ecclesiastic with pectoral cross on the other —it may be of eleventh century date and have originated as a portable altar; other fragments are seventh/eighth -century Celtic, possibly originating with a monastic community at Newent founded by Irish monks. The church nave was partially rebuilt in the seventeenth century after a partial collapse under a heavy weight of snow in 1674, and the tower is fourteenth century, with a 153-foot spire. The timber ceiling, built after the style of the Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, measures 75 feet by 50 feet. Needless to say, some time was also spent exploring the very vestigial remains of Newent Railway Station, which opened in 1885 on the Gloucester to Ledbury Line, but lost its passengers in 1959 and its goods tracks in 1964. In GWR days the line was known as the ‘Daffodil Line’ with hordes of 1930s day-trippers heading out from London to pick and enjoy said flowers which grow wild in huge numbers in the area.

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Old Four Legs Lives On By Stewart Wild

Since schooldays I have been fascinated by the story of the coelacanth, the world’s most ancient fish, thought to be extinct until a specimen was brought ashore in December 1938 in the net of a trawler that had been fishing in the Indian Ocean off East London, South Africa. It was taken to a local museum where the curator, a young lady named Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, made detailed notes and contacted James Smith, a university professor and amateur ichthyologist. The species was later named Latimeria chalumnae in her honour. The coelacanth (Gr. hollow spine) is the last of the crossopterygii, an ancestor of the amphibians. Because its paired fleshy limb-like fins move in a similar fashion to human arms and legs, the professor dubbed it “Old Four Legs”. The fish was indeed a 350-million-year-old “living fossil” and its discovery was astounding, equivalent to coming across a live dinosaur. It has a sort of blotchy steely-blue colour, chubby fins, skeletal structure and large, round scales, and is almost unchanged, physically and genetically, from its fossilised ancestors that inhabited the oceans hundreds of millions of years ago. In the 1940s and 50s further specimens were found which led to the discovery of the first documented colony of these strange creatures, at great depths off the Comoros Islands, between northern Mozambique and Madagascar. Over the years the coelacanth, which averages 1.5m in length and 50kg in weight, has attracted a fervent following of scientists, divers and explorers and may have been the inspiration for the monster that starred in the 1954 horror movie The Creature from the Black Lagoon. I was enthralled finally to see an actual coelacanth, not alive unfortunately, but preserved in a tank in the local museum at Moroni, in the Comoros Islands, when I visited this part of the world in April 1996. It was a weird and memorable experience that I wrote about in a HADAS newsletter later that year. Since then a lot more has become known about these prehistoric creatures. In 1-997 Dr Mark Erdmann, a Canadian biologist, recognised a specimen in a market in Manado, at the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, east of Borneo and 10,000km east of the Comoros Islands. Another was found in 1998. The local people were familiar with the fish, which they called raja laut or “king of the sea”. The Sulawesi specimens were slightly different from the Comoros coelacanths in that their colour was brown, and they were subsequently classified as a separate species, Latimeria manadoensis. Five years ago a team of South African divers, using special equipment, located coelacanths off the Comoros Islands at a depth of 100 metres, shallow for the fish but so dangerous for divers that three of the team sadly lost their lives. Professor Hans Fricke, of the Max Planck Institute in Germany, later used a submersible to discover more than 100 coelacanths at depths of between 150 and 200 metres living in submarine caves deep in the sides of these volcanic islands. The fish are very lethargic and swim very slowly, using currents to move around. Prof Fricke and his colleagues have been analysing the DNA structure of 47 coelacanths found in various locations off the African coast. The samples are remarkably familiar, differing in most cases by only a single letter of DNA code. “They are all terribly inbred,” said the professor, “all belonging to a single slowly- dispersing family.” Studies of the Equatorial Currents suggest that the African coast coelacanths could have originated, like the Indonesian species, from a common ancestor between five and 11 million years ago. One female specimen found off Madagascar in 1991 by Prof Fricke contained 26 young — just the kind of fish that could found a new population. Dr Erdmann and other ichthyologists believe that the Latimeria species may have been broadly distributed throughout the Indian and Pacific oceans for millions of years prior to the formation of the Indo-Australian arc as a result of tectonic plate movements in the Miocene era — roughly five to 25 million years ago. This greatly restricted the flow of currents between the Pacific and Indian Oceans and may have led to genetic divergence between the two coelacanth species. Professor Fricke now believes that one day we will discover an ancestral population of coelacanths somewhere in the western Pacific. Here the sea has an average depth of 4,570m and there are deep canyons, for example in the Mariana Islands, where the ocean floor plunges to over 11,000m below sea level. There is still much to learn about these extraordinary creatures. For pictures, further information and news the website www.dinofish.com is well worth a visit. With acknowledgments to an article in the Daily Telegraph by Roger Highfield.

London’s Jewish Museum

£4 million has been pledged by HLF to London’s Jewish Museum with the aim of creating what is currently one of the city’s less well-known museums into a world-class museum exploring the heritage of the Jewish community. As a legacy of its amalgamation from the former Jewish Museum and the London Museum of Jewish Life, the collection is currently split over sites in Albert Street, Camden Town, and at the Sternberg Centre in Finchley. The grant will extend the flagship site in Albert Street so that both collections can be combined in one location for the first time and will triple, the amount of space currently available. The museum’s collections are of international importance. They cover the history, culture and religious life of the Jewish community in Britain and beyond from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, and include one of the world’s finest collections of Jewish ceremonial art, one of the largest collections of Jewish prints and drawings, photographs, an extensive oral history archive and material relating to refugees from Nazism and Holocaust survivors. Rickie Burman, Director of the Jewish Museum, said: ‘We are thrilled at the news … this is the largest single such award ever received by a Jewish communal organisation. The real work begins now as we fundraise to match this funding and to achieve our £8.4 million target’.

HARROW; LAND AT THE ROYAL NATIONAL ORTHOPAEDIC HOSPITAL, BROCKLEY HILL, STANMORE by Peter Pickering

From the latest Greater London Archaeology Quarterly Review, courtesy of Peter Pickering; Borough: HARROW; LAND AT THE ROYAL NATIONAL ORTHOPAEDIC HOSPITAL, BROCKLEY HILL, STANMORE; Arch Org: Cotswold Archaeological Trust; Report Type: Evaluation Site Code: RYNO5 Grid Ref: 517000194000 An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Cotswold Archaeology during June and July 2005. 20 trenches were excavated across the proposed development area. Roman pits and ditches were recorded within four trenches in the south-eastern corner of the site, identifying a zone of principally late 1st and 2nd century activity including evidence for metalworking, perhaps on the periphery of pottery production sites of similar date noted during earlier archaeological excavations to the north and east of the site. In addition, a pit dated to the 3rd century AD may suggest activity on the site after the main period of pottery production had ceased. Archaeological deposits in these trenches lie at a minimum of 0.25m below present ground level, and generally at depths of 0.5m or more below modern ground level. Evaluation trenches across the remaining areas of the site contained evidence for modern landscaping, including dumping of material and truncation of former soil horizons, but no archaeological features pre-dating the post-medieval/modern period.

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Heritage will ‘save the Thames Gateway’s soul’-Via the Society of Antiquaries.

Perhaps it is an apocryphal story, but a senior cabinet minister is reported to have expressed the view a couple of years ago that the Thames Gateway was a heritage-free area. Leaving aside the fact that the area is one of the richest in England for natural heritage and biodiversity, English Heritage has gone a long way to correcting such erroneous beliefs with the launch of a new publication, called Growing Places. This not only maps the historic environment of the entire Thames Gateway region, it also identifies more than 100 historic hubs – towns, cities and villages – that have historic assets with the potential to act as a catalyst for revitalising the whole area. Speaking at the launch of the book at the Thames Gateway Forum in London on 23 November, Simon Thurley, FSA, MIFA, Chief Executive of English Heritage, said: ‘Heritage- led regeneration brings out the soul of a place by drawing out the features that make it loved, welcoming and unique. Identifying and then regenerating historic hubs provides an economic, geographic and civic focus for new places. Even more importantly, it prioritises improving quality of life for the communities that are already there. Instead of looking at the Thames Gateway as a blank canvas, we have to understand its historic context and recognise the historic assets that we already have. How could you successfully revitalise a place like Queenborough, for example, if you didn’t know anything about its maritime heritage?’ Simon continued: ‘To get the most out of the Thames Gateway in the future, we must care about our heritage, and invest in it. Our heritage is a priceless heirloom. If you get a chip in a Ming vase, you don’t just throw it away, and then nip out to Ikea for a replacement. You restore it. And the same should be true for urban and rural regeneration. English Heritage isn’t interested in building film sets, or recreating Victorian high streets to the last detail. We want to strengthen the historic character of places, and use it to create a distinct focus for new communities. That means fixing up the heirlooms, weeding out the rubbish and then working together to fill in the remaining gaps in the built environment. The Thames Gateway’s Georgian and Victorian high streets and medieval ports were all but lost under layers of grime and dereliction. But now, through investment in its historic hubs, the area is rediscovering its soul.’ Simon went on to cite Gravesend as an example of heritage-led regeneration: ‘Not so long ago, the centre of Gravesend was a grey area, a vacant, boarded-up space. Now, it has a lively high street which makes the most of its historic buildings.’ Likewise, ‘Rochester is also a beautiful historic city, yet until recently, the most memorable and distinctive thing about Rochester High Street was the thundering stream of traffic running through it. Six years of heritage-led regeneration has renovated more than seventy buildings on Rochester High Street and visitors to Rochester can now walk down a fascinating, welcoming and bustling street.

Christmas Dinner Thanks —Jackie Brookes

adds that it was omitted from January’s Newsletter that the wine at our Christmas Dinner at Le Mercury was kindly donated by Molly Dicker’s family in her memory.

BOOK REVIEW

Just a couple of lines spare to recommend Barnet Borough Heritage Officer Hugh Petrie’s new book, ‘Hendon & Golders Green Past’ in the extensive Phillimore & Co ‘Past’ series. 160 pages, hardback, price £15.95; ISBN 1-905286-02-3, published 2005. Plenty of illustrations including a number not familiar to this reader.

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A day on the Thames by Andy Simpson

One habit I seem to have got into in recent years is my annual trip down the Thames on PS Waverley, the world’s last sea-going paddle steamer, operated by Glasgow-based Waverley Excursions Ltd. Throughout the summer and autumn, the vessel sails right around the UK coast, operating excursions out of Southend, Strood, Woolwich, Clacton, Ipswich, Margate and Whitstable, Ramsgate, Great Yarmouth, Southwold, Folkstone, the Isle of Wight, Bournemouth, Eastbourne, Southampton, Portsmouth, Weymouth and Swanage in the south. Therefore, Sunday morning 2 October 2005 found me at Tower Pier, opposite the moored WW2 cruiser HMS Belfast, queuing 4m. the usual ‘Southend and Thames Forts’ full-day cruise — yours for only £34.00, including fuel surcharge. This regular cruise pauses at Tilbury and Southend before heading out into the mouth of the Thames Estuary to view the wartime anti-aircraft forts and passing shipping. An early highlight is seeing the bascules of Tower Bridge open for the Waverley to cruise through in stately manner, her mast just passing neatly between the two lifting halves of the bridge-the deck was crowded with passengers eager to see this spectacle. The weather was sunny, calm-and cold, so pretty much ideal cruising weather! The ship follows the Thames past riverside flats, many of them converted from former warehouses, Canary Wharf and Docklands developments, the Millennium Dome, Greenwich waterfront, including the magnificent former Royal Naval College, now University buildings, the tea clipper Cutty Sark, through the Thames barrier-always an experience-past the Woolwich Ferry and the very sweet-smelling Tate and Lyle Sugar Refinery at Woolwich-now the furthest point upstream regularly reached by large vessels since the closure of the London docks – and on past Tilbury to Southend, returning back to Tower Pier around 8.15, so you get a very full day out. Other highlights included passing various Thames dredgers on their forays out into the estuary to scoop up sand and gravel for transfer to Thameside aggregates processors, passing under the rather impressive Queen Elizabeth Bridge carrying the M25 over the Thames (the wonderful red sunset over the bridge on the way back being particularly magnificent), the rather empty-at-the-time Port of Tilbury and the sunken section of D-Day Mulberry Harbour off Southend that sank on its way from the shipbuilder’s yard. We also pass close to the sunken wartime Liberty ship, the Richard Montgomery, off the Kent coast that still holds much of her cargo of ammunition; the three masts are still visible above the waves, with the forward mast tilted to show how the ship broke its back when it originally grounded on a sandbank. We moored at the mile-and-a — quarter long Southend Pier both Ways, just a matter of days before it was so sadly badly damaged by fire yet again, though thankfully it is to be rebuilt. The ships-bridge style Lifeboats building on the Pier is particularly impressive. The anti-aircraft forts themselves at Red Sands and, further out into the estuary, at Shivering Sands have survived remarkably well and each feature(d) seven individual steel towers, standing on tubular legs on the seabed, previously linked by (now demolished) suspended walkways. Towers had dedicated uses, including ones mounting 3.7-inch AA guns and Bofors guns. A trust has been formed to restore the Red Sands Forts, with one tower restored to represent its wartime AA role, and another to show its 1960s use as a pirate radio station; another is planned for University use to extract hydrogen from sea water! The Shivering Sands fort is nowadays backed by a very large wind farm; one of its towers collapsed many years ago when hit by a passing ship.

When you feel the need to defrost after all that time taking in the sights on deck, the Waverley has spacious below-decks lounges, bars and a restaurant. The Waverley was built as the last Clyde steamer for the London and North Eastern Railway, replacing a vessel of the same name sunk off Dunkirk in May 1940. She was launched on the Clyde on 2 October 1946, with her maiden voyage on 16 June 1947. Weighing 693 tons gross, she is 240 feet long, twin-funnelled, with a current passenger capacity of 925. Steam powered, she has been oil fired since 1957, and reached 18.5 knots on trials, with a normal service speed of 14.5 knots, which she reaches quickly and smoothly. Nationalisation of the railways in 1948 was followed by the Waverley’s transfer to the British Transport Commissions’ Caledonian Steam Packet Co Ltd subsidiary in1951, with her traditional summer cruises continuing up Loch Goil and Loch Long. By 1972 she was the sole surviving Clyde Paddler, and was withdrawn in September 1973. She was sold (for one pound!) to the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, a registered charity, in 1974, and has been maintained in fully seaworthy condition since May 1975, surviving grounding on Gantocks Rock off Dunoon in 1977. Nowadays she is operated for the PSPS by Waverley Excursions Ltd. Maintenance is extensive and expensive, including reboilering in 1980-81 and an annual dry-docking; when you visit the engine room to watch the 2100hp triple-expansion steam engine in action, there are usually gunmetal bearings and the like for sale. In 1999-2000, a £2.7 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund funded a very extensive rebuild, including replating of the hull, renovation of the engine, new boilers, new paddleboxes and sponsons, new funnels and new deck shelter. Hopefully this should make her fit for many more seasons of sailing. The PSPS also operate the rather smaller Paddler, the 110-feet long 1924-built PS Kingswear Castle on the River Medway, in contrast to its original home on the River Dart in Devon. Also operated is the 1949-built motor cruise ship MV Balmoral, based in Bristol. For details, see www.psps.freeserve.co.uk. Worth the trip-try her out for yourselves next year!

THE LONDON ACADEMY (NORTH), EDGWARE

From the latest Greater London Archaeology Quarterly Review, courtesy of Peter Pickering; Site Name: THE LONDON ACADEMY (NORTH), EDGWARE, reported July 2005 Arch Org: AOC Archaeology (London) Report Type: Evaluation Site Code: LAK05 Grid Ref: 518437192926 Summary: The evaluation consisted of 22 trenches. The western edge of the development area revealed a good level of survival of archaeological remains with a series of ditches and several isolated pits and postholes recorded in trenches 1, 2, 4, 6 & 7. These features all truncated a possible Roman occupation layer and much of the material recovered from the ditches and pits was dated to the Roman period. The alignment of the linear features, running north to south, and therefore parallel with the known Roman road, and east west at 90 degrees to the road, support the idea that these features formed part of a Roman roadside settlement. Towards the east of the development area very few archaeological remains were observed. These were limited to a shallow undated pits and ditch in trenches 12 and 19 respectively. The remainder of the trenches contained only ill-defined variations in the natural clay. Sections were excavated through these features to confirm that they were of natural origin.

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OTHER SOCIETIES’ LECTURES & EVENTS

Normal compiler Eric Morgan has had an accident and is recovering; Get Well Soon, Eric!

Wednesday 8 February 7.45 pm Union Church Hall, Corner of Ferme Park Rd/Weston Park, N8 Hornsey Historical Society Lecture; Your Victorian Ancestors; Facts You May Not Know; George Smith. Non-Members £1.00.

Thursday 9 February 8pm Drawing Room, Avenue House East End Rd, Finchley-Finchley Society Lecture — ‘How to Research your favourite spot in Finchley’ Dr 011ie Natelson.

Monday 13 February 3pm Church House, Wood St, Chipping Barnet Barnet and District Local History Society ‘Wars of The Roses-The Two Kings’ by Alan Smith.

Wednesday 15 February 8pm Scout House, High Road, Willesden Green Willesden Local History Society Lecture ‘Queen’s Park Rangers’ — Richard Porter.

Friday 17 February 6.30 for 7 Annual General Meeting, followed by lecture, Syon; Uncovering Medieval England’s Wealthiest Nunnery City Of London Archaeological Society-St Olave’s Hall, Mark Lane, London EC2. Nearest Tube Tower Hill.

Monday 20 February 8pm Church End Library, Finchley Friends of Barnet Borough Libraries Talk – ‘The North London Hospice’ by Pauleen Treen.

Thursday 23 February 2.30pm, Drawing Room, Avenue House, East End Rd, Finchley N3 Finchley Society lecture; ‘Blitz! London During World War 2 Brenda Cole

Saturday 25 March 11-5 43rd Annual Conference of London Archaeologists — the LAMAS CONFERENCE Museum of London Lecture Theatre. 11 am — 5.30pm Afternoon coffee available. Stands and displays, hopefully including HADAS, in attendance. Other details not available at time of writing. Museum of London, 150 London Wall, EC2

Newsletter

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Avenue House

The current winter project at the Garden Room is to refurbish the finds and archive from the first phase of the West Heath Mesolithic dig, Hampstead undertaken by HADAS 1976-1981. Over the years some of the finds have been stored in a variety of places and as a result storage boxes etc have deteriorated. With the guidance of Myfanwy Stewart who dug on site and helped with the report, jobs have included sorting and reorganising finds bags into trench and layer order, re-labelling and re- bagging where necessary and finally re-boxing. Much of the find archive consists of burnt stone material, after consultation with English Heritage this has been disposed of as it has already been reported and is of no further use. Further material to be considered includes plaster casts of post/stake holes and soil/charcoal samples. The paper and photographic archive — site books, plans etc are mostly in good order but will need sorting and cataloguing. Hopefully the end result will be to deposit the finds and archive with the London Archaeological Archive and Research Centre (LAARC) who can make it more publicly accessible.

HADAS Diary

The winter lecture series takes place at Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. Lectures start promptly at 8 pm — non-members £1, Coffee or tea 70p. Nearest tube Finchley Central.

Tues. 10th January lecture by Jon Finney, London Borough of Barnet, on “Conservation and Archaeology”.

Tues. 14th February lecture by Dr Julia Shaw, Institute of Archaeology, UCL, on “Archaeological landscapes in Central India: approaches to religious and economic change, c. 3rd century BC to 5th century AD”.

Tues. 14th March lecture (note — change of speaker) by Meriel Jeater – Assistant Curator, Department of Early London History and Collections, Museum of London: Reinventing the Middle Ages: the Museum of London’s new Medieval London Gallery.

Tues. 11th April lecture by Kathyrn Piquette, Institute of Archaeology, UCL, on “Maintaining order, fighting chaos: evidence in the Petrie Museum for Egyptian warfare.

Tues. 9th May lecture by Andy Agate, Institute of Archaeology, UCL, on “Kingsbury Old Church”.

Mitre Site Visit

During October AOC Archaeology conducted a 4 week excavation beneath a car-park to the rear of The Mitre Pub in High Street, Barnet. HADAS are interested in the site as we dug a large trench there in 1990. We found the post- medieval remains of buildings and cottages, medieval material, notably a pebbly silty layer filled with a substantial amount of medieval pot probably associated with building plots then fronting the High Street and medieval market. Also found were a couple of sherds of Roman pottery. Over the past couple years there have been further evaluation trenches by MoLAS and Wessex Archaeology. Now the site is to be developed into flats, AOC Archaeology has excavated the whole area. On the morning of Friday October 14th a small band of HADAS members were conducted on a tour by site director Cat Edwards. The main features seen were a brick capped well, a soakaway/drain system possibly 17th-18thC and most intriguingly the footings of mortared flint wall/building as yet undated. Of the flint structure Cat explained “we hope it will turn out to be a cellar because we can date pieces of bottles by their shape and style”. The rest of the site was characterised by layers of silt and gravel (the natural is a gravel and sand) much of which was truncated by pitting, quarrying and other activity. Most this contained post-medieval pot and much brick and tile. Some of the ditch, gully and pit feature may be of medieval date. Thanks to Cat, the offices of AOC Archaeology and Kim Stabler of English Heritage. The dig was also reported in 27th October edition of the Barnet Press.

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Family Archaeology by Jim Nelhams

I could also have entitled this article “Digging up the relatives”. Certainly as I’ve progressed from a few known bits of information, by research and some lateral thinking and the occasional inspired guess, I’ve come to recognise a number of similarities between genealogy and archaeology, and some ways that the one can help the other. That’s not new — indeed past records of HADAS will show the work done relating to churchyards and gravestone inscriptions. The key to making genealogy easier is the same as archaeology — the information discovered needs to be published so that others can build on it, and develop it further. Let’s pause the sermon. My wife Jo and I have often thought about tracing our family history. Since I have recently retired, this year seemed a good time to start. Jo was born a member of the WILLOWS family, and our experience in tracing the memorial to her uncle, who, was killed in 1916 in the battle of the Somme, led us to believe that the name was unusual, and that this would make our task easier. We also knew that her great-grandparents, William Willows and Margaret (Lack) were buried in the churchyard of a village called Coton, just outside Cambridge. And since Jo is the youngest child of a youngest child, her great-grandfather was born in 1821, and grandfather in 1856. Previous enquiries at Coton church by Jo’s uncle led us to believe that there were no records at the church. This is true, but the parish records do still exist in the Cambridgeshire County Records Office (CRO). Hard work by members of the Cambridgeshire Family History Society has provided indexes by surname to each of the parish registers kept at the CRO. So off we went to the records office where finding records in the Coton parish registers proved quite easy, but provided a few surprises. I should explain that our knowledge up to that point was that great-grandfather had 6 children and we knew where each of them went. Before him, we knew nothing. The registers told us otherwise — he had 11 children, 5 of whom had died before reaching the age of 4. And there was a confusing practice of re-using names when a child died. So three of the children were called Peter and two of them, Margaret. Close inspection of the marriage record also showed that William was a widower. We managed to locate his first wife, but at that time could we not find what happened to her. If she had not died, a small village would certainly have known. Time running out on us, so we noted information about people named Willows in the neighbouring parishes and returned to base. It might be helpful to give a few dates relevant to family history research. Central registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages came into effect on 1st July 1837. Since then, all these events should have been recorded, though that does not mean that the information is readily available. These records are indexed on paper, are available at the Family Records Centre in Islington, but only the index. If you want to see an entry, you must purchase a copy certificate at a cost of £7 (another hidden tax!). Some records are being transcribed, but it is a long process, and priority is being given to the older records. More recent ones are going directly to computer and are accessible. Prior to 1837, most parishes kept good records of baptisms, marriages and burials, and this continued for some years after 1837. These records were then largely centralised in each county. Nationwide censuses started in 1801, though the first few did not record names, only addresses and numbers and have taken place every ten years. Effectively, the 1841 census is of limited use, 1851 to 1901 contain much useful information, though not necessarily consistent questions were asked. The policy is not to publish a census for 100 years, so those after 1901 are not yet available. Much work has been done by a number of organisations to transcribe the written information onto computer files so that they can be accessed, often at a cost. The quality of the computer data is a problem. For a census, a form was delivered to each household to be completed and collected later. Many families could not write their names, so when the form was collected, the enumerator tilled it in, and wrote the names as he thought he heard them, allowing for local accents. In a later census. the same name could have a different spelling. Then he returned home with all the forms. and re-wrote the information onto central returns, which were sent off and bound into hooks. The forms were then analysed, and in doing this, information often had a line drawn through it so that it did not get counted twice. Rather later, to computerise the information. the book pages were photographed, and the information from these copies was keyed onto computers. Plenty of opportunities for error! The good news is that family history is now big business. Lots of people are putting their own trees together, and so many of these will overlap. Several businesses exist to help, and to make money, though with large volumes, the costs are not high compared to £7 per certificate, and these organisations provide the facility to get in touch with other researchers and to share information. With these services and internet access, I have made rapid progress, and as at 10th November, the tree has grown to include over 1100 names, including people that have married into and out of the family name. During this process, I have had information from a number of people including some in Australia, Canada, South Africa and USA, and in return have provided them with the things I have found. Just yesterday, i had an email giving me another 19 people with the family name, so there is clearly a lot still to do. And Jo has learned of relations she knew nothing about and has met some of them. On another branch of the family. I have been able to put two cousins in touch that had lost track of each other over 25 years ago. I certainly don’t claim to he an expert, but I have learned a lot, and made a number of new friends. Unscrambling the history is not easy, but it’s getting easier all the time as more is transcribed onto computers. If any members want to try their own family tree, I’m happy to give advice, though without any guarantee of success. On William’s first marriage, we’ve made a lot of progress, but still not got the complete picture. • William Willows of Coton married Hannah Elwood of Boxworth on 18th November 1841 in Boxworth. (Source — Coton and Boxworth parish registers) • Daughter Hephzibah Willows was baptised at Coton on 23rd December 1842. (Coton records) • Hannah died in 1843 and was buried in Coton on 19th October (Coton records) • The 1851 census shows Hephzibah (as Elizebeth Willowes) being raised by her grandparents Thomas and Sarah Elwood in Boxworth. They also have a young daughter, Emily, born the same year as Hephzibah. • The 1861 census shows that both Hephzibah and Emily are working as servants in the nearby village of Swavesey. Hephzibah (shown as Hephzibah Willis) is working for Mr William Wickham, a maltster and master brewer employing 3 men, at the Blue Bell in the High Street. Mr Wickham was born in Hertford. A few doors away is young William Williams, an agricultural labourer. • In 1871, Mr Wickham (now spelt Wyekham) has moved back to Hertfordshire. and is now in Ware employing 4 men. Hephzibah Willows is still his servant. • On 24 August 1876 Hephzibah Willows marries William Williams at Swavesey. (Parish records and record of marriage certificate). • In the 1881 census, William and Hephzibah arc in Altofts. near Wakefield, Yorkshire. They have two children. Ethel (3) and Sidney (1). Her birthplace is incorrectly shown as Boxworth — it was Coton in all previous records. William is a railway signalman. Where did they go after that? Its interesting to speculate. Did they perhaps emigrate? Could we write a book based on their lives? The hunt continues. So how might all this help archaeology? If we are interested in who lived somewhere and how they lived, then it must help to have a written record that gives us clues. I’ve looked at a lot of the census information for a number of small villages. What I see is that: – • a lot of intermarrying between families in the same village. • large families with high infant mortality, but the eldest daughter expected at a later date to support their parents — effectively, she was their pension • most people in Victorian times got married at 21 or not at all • families stayed in the same place as long as work was available • when the work disappeared, several sections of the family would move together to find work — for example. a number of farm labourers all moving to work on the “new” railways • some new jobs came, but only lasted for a few years — a lot of the area near Cambridge was involved for a while in mining coprolite — to be used as fertiliser — until cheaper fertilisers were found elsewhere.

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A sad tale or the day the roof fell in. By Don Cooper

As many of you will know, Liz and I visited the Greek Island of Santorini (also known as Thera) for a fortnight in late September 2005. Apart from the sun and the sand we went mainly to visit the archaeological sites and museums. There are two major sites, the “buried” town of Akrotiri and the site of ancient Thera. Nearly 370 metres above sea level, sit the ruins of the ancient Thera. The steep inaccessible slopes provided natural fortifications and the height above sea level offered surveillance over the South-east Aegean hence the importance of the site. The site is reached up a steep and winding narrow road and then a hard climb up an uneven path. However it is worth it!! The ruins extend over 800 metres by 150 metres and stand up to two metres tall. It was occupied from about the 9th c BC to the late Roman period. As might be expected the best preserved buildings are the later ones — the theatre, the marketplace (Agora), the Roman baths and basilicas are all prominent, as well as the sanctuaries of the ancient gods, particularly the Sanctuary of Artemidoros with its rock reliefs of dolphin, eagle and lion and the wreathed head of Artemidoros. There are remains of military building, private houses, roads, squares and a sophisticated water system. Sherds of Roman and Hellenistic pottery lie everywhere – I suppose when you have that much you can afford to leave it on the ground even if some is decorated and has inscriptions!! The other site at Akrotiri is one of the most important sites in Greece and a world heritage site. It is the ruins of a city that was buried by a volcanic explosion in 1650BC. The city was preserved under the ash, and although the site was known from the 1870s. when excavations began in the late 1960s a virtually intact settlement was found. The narrow streets are lined with two and three storey houses; there are the ruins of warehouses and shops. It has been properly described as the Greek Pompeii. Large numbers of multi-coloured wall paintings tell the story of the city and its people, their customs and culture. Masses of intact pieces of both plain and decorated pottery tell us about their life style. Most of the artefacts and the wall paintings have been removed either to the National Museum at Athens or the new Museum in Thera town dedicated to the Akrotiri site. The precious architecture of the city as been preserved up to now by an old roof erected in the early 1970s. About six years ago a new roof was planned to replace the old one as it was deteriorating and had asbestos in it. The new roof was finished this year and was being landscaped while we were there. Now for the sad bit. on our last visit to Akrotiri on 231d September we wandered around taking photographs and at 12.55 (the last photo on my camera of the site is timed at 12.51) we left the site. By 13.30 the roof had collapsed and unfortunately killed a Welsh tourist and severely injured six other tourists (two Americans. two Germans and two Croatians) — others had a lucky escape. 1,000 square metres of the 14,000 square metre roof had collapsed burying the site. It seems that the workmen landscaping the site had put down 15 ems of soil and were watering it when the roof collapsed. Three of the engineers were arrested and face trial in Naxos next year. The roof was planned with the minimum number of pillars so as not to disturb the site. Even so, when they were putting them in a Neolithic settlement was found below the 1650 BC site. Unfortunately the site has been damaged and contaminated and is unlikely to reopen for a long time – A sad end to a lovely holiday.

Brian Wrigley Memorial Bench

A group of around 15 HADAS members attended the dedication of the bench in Brian’s memory at Avenue House on 27th November. Unfortunately Joan Wrigley could not attend due to illness but their son Norman came along instead. The bench sits outside the Garden Room overlooking the park, an inscription reads — “In memory of Brian Wrigley 1926-2003 an archaeologist who loved this place”.

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HADAS Xmas Dinner

Before this year’s dinner we had a tour of the London Archaeological Archive Resource Centre (LAARC). Based at in Hackney, the LAARC holds information on over 5000 sites or projects that have taken place in Greater London over the past 100 years. In addition, it stores the full archives from the majority of these. Nowadays the records and finds from nearly all archaeological work in London come here. Although the Centre has been open for some years the sheer magnetude of the archive and the work to keep it up to date continues to impress. As well as the archive, the Museum of London Archaeological Service and Specialist Service are housed here, its manager Roy Stephenson and his colleagues showed us around the different sections. Apart from the bays holding the finds on shelves and roller racking, we could inspect a room holding the reserve collection of pottery and glass from all periods — a useful way of seeing the development of styles and fashions through the ages. Another favourite was the Social and History Collection housing all sorts of ephemera from small street signs to the vehicle collection. A short drive to Islington’s Upper Street found us in the top floor of the busy Le Mercury Restaurant where we enjoyed the dinner and a few bottles of wine. Many thanks to Jackie for her organisation.

London news from the Society of Antiquaries

Edward the Confessor’s grave discovered

Archaeology made headline news on 2 December 2005 when the BBC and several newspapers reported that a ground penetrating radar survey of the area in front of the high altar in Westminster Abbey had located the site of Edward the Confessor’s original grave, along with a series of royal tombs dating from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, including a line of what appear to be diminutive graves, possibly for children. Edward’s body was moved twice in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. Until now archaeologists had assumed that the original tomb of Edward the Confessor was near the present high altar, because medieval records refer to him being buried there. It is now clear, however, that the position of the altar was moved by Henry III in the mid-thirteenth century. The archaeologists have located the original tomb 10 feet behind the present altar, under the shrine built by Henry III in 1269, which still contains the remains of the saint. Warwick Rodwell, FSA, the abbey’s consultant archaeologist, called it an ‘extraordinary discovery’ of ‘unparalleled historical interest dating back to the very founding of the abbey, over a millennium ago’. The archaeological team is now preparing further investigations to establish the purpose,history and content of the main tomb and the other chambers, graves and coffins it has found, though it will use non-invasive techniques to avoid disturbing the abbey’s cosmati-work pavement, which surrounds the shrine and that was laid in 1268.

Crossness

The Pumping Station at the heart of London’s historic sewage system is to be restored by the Crossness Engines Trust after receiving £99,000 in development funds and the provisional offer of a £1.4 million grant. Located on Erith Marshes in Bexley, Crossness Pumping Station was designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette as part of a sewage solution to combat the cholera and typhoid outbreaks that crippled London during the ‘Great Stink’ of 1858. The system comprised 85 miles of sewers across London, and the Pumping Station was an engineering triumph, incorporating the four largest rotary beam engines in the world. Three Grade-I listed buildings will be restored, including the Boiler House, Beam Engine House and Triple Expansion Engine House, and a host of new facilities will be created, including an exhibition exploring the history of public health, pollution and the environment

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OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS by Eric Morgan

Thurs 5 Jan: 10.30am, Mill Hill Library, Hartley Avenue, NW7. History of Roman Watling St from Tyburn to Little Stanmore by David Baker. Talk with coffee and biscuits, 50p.

Thurs 5 Jan: 7.30pm, London Canal Museum, 12-13 New Wharf Rd, Kings Cross, N1. The Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation by Doug Beard, £2.50 concessions.

Sun 8 Jan: 2.00pm, Barnet Churches. Guided Walk. Paul Baker (lasts 2hrs). Meet outside Barnet College, Wood St, Barnet. Cost £5.

Mon 9 Jan: 3pm, Barnet & Local History Society, Church House, Wood St, Barnet, (opposite museum). Barnet Postcards by Terence Atkins.

Weds 11 Jan: 6.30pm, LAMAS, Lecture Theatre, Museum of London. The City Livery Companies Before the Reformation by Dr Matthew Davies.

Weds 11 Jan: 8.00pm, Mill Hill Historical Society, Harwood Hall, Union Church, The Broadway, NW7. The Villages of East London talk by Peter Laurence.

Weds 11 Jan: 7.45pm, Hornsey Historical Society, Union Church Hall, Corner of Ferme Park Rd/Weston Park, N8. Law & Order in 18thC Middlesex by Peter Carter.

Mon 16 Jan: 8.15, Friends of Barnet Borough Libraries, Church End Library, 24 Hendon Lane, N3. William Wilberforce by Dr Michael Worms

Mon 16 Jan: 8pm, Pinner Local History Society, Arnold Room, Methodist Church, Love Lane. Pinner. The History of the Grail by Moira lee for History Circle).

Weds 18 Jan: 8pm, Willesden Local History Society, Scout House, High Rd, (corner of Strode Rd) NW10. Willesden Shops, Brent Archives, Willesden Green Museum by M Barres-Baker, Tina Morton, Alex Sydney.

Thurs 19 Jan: 8pm, Enfield Preservation Society, Jubille Hall, Junction of Chase side/Parsonage Lane, Enfield. A walk from Muswell Hill to Hamstead in Postcards by Hugh Garnsworthy.

Fri 20 Jan: 7pm, City of London Archaeological Society, St Olave’s Parish Hall, Mark Lane, EC3. Humans After the Gap, The Palaeolithic Archaeology of Southern Britain by Roger Jacobi.

Weds 25 Jan: 7.45pm, Friern Barnet & District Local History Society, St John’s Church Hall (next to Whetstone police station), Friern Barnet Lane, N20. Nelson in Postcards by Hugh Garnsworthy.

Thurs 26 Jan: 2.30pm, Finchley Society, Drawing Room, Avenue House, East End Rd, N3.The Development of Finchley High Road by Oliver Natelson.

Sun 29 Jan: 2.00pm, The Battle of Barnet 1471, Guided Walk by Paul Baker, meet Junction of Great North Rd & Hadley Green. £5.00 (lasts 2hrs)

Newsletter

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Holiday wishes

As we approach the holiday season, we take this opportunity to wish all our readers a happy holiday and a healthy and prosperous new year.

YOUR CHRISTMAS PRESENT PROBLEM SOLVED.

Hot off the press, the latest HADAS publication is now available – THE LAST HENDON FARM, subtitled “The archaeology and history of Church End Farm”. This very readable book is based on the HADAS excavations in Hendon between 1961 and 1966. It expands known documentary evidence of the area and buildings by including the results of the excavations, giving a history of the development of the buildings. An analysis of the finds by those members who have, over the last 4 years, been taking part in the courses run through Birkbeck College at Avenue House on Wednesday evenings has provided a picture of the occupants and their lifestyle — their diet, the every day items that they used, and other interesting snippets. I hesitate to give more detail. The book is excellently produced, with over 100 pages in total, containing 73 good quality photographs and diagrams, and gives much credit to those whose hard work have gone into the contributions and production. It illustrates much of the purpose behind the existence of HADAS. Meanwhile, the courses continue and have turned their attention to Church Terrace. The book will be appearing in local shops at a price of £11.99, but HADAS members can obtain them from Don Cooper (contact information on the last page of this newsletter) for the knock-down price of £8 (plus £2.50 postage and packing if required). Certainly something to add to your book shelf, and those of your friends. So go on, treat yourself and them.

HADAS EVENTS FOR YOUR 2006 DIARY

The winter lecture series takes place at Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. Lectures start promptly at 8 pm — non-members £1, Coffee or tea 70p.

Tues. 10th January lecture by Jon Finney, London Borough of Barnet, on “Conservation and Archaeology”.

Tues. 14th February lecture by Dr Julia Shaw, Institute of Archaeology, UCL, on “Archaeological landscapes in Central India: approaches to religious and economic change, c. 3`d century BC to 5th century AD”

Tues. 14th March lecture by Nadia Durrani, Assistant Editor, Current Archaeology, on “The Queen of Sheba”

Tues. 11th April lecture by Kathyrn Piquette, Institute of Archaeology, UCL, on “Maintaining order, fighting chaos: evidence in the Petrie Museum for Egyptian warfare.

Tues. 9th May lecture by Andy Agate, Institute of Archaeology, UCL, on “Kingsbury Old Church”

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ESSEX OUTING — Saturday 10th September

The following contributions record the trip into Essex organised by June Porges and Stewart Wild.

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1. COPPED HALL by Jean Bayne/Paula Dalton

Contributed by Jean Bayne, with many thanks to Pauline Dalton who kindly provided much of the material for this report. When we arrived at Copped Hall (cop = top of a hill), we saw before us the grim outline of a derelict building, which had burned down early in the twentieth century. Stepping across the threshold, we soon discovered a treasure trove of history and archaeology, both in the house and the grounds. Copped Hall was built between 1753 and 1759 to a perfect 18th century country house plan by J. Conyers. The principal rooms were on the first floor with 8 rooms, which could be entered in two ways, either from the staircase landings or from the adjoining rooms via doors adjacent to the external walls allowing people to walk from room to room without using the staircase landings. This arrangement is known as ‘rooms enfilade’. There were two staircases, one in wood for the servants, the other in Portland stone, which was cantilevered, and was used by the family and guests. The top of the stairwells at second floor level terminated in triple arched openings allowing daylight into the staircases. The house was altered in 1775 and again by the Wythe family in 1895. This was the most opulent period for Copped Hall. The house was extended by two wings: a large conservatory and a new accommodation wing with rooms for servants. The garden was also redesigned with geometric beds, borders statues and temples. The fire in 1917 and subsequent demolition had removed most of the 1775 and 1895 alterations revealing the original mid-Georgian fabric. The future of the Mansion is as an Educational Trust and the fabric will be restored back to the original Georgian design, although the later Victorian extension will not be demolished. A narrow tunnel, about Oft high, runs all round the house, acting both as a kind of buttress and a damp course. The Cellars are amazing, although some visitors find them ‘spooky’. They have vaulted brickwork and the temperature is around 45 degrees, summer and winter. They originally housed all the provisions and the working areas for the house including the wine cellar and laundry. The silver plate was originally stored down there until a burglar in a hackney cab robbed the family. He was caught and hung within a few days and the silver removed to first floor storage! The Kitchen, which is original, is two storeys in height- with a vaulted ceiling and was originally lit by three large high-level windows. The one in the west wall was blocked up when the Victorian extension was built. The kitchen immediately adjoins the food preparation area. Once cooked, the food was passed through a hatch and taken up to the servants’ hall via a dumb water. From there it was carried up to the principal rooms. The kitchen had an early bread oven which, bricked up in the 1895 alterations. The wall tiles above the work area were also laid without grout but with brass headed pins. A canopy on top prevented dust falling into the food preparation. Hot air drove a spindle, which turned a spit. There was no drain in the kitchen so a scullery was used for washing up. This house was the first to have a lift, for goods not people, so that coal and linen could be easily transported to the guest bedrooms. The tour continued through the basement via the link building which was built in 1895 to join the Georgian stables to the house. The stables for the horses are teak with iron railings on the upper part. Several stalls have their water sinks and hay byres intact and the floor is designed in a chevron tile pattern. The party returned via the gallery and the recently roofed Servants Hall to the first floor with a visit to Lady Henrietta’s bedroom. This only became accessible in 2005 when a, donation enabled the Trust to put in wooden staircase. This part of the house had been altered in the 1770s to include a toilet block and a corridor. The group enjoyed refreshments in the Racquets Court before headings off down the gardens via King Henry’s yew lined walk, past the sunken garden, and the recent excavations, which unfortunately had been backed filled for the winter. These excavations, carried out by an Essex society, centred on the Elizabethan mansion, which had been built in the 16th century on top of a medieval structure. Part of the medieval building, the hall, had been incorporated into the Tudor mansion. Masonry had been found and also a wall from the Tudor Mansion. It was very large – a drawing existed of it – but was built facing north, the opposite of the old house, and had a colonnade of which one small pillar remained. There were also some remains of outhouses. It overlooked a magnificent country view on the edge of the forest. But it was not the site of the later Georgian building. Perhaps there were boundary disputes over taxes as the Elizabethan House was in the Waltham Abbey area whilst the 18th century one was under Epping. King Henry VIII acquired the original house in 1538 at the dissolution of the monasteries. Both Elizabeth and Mary Tudor stayed at Copped Hall at different times. When she became Queen, Elizabeth gave it to Thomas Heneage who rebuilt it in 1568. The first performance of “Midsummer’s Nights Dream” was said to have been performed here, in honour of Heneage’s marriage to the Countess of Southampton. The mansion was taken down in 1748 and the later Victorians turned this part of the garden into a rock garden and a rose garden. Our tour ended in the magnificent walled garden , built on a slope with a pond in the centre. Water runs down to the ponds via drains and is pumped up to tanks for use in the garden. Unusually, the walls follow the contours of the incline and need supporting. Much restoration work has gone on here and the outside walls with their heating boiler are being restored on the Victorian model. Sections of the garden are being developed to represent different historical periods of horticulture. We then made our way back to the house, passing sections of old statues and garden ornamentation from the most recent owners, the Wythes in the 19th century. Copped Hall is opened to the public every third Sunday in the month, by prior appointment. The Trust is anxious to gain public support but is very careful to maintain the privacy of the people who live there and discourage vandalism.

2. WILLINGTON CHURCHES Contributed by Ruth Wagland

Two churches on one site. This is what we visited in the village of Willington (‘nook of Willa’s people’). In 1120 Hervey D’Espania built the church of St Andrew, Willington Spain. In the 14th century the wool trade lead to a growth in the population: consequently St Christopher, Willington Doe was built by the D’Ou family on the same consecrated ground. The parishes had their own priests and congregation until 1929 when they were united. The arch of the south porch of St Andrew has much Roman brick in it as has the doorway to the vestry. There are windows from the 12th, 13th, 14th and 17th centuries. In Anglo Saxon times an altar of oolite from Leicestershire was used as an altar. This was removed after a decree of 1550 stated that only an altar table should be used. The slab was buried, to be unearthed in 1890 and restored to its original position. There is a memorial to the 387th USAAF who flew out of the local air base during 1943. The hardcore for the base was London bomb damage reused, when the land reverted to agriculture, in a local bypass. The locals don’t believe in wasting anything. St Christopher’s chancel and nave were built in 1320, the tower and south porch in 15th century. Much drastic restoration and addition was done in 1853. It has a 15th century octagonal font and the holy water stoup was made from a piece of coping from Canterbury Cathedral. A floor slab commemorating Dr Clopton Havers, who died in 1702, refers to his interest in anatomy. He is remembered for ‘Haversian Canals’, minute channels in the bones through which blood vessels run. Onwards through the winding lanes of Essex to Pleshey castle. On arrival we were told the grass was very long and wet but as HADAS members are not deterred by such things we continued, to be rewarded by the sight of a huge motte with a very deep moat spanned by what is thought to be the most ancient brick bridge in Europe and unique to Britain. There is mention of it in a survey of the castle in 1558-9, which states it was ‘old’ at that time. From the top of the motte we could see the earthworks of the town enclosure, lower bailey and upper bailey. The castle was abandoned in the 16th century and eventually came in to the hands of the Micklem family in 1749. Jenny and Alexander Michlem, the current owners, have done much to restore the site. A local couple held their wedding reception on top of the motte, which entailed mowing the area for weeks before hand. As the bridge has minimal handrails it is hoped all were sober on the way home.

3. THAXTED Contributed by Graham Javes

Our final destination was Thaxted: a delightful and well-loved market town which has preserved many of its medieval timber-framed houses, albeit often behind Georgian, Victorian or later frontages. Thaxted is built on a hill: the town dominated by an exceedingly fine parish church at its summit. A little distance below the church lies a middle row, the east end of which terminates with an outstanding Guildhall, one of the finest in all England. Here the road continues down Town Street, one of the medieval market places where a Friday market is still held today. Built in a late perpendicular style, perhaps the first thing to strike the visitor entering the parish church is that it is filled with light. The church is much larger and grander than could be expected of any township, even one as prosperous as was Thaxted when the church was built, between 1340 and 1510. The church seems to have had many outside patrons. These included Elizabeth de Clare, lady of the manor of Thaxted, and her circle of influence — the Mortimers and the House of York. Clues to these patrons are to be found in carved embellishments to the church — the bull of the House of Clare; the griffin and lions of Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March; the falcon of the House of York, and the spread eagle of Edward IV. Unfortunately time was short and I only found a few of these. Edward IV is portrayed in a stained-glass window, holding a model of Thaxted church. Next, I made my way to the Guildhall, kindly opened especially for our visit. The hall is built on three floors above a basement, each of the two upper storeys jettied out over the one below on three sides, making a bold architectural statement at a visually strategic road junction. The Guildhall was built by the Cutlers’ Guild between c 1400 and 1420 when the trade flourished. The hall was taken over by the town burgesses as a civic centre after the cutlery trade declined during the sixteenth century; later it became the grammar school in the eighteenth century. Fortunately, it retains a civic role today as well as being a piece of our heritage and housing a museum in the basement. The Swan Hotel, a former coaching inn, in the Bull Ring opposite the church, provided an excellent cream tea for our refreshment. Time, or rather the lack of it, precluded investigation of that hostelry’s selection of cask ales. Few places can boast of a working windmill within sight of the church. The Thaxted mill was built in 1804 by farmer John Webb using bricks and tiles from his own brickworks. (Webb also owned the Swan Inn.) It replaced an earlier mill and had an active life of around a century before it became redundant. In the 1930s the ground floor became a youth club for about 30 years. Following a second period of redundancy and neglect a Thaxted Windmill Trust was set up to restore the mill and bring it slowly back to full working order. The mill was officially opened to visitors this April. Today corn is again occasionally ground in Thaxted but the mill is essentially a museum. Thanks are due to our organisers June and Stewart for another successful outing.

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SOFT CURVES AND FULL FIGURES: IMAGES IF WOMEN IN ICE AGE ART Review by Audrey Hooson

Our speaker was Dr Jill Cook of the British Museum. She discussed images of women in the last European Ice Age, 35,000 – 10,000 years before the present, illustrating many examples and putting before use some the varied theories for their possible use and relevance to these ancient societies. The people of this long period were fully modern humans, Homo Sapien Sapiens, living be hunting and gathering. There are examples of permanent habitations. We first saw parietal art from Alltamira and Chauvet caves. It showed felines, horses, aurochs and rhinos, with examples of composition and perspective and the use of many natural pigments. Several portable objects including an ivory carving of two swimming reindeer found at Tarn et Garrone, confirmed the importance of animals. Human figurines 35,000-c28,000bp. We were shown an ivory statuette from Hohlensstein-Stadel in the Swabian Alps and several examples of the female sexual triangle. One very interesting formal figure from Lower Austria is known colloquially as “Fanny” after a famous ballerina as she seems to be dancing. It is carved in amphibolite, an unusual rock that contains inclusions which would have twinkled when the figure was turned in the light. 28,000-21,000 bp. The most famous figure of this period is the Willendorf Venus found in 1904 in Lower Austria. It is carved in limestone and typical of many European “Venus” figures, it has a full, possibly pregnant, figure with pendulous breasts and either an elaborate hair style or a braided hat. Jill Cook suggested that the unusual proportions might be because women were showing their own view of their body. A relief figure from the rock shelter of Lausell in the Dordogne is rather unusual as it shows a “Venus” figure holding a bison horn. Many figures have been found in Russia. The sites at Kostenki-Borshchevo had mammoth bone houses and other evidence of regular habitation, such as hearths and debris-filled pits. These open- air sites on the Don river terraces have been excavated over many years and produced a large number of ivory animal and human figurines. 14,000-12,500 bp. In this later period there were many smaller human depictions, often on everyday items such as spear-throwers. The figures also tend to more abstract. A large group of engraved schist plaques from Gonnersdorf in Germany show schematised female profiles with pronounced buttocks. We would assume that the term “Venus” refers to the classical Roman goddess. However it is more likely that archaeologists in the early 19th century had another inspiration. Sara Bartmaann, an African with steatopygia, was exhibited in Europe at this time as the “Hottentot Venus” An unusual aspect if Jill Cooks’ talk was her use of pictures of more recent art. The importance of female amplitude as a sign of fertility and plenty was shown in the portrait of the merchant’s plump wife from St. Petersburg seated at a well provided table. Pregnancy and fertility were also demonstrated by “Alison Lepper, pregnant” (currently in Trafalgar Square) and the post¬revolutionary Russian painting of a family hoping for a better future, where the wife was shown in profile and obviously pregnant. It is impossible to define what these “Soft Curves and Full Figures” meant to Early Persons. Were they sexual symbols, made by men for men, made by women for women, goddesses, fertility symbols, totems shamanie or tokens? Having been given this list and many examples we must make our own choices. NB. Examples of Palaeolithic images can be seen at the British Museum in Case 1, Room 3b, at the top of the south staircase

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THE PHOTOGRAPHY OF SMALL ARCHAEOLOGICAL FINDS Review by Liz Gapp

The lecture, given by Edwin Baker, formerly a photographer with the British Museum & MoLAS, was, in fact, a practical demonstration of the way in which photographs have to be set up according to the features of the object that are to be highlighted. Unfortunately, Edwin Baker was held up by a traffic accident, and delayed one and a half hours. There was no time to set up the mechanics of the demonstrations for the lecture, so that the technology planned to display the photographs was sadly deficient, slightly marring the presentation. However, we have to thank him for persisting through very difficult conditions. Using an angle poise lamp for his lighting source, Edwin Baker showed how to set up a photograph to be taken. He explained that the tungsten light from the lamp gives a yellowy effect. To allow for this, he has a special grey board, which is used first to adjust the camera’s sensitivity to the light before photographing the object. This card is expensive. Once the camera is set up, if the item is small, it can be photographed from above. To allow for a light source deficiency, a colour and monochrome separation guide, is sometimes included as part of the photograph. This costs about fl 0 from Jessops, the photography specialists. The guide is then cropped out of the final photograph once all colour adjustments have been made. When photographing, two additional items are used. One is a background, of which, depending on the colour of the object, the best is black acrylic velvet. For certain items where the three dimensional aspect of the object is crucial to obtaining a true view, then the background extends to a backdrop. That is the background extends to two dimensions, horizontal under the object, and vertical behind it. This, of course, also applies when taking larger objects. The second item used is a reflector, for which expanded white polystyrene used in packaging can be used. The reflector is positioned to send back light so as to reduce shadows that would be thrown by the light source. The camera is adjusted for say a 2 second exposure, hence the reason it is on a tripod. When the light meter is used to decide this, it has to be remembered that objects that reflect the light excessively, such as new white ceramic pipes, may give a false reading, so a certain amount of trial and error would be involved. Lights with a discontinuous spectrum, that is with certain colours missing, such as from a fluorescent or neon light source, can distort the colour set-up. Sunlight can be diffused using tracing/tissue paper or a white nylon umbrella. It should be noted that daylight under a blue sky will give a bluish tinge to the lighting in a photograph, but daylight where there is whitish cloud is neutral in colour effect. When photographing a very shiny object, the light source frequently results in a hot spot, a strong specular reflection. Diffusion of the light source can be achieved by the use of tracing paper in front of the light source. This will reduce the power of the light by about half. A reflector can be used, in addition, to improve the picture quality. When photographing objects usually only one light source is used, rarely two. For a flat document two lights are used more frequently, one either side of the item, at a 45° angle each side, for scanning. This is often used for plan copy work. A close-up (micro-nickel) lens is better than a zoom lens for this work as the quality of the lens will be better. In all this, it should be remembered that both the angle of lighting and of shooting are very important. When using a reflector, moving it away a little will allow the edges of the object, such as the brown bottle used in the lecture demonstration, to be more defined. The final photographic result can be manipulated on a computer using Adobe Photoshop, but in the first instant the photograph must be as perfect as it is possible to get it, as an imperfect one limits the end product. The file type used for this will also be a limiting factor on the changes that can be made. It also limits the time required to load the picture. A JPEG file is small; a TIFF is larger; and one in RAW format is larger still. This last, RAW format, allows the greatest versatility in changes to the final product. At the end of the lecture, Edwin Baker distributed a four-page handout for people to take away. Our thanks go to Edwin Baker for persisting through adversity to convey some of his knowledge of a very useful and practical subject as far as Archaeology recording is concerned.

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MOVABLE AND TOY BOOKS THROUGH THE AGES by Gerrars Roots

(10 December 05- 19 March 06. NB Closed 24-27 December & 1 January) A note from Gerrard Roots Church Farmhouse Museum’s Winter exhibition is based on a remarkable local private collection of children’s books, ranging from the C18 to the present day. The first ‘movable’ books were produced by Robert Sayer in the 1770s: using characters from the contemporary Pantomime, and thus given the name of `Flarlequinades’, these included pages with flaps which were lifted up to change the pictures. ‘Peepshow’ books, where cut-outs were placed behind one another to give an illusion of depth appeared at more or less the same time. ‘Panoramas’ — books which folded out, sometimes to ten feet or more! – to give the impression of a large scene – came a little later. `Pop-ups’, in which the illustrations sprang from the page to create a 3D effect were first published in the mid-19th Century, and they continue, with an ever-increasing sophistication in the technique of ‘paper engineering’, to be produced today. The exhibition includes some very scarce items indeed, and, as a demonstration of an often extraordinary ingenuity applied to the simplest of subjects, it should appeal to adults and children alike. As usual, the Museum’s 1850s Dining Room will be decorated for a Victorian Christmas from 6th December to Twelfth Night.

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Other Society’s events by Eric Morgan

Until 5th December During shopping hours – Barnet Borough Arts Council at The Spires Shopping Centre Barnet (outside Waitrose). Display of paintings. What’s on — including HADAS

Sunday 4th December — 11 am — 4 pm — Barnet Xmas Fair, High Street Barnet. Music, Dance, Entertainment. Also at The Bull Theatre and Barnet Church (1 — 3 pm). Funfair and stalls.

Wednesday 7th December — 5 pm. British Archaeological Association, Society of Antiquaries, Burlington House, Piccadilly, W1 — “Bigger digs — widening participation in archaeology” Talk by Dr Carenza Lewis (of Time Team fame).

Saturday 10th December 10:15 am — 3:30 pm. Amateur Geological Society. Mineral and Fossil Bazaar. St Mary’s Hall, Hendon Lane, N3 — including rocks, crystals, gemstones, jewellery. Refreshments. Admission £1.

Tuesday 13th December, 8 pm. Amateur Geological Society. The Parlour, St Margaret’s Church, Victoria Avenue, N3. Talks – “Alfred Russell Wallace and the Theory of Evolution” (Michael MacDonald), “Early days of the Society” (Clement Krysler). Slide show — “Science in the City walk”. (Mike Howgate)

Wednesday 14th December – 8 pm. Mill Hill Historical Society. Harwood Hall, Union Church, The Broadway, NW7. “The development of the English Country house” — Mrs Pamela Wright (NT)

Wednesday 14th December – 8 pm. Hornsey Historical Society. Union Church, corner of Ferme Park Road and Weston Park, N8. “The archives at Bruce Castle”. Talk by Libby Adams.

Thursday 15th December – 7:30 pm. Camden History Society, Upper Room, 8, Greenland Street, NW1. “Foul deeds in Camden”. Talk by Mark Aston. (Also exhibition until 14 Jan (except Dec 5th — 10th) at Camden Local Studies & Archives Centre, Holborn Library, 32-38 Theobalds Rd, WC1.

Friday 16th December – 8 pm. Enfield Archaeological Society. Jubilee Hall, junction of Chase Side/ Parsonage Lane, Enfield. “An English Heritage bulding inspector”. Talk by Andrew Wittick. Refreshments from 7:30. Visitors £1.

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HADAS DIARY

The winter lecture series takes place at Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. Lectures start promptly at 8pm. Non-members £1, coffee or tea 70p.

Tuesday 8 November 2005 The Photography of Small Archaeological Finds – lecture by Edwin Baker, formerly a photographer with the British Museum and MOLAS. Wednesday 7 December – HADAS CHRISTMAS DINNER – details enclosed

Tuesday 10 January 2006 Conservation and Archaeology – lecture by Jon Finney, London Borough of Barnet.

Tuesday 14 February 2006 To be advised.

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PETER PICKERING DISCOVERS OUR DOPPELGANGER IN THE NORTH

I recently walked round York with HADAS; but it was not the Hendon but the Huddersfield and District Archaeological Society. Actually, they use HDAS rather than HADAS as their initials, but the difference is very slight. The Society actively studies, explores and records the archaeology of the Huddersfield area. It has been doing so since 1956, covering pre-history, the Roman and mediaeval periods and more recently, industrial archaeology. Like us, it has a programme of lectures and visits, and a website. Its most recent project has been investigating an iron-making site at local Myers Wood, active for some three hundred years until the middle of the 14th century. The questions they sought to answer were whether the ‘Black Death was one of the reasons why this highly productive site was aban¬doned?’ and whether, when circumstances changed, iron production resumed. To try to answer this question an examination was made of apparent water management features observed to the north (i.e. downstream) of the main site. Evidence of extensive water diversion and dam construction pointed to the possible use of water power on a new, but smaller, iron-making site. A geo¬physical survey, carried out by Rob Vernon (University of Bradford) and Society members, in the vicinity of a possible dam, produced encouraging results. Strong magnetic responses seemed to indicate a furnace with an associated water channel and wheel pit. There was also evidence of a trackway leading to/from a previously explored charcoal platform. They obtained permission for a short exploratory excavation to find samples for analysis and dating. It was expected that this would justify a more extensive excavation to show that iron making had indeed been resumed, using new technology, at a date that could be-clearly demonstrated. Such is the optimism of archaeologists! In early May 2005, an enthusias¬tic group of volunteers, under the supervision of Dr Gerry McDonnell opened up four trenches in search of the vital evidence. But “no dating material was obtained from the excavations. No pottery was found, no burnt surface that could be used for archaeomagnetic dating was identified. The pieces of charcoal uncovered are unsuitable for radiocarbon 14 dating ….” “…. no evidence of a structure was identified” However, “Trench S uncovered a dump of furnace bottom material that is physically different in nature from the slag previously recorded on this site. The slag morphology would suggest higher temperatures were utilised in this location” The conclusion was that “The site was used in connection with higher temperature iron processing that is different from that previously recorded in Myers Wood …. Whilst it is unclear from the excavations where the iron processing took place, it is likely to be on this site somewhere ….The lack of firm evidence for water power being employed on the site needs further investigation”. They remain optimistic. “This short dig did not uncover a ‘new technology’ iron-making site, but there is strong evidence that we were looking in the right area. Further excavation is now off the agenda until extensive survey work has been carried out, in co-operation with English Heritage, to determine the full extent of any archaeology in the woods and fields surrounding this Site of National Importance”.

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HENRIETTA BARNETT IN WHITECHAPEL – HER FIRST FIFTY YEARS

Micky Watkins has written a book on the life of Henrietta Barnet. Henrietta lived with her husband the Rev. Samuel Barnett in Whitechapel for over 30 years, working to improve the life and culture of the slum dwellers around them. They were helped by interesting friends – rich business men, aris¬tocrats, Pre-Raphaelite artists, writers and philosophers. In her fifties Henrietta founded her utopian Hampstead Garden Suburb, the opposite of all she had seen in the East End. The book shows that she was able to do this because she was supported by her circle of influential friends and because of the brilliant management skills she had built up while working in Whitechapel. Henrietta Barnett – Her First Fifty Years, published 2005 by Hampstead Garden Suburb Archive Trust and Micky Watkins. Price £7. Obtainable from mickyw@britishlibrary.net or telephone 020 8455 8813.

AN EXHIBITION OF EXHIBITIONS AT CHURCH FARM MUSEUM

The current exhibition at Church Farmhouse Museum traces the story of major exhibitions in Britain from the Great Exhibition of 1851 to the Millennium Dome. The Franco-British Exhibition of 1908 at White City (which included the Olympic Games), the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley in 1924/5, the Festival of Britain and a host of lesser-known expositions are represented by picture post¬cards; photographs; postmarks and stamps (the first British commemorative stamp was issued for Wembley in 1924); programmes, guides and books; posters; coins and medals; crested china and a wide range of other souvenirs. All the material comes from the remarkable collection of Barnet resident Don R Knight, much of which has not been on public display before. The exhibition ends on 20 November. Monday – Thursday 10-1 & 2-5; Saturday 10-1 & 2-5.30; Sunday 2-5.30.

DID DINOSAURS HAVE FEATHERS? by Stewart Wild

For years, museum exhibits, films and book illustrations have depicted the vast majority of dinosaurs as covered in scales or thick hide. Now it seems that many were covered in feathers, a fact which should not come as a surprise since we have known for a long time that birds are directly descended from dinosaurs through species such as archaeopteryx and possibly pterodactyl. At a recent confer¬ence of the British Association, Dr Gareth Dyke, a palaeontologist from University College Dublin,told his audience that most of the prehistoric “awful lizards” were covered with delicate feathery plumage that might even have been very colourful. Fossil evidence, he said, showing that dinosaurs had feathers is now “irrefutable”. The evidence arises from recent discoveries in fossil beds in northeast China where volcanic erup¬tions millennia ago buried many dinosaurs alive. The lack of oxygen and moisture also helped to pre¬vent the remains rotting away. Some theropod dinosaur fossils were preserved complete with plumage. Theropod is the generic name for those species that walked upright on two legs, balanced by a long tail, like Tyrannosaurus rex. The theory is that feathers evolved primarily to keep dinosaurs warm, and only later became an aid to flight.

NEOLITHIC NOODLES WERE MADE IN CHINA submitted by Stewart Wild

A bowl of Neolithic noodles has revealed that China was the most likely birthplace of this popular food. For millennia, arguments have raged about whether the noodle was invented by the Chinese, Italians or Arabs. Now a sealed earthenware bowl of beautifully preserved, thin yellow noodles about 4.000 years old has been found by Dr Houyuan Lu, of the Chinese Academy ofsciences, with colleagues in Beijing and Louisiana. The researchers discovered the 20in-long noodles inside an overturned, sealed bowl under 10 feet of floodplain sediment in Lajia, by the Yellow River in north-western China. The meal could have been left untouched because of a disaster: the site harbours a settlement that was probably destroyed about 4,000 years ago by an earthquake and flood.

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ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE COUNCIL FOR BRITISH ARCHAEOLOGY A report by Peter Pickering

I went to the CBA’s weekend in Leicester from 23rd to 25th September. It included a very interest¬ing lecture on the fashionable topic ‘Community Archaeology’, by Peter Liddle. Unusually, the County Archaeologist for Leicestershire was based in the Museums rather than in the Planning department, and perhaps this made it easier for a network of volunteers to be developed, undertaking much fieldwalking, and also having an ‘archaeological warden’ in each parish who keeps an eye on all developments, even those for which no planning permission is required. This network has brought much archaeology to light that might otherwise have been overlooked, and has now been extended to include metal detecting. Although keeping the supply of volunteers going is a problem, as for most of us, the scheme is still thriving and successful. I did not think experience in such a rural county could easily be transferred to built-up Barnet. Moreover, some may have reservations at the implication that amateurs are a resource to be used by professional archaeologists, rather than autonomous actors in societies created and run by them. Another lecture with some relevance to our activities was on battlefield archaeology, and in particular how much could be learnt from it to supplement and clarify traditional military history. The battle studied was that of Edgehill, where the techniques of landscape archaeology (for instance using enclosure maps) showed what parts of the terrain would, in 1642, have been suitable for infantry and what for cavalry. Moreover, it is apparently possible to determine whether a musket ball has hit a person, and, with the distribution of finds of such balls, this can tell a lot about the deployment of forces. There was a talk by Julian Richards, of “Meet the Ancestors” fame, to a large and enthusiastic audience of members of Young Archaeologists’ Clubs, and a report by the CBA Director, Mike Heyworth, on the work of the CBA. They are hoping to develop National Archaeology Week (formerly National Archaeology Day) into a ‘Festival of Archaeology’. Finally, and perhaps predictably, there was a presentation on inclusivity, which did not give me any ideas on how to get more members, and more active members, for HADAS.

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OTHER SOCIETIES’ EVENTS – Compiled by Eric Morgan

Sat. 5 November, 11am – 4pm NORTH LONDON TRANSPORT SOCIETY, St. Stephen’s Church Hall, Park Avenue, Enfield: Autumn Bazaar A good mix of about 40 bus and railway stalls Admission £1.50. Light refreshments available throughout the day.

Wed. 9 November, 6.30pm LAMAS, Museum of London Lecture Theatre, 150 London Wall, EC2. Old Buildings: Dead or Alive? Talk by Sir Simon Jenkins £3.

Wed. 9 November, 8pm MILL HILL HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Harwood Hall, Union Church, The Broadway, NW7: The greatest survival story ever told by Geoff Selley.

Wed. 9 November, 8pm HORNSEY HISTORICAL SOCIETY Union Church Hall, Corner of Ferme Park Rd./ Weston Park, N8: Lord Nelson – History in postcards: Hugh Garnsworthy.

Wed. 16 November, 8pm WILLESDEN LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Scout House, High Road, [corner Strode Rd.] NW10: Mark Twain in Willesden and elsewhere. Talk by Hamilton Hay.

Fri. 18 November, 7.30pm WEMBLEY HISTORY SOCIETY St. Andrew’s Church, Church Lane, Kingsbury, NW9: History of St.Andrew’s Church Talk by Father John (vicar) (Hadas have recently helped with some surveying work here). Visitors £1 with refreshments.

Fri. 18 November, 8pm ENFIELD ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, Jubilee Hall ,Chase Side/ Parsonage Lane, Enfield: Prehistoric London: Talk by Jon Cotton (MoL) Visitors £1.

Fri 18 November, 7pm COLAS: St. Olave’s Parish Hall, Mark Lane, EC3: Bringing Roman Britain to life. Talk by Daniel Shadrake (Britannia Roman Re-enactments).

Fri. 18 November, 8pm BARNET LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Church House, Wood Street, (opposite Museum) A.G.M.

Sat. 19 Nov. 10am – 5pm LAMAS, Local History Conference: Museum of London Lecture Theatre: When Lamas began, – London in 1855 (Details in Oct. newsletter).

Wed. 23 November, 8pm FRIERN BARNET & DISTRICT LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY St.John’s Church Hall (next to Whetstone Police Station), Friern Barnet Lane, N20: Literary London: Diane Burstein (City of London Guide and Broadcaster) £2 refreshments 7.45pm and after.

Thurs. 24 November, 2.30pm FINCHLEY SOCIETY, Drawing Room, Avenue House, East End Road, N3: The Friends of Finchley Memorial Society: Talk by Marion Randall.

Wed. 30 November, 8pm FINCHLEY SOCIETY LOCAL HISTORY GROUP. Avenue House, East End Rd, N3: A History of Cromwell Hall, East Finchley: Talk by David Smith (Vice president)

Newsletter

HADAS Diary

The winter lecture series takes place at Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. Lectures start promptly at 8pm – non-members £1, Coffee or tea 70p.

Tues. 11th October, 8pm Lecture by Jill Cook: Palaeolithic Art: soft curves & fuller figures – images of women in the Old Stone Age.

Tues. 8th November, 8pm Lecture by Edwin Baker: The Photography of Small Archaeological Finds.

Early notification of the LAMAS local history conference

The annual local history conference run by the London & Middlesex Archaeology Society will take place this year in the Museum of London’s Lecture Theatre on Saturday the 19th November 2005 from 10.00am to 05.00 pm. This is the 40th conference and is entitled “When LAMAS began: London in 1855”. There are fascinating speakers including Eileen Bowlt, Barney Stone, Anthony Burton, Peter Street and Charles O’Brien among the distinguished cast. The presentation of the Annual Local History Publications Award will also take place during the day. As usual there will displays of recent work and publications by the many London based Local History Societies and, of course, afternoon tea is included in the cost. The tickets are £5 each (£4 for LAMAS members). Please send your application with an appropriate cheque and a stamped, self-addressed envelope for your tickets to Local History Conference, 36 Church Road, West Drayton, Middlesex UB7 7PX

A generous bequest

Majorie Errington, a long standing member who died last year, left a bequest of £ 100 to the society. Miss Errington was noted for “doing the cream” for the Minimart and participating in many of the society’s outings.

A Local connection by Steve Brunning/Don Cooper

One of the more interesting finds from the HADAS “dig” at Church Farm Museum on the 6th/7th August 2005, are two adjacent decorated pieces from the stem of a clay pipe. Bits of clay pipe are one of the most common finds on excavations in the UK. This is mainly because clay pipes were delicate and broke easily. They were also very cheap and, indeed, in many pubs “a pint and a fill” meant a pint of beer and a “free” clay pipe filled with tobacco. They can range in dates from about 1570 to essentially the beginning of the First World War. Although produced right up to the present, once cigarettes were introduced clay pipes declined and are rarely seen nowadays. Clay pipes were also used by children to blow bubbles (remember?). Although many clay pipes are plain and unmarked, during the 19th century they were used as an “advertising” medium. The names of pubs, pipe makers, organisations, societies, anniversaries and jubilees were all recorded on pipe bowls and stems both in images and in letters. Our two pieces of stem turned out to have very interesting marks – on one side are the words “Old Welch (sic) Har (p)” and on the other “W P Warner”. William Perkins Warner was the proprietor of the “Old Welsh Harp” from about 1859 until 1898. He had served with distinction in the Crimean War, and on his return had transformed the “Old Welsh Harp”, previously an old coaching inn, into a place of mass entertainment. He was helped by the fact that the Kingsbury Reservoir (later called the Brent Reservoir and now called the Welsh Harp Reservoir after the pub) had been constructed in 1834/5 by damming the Brent and the Silk Stream to form the large body of water. When it was built he bought exclusive fishing rights. As well as fishing, he introduced pigeon shooting, horse, greyhound racing and cycle racing, boxing and wrestling together with swimming competitions. In horse racing, he was the originator of the Kingsbury Steeplechase Meetings which even the then Prince of Wales attended, although Brett-James in his book “The story of Hendon” says that “the races attracted crowds of a very mixed character”. One of the many races was for the Volunteer Vase – presented by the proprietor of the Marylebone Music Hall, which gave rise to the appearance of the Old Welsh Harp in this music hall song: “You couldn’t find its equal if you walked for miles about, There’s no mistake about, it’s the jolliest place that’s out.” Borough of Brent’s web site The races were held five times a year from 1870 to 1878. They and the entertainments of the Old Welsh Harp were so popular the Midland Railway opened Welsh Harp station to cope with the crowds. On one Bank Holiday it is said that 5000 came by train!! The station was in existence from 1870 to 1903.Then there was greyhound racing where according to Barnes (1994): “Also in 1876, greyhound racing began at the Welsh Harp, Hendon, England, when six dogs raced down a straight track after a mechanical lure. The image at right depicts this race. This attempt to provide a humane alternative to coursing failed, however, and the experiment would not be tried again until 1921.” This was apparently the first use of a mechanical lure. In cycling, one of the earliest races in Britain was held near the Welsh Harp in 1868 and the winner, Arthur Markham (who afterwards had a cycle shop at 345 Edgware Road) was presented with a silver cup by the said W P Warner of the Old Welsh Harp who had sponsored the race. Markham himself claimed that it was first velocipede (cycle) race in the country. When W P Warner died in March 1889 aged 57 and his cortege is said to have been a mile long on its way to his burial in St. Andrew’s Old Church, Kingsbury. The Old Welsh Harp itself began life as the “Harp & Horn” in the 1750s and was demolished in 1970 to make way for the M1 motorway. How sad!!

All the above was triggered by the two small pieces of inscribed pipe stem from the Church Farm Museum excavation. I wonder if the then residents of Church Farm had had a “pint and a fill” at the Old Welsh Harp! Clay pipe remains are important archaeologically as they can usually be tightly dated and there are always lots of them on post-medieval sites. As well as pipes made for places, events, etc., 17th century makers of clay pipes often recorded their initials on the heel or spur at the base of a pipe bowl. When looking at the initials, if you imagine you are smoking the pipe, the initial on the left is the forename of the maker and the initial on the right is the surname. These initials can be looked up in a gazetteer of clay pipe makers.

Bartleet, H. W. 1931. Bicycle Book. London: E. J. Burrow & Co. Ltd.

Barnes, Julia. 1994. (ed.) The Complete Book of Greyhounds. New York: Howell Book House.

Brett-James, Norman G. (undated but after 1931) The Story of Hendon: Manor and Parish. Hendon: Warden & Co. Ltd.

Follow-up on ROMAN multiplication Jim Nelhams

This time last year, I posed the problem of doing multiplication with Roman numbers. I hoped that I would get lots of response. That the response was very low perhaps gives a clue to the answer. I did get two letters, both from non-members who had read our newsletter. Nice to know that it is of interest, and my thanks for their contributions. I have not responded earlier because I found the need to read more on the subject and to talk to a number of other people.

So how did they do it? This is my thinking.

The system we use to multiply today depends upon two things that Roman numbers do not provide. The first is having a digit that represents zero. This is not necessarily essential – indeed, the “invention” of zero is credited to Indian mathematicians a long time after the Roman Empire disappeared. More important is the concept of place values, those hundreds, tens and units columns that I was taught at school.

Another problem posed by Roman numerals is that depending upon the sequence, a number in the middle can be negative. For example, in XIX (19), the I is negative.

What we can be certain about is that Roman numbers are fine for writing down numbers, particularly for engraving them on stone, though you rarely see very large numbers. And addition and subtraction was likely done on sand trays with counters (using place values). But that is still tricky for large multiplications.

So my conclusion, which seems to be agreed by a number of people with whom I have discussed this, is simply that the Romans did not do large multiplications. What they did was to delegate this work to skilled “slaves”, probably

Greek or Arab, who did the sums using their own number systems, and then wrote down the result in Roman numerals.

I’m hoping for a large mailbag telling me that I’m wrong.

HADAS Outing on Saturday, 13th August 2005 by Sheila Woodward

The outing took us into Kent with a first stop at the recently regenerated Swanscombe Heritage Park, Situated on the sands and gravels of the ancient terraces of the Thames, the site is famed for the mid 20th century discovery of the skull of “Swanscombe Man” (now thought to be a woman), at the time the oldest human remains to be found in Britain. It was Victorian quarrying which first brought to light flint implements, the fine Acheulian hand-axes which attracted the attention of collectors and scientists and eventually led to the discovery of three pieces of skull in 1935/36 and 1955. Periodic excavations since have revealed abundant stone tools and faunal bones but no further human remains. Quarrying ceased in 1939 – though it is rumoured that late in WWII gravel from Swanscombe was used to make concrete for the “Mulberry Harbour” for the final invasion of Europe. Maybe missing pieces of skull will be discovered in France! Despite its archaeological importance the site had been neglected and become overgrown and rubbish-choked. Now it is well laid out as a nature reserve, leisure park and site of scientific interest. The so-called “educational signage” is attractive and simply informative and there has been much local involvement especially with schools. There is a small archaeological display (replica skulls, flints etc.) in the leisure centre foyer – and they serve excellent coffee. The Swanscombe visit was nostalgic for me as I dug there in 1971 as part of my practical work for the Diploma in Archaeology. We were working in the lower gravel and lower loam strata ie below and therefore earlier than the skull level (dated about 400,000 BP) The flint implements were Clactonianm, much cruder than the skull-associated Archeulian. The animal bones were mostly deer and ox, though there was excitement over possible elephant and rhino. It was an interesting and instructive dig but my most vivid memory is of the intense heat of those sun-baked and unshaded gravels. Mid-day work was impossible so we dug early and late and had a three-hour siesta. For me that meant leaving Edgware at 5.30am by the first tube and returning between 9.30 and 10.00pm – a long tiring day but definitely worthwhile. Sheila Woodward.

After our break at Swanscombe, we made our way down the A2 (Watling Street) to a site 1¼ miles west of Faversham (TQ992614). Here, after some magnificent manoeuvring by our driver, we parked up a side road off the A2 and “marched” across a ploughed field to the site of the famous Stone Chapel. We were met by Dr. Paul Wilkinson, Director of the Kent Archaeological School, who has been excavating in the area for many years. Many will recall the excellent lecture he gave us last February (newsletter number 407) on the “lost” Roman Town of Durolevum. This year he and his team are excavating in and around the Stone Chapel. Paul gave us an introductory talk about the site and about the excavation which at the time of our visit consisted of 13 trenches many manned by trainees. He then introduced us to one of his supervisors who showed us around the remains of the church.

The Stone Chapel, as it is known, consists of the remains of the ruined Church of our Lady of Elwarton. It went out of use in the mid-16th century, probably at the time of the reformation. A visitation there was noted in 1511, when it was said to be in disrepair. The remains consist of walls standing about a metre above ground level, and up to two metres at the east end. The walls enclose three distinct areas; the nave to the west, the chancel to the east, and a section linking the two. The walls of the nave and the chancel are mainly of flint, bonded with a mortar rich with broken seashells. The construction of the centre section is quite different; the walls here rest on a foundation of flint and consist of layers of tufa blocks, each around 30cms square, separated by a double layer of red tile 3cms thick. This construction is typically Roman, and the discovery of Roman coins by previous excavators dating from the 3rd and early 4th centuries AD confirms this section as Roman in origin. The size and nature of the foundations revealed during the previous excavations suggest that this was possibly a mausoleum. Stones which formed the door frame can still be seen, reused in the 13th century buttresses. The sill of the door is still in situ. The entrance was located on the west side. So what can be seen on the ground today is a central section which is of Roman construction, an extension to the east which is the nave and part of the chancel of the Anglo-Saxon or medieval church. There are the remains of a stone altar along the east wall. On the exterior under the corners of the east wall are large greensand stones (the nearest greensand is approximately 20 miles away). At the base of the centre of the east wall is a large block of sandstone (also not a local stone). We were shown another one like it in situ in one of the trenches. It is not known why they are there. Buttresses were added in the 13th century “because the wooden beams had rotted” to support the north wall indicating that the structure was already old at that time. Unravelling the history of such a site that was in use for about 1000 years and has been a ruin for the last 500 is a daunting task. Over its period of use it would have been altered and repaired, time and time again. On the evidence so far, it appears that the Romans erected a structure here from around the middle of the 4th century and that it was likely to have had a religious or funerary function. It is quite possible it was an early Christian church or it may have been a pagan structure, possibly a mausoleum, which subsequently became a Christian church. It is thought that it became a church not later than the 8th century, and, after many alterations and repair lapsed into disuse around 1550 or so. After hearing the story of the Stone Chapel we were handed over to Sara Woollard, a site director, who showed us around the rest of the site. Most of the trenches were between the south side of the Stone Chapel and the A2 (Watling Street) a 100 metres away. Digging was difficult as the ground was “rock” hard. The remains of a number of walls had been located – most of them largely robbed out – which suggested structures in and around the church. Perhaps there was a perimeter wall originally which had enclosed it. Disarticulated human bone had been found in a number of trenches and bizarrely the neatly laid out skeletons of three dogs buried together, the dogs had apparently had their tails docked. Sara then took us to the trenches nearest Watling Street which had only been opened for three days but were already yielding interesting results. It appears that in Roman times there had been a ribbon development of shops, small industries and perhaps eating places along the side of the road. Up to 60 Roman coins, as well as Roman pottery, had already been recovered and the outlines of a number of these premises exposed. The rubbish pits at the back of these structures were expected to yield a lot more information in the two remaining weeks of the dig. After we expressed an interest in the coins, Andy Fisher, the metal detectorist on site gave us a brief talk and showed us some of the tiny Roman coins, and a large sestertius, which had just been found. The talks and tours were so interesting that many of us forgot to eat our packed lunches!! Our thanks go to Paul, Catherine, Sara and Andy and all the people at the excavation for making our visit such an interesting and informative one. We reluctantly left the site and proceeded to Ospringe nearby to visit one of the remaining buildings of the Hospital of Blessed Mary of Ospringe known as Maison Dieu. The building, under the guardianship of English Heritage, not surprisingly is a mixture of dates and styles. The oldest part is from the late 13th century, with much alteration – almost a rebuild – in the mid-16th c, and the removal of the front and forward side in 1894. The upstairs chamber timber roof is a good specimen of king-post type. In the basement there is the (well-preserved) undercroft from the 13th century. The building houses a museum of local finds including a very good collection of complete Roman pots, many of them are from the area of the Stone Chapel site. They were mostly recovered from burial sites both inhumations and cremations. On our way back to the coach Stewart Wild pointed out a pillbox from WW11 attached to the local pub with slits that would have enabled “Dad’s Army” to defend up and down the A2 had the Germans invaded. And so to Faversham and a welcome tea and cake stop. Faversham is a lovely old town with a long history both as a medieval port and early industrial centre. It is the location of Britain’s oldest brewery – Shepherd Neame – which was certainly around in 1698 but perhaps goes back another 100 years. Abbey Street is one of Britain’s finest medieval streets, full of interesting buildings. Unfortunately the rain came and curtailed much of our explorations of the town giving us an opportunity to sample the local brew!!! Back on the coach for the trip back to Barnet and all that remained was to thank Sheila and Tessa for a wonderful trip and our driver for looking after us. Don Cooper

Barnet’s Buildings at risk

In early July 2005 English Heritage published an update of their Greater London Buildings at Risk register. It contains details of 19 structures in the Borough of Barnet that are considered to be at risk as follows: • Colindale Hospital Administration Block, Colindale Avenue, Barnet, • College Farm Dairy, Fitzalan Road, Barnet, • College Farm – main building, Fitzalan Road, Barnet, • Friern Hospital, Friern Barnet Road, Barnet, • Monument to Major John Cartwright, St Mary at Finchley Churchyard, Hendon Lane, Barnet, • Golders Green Hippodrome, North End Road, Barnet, • Physic Well, Well Approach, Barnet, • Silo, Fitzalan Road, College Farm, Barnet, • The Water Tower, East End Road, Finchley, Barnet,• Hertford Lodge, 15-17, East End Road, Finchley, Barnet, • The Bothy, East End Road, Finchley, Barnet, • St Mary’s Churchyard, Hendon Lane, Finchley, Barnet, • St Mary’s Churchyard, Church End, Hendon, Barnet, • King Edward Hall, 331-343, Regents Park Road, Hendon, Barnet, • Grahame White Company offices and factory, Aerodrome Road, Hendon Aerodrome, Barnet, • Access gate to Hadley Common, Camlet Way, Monken Hadley, Barnet, • Gate to Hadley Common, Hadley Common, Monken Hadley, Barnet, • Access gates to Hadley Common, The Crescent, Monken Hadley, Barnet, • The Manor House, 2, Totteridge Common, Totteridge, Barnet, All the above structures are grade II listed except for the two churchyards. Many of the structures are currently being worked on and it is hoped that by the production of next year’s list Barnet will have reduced the number of structures currently on the at risk register. See also an article by Alex Galbinski in the Barnet Times of 21st July 2005.

Kingsbury High School Archaeology Project (KHSAP) by Andy Agate

The Kingsbury High School Archaeology Project (KHSAP) in the London Borough of Brent is an ongoing heritage project run jointly by the Institute of Archaeology (IoA) at UCL and Kingsbury High School with help and support from HADAS. As part of this year’s National Archaeology Week the Churches Conservation Trust allowed us access to one of the churches in their care, St. Andrews Old Church, in order to carry out a building survey. This church holds a unique position in Brent as the borough’s only grade one listed building; with walls sprinkled with Roman tiles and Saxon features attesting to the comings and goings of past multi-cultural inhabitants. In this modern, culturally diverse borough, this building clearly shows the similarities between past and present!

The ethos of the KHSAP is to engage the school’s pupils and the local community in heritage issues through active participation in local archaeological projects. Thus, students at the IoA carry out projects for inclusion in undergraduate dissertations, which in turn brings opportunities for participation by the school. There are few better ways of bringing the past to life than uncovering it for yourself! Perhaps there are other university archaeology departments who could be contacted to undertake similar work?

The project at the church demonstrates that an archaeological perspective can shed new light on redundant churches. Much more than that, the activity around the church brought the otherwise passive building to life, exciting the interest of teachers and pupils from the school and of the many local people who passed by the building each day.

Whilst St. Andrews Old Church may be redundant as a place of worship, our new investigation shows that as an actor in its community, it is merely between roles.

What’s on. By Eric Morgan

6th October 2005 at 20.00 – “The men of Trafalgar” a talk by Derek Ayshford at Village Hall, Chapel Lane car park Pinner.

7th October 2005 at 20.00 – “19th –Century Gentry” a lecture by Elizabeth Buteaux at Barnet Local History Society, Church House, Wood Street Barnet.

12th October 2005 at 20.00 – “The Cuffley Airship” a lecture by John Higgs at Hornsey Historical Society, Union Church Hall, corner of Ferme Park Road/Weston Park, N8.

17th October 2005 at 20.00 – “Musical memories of World War II” a talk by Edna Jury at Friends of Barnet Borough Libraries, Church End Library, 24 Hendon Lane N3.

19th October 2005 at 20.00 – “Hands-on History” a talk by Chloe Bird at Willesden Local Historical Society, The Scout House, High Road. Willesden NW10.

21st October 2005 at 20.00 – “Royal and Monastic sites in West London” a talk by Bob Cowie. At Enfield Archaeological Society, Jubilee Hall, Junction of Chase Side and Parsonage Lane, Enfield.

21st October 2005 at 1900 – “The Tudor Wreck from Prince’s Channel near Gravesend” a lecture by Jens Aver, at City of London Archaeological Society, St Olave’s Parish Hall, Mark Lane EC3.

21st October 2005 at 20.00 – “The History of Bushey” a talk by Hugh Lewis (British Museum) at St. Andrew’s Church Hall, Church Lane, Kingsbury, NW9.

26th October 2005 at 20.00 – “History of Incognito Theatre” a talk by Mike McKie at Friern Barnet & District Local History Society, St John’s Church Hall (next to Whetstone Police Station) Friern Barnet Lane, N20.

27th October 2005 at 20.00 – “Spike Milligan” a talk by Bill Tyler at Avenue House, East End Rd. N3

Thanks to our contributors: Steve Brunning, Eric Morgan, Sheila Woodward, Jim Nelhams and Andy Agate.