Newsletter

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BOMBSHELL FOR LOCAL HISTORIANS OF MIDDLESEX

A shocking piece of information – shocking, that is, to anyone interested in studying any aspect of the history of the Greater London area – reached us just as this Newsletter went to press. The GLC has sold Queen Anne’s Gate Buildings (home of the old Middlesex Record Office and, since the demise of Middlesex, known as GLC Record Office, Middlesex Section) and it closes forever on June 29, 1979. The records it contains are to be removed to an “out repository” (which, we understand means a warehouse in Whitechapel).

Strangely enough this information did not reach HADAS from the GLC, – which appears to have made no effort to inform local societies whose members might be expected to have an interest in GLC records. HADAS heard what was afoot from the neighbouring borough of Brent just a week before the Middlesex Section was to close. Other local societies in our Borough were equally in the dark until we told them about it. Even more surprising, the Borough Librarian of Barnet did not know of the proposals until we brought them to his notice – and this despite the fact that many records closely concerning the history of the Borough are involved – Sessions and Poor Law records, Diocesan and Land Tax records; and some manorial records for Finchley, Hendon and Friern Barnet, to name only a few.

The GLC proposes in future to have a single Search Room for both inner London and the outer boroughs of old Middlesex. This will be Room B2l at County Hall. The room, however, has to be enlarged and updated for its new purpose, and it is therefore proposed to close completely on Aug. 31 for four months, re-opening on Jan. 2, 1980. Then, GLC warns researchers, “a large proportion of the records will be stored in an out repository and will have to be ordered at least three working-days in advance of a visit. It will be essential to make appointments.

This announcement seems totally insensitive, both in its short and long-term arrangements, to the needs of the very people that the GLC archives are meant to serve and encourage – students and research workers into the history of Greater London.

In the notice of the short term temporary closure of all search facilities there is no mention whatsoever of any arrangement to enable researchers to obtain access to essential documents during the period Aug. 31-Jan. 2. One can only assume that the authorities have given no thought at all to those who may be engaged on research projects (which may be an important part of their livelihood) for which papers held by the GLC are vital.

In the long term, the 3-day rule will put off any but the most dedicated researcher. Even a determined worker will be discouraged if he has only a small amount of time at his disposal; and we suspect that many inexperienced researchers just won’t start. The prospect of beginning a long piece of research which will lead on from one document to another can hardly be faced. Often one does not know, until one has studied one document, what will be needed next. A hiatus of three days, while the second is ordered – and then perhaps a third and fourth – is enough to daunt the most serious student.
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It seems to us a complete dereliction of duty to encourage the deposition of documents – as the GLC does – and then to create a situation in which those documents will for months be unavailable and then for the rest of their existence be so stored that research into them is frustrated and discouraged.

If GLC cannot perform properly the duties “it has taken upon itself” as custodian of the records of the London area, there is an alternative. Let it hand over to the individual London Boroughs all those papers which concern them specifically, and retain only such documents as are relative to the area as a whole. Many HADAS members have had first hand experience of the care and attention given to their enquiries by the local history custodians of the boroughs of Camden, Barnet and Harrow – and no doubt other London boroughs are similarly helpful and accessible. They would provide far better facilities for students than those now proposed by GLC.

If GLC cannot, however, bring itself to relinquish its grasp on what it has acquired, then we must try to make it see that the present proposals are just not good enough, and that space must be found to house the documents somewhere in that vast building on the south bank, where they will be available in hours rather than days. Every HADAS member who cares about this matter is asked to write to his or her GLC Councillor, addressing the letter to him at County Hall, SE1, urging him to see that the records of London are made properly available to the people of London. The four Councillors for the London Borough of Barnet are:

Peter Black, Hendon South

Brian Cassidy, Hendon North

Roland Freeman, Finchley

Dr. Mark Patterson, Chipping Barnet
THE JULY OUTING

…will be on Sat. July 14, under the direction of Dr. Eric Grant, to the Lunt and Coventry. If you have ever wanted to walk along the ramparts of a Roman fort, come to the Lunt, a bold experiment in reconstruction. If you went on the previous trip we made, there is now even more to see at the Lunt. We will also be visiting Whitefriars in Coventry, a Carmelite monastery with a fine surviving cloister and chapel. Spon Street is also on the itinerary, the site of the relocation and reconstruction of several magnificent timber framed buildings.

An application form for the outing is enclosed with this Newsletter. Please complete and return it to Dorothy Newbury as soon as possible.
DIG DETAILS

Digging at West Heath continues all through this month on Wednesdays, Saturdays (except July 14) and Sundays from 10 am-5 pm.

The late and wet start to the summer means that there is much to be done, and all volunteers are therefore doubly welcome. Please come along whenever you can.
FURTHER FACTS ABOUT HENDON’S FIRST CENSUS

Last month we published an article on Hendon’s first census. Two HADAS members have now come forward to answer some of the questions raised in it.
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Philip Venning has gone a long way to unravelling the mystery of “Mr. Coore’s Ivy House,” which was uninhabited on Census night, March 10, 1801. We had wondered if “Ivy House” might have been No. 13 The Burroughs, but Mr. Venning thinks it was further south, on the boundary of Hendon and Hampstead parishes, not all that far from the site of the West Heath dig. He writes:

“The Mr. Coore of Ivy House is, I feel sure, John Coore Esq, a city businessman who occupied the house that used to stand at the entrance to Golders Hill Park (not to be confused with an earlier house known as Golders Hill House, associated with Mark Akenside, the poet, on the site of the Manor House Hospital). He lived there from the end of the 18th c. until his death in 1804. He also owned neighbouring Ivy House which, partly or wholly rebuilt, is now part of Middlesex Polytechnic.

By 1811 Ivy House was in the occupation of John Hopton Forbes, Gent. of Ely Place. The name Ivy House was certainly in use then; a newspaper cutting of that date describes how Mr. Rogers, a surgeon, was tied up and robbed by two footpads halfway between Ivy House and the 5-mile stone (in North End Road).”

Mr. Venning has an engraving of “Golders Hill, Middlesex, The Seat of John Coore Esq” which he kindly says he would allow us to reproduce in the Newsletter. It may be that a little later we shall have space to take up his offer, and we will then be able to show you what Mr. Coore’s house looked like.

Our second piece of information comes from Geoffrey Bilson, who joined HADAS only a year or so ago. It is about Rufus King, the American Minister who was living in Mill Hill on Census night. Mr. Bilson writes:

“The standard biography of King by Robert Ernst (University of North Carolina, 1968) says that when King, a New York politician, was appointed American Minister to the UK in 1796 he lived at Great Cumberland Place, which was his residence and office while he served until 1802. He rented an estate at Mill Hill from Samuel Davies, which he used as a holiday home and country retreat. On his return to us in 1803 he lived quietly, but he became a US Senator before returning for another short term as Minister to UK in 1826.”

The Newsletter is most grateful to both Mr. Venning and Mr. Bilson for their interesting contributions.

C0RRECTION. In the article on Hendon’s First Census, when discussing Rufus King, reference was wrongly made to the American War. This should, of course, have been to the War of Independence.
MEDIEVAL FISH PONDS

One of the small, specialised groups of British archaeology is the Moated Sites Research Group which, as its name implies, concentrates on the recording and study of medieval moated manors, farms and other buildings. It produces an excellent annual report on the year’s work – the Current report, No. 6, has 50 pages packed with information plus 20 pages of plans, maps and sections.

The group has now decided to extend its work slightly by systematically collecting material about medieval fishponds. The first stop will be to note documented surviving fishponds and pond complexes.
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If any HADAS members have done research in this line of country, or if they know of surviving fishponds – there is, for instance, said to be one associated with the moat which still remains by the 18th green of Old Fold Manor Golf Club, at Hadley – and particularly, of documentary references which prove a surviving pond to have been a medieval fishpond, would they please let our Hon. Secretary have chapter and verse?
ARS COQUINARIA ROMANA- 1979 STYLE

One of the liveliest university extra-mural departments is Southampton, which has pioneered a kind of practical archaeology weekend special to itself. Several HADAS members have taken part in these imaginative 2-day courses – flint-knapping in a Hampshire quarry, for instance; a weekend making and firing Roman lamps; and a Roman cookery course held in the Domestic Science department of a Winchester school.

The cookery course (there have been two, in 1978 and 1979) was made as authentic as possible. Recipes were taken from the only Roman cook book to have come down to us, preserved through the Dark Ages in monastic libraries. These were the recipes of M. Gavius Apicius, a rich gourmet of the time of Tiberius in the 1st c. AD, who founded a school of cookery in Rome. Seneca says that one day Apicius counted his fortune and found that, having spent over a hundred million sesterces, mainly on food, he had only ten million sesterces left. He felt that he faced the prospect of starvation, and so poisoned himself. The tutor of the Southampton course estimated ten million sesterces at about £250,000 in modern money.

The only ingredients used on the course were those known to the Romans. The most notable absentees (particularly when you think of Italian cookery today) were tomatoes (discovered, with the Americas, by Columbus in l492, and first grown in the British Isles in 1554 by Patrick Bellow of Castletown, Co. Louth, Ireland}; citrus fruits (the sweet orange came from China, and is said to have been brought west and planted in Portugal by Vasco de Gama; the bitter orange and the lemon are natives of India and the Crusaders are credited with their introduction into Europe, though it is possible the Romans knew of the bitter orange, without using it); and sugar, for which honey was the main substitute (sugar, in the form of syrup from sugar cane, was known to the Romans, but used rarely and then only medicinally. It came from Asia Minor, and was probably first refined in Persia).

Unusual ingredients included liquamen, or garum, vaguely like anchovy essence and used in place of salt, an expensive commodity which was rarely included per se during cooking – even in bread making. The tutor of the course, Maureen Locke, had made enough liquamen for this weekend by boiling fish ends of various kinds in strong brine on a raised hearth in her own garden for five hours. Something of the same effect – though probably not as authentically Roman in flavour – can be obtained by mixing 2 parts of anchovy essence with one part Worcester sauce and using it sparingly.

There were also several wine preparations such as caroenum and defrutum (wine reduced in volume by various degrees for use in cookery); passum, sweet wine similarly reduced; mulsum, grape must mixed with honey; and oenogarum, which is wine and liquamen mixed. A wide range of herbs was used – lovage, origan, coriander, bay, mint, savory, sorrel, mustard, fennel, dill; and spices such as cumin and mace. One invariable rule of the Roman cook was apparently “pepper with everything” – savoury or sweet. One now-forgotten Roman flavouring, silphium, was absent, because it has become so difficult to obtain. It is used today only pharmaceutically; its other names are asafoetida, or “devils dung.”
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A highlight of the weekend was a Roman banquet, at which the guests wore full Roman dress. For this, imitation Samian tableware had been made by the University pottery department ~ for each guest a cup (similar to form Dr. 27) and a dish (like Dr. 15/17, but without a foot). A spoon and fingers were the only cutlery; between courses a basin of water and a towel came round, and plates were cleaned with a piece of bread.

The room had been decorated with copies of Roman wall paintings, the tables were strewn with herbs and the pottery department had provided copies of lst c. lamps, two of which glowed before a small altar to the lares and penates, to whom a libation was poured before the meal began. It was served by “slaves” -a part played by members of the school VIth form – who also provided the entertainment, described as being “of a chaste nature, such as the younger Pliny would have approved of.” It consisted of vivid readings (in Latin) from the classics, full of expression and lively gesture.

Experiment with an Outdoor Hearth

One morning session was given over to cooking three dishes – a patina of small fish, apricots stewed with mint and pepper and marrows cooked with cumin, rue, liquamen, vinegar and the inevitable pepper -on a raised hearth built in the school grounds on the model of the hearth found in the house of the Vettii in Pompeii.

The hearth was of brick. Its dimensions wore 45 ins. long, 27 ins. deep and 36 ins. high, using 130-140 bricks. There was a one-brick high ledge along the back and each side, invaluable for putting wooden stirring spoons during cooking. The structure was mortared at strategic points, but appeared to be mainly dry-built. It stood on a foundation of paving stones wide enough at the front to allow the cooks to work dry-shod in wet weather. A flimsy, easily movable roof of corrugated iron was supported on wooden posts, and two sides were enclosed with corrugated iron while two remained open.

On top of the raised hearth two mounds of barbecue charcoal were ignited, and a grid was placed over each. On one stood a 10 ins. tall grey ware cooking pot with a decorated shoulder, based on a design from the Alice Holt potteries, with the apricots in it; on the other, a shallow dish about 10 ins. in diameter and 1 1/2 ins. deep, of a type known from the oxford region, contained the small fish. The shallow pot cooked twice as fast as the deep one – the dish was ready in about 20 minutes; but the deep one retained its heat for a long time after being removed from the fire. If placed at the side, on brickwork already slightly warm by heat conduction from cooling, it might have simmered effectively for some time.

This was the first time such a reconstruction of actual Roman cooking methods had been triad, and some valuable lessons were learnt.

How to create a Draught.

The most important, perhaps, was that there must have been some more effective way of “blowing up” the charcoal than the method we used, which was to fan it continuously with a thin piece of pliable board. This was hot, tiring work, and the fanners got in the way of the cooks. Bellows would have solved the problem, but no remains of bellows for domestic use have been identified, nor are there any known depictions of domestic bellows. In the Wealden iron industry, however, clay nozzles or tuyeres are known from smelting sites, And it has been suggested that they protected the wooden nozzles of industrial bellows, so the principle was probably understood (see Britannia, vol. II 1971 p.210. I am indebted for this reference to HADAS member Raymond Lowe, who also suggests the employment in the kitchen of “a boy with a blow-pipe” instead of fanning).
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Fanning produced a mass of floating ash, and it seems clear that pots would have had lids for cooling, which would also have speeded the process up by keeping the heat in. Fanning also made the tall Alice Holt pot quiver ominously, and it immediately became apparent why the gridiron found in a hoard at Silchester contained a hole in the middle. It would have fitted the base of such a pot and kept it steady.

Our raised hearth was solid, but the hearth of the Vettii and other known hearths contain an arched recess at the base of the centre front. This recess is usually shown in illustrations filled with wood. Maureen Locke suggests, however, from experience that it was much more likely to have been used as a place to kick the exhausted but still hot charcoal as you re-fuelled, in order not to have it underfoot. B.G.G.
HADAS EXPLORES THE THAMES VALLEY

An account, by MARY BARNETT , of last month’s outing.

The June outing, arranged with care by Ted Sammes, was pleasantly relaxed and varied. With only a short journey ahead, the coach party, 50-strong, was able to make a later start than for most HADAS expeditions. We enjoyed without hurry the visits planned and the beauty of the wide Thames valley around Maidenhead, with its buttercup meadows cut by tributaries.

We picked Ted Sammes up near his home in Taplow shortly after the coach swung off the M4 motorway into more rural country. He explained that we were on the main Bath road, built in the 18th c. to link the capital by stage coach to Bristol and to the Bath of Beau Nash. The mail then went by horse-drawn vehicle along this road, and got there more quickly than it does today – when it can take 12 days for letters to got from Maidenhead to Slough.

In the 19th c. the road began to be superseded by the railway and bridges carrying the Great Western spanned the Bath road. They were often placed askew so that the line could follow a straight course regardless of the effect on the convenience of road users. At Maidenhead we saw Brunel’s celebrated red brick railway bridge, which has two wide arches, the spans being very shallow in relation to their width. For some years the wooden trellising used in the construction of the bridge was left in place as a safety precaution, but it was swept away when the river was in flood and the bridge continues to carry the railway quite safely.

Saxon Burial Mound

Our first visit of the day was to a Saxon burial mound at Taplow, one of the three main barrows of the late Saxon 7th c. and one of the richest in Britain after Sutton Hoo. Excavated by James Rutland in 1883, it turned out to be the grave of a chieftain called Taeppa, from whose name Taplow is derived. Digging in those days was not whst it is now. A trench was driven straight through the mound and the tools used were pick and shovel. This did no good to the gold embroidered cloth in which the chieftain was wrapped, nor to the finds, which included a Coptic drinking bowl, jewelled swords, drinking horns and some fine glasswork, probably brought from the continent.

Rutland deposited all his finds and papers with the British Museum, where some of them are displayed in the new Medieval section. He made sure of his own place in archaeological history by bringing a large granite boulder from the north of England, on which are cut his name and dates (1827-1907) as well as those of his two wives, Helen and Mary.
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The stone lies under a yew tree near the mound, which is in the grounds of Taplow Court, a mock Tudor mansion built by the Grenville family, who actually demolished the local church when they found it was too near the house. The few gravestones that survive appear to date to the early 1700s.

In Maidenhead our driver cleverly found a place to park near the elegant bridge over the Thames built by Sir Robert Taylor in 1772, and still carrying the burden of modern traffic. Until 1903 it was a toll bridge; then the people of Maidenhead protested in quite modern style, with “rioting,” and got rid of the toll. Skindles Hotel beside the bridge reminded us that we were in the territory of the carefree monied roadhouse set of the 1920s and ’30s.

Our objective in Maidenhead was the Reitlinger Bequest Museum, a wonderful exampla of the activities of the travelled private collector. The late Henry Reitlineer, trained as a mining engineer, began his collection with prints and went on to amass pottery and porcelain, sculpture and painting. Housed in a delightful late Victorian house with riverside grounds, the museum was opened specially for us by Marjorie Cocke, Mr. Reitlinger’s adopted daughter. Normally it is open only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and the first Sunday of the month.

We were able to enjoy our picnic lunch at Boulters Lock because the sun made one of its rare appearances this summer. Then we drove to Cookham – once larger and more significant than Maidenhead; but now a small, sleepy town – to visit the tiny Stanley Spencer Gallery. Spencer lived in Cookham and the gallery has an interesting collection of his paintings arid drawings, including a large, unfinished typically Spencer-style picture of a Thames-side scene.

Gentle Giants

Last port of call was the Courage Brewery Shire Horse Centre, where we were introduced to the gentle, ton-weight animals by Daphne Gaynor, a guide with a knowledge of their various personalities and a nice turn of phrase. They had names like Captain, Barley, Sir Jim and Prince. Captain was a “juvenile delinquent” able to undo the bolt on his stall and refusing to work in the team drawing the drays. Prince was another “escapologist.”

Shire horses, with handsome Roman noses and feathered fetlocks, are now coming back to popularity. Costing upwards of £1000, they are cheap at the price, working well and willingly for the whole of their 20 odd years, doing the jobs tractors cannot and burning no oil. They also produce a valuable end product!

After tea at the centre we started home through Maidenhead Thicket, an area like Finchley Common where highwaymen lurked and priests once got danger money for parochial duties. It had been a lovely day.
WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS

The following have joined the ranks of HADAS in the last few months, and we welcome them warmly, hoping that they will enjoy their membership and will join with pleasure in our activities:

Corinne Angel, Edgware; Miss J E Bagot, Garden Suburb; Patricia Batt, Barnet; Josephine Bolus, N. Finchley; Cilla Bridgman, Bushey Heath; Reva Brown, Hendon; Laurian Dnvies, Mill Hill; Mrs. Finch Jakubowska, N22; Linda Gentry, Totteridge; Geraldine Healy, Kilburn; Miss D M Holburn, Stanmore; Deborah Jones, Garden Suburb; Wendy Jones, Hendon; Alex Munden, Edgware; Mrs. Myers and Alec, Golders Green; Penny Neill, NW6; Janet O’Riley, Finchley; Susan Payne, Northolt; J Pollen, Garden Suburb; Mr & Mse Roots, Hendon; Jacqueline Stearn, NW5; Frank Walters, New Barnet, Roger White, Hampstead.
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STONE ARTEFACTS IN THE LONDON BOROUGH OF BARNET

A Gazetteer, researched and compiled by DAPHNE LORIMER.

The London Borough of Barnet is not usually associated with the presence of prehistoric man, but over the years there has been a gradual accumulation of evidence that stone-tool makers did, in fact, exist within this area. Since borough boundaries are modern and artificial barriers this survey does include finds from sites just outside the Borough of Barnet – specially if the artefacts form part of a group or category.

RAW MATERIAL. The principal raw material is flint which is found as a glacial erratic in the boulder clay covering large parts of the area (see the geological survey in the June Newsletter) and probably has its point of origin in the chalk of the Chilterns. Nodules of a fair size and reasonable quality are found on fields and in gardens today, and it is presumed that in antiquity they wore to be found in greater abundance in the many streams which form the tributaries of the Brent and Lee. Hunting Groups following the courses of these rivers could well have penetrated the district and distribution of finds would appear to support this contention (though it may, of course, reflect archaeological imbalance).

Two anomalies among the finds are both considered to be imports into the area in antiquity: a polished adze of hornblend schist from Lands End, found in a Roman context at Brockley Hill; and a jadeite axe found in Hendon and considered to be imported into Britain from an Alpine source.

PERIOD. Only one Lower Palaeolithic (Clactonian) flake has been found but several possible Upper Palaeolithic and many Mesolithic pieces are known (including one major Mesolithic site). A few tools of Neolithic and Bronze Age occur, but areas of marshy ground and the spread of dense woodland from the Atlantic period on may have formed a natural barrier to occupation.

POST-ROMAN USE OF FLINT. A number of flint flakes bearing obvious signs of conchoidal fracture have been found in areas adjacent to the parish churches of Hendon, Barnet, Monken Hadley and Friern Barnet, and near Pagitt’s Almshouses in Hadley, all of flint construction. These have not been included in this catalogue although the study of flint as a building material in this area is a subject of considerable fascination.

GAZETTEER OF STONE ARTEFACTS

In the following catalogue, published finds are listed by site and type and the appropriate references given. Where no written record exists, however, a full description will be included of those finds still available. Numbers on the right correspond with find numbers on the map at the end.

BARNET – ARKLEY

30 Galley Lane. TQ 2315 9625 – No. 1

Three flakes of Mesolithic type found in the garden of 30 Galley Lane by Mrs M Stewart.

(a) Flake of pale grey translucent flint 24 mm long, 8 mm’ wide, max. thickness 1 mm. Marked undulations on ventral surface. Small piece of cortex on proximal end.

(b) Flake of dark grey flint 18 mm long, max. width 12 mm~, max. thickness 5 mm.. Some degree of wear at edges, possibly due to abrasion in the ground.

(c) Flake of dark grey flint with cortex at distal end. Length 15 mm. max. width 7 mm, max. thickness 2 mm. Some macro-wear on edges – possible spoil abrasion.
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Present location: Mrs. M Stewart, 30 Galley Lane, Barnet, Herts.

Fold Farm, Galley Lane, Herts. TQ 233975 – No.2

Two largo struck flakes were found by Trevor Johnston by a stream in a field adjacent to Fold Farm, Galley Lane. Heavy yellow clay soil with flints. Flakes prehistoric, possibly Palaeolithic.

(a) Large secondary flake of dark flint with yellow patination. Length 60 mm, ‘I max. width 70 ram, max. thickness 24 mm.Distal end retouched. ?scraper.

(b) Large secondary flake of dark and light grey flint, about one third of dorsal surface covered with cortex. Some secondary working along both sides. Length 80 mm, max. width 64 mm, max. thickness 27mm.

Present location: Mrs. M Stewart, 30 Galley Lane, Barnet, Herts.

BARNET/FRIERN BARNET BORDER.

Precise site unknown. – No. 3.

A chipped and partially polished axe of pale buff flint was found in Barnet Museum, labelled as coming from the Barnet/Friern Barnet boundary. No further information available. Axe marked with grey striations. Length 70 mm, max. width 32 mm, max. thickness 16 mm. The base may be broken. Thought to be Late Neolithic or Bronze Age.

Present location: Barnet Museum, Wood Street, Barnet.

BARNET – HADLEY WOOD

Hadley Wood TQ 255973 – No. 4

Four large struck flakes found by Ralph Walker by the bank of a stream in Hadley Wood. These flakes have been identified as possibly epi-palaeolithic (Verulamium Museum 6.4.72, whose detailed report is quoted below) but the absence of known tool types and the relative proximity of the find to Monken Hadley Church and Pagitt’s Almshouses suggests caution.

(a) Grey-black glassy flint flake with a good cone of percussion, scars and ripples.

(b) Tapering long black glassy flint 12 cm long, 6.5 cm wide, 5 cm thick. Found on surface on the path about 45 m. from the stream.

(c) Small grey glassy flint with prominent cone of percussion.

(d) Small grey-black glassy flint with prominent cone of percussion and scars and ripples.

References: Barnet Press 16.6.72 Present location: HADAS

Hadley Wood TQ 26259710 – No. 5

Flint implements wore reported to have been found by Horace B Taylor and Mr Gillard “in the fosse to the south-west of the Prehistoric camp in Hadley Wood, near the footpath loading to the bridge.” Taylor classifies them as belonging to “the Chelles period which indicates River Drift Man.”

References: Horace B Taylor “A Prehistoric Camp in Hadley Wood,” Trans LAMAS, New Series, Vol 4.

Present location: unknown.

NOTE. The Barnet Press reported the find of a “spearhead” in flint in Hadley Wood” (23.4.71) by Mr. Andrew Rasp of Heidelberg, together with a number of reputed Mesolithic flint implements from Greenhill Park, New Barnet. Mr. Rasp has the finds in Germany and it has not been possible to verify them.
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BARNET

Queen Elizabeth’s Girls School playing fields TQ 253966 – No.6

One flint flakeand two cores from which flakes have been struck found by Ralph Walker on a stream bed at the bottom of the playing fields. The stream is too small to appear on any but the OS 25 in. plan.

(a) A small grey-black glassy flint with roughly parallel sides and shaped to a point. Some secondary working.

(b) A yellow-brown core from which a large flake has been struck. Striking platform present. Length approx. 10.5 cm, width 11 cm.

(c) A grey-black glassy flint core from which flakes have been struck. Prominent cone of percussion.

A11 flint identified at Verulamium Museum as epi-palaeolithic ; measurements,etc. provided by Verulamium Museum.

Present location: HADAS

BOREHAMWOOD

South of B5378 road. TQ 18299592 – No. 7

Desmond Collins reported the find of a flint implement in Borehamwood, Herts, immediately south of the B5378 by the junction of the road with that running south-west to Elstree.

References: Mus. of Lond. K35; OS No. TQ 19 NE4

Present location: unknown

EAST BARNET

9 Ross1yn Avenue. TQ 272 951 – No. 8

A flake of dark grey flint was found at the bottom of his garden at 9 Rosslyn Avenue by Mr. Edwards. The house stands to the west of Pymmes Brook.

The flake is 58 mm long, 24 mm wide, 9 mm thick with cortex at the base. Stress marks appear on the upper surface and on the lower surface near base. The flake appears blunted down one edge and signs of wear appear on the other. Dating obscure – possibly, Bronze Age.

Present location: Mr Edwards, 9 Rosalyn Avenue, East Barnet.

EAST FINCHLEY

The Bishop’s Avenue. TQ 266875 – No. 9

A possible Neolithic fabricator found by Felix Levy in the garden of Kenmore, The Bishop’s Avenue.

Worked flint blade of grey-black flint 58 mm long, 22 mm wide and 6.5 mm thick – has a marked cone of percussion and secondary working along one side. Traces of abrasion at the end may indicate use as a fabricator. May also have been used as a knife.

Present location: Mr. Levy, Kenmore, The Bishop’s Avenue, N2.

EDGWARE

Brockley Hill (possible site of Sulloniacae) TQ 175930 – No. 10

(Finds occurred in both the Boroughs of Barnet and Harrow)

(a) Flint tools, flakes and cores found in Roman levels. Originally considered Late Iron Age, but later reports place it in early Bronze Age context.
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References:

Suggett, P G. “Excavations at Brockley Hill Aug. 8, Sept. 1951”, Trans. LAMAS, vol. XI Pt II, 1953.

Suggett, P G. “Excavations at Brockley Hill Aug. 1953 & 1954,” Trans. LAMAS, vol. XIX, Pt I, 1956

(b) Excavations north of Brockley Hill House in 1970 produced further flints considered by Dr Andree Rosenfeld to be Mesolithic.

References: Castle, Stephen. “Excavations at Brockley Hill, Middx. Sulloniacae 1970”, Trans. LAMAS, vol. 23 Pt 2, 1972.

(c) A Mesolithic flint scraper was reported to have been found at Brockley Hill by G F Cole ( TQ 1810 9499).

References: Mus. of Lond. ref: B3; OS No. TQ 19 SE4.

(d) A stone adze of polished hornblend schist found by Stephen Castle in excavations on the vacant Hilltop Cafe site in 1972. Possibly introduced as a curio in Roman times.

References: Castle, Stephen. “Excavations at Brockley Hill, Middx, March-May 1972,;1 Trans. LAMAS, vol. 25, 1974.

Present location: Mus. of London

Clay Lane – Bury Farm. TQ 19509375 – No. 11

One core und three flakes (Mesolithic) found in a field on Bury Farm immediately north of Clay Lane.

(a) Two platform conical core of pale grey cherty flint with yellow inclusions. Length 42.7 mm, max. width 24.5 mm, max. thickness 15 mm. Two flakes struck from apical platform, remainder from base.

(b) Large secondary flake. Length 88 mm, width 56 mm, thickness 19 mm. Dark grey flint with pale grey mottle. Cortex covers half posterior surface. Several small flakes have been struck from dorsal surface at bulbar end. Marked bulb of percussion and stress rings.

(c) Small flint flake of pale grey cherty flint. Marked bulb of percussion and remains of platform seen. Length 26 mm, max. width 12.5 mm, max. thickness 3.7 mm.

(d) Flint flake 25 mm long, 14 mm wide, 4.5 mm thick. Grey mottlcd flint. Marked bulb of percussion. Three flake scars on dorsal surface.

Present location: HADAS.

Edgwarebury Lane. Precise site unknown – No. 12

The British Museum record receiving a fragment of a flaked axe of dark brown flint from E G Robinson of 63 Edgwarebury Lane who found it in the Edgware district. It has been broken in antiquity and sharpened around the fracture. It is not a tranchet axe but considered to be Neolithic or Bronze Age.

References: BM accession No: 1951/7/5.4/10/6.1; OS no. TQ 19 SE29; Mus. Lond. B1Midd6.

Present Location: British Museum

Thirleby Road. TQ 20599080 – No. 13

A piece of mottled grey-black glassy flint was found during the excavations in the front garden of 33 Thirleby Rd in a Roman context. It is heavily abraded on the right edge.

References: Hendon & District Archaeological Soc: “Roman Pottery from Thirleby Rd, Burnt Oak, Edgware.” Trans LAMAS, vol 29 1978.

Present location: HADAS.
Page 12

FINCHLEY “Boulder Clay” -precise site unknown. – No. 14

Primary flake (Clactonian) of ‘Bullhead’ flint found by Lewis Abbott and acquired for Reading Museum by John Wymer.

References; Wymer, John. “Lower Palaeolithic Archaeology in Britain, (pub. John Baker), p.283

Present location; Reading Museum 135; 60/2.

NORTH FINCHLEY AREA. TQ 260920 – No. 15

Derek Roe reports a retouched flint implement to have been found in this area.

References: Roe, Derek. “A Gazetteer of the British Lower and Middle Palaeolithic Sites.” CBA Research Report 8, 1968.

Present location; said to be in Luton Museum but could not be traced.

Finchley, Church End. TQ 2490 9056 – No. 16

Four flakes of Mesolithic type found by G Musgrove in excavations at Finchley Rectory in 1978 in a disturbed layer.

References; Musgrove, G. Report in preparation. Location; G Musgrove

FRIERN BARNET

Buckingham Avenue, Whetstone, N20. TQ 2673 9480 – No. 17

C L Clayton, 102 Grosvenor Rd, N1O, found a plano-convex flint chise1 or adze 5 1/2 in. long, 2 in. wide (thought to be a Bronze Age knife) in the garden of 69 Buckingham Avenue, Whetstone. (Measurements in imperial as originally recorded).

References: OS No. TQ 29 SEMidd6; Lond. Mus. ‘No. Dl2. Lacaille A D, Antiquaries Journal, vol 26, 1946, pp 184-5.

Present location; unknown, but thought to have been given to a museum.

GOLDERS GREEN

Eastside NWll. TQ 24908815 – No. 18

Possible core piece of pale grey flint, heavily rolled. Some cortex present. Flake scars on dorsal surface. Length 36.5 mm, width 26 mm, thickness 14 mm. Found in garden of 28 Eastside NWll. Present location; HADAS

Golders Hill Park. TQ 255,865 – No. 31

Numerous Mesolithic blades, flakes and core trims have been found in Golders Hill Park, NWll.

Present location; HADAS

HAMPSTEAD GARDEN SUBURB

Confluence of Mutton and Dollis Brooks. TQ 251 893 – No. 19

Raymond Lowe found two flint flakes in a gravel layer on the south bank of the Mutton Brook near its confluence with the Dollis Brook at the time of the enclosure of the stream.

(a) A small flake of dark brown mottled flint with cortex on one side giving a blunted back. Length 41 mm, width 5 mm, thickness 3 mm.

(b) Grey flint flake 62 mm long, 37 mm wide and 11 mm thick at mid-point. A small amount of cortex is left on the back and abrasion on the rounded end indicates possible use as a fabricator.
Page 13

Present location: Raymond Lowe, 61,Erskine Hill, NW11.

Hampstead Garden Suburb. Precise site unknown. – No. 28

A flint scraper chisel was found by Dr Henry Hicks in this area and to be lodged in Church Farm House Museum in 1932.

References: Thames Basin Archaeological Observers’ Group Index. Mus. Lond. No. Klll Hendon Parish

Present location: unknown.

HAMPSTEAD HEATH

West Heath, Hampstead. TQ 25758575, – No. 23

Three Mesolithic flakes were reported to have been found to the south-east of the Leg of Mutton pond by the Thames Basin Observers’ Group.

References: Thames Basin Observers’ Group Reports, New Series, vol 15 p8.

Present location: unknown.

West Heath, Hampstead. TQ 255 866 – No. 25

D Smith found a core piece of fine brown flint on the south side of the Leg of Mutton Pond. Length 30 mm, width 29 mm, thickness 11 mm. Abraded on lower edge. Blades may have been removed at right angles to original platform of this large flake. Identified at British Museum as possibly Neolithic.

Present location: D Smith 38 Prospect Rd, NW2.

West Heath, Hampstead. TQ 2566 8676 – No. 24

A seasonally occupied Mesolithic hunting camp on the North side of the Leg of Mutton Pond has produced over 28000 struck flakes to date, and a full early Mesolithic tool industry including cores, scrapers, a core axe and axe sharpening flakes. Some late Mesolithic geometric microliths have also boon found.

References: Lorimer, D H. “A Mesolithic Site on West Heath, Hampstead – A Preliminary Report,” London Archaeologist vol 2, No. 16, Autumn 1976, pp 407-9.

Present location: HADAS.

East Heath (Kenwood Boundary). TQ268868 – No. 26

Miss P M Dobbins, 5 Honeybourne Rd, NW5, found this site which has produced many Mesolithic blades and flakes.

Present location: Miss Dobbins and HADAS.

East Heath (near Viaduct) TQ 270 866 = No. 27

This potentially rich Mesolithic site lies on the Heath near the viaduct and above the ponds, and was discovered by J Nicholl, 3 North Rd, Highgate N6. It has produced a large number of blades, flakes and cores.

Present location: HADAS.

HENDON

King’s Close, NW4.

Jadeite axe found by Master Steven Jacob in back garden of 19 in garden soil. Neolithic import from Alpine source.

References: Hendon & District Archaeological Society, Hendon “Trans. LAMAS vol. 28, 1977.
Page 14

Jones, V, Bishop A C, Woolley A R., Third Supplement of the Catalogue of Jade Axes from sites in the British Isles, Proc. Prehist. Soc. vol XLIII, p. 290.

Present location: Town Clerk’s Office, Borough of Barnet.

MILL HILL

Flower Lane, NW7. , Precise site unknown – No. 30

A large grey flint, crudely chipped, was found in the Church Farm House Museum, recordcd as coming from Flower Lane.

Present location: Church Farm House Museum, Greyhound Hill, NW4.

Lawrence Street Allotments, NW7. Precise site unknown – No.. 21

A barbed flint arrowhead was listed as “item 12” in the catalogue of an exhibition held at the Central Library, Hendon, in 1932. The property of Norman Brett James, it was said to have been found on allotments in 1917. (According to A C Clark, former Editor of Trans. LAMAS, these are probably the Lawrence Street allotments). Listed in Barnet Library Accession list, 1973.

Present location: unknown.

SOUTHGATE

De Bohun Avenue, Nl4, TQ 282952 – No. 22

W S Smith, Sunnyside, De. Bohun Avenue, Chase Avenue, Old Southgate, N14, found a small axe of mottled fawn coloured flint in his garden.

References: British Museum Accession List No. 1927-7-5.1

Present location: British Museum

NOTE: :this piece is similar to the axe found oh the Barnet/Friern Barnet border, No. 3 on the map.

WOODSIDE PARK

Holden Road, Nl2 TQ 255 927 – No. 29

David Tessler found a grey rolled flint with some yellow mottle on the ventral surfaoe in ground to the east of the Dollis Brook in Holden Road. The flint is 95 mm long, 55 mm wide, 7.8 mm thick. It has a pronounced cone of percussion with scar. Distal end battered on ventral surface. Probably attempted blade from prepared core.

Present location: David Tessler, 75 Southover, Woodside Park, N12.

IN CONCLUSION – …thanks are due to the many people who have reported finds and sites and have generously loaned pieces for drawing and description.

Thanks are due too, to Desmond Collins for his expert help and advice; to the Keeper and staff of the Department of Prehistory at the British Museum for their co-operation and information; to Harry Todd at Church Farm House Museum and to W S Taylor at Barnet Museum for searching in every corner and cupboard for stone artefacts; and to all those who have answered my queries and provided new crumbs of information and fresh avenues of approach.

To see map of these various sites – select the following link: –

Newsletter

Page 1

NEW PROTECTION FOR OLD MONUMENTS

One of the final actions of Mr. Callaghan’s Government was to pass through all its Commons stages the Ancient Monument and Archaeological Areas Bill (which had begun life a few weeks earlier in the Lords) between 5.32 and 6.15 pm on April 4; and at 7.03 pm that same evening the Act received the Royal Assent, No. 22 of the final batch of 25 Acts to be passed before the dissolution.

The Act, which contains 65 clauses and 5 schedules, has been hailed by many historical and archaeological bodies as a major legislative advance. When it was introduced in the Commons it was described as striking “an acceptable balance between the need to preserve, or at least to record, our heritage and the requirements of developers, land-owners, farmers, mineral operators and others whose business must inevitably involve a measure of archaeological damage.”

There are at the moment 839 Ancient Monuments in State care; the new Act is the most important measure for their protection since 1913. It introduces, among other things, a system of control for monuments parallel to that for listed buildings, so that “scheduled monument consent” will be needed in future for demolition or alteration on a scheduled site. Another provision is the power to designate “areas of archaeological importance” where 6-month delays can be enforced to allow time for excavation.

The provision which has received most publicity, however, is the one which makes it an offence to use a metal detector without permission either on a scheduled Ancient Monument or in a designated Archaeological Area. In commenting on this clause in the debate, the under-Secretary of State for the Environment remarked that treasure hunting “may be an innocent pastime but in irresponsible hands these devices can lead to irreparable damage and loss of knowledge.”

We hope the new Under-Secretary will feel equally strongly on the subject.
THE SOCIETY’S l8TH AGM

…took place on May 15 under the expert and friendly Chairmanship of Vice-President Andrew Saunders, Chief Inspector of Ancient Monuments at the Department of Environment. Between 70-80 members were present.

The following were elected for the year 1979-8Q; Chairman, Councillor Brian Jarman; vice-Chairman, Edward Sammes; Hon. Secretary, Brigid Grafton Green; Hon. Treasurer, Jeremy Clynes. Committee; Christine Arnott, John Enderby, Peter Fauvel-Clinch, Vincent Foster, George Ingram, Dave King, Daphne Lorimer, Dorothy Newbury, Nell Penny, Ken Vause, Freda Wilkinson, Sheila Woodward and Eric Wookey.

Three official reports were presented on the Society’s activities during 1978-9: the Annual Report, the Treasurer’s Report and the Research Committee Report. Two themes of special importance emerged from them.
Page 2

The first was that although we now have a small room at Avenue House where we keep books and records and 3 or 4 people can work, we are still without, and still desperately need, a real headquarters. If any member can suggest how HADAS might obtain the use of a large room, with some means of lighting and warmth, available at weekends as well as during the week, will they please, without hesitation, let any member of the Committee know about it? The room needs to be big enough to take 20/25 members at a processing session; and HADAS would have to be the sole occupant, so that the room could be locked when not in use and work in progress left undisturbed.

The second problem is a vital as the first and perhaps, given the help and goodwill of members, it may prove easier to solve. It was set out by our Hon. Treasurer like this:

“It isn’t often you hear a Treasurer asking for money to be spent: but we now have adequate resources which I should like to see put into existing and new projects. But we have a major problem: we are desperately short of human resources, and I appeal to all members to volunteer their help in completing our outstanding” projects and enabling us to launch new ones.”

Do ~ feel you can reply to the Treasurer’s call for help? What the Society needs badly are people prepared to take responsibility for organising, or helping to organise, a project – which may be a long-term, wide-ranging one like the farm or the parish boundary survey; or may be a one-off occasion like a single outing or lecture.

There are also projects already in being whose organisers would like more help – for instance, Sheila Woodward in Edgware, George Ingram for his survey of nonconformist churches, Myfanwy Stewart with site watching.

If you are prepared to offer any kind of help, please let either Jeremy Clynes or Brigid Grafton Green know.

There is one specialised subject on which we would greatly appreciate help – photographic development work. Do any members possess their own dark rooms and developing facilities? If so, would they be prepared to develop prints and transparencies taken by other members for the Society? HADAS would, of course, reimburse their expenses. ===HADAS JUNE DIARY

Sat. June 16. outing with Vice-Chairman Ted Sammes, who will meet us at Slough – and take us through pretty Thames countryside to Maidenhead and Cookham. He will provide a good mixed bag of visits – a Saxon burial mound; the Henry Reitlinger Museum, with collections of pottery, sculpture and drawings; the Stanley Spencer gallery, devoted to the works and memorabilia of the artist; and Courage’s Shire Horse Centre. If you want to take part, fill in the form enclosed with this Newsletter and return it as soon as possible to Dorothy Newbury.

All Weds, Sats and Suns in June except June I6. Digging at. West Heath, 10 am-5 pm. We have much to do this year, so please come as often and as long as you can.

Proposed Dig at Church Crescent, Finchley. We are still marking time here, waiting for problems of sale and ownership of the site to be resolved. If you have already notified Paddy Musgrove of your interest, you will be informed as soon as a date is fixed for the start of the dig.
Page 3

NEW SHIRE PUBLICATIONS

Prehistoric Stone Circles, by Aubrey Burl. Price £1.25

Aubrey Burl, author of this new volume in the “Shire Archaeology” series, has produced a very readable summary of facts and current theories about the origins, purpose, development and regional variations of these dramatic monuments.

He considers the inspiration for their origin to lie in the large circular burial mounds of Eastern Britain which often covered deep circular ditches or rings of stones or posts. The earliest stone circles, however, lie round the coasts of the Irish Sea and were, he thinks, built by the stone axe traders. Their association with celestial events was, he considers, symbolic rather than practical and pointed to their use as seasonal ceremonial meeting places for some form of ancestor cult.

The stone circle reached its zenith in size and form in its middle phase (the period of metallurgy and the beaker) when some were huge and all Were elegant. Oval was the predominant shape and there is evidence that, regardless of size, different regions used preferred numbers of stones and, indeed, developed their own architectural forms. Every inhabited area had its own stone circle.

The late period produced small clusters of circles, possibly the product of individual families, with distinctive district characteristics. There is no evidence of stone circles after 1200 BC.

Profusely illustrated, this stimulating little booklet is an excellent introduction to Aubrey Burl’s major work “The Stone Circles of the British Isles,” and is very handy to slip into the pocket. D.R.L.

Roman Roads, by Richard W Bagshawe. £1.50

In the same series is this booklet by an engineer who has included many new photographs taken in the course of field work as well as an excellent selection of air photos and reproductions from early maps. After a brief history of Roman road studies, in which pride of place of course goes to the work of that king of amateur archaeologists, Ivan Margary, the author gives notes on Roman road construction (illustrated by sections), a chapter on maps and documentary evidence, suggestions for tracing unknown Roman roads and information on how to record them when found. He provides a select bibliography and ends with – for this size book- a magnificent 30 pages of illustration.

This is a good, clear introduction to a fascinating aspect of archaeology which has provided many field archaeologists with the interest of a lifetime. B.G.G.

Clay Tobacco Pipes, by Eric Ayto. Shire Album 37, 60p

The author of this very readable 32-page booklet, Eric Ayto, has himself manufactured clay pipes as a craft potter since 1972.

The Album starts by tracing the origin and development of the clay pipe from the 16th c. until its decline after the first world war. It goes on to describe the pipe-makers themselves and the various techniques and stages of manufacture. Finally it describes how to date pipes, how to collect them and how to trace the makers.

The booklet is well written and well illustrated, and should be of great interest to anyone who has ever found a clay tobacco pipe, either in the back garden or on an archaeological excavation. J.C.

The three books here reviewed can be obtained from the Hon. Treasurer, Jeremy Clynes. Please add l5p to your order for postage.
Page 4

THE LOCAL TROLLEYBUS

By Bill Firth.

The current exhibition at Church Farm House Museum, which lasts until June 24, has been arranged by the London Trolleybus Preservation Society and recalls with pictures, maps and relics the time when the trolleybus was an everyday form of transport in what is now the London Borough of Barnet.

The first trolleybuses ran in the area in July 1936 and the last in January 1962, so that the period covered is only just over 25 years and its end is less than 20 years ago. This comes as a surprise to many who used trolleybuses regularly when they were the new, modern transport.

The exhibition can be viewed from three standpoints, all well covered within the restricted confines of the Museum. (No attempt has been made to display an actual trolleybus, but there are models). The technical aspect is covered by frogs or switches, insulators and other apparatus from the overhead (as the wires are technically known) together with wiring layouts and some vehicle equipment. Of most interest is the chance to look closely at items from the overhead which, because of its elevated position, remained a mystery to most of us.

The operating angle again is illustrated by items which the general public does not normally see -vehicle time cards, time and duty schedules, fault delay records, overtime dockets, licences, regulations, bye-laws and so on. One item which caught my eye here was the tester for dud coins – do bus conductors still have them, or are our coins now of so little value that they are not worth counterfeiting?

Lastly there are the nostalgic items, route maps, fare schedules, tickets and in particular photographs, all of which are of scenes in the Borough of Barnet. The fare schedules are a harsh reminder of what declining traffic and inflation have done to fares: in 1947 one could travel from Holborn to North Finchley by a rather roundabout route via Finsbury Park, Turnpike Lane, Wood Green and Friern Barnet or, more directly, from Moorgate to Barnet via the Angel, Highgate and Finchley, for lOd (about 4p).

The photographs will have most appeal to anyone who is not a trolleybus enthusiast. It was good to see that the 1909 trials at Hendon (later Colindale) depot were not forgotten and there is a particularly good series of the terminus at North Finchley, but everyone will surely find something here to please them.
HADAS TO THE “RESCUE”

Every HADAS member who has taken part in a Society digs – Burroughs Gardens, Church Terrace, West Heath, Finchley Rectory – has helped on a rescue dig and thereby retrieved, before it was too late, information which enabled an ‘i’ to be dotted or a ‘t’ crossed in the history of the area. This has been because HADAS has acted as a watchdog and local authorities, the Borough of Barnet and the GLC, have shown wisdom and understanding. Such is not, however, the inevitable practice and there are areas where whole chapters of our past will remain unwritten forever because the evidence has disappeared under the ravages of time, weather and, above all, man.

‘Rescue’, the British Archaeological Trust, was formed to try to do for the whole country what HADAS tries to do in Barnet. Rescue also tries to do a bit more: it is instrumental in the formation of local units, provides scholarships to train archaeological personnel, acts as a super watchdog, seeks funding and aid for archaeological projects and plays an active part in the education of the public (young and old) in the appreciation of their fast disappearing heritage.
Page 5

To have any effect at all, Rescue needs every bit of support and help it can get. With this Newsletter is a form for membership and/or donations. I do most earnestly urge all members who feel they can make a contribution, however small, to do so. Our future may be rooted in our past but, today, the bulldozer and the ‘fast-buck’ are loosening those roots. DAPHNE LORIMER ===THE DAY THE COACH ‘BLEW UP’ Jacqueline Hall describes how HADAS met with triumph and disaster in North Kent.

The Society outing on May 12 had one unforeseen and unusual feature – coach trouble, something that no HADAS outing has suffered before.

Disaster struck before we had reached our first objective, Oldsbury Hill Fort near Ightham in North Kent. The engine of the coach overheated and boiled dry. When the radiator cap was removed to pour in some water (borrowed, in a watering can, from nearby field sprinklers) clouds of steam poured out. We limped down to Wrotham and rang home for a relief coach to meet us further along the way.

The delay meant some rapid re-thinking by Sheila Woodward and Wendy Page, who were organising the trip. They decided to cut out the hill fort and make instead for our second objective, Coldrum long barrow at Trottiscliffe. This was reached by a pleasant walk along a country footpath. It must once have been most impressive in its proportions, having originally measured 70 by 55 ft. The mound has disappeared, leaving the four huge sarsen stones of the burial chamber standing exposed to wind and weather. Some of the bones of the 22 skeletons found in the chamber arc to be seen in the small and isolated Trottiscliffe Church.

After lunch our rogue coach set off for Chiddingstone along delightful rural roads. After looking at the beautifully preserved 16th/17th c. houses, owned by the National Trust, and the nearby quaintly-shaped “chiding” stone, we moved on to Penshurst, where our relief coach was expected. However, the “relief” had beaten’ us to it. It had not only arrived before us but, not finding us there, had returned promptly to London.

Penshurst P1ace, however, put every worry about coaches, rogue or relief, out of our heads. We explored the intricacies of this medieval house with its Tudor additions; and its notable Great Hall dated 1340 with a central hearth. The gardens, too, were a joy, with miles of perfectly trimmed yew hedge and many goldfish pools.

Our coach returned us safely to London after a memorable outing. Special thanks are due to Sheila and Wendy for coping with crisis so calmly and competently, and to our coach driver, who never lost his cool even when his coach did!
HENDON’S FIRST CENSUS

Historians who study Census returns usually begin in 1841, considering that Census the first which gives real detail about individuals. In many areas that is true. In our Borough, however, we are fortunate: for the parish of Hendon (not, alas, for any other part of the Borough) we have the original returns (not just microfilm copies) from three earlier Census, containing a good deal of information.

(NOTE – the following appeared in Newsletter 101 in July 1979 —

C0RRECTION. In the article on Hendon’s First Census, when discussing Rufus King, reference was wrongly made to the American War. This should, of course, have been to the War of Independence.

End of NOTE)

The first Census countrywide was taken on the night of March 10, 1801, when there was no Civil Service to mastermind it. This and the Censes of 1811, 1821 and 1831 (the last is the only one for which we have no Hendon returns) were taken by parishes. The Overseers of the Poor took charge of the count. Questions were oral, not written and, from a modern historian’s point of view, were not really the right questions – they did not deal, for instance, with age or marital or family status.
Page 6

From 1841 the whole thing became more streamlined. Registration districts (which had come into being under the 1827 General Registry Act for the registration of births, deaths and marriages) were subdivided into Census Enumeration districts; in that year there were 35000 Census Enumerators, and the questions became more searching.

In general the figures of the four earliest Census are considered of doubtful historical value. The three sets of Hendon returns, however, are reasonably detailed. They are contained in small, paper-covered books – not quite as large as modern school exercise books – the unlined pages of which have been ruled up by the assessors in faded ink. They are divided into Hendon North End and South End – the way the parish was administered for Vestry purposes.

The 1801 Census occupies four small books with only, on average, 5 pages used in each book. The two South End books give a total of 1177 persons. The enumerators (Thomas Littlewood and James Goodyer for one book, William Geeves for the other) have carefully totted up the numbers of people on each page. The North End enumerators (William Dell and William Buckingham) do not add up each page. The total for the North End districts appears to be 695, making a total of 1872 inhabitants for the whole parish in 1801.

The way the questions were posed also differed between North and South End. Obviously this was the start of the project, before the formula had been clearly worked out and laid down.

Both North and South Ends start with columns for “number of house” and “name of occupier.” Both have -though not in the same position on the record – columns for “number of fami1ys” in each house and total “number of persons.” In the South End books “persons” are subdivided into male and female and there is a final column “how employed” which is in turn subdivided into “agriculture”, “trade” and “unoccupied.”

The North End books are more complicated with more columns. They have a “trade or occupation” column following “name of occupier.” This is not subdivided, so that ,instead of type you get the actual occupations – farmer, housekeeper; labourer, gardener, Gentleman, carpenter, “taylor”, smith, mantua maker, “poor” (in which poignant category are 8 persons, all widows), stagemaster, captain in the Navy, baker, attorney, carrier, dealer, wheelwright, bricklayer, Army agent, builder , shoemaker, merchant, postman (not our kind of postman) and shopkeeper.

There are also separate columns in these books for children, male and female; servants, male and fema1e; and one for servants’ employment, , not always filled in. When it is the commonest occupations are gardener, footman, groom, coachman and “boy”! The servants column also apparently includes living-in apprentices. John Lodge, smith, has 2 male servants who are also “smiths; farmers have servants who work in agriculture; a baker has a baker servant; and a carpenter with 3 servants (2 male, one female) puts the word “Prentices” against their occupation.

There are also columns headed “inmates, male and female” and “inmates occupation”. This category may cover lodgers, some of whom are perhaps permanent like those of the mantua maker, whose house harbours 3 “inmates” besides herself – and others who may be birds of passage (3 publicans’ houses have “inmates” on the night of the Census). There arc sometimes children, noted as such, among the “inmates, ” which may mean children boarded out by the parish.

More information can therefore be wrung from the North End books, but it is not as clear nor easy to interpret as that in the South End books.
Page 7

A word about that column “number of house.” It does not mean a street number. No streets are either numbered or named, so there is no way of tolling where you are, either in South or North End, except that in Mr. Geeves’ South End book two entries give some, clue – one for the Almshouses, which must be Daniel’s Almshouses (where Church Road joins The Burroughs); and, another for the Workhouse at the end of The Burroughs (where Quadrant Close now stands). The workhouse is entry 46. It contains 19 males and 38 females – 4 employed in agriculture, 24 in trade and 29 unoccupied. The entry following, No. 47, must surely apply to some adjunct to the Workhouse, though it is merely called “Mr. Goodyers;” in it there are 52 males and 4 females, with 6 persons employed in trade and 50 unoccupied. (Incidentally, Nicolls Almshouses in Mill Hill – that is, in North End – are not identifiable in this Census). The “number of house” goes through each book seriatim. There are 379 inhabited houses in Hendon parish in 1801.

On the last page of each book is given the number of uninhabited houses on Census night: 5 in South End, 10 in North End. For each un-occupied house the name of the “proprietor” is given; and a column headed “l’ occupier” stands for “late occupier.” Here again is a clue to where we are in the parish. In South End one uninhabited house is “Mr. Coore’s Ivy House.” There is today, on the north corner of The Burroughs On Watford Way, an interesting group of 4 18th c. houses, Nos. 9, 11, 13 and 15, of which No. 13 is still called Ivey House. Was this, perhaps, Mr. Coore’s, uninhabited on the night of March 10, 1801?

Two entries are of themselves particularly interesting. One is totally unexpected. It is for house no. 121 in North End, and it is for “His Excellency Rufus King, American Minister, ” living with one male and one female servant. Perhaps some HADAS member with a taste for documentary research might care to ferret out who exactly this gentleman was. Was he, only 25 years after the American Civil War, the first Minister to be appointed to Britain? Is it known where precisely his house was in Hendon? Did it serve as his office as well as his home?

The other entry is bizarre – and a commentary on social mores. It occurs in South End and is the entry for house No. 69. The occupier is Mr. Lockier, the number of “familys” is 1 , the persons are male .2, female 22, making a total of 24, one of whom is engaged in agriculture, two in trade and 21 are unoccupied. What a family, by any standards!

We hope to discuss in later Newsletters the other early Hendon Census of 1811 and 1821.
MILESTONE FOR THE NEWSLETTER

This is the 100th issue of the Newsletter, which began life in October, 1969, with a slim l 1/2 pages, a circulation of under a hundred and the promise of appearing at “about 6-weekly intervals.” Towards the end of 1971 it began with an occasional hiccup to arrive almost monthly and to be a full 2 pages.

There have been other milestones. No. 20 (Sept. 1972) was the first 4-pager; July 1974 saw us dressed up with a printed heading and the now familiar HADAS logo; in October 1975 we conformed to up-to-date usage, changing from foolscap to A4 size. April 1976 was the first 6-page issue; and in May 1978 we crept up to 8 pages:. This month we are a bumper 11.

Another innovation – thanks to the professional skill of Freda Wilkinson – was the institution of an Index in 1977. The first one covered issues 1-70, Oct. 1969-Dec. 1976. Since then Mrs. Wilkinson has kindly put her talents at our disposal annually, providing separate indices for 1977 and 1978. These, being an essential tool’ for researchers, have added a new dimension to the use of the Newsletter, particularly in libraries. Incidentally, any member who would like to have these indices can, by letting our Hon. Secretary know, do so at a cost of 5p a page.
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This seems a very proper moment to announce further extension of the Newsletter’s scope. From now on we hope sometimes to include line illustrations – maps, sections, plans, the occasional page of drawings of pottery and small finds. You may have noticed that we had a successful trial run for this new venture last month, when we included a reproduction of a 19th c. advertisement.

With this Newsletter comes our first map, to accompany the opening article in ~ series by HADAS members which we shall publish on different aspects of archaeology in the Borough. Mike Purton, a recently joined member, starts the series with the article which follows, on Geology in the Borough of Barnet. He hopes in a later paper to describe how geology has affected human occupation and activity in the area.
THE GEOLOGY OF THE BOROUGH OF BARNET

By Michael Purton

Introduction. The accompanying map shows the outcrops of geological deposits in the area and this article attempts to describe briefly their character and the history of their formation. The time scale involved is considerably longer than that for archaeology and extends over 50 million years. Considerable changes have taken place during this time, starting from when the area was below the sea level when the London Clay was being deposited and continuing through periods of uplift and several glacial periods to the present day.

London Clay. The oldest deposits exposed in the area are those of the London Clay which was laid down about 50 million years ago. It is present over the entire area and has a maximum thickness of over 400 ft. All the other deposits in the area can be considered as lying above the London Clay.

The London Clay is a stiff brown clay when exposed at the surface but can be seen to be dark-grey or bluish-grey when freshly exposed in cuttings. The colour change is due to the chemical action of weathering which also tends to dissolve fossils. As a consequence, fossils are rare at the surface but many have been recorded in the past during the cutting of the Archway Road and the construction of cuttings and tunnels when the railways were being built. These fossils included mammals, reptiles, birds, fishes and plant remains (including palms and sequoia) which indicated a sub-tropical climate at the time of deposition. The deposits are interpreted as being formed from the mud from a large river and laid down, in estuarine or marine conditions.

Claygate Beds. The London Clay is succeeded by Claygate Beds which are composed of alternations of sand, loam and clay and are regarded as being transitional between the London Clay and Bagshot Sand. The change in character is interpreted in terms of the shallowing of the sea after the deposition of the London Clay.

The Claygate Beds are exposed on higher ground in the area at Hampstead, Highgate, Mill Hill, Totteridge, Arkley and Elstree.

Bagshot Sand. The Bagshot Sand occurs only in the area capping the high ground at Hampstead and Highgate. The deposits were laid down some 45 million years ago and are composed of 60-80 feet of white and yellow sands with layers of loamy material, occasional layers of small rolled flint pebbles and a bed of ironstone. The base of the series is taken at the top of the first prominent underlying clay bed and is marked by springs, including that giving rise to the Leg of Mutton pond.
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The Bagshot Sand represents a further shallowlng of the sea following the deposition of the Claygate Beds. There are no further marine deposits in the area following the Bagshot Sand. An extremely long time gap of over 40 million years occurred before subsequent Pleistocene deposits were laid down in the area. During this time the whole area was lifted above sea level and the beds were gently folded to give the present saucer-like configuration of the London Basin with the Chalk outcropping at the margins (the Chilterns and the North Downs). These changes occurred only very gradually and it is only because of the long period of time involved that the effect appears so great.

PLEISTOCENE

During the Pleistocene period, which covers the last two million years, the land was above sea level and the geological history is interpreted in terms of climatic changes, glaciations and changes in sea level. For a complete understanding it is necessary to correlate deposits with those outside the area and this requires contributions from many disciplines. Active work relating to the Barnet area is still in progress.

Most of the Pleistocene deposits in the area are river deposits laid down on valley floors. These occur at different levels which arc related to changes in past sea levels. When a fall of sea-level occurs, rivers will cut down through the old valley floors leaving the original deposits as terraces on either side of the new valley floors. Several terraces hove been identified in the Thames Valley and the Vale of St. Albans and these reveal a complicated history against which the deposits in the Barnet area must be considered.

Pebble Gravel. The oldest of these deposits is the Pebble Gravel which, due to subsequent erosion, now occurs as a thin capping over the highest land in the area at Stanmore, EIstree, Arkley, Barnet and Totteridge, with small remnants at Mill Hill and Hampstead. The Pebble Gravel is composed mainly of flint pebbles, some reaching the size of a hen’s egg. There are a number of minor constituents which indicate a source to the south in the weald. Thus it is concluded that the deposits were laid down by a river (or rivers) which drained northwards and that there was no river on the present course of the Thames.

Dollis Hill Gravel. The next oldest deposits arc those of the Dollis Hill Gravel, which occur at Dollis Hill, Hendon, Finchley and Southgate. It can be shown that at this time, some 600,000 years ago, the Thames (or, more strictly, its precursor) ran through the Vale of St. Albans past Watford, St. Albans, Hatfield and Hertford to the east. Careful analysis of the structure and composition of the Dollis Hill Gravel shows that it was a river deposit (not glacial, as indicated on geological maps) formed from a river following the present course of the Wey and Mole in Surrey which then flowed north-eastwards in a valley between Hampstead and Mill Hill to join the proto-Thames near Hoddesdon.

At about this time the period of the Anglian glaciation occurred; this was the only glaciation in which the ice reached the area. A glacier flowing from the main ice sheet to the north crossed the Chalk outcrop through the Stevenage gap, flowed into the then Thames valley and into the valley of the Dollis Hill Gravel. This had the effect of blocking the outlet of water from the valleys so that lakes formed into which fine sands and silts were deposited. When the lakes eventually overflowed they cut new drainage channels to the south east. The effect of this was to divert the Thames to its present course and completely to reverse the drainage in the Brent Valley from a northeast to a southwest direction.

Boulder Clay. The maximum advance of the ice was as far as Finchley, where the terminal moraine is left today as a mass of boulder clay stretching from Whetstone to Finchley, East Finchley and Muswell Hill, overlying the Dollis Hill Gravel and the thin lake deposits.
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The boulder clay is a tough bluish clay containing pebbles and larger fragments of flint, chalk, Jurassic rocks from the Midlands and occasional igneous rocks from Scandinavia, indicating a northerly and easterly origin of the ice sheet from which the glacier flowed. The boulder clay also contains lenses of sand and gravel.

Subsequent geological history follows the general pattern of the present with rivers flowing in their present valleys but at lower levels so that a series of river terraces have been formed. Two terraces (Boyn Hill and Taplow) occur in the Brent Valley and Neolithic implements from terraces of the same age at Yiewsey in West Middlesex have been described by Desmond Collins. During the time in which these deposits wore being 1aid down there were two glacial periods, the Wolstonian some 200,000 years ago and the Devensian 30-40,000 years ago (in general, it is not possible to correlate these glaciations with the classic Alpine sequence). The ice sheets in these glaciations did not reach so far south and consequently, did not have such a drastic effect on drainage in the area.

(EDITORIAL NOTE – The reference above to Neolithic implements should read PALAEOLITHIC – see correction on page 10 of Newsletter 111 – May 1980)

The latest deposits are those of alluvium in the floors of the present river valleys.

SOURCES R L Sherlock, British Regional Geology: London & Thames Valley. HMSO, 1960

H B Woodward, Geology of the London District, Mem. Geol. Surv; 1909

P L Gibbard, Middle Pleistocene Drainage in the Thames Valley; Geol. Magazine; 1979, 116 (1), 35-44

Hampstead Scientific Society, Hampstead Heath, Its Geology and, Natural History. T Fisher Unwin 1913, 41

This account is based on a limited examination of the available literature, not on first hand experience.

Tho London and Thames Valley booklet gives a general background; a detailed local description is given in the Hampstead Scientific Society publication, chapter II.

Further information came from H B Woodward’s 1909 account of the geology of the London area which was based on mapping carried out before the area became built over.

The Pleistocene Geology is less straightforward to decipher than the Tertiary and the account relies heavily on a recent Paper by P L Gibbard in which temporary deposits in the Finchley area have been of decisive importance in the interpretation of the history of the drainage in the Thames Valley. This work emphasises that it is not only local archaeology but also local geology which depends on the examination of temporarily exposed sections.

Geological maps were also used, as were the facilities of the Geological Museum library. This library is open to the public (10 am- 4 pm weekdays) who may also consult members of the Institute of Geological Sciences (HADAS members have in fact been able to use this service in connection with West Heath finds).

Theo Museum itself is worth a visit. On the first floor a large scale model shows the geology of the Thames Basin. More recent displays are on the ground floor, but on the upper floors some older displays dealing with mineral workings are of as much interest to industrial archaeologists as they are from the geological point of view.

Finally, the author wishes to thank Dr. J C Robinson of University College, London, for introducing him to the more recent literature.

(EDITORIAL – For accompanying map, select the following link)