Newsletter

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Digging Plans, 1978

As well as the continuing West Heath excavation, HADAS hopes to mount two other digs this summer – one at Finchley, the other behind the Town Hall at Hendon. The Hendon excavation is planned for August, when trial trenches will be put down on the perimeter of the car park which lies between the Town Hall and the public gardens of The Grove. The object will be to test the area so that we shall have a better idea of whether or not a larger dig should take place before the proposed extension of the Town Hall gets under way in a year or two’s time. The other excavation, also trial trenches, will we hope be in an area close to the parish church of St. Mary’s-at-Finchley. This dig is dependent upon our being able to obtain permission from the owners of the site, and further details cannot be given unless and until this permission has been granted. If we are able to go ahead, it will be before the Town Hall dig starts. Paddy Musgrove will be in charge of both these digs.

The West Heath summer programme was announced in the February Newsletter, but here is a summary to jog your memory: Sat. May 6-Sun. May 21. Full fortnight’s digging, 10 am-5 pm daily. June 5-l7 inclusive. Training dig for students doing London University Diploma or Certificate. Now fully booked. NO DIGGING July 8-16, nor on any Saturday on which there is an outing. Apart from the above, there will be digging every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday throughout the summer from May 6-0ct. 1. HADAS members will be welcome at the dig at all times, including during the training fortnight, when some trenches will be reserved for their use. Please come whenever you can, we anticipate an interesting and fruitful summer and we need all the help we can get.
THE SEASONS FIRST OUTING

Details of our visit to Dover on April 15 are enclosed with this Newsletter. We have planned quite a full day, visiting the Painted House for the second time to see the final results of Brian Philp’s dig and the” conservation of the area uncovered. Don’t forget to send off your application as soon as possible, as HADAS outings get booked up quickly and Dorothy Newbury operates on a first-come-first-served basis.
OTHER PROGRAMME NEWS

Excavations in S.W. London Scott McCracken Final lecture of the winter season; coffee at 8 pm, lecture 8.30.
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Mon. May 15. Annual General Meeting. Coffee, 8 pm; business meeting, 8.30. After business is completed, there will be a slide show, with commentary, on last year’s Bristol weekend, and on the West Heath dig. Both these meetings are at Central Library, The Burroughs, NW4. Talking of slide shows, we know that many members take camera~ with them on summer outings and other HADAS occasions. Our Programme Secretary, Dorothy Newbury, would greatly appreciate it if members would tell her when slides and/or prints they have taken have turned out well.

Please give her a ring when the photos are developed -don’t wait till the end of the season. Then whenever the question of a slide show or exhibition of activities arises, Dorothy will know just what is available And if anyone has good slides of the Bristol weekend -particularly HADAS at the SS Great Britain- Would they ring Dorothy at once.
MORE ABOUT DEVELOPMENT WATCHING: A SITE REPORT

In last month’s Newsletter Myfanwy Stewart described the HADAS site-watching scheme. From now on we propose to publish occasional individual site watching reports. We feel these should be published even when they provide only negative evidence -i.e. that nothing of importance was observable in the foundation or drainage trenches of a particular site. Only in this way can a written record be made available. Below PADDY MUSGROVE gives his observations on the Tesco site at Ballards Lane. Builders’ excavations on the site of the new Tesco development (21-49 Bal1ards Lane and 2-8 The Grove, N3) were observed daily during a period of about 8 weeks during the summer of 1977. No signs of occupation earlier than the 19th c. were observed; most of the site had previously been occupied by industrial workshops, including large garage premises, and there had been much disturbance of the upper layers, in places to a depth of about 5 m. As the natural land surface slopes down to the valley of the Dollis Brook on the west, a large volume of rubble had been deposited – more than 3m. deep in places – to provide level surfaces. Three items of minor interest may perhaps be worth noting.

1. Over large areas in the middle of the site a layer of broken flower pots or mixed crocks and ashes, about 10 cm. thick, lay on top of the natural boulder clay and below more than 60 cm. of black topsoil. This strange stratigraphy can presumably be accounted for by the presence on the site more than 100 years ago of a nursery with many greenhouses, as shown on the OS 25 in. plan of 1864. .

2. In addition to the above labour-intensive drainage scheme, D-shaped field drains (consisting of a base-plate with a curved tile above) and arched brick-built culverts were found, but the excavations were not sufficiently extended to permit their general pattern to be determined.

3. Two bottle-shaped underground structures, at first taken to be wells, were discovered. The one which it has been possible to examine was built with unmortared bricks of probable mid-Victorian date. When the rubble filling was dug out mechanically, the final scoop, from a depth of 8 or 9 m. below the original land surface, contained sandy material, presumably from the underlying glacial gravel. During subsequent weeks no water collected at the foot of the brickwork. This construction, therefore, is likely to have been a soakaway to conduct surface water through the impervious clay to the gravel. The second construction, next to the rear wall of No.53 Ballards Lane, is not yet dug out. Although it holds water to within about a metre of its top, it is unlikely to be a well, as two earthenware pipes enter (or leave?) it just above the present water surface.
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SUBSCRIPTIONS

Our new financial year starts on April 1 when members subscriptions ~ become due. The rates for the coming year are:
Full membership – £2.00
Under-18 – £1.00
Over-60 – £1.00
Family Membership: – first member – £2
– additional members £1 each

Payment should be made to the Hon. Treasurer – Jeremy Clynes – using the enclosed form. Subscriptions can also be paid by Bank Standing Order, and forms for this purpose can be obtained from the Treasurer.
AIDS TO RESEARCH

Here JOANNA CORDEN, Archivist to the London Borough of Barnet, continues her series on the various groups of archives available to local historians. Below is part 1 of her article on the main Local History Collection at Egerton Gardens. Other parts will follow in succeeding Newsletters. III Local History Library, Egerton Gardens: Pt. 1. This library contains the major part of the local history and archival material for the Borough of Barnet: it consists of books, maps, illustrations, ephemera and the archives. The material has as its nucleus the local history collections created by the two Boroughs of Finchley and Hendon, and the emphasis therefore is inevitably on these two areas. BOOKS: The books are arranged under the Dewey form of classification. There is a section on Middlesex and one on Hertfordshire. Hendon, Finchley, Friern Barnet, Monken Hadley and Edgware were formerly in Middlesex, while Chipping Barnet, East Barnet and Totteridge were formerly in Hertfordshire. Any general works on either county are therefore likely to include sections relevant to the present borough. Apart from general county histories, there are copies of all the main works on each area within the borough, although naturally both the quality and the quantity of the books on each area varies. All the books on Chipping and East Barnet and Totteridge which can be found at Chipping Barnet Library are also in the Local History Library; but here there is also History of New Barnet and District by J K Addesbrooke, How Barnet got its Railways by M Rose and A Framework of _Local History for Secondary Schools by R I Walker. Monken Hadley by F C Cass, Hadley Wood by Nancy Clark and Georgian Had1ey by W H Gelder are also kept. Edgware is badly represented; A Brief Sketch of Edgware in_18l1 by Tottell ‘is here, together with The Extent of Edgware 1277 by Denoon and Roberts, Edgware and Little Stanmore in the 12th and 13th centuries by Bayliss and the 5-volume manuscript work Notes on the Church and Parish of Edgware by H S Geikie. There is also the Sociological Study of Jewish Suburban Life in Edgware by K Krausz. On Hendon the most recent work is A History of Hendon by the then Reference Librarian, John Hopkins; published 1964. It is a small concise history for the man in the street, but is heavily dependent on earlier publications; for serious studies it is necessary to delve deeper. Village into Borough by G R P Lawrence is a similar study for Finchley. The Victoria County History for Middlesex is being revised; the section for Hendon has already been published, sections on Finchley and Friern Barnet are in progress.
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There are some works on Hampstead Garden Suburb; these consist mainly of pamphlets published by, among others, the Residents Association. The only substantial books are The Story of the Growth of Hampstead Garden Suburb, 1907-28, by Dame Henrietta Barnett; and Hampstead Garden Suburb – 1907-1977 by Brigid Grafton Green. The area has been fortunate in the number of historians who have worked on its history. Among them are H S Geikie, who produced the excellent work on Edgware mentioned above; Major Brett James, whose work on the early extents and surveys of Hendon is very valuable; D G Denoon who produced a booklet on Hendon Highways; Fred Hitchin-Kemp who worked particularly on the 1754 Survey of Hendon Manor; the Marcham brothers whose interests were in Finchley; and C O Banks whose deposited notes form a large section in the Finchley local history material. A number of others have also contributed both in publications and notes. There are too a number of books on early aviation, of interest to those studying Hendon Aerodrome; and some biographies of people connected with Hendon. Among these are David Garrick, Sir Stamford Raffles, William Wilberforce, Sir James Murray, Pavlova and the Puget family. There are also deposited theses: T Giles on the Poor Law, S Dunford on A Suburb at War – Hendon 1939-45, J Barrett An Analysis of Hendon’s Growth 1900-36, J Smith Aspects of Unemployment in Hendon 1905-1914 and P Rodger Aspects of Transport Development in Edgware – A Suburban Case Study.

There are also directories for Hendon, Edgware, Finchley and Chipping Barnet. Unfortunately the series is incomplete, which lessens its value, and there is nothing before 1923 for Barnet or 1926 for Hendon, Edgware or Finchley – except two almanacs for 1883 and 1884 which are more entertaining than informative. Local magazines are also kept, among which are church and school magazines, including the Mill Hill magazine which contains some very helpful articles. There are also other publications such as the Watling Newsletter, produced monthly for the Watling Community Association, which might well be used in a social study.
Successful Minimart

Last month’s Minimart raised £281.91 for HADAS funds -a sum which will be a great help in the planning of our enlarged excavation programme this summer. Many helpers worked in many ways, but a particular burden fell on the principal stallholders: Daphne Lorimer, Nell Penny, George Ingram, Dorothy Newbury and Christine Arnott. Thanks too to Jeremy Clynes at the HADAS publications stall, Paddy Musgrove and Mr. Mason on guard at the entrance, and Irene Frauchiger who kept up a steady stream of coffee for thirsty stallholders and visitors. The following charities received our surplus: Hendon St. Mary’s Guides, St. Margarets United Reform Church, the Family Holidays Association and Glebe Court Old Peoples Home.

The writer of the above report was too modest to say where the Society’s deepest debt of gratitude lies: that is, to Christine Arnott, our chief of fund-raisers, and to Dorothy Newbury, her most able lieutenant. Together they seem capable of facing any crisis – and with unruffled good humour, too. All we can say is: -thanks – and thanks again.
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The Meaning and Purpose of English Wall Paintings

A report by PETER GRIFFITHS on the HADAS March lecture.

Attendance at the March lecture surprised our lecturer, Clive Rouse, who considered the subject rather abstruse. However, the talk that he delivered was most informative and entertaining, and the audience most attentive.

Little has been written about these paintings, which at one time completely. covered the walls of most medieval English parish churches. There are three main reasons for their disappearance.

Firstly, the paintings were not meant to last. When alterations or additions were made to the church, old paintings were often destroyed or overpainted. Secondly, the Reformation – not Cromwell, as is often thought – was responsible for much destruction. An edict of Edward VI in 1547 ordered “the destruction and obliteration of popish images.” The paintings were often covered with lime-wash and replaced with “the sentences” – the Lord’s prayer or the ten commandments. Finally, during Victorian restoration work many paintings were not considered artistically worth keeping – as, indeed, they may not have been. As Mr. Rouse carefully explained, artistic merit was not their purpose.

That purpose was, in fact, devotional and educational. Bible stories and other lessons could only be explained pictorially, as 9O% of the congregation were illiterate. Mr. Rouse compared the paintings with strip cartoons in modern “popular” newspapers. The same conventional representation and mannerisms are employed in both. For ease of identification villains in wall paintings were portrayed as evil-looking and grotesque. St. Peter carried a bunch of keys, St. Paul a sword.

The subject matter of the paintings is limited, with five basic groups. The first was purely decorative: all bare walls were considered “unworthy” and every effort was made to cover them. By far the largest group contained portrayals of Bible stories. The third and fourth categories were single figures of saints or a series on the lives of the saints, which were very popular. The saints were treated as archetypes, providing standards for the people, and as channels of communication – one prayed not a saint but through him. Lastly, there were morality stories – horrible warnings to sinners, deliberately intended to shock.

The individual artists responsible for these works are largely unknown. Various schools of art did exist, the largest being the Court school at Westminster. Another was at Winchester and a third based in East Anglia. From accounts it is known that squirrels’ hair was used for painters’ brushes. The colours most often seen are yellow and red ochre, black from lamp-black, white from lime and green from copper. Only three surviving paintings are frescoes, the rest having been produced by a secco technique. The wall was plastered with lime putty, which was dampened and the pigment then applied with skimmed milk as a size.

Mr. Rouse ended by showing a variety of slides, many of which were of his own watercolours of paintings he had personally restored; throughout he interspersed his talk with anecdotes of these restorations. He was particularly enthusiastic about Longthorpe tower, 2 miles west of Peterborough, which he strongly recommended us to visit.
The Farm Buildings Survey

For some years HADAS has been hoping to organise a survey at farm buildings which still remain in the London Borough of Barnet – an area which was until well into this century, predominantly agricultural. The 20th century has brought great changes to our district, and we want to chronicle those changes before it is too late. This could be done by recording three types of farm material: first, the industrial (not tl1e domestic) buildings of those farms, now mainly in the north of the Borough, which are still working; secondly, all the remains of other farm buildings – barns, dairies, cowsheds – which sometimes survived and were turned to different uses when the rest of the farm was engulfed by suburban bricks and mortar; third, such vestigial traces of erstwhile farms as field or farm names which have today become street, school or tennis club names (e.g. Decoy Avenue; Farm Walk Tennis Club; Goldbeaters School; Tithe Walk; Renters Avenue).
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Two members of our Industrial Archaeology group, Nigel Harvey and Bill Firth, have done a good deal of the background paperwork which would be needed to start such a project. This includes making a preliminary list of “Past and Present” farms. Some of them (e.g. Bury Farm, Edgware) are still fully working farms. Others are farms of which almost all trace has now vanished – e.g. Church End Farm, Hendon, where only one building- the model dairy -remains; Temple Fortune Farm, demolished 1908, of which a short street of 4 houses, called Farm Walk, is the only trace; or Wyldes Farm, North End, where the early barn was so cleverly incorporated into the original farmhouse that it is now difficult to distinguish. The preliminary list also contains a section on riding stables, kennels and golf clubs which it is supposed, may have originally been farms – a Supposition that the survey may confirm or refute. Below is Nigel and Bill’s list. If members know of other farms, past or present, which should be added to it, please tell us. Please let us know also of single buildings which you think were associated with a farm, or of street or place names. Finally, would any member interested in helping with this project please let us know. We want to build up a small team of members prepared to do field work and/or documentary research. Offers of help, or information about farms, should be sent to Brigid Grafton Green.

Farms -Past and Present -in LBB
Brent Lodge Farm, Arkley Temple Fortune Farm, Golders Green
Bury Farm, Edgware Three Elms Farm, Galley Lane
Burtonhole Farm, Mill Hill Totteridge Valley Farm, Totteridge
Church Farm, East Barnet Vale Farm, Barnet
Church End Farm, Hendon Valentine Farm, Barnet
Clitterhouse.Farm, Cricklewood Whiting Hill Farm, Barnet
College Farm; Finchley Woodcock Farm, Edgware
Cottage Farm, Barnet Woodlands Farm, Arkley
Decoy Farm, Hendon Wyldes Farm, Hampstead
Ellern Mede Farm, Totteridge Arkley Stables, Arkley
Fairlawn Nurseries, Totteridge Totteridge Livery Stables, Totteoridge
Fold Farm, Barnet Totteridge Park Farm, Totteridge
Folly Farm, Mill Hill Equestrian Centre, Mill Hill
Frith Manor Farm; N. Finchley Frith Manor Equitation School, N. Finchley
Goldbeaters Farm, Edgware Strawberry Vale Riding Sch. E. Finchley
Kenwood Farm, Hampstead Childs Hill Riding School, Childs Hill
Homestead Farm; Barnet Brynbank Livery Stables, Arkley
Homestead Farm, Totteridge Oak Cottage Kennels, Arkley
Laurel Farm, Totteridge Hendon Golf Club, Mill Hill
Lawrence Farm, Mill Hill Mill Hill Golf Club, Mill Hill
Moat End, Mill Hill Old Fold Golf Club, Hadley
Renters Farm, Hendon South Herts Golf Club, Totteridge
Rosehank Farm, Mill Hill Arkley Golf Club, Arkley
Rowley Bank Farm, Arkley N. Middx. Golf Club, Friern Barnet

Newsletter

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Looking Ahead to Summer

By Dorothy Newbury.

With February snow, ice and blizzard, and at the time of writing, swirling fog, it’s hard to think of summer outings. Nevertheless a group of “volunteers” (albeit still suffering from a touch of arm-twisting!) are well away with arrangements for our trips this coming summer.

In 1972, we visited Dover to see the beautiful Roman painted room which had been uncovered during redevelopment. This, with other Dover finds, has been the subject of TV programmes and wide appeals for funds for preservation. Jeremy Clynes will start the HADAS summer season with a return trip to the Dover painted room in April.

Another repeat visit will be to Grimes Graves Neolithic flint mines in Norfolk, led by Brigid Grafton Green in May. We were overbooked by 50 members for last July’s trip, and a revisit was promised for this year. In June, we have a short-drive outing with Ted Sammes, who will compere us for a day in the Gade and Bulbourne valleys, taking in Berkhamsted Castle and Piccott’s End Murals.

Later in the summer we visit Framlingham, Saxted Mill and a newly opened stately home at Heveningham with John Enderby; finally we go to Danebury and Salisbury in the meticulous care of Liz Holliday. There will be no autumn weekend this year, as the July week in Orkney with Daphne Lorimer takes its place.

We fear there will be a big jump in prices this year. Finchley Coaches, having held their costs reasonably so far, have now been obliged to make hefty increases – but they do give us friendly and obliging service. Tea prices have almost doubled in he last three years, but everyone seems to enjoy that relaxed half hour with a cup of tea before returning home.

For the benefit of new members, an application form and itinerary for each outing goes out with the Newsletter fro the appropriate month, and booking are not accepted beforehand. Most trips are heavily booked, so please act promptly if you wish to go.

Date of the outings for your diary, are as follows:

Sat. Apr. 15 – Dover
Sat. May 20 – Grimes Graves
Sat. June 24 – Berkhamsted
July 8-15 – Orkney
Sat Aug. 12 – Framlingham
Sat. Sept. 16 – Danebury

Winter Meetings Still to Come

Tues. March 7. E. Clive Rouse, who speaks to us on “The Meaning and Purpose of English Wall Paintings,” is a leading authority in this particular field, and consultant on wall paintings to the Royal Commission.
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Tues. Apr. 4. Scott McCracken, of the Surrey Archaeological Society, provides our only local London lecture of this current season, talking about digs and surveys in Wandsworth, Merton, Richmond and Sutton – an area for which he is senior Field Officer.

Mon. May 15. Annual General Meeting. Further details about this in the next Newsletter.

Meetings are held at Central Library, The Burroughs, NW4, with coffee at 8pm. and lectures starting about 8.30.

ANOTHER VERY IMPORTANT DATE come sup in a few days time: the HADAS Minimart, principle fund-raising effort for the year, which provides the wherewithal that makes our other work – excavation, field work, recording, etc – possible.

We look forward to seeing you at the Minimart at the Henry Burden Hall, Egerton Gardens, NW4, on Saturday, March 4 from 10 am-12 noon.

Recent petrol problems and bad weather may have prevented some members from sending their contributions for the various stalls to the organisers. It still isn’t too late, however – just ring Christine Arnott or Dorothy Newbury and say what you have.
Archaeology across the Atlantic

A report by Freda Wilkinson on the February lecture.

It was a new experience for HADAS to cross the Atlantic and visit Peru and (for good measure) Mexico in the company of Mr Philip Barnes. His account covered more than 10,000 years, from early hunter-gatherers to the Spanish conquest.

In the Central Highlands of Peru there is evidence of early man from c. 9,000 BC, hunting elephant, mastodon and bison with flaked stone tools. The Neolithic or early Farmer Cultures of Peru differs strikingly in some ways from the Neolithic of Europe. The first crops produced were not food crops but cotton (for coarse fabrics and twine) and gourds (useful as containers). People fished from reed rafts using lines and nets and collected shellfish. Cultivation of food crops may only have begun about 2000 BC: chiefly maize (cultivated in Mexico more than 2000 years earlier) with beans, squash and chilis; and there was some domestication of animals especially guinea pigs (for food) and the “hairless” Dog, a scavenger which was also eaten. Highland Peru necessarily had a rather different economy from lowland, with terrace cultivation and herds of llamas and alpacas. Deer were hunted for food. Pottery did not appear until about 1800 BC, though it had been made in Colombia for over a thousand years.

Even in the pre-pottery era there were ceremonial centres, an important feature throughout Peru’s early civilisations — we saw an impressive pyramidal temple of adobe (mud brick); and later platform mound temples with carvings of felines and related motifs (claws, fangs). Ornamental metalwork was produced, especially of sheet gold. For many centuries obsidian was the favoured material for tools.

Much of the coastal region consists of arid desert and could have been habitable only on the edges of the swampy river valleys. By degrees in between 200 BC and AD 600 irrigation channels were constructed, so increasing crop production. The main agricultural tool was the digging stick; there were no ploughs. By this time crops included potato, sweet potato and pineapple.
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The Mochica people, who carried out many of the canal projects and occupied the northern lowlands, were skilled in metallurgy. Artistic development reached a high point around AD 300, both in the Mochica and the contemporary Nazca culture of the southern desert. Funerary pottery was outstanding. Mochica designs depict the life of the people; there were many “stirrup-spouted” vessels and pots with modelled faces and hands — some decidedly humourous in appearance. Nazca pottery has stylised painted designs in beautiful colours: the vessels were painted after firing, and not glazed. The potters wheel was unknown. Textiles to and enwrap the dead were also skilfully made, using varied weaves and needlework, in intricate designs and bright colours which last astonishingly well.

Changes were brought about by wars and conquests in the next 800 years. And the Chimu empire, which extended over coastal Peru, fell to the Incas about AD 1415. The Incas used stone to build their chief cities, Cuzci and Machu Picchu, high in the mountains. One masonry form consists of huge polygonal or many-angled blocks, used for example in retaining walls of long irrigation terraces; another is not much smaller rectangular blocks in straight courses. The stones were worked into shape using only stone tools; all joints fit perfectly.

The Incas were good engineers, building roads, drains and bridges — the Romans of the area, Mr Barnes said. Excellent administration and a powerful regime were necessary to organise such works. Yet there was no wheeled transport, and no pack animals for heavy loads: only apparently the muscle power of men about 5 ft tall. The Incas were finally conquered by the Spaniards in 1572, and it is sad that so much destruction followed: beautiful jewellery, for example, was thrown into the melting pot.

Mr Barnes concluded with a brief look at Mexico, beginning with a modern scene showing that type of quern on which maize was rolled in much the same way as in early times. We saw temple sites with a strange “H-shaped” ball courts used for ritual games after which the loser lost his life. The Toltec temple of Tulum with its ceremonial stairway and great statue of a warrior, the Mayan Temple of Uxmal with the nearest approach to a true arch, the huge Pyramid of the Sun near Mexico City, and Chichen-Itza with its “plumed servants” were especially memorable.

The builders of the Mexican temples used writing and numeration; the peoples of early poll of Peru astonishingly did without either, relying on oral methods and memory. The Incas had a counting device using knotted string, but there was it seems no system of weights and no currency.
LAMAS Offprints

Two short papers appear in the current Transactions of the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society describing objects from the Borough of Barnet. The first describes the jadeite axe found in Hendon in 1975, while the second deals with the interesting face flagon neck found on our HADAS excavation at Church End, Hendon.

Offprints of these two papers, in one cover, can be obtained from the Society, price £0.22 (including postage).

We also have a few copies left of the following LAMAS offprints, also of local interest:

An investigation of Roman Road No. 167 — £0.55 (including postage);

The brass areas of Middlesex (part sixteen: Hendon and Heston) — £0.55 (including postage).

All available from Jeremy Clynes.
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Follow-up to the Friern Barnet Dig

In the spring of 1975, at the request of the Rector, HADAS conducted a small dig beside the Parish Church of Friern Barnet, St. James the Great. Among the material found were some finally-engraved coffin plates of lead and of brass. And Trewick, who was in charge of the dig in, here describes the latest developments regarding these.

Last December I met Mr And Mrs. Cook, at present studying in the Archaeological Department of University College, Cardiff, to discuss the conservation of the coffin plates which were found during the dig at St. James the Great and also while the foundations for the Church Room were being in the excavated. There were eight plates in all; the object of conserving them is so that they may be mounted and displayed within the church.

Little is known of the history of the manufacturer of coffin and plates. However, evidence is beginning to accumulate, and there may be some parallels for those from St. James in plates found in a church in Putney and others from the Museum of London. This suggests the possibility, especially in Victorian times, that some plates were manufactured en masse and kept in readiness for engraving as and when needed. One highly decorative plate from St. James the Great carried a place for a coat of arms; but the person for whom the plate was ultimately engraved was not entitled to bear arms, so the heraldic shield has been left blank. Is this an example of mass production from a mould? Perhaps only the really rich were able to afford an individually made plate.

The plates were made in different metals, some in more than one. Mr. And Mrs. Cook intend to x-ray the St. James’s plates to find out more about the metals. They will also treat and conserve them, building one which is broken up with fibre glass. They have at present the four plates which were most in need of urgent treatment.

At present I am trying to find out if there are any publications concerning coffin plates. I would be very grateful if anyone who knows of such a publication would let me know — it need not be a whole book, just a chapter in a book or a paper in the Journal would be helpful.
Aids to Research

Joanna Corden, Archivist to the London Borough of Barnet, continues her series on the various groups of local archives which are available for students.

II Barnet Museum.

BOOKS: the Museum holds a large collection of books, pamphlets, theses, transcripts and articles covering Barnet specifically and Hertfordshire are generally.

MAPS: there is a very useful collection of local maps; the Enfield Chase Inclosure map of 1776, Barnet Inclosure maps of 1819, Tithe maps and apportionments for East and Chipping Barnet, Hadley and South Mimms are held here. There are 25 in. OS maps from 1866, 6 in. OS maps from 1863, and 2 1/2 in. OS maps for 1947. Hertfordshire County maps exist since 1598, London maps since 1757, and plans of estates in the area since 1778.
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PRINTS: there are a very large number of photographs, watercolours and drawings covering the locality, although most date from the nineteenth century. There is an index to the collection.

ARCHIVES: the manorial court rolls from the manor of Chipping Barnet are here, covering the period of 1553-1913, and some 19th-century correspondence concerning the manor. The parish records of Monken Hadley have been deposited here, namely the vestry minutes of 1672-1833, the Overseer’s accounts 1678-1835, Surveyor’s accounts 1846-1874, Churchwardens’ accounts 1717-1821, some removal orders, examinations, certificates, apprenticeship indentures, bonds of indemnity, legal opinions etc from the 17th-19th century and the accounts of a charity for educating poor girls 1737-1771. These parish records are incomplete; the items missing all to be found in the Middlesex section of the Greater London Record Office.

Also to be found here are the Hadley Brewery records — the Journal 1887-1910, and the invoice books 1887-1920; Barnet Urban District Council Register of civilian deaths were due to war operations, 1939-46; some 19th-century rate books; Arkley Infants School minute book, 1902; the Barnet Natural History Society minutes 1914-1932; Barnet Horticultural Society Minute Book 1837-1842; and two rather odd items, “account of relief given to distressed haymakers at Barnet 1830” and a book of contributions for the Fire Engine in 1751.

NOTE: Barnet Museum is open Tuesday and Thursday 2.30-4.30p.m. and Saturday 10.30-12.30 and 2.30-4.30.
Development Watching

A note by Myfanwy Stewart, who organises HADAS site-watching operations.

Some members may be unaware of this HADAS activity, which is concerned with the watching of building sites in the London Borough of Barnet. It began some years ago, when the county Society — the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, — set up a system of Secretaries for each London Borough. HADAS accepted the LAMAS invitation to provide the Secretary for the Borough of Barnet, to keep an index of sites and finds spots of archaeological interest in the Borough and to watch any development which might be of archaeological interest. In practise, in a Borough like Barnet for which no detailed archaeological survey has been made, this means keeping an eye on virtually every development that we can.

A list of all applications for planning permission is sent each week by the Council to the Society. We note items which will necessitate the digging of trenches (for drainage, foundations, water, electricity cables, etc) and notify members living nearby.

A two-tier system operates. First, we have a watchers (they must live near the site, so that they can pass is often and easily, without going much out of their way) who are willing to keep an eye on sites and to telephone me when any open trenches are visible. No archaeological training or experience is needed for this part of the operation.

Secondly, we have a short list of members who are willing to go onto sites when trenches are open and who are able to make a judgement on what, if anything, is revealed. A tactful manner, in order to establish a good relationship with the site foreman, is important here. After all, we have no legal right to go on to a site without permission. Nevertheless, we have never had a complete refusal, although sometimes the written permission of the owner and a definite appointment with the site manager have been necessary. This has happened mainly where the site is large e.g. at the new Tesco development in Finchley, where formerly Pope’s Garage stood.
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Although the Society cannot, as yet, claim any spectacular finds as a result of this work, some items of interest has been noted. For example members may recall the coarse grey early mediaeval pottery found about two years ago in Galley Lane, Barnet, which was reported in Newsletter no. 66. As a result of site watching, 100 sherds or so of the same type for pottery were found some 300 yards away when a new house was built. In Woodside Avenue, N12, a man-struck flint flake and a piece of well-fired ancient pottery were found. Developments in areas of known historical or archaeological interest are watched with special care — a good example of this is the Brockley Hill area; and a by peering into every hole that is dug in the vicinity of the Edgware Road we hope that some lucky day we may recognise, in a section, evidence for the line of Roman Watling Street.

However, with more modern building methods trenches are sometimes open for about two days only, especially if the weather is fine. Thus, once planning permission is granted, sites have to be watched very closely. If the watching scheme is to operate successfully, we must have more members participating, so that we really can really “blanket” the Borough, particularly with first-tier (i.e. non-experienced) watchers. We are noticeably short of help in certain areas — Colindale, Edgware, Mill Hill and East and New Barnet.

All offers of assistance will be gratefully received. Please let me know if you can help, — either ring or drop me a line.
Accessions to the Bookbox

The following have recently been added to the HADAS book box (references on left are to categories and numbers on the Hon. Librarian’s master list)
Rom. Brit. 150 Roman Camden Brian Robertson
181 Excavations of the Belgic & Roman-British Settlement
of Quinton, Northants Journal 11, Northants Museum, Dec 1974
(presented by Ted Sammes)
Loc.Hist. 170 The Vale of Health on Hampstead Heath, 1777-1977 Helen C. Bentwich
Misc. 154 The Bristol Clay Tobacco-pipe Industry Iain C. Walker
Unnumbered List and Map of Historic Monuments open to Public Dept of Environment 1972
Ancient Monuments of Wales D. of E. 1973

The last three presented by Jeremy Clynes.
Residential Conference on Moats

.. sponsored by Moated Sites Research Group, April 7-9 next, at Villiers Hall,, Manor Road, Leicester. Sessions on moated sites all over British Isles, in the Low Countries and France, as well as on recording and surveying moats and excavating and preserving them. One afternoon will be spent on a coach trip to maots in Northants, led by Christopher Taylor. Further particulars from Vaughan College, St. Nicholas Circle, Leicester, LE1 4LB. Closing date for appliactions, 13 March, 1978.

Newsletter

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Aids to Research

Joanna Corden, Archivist to the London Borough of Barnet and a member of HADAS, has kindly accepted an invitation from the Newsletter to describe, during the next few months, the various groups of local archives which are available in (or occasionally outside) the Borough for consultation by researchers and students. This is the first of her series of articles.

The Borough of Barnet Archives and Local History Collection consists of varied material; it includes original documents, official records, books, pamphlets, maps and illustrations. It is housed in four different buildings: the Local History Library at Egerton Gardens, Hendon; the basement of South Friern Barnet Library, in Colney Hatch Lane, Church End Library, Hendon Lane, Finchley; and Chipping Barnet Library, Church Passage, Barnet.

In addition, other pockets of material exist which do not come within LBB’s Archives and Local History Collection, but all very relevant for researchers. There is, for instance, much material at Barnet Museum; Hampstead Garden Suburb has its own Archive Room; some material from the Barnets (East, New and Chipping) and from Totteridge can be found at the Hertfordshire Record Office in Hertford, because these areas came under LBB’s umbrella only with the Greater London local government reorganisation of 1965; some records from the end of the last century (when Hendon was part of a larger Rural District) — are lodged at Harrow; and so on. This series will mention all these groups of archives as well as the four which form the Archives and Local History Collection. This month I propose to deal with:

I. Chipping Barnet Library –

BOOKS. The books at this Library relate to Barnet and Totteridge specifically and to Hertfordshire generally. There are copies of the major historical works on the area; these include the Victoria County History, F.C. Cass’s books on the Barnet and South Mimms, the history and antiquities of the county of Hertford by R. Clutterbuck, and the history of Hertfordshire by J.E.Cussans. These last were written at the end of the nineteenth century, when an antiquarian emphasis was expected of a local historian. They are therefore full of information on the pedigrees of local families, but less helpful on other aspects.

The Victoria County History is reliable, but is in need of revision and updating. The Annals of Barnet is more scholarly in approach, and is a sharp contrast to a Chat About Barnet, by S.H. Widdecombe which is exactly what it claims to be: a chat.
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Totteridge is represented by S.G.R. Barratt — and Monken Hadley by Nancy Clark — Hadley Wood; and W.H.Gelder — Georgian Hadley.

All the above, and other published works on Hertfordshire generally (which includes sections on those areas now included in the Borough of Barnet) and which covers such general subjects as inns, place names, education, flora, geology, etc, are to be found on the shelves at the appropriate Dewey classification number. A list of these books, which are kept in the reference section, is also available, free, from the Librarian on request.

MAPS. Very few maps are kept here; only a Barnet Urban District Council map of 1961, 6 inch to one mile, and some modern 6 inch and 25 inch OS maps.

NEWSPAPERS. The main local paper is the weekly Barnet Press, which is kept permanently. The early 19th-century volumes are, however, very fragile, and prospective users are advised to use the microphone, available from 1861 at Egerton Gardens. There is also the magazine Hertfordshire Countryside, which is illustrated. It is bi-monthly from a 1948-1966, and monthly since then. Finally there is the annual Hertfordshire Past And Present, kept since 1960.

EPHEMERA. There are files of press cuttings, from 1927-1932 and from April 1967 to today. There are also subject files (on e.g. Barnet Fair, Barnet Inclosure, etc) and files on various buildings and people connected with the area. These consist of varied material I can only describe them as containing anything which we may have accumulated over the years. There are no illustrations nor original archive material at this Library; such material is to be found at Barnet Museum, whose records will be the subject of a later article.
West Heath: Plans for 1978

By Daphne Lorimer.

HADAS will run a fortnight’s training excavation again this year. We know that several HADAS members would like to of themselves of the chance of doing at least part of their training for the Diploma or certificate Near home, so we hope that they will apply as soon as possible to Brigid Grafton Green for a place on the training dig. Speedy application is necessary because we shall have to put a ceiling on the number of students each week, and the following notice is to be distributed in the near future to all students taking the London University Diploma and Certificate courses:

“Mesolithic Site, West Heath, Hampstead. A training dig under the direction of Desmond Collins will be run by Hendon and District Archaeological Society for two weeks beginning 5 June, 1978. It will be accepted as a training excavation for the Extra-mural Diploma in Archaeology and the Certificate in Field Archaeology (University of London).

Fees: £12 weekly to include membership of HADAS. (There will be a reduction of fees for applicants who were members of HADAS on 1 January, 1978). Priority will be given to applicants wishing to enrol for both weeks. Applications should be made to Mrs. Grafton Green.
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Apart from the training dig, up plans for the next West East season are as follows:

Digging will start again at the leg of Mutton Pond Site on Saturday 6 May. It is hoped to begin as usual with full-time fortnight (6 May – 21 May inclusive) and then to continue through the summer on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesdays. So many people wanted to dig last August that it has been decided to keep the site open during August this year and, if it is desired, we might have a further full week’s digging during August. Do make a note of the West Heath dates in your diary now.

There will, of course, be no digging between a for July and 16 July, Wednesday HADAS trip to Orkney takes place; nor will he be digging on the Saturdays during the summer on which they put part HADAS outings.

This coming season should be an exciting one, as we shall be digging in an area known to be rich in finds, and there is always the possibility of finding another hearth. The boundary of the site has been altered slightly by the Park authorities during the winter, so that the public can now saunter down beside the pond — to the irritation of the swans!

And don’t forget to watch Chronicle on BBC 2 on Wednesday 8 February at 8.00p.m. HADAS will make a brief but meteoric appearance!
MINIMART

The Minimart will take place on 4 March, 1978, from 10.00a.m.-12.00p.m. This is a most vital date in the HADAS calendar, since upon the result of the Minimart depends much of our financial viability.

The venue it is Henry Burden Hall, Egerton Gardens, NW4 (opposite Central Library). Entrance £0.05.

As this is our main fund-raising effort for the year, we appeal for help from all members in the work of stocking and the following stalls:

HOME PRODUCE. Home-made cakes, jams, marmalade and chutney will be specially welcome, but all foodstuffs will be gratefully received. Daphne Lorimer.

MISCELLANY. unwanted gifts, stationery, jewellery, cosmetics, etc. Nell Penny.

“NEARLY NEW”. Men’s, women’s and children’s clothing in reasonable condition. Dorothy Newbury.

BRIC-A-BRAC. Brass, pewter, china (anything that’s saleable and small enough to transport). Christine Arnott.

The names of those in charge of the stalls have been given so that you can get in touch with them to arrange collection, if required. Articles can also be brought to the February lecture (the only lecture between now and the Minimart); or to the processing weekend at the Teahouse, Northway, NW11 on Feb. 18/19. Offers to display in a prominent place a poster advertising the Minimart will be very welcome and posters can be collected at the February lecture.
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In addition to the stalls mentioned above, George Ingram and Freda Wilkinson will be in charge of book and publication stalls, for which we already have sufficient material. No more books, beyond those already promised, are required.

Jeremy Clynes will have a stall for HADAS publications, and coffee and biscuits will be available at £0.15. Most members, we know, to find the Minimart great fun — so do roll up on 4 March, to enjoy yourselves and to help HADAS.
Other HADAS Events

Tues. Feb. 7. Pre-Columbian Cultures of Mexico – P.B.Barnes, MA.

Tues. Mar, 7. Meaning and Purpose of English Wall Paintings – Clive Rouse, MBE, FSA.

Tues. Apr. 4. Excavations in South West Lndon – Scott McCracken.

Mon. May 15. Annual General Meeting.

Meetings are held at the Central Library, The Burroughs, NW4 starting with coffee at 8.00p.m.

Sat. Feb. 11. Surveying session with Barrie Martin in the grounds of St. Joseph’s Convent, Watford Way, Hendon, NW4. Meet at 10.00a.m. inside of the main gates of the Convent. The object will be to record a large mound, the precise origin of which is unknown, in the Convent garden.

Sat/Sun. Feb. 18/19. Processing weekend at the Teahouse, Northway, NW11, from 10.00a.m.-5.00p.m. each day. All members welcome. The principal activity will be work on the West Heath finds; but some work in connection with the material from the 1948-56 digs at Brockley Hill Roman pottery kilns will also be undertaken. New members who haven’t ever seen the Brockley Hill pottery (mainly dated to AD 60-165) may like to take this chance of looking at it.

Incidentally, enclosed with this Newsletter are maps of two areas in which HADAS currently holds meetings: Central Hendon and Hampstead Garden Suburb. The committee felt that members who do not know these areas well might find such maps useful. The HGS map will show you how to get to the Teahouse for the processing weekend. There is, we regret to say, one error in this Suburb map, and you might like to alter it what you think of it: “Bigwood Hall” should read “Bigwood House.”

Sun. Feb. 26. Tentatively fixed for another field walk in the same area as the 29 January walk. Meet at the same place in Edgwarebury Lane (junction with Clay Lane) at 10.00a.m. but check first with the Brigid Grafton Green to confirm the date.
HADAS trip to Orkney

The trip is now fully booked, and unless applicants have heard to the contrary they can be sure they are on it. Dorothy Newbury will, however, be happy to add to the waiting list further names of those who would like to go if cancellations occur. Don’t send deposits, though — just give Dorothy a ring and ask her to put your name down among the reserves.
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“A Possession for Ever: The Parthenon at Athens”

A report by Audree Price-Davies of the HADAS January Lecture.

The first part of the quotation above is taken from Thucydides, who made it about his own works. Mr Corbett applied it to the Parthenon; the continuous flow of questions at the end was evidence of the interest which the subject evoked.

Mr Cook’s lecture showed that the quotation is not just a statement, but implies a question. Will the Parthenon be “a possession for ever?” While describing its value and aesthetic quality, Mr Cook noted the attacks upon it — first by the early Christians, who used it as a church in 450 AD and destroyed some of the statues as being suitable; then by the Turks. They turned the building into an arsenal and in 1687 a shell fired from a British warship caused an explosion which destroyed a good deal of the structure. Today, the depredations continue, although now they are from natural causes: rainwater, diluted sulpuric acid, which erodes the features of the sculptures and also the marble floors; and the feet of countless visitors which wear away the marble, with the result that the Parthenon cannot now be entered by visitors — it must be viewed only from outside the building.

The Delian League was formed to defend Greek liberty against the Persians. In 454 BC. the treasury of the League was transferred to Athens, and Pericles set aside some League money for the building and rebuilding of temples and public buildings. The Parthenon was built between 447-433 BC, to the plans of Ictinus and Callicrates. It is constructed of marble, not the usual limestone and stucco. The temple was dedicated in 438 BC, but the pediment was not installed until 432 BC.

The decoration consists of the frieze, the metopes and the pediments; the carvings were made on the ground and then fitted in place. The subjects of the metopes were: on the west side, the struggle of the Greeks and the Amazons; on the eats, the battle of the Gods and Giants on Mount Ilymous, Athena being present; on the south, the Lapiths and Centaurs, showing the Centaurs who got drunk at a Lapiths wedding feast: and on the north, the Greeks and Trojans at the sack of Troy. These were stories which would be well known to the Greeks, but what is surprising is that the sculptures were placed so far above eye-level. They were in relief, but even so would not have been seen closely.

The frieze represents the Parthenaic procession – possibly the one held every four years to present a new gown for the bronze statue in the Parthenon of Athena Promachos, the work of Phidias, which is now completely lost to us. The frieze shows those who would take part in such a procession – the horsemen and chariots, with the attempts at rendering distance, groups of people talking, the burghers, the attendants leading sacrificial animals, women playing a religious part and the twelve gods and goddesses. It symbolises Athens at this time – its social structure and its achievements.

The pediment illustrated important moments in Athenian myth-history – the birth of the goddess Athena and the dispute between Athena and Poseidon for the patronage of the city, which Athena won by her gift of an olive tree. These sculptures were done in the round, but the back would not have been seen once they were in position. They represent some of the finest classical sculpture. Most of these figures, however, can now be viewed closely as they are in the British Museum. Since hearing Mr. Cook I shall certainly look at them with a renewed and deeper appreciation.
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Wanted – Xerox Boxes

If any HADAS member has access to a supply (no matter how small) of the rectangular strong cardboard boxes in which Xerox paper for copying machines is supplied, we would be most grateful for any unwanted boxes. They are admirable for keeping finds, because they stack so well.

Please let our Hon. Treasurer, Jeremy Clynes know if you can let us have any. Collection will, if needed, be arranged.
The 15th Conference of London Archaeologists

This will be held on Saturday 18 March at the Museum of London. Organised by the London and Middlesex Archaeology Society, the conference opens at 11.00a.m. and continues all day, with a break for lunch. Tickets, which include tea (but not lunch), cost £1 for LAMAS members and £2 for non- members. They are obtainable from Alison Bristow, London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, c/o Everitt and Sons, City Gate House, Finsbury Square, EC2.

The programme of the conference will be as usual — talks on digs and finds, questions and discussions if there is time, and during the lunch and tea breaks an opportunity to look at exhibits arranged by various London archaeological societies. HADAS plans a display on the lifting of the Mesolithic hearth found at West Heath last autumn.

Speakers at the Conference will include Peter Marsden on the Boats and Ports in the Thames Estuary in Antiquity; Steve Roskams on Recent Excavations in Milk Street; Humphrey Woods on excavations at Eeltham Palace, 1975-7; Mike Hammerson on Excavations under Southwark Cathedral; Ralph Merrifield on the Roman Sculptures from the Crypt of Southwark Cathedral; Margaret Jones on the relevance to London’s Archaeology of multi-period settlement at Mucking; and Scott McCracken on Excavations of the Chapter House at Merton Priory.
The HADAS Membership List

A membership list, compete to 1 January, 1978, was circulated with the last Newsletter.

One member has reported that two pages of his 8-page list were missing; another member tells me that no list at all was included with January Newsletter.

If any other member has had similar problems of missing or incomplete membership lists, would he/she please let the Hon. Secretary know, and a new list will be supplied?
News Snippets

Conference on Deposits in Sea Caves, Geological Museum, South Kensington, 11 March 1978, 10.00a.m.-5.00p.m. £1.50.

Residential course on Field Archaeology and landscape, Tutor Chris Taylor, at Knuston Hall, Irchester, Northants, 31 March – 7 April. £37.50

Weekend course on statistics for archaeologists, Tutor Clive Orton, same venue, May 12-14. £12. Further details of both courses obtainable from the Principal, Knuston Hall.

Newsletter

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Two Noteworthy Dates

… on Wednesday, 8 February, HADAS will appear “on the box.” The Chronicle programme on which the West Heath dig has an 8-minute spot will be shown then on the BBC 2 — exact time as yet unspecified. The Radio Times of that week will carry further details.

… on Saturday, 4 March, the Minimart — out major fund-raising effort for 1978 — will be held at the Henry Burden Hall, Egerton Gardens, NW4, from 10.00a.m.-12.00p.m.

Full information about the stalls, plus collection details, will be given in the February newsletter. Meantime, may we suggest that over the Christmas holidays you might put aside any unwanted gifts and/or other items which would be suitable either for the Bric-a-brac stall of for “Nearly New” clothing.
Forthcoming HADAS Lectures

3 January. “A Possession for ever: the Parthenon at Athens” – Brain Cook, MA, FSA.

The 7 February lecture, HADAS’s first for many years on Latin American Archaeology, will be given by the P.B. Barnes, MA, on the Pre-Colombian Cultures of Mexico. Mr Barnes is Secretary of the Association for Cultural Exchange; in that capacity he has made a wide study of South and Central America, where he often acts as guide to archaeological parties.

7 March. The Meaning and per Person of English Wall Paintings – E. Clive Rouse, MBE, FSA.

4 April. Excavations in South West London — Scott McCracken.

Lectures are at Central Library, The Burroughs, NW4 on the first Tuesday of the month, starting with coffee at 8.00p.m.

Monday 15 May. HADAS Annual General Meeting at Central Library, 8.00p.m.
Other HADAS Events

Saturday 21 January. Surveying session, with Barrie Martin, at West Heath. Meet 10.00a.m. at the Pond site.

Sunday 29 January. Field walking at Bury Farm, Edgware, on a field we have not yet sampled. Meet at 10.00a.m. in Edgwarebury Lane at its junction with Clay Lane, which is a wide foot path on the right hand side of Edgwarebury Lane just before the Bury Farm buildings. Shiela Woodward is organising this walk, but as she is not on the telephone it would be very helpful if members would ring Brigid Grafton Green and let her know if they intend coming.

Saturday 11 February. Probable surveying session with Mr Martin at St. Joseph’s Convent, Hendon, 10.00a.m. This arrangement is conditional upon the Convent giving permission; final details in the next newsletter. It is planned to record a large mound (origin at the moment unknown) in the Convent grounds.
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Weekend 18/19 February. Processing of West Heath finds at the Teahouse, Hampstead Garden Suburb, from 10.00a.m.-5.00p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
Elizabethan banquet at Hatfield Palace

By Lily Lewy.

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth I spent many happy years here as a child, and a less happy term of uneasy internment during the turbulent reign of her sister, Mary Tudor. Most of the palace was torn down by Robert Cecil when he built his new mansion Hatfield House nearby (E-shaped as a compliment to his Queen), but the Great Hall remains, with its steeply pitched timbered roof whose supports seem to spring from quaintly carved corbels, and its walls hung with good stout twills printed with curious designs of dragons and exotic plants. And here we latter-day Elizabethans gathered to take part in a banquet. (How the real Elizabeth would have envied the least of us, who had made our way, on a rainy December night, from Hendon to Hatfield, dry-shod, with not a hair out of place, within less than an hour!)

From the dais within the Great Hall a lady impersonating Gloriana directed to the entertainment provided by a group of minstrels was who sang both loud and clear, frequently becoming audible above the hubbub created by members of HADAS and their guests (some 200 in all) and an additional 60 policemen, also wassailing. Her Master of Ceremonies schooled us in the art of applauding the Tudor style (you bang your fist on the board), instructed us in the aphrodisiac properties of that rare and costly commodity, salt, and told the men to break the bread for all to share has a sign of male dominance.

“Her Majesty” calling for a taster to see whether her wine was safe for her to drink, no less than 9 gallants made their way to the dais and were each rewarded with a fearsomely resounding case. Then the wine flowed without stint, and so did delicious flowery-scented mead.

The feast followed, beginning with stout pottery jugs full of steaming hot and savoury broth. How the eyes of HADAS members gleamed, as at a glance they assessed the age and provenance of each remarkably well-preserved vessel! Herring and Venison, Sallets and Gypsy Cake followed in due order, with Cheese and Coffee to conclude the repast. And the entertainment continued with singing and dancing and the Death of the Dragon at the hands of St. George, admirably performed.

It was a stroke of genius that prompted “Her Majesty” to knight by our own John Enderby, threatening him with the capitation as she administered the accolade. Creating him Knight of the Garter, moreover, so that duly robed in stately gown and cap he was forced to fumble for the Garter among the many-layered skirts of one of the comely Court ladies! How sad that the trophy of his gallantry proved to be but a modern imitation, no circlet of blue velvet embroidered with costly jewels.

It is not possible to list all the joys of the evening, but sovereign among them must be “Her Majesty’s” sad-visaged jester who walked on stilts, tumbled, juggled, ate fire and performed many feats of sleight of hand, not only from the safe height of the dais, but “below the salt,” where “Her Majesty’s” lesser subjects were enjoying every moment.

Our thanks go to Dorothy Newbury who, as usual, performed the feats of impeccable organisation that we have come — almost — to take for granted; and to her able lieutenants who looked after the passengers in the individual horseless conveyances.

We can’t wait to see what HADAS’s Christmas outing will be in 1978!
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The Burnt Stone Project

Here Myfanwy Stewart provides an insight into the work she has been doing on some of the material from West Heath.

When we began at the dig at West Heath last year, questions came thick and fast over the fence. They varied from the affable “Got a dinosaur there?” to the somewhat belligerent “Who’s paying for this lot, then?” Another frequent inquiry was “Do you think anyone lived here?” The burnt stone project attempts to throw some light on the last question.

In the earliest stages of the dig we noticed both reddened stones and the crazed white stones sometimes called “pot boilers.” Both were believed to be the result of exposure to fire. Material found in the top layer of the excavation could well be the result of modern picnic fires. Burnt stone found in the lower levels, however, might be evidence of ancient hearths.

It was decided to attempt to trace the centres of fires, where temperatures were highest, out to their cooler parameters. We knew that the white crazed stone was the result of high temperatures but were unsure of the heat required to produce the different shades of orange and red, which might indicate in the outer areas of the fires.

The Fire Research Station packed Borehamwood was consulted. They said that little work had been done on the effect of heat on flint, but sent us an HMSO publication on the “Investigation of Building Fires,” which dealt with aggregates containing flint. This confirmed that the development of the red colour “corresponds with the dehydration of the iron compounds and that its presence is a reliable indication that the sample has been heated to a temperature of at least 250°-300°C — the higher temperature with shorter heating periods.” At the other end of the scale, calcined white crazed opaque stone results from temperatures above 575°C; its more friable quality is the result of the expansion of quartz grains and the inversion subsequently of the alpha and beta forms.

We had pictured mesolithic hunters grouped around their open wood fires and wondered if temperatures above 575°C were possible in those pre-pottery times, when presumably the use of forced draught to produce high temperatures was unknown. The Fire Research Station reassured us and said that the red embers would be about 600°-700°C, while yellow embers or flames would be a great deal hotter. So if concentrations of white crazed stones were found in archaeologically interesting levels, they might indicate the centres of ancient fires. Similarly, quantities of red stones might be evidence of the outer limits.

We saw that there were many shades of red burnt stone ranging from orange to dark ox-liver red. As we had little idea of how long it would take to produce any colour change, I decided to do some preliminary experiments at home. Might domestic oven can produce a temperature of 285°C and so could be used.

The most common type of stone on the site is yellow, opaque and chert-like. Samples were used in the tests, together with examples of the hard glassy grey flint similar to that used by the mesolithic people of West East in their tool making.

It was not without some trepidation that work began and continued.
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Loud bangs shattered the Sunday calm and while I reassured my incredulous family that all was well, I wondered privately how much of the glass oven door would cost to replace. The dogs wisely took refuge under the table.

Miraculously nothing shattered except for family nerves and we had some results. Within 2 hours the yellow flint was veined with orange, in 4 hours it was a definite red and in 7 hours it was a dark liver read. The hard grey flint was unchanged. Temperatures of 600°C were required for tests to produce the crazed white flint. As a result of HADAS member Alec Gouldsmith’s powers of persuasion, Johnson Mathey Chemicals generously undertook a series of tests for which they made no charge. After 17 hours at 600°C the stone, although calcined, was a pinky-orange and a further 17 hours was required to produce the white crazed flint similar to that found in the excavation.

Thus we were able to make up a “shade chart” which indicated the degrees of heat to which stones had been subjected. Three shades of red obtained in the kitchen tests were used for lightly burnt flint; 2 types of calcined stone for the highly burnt flint. When processing began, every burnt stone found in the season’s dig was colour matched to our samples, and an attempt was made to build an overall picture of the fires on the site.

We cannot claim that clearly separate areas of light, medium or heavy burning are to be found. However, interesting concentrations were apparent. By far the most burnt area of the site was the southwest corner. Evidence of burning increased the further down we dug. In one south west trench the total number of calcined stones far exceeded those in any other and this appears to be the centre of a fire. Extensive burning was seen in the north east of the site and again in one trench on the south.

A most interesting fact is that the main areas of burning are not those in which possible postholes were found. This brings us back to the question “Did anyone live here?” In view of the enormous numbers of man-struck flakes that were found in 1976, the even greater number in 1977, the evidence of possible postholes and the evidence of burning, we may well be justified in believing that we are indeed excavated a dwelling site — though it may be a seasonal one.

This season’s processing is still in the earliest stages. Nevertheless, once again areas of heavy burning of becoming apparent, especially in the northeast of the site. A further report will be made when this later evidence has been sifted and started.
Exhibitions, Conferences and Courses

At Church Farm House Museum until 8 January (not 1/2 January) a phographic exhibition on their history of Hendon Errors Road, 1910-57. An excellent catalogue gives an outline history of this Mecca of flying.

Tuesday, 7 February, at City University, Northampton Square, EC1: one-day conference on the Materials in Archaeology, organised by the Materials Science Club, starting at 10.30a.m. Subjects to be discussed include Roman Silver plate, armour penetration, papyrus, the swordsmith in antiquity, bone in archaeological time, wood from archaeological sites, Highgate pottery, analysis of ancient metal objects, ancient bronzes, third century development of coinage alloys, pottery under the electron microscope and how soil alters buried materials.

Conference fee £4, including coffee, tea and buffet lunch with wine. Non– members may attend free. Further details from David Price Williams, City University.
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Saturday 18 March: all-day Conference of London Archaeologists, organised by the LAMAS that Museum of London. Further details next month.

Cambridge University has recently sent us their list of next year’s extra-mural residential courses at Madingley Hall — one of the most attractive and historically-interesting adult colleges, in a beautiful setting 4 miles from Cambridge. An interesting innovation is a “Family Weekend” from July 28-30, on archaeology, natural and local history, to be conducted by David Dymond, Roland Randall and David Trump. It is described as “an opportunity for parents to bring older children to Madingley for a study weekend.”

Other courses are:

Feb. 24-26. Interpretations of Air Photographs, with Prof. J. K. St. Joseph amd Dr. Trump.

June 16-18. Hedgerows and hedgerow dating, with Roland Randall.

Two linked weekends, June 2=30-Julyu 2, and Sept 29-Oct. 1, with Lionel Munby, on discovering that the history of a family and uncovering the history of a house.

Further details of all Madingley courses from the Director of Extra-mural Studies, Madingley Hall, Cambridge, CB3 8AQ.
Thanks where Thanks are Due

As another year ends, the editor of the Newsletter would like to thank all those who have made it possible were during 1977 for the Newsletter – HADAS’s main line of communication with its ever-growing membership — to reach you in the first week of each month.

First, thanks to many contributors, who come up smiling whenever they are asked to write for HADAS. A refusal to do so is very rare, and this willing response makes the editor’s job of much easier.

Then thanks to Irene Frauchiger, who gives our duplicator a home (and it’s not everyone who would tolerate a large and messy object like that around the place) and rolls off the stencils each month; and to Trudi Pulfer, who so willingly helps with the job of collating and stapling hundreds of pages, so that you can read them in good order.

Thanks also to Jeremy Clynes, who keeps our mailing list trim and up-to-date; and to Raymond Lowe, who looks after our addressing machine and produces the hundreds of envelopes we need to each month.

Last — but certainly not least — thanks to Harry Lawrence, on whom newsletters, insertions and envelopes converge from all sides, and who then “stuffs” and stamps the envelopes, agonises over the posting of them and whether you will get yours in time, and even delivers some 30 or 40 by hand, thus saving the Society, over the year, a pretty penny.

It’s a good team, it works hard, and HADAS is truly grateful.
Sewer Vent Pipes

Our Industrial Archaeology organiser, Bill Firth, was asked about sewer vent pipes by a HADAS member at the Research Tea on 20 November. Unfortunately he has mislaid the name of the member. Would whoever was concerned kindly give him a ring?
Man before Metals

A report by Audrey Hooson.

Early man returned recently to the British Museum with the opening of “Man Before Metals,” a permanent exhibition replacing the old First Prehistory room.
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As well as familiar exhibits like the Folkton Drums (from a Bronze Age round barrow near Filey, Yorkshire) and finds from Grimes Graves, Star Carr and the Swiss Lake sites, there are many interesting new showcases. These include one on the development of stone tools, which starts with pebble chopping tools from Olduvai and ends with mesolithic tools from Farnham in Surrey. “Working in Flint,” with experimental flint work by a Dr Mark Newcomer, includes a fascinating “Core’s View” of the sequential removal of flakes to form a hand axe. “The Search for Rare Materials” shows good samples and artefacts of jadeite, rock crystal, amber and other material was traded by neolithic man.

The exhibition is spaciously arranged and the lighting is good. However, I felt that it could do with better labelling — for instance, the same grave goods from the Barnack Grave seen to be shown in two different places at once, without reference to one or the other (or both) being a copy. The gallery is certainly worth a visit — even for non-devotees of prehistory — to look at the Palaeolothic carvings; and you get a wonderful aerial view of the Hinton St. Mary fourth century Roman pavement below, thrown in for good measure.
Diploma Exam Papers

Many HADAS members are making their way steadily through the four years of the London University External Diploma in Archaeology. They may like to know that copies of recent examination papers in each of the four years or kindly donated to the Society by John Cundy before he left England a few months ago to live in Australia. The papers, which are launched in the book box, or are:

1st Year: Archaeology of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Man: 1969-1972 inc.

2nd Year: Archaeology of Western Asia: 1969-1971 inc & 1973.

3rd Year: Prehistoric Europe: 1969-1974 inc (duplicates of 1970-71).

Final Year: (2 papers for each option each year):

(a) Egyptology 1969-1971 inc.

(b) Roman Britain 1968-70 inc.

(c) Prehistoric Britain 1969-1974 inc (duplicates of 1969-71).

If exams are looming ahead in May, how about borrowing some of these from our Hon. librarian, George Ingram?
Additions to the Bookbox

(References on left are to categories and numbers on the Hon. Librarian’s master list)
Rom. Brit 149 Fishbourne – the Roman Palace and its History
Arch. Foreign F.27 Middle America – Archaeological Map
F.28 Greek & Roman Life – guide to exhibition at British Museum, 1908
F.29 Soc for Libyan Studies, Annual Reports 1969-1975.
F.30 Iranian Art and Archaeology – Vth International Congress

Newsletter

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HADAS now has 400 members — a landmark in the history of any society, and one which we passed a few weeks ago. The Newsletter sends Christmas greetings to each and every one of that happy 400, and a wishes them a rewarding, fortunate and prosperous 1978.
Last Word on Hatfield

… is that the times for joining the respective coaches will be as follows:
COACH A COACH B COACH C COACH D
The Quadrant, Classic Cinema, Refectory, Royal Oak,
Hendon NW4 Colindale Golders Green Temple Fortune
7.00 p.m. 7.00 p.m. 7.00 p.m. 7.00 p.m.
Greenshield Smiths, Barnet, Victoria Park,
Showroom, opposite Ballards Lane
Edgware Road Salisbury Hotel
7.10-7.15 pm 7.20-7.30 pm 7.10-7.15 pm
Waitrose Stores,
Whetstone
7.25 pm

Note: times of second and third pick-ups must be approximate, as they depend upon the state of traffic. PLEASE BE PUNCTUAL AT YOUR PICK-UP POINT.

200 members will be coming to the Banquet: but Dorothy reckons she could fit in up to eight more people if anyone has a last-minute urge to join us.

Dress will be informal. Tickets will be distributed on the coaches, except for those travelling by car, who will received theirs in the post.

Happy banqueting!
Post Christmas Programme

There will be one change in arrangements for lectures after Christmas. Mr P.B. Barnes, who was to have spoken to us in January on South American Archaeology, has unexpectedly to go abroad early in the New Year. We have accordingly, with the kind co-operation of Brian Cook, swapped the January and February lectures.

Mr Cook, of the department of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British Museum, will therefore be talking to us on Tuesday 3 January on a subject dear to the heart of most archaeologists — “a Possession for ever: the Parthenon at Athens.” That title speaks for itself, and needs no introduction.

Lectures on Tuesdays at central library, The Burroughs, NW4. We start at 8.00p.m. with coffee; the lecture begins at 8.30. The remainder of the winter programme will be:
Feb. 7 1978 – Archaeology of Peru (or Mexico) – P. Barnes, MA
Mar. 7 1978 – Meaning and Purpose of English Wall Paintings – E. Clive Rouse, MBE, FSA
Apr. 4 1978 – Excavations in South West London – Scott McCracken

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Members may like to note in their new diaries that the annual general meeting will take place on Monday 15 May, 1978, at Central Library at 8.00p.m.
On Holiday with HADAS

“Speed Bonny boat like a bird on the wing, over the sea to — Orkney.”

Arrangements for one-week trip to Orkney on now all but finalised — the “but” being British rail’s inability to provide summer schedules and prices until next April.

We plan a 9.00p.m. start from Euston on Friday 7 July with sleeper, to arrive Inverness at 8.00 am on Saturday 8 July. An hour or two to stretch our legs and perhaps have breakfast, before leaving at 10.00a.m. for a meandering train ride along the coast and through the wild mountains of Northern Scotland to Thurso.

We board the St. Ola at Scrabster, where Daphne Lorimer will be awaiting us, for a two-hour trip over the Pentland Firth to Stromness. Daphne will point out the beautiful coastline of Hoy, with its spectacular rock stack, “The Old Man,” St. John’s Head, the second highest headland in Britain, Rackwick Bay, etc. A bus will meet us at the harbour and take us to our hostel for supper.

From then on we shall be in Daphne his hands. She is arranging the itinerary, as Orkney is her second home and there is nothing new she likes better than showing of its archaeological treasures and scenic beauties. She hopes to enlist, as necessary, the help of other guides, and to arrange some evening functions: lectures and possibly music.

Sites we hope to see include the famous Neolithic village at Skara Brae, chambered tombs, henges, brochs, Viking Settlements, fairy-tale Stuart castles, the Cathedral, museums and some of the more modern architectural achievements of the Orkneys. We shall be going to other islands, either by boat or across the wartime Churchill barriers. We also have an invitation from the Lorimers to visit them in their Orkney home, an old Scottish manse with lovely views over Scapa Flow. We will leave early Saturday 15 July, arriving Euston early Sunday morning, 16 July.

Accommodation will be in double and treble rooms, with a limited number of singles, in the newly built school hostel in Kirkwall which caters in term time for children coming in from smaller islands. The price, to include train fare, sleepers, or travel throughout our stay, and full board bracket (food on outward and return journeys excluded) will be about £98.50 (this costing includes the estimated rise in fares). If you wish to join this exhibition, please fill in the enclosed application form and send to Dorothy Newbury with a £10 per percent deposit by 18 January, 1978.
Important West Heath Find: A Hearth

Report by Daphne Lorimer.

Defeated at last by the weather, digging finished at West Heath on 5 November. During the season 96 members took part at one time or another; although the area excavated was smaller than last year, it was much richer in finds, indicating that we are probably moving towards the centre of the encampment area.
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The end of the season also saw a discovery, in Trench XM, of a hearth — the first major feature of the West Heath site. This appeared as a blackened area, about 1 m square, in the lower levels of the North-West quarter of the trench. The unburnt soil above contained many flakes and blades. The hearth was rich in charcoal and one sample has already yielded over 5 grams of pure carbon — quite enough for C14 dating, for which arrangements are being made. The section exposed at the side of the trench showed an area of reddened burnt soil at the bottom of the hearth.

The hearth was examined by Jane Fox, from Martin Aitkin’s Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art at Oxford. Samples are to be taken for thermoluminesence dating and magnetic density. Alastair Bartlett from the Department of the Environment examined the site with a magnetometer in an effort to locate other hearths; his results may help determine the area for excavation in the 1978 season.

The exposed hearth was vulnerable to weathering and vandalism, so it was felt that back filling on top of it might not provide sufficient protection for what may well prove to be a unique find and the only opportunity to obtain a positive date for the site. For this reason it was decided to lift the hearth. HADAS was fortunate in obtaining the advice and assistance of Paul Burford, a post-graduate student working in the conservation department of the Institute of Archaeology.

The area surrounding the hearth was gridded and the soil around it lifted and placed in numbered bags for subsequent examination. The hearth itself was then enclosed in a stout wooden frame of 2 inch timber provided by Dave King, and its surface covered with metal foil. Wooden battens were screwed into place at intervals over the top, and all the interstices within the frame were filled with polyurethene foam — proceedings reminiscent of spine-chilling episodes of science fiction!

The polyurethene was left for eighteen hours to harden. The hearth, in its frame, was then cut from the soil like a slice of cheese, a wire hawser being pulled through the base by a one and a quarter ton winch. Metal strips were inserted in the wake of a wire and were afterwards used by seven strong men and true (including the Director) to tip the encased hearth into a vertical position. It was then gently lowered onto its face onto metal rollers, which we used to run it up builders’ boards into a waiting truck supplied by Dave King.

The hearth is now safely ensconced in the Park Superintendent’s garage at Golders Hill Park, and its lower surface (now uppermost) has been covered with polythene in order to slow down the process of drying out. Before being cut from the earth, the magnetic North was marked on quick drying cement let into the polyurethene foam and, using a flat metal disc and a spirit level, a flat surface 6 in. in diameter was made on the cement for subsequent study of the magnetic declination.

The whole exercise provided an exciting finish to a rewarding season, and HADAS has reason to be grateful to many people who have given time and skill to enable the maximum amount of information to be wrung from this Mesolithic site. The discovery of a possible Mesolithic hearth is sufficiently rare to be of note, and we can now hope that positive dating of the site will be obtained.
Parish Registers of Hendon St. Mary’s

In Newsletter 79 we mentioned that the Borough Libraries Department had asked the GLC for microfilm copies of the parish registers of St. Mary’s to be lodged in the Local History Collection at Central Library for the use of research workers. We are happy to report that microphone copies of the earlier registers are now also launched, as follows:
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ROLL 1. Register of Baptisms 1653-1743
Marriages 1654-1743
Burials 1653-1678
Baptisms 1743-1812
Marriages 1744-1762
ROLL 2 Register of Marriages 1754-1781
Burials 1678-1785
Burials 1786-1812
ROLL 3 Register of Burials 1813-1838

Copies of the later registers (baptisms from 1812-1946, marriages from 1781-1949 and burials from 1838-1953) have not yet reached our library. We have asked the Borough Librarian (whose help in this matter has been greatly appreciated by HADAS) if he will kindly make arrangements for microfilm of later registers to be made, to complete the record; we hope that this may be done in the reasonably near future.
Welcome to 66 New Members

— who have joined HADAS since July. It is good news that almost a quarter of them are under 18, and we particularly welcome our largest family so far: Dad-plus-five, who joined in September! Our new members are:

Phyllis Altman, Hampstead; Marion Babbington, Hendon; Charles Bacon, HGS; R.J. Ballheimer, Golders Green; Ann Barrett and Julian, Colindale; Marion Berry, HGS; Christopher Bradshaw, NW1; Lynn Bright, Temple Fortune; Martin Butcher, N. Finchley; Mrs. & Miss Canniford, Edgware; Simon Coleman, Stanmore; Harold Cover, E. Barnet; Mrs. Craddock, HGS; A.H. Creighton and John, Mill Hill; James Docherty, HGS; Patricia Edwards, S. Norwood; Vania Ermolly, Edgware; Barry Feinberg & Nicholas & Daniel, Temple Fortune; Dr. E.B. Finch, Golders Green; Beth Gevell, Kenton; A.H. Gordon, Hendon; Peter Goulde, Edgware; Francis Grew, Finchley; Miss Gwyther, HGS; Maxine Hamilton, Highgate; Eileen Haworth, Willesden; Dr. Betty Jacobs, HGS; Mrs. Jampel, HGS; Shirley Korn, Maida Vale; Mary Lawson-Tancred, Kensington; John Lloyd, HGS; Miss B. McClane, New Barnet; Barbara McTeare, Finchley; Peter & Miss Marsh, Mill Hill; Dr. & Mrs. Michaels, Stanmore; Mr. Moriarty, HGS; Helena Nash, HGS; Laurie Neill, NW6; Lesley O’Connell, Kingsbury; Cordelia Pendse, Hendon; Kaye Perryman, Mill Hill; Stephen Petrie, E. Finchley; Helen Pickering, N. Finchley; A.J.W. Reeve, Mill Hill; Derrick Smith, Childs Hill; Miss T.R. Smith, Ealing; Sally Spiller, HGS; Taqui Stephens, WC2; Robert Stephenson & family, Hampstead; Diana Tallon, Muswell Hill; Sandra & Susan Unerman, Mill Hill; S.G. Waite, Essex; Gerty Webber, Golders Green.
Tea and Research – HADAS-Style

November saw two highly successful processing weekends at Hampstead Garden Suburb Teahouse, when much backroom work was done on finds from the digs at West Heath, Church Terrace and Burroughs Gardens.

The last weekend culminated in the Research Tea on 20 November, when 8 members who are engaged in particular research projects “cried their wares” and sought to enlist volunteers for their pet projects. Even if at times the Teahouse seemed a bit like Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, the tubs were thumped to good effect. HADAS members turned up in force and a number of new volunteers came forward for research work.
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The Edgware project (a study of the Edgware area in depth, requiring a both field workers and documentary researchers), the Dissenters Burial Ground project in Totteridge (where the field work has already been done but more documentary work is needed) and the Friern Barnet churchyard recording (not due to begin until after Christmas) all reported steady recruitment of new helpers.

One project — the parish boundary survey — even acquired a new organiser. Paddy Musgrove, who has nursed this project from outset, has long wished to hand over its administration, although he intends to continue his own work on the Finchley part of it; at the Teahouse he enlisted a new HADAS member, Peter Griffiths — a welcome addition to the ranks of active researchers — as organiser.

The leaders all the projects announced themselves as satisfied with the way the afternoon had gone; and everyone was more than satisfied with Christine Arnott excellent tea: it’s surprising what a major a little research can put on your appetite!

Only sad note in the afternoon was the absence of George Ingram, who had intended to tell us about his work on nonconformist church records in the Borough. He fell at home the night before, and was laid low with a possible cracked rib. We missed him very much, and wish him a speedy recovery.

In case you didn’t get to the Teahouse and would like to help with their win to work, these are the projects on tap, with the names of those in charge of them. Please ring or write and volunteer: you will be very welcome:
Edgware project – Sheila Woodward
Dissenters Burial Ground – Daphne Lorimer
Friern Barnet churchyard recording – Ann Trewick
Hendon St. Mary’s churchyard recording – Ted Sammes
Industrial Archaeology – Bill Firth
Farm Building Survey – Nigel Harvey
Parish Boundary Survey – Peter Griffiths
Resistivity Metering – Raymond Lowe
New Courses Coming Up

Members may like to be reminded of the one-term course in Classical Archaeology starting at the Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute on Monday 9 January, 8.00-9.30p.m.. There are still places available on it. The lecturer will be Dr. Malcolm Colledge, who last year provided HADAS with such a graphic picture of Pompeii. Both subject and lecturer was suggested by the Society, so we hope that the course will be well supported by members.

Also interest will be the ten Thursday lectures on Recent Research in European Prehistory, starting at the Institute of Archaeology on 12 January at 7.00p.m. — season ticket £3.50, individual lectures 40p payable at the door. Five lecturers have so far accepted: R. Roddon, on Balkan Neolithic (19 January); Ian Kinnes, North European Neolithic (26 January); Tony Legge, Prehistoric European Agriculture (9 February); R. Harrison, Cross-channel EBA Contacts (16 February); Prof. Megaw, Iron Age Art (16 March). The University hopes that the opening lecture will be on the Mesolithic.

Finally, news of a HADAS walk: Bill Firth, our Industrial Archaeology organiser, will lead a walk around the perimeter of the Midland Railway’s Brent Yard on Sunday 15 January. Meet at Cricklewood Station at 10.30a.m. All members of HADAS welcome.
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Silchester

A review of Dr. Michael Fullford’s November lecture, by Helen Gordon.

Silchester is of particular interest because, of all towns in the Roman Empire, it is second only to Pompeii in the completeness of its excavation; secondly, because this has revealed in some detail the Romanisation of a native British agricultural community; and thirdly, because of its connection with the fascinating Quisling, King Cogidubnus, and his ill-gained Fishbourne Palace; or, to put it differently, the forward-looking Client-King, who early recognised the advantages of Pax Romana. The effect of Roman civilisation is cynically described thus by Tacitus:

“… to accustom (the people) to a life of peace and quiet by the provision of amenities… that instead of loathing the Latin language they became eager to speak it effectively… the population was gradually led into the demoralising temptation of arcades, baths and sumptuous banquets. The unsuspecting Britons spoke of such novelties as “civilisation, “when in fact they were feature only of their enslavement.”

Silchester’s history illustrates this Romanisation; Cogidubnus most probably spent considerable time in exile in Rome before he became king.

Dr. Fulford’s lecture brought up to date the account of the excavations, originally started in the 1860s by the Rev. James Joyce and continued by many others since. Unfortunately much dating evidence was lost because of the earliness of the first investigations. Dr. Fulford’s recent work examined the south and south-east gates and a small area of the forum, to determine the extent of plough damage (there was none). His excellent slides illustrated the town with its series of fortifications, forum, basilica, baths, inn, Christian church, etc.

Originally an iron age oppidum lay on the site. The first town defence, the inner earthwork, based on the reign of Cogidubnus, and since its east and west entrances are lined on the strategic Roman road from London to the west, it must have been built after the conquest. It was flattened about 50 AD, but a second outer defence, encompassing 95 hectares, had to be built at the time of the Boudiccan rebellion. The dwellings enclosed in this were largely scattered agricultural units. The forum and baths were built at this time, and when a proper Roman Street Grid was laid down, probably after Cogidunus’ death, these buildings had to be adapted to the new plan.

In the late second century stone walls were erected, probably as a safety measure when Clodius Albinus withdrew troopers in AD 196/7. This tremendous work required some 45,000 wagon loads of Cotswold limestone and 105,000 loads of flint. An earth fortification had earlier been constructed, and Dr Fulford’s work on the south gate showed that free-standing stone gateways had been erected prior to the earthwork. Of particular interest was the south east gate, commonly described as a sluicegate. Dr Fulford believes the “sluicegate” timbers to be those of the bridge.

Silchester was last occupied in the fifth century, and now little remains but the walls. However, aerial photography indicates that many areas previously thought empty contained dwellings which still remain to be excavated.

Newsletter

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Recent Research at West Heath

Last month HADAS held its first symposium, in order to provide a progress report for members on the results and implications, so far, of the West Heath dig. Below HELEN O’BRIEN describes the proceedings:

The West Heath Symposium took place at the Bigwood House, Hampstead Garden Suburb, on 15 October, shared by the Director of the dig, Desmond Collins. He warned us that, although progress reports on the last two years’ excavations were about to be given, any conclusions, especially regarding the 1977 material, must be provisional.

He showed slides of both the Pond and Spring sites (the former dug in 1976 and 1977, the latter trial-trenched in 1976 and dug this year). At the Spring site a large area had been exposed by a Hymac mechanical digger, in order to obtain the longest possible sequence of environmental samples. Only two worked flakes and the core were recovered from this site: not true evidence of occupation.

Comparing the successive digs at the Pond site, Mr Collins said that the number of tools found in 1977 was as high as in 1976, but was concentrated in a rich area of half the size, on the east of the site.

HADAS member Alec Jeakins then described his discovery of the Pond site in 1973, and showed the exact spot where the first worked flint was found.
Evidence of Pollen

Richard Hubbard (Institute of Archaeology) next reported on the pollen spectrum from the Pond site. He explained the difficulty of recovering pollen from soil, as compared with doing so from the well-stratified peat deposits of the Spring site. He stressed that although the present acidic podsol at West Heath is entirely free of earthworms, there had been disturbance by worm action in the past. Partly for these reasons he described the analysis of 27 samples taken at 2 cm intervals from modern ground surface downwards as “disappointing and not of vast antiquity” — probably dating from the Bronze and Iron Ages. The pollen indicates an open landscape with 20% grasses and a slightly higher percentage of heather, from which acidic root secretion has formed the present podsol. Birch, lime and alder were also represented.

Maureen Girling (Department of Environment) then reported on her work at the Spring site, and on that of her colleague, James Greig (Birmingham University). Samples had been taken at 5 cm intervals to a depth of 130 cm. She explained the difficulties of dating these until James Greig’s pollen analysis established the zone of elm decline. It was then possible to attribute material below this level to the Mesolithic. Miss Girling described last year’s investigations — now published in Nature — which have established the Neolithic-to-Iron Age environments at West Heath. The combined pollen and entomological evidence for the Mesolithic deposits show “a mature forest, compact but not close, dominated by deciduous trees – lime, oak but also some pine and holly.” There were few grasses, but marshy areas occurred which probably provided water for Mesolithic man.
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Dr Joyce Roberts, botanist and keen HADAS bigger, next spoke of the environmental evidence, which is recovered today from the pond site trenches. Because of the acid soil, organic decay is rapid; only charcoal survives over a long period, other finds are relatively modern. Entomological material includes root galls of the Cynipid Wasp and clay “pots” of the hairy solitary bee.

One of the provisions laid down, at the request of various environmental groups, when HADAS was given permission to dig out West Heath was that the Society should provide surveys of modern insect and botanical life on the Heath. As a part of this work, Raymond Lowe showed a number of beautiful slides which he has taken of butterflies. The symposium adjourned after this for a delicious tea, organised by Dorothy Newbury, Betty Clinch and Irene Frauchiger.
Possible Postholes

The conference resumed with Brigid Grafton Green’s description of recording possible postholes. These usually appear as pale circles 5-10 cm across, at about 15 cm below modern ground surface. 56 appeared during the first season, but only 33 were considered worth casting — the remainder were probably due to root or animal action. There seem to be two areas of concentration, distinct from the areas where burnt material is found. A point has now been reached in this year’s dig where possible postholes are again beginning to appear.

Myfanwy Stewart then outlined her investigation of burnt material. By experiment and consultation with the Fire Research Council she and Alec Gouldsmith have been able to determine the visible effects of heat on stone and flint in the kind of open fire which could have been used by Mesolithic man: at 250-300°C the material reddens, at about 500°C it becomes calcined. Five stages of burning may be recognised. Charts showing the concentrations of 1976 burnt material have been compiled.

Describing the typology of West Heath, Desmond Collins said it most closely resembled the Maglemosian material from Broxbourne, dated by C14 dating to the first quarter of the Mesolithic — 8000-7500 BC. Summarising the tool types recovered over both seasons he said the highest percentage were of oblique and dorsal backed points. Geometric forms, characteristic of the later Mesolithic, were minimal.

Loretta Gevell and Margaret Maher showed that serious research can go hand-in-hand with a light-hearted approach. They presented the results of their work on cores — including study of the quality of the material, methods of working, number of striking platforms, etc — with wit and humour, concluding with the intriguing suggestion that it may be possible to determine areas of good and poor quality knapping from the variable appearance of their cores.

An account by Daphne Lorimer followed of her investigations into flint wear patterns. Recent work by Lawrence Keeley and Mark Newcomer has shown it is possible to relate wear patterns to use when flint is examined microscopically. Following preliminary experiments by HADAS members on cutting meat, vegetable, bone, etc, Mrs. Lorimer has continued to experiment by shaping birch and pinewood — such as may have been used in the West Heath postholes. Photographs of the flint were taken before and after use, and it is hoped that for the work will establish a reference framework for wear patterns.

Sheila Woodward then explained the significance at a Mesolithic site of “manuports,” the travelling range of prehistoric man. Unfortunately, despite promising material, she was advised by the Geological Museum that all the 1976 “manuports” were pebble gravels and local to the Heath. Fragmentary ochre is also appearing in the trenches and although this is known to originate in the nearby stream, it may prove of some significance in the final interpretation.
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Christine Arnott gave an account of studies at the British Museum by a group of HADAS members, peering West Heath material without from Broxbourne and High Beech. Broxbourne is closer to typologically and also has evidence of fires and calcined flint. High Beech, discovered by Hazeldine Warren in 1913, has never been published. Unlike West Heath, this assemblage includes an axe and fabricators.

Barrie Martin then briefly described the equipment and methods of surveying used at West Heath; and Dave King rounded things off with an exposition, on slide, on the theme of site-hut simplicity. He showed us his easy-to-erect “executive” hut, where processing is done, and the “bivouac” for keeping equipment dry — two invaluable additions which he has made this year to HADAS’s equipment.

In conclusion Desmond Collins spoke of future plans: possibly two further seasons’ digging within the fenced area. As total excavation is currently fashionable, however, investigations beyond the pale could continue into the 1980s!
Looking Ahead

Tues, Nov. 1. HADAS lecture at Central Library, The Burroughs, nw4 at 8 pm. Dr. Michael Fulford on Roman Silchester.

Sat. Nov. 5. Please note that the surveying session for this date will not now take place as Barrie Martin cannot make it. The session will be re-arranged later, and members will be informed of the new date.

Weekends of Nov. 11/12 and 18/19. processing at the Teahouse, North Way, Hampstead Garden suburb, from 10.00a.m.-5.00p.m. each day. All volunteers welcome. In addition, on Sunday 19 November, between 2.00 and 4.30p.m. this winter’s research projects will be discussed fully with all who wish to take part. And there will be a good tea!

Wed. Dec. 7. ELIZABETHAN BANQUET AT HATFIELD HOUSE. Will members who have booked for this event please remit the balance of £6.80 per person by 15 November at latest, as payment has to be made by the Society three weeks in advance?

It is most important that you feeling your chosen departure point on the form attached to this Newsletter and return it as soon as possible. There are ten places left if any member still wishes to book.

DURING NOVEMBER on Wednesdays and at the weekends of November 5/6, 26/7 — if weather permits. Members can check the position about digging with either Daphne Lorimer or Brigid
Conference Of Local Historians

This annual conference, sponsored by the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society, will be held this year for the first time at the Museum of London on Saturday 19 November. Doors open at 1.30 and the conference begins at 2.30.
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Colin Sorensen, Keeper of the Museum’s Modern Department, will describe the problems of creating his part of the new Museum; after tea the Conference will discuss Oral History and tape-recording. Various local societies, including HADAS will mount exhibitions.

Tickets (£0.80 including tea) are obtainable from the LAMAS Local History Committee.
Additions to the Bookbox

(References on left are to categories and numbers on the Hon. Librarian’s master list)

Anthrop 4 Ramapithecus (rep from Scientific American May 1977 Elwyn L. Simmons
5 Archaeology of Early man. J.M. Coles & E.S. Higgs
6 Fossil man Frank E. Poirier
7 Evolution of man J. Jelinek
Arch.Gen. 16 Pleisticene Geology & Biology R.G. West
19 Old Stone Age Frances Bordes
21 Palaeolithic Cave Art Peter Ucko & Andree Rosenfeld
171 Background to Archaeology —
Britain in its European setting Desmond Collins
172 Penguin Dictionary of Archaeology Richard Bray & David Trump
Rom. Brit. 146 Vindolanda Robin Birley
147 Roman Folkestone S.E. Wimbolt
148 Excavations – The Chessalls, Kingscote, Glos
Misc. 151 Evolution of the peasant house in 17th. C.
(JBAA, vol XXXIII 1970) J.T. Smith
152 Lost Roads of Wessex C. Cochrane
153 “The Engineer” – highlights of 120 Years

The above have been presented by various members, to whom HADAS is most grateful: John Enderby, Peter Fauvel-Clinh, Brigid Grafton Green, Betty Low (for Jini Ring), Miss A.H. Ningo and Brian Wibberley.
Final Word from the Hon. Treasurer

Members’ subscriptions for the current year became due on 1 April.

Each November the Hon. Secretary and I go through the members list and removed from it the names of those whose subscription is in arrears. We assume that those who have not paid after eight months probably do not wish to continue as members but have forgotten to notify me of the fact.

This means that if your subscription is not up-to-date you will not receive any further Newsletters. If you want to continue as a member, please send me your subscription:

full member – £2.00; under-18 – £1.00; over-60 – £1.00; family membership, first member – £2, others £1 each.

Jeremy Clynes.
Fund Raising

The latest HADAS of fund-raising effort, organised by Christine Arnott, took place on 22 October: a book sale, that the HGS Teahouse, Northway, NW11.

It was successful from all points of view: a pleasant occasion both for buyers and sellers, and financially rewarding, adding £180 odd to the HADAS Kitty. This is urgently needed for the purchase of next major piece of equipment, a”Dumpy”-type surveying level — an expensive item. It will also help towards continually increasing bill for publication.
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Hendonian Inventor

By Bill Firth.

The entry in the dictionary of national biography (vol LIII, 1898)) opens with these bare bones of information about a Hendon personality of the last century, Sir Francis Pettit Smith:

“Born Hythe (Kent) 9 December 1808, son of Charles Smith, postmaster, of Hythe and Sarah, daughter of Francis Pettit of Hythe. Educated at private school in Ashford, Kent. Began life as a grazing farmer on Romney Marsh, later moving to Hendon (Middlesex).”

In boyhood Francis Pettit Smith was skilled in model boat-making and ingenious in contriving methods of propulsion for them. In 1835 he developed a model, propelled by a screw activated by a Spring, which was so successful that he became convinced of the superiority of screw propulsion over the paddle wheel.

Unaware of proposals of others or of contemporary work of the Swede, John Ericcson, Smith abandoned farming and in 1836 built a superior model which he demonstrated first two friends “on a pond in Hendon” (other evidence suggests that this was done on his own farm pond). Later he demonstrated it publicly at the Adelaide Gallery in London. A patent was taken out in 31 May, 1836 and in November that year a 10-ton boat with wooden screw of two turns was demonstrated. An accident to the propeller led to the use of a shortened screw, and in 1837 a single screw was fitted. In October, 1839 the 237 ton Archimedes, built by John Rennie, the first screw-propelled ship, achieved a speed of 10 knots, when the Admiralty would have been satisfied with 5 knots.

Smith acted as advisor to the Admiralty until 1850 but was poorly remunerated. When his patent expired in 1856 (an extension had been granted) he retired to farm in Guernsey. Despite a £200 pension in 1855, and a National Testimonial in 1857 which gave him a service of plate and £3,000, lack of money compelled him to accept the post of curator of the Patent Office at South Kensington.

Knighted in 1871, he died at South Kensington on 12 December, 1874. He was an associate of the Institute of Civil Engineers, a member of the Institute of Naval Architects and a member of the Royal Society of Arts of Scotland. He had been married twice — first to Ann, daughter of William Buck of Folkestone, in 1830, and they had two sons; and then, in 1866, to Susannah, daughter of John Wallis of Bexley, Kent.

Bibliography:

On the Introduction and Progress of the Screw Propeller, 1856 (biographical notices of Smith published in various journals in 1855).

Origin and Progress of the Steam Navigation, B. WoodCroft, 1848 (appeared later as a paper inTrans.Soc.Arts, 1852). WoodCroft (1803-1879) was Clerk to Commissioners of Patents.

Treatise On the screw Propeller, Bourne.

Smile’s Industrial Biography — Men of the Reign.

Obituaries, Illustrated London News and the Times Sunday 17th February, 1874.

If any member of HADAS has further information about Sir Francis or his descendants, Bill Firth would be delighted to hear of it.
Start of the New Lecture Season

A report by Nell Penny.

Perhaps some of the 120 HADAS members as the first meeting of the 1977-78 season were as uninformed as I was about the early history of the church in Iona. Vague legends floated in my mind — St. Patrick rowing of from Wales to Ireland; St. Columba at rowing from Ireland to Iona; and the dramatic scene as the court of Northumbria where the Roman Church triumphed over the Celtic missionaries. Dr Richard Reece gave me facts, not legend, in his racy, informal yet very informative talk. He set Iona in its geographical and meteorological frame.
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His early slides were of a mound where a stone cross-socket and a broken wall were adequate data for postulating a monastic village consisting of a wooden church and wooden huts. Was this where Columba first lived, in a 563?

Dr Reece took us to an area below the mound where he believes there was a flourishing community of 300 until 800 AD. There are broken crosses and documentary evidence to support his thesis. He was prepared to argue that to the Book of Kells, a magnificent manuscript found that Kells, in Ireland, was in fact written in Iona, the centre of the Celtic church. The most spectacular evidence was the excavation of a clay mould stamped with an interlacing pattern repeated on the crosses and in the manuscript. The flowing lines and the variety of Celtic decoration made me wonder what splendidly different mediaeval churches there might have been if Iona had vanquished Rome.

We were shown an interesting slide of a soil profile in the area below the foundations of the twelfth century Benedictine monastery. Disturbed soil at these lower levels was capped by a layer of burnt soil. Dr Reece thought this proof of a hiatus of more than three centuries between the two communities.

Dr Reece is versed in rescue archaeology, but he must have found it trying to be involved in three rush digs because of the indecision of the site owner about building a new guest house. One dig revealed an apparently random collection of postholes. Diagrammatic plotting suggests these outline a semi-circular building.

As usual the midden produced a great deal of evidence about the monks’ diet — beef and venison (prime cuts, too!) and some lamb and pork. Barley probably made their daily bread.

Visitors to Iona today see the 20th century restoration of the Medieval Church and the lines of the monastic buildings. For us Dr Reece opened a window through which we could see a bustling, vigorous Celtic community Flourishing in the Dark Ages of Western Europe.
News from Other Societies

From Camden. Enclosed with this Newsletter is an order form and list of Camden History Society publications. Camden’s latest booklet — Camden History Review No. 5 — has also just been published and still costs only £0.75 (plus postage). It can be ordered on the same form.

We commend their adventurous publishing programme to you and hope you will give it every support.

From Enfield. Enfield Archaeological Society will be showing, from now until the end of December, at Forty Hall, Enfield, an exhibition of finds from their Roman site at Lincoln Road. Open from 10.00a.m.-6.00p.m. each day except Mondays.

The Historical Association NW London Branch extends a cordial invitation to HADAS members to their lectures, held monthly at 8.00p.m. at Westfield College, Kidderpore Avenue, NW3, and particularly to the talk by Professor H.R. Loyn on Thursday, 9 March next on the Sutton Hoo ship burial.

Newsletter

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As will be seen from this issue of the Newsletter, the Society is humming with activities this autumn. Help and support is needed for a variety of projects from fund-raising to finds-processing. Whatever your interests, your talent, flair and enthusiasm is required and a Research Tea on Sunday afternoon, 20 November has been specially arranged to enable members to find out about the various current projects (full details elsewhere in this Newsletter).
Lectures at Hendon Library

4 October: don’t forget the first lecture of the season by Dr Richard Reece, who will be talking about “The history and Archaeology of Iona.”

1 November: “Silchester — the Investigation of a Roman town”. Silchester, built by the Romans, and overlapping the capital of the Atrebates tribe, can be called “the town that died”. It was extensively excavated between 1890-1909, but no buildings are visible today. The town walls are in the care of the D.O.E., and Dr Mike Fulford, of Reading University, who will be our speaker, has recently been engaged in the excavation of the West Gate of the town, undertaken as part of a plan to stabilise the walls.
West Heath Symposium Saturday, 15th October – 2-6 pm.

The symposium will take place at Bigwood House, Bigwood Road, Hampstead Garden Suburb, NW11.

The excavation of the West Heath Mesolithic site has involved a lot of work by many members and it is hoped that as many members as possible will come and hear about it on 15 October.

Desmond Collins will chair the meeting and will outline the stages of the excavation; Maureen Girling and, it is hoped, James Greig, will describe the exciting environmental evidence; members will expatiate on such subjects as postholes, burnt flint, problems of surveying, site hut erection, the solitary hairy bee and many more topics! The finds will be on show and Peter Favel-Clinch’s superb slides will make it all come alive.

Do come! It is YOUR dig and YOUR Society and it has already aroused a great deal of interest. (There is, moreover a lavish tea, price 25p!) Space is limited, so applied AT ONCE to Dorothy Newbury for your ticket.

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Boundary Survey

An appeal by Paddy Musgrove.

When HADAS embarked on a survey of the boundaries of the ancient parishes now included in the modern Borough of Barnet, it was obvious that it would be a long-term project. Since the publication of a comprehensive progress report in the January, 1976 Newsletter, further work has been carried out, notably along the Finchley — Friern Barnet boundary. Progress, however, has been slow, partly because of a shortage of volunteers to search out boundary stones on the ground, but largely through lack of adequate organisation to co-ordinate the work of individuals and institute effective central record-keeping.

Year by year these boundary stones or disappearing. As the old boundaries are no longer of administrative importance, we can expect the tempo of destruction to increase. With the growth in membership of HADAS, there must be one or more members who would be able to take on the very important, but not unduly demanding, role of co-ordinator.

No specialist archaeological knowledge is involved. A system of work and record keeping has already been evolved and this can be quickly explained to anyone taking on the function of co-ordinator. Although it is vital work, it can be done in one’s own home and at one’s own pace. CAN YOU VOLUNTEER? If so, please contact Brigid Grafton Green.
St. James the Great, Friern Barnet

Ann Trewick as arranged to show the details and some of the finds from the excavation at an Art and Crafts Exhibition organised by parishioners to help raise funds for the new church hall. Pop in and see them at 23, Ravensdale Avenue, Finchley, N12 between 2.00p.m. and 5.00p.m. on Saturday 22 October. A small entrance fee will be charged.
WHAT DID YOU DO FOR THE JUBILEE?

HADAS undercover agent, Joanna Wade, currently working at the Museum of London before going up to Cambridge, tells us that the Museum is busy collecting material for the historians of the future and would like to receive any accounts, in prose or poetry, recalling what you, your family, your street or your firm did to celebrate the Jubilee. Please write to the Museum of London, London Wall, EC2Y 5HN.
The Medieval Banquet

140 members will be coming to the Christmas revelry at the Old Palace, Hatfield on 7 December, but there is still room for more. Contact Dorothy Newbury if you would like to come.
Over the Sea to ?

Plans are afoot for a 7-day trip to Orkney in July, 1978 in place of our autumn weekend. If the arrangements prove successful, further details will be announced in the New Year.
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SUBSCRIPTION REMINDER

The Treasurer does not want to waste 124 stamps writing to the members who have not yet paid their subscriptions! A reminder to those defaulting members:
Full membership – £2.00
Under-18 – £1.00
Over-60 – £1.00
Family Membership: – first member – £2
– additional members £1 each

Send to Jeremy Clynes.
FUND-RAISING ** BOOK-SALE ** FUND-RAISING

Book sale: Saturday 22 October, 10.00a.m. to 12 noon at the Teahouse, Northway, NW11. Entrance fee: £0.15 including coffee and biscuits.

(Underground to Golders Green — from there, minibus to Central Square.)

DONATIONS — books, paperbacks or magazines — required, but please be sure to deliver them BEFORE THE DAY OF THE SALE, to enable them to be sorted and priced.

CONTACT — any of the following as soon as possible:

Daphne Lorimer, Brigid Grafton Green or Helen Gordon.

Any member who would like to use books left unsold for their own charity or has any queries, please contact Christine Arnott before 22 October.
Ideas for Christmas Presents

Enclosed with this Newsletter is the latest list of HADAS publications, any (or your) of which would make ideal Christmas presents. The full range of Shire Publications are also available and may be ordered, even if not listed, on the order form provided.
West Heath Plans

Digging will continue at West Heath until the trenches are finished or the weather breaks. It will not be possible to dig on dates on which other HADAS activities have been arranged (i.e. Saturday 15 October — symposium; Saturday 22 October — book sale). Digging will, however, take place on Saturday 29 October at the same time as the surveying course. If in doubt, telephone Daphne Lorimer or Brigid Grafton Green.
Surveying Course

Saturday 29 October and 5 November, 10.00a.m.-12.00p.m.

Surveying courses will be held at West Heath where HADAS Hon. Member, Barrie Martin, will give a refresher course to last year’s surveying team and at the same time undertake a fresh survey of the site. He will also initiate a few new members into the arts of surveying. Numbers must, of necessity, be limited so please contact Daphne Lorimer if you wish to come along.
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Processing at the Teahouse

This autumn two further HADAS processing weekends will take place at the Teahouse, Northway, Hampstead Garden Suburb, on November 12/13 and November 19/20, from 10.00a.m.-5.00p.m. each day.

All members are cordially invited to come along and help. Several activities are planned, so they should be something for all tastes.

Finds from West Heath (where this season, although shorter than that of 1976, is providing even more material) will be studied; there will be further work on clay tobacco pipes, pottery and glass from the Church Terrace and Burroughs Gardens sites; and it is hoped also to do some documentary work on the Society’s maps and index of findspots and sites in the Borough of Barnet; and on the tombstone index which we have been compiling, as a long-term a project, for Hendon St. Mary’s churchyard.
Research Tea

Not an investigation into how many spoonfuls go into a pot but an afternoon on which members can learn about the many projects which HADAS undertakes in the winter months. From to 2.30 to 4.30 p.m. on Saturday 20 November at the Teahouse, Northway, NW11 members who are in charge of projects will be there to talk about them and to show the results so far. New volunteers are needed for all projects, so do come along and see how you can help. This will be a real opportunity for members who have joined in the last year or so to find out what research is going on.

Current projects include:

PARISH BOUNDARY SURVEY (as mentioned elsewhere in this Newsletter, volunteers are needed both on the administrative side and for field work). Paddy Musgrove will tell you all about it.

EDGWARE. A study of the district both from documentary sources and in the field. Sheila Woodward has been ploughing a lone furrow for the last year or so (helped, of course, by some HADAS field-walking) and she would be glad of some help.

ST. JAMES THE GREAT, FRIERN BARNET. The Rector, Canon Norman Gilmore (who is an Hon. member of HADAS), has kindly agreed that the Society should record of the tombstones in this historic churchyard. The project — a long-term one which may take several years to complete — will start later this year. And Trewick is in charge.

HISTORY OF NONCONFORMIST CHURCHES IN THE BOROUGH. George Ingram has been steadily amassing information, including — where they exist — copies of Church guides. He could have, however, do with some help, because there are a fair number of churches and some of them are disappearing unreported.

DISSENTERS BURIAL GROUND, TOTTERIDGE. Here HADAS Friars already recorded and photographed the graves, but researchers are needed to dig out, from libraries and other sources, information about their families or individuals who were buried there. The co-ordinator is Daphne Lorimer.

RESISTIVITY SURVEY. Raymond Lowe is directing operations for the Society and will explain what is involved.
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Fresh Fields

By special correspondent: Daphne Lorimer.

Autumn is here and with the season of mists comes the HADAS weekend. On Friday, 23 September, an intrepid band of 52 under the expert leadership of Dorothy Newbury, sallied forth for three days exploration of Bristol, the Mendips and the land of the Silures.

On arrival, Dr Peter Fowler showed members the Mendips — the key to hose Archaeology lies in its geological formation. This ranges from the Somerset levels (5 ft below sea level) through the Carboniferous limestone region to the Highland scenery of the Old Red Sandstone of Blackdown (1,000 O.D.). Only in the last 50 years has the relationship between the sea level and the land been stabilised by the building of a sea wall. Previously, most of the valley was waterlogged and boats are reputed to have come up river as far as Cadbury Congressbury.

For two and a half gruelling miles, members charged over hill and dale; they scaled the heights of Dolbury Hill Fort, walked round the 20 ft. high ramparts and peered through the mist at the distant hill forts of Banwell, Brean Down, Worbury and Breedon Hill; they saw Romano-British field systems, learnt of the relationships between Roman Villa estates, ecclesiastical parishes and Saxon charters. They peered down Read’s cavern — a fascinating hole formed by surface water erosion where the carboniferous limestone meets the Old Red Sandstone. The cave had been in occupation as late as the nineteenth century (a very desirable residence!) Members then scaled a near-vertical slope by judicious pushing and pulling and the thought that the coach was near at hand. Passing Aveline’s Hole (late Palaeolothic) and on to Wookey Hole, where those who braved the catwalks of the new cavernous were richly rewarded.

Charterhouse lead mines gave a fascinating glimpse into Roman, mediaeval and nineteenth-century mineral workings. (Thereafter members were knowledge of the spotting gruffies and bell pits from the coach windows). A complete Roman Town lies frozen beneath the fields at Charterhouse, since no soil must be disturbed by farmer or archaeologist for fear of lead polluting the water supply.

Friday ended with a privilege visit to Bristol Museum, opened specially for HADAS by the curator, Mr Michael Ponsford, who showed members behind the scenes and unveiled a mummy for their delectation.

On Saturday Mr Peter Price led the expedition over the Severn Bridge to South Wales. The Oppidum of Venta Silurium at Caerwent was probably built on the foundation of a Roman Fort and presents the most complete section of a Roman walled town to be seen in Britain. Memorable features include the South Wall, Bowed to accommodate an existing building; the abutting bastions which could never have withstood the recall of a ballista; the varying workmanship of the different sections of herringbone masonry; rows of shops and the Romano-Celtic Temple with unusual bastions at each corner.

Isca, the Roman legionary fortress at Caerleon, was built in 75 AD to replace a fortress in Ust. It is the perfect example of precise Roman military planning — so much so, that the straight lines of the barrack buildings, kitchens, latrines, parade ground and amphitheatre almost echoed with ministry bustle. The Museum, however, provided in the human touch in the pathetically poorly carved memorial tablets — the loving tributes from wives and children of dead soldiers.

Raglan Castle, built in 1431, was the next port of call. Here members admired the double portcullis counterbalanced to provide an “airlock” type of entry; the huge fireplace in the great hall with its bifurcating flue passing on either side of the magnificent window above; the patterned octagonal floor in the great tower and the huge pitched or cobbled courtyard.
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At Tintern HADAS members were privileged to see not only the magnificent Abbey but also the new excavation of the Medieval Gate House area, directed by Mr Paul Courtney who had just finished excavations at the Roman Bath House seen at Caerleon. On to Chepstow with its superb castle towering above the Wye and then back to Bristol where the day ended with the walk over the Clifton suspension bridge — not illuminated as the lights had fused!

On Sunday, the morning was spent exploring Bristol on foot, guided by Mr. Ponsford. He traced the area of the old castle and the Medieval town it dominated. He explained the growth of the port and its importance as a trading centre, when the King called upon the men of Redcliffe and Temple to help cut the new channel for the River Frome (1240-1247). Members saw the last of the nine great gates into the old town; the great brass nails on which payment was made by merchants and finally, Mr Ponsfod showed the party the complicated excavations he is currently conducting as the site of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.

Sunday finished with a visit to the SS Great Britain, designed by Brunel and built between 1839 and 1843 — the first ship to be iron built and screw propelled. The great ship is gradually being restored to her former glory and it many members resolved (D.V) to make a pilgrimage to see the results 20 years hence.

This is but an idiosyncratic impression of a few of the highlights of a happy weekend and it only remains to add that the company was congenial, the food good and the organisation, as always, superb. HADAS tours has done it again!
It’s a small world

At Church Farm House Museum until 23 October, there is an excellent exhibition of model and toy soldiers, by members of the British Model Soldier Society. No exhibit is larger than 90 mm and the quality of painting is superb. For ingenuity, imagination and sheer skill in model-making, be sure to see the “Groups of the British Army in the Desert 1942” by John Sanders. All perfect historically and with the most incredible detail. Well worth a visit.
Finally – Dates to Remember

4 October: lecture at Hendon Library

15 October: West Heath Symposium at Bigwood House, NW11

22 October: at the Teahouse, Northway, NW11

29 October: surveying course at West Heath site

1 November: lecture at Hendon Library

5 November: surveying course at West Heath site

12/13 November: processing weekend at the Teahouse

19/20 November: processing weekend at the Teahouse

20 November: research tea at the Teahouse

7 December: Christmas banquet at Hatfield Old Palace

Newsletter

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The Winter Lecture Season

By Dorothy Newbury.

Lecture time will soon be with us again, and for those who can’t find their programme cards, we repeat the details.
Oct. 4 1977 – Archaeology and History of Iona – Dr. Richard Reece, BSc, PhD, FSA
Nov. 1 1977 – Silchester – the Investigation of a Roman Town – Dr. Michael Fulford, BA, PhD
WED Dec. 7 1977 – Elizabethan Banquet, Old Palace, Hatfield — see page 2
Jan. 3 1978 – Archaeology of Peru (or Mexico) – P. Barnes, MA
Feb. 7 1978 – A Possession for ever – the Parthenon at Athens – B. F. Cook, MA, FSA
Mar. 7 1978 – Meaning and Purpose of English Wall Paintings – E. Clive Rouse, MBE, FSA
Apr. 4 1978 – Excavations in South West London – Scott McCracken

With our increased membership it is difficult to provide a programme that caters for all tastes – not to mention every period – but we have tried to make the scope of our lectures as wide and as varied as possible.

Lectures will as usual take place on the first Tuesday of each month at Central Library, The Burroughs, NW4 (near the Town Hall). Buses 83 and 143 pass the door; Nos. 240, 125, 183 and 113 are within ten minutes walk, as is Hendon Central Underground station. There are two free car parks nearly opposite the library.

The lecture room upstairs opens at 8.00 pm, when coffee and biscuits will be available at 10p, and there will be an opportunity to meet each other and chat, and particularly to greet new members (old members please note!) Our Hon. Librarian, George Ingram, will be there to arrange loans from the Book box, and our publications will be on sale. Lectures start about 8.30 and, if time permits, are followed by questions. The Library building closes at 10 pm sharp.

Members are welcome to bring a guest, but guests who wish to attend more than one lecture should be asked to join the Society.
The First Lecture

Dr. Reece, who will be giving our opening talk, is on the staff of the Institute of Archaeology. His lecture promises to be a lively one, as anyone who has read g=his article “Ideas in Archaeology,” in the current issue of London Archaeologist” will agree.

His subject is Iona, an island in the Inner Hebrides granted to St. Columba in 563 for the foundation of a monastery. It was the base from which the Celtic Church converted Northern Britain to Christianity.
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More HADAS dates for your Diary

Oct. 15. SYMPOSIUM for HADAS members on the West Heath dig, with various speakers, at Bigwood House, Bigwood Road, Hampstead Garden Suburb (behind the Institute). 2-6 pm. Tickets buy post from Dorothy Newbury, or available at the first lecture. No entrance fee, but a first-class tea(with HADAS made cakes) will be provided at 30p per head.

Oct. 22. BOOKSALE at the Teahouse, Northway, Hampstead Garden Suburb, 10-12 noon. Entrance, including coffee and biscuits, 15p. Donations of books, including paperbacks, will be very welcome. Please stockpile them now, and await further details about their disposal in the October Newsletter.

Nov. 12/13, 19/20. PROCESSING AND RESEARCH SESSIONS, two weekends, at the Teahouse, 10 am – 5 pm daily. Further details next month.
Dec 7. CHRISTMAS EVENT: DINNER AT HATFIELD

The Society’s 1977 Christmas celebration will befit this Jubilee year: it will be an Elizabethan banquet (with Elizabethan entertainment) at the Old Palace, Hatfield House, where the first Queen Elizabeth waited quietly in the wings for her return to ascend the throne of England.

Hatfield was an ecclesiastical manor belonging to the Bishop of Ely from Medieval times. The Old Palace was built in 1497 for Cardinal Morton (of “Morton’s Fork” fame), then Bishop of Ely and later Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1538 the manor passed from Ely to the Crown. The Bishop’s Palace became a Royal Palace and the nursery of Henry VIII’s children. Mary, Elizabeth and Edward, all of whom were to rule England, all spent part of their childhood there.

We shall dine in the authentic Tudor Great Hall, already a century old when nearby Hatfield House was built by Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury and Prime Minister in turn to Elizabeth I and James I. An application form for the dinner is enclosed. Please return it to Dorothy Newbury as soon as possible.
JUBILATION

.. is the title of a Jubilee exhibition of Royal commemorative pottery at the Bethnall Green Museum of Childhood – but only till Sept 4.

On show are 260 pieces, starting with Delft ware of the reign of Charles II and ending with pieces produced for George V’s Jubilee. These are from the extensive collection of James Blewitt, who in the last 15 years has amassed over 5000 pieces. There is an interesting catalogue and visitors get an added bonus by seeing the displays of toys, Punch and Judy and toy theatres, whilst upstairs are costumes, furniture and Japanese armour. The Museum is only three minutes walk from Bethnal Green tube station.

Have you bought your copy of the Society’s latest booklet, Victorian Jubilee? It deals with the events that took place during the two Victorian celebrations in the then rural areas of today’s Borough of Barnet. Price 65p post free from Jeremy Clynes.
Tracing your Ancestors

How many of us have fleetingly thought that it would be interesting to follow up our ancestral tree – with the vague notion that we would have to consult the parish records of the place where our parents were born, but knowing little more? David Ireland’s “Your Family Tree,” one of the Shire Publications “Discovering” booklets, tells you how to set about the job methodically, where to look, how to use tracings already made and how to record your findings so that they are readily available when needed. It lists numerous sources of information – secular as well as church records, apprenticeship indentures, tithe and enclosure records and many others.
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This booklet (available form Jeremy Clynes, 60p post free) is an excellent first step on the ancestral trail. You may (perish the thought!) find you have singularly uninteresting ancestors – but you will still manage to catch a fascinating glimpse of social history. Once started, indeed, you may find yourself hooked! It would be interesting to hear from HADAS members who have already traced their family tree. What did they find on the way?

Parish Registers

Recently the Parish Registers of Hendon St, Mary’s, formerly kept in the Parish Chest, have been lodged by the Vicar in the Record Office of the Greater London Council (Middlesex Section, Queen Anne’s Gate Buildings, Dartmouth Street, SW1), where they have been copied onto microfilm. They consist of:

Baptisms – Oct.1653-Aug. 1946

Marriages – Mar. 1654-Sept. 1949

Burials – Oct. 1653 – June 1953.

The Libraries department of the London Borough of Barnet has applied to the GLC for microfilm copies, fro the Borough’s Local History Collection.

It may be of some help to HADAS researchers to know the whereabouts of other local parish registers: (* dates give the total span within which the three registers fall.)

AT QUEEN ANNE’S GATE BUILDINGS:

St. Mary-at Finchley (registers from 1558-1958*)

St. Margarets, Edgware (1717-1867)

St. James the Great, Friern Barnet (1674-1968)

South Mimms (1558-1906)

Monken Hadley (1619-1956)

AT COUNTY RECORD OFFICE, HERTFORD:

St. John the Baptist, Chipping Barnet (1560-1692)

St. Andrews, Totteridge (1546-1947).

A helpful research tool, “Original Parish Registers” published 1974 by Local Population Studies, provides much of the above information. It lists original registers to be found in Record Offices and small libraries in England and Wales, and costs £2.25 from Tawney House, Matlock, Derbyshire. If the registers of a parish are not mentioned in this booklet they probably either (a) remain with the incumbent (as do, for instance, the registers of St. Mary the Virgin, East Barnet, where the Rector is the Rev. H. Steed); (b) they may have suffered some accident – destruction by fire, water or rats being the most likely; or (c) occasional volumes may drift into the possession of great libraries such as the Bodleian or the British Museum.

The August Outing: A Trip Full of Superlatives

Report by Lucile Armstrong.

The sky was persistently grey as our HADAS coach nosed its way through the lovely town of Marlborough, with its enchanting old houses, and on past Wiltshire landscape and rolling hills. We caught a glimpse of “The Sanctuary” (from which a stone avenue leads to Avebury Ring) and parked the coach on the Roman road, almost at the foot of Silbury Hill. From here we trudged up to West Kennet long barrow – built c. 3650 BC – from which an extensive view of the surrounding “treasures of Neolithic Britain” could be admired: Windmill Hill, The Sanctuary, Silbury Hill and innumerable barrows dotted along the ridgeway against the sky. West Kennet barrow (said to have contained 45 skeletons) is the largest in England; from its summit our guide, Dr. Eric Grant, explained its history and that of the Avebury complex seen from the crest of the barrow. This part of Wiltshire is remarkable for its obvious importance to Neolithic man. The Icknield Way – the route for a prosperous flint trade – passes here. Some flints may have come from Grimes Graves.
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Silbury Hill is the largest man-made mound in Europe. It is estimated to have taken 700 men ten years to construct. Material was quarried from around it and this enabled the erection of what is virtually a step pyramid – not unlike that of Mycerinus in Egypt, also built in the 3rd millenium BC. In Silbury’s construction 12 and 1/2 million cubic feet of stone and soil were used. It is believed to have represented the Earth Mother (se Michael Dames’ book “The Treasure of Silbury Hill”, London, 1975).

There was no time to climb Silbury Hill, so we rushed on to Avebury, visited the museum – it contains many finds from the neighbourhood – and then the Great Ring, which afforded us time for lunch and a breather among the stupendous stones erected “in the time before metal was known.” The Great Ring is protected by a ditch 20 feet deep (how did they excavate it using red deer antlers alone?) then an outer rampart 50 feet high. Within the ring are two smaller ones – from an aerial photograph these look like two eyes. A few stones, which have withstood the erosion of time and the depredations of man, still indicate the Avenue to the Sanctuary.

Dazed at the cyclopean work accomplished by Neolithic man in dragging these enormous sarsens across from the neighbouring hills and erecting them, so that they still stand five thousand years later, we made for Swindon and the Great Western Railway museum, with its colossal steam engines. The railway employees’ village was also visited; it is undergoing a most imaginative face-lift, and looked very attractive.

After that an enormous and delicious tea awaited us at McIlroys before our journey home. Much thanks are due to Mrs Newbury for organising such a wonderful outing, and to our guide Dr. Grant. We all felt sad that (except, of course, for Bristol), this was the final outing of the season.
Legal Literary Luminary

By Daphne Lorimer.

Thomas Jarman lived in one part of our Borough – Hadley – and was buried in another – Totteridge – where he lies with his two sisters and a nephew in the Dissenters Graveyard. To the casual passer-by he is a forgotten name on a forgotten tombstone; but to the legal world he is no “village Hampden,” but “one of those pioneers of legal literature” whose works are still in use today. “Jarman on Wills” is as standard a work for the lawyer as Gibbon’s “Decline and Fall” is for the classical historian.

Thomas Jarman was born in 1800, son of Francis Jarman, Gentleman, of Bath. He certainly had two sisters, Anne (b. 1795) and Rebecca (b. 1802) and one brother. He first became a clerk in the office of his uncle, a Bristol solicitor, but in 1821 he moved to London and entered the Middle Temple. He was called to the Bar in 1826 and became one of the Conveyancing Counsel to the Court of Chancery, an office he held until his death in 1860.
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His literary work began at once. He edited the third edition of J.J. Powell’s “An Essay on Devizes,” published in 2 volumes in 1827, writing the whole second volume himself. In the same year he continued the work of W.M. Blythwood, compiling volumes 4-10 of “A Selection of Precendents forming a System of Conveyancing.” In 1844 he published “A Treatise on Wills;” previously, in 1835, he and W. Hayes had together written “A concise form of Wills with Practical Notes” which reached 9 editions by 1883.

He died a relatively poor man, and his law practice was never large. He had not had the advantage of pupilage in the chambers of a fashionable conveyancer and, as far as his Bristol connections were concerned, he himself ruefully admitted that “a prophet is not without honour save in his own country.” His professional reputation grew from his legal writings and was, in consequence, slow in coming. His genius (and inclination) lay not in the practice of law, but in “collating, methodising and elucidating a scattered medley of cases.” His labours were directed, as he once said, to helping “other men into their carriages at the rate of the day-labourer’s wages.” While others grew rich on the results of his work, he would often reject a temptingly endorsed brief in favour of research, once remarking that “were I a solicitor, I would not lay papers before a man deeply engaged in bookmaking, for then his client has only half a counsel.” Possibly in an effort to increases income, Jarman speculated unwisely on the money market. This, plus his recurring ill-health, may be why he had so often to change his chambers.

Jarman’s writing and practice were interrupted by three major illnesses. He had, however, the tenacity of purpose; much of his editorial work was accomplished despite physical disabilities. He was first afflicted with a serious eye condition which lasted many months. During this time he and an ailing fellow conveyancer indulged in rural wanderings (their only library being the 4th canto of “Childe Harold” and Arthelet’s “Shepherd’s Touchstone”). His second major ailment left him lame; his third and most serious illness in 1855 left him further paralysed.

The nature of these later illnesses is not specified but may have involved high blood pressure since he possessed a fanatical desire for fresh air and low temperatures. He was seen in his chambers in the Temple on a bitterly cold day in March, upright before his standing desk in his shirt sleeves, with all the windows open. He had not fire, saying that he benefited from the stove of a less hardy worker below. Again, a neighbour at Hadley, where his devoted sisters kept house for him, records finding him, one Christmas, working at a crude desk under a tree in a bleak field, cattle all round and snowflakes falling steadily on his manuscripts.

Thomas Jarman gave generously, if indiscriminately, to many charities. He was entirely free from avarice or rapacity and cheerfully gave his services free to indigent clients. A prominent member of the Totteridge Lane Chapel, he was wont to describe himself as a “Dissenter and an old Whig.” He was a republican at heart and an admirer of all things American but although a great law codifier, he was no law reformer.His friends, who were many and from all walks of life, regarded him as a man of large, inquiring and candid mind.

He died on Feb. 26, 1860, at Hadley Green, from erysipelys of the face and head – an illness which today is not considered fatal – one of “those rare men of whom the truth, the whole truth might be safely as well as instructively told.”
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The HADAS Bookbox

Members who ordered them have now received copies of the first list of contents of the Bookbox. Since the Box is constantly growing, there are already additions. We shall in future print occasional supplementaries to keep the original list up to date. Here is the first: references on the left (e.g. Misc 139) are to categories and numbers in the original list:
Misc. 139 The Lake Villages of Somerset Arthur Bulleid
Arch. 144 Report on Excavations at Brockley Hill, Middx, 1951 Trans. LAMAS 1953
Rom. Brit. 145 A Kiln of the potter Doinus Arch. J. vol 129
Brit. Hist. 79 Reconstructed Map of London under Richard II Marjorie Honeybourne
Local Hist 164 Medieval Camden Deidre le Faye
165 Streets of West Hampstead ed. Christopher Wade
166 Camden History Review No. 2 Camden History Soc.
167 Camden History Review No. 3 Camden History Soc.
168 Camden History Review No. 3 Camden History Soc.
169 Hampstead Garden Suburb 1907-1977 Brigid Grafton Green
Forthcoming Events

York Archaeological Weekend, Nov. 25-27, on the Norman Conquest of Yorkshire, particularly the violent events of 1068-9. Conference fee £8.00 (non-residential). Applications to Director of Special Courses, Dept. Adult Education, Leeds University, who will also supply on request a list of possible accommodation in York.

British Mesolithic, with particular reference to the Midlans: residential school at Knuston Hall, Irchester, Wellingborough, Northamts, Jan. 14/15 1978. Fee £12 (full residential). Applications (sae) to the Principal. Tutors: Mrs W, Tutin (The Environment of Britain, 10000-4000 BC): Paul Mellars (Chronological and Cultural Structure and Economic and Social Aspects of the British Mesolithic); A. Saville (Mesolithic in Midlands and Mesolithic Implement Types); Clive Bonsall (A case-study: the Mesolithic in West Cumbria).
Bristol Weekend, Sept. 23-25.

The coach for Bristol is full, with a very small waiting list. If anyone is still keen to go, please ring Dorothy Newbury. She will be glad to add names to the waiting list in case of further late cancellations.

Here is a short reading list for the Bristol area, suggested by Mr. M.W. Ponsford, Field Archaeologist to Bristol University, who will conduct our Sunday walkabout in Bristol:

Steamship Great Britain, Garahm Farr, 20p

Prehistoric Bristol, Grinsell, 20p

Romans in the Bristol area, K. Branigan, 20p

Medieval Churches in Bristol, M.Q. Smith, 20p

Bristol Mint, K. Grinsell, 20p

Industrial Archaeology of Bristol, R.A. Buchanan, 15p

Bristol in the Early Middle Ages, David Walker, 25p.

In addition we suggest The Mendip Hills in Prehistoric and Roman times, by John Campbell, David Elkington, Peter Fowler, and Leslie Grinsell, 60p.

If you would like any of these pamphlets, please lead Dorothy Newbury know, and she will order them in bulk.

Newsletter

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CONGRATULATIONS and to those HADAS members who took examinations this summer (most of them either for some stage of the London University External Diploma in Archaeology or for the Certificate in Field Archaeology) and passed with flying colours. We haven’t yet heard from all who have been through the mill — but these are the results as far as we know them:

Helen Gordon (passed 3rd year Diploma)

Alec Gouldsmith (passed 1st year Diploma)

Marguerite Hughes (passed 1st year Diploma)

Dave King (passed 2nd year Diploma)

Merle Mindel (4th year Diploma, with Merit)

Liz Sagues (4th year Diploma, with Distinction)

Elizabeth Sanderson (passed 2nd year Diploma)
Autumn Courses

Still on academic matters, here is an alteration in the arrangements for one autumn course of which we gave advance news in the June Newsletter.

It forms the first year of the London University Certificate in Field Archaeology. There has been difficulty, however, in finding a lecturer. Now the college has arranged for Michael Pitts, BA, to take the course; but as he is busy on Wednesdays, the evening has been changed to Mondays, 7.30-9.30p.m. starting 19 September, the term will run to 12 December; the second term is from 9 January – 20 March.

The Certificate is an essentially practical 3-year course, and HADAS members who have already taken it have found it very useful. Barnet College is re-starting the Certificate (which has not been in their programme for the past two years) after urging from HADAS, so we hope that many members will support it. Those who do will study, in the first year, recognition and location of sites of all kinds and periods; various archaeological techniques ranging from field walking to resistivity; and the use of photographic and documentary evidence.

We would also again draw members’ attention to another course of which we gave advance details in June, called “Beginning Archaeology” at Hendon College of Further Education, Flower Lane, Mill Hill, on Tuesday evenings 7.30-9.30. This, too has been put into the college programme at HADAS’s suggestion. It is genuinely for beginners and it will be a positive advantage if you know very little about Archaeology — ideal, therefore, for recently-joined HADAS members who place themselves in the archaeological “Don’t Know” category.

Here are details of further courses on archaeological, historical or allied subjects which will start in the Borough of Barnet this coming autumn:
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Archaeology of London, Tues. 8-10 pm, South Friern Library, Colney Hatch Lane. Further details, Miss E.F.Pearce (WEA).

History of English Architecture from 1066, Mons. 8-10 pm, Queen Elizabeth School Barnet. Lecturer Frank Bradbeer. Details Mrs. S. Neville (WEA).

Roman London, Thurs. 8-10 pm, Golders Green Library, Mrs. Roxan. Details Mrs. L Hieger (WEA).

London Architecture, 1800-Today, Thurs. 10 am-12. 44 Rotherwick Road, NW11, Mrs. Smith. Details Mrs. Hieger (WEA).

Victoriana, Mons. 10.30 am – 12.30, Union Church, Mill Hill Broadway, Stephanie Dummler, details Mrs. Symons (WEA).

Earth and Its Resources (conservation), Weds. 8-10 pm. Burnt Oak Library, John Matthew. Details Mrs. Symons (WEA).

Antique Appreciation, 2 courses, Thurs. 1.30-3.30 pm, Tues. 7.30-9.30 pm, Hendon College, Flower Lane, NW7.

Physical and Ecological Basis of Conservation, Tues. 7.30-9.30 pm. Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute. D. Crouch.

English and Continental Ceramics, Renaissance-1900, Tues. 10.30 am-12.30, HGS Institute, Miss L.M.Knox.

Elizabethan and Stuart England, Fri. 10.30 am-12, Fellowship House, Willifield Way, NW11. Philippa Bernard.
HADAS on Display

Report by Jeremy Clynes.

During the last six weeks HADAS has staged at five successful exhibitions within the Borough of Barnet, each for a dual purpose — broadening public understanding of archaeology and selling our Jubilee booklet.

The first display at the Hampstead Garden Suburb June Flower Show was organised by Christine Arnott. It showed a selection of flints from West Heath and a general exhibit on “What you might be up in your garden.” The stands at Hendon St. Mary’s Junior School Fete (run by Ted Sammes), Woodhouse School Fete (Vincent Foster), Hendon St. Mary’s Parish Fete (Dorothy Newbury) and Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute week (Jeremy Clynes) showed a variety of material, including pottery from the Church End excavation.

All the exhibits aroused much interest; and 49 Jubilee booklets were sold. HADAS is greatly indebted to the various organisers and the members who helped them. Chances of putting on this kind of one-day-stand often crop up; if you would like to help with similar events in the future, please let our Hon. Secretary know.
Trading Stamps

Our earlier appeals for trading stamps have been highly successful. We have bought over £30 worth of equipment, including wheelbarrows, forks and spades. Now we would like to remind members again that donations of trading stamps will be most gratefully accepted. With them we would like to buy some of the more specialised tools which hitherto we have had to borrow, including:

pliers, ordinary and long-nose; wire-cutters; small hammer; small saw; screw drivers of varying sizes; Stanley trimmer; chisel; wooden mallet.

All this equipment is in fairly constant use on the West Heath dig; and although members (not to mention members’ husbands!) are extremely kind about lending it for long periods, we feel that the Society should as far as possible have its own tools.
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Anyone with trading stamps to spare during the next few months is asked to send them to the Hon. Treasurer.
From Prehistory to Steam

The HADAS August Outing.

For a rapid transition from the world of prehistoric man to that of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, join the HADAS excursion to Avebury and Swindon on 13 August (see accompanying itinerary and booking form). Visit the greatest prehistoric mound in Europe, the largest Neolithic tomb in a England, the widest stone circle in Britain — and then measure the structures and achievements against the magnificent iron and steam-age monuments built by the Great Western Railway People at Swindon.

Complete your form and send it, as soon as possible, to Dorothy Newbury. But if you were one of those who wanted to join the last outing but didn’t get further than the waiting list, please also ring Dorothy Newbury immediately you receive this Newsletter, and tell her that you want to reserve a place for the August trip.
In the Steps of the Crusaders

By JOANNA WADE, one of our younger members now waiting to go up to Cambridge. She has filled part of the interval between school and university travelling — and described here are some of the things she has seen.

From March to June this year I followed the approximate route of the Crusaders, culminating in a tour of Israel. Masada and Caesarea were just to other sites we visited.

I’ll never understand how the Romans managed to capture Masada. We got up at 3.00a.m. to begin the long climb to the summit, and even then it was hot; by 8.00 am. we were beginning to wilt. It is, however, the site itself, not the heat, that makes the fortress so impregnable — I suppose soldiers working in that climate, 1292 ft below sea level, the lowest place in the world, would get quite used in time to wearing their armour under the glaring sun.

As we wound our way up the Snake Path the neat squares of the eight Roman camps, joined by a surrounding wall, appeared on the plain below, hopelessly puny compared with the massive fortifications to be assaulted. In the distance was the Dead Sea and the hills beyond, over which the sun began to rise as we climbed. Eventually we reached the top and sat on the wall, staring out at the plain on one side and on the other the yellow hills and deep crevassed valleys folding away. It was remarkably still up there, in the vast empty water cistern around which a bird wheeled, and in the long storerooms, workshops, towers and bath house. Beleaguered on Masada, the Jewish rebels could only wait, watching the ever-growing height of the ramp was the Romans began to build in 73 AD on the less steep side of the mountain. From this incredible feat of engineering the Romans battered a breach in the wall and broke in — to find the entire garrison dead. To avoid enslavement, they had killed themselves.

Masada has a grandeur which inspires both nobility of purpose like that and beauty like Herod’s Northern Palace. As one enters the area of the palace, the whole atmosphere changes from the calm of desolation to the calm of peace. King Herod (40 BC-4 AD), fearing assassins, built himself a pleasure palace on three tiers down the side of the mountain, where in the perfect safety of his painted, collonaded a room he could lie looking out over the sea.
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Herod may have been dissolute, but he was also undoubtedly Great — as his other enterprise, the huge city of Caesarea, shows. Compared to Yadin’s work on Masada, Caesarea seems to have been less well excavated: part of the site is being used as a car park or is overgrown, the ground around the second Century Roman Amphitheatre is absolutely strewn with potsherds while the theatre itself is painfully over-restored. Nevertheless it must be exhilarating to sit in the theatre and looking out over the Mediterranean, for performances are still held there.

Some distance away two vast and headless figures sit beside the hippodrome which could hold 20,000 spectators. Much more is still tantalisingly covered by sand which blows everywhere, hiding but also preserving things such as the Emperor Hadrian’s other great feat, an aqueduct running all the way from Mount Carmel, in Haifa, to the city. Its top has now been revealed by and stretches along the white sand close to the sea; modern technology cannot compete with it, so that Caesarea has been left to the sands and the drought, and the town has moved inland.

Masada and Caesarea are among the most famous and impressive sites in Israel, and we set off intending to visit them, but what is so exciting about the country is the number and variety of sites one simply stumbles across, from Beit Shean’s Roman Theatre which is miraculously complete with brilliant acoustics, to the engagingly primitive mosaics of the sixth century synagogue of Beit-Alpha: I must hold myself back from even beginning to enthuse about the glories of Jerusalem and Jericho! The archaeology of Israel shows clearly the great waves of people who have trampled over this land — fascinating to study, but daunting when I realise the gaping holes in my knowledge. I hope to return when I am a bit wiser.
Lunch with Emily

A report on the HADAS July outing by John Hooson.

Three hours after leaving Hendon HADAS members were at Grimes Graves, a group of Neolithic Flint Mines covering an area about 34 acres 5 miles north of Thetford, Norfolk.

30 ft below ground, at the bottom of Pit 1, Mr Lord, the Department of Environment custodian, gave us a clear explanation of the pits and the ways in which it is thought they were worked. The attraction for the miners was a stratum of extremely high-grade flint lying up to 40 ft below the surface. Where it was nearer the surface, it could be worked on an open-cast basis, but the quality was inferior, due to the buckling of the strata by glacial action. To obtain the finest quality, it was necessary to sink pits and extract the flint from galleries radiating from the bottom of the pit. In all, 366 known pits have been identified, but Pit 1 alone is open for inspection.

Red deer antlers were used to remove the Flint. Many antler picks have been found in the pits and is estimated that 50,000 may have been used in all. The antlers are exceedingly strong and last year, during research on the site of by the British Museum, professional Dutch miners found that they could remove the flint with them almost as quickly as if they were using the modern steel picks. It is believed that this high quality flint was needed to make axes to clear forested areas. This appears to be supported at Grimes Graves from the results of pollen analysis.
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Waste material from a new pit was discarded into an exhausted pit; and examination of the infill shows that after mining ceased about 1500 BC, later Bronze and Iron Age people occupied the site.

Before we left, Mr Lord demonstrated flint knapping and pressure flaking, presenting HADAS with a “Neolithic” axe-head he had expertly made during the fifteen minutes we were watching. His small daughter sat on the ground at his feet and the pressure-flaked one of the waste flakes. The pair presented a picture which might have been the prototype of a Neolithic family and work! (Mr Lord’s axe-head has now been carefully and indelibly marked — lest by some missed chance it should be mislaid, and a future archaeologist leap upon it with glad cries and enshrine it falsely and for ever on the distribution map!)

A picnic lunch was taken at a nearby Emily’s Wood. At present its most outstanding feature is that the source of its name has defeated our indefatigable Hon. Secretary, Brigid Grafton Green, who had (otherwise) so excellently organised to the whole day’s arrangements.

We then travelled to West Stow, to the site of the Anglo-Saxon Village discovered nearly 30 years ago and excavated from 1965-72. Occupied up to the seventh century, it was untouched until the present time apart from mediaeval ploughing which ceased around 1300 when the site was inundated by about three feet of sand during a sand storm.

The Warden, Richard Darrah, explained that 3 pit houses (grubenhauser) had been reconstructed and work was progressing on a hall house. No Saxon houses have survived and the work is, of necessity, experimental, using the evidence of the pits and postholes together with the results of analysis of the charcoal remaining from two huts which had been destroyed by fire. Only contemporary style tools have been used. Local traditional styles have been applied in an endeavour to determine a true representation and the effect of weather conditions upon them are carefully noted. Perhaps the most interesting fact emerging is that the pits were in all probability floored over and not left open, as previously believed, for it has been found that when left uncovered the recognisable shape of the pit soon disappears, due to wear.

We were very fortunate to visit West Stow in its early stages and it should be interesting to follow its development during the coming years. The intention is that it will form part of a country park open to the public, but at present visits are by prior arrangement only.

At Bury St. Edmunds we were met by Mrs. Margaret Statham, chairman of the Bury Past and Present Society, who showed us first of the Abbey ruins. The Abbey was founded by Benedictine Monks in 1020 upon the Shrine of Edmund, who had been buried there in 869. Mrs. Statham explained at the Abbey Gate that relations between Abbey and townspeople were not always friendly, and the present gate replaces one built shortly after the original was destroyed by townsfolk in 1327. Following the Dissolution, the West front of the Abbey Church had dwellings built into it, so that the “ruins” now present an unusual appearance, being at the same time both the ruins and inhabited houses.

Next we went to the fifteenth century St. Mary’s Church, a magnificent building, light and airy, with a splendid Angel Roof to the nave and decorated roofs to the chancel and Baret’s Chantry, the latter recently restored by the Victoria and Albert Museum and set with twinkling pieces or mirror glass, like stars.

One would have been happy to linger in Bury for a day or two, seeing the town and visiting the Moyses Hall Museum, which contains many of the Anglo Saxon finds from West Stow. However, tea awaited us in a pleasant cottage garden at Great Sampford, where our charming hosts, HADAS members of Mr and Mrs. Bergman, had prepared for us most perfectly. Everyone was able to relax comfortably on the lawn, amid flowers and apple trees, while tea, sandwiches and strawberry scones appeared in an apparently unending procession. A perfect ending to our day.
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Biological Overtones at West Heath

Botanist and HADAS member Dr Joyce Roberts provides an unexpected slant on our current excavation.

Nothing at West Heath but sand and flints and burnt stones? Don’t you believe it! Mesolithic man may have been dead long since, but living denizens of the site are with us still — perhaps direct descendants of creatures who shared the Bagshot Sands with our “ancestors.” West Heath is a living place. When the diggers depart, the site is left to tree roots, insects and possibly bigger creatures, who don’t live in archaeological strata. They move up and down, mixing everything, and the tree roots go down and decay in situ.

The soil is very acid and heavily leached, so biological activity is at a minimum; but there is sufficient activity to decay all organic materials except charcoal. This, to the archaeologist, may be evidence for fires and hearths; to the biologist it will give clues to the plant material available and used as fuel, provided the fragments can be identified. Some of the West East charcoal has been identified as oak.

What has been found so far? Twice, objects thought to be archaeological turned out to be entomological. Brown, wrinkled, nut-like objects were discovered, well below the surface; these have been identified as a root galls of the Cynipid Wasp (Biorhiza pallida). Within each gall a wingless female develops which climbs the trunk of an oak tree and lays eggs in a bud. The oak responds by enclosing the developing lava in an oak-apple gall.

Tiny clay “pots” of the large hairy solitary bee (Anthophora acervorum) were found at the bottom of a pit. The female burrows down into soft soil, excavates a circular cavity and smooths it inside. In this she lays an egg, with some pollen and honey, and then seals it with the clay lid. She repeats this a number of times, making a group of nests. These objects are of no archaeological interest, unless they point to a possible sort of protein — grubs and larvae.

The pollen in the soil is being examined as an indicator of the vegetation of the past. At the lowest level there was oak, hazel, alder, birch, heather, grasses and various ferns including Polpody. Neither Hazel, alder, heather nor Polypody are to be found on or near the site now.

Knowledge of the usual habitat for these plants at the present time enables one to imagine the plant cover in the past. A picture is emerging or mixed oakwoods with birch and lime; in open clearings are hazel bushes and grasses, in damper hollows alder trees and undergrowth of various forms including Polypody — the latter now found only in damp woods of the western and northern parts of the British Isles. In the dry sandy areas denuded of trees there was heather and bracken. A happy time can be spent conjecturing the reasons for the denuded areas or even wondering if Mesolithic man would have recognised the above as a description of “home.”

NOTE TO ALL DIGGERS. No West Heath dig during August. Digging re-starts on 3 September, will continue all the month on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Comments

Volume 2 : 1975 – 1979‎ > ‎
newsletter-078-august-1977
Newsletter
Page 1

CONGRATULATIONS and to those HADAS members who took examinations this summer (most of them either for some stage of the London University External Diploma in Archaeology or for the Certificate in Field Archaeology) and passed with flying colours. We haven’t yet heard from all who have been through the mill — but these are the results as far as we know them:

Helen Gordon (passed 3rd year Diploma)

Alec Gouldsmith (passed 1st year Diploma)

Marguerite Hughes (passed 1st year Diploma)

Dave King (passed 2nd year Diploma)

Merle Mindel (4th year Diploma, with Merit)

Liz Sagues (4th year Diploma, with Distinction)

Elizabeth Sanderson (passed 2nd year Diploma)
Autumn Courses

Still on academic matters, here is an alteration in the arrangements for one autumn course of which we gave advance news in the June Newsletter.

It forms the first year of the London University Certificate in Field Archaeology. There has been difficulty, however, in finding a lecturer. Now the college has arranged for Michael Pitts, BA, to take the course; but as he is busy on Wednesdays, the evening has been changed to Mondays, 7.30-9.30p.m. starting 19 September, the term will run to 12 December; the second term is from 9 January – 20 March.

The Certificate is an essentially practical 3-year course, and HADAS members who have already taken it have found it very useful. Barnet College is re-starting the Certificate (which has not been in their programme for the past two years) after urging from HADAS, so we hope that many members will support it. Those who do will study, in the first year, recognition and location of sites of all kinds and periods; various archaeological techniques ranging from field walking to resistivity; and the use of photographic and documentary evidence.

We would also again draw members’ attention to another course of which we gave advance details in June, called “Beginning Archaeology” at Hendon College of Further Education, Flower Lane, Mill Hill, on Tuesday evenings 7.30-9.30. This, too has been put into the college programme at HADAS’s suggestion. It is genuinely for beginners and it will be a positive advantage if you know very little about Archaeology — ideal, therefore, for recently-joined HADAS members who place themselves in the archaeological “Don’t Know” category.

Here are details of further courses on archaeological, historical or allied subjects which will start in the Borough of Barnet this coming autumn:
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Archaeology of London, Tues. 8-10 pm, South Friern Library, Colney Hatch Lane. Further details, Miss E.F.Pearce (WEA).

History of English Architecture from 1066, Mons. 8-10 pm, Queen Elizabeth School Barnet. Lecturer Frank Bradbeer. Details Mrs. S. Neville (WEA).

Roman London, Thurs. 8-10 pm, Golders Green Library, Mrs. Roxan. Details Mrs. L Hieger (WEA).

London Architecture, 1800-Today, Thurs. 10 am-12. 44 Rotherwick Road, NW11, Mrs. Smith. Details Mrs. Hieger (WEA).

Victoriana, Mons. 10.30 am – 12.30, Union Church, Mill Hill Broadway, Stephanie Dummler, details Mrs. Symons (WEA).

Earth and Its Resources (conservation), Weds. 8-10 pm. Burnt Oak Library, John Matthew. Details Mrs. Symons (WEA).

Antique Appreciation, 2 courses, Thurs. 1.30-3.30 pm, Tues. 7.30-9.30 pm, Hendon College, Flower Lane, NW7.

Physical and Ecological Basis of Conservation, Tues. 7.30-9.30 pm. Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute. D. Crouch.

English and Continental Ceramics, Renaissance-1900, Tues. 10.30 am-12.30, HGS Institute, Miss L.M.Knox.

Elizabethan and Stuart England, Fri. 10.30 am-12, Fellowship House, Willifield Way, NW11. Philippa Bernard.
HADAS on Display

Report by Jeremy Clynes.

During the last six weeks HADAS has staged at five successful exhibitions within the Borough of Barnet, each for a dual purpose — broadening public understanding of archaeology and selling our Jubilee booklet.

The first display at the Hampstead Garden Suburb June Flower Show was organised by Christine Arnott. It showed a selection of flints from West Heath and a general exhibit on “What you might be up in your garden.” The stands at Hendon St. Mary’s Junior School Fete (run by Ted Sammes), Woodhouse School Fete (Vincent Foster), Hendon St. Mary’s Parish Fete (Dorothy Newbury) and Hampstead Garden Suburb Institute week (Jeremy Clynes) showed a variety of material, including pottery from the Church End excavation.

All the exhibits aroused much interest; and 49 Jubilee booklets were sold. HADAS is greatly indebted to the various organisers and the members who helped them. Chances of putting on this kind of one-day-stand often crop up; if you would like to help with similar events in the future, please let our Hon. Secretary know.
Trading Stamps

Our earlier appeals for trading stamps have been highly successful. We have bought over £30 worth of equipment, including wheelbarrows, forks and spades. Now we would like to remind members again that donations of trading stamps will be most gratefully accepted. With them we would like to buy some of the more specialised tools which hitherto we have had to borrow, including:

pliers, ordinary and long-nose; wire-cutters; small hammer; small saw; screw drivers of varying sizes; Stanley trimmer; chisel; wooden mallet.

All this equipment is in fairly constant use on the West Heath dig; and although members (not to mention members’ husbands!) are extremely kind about lending it for long periods, we feel that the Society should as far as possible have its own tools.
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Anyone with trading stamps to spare during the next few months is asked to send them to the Hon. Treasurer.
From Prehistory to Steam

The HADAS August Outing.

For a rapid transition from the world of prehistoric man to that of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, join the HADAS excursion to Avebury and Swindon on 13 August (see accompanying itinerary and booking form). Visit the greatest prehistoric mound in Europe, the largest Neolithic tomb in a England, the widest stone circle in Britain — and then measure the structures and achievements against the magnificent iron and steam-age monuments built by the Great Western Railway People at Swindon.

Complete your form and send it, as soon as possible, to Dorothy Newbury. But if you were one of those who wanted to join the last outing but didn’t get further than the waiting list, please also ring Dorothy Newbury immediately you receive this Newsletter, and tell her that you want to reserve a place for the August trip.
In the Steps of the Crusaders

By JOANNA WADE, one of our younger members now waiting to go up to Cambridge. She has filled part of the interval between school and university travelling — and described here are some of the things she has seen.

From March to June this year I followed the approximate route of the Crusaders, culminating in a tour of Israel. Masada and Caesarea were just to other sites we visited.

I’ll never understand how the Romans managed to capture Masada. We got up at 3.00a.m. to begin the long climb to the summit, and even then it was hot; by 8.00 am. we were beginning to wilt. It is, however, the site itself, not the heat, that makes the fortress so impregnable — I suppose soldiers working in that climate, 1292 ft below sea level, the lowest place in the world, would get quite used in time to wearing their armour under the glaring sun.

As we wound our way up the Snake Path the neat squares of the eight Roman camps, joined by a surrounding wall, appeared on the plain below, hopelessly puny compared with the massive fortifications to be assaulted. In the distance was the Dead Sea and the hills beyond, over which the sun began to rise as we climbed. Eventually we reached the top and sat on the wall, staring out at the plain on one side and on the other the yellow hills and deep crevassed valleys folding away. It was remarkably still up there, in the vast empty water cistern around which a bird wheeled, and in the long storerooms, workshops, towers and bath house. Beleaguered on Masada, the Jewish rebels could only wait, watching the ever-growing height of the ramp was the Romans began to build in 73 AD on the less steep side of the mountain. From this incredible feat of engineering the Romans battered a breach in the wall and broke in — to find the entire garrison dead. To avoid enslavement, they had killed themselves.

Masada has a grandeur which inspires both nobility of purpose like that and beauty like Herod’s Northern Palace. As one enters the area of the palace, the whole atmosphere changes from the calm of desolation to the calm of peace. King Herod (40 BC-4 AD), fearing assassins, built himself a pleasure palace on three tiers down the side of the mountain, where in the perfect safety of his painted, collonaded a room he could lie looking out over the sea.
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Herod may have been dissolute, but he was also undoubtedly Great — as his other enterprise, the huge city of Caesarea, shows. Compared to Yadin’s work on Masada, Caesarea seems to have been less well excavated: part of the site is being used as a car park or is overgrown, the ground around the second Century Roman Amphitheatre is absolutely strewn with potsherds while the theatre itself is painfully over-restored. Nevertheless it must be exhilarating to sit in the theatre and looking out over the Mediterranean, for performances are still held there.

Some distance away two vast and headless figures sit beside the hippodrome which could hold 20,000 spectators. Much more is still tantalisingly covered by sand which blows everywhere, hiding but also preserving things such as the Emperor Hadrian’s other great feat, an aqueduct running all the way from Mount Carmel, in Haifa, to the city. Its top has now been revealed by and stretches along the white sand close to the sea; modern technology cannot compete with it, so that Caesarea has been left to the sands and the drought, and the town has moved inland.

Masada and Caesarea are among the most famous and impressive sites in Israel, and we set off intending to visit them, but what is so exciting about the country is the number and variety of sites one simply stumbles across, from Beit Shean’s Roman Theatre which is miraculously complete with brilliant acoustics, to the engagingly primitive mosaics of the sixth century synagogue of Beit-Alpha: I must hold myself back from even beginning to enthuse about the glories of Jerusalem and Jericho! The archaeology of Israel shows clearly the great waves of people who have trampled over this land — fascinating to study, but daunting when I realise the gaping holes in my knowledge. I hope to return when I am a bit wiser.
Lunch with Emily

A report on the HADAS July outing by John Hooson.

Three hours after leaving Hendon HADAS members were at Grimes Graves, a group of Neolithic Flint Mines covering an area about 34 acres 5 miles north of Thetford, Norfolk.

30 ft below ground, at the bottom of Pit 1, Mr Lord, the Department of Environment custodian, gave us a clear explanation of the pits and the ways in which it is thought they were worked. The attraction for the miners was a stratum of extremely high-grade flint lying up to 40 ft below the surface. Where it was nearer the surface, it could be worked on an open-cast basis, but the quality was inferior, due to the buckling of the strata by glacial action. To obtain the finest quality, it was necessary to sink pits and extract the flint from galleries radiating from the bottom of the pit. In all, 366 known pits have been identified, but Pit 1 alone is open for inspection.

Red deer antlers were used to remove the Flint. Many antler picks have been found in the pits and is estimated that 50,000 may have been used in all. The antlers are exceedingly strong and last year, during research on the site of by the British Museum, professional Dutch miners found that they could remove the flint with them almost as quickly as if they were using the modern steel picks. It is believed that this high quality flint was needed to make axes to clear forested areas. This appears to be supported at Grimes Graves from the results of pollen analysis.
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Waste material from a new pit was discarded into an exhausted pit; and examination of the infill shows that after mining ceased about 1500 BC, later Bronze and Iron Age people occupied the site.

Before we left, Mr Lord demonstrated flint knapping and pressure flaking, presenting HADAS with a “Neolithic” axe-head he had expertly made during the fifteen minutes we were watching. His small daughter sat on the ground at his feet and the pressure-flaked one of the waste flakes. The pair presented a picture which might have been the prototype of a Neolithic family and work! (Mr Lord’s axe-head has now been carefully and indelibly marked — lest by some missed chance it should be mislaid, and a future archaeologist leap upon it with glad cries and enshrine it falsely and for ever on the distribution map!)

A picnic lunch was taken at a nearby Emily’s Wood. At present its most outstanding feature is that the source of its name has defeated our indefatigable Hon. Secretary, Brigid Grafton Green, who had (otherwise) so excellently organised to the whole day’s arrangements.

We then travelled to West Stow, to the site of the Anglo-Saxon Village discovered nearly 30 years ago and excavated from 1965-72. Occupied up to the seventh century, it was untouched until the present time apart from mediaeval ploughing which ceased around 1300 when the site was inundated by about three feet of sand during a sand storm.

The Warden, Richard Darrah, explained that 3 pit houses (grubenhauser) had been reconstructed and work was progressing on a hall house. No Saxon houses have survived and the work is, of necessity, experimental, using the evidence of the pits and postholes together with the results of analysis of the charcoal remaining from two huts which had been destroyed by fire. Only contemporary style tools have been used. Local traditional styles have been applied in an endeavour to determine a true representation and the effect of weather conditions upon them are carefully noted. Perhaps the most interesting fact emerging is that the pits were in all probability floored over and not left open, as previously believed, for it has been found that when left uncovered the recognisable shape of the pit soon disappears, due to wear.

We were very fortunate to visit West Stow in its early stages and it should be interesting to follow its development during the coming years. The intention is that it will form part of a country park open to the public, but at present visits are by prior arrangement only.

At Bury St. Edmunds we were met by Mrs. Margaret Statham, chairman of the Bury Past and Present Society, who showed us first of the Abbey ruins. The Abbey was founded by Benedictine Monks in 1020 upon the Shrine of Edmund, who had been buried there in 869. Mrs. Statham explained at the Abbey Gate that relations between Abbey and townspeople were not always friendly, and the present gate replaces one built shortly after the original was destroyed by townsfolk in 1327. Following the Dissolution, the West front of the Abbey Church had dwellings built into it, so that the “ruins” now present an unusual appearance, being at the same time both the ruins and inhabited houses.

Next we went to the fifteenth century St. Mary’s Church, a magnificent building, light and airy, with a splendid Angel Roof to the nave and decorated roofs to the chancel and Baret’s Chantry, the latter recently restored by the Victoria and Albert Museum and set with twinkling pieces or mirror glass, like stars.

One would have been happy to linger in Bury for a day or two, seeing the town and visiting the Moyses Hall Museum, which contains many of the Anglo Saxon finds from West Stow. However, tea awaited us in a pleasant cottage garden at Great Sampford, where our charming hosts, HADAS members of Mr and Mrs. Bergman, had prepared for us most perfectly. Everyone was able to relax comfortably on the lawn, amid flowers and apple trees, while tea, sandwiches and strawberry scones appeared in an apparently unending procession. A perfect ending to our day.
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Biological Overtones at West Heath

Botanist and HADAS member Dr Joyce Roberts provides an unexpected slant on our current excavation.

Nothing at West Heath but sand and flints and burnt stones? Don’t you believe it! Mesolithic man may have been dead long since, but living denizens of the site are with us still — perhaps direct descendants of creatures who shared the Bagshot Sands with our “ancestors.” West Heath is a living place. When the diggers depart, the site is left to tree roots, insects and possibly bigger creatures, who don’t live in archaeological strata. They move up and down, mixing everything, and the tree roots go down and decay in situ.

The soil is very acid and heavily leached, so biological activity is at a minimum; but there is sufficient activity to decay all organic materials except charcoal. This, to the archaeologist, may be evidence for fires and hearths; to the biologist it will give clues to the plant material available and used as fuel, provided the fragments can be identified. Some of the West East charcoal has been identified as oak.

What has been found so far? Twice, objects thought to be archaeological turned out to be entomological. Brown, wrinkled, nut-like objects were discovered, well below the surface; these have been identified as a root galls of the Cynipid Wasp (Biorhiza pallida). Within each gall a wingless female develops which climbs the trunk of an oak tree and lays eggs in a bud. The oak responds by enclosing the developing lava in an oak-apple gall.

Tiny clay “pots” of the large hairy solitary bee (Anthophora acervorum) were found at the bottom of a pit. The female burrows down into soft soil, excavates a circular cavity and smooths it inside. In this she lays an egg, with some pollen and honey, and then seals it with the clay lid. She repeats this a number of times, making a group of nests. These objects are of no archaeological interest, unless they point to a possible sort of protein — grubs and larvae.

The pollen in the soil is being examined as an indicator of the vegetation of the past. At the lowest level there was oak, hazel, alder, birch, heather, grasses and various ferns including Polpody. Neither Hazel, alder, heather nor Polypody are to be found on or near the site now.

Knowledge of the usual habitat for these plants at the present time enables one to imagine the plant cover in the past. A picture is emerging or mixed oakwoods with birch and lime; in open clearings are hazel bushes and grasses, in damper hollows alder trees and undergrowth of various forms including Polypody — the latter now found only in damp woods of the western and northern parts of the British Isles. In the dry sandy areas denuded of trees there was heather and bracken. A happy time can be spent conjecturing the reasons for the denuded areas or even wondering if Mesolithic man would have recognised the above as a description of “home.”

NOTE TO ALL DIGGERS. No West Heath dig during August. Digging re-starts on 3 September, will continue all the month on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Newsletter

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West Heath in Training

By Daphne Lorimer.

HADAS celebrated the Queen’s Silver Jubilee as a working archaeological society might expect to — by digging. The second West Heath fortnight of 1977 — on the lower, or Leg of Mutton site — had started three days before, on 4 June. We did, however, mark the Queen’s anniversary with a special ceremony. Diggers downed trowels at 12.00p.m. on 7 June and cracked some bottles of Italian champagne, one of which had been awarded to the West Heath entry in the recent Rescue Archaeology competition.

Mr Peter Challon, Superintendent for the GLC of Golders Hill Park and West Heath, who has helped HADAS immensely in countless ways, joined us for the celebration. Together we toasted Her Majesty and sang (waveringly, and in several keys,) God Save the Queen. Then we returned to the trenches in a warm glow of patriotism and Asti Spumante.

Before the dig began our Hon. Surveyor, Barrie Martin, had fixed datum points on two trees at 100 m and 99 m above Ordnance Survey sea level. From these, three datum points (all at 99 m) were set up on the site for diggers to use in plotting the depths of their finds.

From June 6-18 HADAS, under the careful and invigorating direction of Desmond Collins, ran its first training excavation, recognised by London University as suitable required training for the external Diploma in Archaeology. The course was fully booked from an early date; ten students each week braved the rigours of the English summer with cheerful disregard, amid showers and ice northeast winds, for their personal comfort. They appeared to enjoy themselves considerably in so doing, and it was a very happy fortnight for HADAS members involved in their training.

Thanks to the kindness of HADAS member June Porges and her husband, a tent was made available for the comfort of the class during talks. On days when our experienced camper-members were absent, it provided a great source of hilarity during its erection. Had the weather been kinder, we understand that the whole perilous process would have been immortalised on cine-film.

Talks in the tent — and on the site — covered such subjects as flint recognition, what to look out for in the way of palaeobotanical evidence, the importance of burnt material (both charcoal and stone), postholes and how to recognise, excavate and cast them, section drawing, recording of finds in the trenches and follow-up processing after excavation. Students visited the upper site and were shown what work had been down there and told what results might be hoped for.

Mention of the tent leads me on to another structure which has made its appearance this year at the West Heath site. It, too, has made a great difference to the comfort of HADAS’s life at Hampstead. It is the brain-child of Dave King who, with ingenuity and considerable generosity both of time and materials, has equipped us with a handsome and completely collapsible site hut. Made of timber, corrugated perspex and plastic sheeting, it provides perfect conditions for find-processing (no more chasing little plastic bags around the site in a gale, as we had so often to do last year); held together by nuts and bolts, it can be erected and taken down in ten minutes once you get the hang of it.
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And this is not the end of Dave’s sterling work on the site. He has provided us with a second of sieve (with very beneficial effect on HADAS tempers); and has also perfected a new “bivouac” for the dry storage of equipment. Now that we are so well-equipped to withstand the rain, we fully expect the sun to start shining every day!

Ten new trenches have now been opened at West Heath, of which seven are arranged in the usual chequer board pattern to the northeast of the area we excavated last year. Two others continue the investigation of the area around the trees on the southern side of the site; and one trial trench has been opened by the south east fence.

The main area is proving a rich source of man-struck flints and, although it is early to draw conclusions, does appear to be producing a particularly large number of retouched pieces including broken points (which may be broken arrow tips) and blades and flakes showing signs of utilisation as scrapers — a rarity last year. A considerable amount of burnt material has also been recovered but this is, perhaps, too near the surface to be of great significance at this stage.
Future Digging Plans

Digging will now continue on Wednesdays and weekends with the exception of Saturday 16 July — the date of the Grimes Graves outing.

In response to requests from a number of members who want a further full-time dig, the excavation will be open for the whole of July — from Saturday 23 July to Sunday 31st inclusive.

The dig will close for the whole August, but will re-start for Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from 3 September – 2 October, with the exception of the Bristol weekend, September 24-25. Should the autumn be particularly fine, digging might continue a little longer.

DO COME AND DIG. We appear to have reached a very rich area and need as many diggers as can wield a trowel. Christine Arnott also needs find processors and will be very grateful for anyone willing to do a stint at the “executive table.”
New Members

Since we last broached the matter — which was only in May — the Society has enrolled a further 38 members, so it is again time to welcome these fresh additions to the HADAS ranks. We hope all those who have joined us in the last two months will enjoy their membership. They include a number of students from the West Heath training dig; and also a Finchley school, which has taken out the Society’s special schools membership:

Mrs. Elizabeth Aldridge, Highgate; Mrs. Mary Barnett, N2; Bishop Douglas School, Finchley; Miles Blencowe, Hampstead; C.E. Bowden, N2; Mrs. Debbie Bradshaw, Hampstead; Mrs. E.J. Brown, Finchley; Mrs. Grace Clark, Islington; Mrs. June Davies, North Finchley; Miss Rose Edgcumbe, Hampstead; Miss Vi Field, SE1; Miss Frances Goodman, Temple Fortune; Mr. & Mrs. Harmes, Hampstead; Colin Hughes, Finchley; Simon Joyce, Hampstead; Ivan Knowlson, Mill Hill; Miss Rosa Leon, Garden Suburb; Miss Frances Lewis, Kenton; Mrs. Theresa McDonald, Maida Vale; Mrs. Merle Mindel, Berkshire; Mr. J. Minnitt, Borehamwood; Mr. W. Noble, Hornsey; Ms O’Connor, New Southgate; Miss Margaret Phillips, W13; Samuel Pozner, Golders Green; Mrs. M.A. Proffer, Hampstead; Miss C. Salisse, Garden Suburb; Mrs. E. Sharpley, Finchley; Mrs. Peggy Slade, Garden Suburb; Mr. & Mrs. Tessler, North Finchley; Mike Watkins, SW18; Mr. & Mrs. White, Maida Vale; Bronwyn Williams, N5; Anne Young, Edgware; and Miss Xenia Zurawska, Golders Green.
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The Next Outing

… on Saturday 16 July, will be to the Neolithic Flint Mines at Grimes Graves where, after showing us the one shaft still left open, the custodian, Mr Lord, will demonstrate flint-knapping and pressure flaking. Next stop will be the new country park at West Stow (not yet open to the general public), where an Anglo-Saxon village is in course of reconstruction following excavation; and then the ancient city of Bury St. Edmunds, for a taste of monastic medievalism.

To round off the day two HADAS members, Mr. And Mrs. Bergman, have kindly invited the Society to take tea with them in their cottage in a Suffolk Village some miles south of Bury — the first time we had been entertained in this way by a member.

An application form for the outing is enclosed. Please complete and return, with remittance, to Dorothy Newbury as soon as possible.
Looking Ahead

Saturday 13 August. Trip to Avebury, Silbury and Swindon.

Weekend at Bristol, September, 23-25. The coach for this is fully booked, but don’t let that stop you putting your name on Dorothy Newbury’s waiting list, in case there are cancellations.

Full details of Bristol with the August Newsletter — but to whet your appetite, guides on the trip will include, in the Mendips, Peter Fowler of Bristol University (well-known to many HADAS members) and, in South Wales, Dr Manning of Cardiff University.
Have you paid your Subscription yet?

The Hon. Treasurer would like to remind members that their subscriptions for the current year were due on 1 April last. As yet he has received renewal was from only 50 per cent of members. If you are among the “other half,” he would like to hear from you as soon as possible — sending out individual reminders, in these days of high postage, is an expensive business.

The current subscription rates are:
Full membership – £2.00
Under-18 – £1.00
Over-60 – £1.00
Family Membership: – first member – £2
– additional members £1 each

Subscriptions should be sent to Jeremy Clynes.
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An Outing for All Tastes

Phyl Dobbins reports on the HADAS June outing into Northamptonshire.

In spite of the wintry weather a full coach sped up the M1 to our first stop at Hardingstone on the outskirts of Northampton. The Briar Hill site was earmarked for housing by Northampton Development Corporation, but indications of ditches, first noticed in crop marks in 1972, led to the commissioning of a magnetometer survey by the Department of Environment. Bearing in mind that the underlying rock is ironstone, a surprising amount of accurate detail was revealed by the survey. After mechanical removal of 9 in. of topsoil from the 8 acre site, a rescue dig began under the direction of Dr Helen Bamford.

Cross sections and longitudinal sections of the two deep outer ditches, and a shallower spiral ditch inside the enclosure, confirm that the site is a Neolithic causewayed camp. Flints and fragmented pottery have also been found in the ditches and in deep pits. Careful study of the sections shows that the ditches were re-cut at least three or four times, indicating that the site was probably occupied intermittently from the early to late Neolithic times. Because of the acidity of the sandy soil and rock, organic material has not survived except for a very few animal bones and one cremation burial in the outer ditch.

Traces of Iron Age buildings have also been found (the site is near the Iron Age camp of Hunsbury Hill) together with two early Saxon grubenhäusen (sunken buildings with large posts at each end).

As the housing project has been in delayed for financial reasons, the dig continues.

After exposure to the icy winds blowing up the Nene valley we were glad of the comfort of the Boat Inn on the Grand Union Canal at Stoke Brewerne. Later we crossed the canal to visit the Waterways Museum housed in a converted granary. This contains a full history in models, pictures and objects, of canal building, the boats, and the people who worked the boats.

The canal here is crossed by a fine double arched bridge (c. 1800) and has a flight of locks to raise boats for the traverse to the two-mile long Blixworth Tunnell. There is no towpath through the tunnel, so in the past the boats were worked by “leggers.” Two men lay on boards projecting from the sides of the boats, are pushing them along with their feet against the side walls of the tunnel.

Our final visit was to Castle Ashby House, the home of the Compton family. The present building was started in 1574 by the first Lord Compton, later Earl of Northampton, with a later addition c. 1630 attributed to Indigo Jones. On arrival we were greeted by the roar of cannon and the sound of gunfire — the Sealed Knot Society was rehearsing the battle of Naseby, to be re-fought in the Park the following day.

In a conducted tour of the house, which is still lived in, we were shown many fine rooms furnished with items ranging from Chinese Coromandel screens and cabinets to Venetian and English pieces of 17th/19th century, including work by Chippendale and Sheraton, and an Adam fireplace. There were also tapestries, 16th/17th century, from Brussels and Mortlake, and fine examples of wood carving, glass and china.
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However, even a without all these the house would be worth visiting for its collection of paintings alone. The majority are portraits of the family by such artists as a Van Dyke, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Kneller, Lawrench, Raeburn and Hoppner, and there is also a famous portrait of Mary Tudor by Antonio Moro. The best works are from the Italian Renaissance, Mantegna’s “Adoration of the Wise Men,” Bellini’s “Virgin and child,” among them. Also of interest is a pair of carved walnut bellows inscribed with the name of Benvenuto Cellini.

An unexpected archaeological bonus is the very fine collection of Greek vases, mainly red and black figure ware.

After an excellent tea in the converted Elizabethan kitchen decorated with antique copper utensils, we return to London, congratulating Liz Holliday on a very well-organised day spent travelling through time.
Index to the HADAS Newsletters

In addition to their archaeological know-how, many members possess other skills. It is one of the pleasantest traits of HADAS that so many of its members are prepared to spend their knowledge and craft in the Society’s service.

One example of this kind of help was provided recently by committee member Freda Wilkinson, who is by profession an indexer. Earlier this year she produced a detailed 55-page index of the HADAS newsletter from No.1 to No. 70 (October 1969-December 1976). This is a highly skilled, well produced piece of work, which will be most helpful to the Society’s officers and will increase the Newsletter’s value considerably as a work of reference by making the information it contains quickly accessible.

It so happens that the circulation of Newsletter is not confined to HADAS members only. Some 25 or so complimentary copies go to neighbouring societies, libraries, museums, etc. We asked three of these bodies — the GLC library, the Camden Local History Library and Barnet Libraries, — if they would like copies of Mrs. Wilkinson’s index, at a cost of £3. All enthusiastically accepted.

This response was so immediate that the Committee decided to publicise the existence of the index further, and to invite any member, or anyone who normally receives a complimentary copy, to let the Hon. Secretary know if they too would like to buy a photo-copy of the index at £3 (including postage).
“Lost” Station in New Southgate

By Bill Firth.

In 1853 the Great Northern London Cemetery Company was constituted by Act of 18 and 19 Vic, cap. 159, to establish a burial ground at Colney Hatch (now better known as New Southgate) and 150 acres of land were required. In 1859 the cemetery company entered into an agreement under which the railway company provided two stations for the use of the cemetery company, one at Maiden Lane, Kings Cross, on railway land, the other on the cemetery land at New Southgate. The railway also agreed to run trains between the two stations for the conveyance or coffins and mourners.
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The King’s Cross station, where the main building was still standing in 1954, although in a dilapidated condition, was just north and east of the northern end of the Gas Works Tunnel (the first tunnel of out of Kings Cross) with a road approach from Rufford Street; a high wall and gate prevented viewing of the building from this angle. This station included a mortuary.

The station at Colney Hatch was alongside the cemetery. The line branched off the main GNR Line at New Southgate station and ran parallel to the main line until it had passed the road overbridge (Oakley Road South) where it veered away somewhat, terminating about 400 yards south of the mouth of Barnet tunnel. There was a platform on the east side and a run-round the loop. The station buildings were elaborate, with waiting rooms, a C of E Church and a chapel for Dissenters. The church had a spire of some 150 feet and was in existence at the turn-of-the-century.

Some time between 1867 and 1873 the arrangements ceased and the station was closed. In 1876 the cemetery company obtained an Act authorising alternative use of the land on which the station was built. The Act stated that the traffic between the two stations did not justify upkeep of the works. The land is now occupied by the works of Standard Telephones and Cables, and it appears that all trace of the station has now disappeared. The signal box, Cemetery Up, situated at the north end of the STC buildings on the east side of the railway, was demolished about two years ago, as a preliminary to electrification of the main railway line.

Reference: The Railway Magazine, 19 October ’54.
Local Pamphlets for your Reading List

Camden History Review 4, published last autumn by Camden History Society, 75p, copies by post (add £0.15). Available in the HADAS book box. Mainly about Georgian Camden, but something on Stuart and Victorian Camden also.

Hendon As It Was – vol. 2. Many members will know the “As It Was” photo-books edited by HADAS member Clive Smith. The series, which covers also Mill Hill, Harrow, Golders Green and Finchley, was extended last autumn by a further volume on Hendon. Full, as always, of pictures fascinating in a detailed, often of places now changed beyond recognition. Price £0.75, from the editor.

Memories of Hornsey, by Edwin Monk, published last year by the Hornsey Historical Society (whose publications, including their Quarterly Bulletin, always delight the eye), £0.95 (has £0.20 postage). The first in a series of Occasional Papers, profusely and attractively illustrated.

Pinner Streets, Yesterday and Today, by Elizabeth Cooper, published last November by Pinner and Hatch End Local Historical and Archaeological Society, 70p. A series of well conducted at street surveys, finely illustrated.

And of course we can’t close without reminding you of our own Society’s Victorian Jubilees, published last month at £0.50 (£0.15 postage), obtainable now from our Hon. Treasurer. It has had excellent reviews in the local press and has been described as the best £0.50 worth of Jubilee souvenir that you are likely to obtainable.

Got your copy yet?