Lectures from previous years may be found on the Past Lectures page in the Archive section.
Programme of Lectures 2025
Lectures usually start at 7.45 for 8.00pm.
Lectures are held in the in the Drawing Room, Avenue House (also known as Stephen’s House) , 17 East End Road, Finchley N3 3QE. Buses 13, 143, 326 & 460 pass close by, and it is five to ten minutes walk from Finchley Central Station (Northern Line) where the Super Loop SL10 express bus from North Finchley to Harrow also stops. Tea/coffee and biscuits follow the talk.
Lectures will be free for Members of the Society and the fee for visitors is £2.
Tuesday February 11th 2025
Nick Peacey “The Highgate Wood Roman kiln reconstruction.”
Tuesday March 11th 2025
Robert Stephenson “London’s most curious stones and bones.”
London possesses many unusual and out-of-place stones as well as several curious bones and burial places, all of which have fascinating tales to tell.
Tuesday April 8th 2025
Hugh Petrie (Heritage Development Officer at Hendon Library) “Mapping the Kingdom.”
The colourful maps of the first County Series, was one of the greatest feats of the Victorian period. This lecture is the story of the first large scale survey of England made in the 1860s at “1:2500 OR 25.344 INCHES TO THE MILE.” The lecture looks at how and why the survey was carried out, the people who made it happen from the labourers, through to the sappers and officers of the Royal Engineers, and how the maps can be used to tell us about local history, using maps from the local studies collection of the London Borough of Barnet.
Tuesday May 13th 2025
Les Capon (AOC Archaeology) – “A community /HLF excavation at Cranford, Hillingdon”
A community /HLF excavation at Cranford, Hillingdon with trenching over 4 seasons that discovered Romano British round houses, Saxon houses, medieval and Tudor and post-medieval remains and intact cellars. Encompassing the Bronze Age to the 19th century.
Tuesday June 10th 2025
Annual General Meeting at 7:30pm followed by lecture given by Jacqui Pearce of MOLA (HADAS President) –
“A web of influences – imported ceramics in London 1000-1700″
Throughout the medieval and early post-medieval period, pottery from countries outside Britain was entering the country alongside other imports. Many different wares had a deep impact on local potters, influencing their styles of decoration, and even their technology. We will be looking at a wide range of pottery, from many centres in Europe, particularly France, the Low Countries, Germany, Italy and Spain, as well as the significant and long-lasting impact of wares from the Far East. London was a particularly rich source of inspiration as a major hub for imported goods and this is reflected in the wide range of pottery recovered in archaeological excavations.
Tuesday September 9th 2025
The September lecture will take the form of a guided walk in the City of London led by Dr. Jane Sidell (Historic England). Please see the News tab for details.
Tuesday October 14th 2025
Dr. Wendy Morrison – “Our Cross to Bare: Chalk carvings in the Central Chilterns“
Tuesday November 11th 2025
Dr. Signe Hoffos – “Lost Churches of the City of London: 500 years of City churches lost to fire, war and urban redevelopment“
