Issue No 236 November 1990 Editor: Jean Snelling
DIARY
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 6 LECTURE “Waters sweet and fresh for London”
Dr Michael Essex-Lopresti. Our speaker will deal with the New River as the major supply of London’s water over four centuries. He will open with a resume of London’s water at the end of the 16th c as recounted by John Stow in his Survey of London of 1598, from which the lecture title is taken. Dr Essex-Lopresti became interested in his subject while travelling in his narrowboat through Amwell, Hertfordshire. His book “Exploring the New River” will be on sale at the lecture.
TUESDAY DECEMBER 4 CHRISTMAS VISIT. Regretfully the ‘Water Rats’ cannot now be our venue. But we have arranged something much more interesting for you – a visit to the Royal College of Surgeons in Lincolns Inn Fields (instigated by our member Paul O’Flynn). The Hunterian Museum and the Odontological. Room will be opened specially for us, and dinner will follow in the Webb Johnson room.
Details and application form enclosed.
TUESDAY JANUARY 22 1991 2.0pm PRIVATE TOUR of the Museum of London’s Reserve Collection at Ironmongers Row. Cheque £1.50 to Dorothy
Newbury at 55 Sunningfields Road, Hendon NW4, 081.203.0950.
A few places still available.
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 5 LECTURE to be confirmed.
TUESDAY MARCH 5 LECTURE “Digging in Assyria; the Work of the British Museum”. Dr John Curtis, Keeper, Dept. of Western Asiatic Antiquities.
Lectures are held at the Central Library, the Burroughs, Hendon. 8.0 pm for 8.30.
MINIMART OCTOBER 6 1990 Profit – Nett – £1180.
Another great effort by everybody. Dorothy would like to thank the 48 members who helped on the day, carting the goods, hauling them upstairs, preparing and selling them, and above all clearing up afterwards. Many other members provided goods for sale, slow at first but an avalanche in the last week. Tessa would like to thank those members who provided delicious quiches for lunch, and thanks to Brigid for the mountain of meringues and cream (there wasn’t one left when I had my lunch at 12.30). Approximately another 40 members came as customers, but better still about 140 members of the public arrived to swell our funds (and we joined up 2 new members). D.N.
VIVE LE MINIMART Dawn Orr
If the time comes when HADAS has sufficient funds for its projects (and does not need a small fortune for a name-change, forewarned by Mr Wild in Oct: Newsletter), then perhaps we should continue the Minimart anyway, to raise funds for some other worthy cause. It would be a pity to go without one of the jolliest days in our calendar, to miss the cheerful loading and unloading of those carefully marked boxes, the priceless comments and banter, the gourmet miracles which emerge from Tessa’s kitchen (room for two where there’s often half a dozen, and never a cross word!). Could we bear to forego the replenishing of the wardrobe, the bookshelves and larder, the succumbing to just a few more wallflowers and another try at parsley, let alone the indulgence of another tiny glass and the little blue jug to replace the Minimart 1985 treasure that fell off the dishrack last week?? Above all, it would be a shame to miss Dorothy in full spate with all the preliminaries, in full blow (at the whistle), in full count (of the takings), and full steam (still!) at the final clearing up – – – “where have all those men gone?”
Moreover we are not only enjoying ourselves and topping up the bank balance, but we are undoubtedly providing a service to our customers in the wind-blown queue in the yard outside. A smaller queue this year – in fact the whole operation was a little smaller – (the credit squeeze?) – but nevertheless eager to run in and buy on the dot of 11.30 am. There’s always a sprinkling of colonials and country cousins looking to make a London pad seem more comfortable, a dealer or two with an eye for a bargain, a sweet clutch of infants passing over damp coins in exchange for some toy or trinket “for my baby brother” -”for Mummy’s birthday” – – and the hard core of regulars who open large bags and smaller purses, the free readers who could well be in W.H. SMITH’s the ditherers who wonder about the size, colour, shape and scars of a 10p dinner plate and then tell you it’s for the cat food. Astonishing to see a mere male take up a little dish (With love from Ventnor) when his wife wouldn’t have it – perhaps there’s a story there. I missed the last of Brigid’s meringues while a lady tried to make up her mind to buy the ice cream machine (she didn’t) so I’ll have to come again next year – – see you there!
EXCAVATION AT 14-25 HIGH STREET, BARNET Andy Simpson
Work at the site is continuing. The team has now excavated nine trenches, ranging in size from several metres long to small test pits. With the exception of the disturbed front (north) end of the site, evidence of medieval occupation continues to be found wherever we choose to dig. This usually takes the form of a 2-3 inch soil layer with grey ware sherds lying both on the surface and within the matrix, occasionally kept company by charcoal, metal slag, animal bone, and the odd nail. Metal work of any date on the site, including coins, is conspicuous by its absence. The Museum of London note that some of the medieval sherds recovered from the site are similar to sherds found in Elstree. It will be interesting to compare our finds with sherds from the Arkley site, excavated in the 1950s.
While still distinctly short on numbers, the team continues to make good progress and we are hoping to have comprehensively sampled the site by the time excavation is completed. The sheer number of medieval sherds recovered should enable some meaningful conclusions to be drawn about the economy of 12-13th century High Barnet, as regards trade links and the like.
As always, we desperately need volunteers. Just in case anyone has missed the contact numbers and names, they are – Brian (081 959 5982), Arthur (081 368 6288), or yours truly (081 205 6456).
THE CAMDEN TOWN WALK ON SEPTEMBER 29TH. June Gibson
“Rain, rain go away, at least for this afternoon” we wished; and it did, mostly.
Under the admirable leadership of Murial Large we were able to keep well away from the Saturday shopping maelstrom of the High Street, and investigate some of the quiet and interesting backwaters of the area. We ranged between the somewhat melancholy and neglected St Pancras Gardens and the splendid ‘iced wedding cake’ style of Park Village on the border of Regents Park.
Camden Town was named from Lord Camden, the ground landlord of the acres east of the High Street.Camden Place, near Chislehurst, Kent, his family seat, was so called after a former resident, William Camden the historian. Next year Camden Town celebrates the bicentenary of its major development around 1791. There will be special commemorative events during 1991, with no shortage of historically interesting material.
The Post Office or Telecom Tower and Euston Tower are not very far distant and throughout the walk one kept getting glimpses of these landmarks, giving architectural balance to the buildings seen in our walk, in the main pleasantly low-rise. Busy though Camden Town may be, a feeling of spaciousness abounds.
Our party of 20 met at the south end of Camden High Street outside the Camden Palace, now a huge discotheque/nightclub, built in the grand manner but with some of the rococo detail now missing. Originally the Camden Theatre, it was opened in 1900 by Ellen Terry, a local resident and one of the first players there. Just along the High Street was the rival and smaller Bedford Theatre, a popular music hall of 1861, rebuilt in 1896. Marie Lloyd was a frequent attraction in this her favourite theatre. It was demolished in the 1960s and only part of one flank wall remains. The front part of the site is now an Abbey National branch.
Across the road is Mornington Crescent Underground Station, opened in 1907, with its splendid exterior facing of ox-blood red tiles on three sides of its corner site. Now closed on Saturdays and with no lifts operating, one remembers it is part of the Northern (Misery) line. Nearby on a large traffic island set where the High Street and Hampstead Road converge, is the statue to Richard Cobden (1804-1865) the great campaigner for Corn Law Reform. The statue was erected in 1868 by public subscription, and as there was probably farmland remaining thereabouts at that time perhaps its site was a fitting one. It marks the site of an older toll bar.
Walter Sickert, leader of the Camden Town group of painters, married Cobden’s daughter and lived at various addresses nearby. Charles Dickens went to school at the now vanished Wellington House in Hampstead Road from 1824-26, when the Dickens family lived in nearby Baham Street. The college was one of many casualties in the railway land-grab when it cut through c.1834. In Hampstead Road , behind Mornington Crescent Station today, Tennyson lodged in 1849-50 and Cruikshank the caricaturist lived in Mornington Crescent until his death in 1878. So did the Rossetti and the Terry families. H G Wells lived in Mornington Terrace c.1896, as did William Crookes (1832-1919) the prominent X-ray researcher.
We proceeded along Crowndate Road, once Fig Lane, noting particularly the Working Men’s College, founded in 1854 in Holborn and moved to Camden Tbwn in 1906. Nowadays of course working women are included. Early associates and lecturers included Rossetti, Ruskin and Madox Brown.
Noted too was Goldington Court, the first council flats in St Pancras, completed in 1904. Dr Crippen’s mistress, Ethelle Neve, lived here at time of the infamous murder. His wife and victim Belle Ellmoor was a singer who often appeared at the Bedford Theatre.
In Royal College Street we saw the Royal Veterinary College, erected in 1792 on a green-field site. The first of its kind in the country, it was largely rebuilt this century. As the area built up the RVC built an extra establishment at Hawkshead Road, Potters Bar, where there will be an Open bay on April 27 1991.
The Camden Town building displays a plaque with the College arms and motto. Poets Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud once lived in this street.
In Pancras Road we came to St Pancras Gardens, once a graveyard for the old church. There are still gravestones and tombs including one for Sir John Soane, in poor condition. There is a new Soane Monuments Trust, to effect restorations, including his own. (Trust secretary Robin Moore Ede, 21 Burton Place,WC1) In the Gardens is an unusual cast iron drinking fountain which would reward care. At the rear of the Gardens we passed under the railway to the entrance of Camley Street Nature Reserve, with its wrought iron gates brought from the old railway coal yard. This visit was a high-light of the walk. From photographic slides we could see the amazing transformation made by volunteers since 1984. Land that was quite derelict is now a wonderful haven of greenery and ponds beside the canal, for all kinds of wildlife. It is a great educational experience for school children and one hopes that British Rail will permit the reserve to continue after the Channel Tunnel terminus begins at Kings Cross.
Returning under the railway to St Pancras Way we passed the Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the gigantic NW Area Sorting Office (Post Office) built on the old Midland Railway goods yard. Outside is a hexagonal Victorian pillar box painted dark green; post boxes were not painted red until mid-1870s.
Next to Pratt Street/passing the IDRIS soft drinks factory and the old Fire Station, both derelict. A detour into Camden Street took us to the outside of the Greek Church, built 1824, designed by William Inwood (a bailiff’s son of Kenwood). The church is one of the most handsome buildings in the area, and well cared for by the remaining Greek community.
From Pratt Street into St Martin’s Gardens, another disused burial ground, now a tiny park. It was opened in 1803 as an overflow cemetery for St Martin in the Fields. St Martin’s Almshouses, still to be seen, were erected in 1817. There is no access to the chapel. The writer of Tom Bowling, Charles Dibdin (d.1814) is buried there. As Camden Town was the centre of the piano and sheet music trades in 19th c and early 20th c it is surprising that there are not more relics. We left by an alley way, noting St Martin’s Tavern with its top plaque of St Martin. The pub was built on the site of a charnel house (full of spirits?)
We crossed the. High Street into Delancey Street (Dylan Thomas there briefly in 1952). On this west side the land was originally owned by the Southamptons, from whom come the family names, Arlington, Fitzroy, Mornington. The coming of the canal and later the railway with a huge interchange at Camden Lock decimated the area, causing much upheaval and distress.
The Crown land towards Regents Park was developed by Nash at great financial risk from 1811 onwards. The Regents Canal, opened between Paddington and Camden Town in 1816, was then a prominent feature with its attendant bustle. A branch of the Canal from the Zoo to halfway down Albany Street served the hay market by Cumberland Basin. The canal branch survived until 1940 when it was sold and filled in with bomb-damage rubble. Gloucester Gate Bridge remains, now bridging only wooded and grassed earth. Pre-1940 finds! What a marvellous spot for archaeologists in some far-distant future! The bridge, replacing one of 1814, was designed by William Booth Scott and built in 1877-8. It has a bronze plaque by Fucione of the martyrdom of St Pancras and splendid lamp standards set into the balustrade.
Onward to the delightful cream-coloured stucco houses of East and West Park Village, by John Nash, where we saw numerous pretty details. Then into the Outer Circle past beautiful Nash lodges and terraces (a blue plaque on a house revealed that Sir Henry Wellcome the pharmacist (1853-1936) lived there. We went to see St Katharine’s Church with the replica runic stone in the garden. What a world of difference! The Victorian brick Gothic was a shock after so much of Nash’s meringue-like style. St Katharine’s was established here from what is now St Katharine’s Dock. The earliest church was founded by Queen Matilda in 1148 and re-endowed by Queen Eleanor in 1273. It became the principal Danish church in London in the first World War and has remained so. The runic replica in the garden was placed there in 1955 following aDanish exhibition at the V&A. The original was erected in 980 AD at Jelling by Harald Bluetooth, first Christian king of Denmark.
Passing over Gloucester Gate again on our way out, we saw a stone fountain, part drinking, part ornamental, installed in 1878 and incorporating a bronze figure entitled ‘Matilda’ by Joseph Durham. We entered Parkway, which continues on into the very heart of Camden Town. We dispersed there as it was after 4.30 and everyone headed for watering holes, some requiring instant sustenance;-others following Muriel to Marine Ices at Chalk Farm. It was a very satisfying afternoon, with much to mull over as we refreshed ourselves.
ARCHAEOLOGY IN BARNET BOROUGH’S: UNITARY DEVELOPMENT PLAN Brian Wrigley
Readers may well feel it is about time we had some more news on this matter – the last report having been in June when a discussion with the Borough Council and the Museum of London was in the offing. Well, it took plan although it had to be postponed to 4 July, and was a useful exchange of views, following which (7 August) the Council gave us a revised draft. There was then a period of further negotiation in which some telephones and certainly my typewriter got quite hot, but eventually, in the nick of time before the D of E Inspector was due in his Public Inquiry to reach our submission (on 27 September), a wording was agreed between all three parties, approved by the Council and accepted by the Inspector. This final version is as follows:
3.4.17 ARCHAEOLOGY. Archaeological sites and ancient monuments are important aspects of the Borough’s heritage and must be respected in preparing development proposals. The Council will promote the conservation, enhancement and public presentation of the Borough’s archaeological heritage. Local areas of special archaeological significance may be defined by the Council and nationally important remains may be protected by the Secretary of State for the
Environment. The council will seek the presentation in situ of the most important remains and their settings and will encourage suitable design, land use and management to safeguard archaeological sites generally.
POLICY E3. 1
THE COUNCIL WILL PROTECT ANCIENT MONUMENTS AND THEIR SETTINGS AND OTHER ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES OF ACKNOWLEDGED IMPORTANCE FROM INTRUSIVE OR DESTRUCTIVE DEVELOPEMENT. NATIONALLY (IMPORTANT SITES MAY BY REFERRED TO THE SSCRETARY OF STATE FOR THE ENVIRONMENT FOR SCHEDULING ANCIENT MONUMENTS.
Where a site is expected to reveal material of archaeological importance the Council will expect prospective developers to seek specialist advice at an early stage, in accordance with the British Archaeologists and Developers Liaison Group Code of Practice. A preliminary archaeological site evaluation may be required so that the Council has sufficient information upon which to base an informed planning decision, incorporating adequate heritage safeguards.
POLICY E3.2
WHERE DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS MAY AFFECT THE BURIED HERTTAGE? THE COUNCIL WILL EXPECT APPLICANTS TO HAVE PROPERLY ASSESSED AND PLANNED FOR THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS. THE COUNCIL MAY REQUIRE A PRELIMINARY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE EVALUATION BEFORE PROPOSALS ARE CONSISIDERED.
Where preservation in situ is not required, modern methods of site clearance and construction will tend to destroy completely potentially significant archaeological remains. In such cases, the Council will expect the developer to enter into an agreement for rescue investigations to be carried out by archaeologists in advance of development. POLICY’ E3.3
BEFORE DEVELOPMENT BEGINS ON SITES OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE,
A RECOGNISED ARCHAEOLOGICAL ORGANISATTON SHALL UNDERTAKE APPROPRIATE
RESCUE INVESTIGATION’, EXCAVATION’, ANALYSIS, INTERPRETATION AND
PUBLIC PRESENTATION OF THE RESULTS, UNLESS PRESERVATION IN SITU IS REQUIRED. ALL SUCH WORK SHALL BE CARRIED OUT TO A FORMAT TO BE APPROVED IN ADVANCE BY THE COUNCIL.
Table 3.7 SCHEDULED ANCIENT MONUMENTS
Brockley Hill Romano-British Pottery
Manor House Moated Site, East End Road, Finchley.
Proposals Map
(In addition to the amendments to 3.4.17, the Borough’s
scheduled ancient monuments will be marked on the
Proposals Map and included in the Key.)
For us, I think probably the most important of these provisions, and the one that I am most pleased about, is Policy E3.2 and the note above it: this recognises that, in our Borough, our ancient villages lie beneath our present shopping centres: we are jolly sure of this but cannot prove it archaeologically unless we are given the chance to explore when redevelopment offers it. This Policy, we may hope, will give us that chance to add to knowledge of the Borough’s past – and with it a responsibility to shoulder!
EXCAVATION IN WEST AFRICA: ORIGINS OF BRONZES PROM IGBO-UKWU
Margaret Taylor, St Albans
Dr Paul Craddock’s lecture on October 2nd.
I came to this lecture with a personal interest as my uncle worked in Lagos in 1906-1926 and was friendly with the King of Benin. He returned to England with a collection of small bronze sculptures and wood carvings, one made by the King when a prisoner. My father gave the collection to the British Museum in 1960 and it was returned to Nigeria to be exhibited at the Jos Museum.
Dr Craddock went recently from the British Museum to shed light on the Igbo-ukwu bronzes of south-east Nigeria. He needed to reconsider this area of civilisation situated between the Sahara desert and the rain forests, where iron of high grade has been exported for a long time.
What is so amazing has been the discovery, through excavations around 1960, of quantities of bronze images, some dating back to C.9 AD. In the last 30 years there has been reappraisal of this high technology, which remained a mystery until now. In modern times in the Igbo-ukwu area there was no hint of any technological expertise. Pottery also of very high quality and richly ornamented was found in the excavation, smashed into pits as by some ancient ritual. The burial of a chieftain or priest in a wooden chamber, sitting on a stool, with bead stockings and elaborate headdress, was accompanied by other vessels. The discovery of what seems to have been an open shrine with 600 bronzes is truly remarkable. The slides of some of these were beautiful one was in the form of a whelk shell of one foot long, richly ornamented and decorated with patterns, the bronze itself only 1-2 mm thick. A large bowl, 2 feet across and complete with two handles, poses the problem of how it was cast, as no modern sculptor could achieve such perfection of 2 mm thickness. All the bronzes were cast by the lost-wax method and each was completed in one casting.
It had been thought that outside influences must have come from Coptic or Byzantine sources, perhaps using local designs, but now it is believed that this was a local technology which developed in isolation without awareness of other methods of working bronze. The metal is an alloy of copper and tin with lead. An American laboratory has been carrying out research into lead isotope ratios for these bronzes, which shows them to be made of local metals. Dr Craddock is seeking to locate the early workings by collecting slag. He concluded that the majority of the bronzes do come from the Igbo-ukwu area and said with confidence that it shows a completely indigenous industry with a very long tradition to have attained such high proficiency.
The superb slides of the area, excavation sites and artefacts made me want to revisit the Museum of Mankind and the British Museum to admire their collections. A fascinating and exhilarating lecture.
MEMBERS’ NEWS
John Hooson has completed his (“most interesting”) four year course at the Polytechnic of East London and has been awarded a BSc in Archaeological Sciences. Our hearty congratulations, and good wishes for his hope of a Postgraduate research project connected with the analysis of prehistoric pigments or similar residues.
Myfanwy Stewart has an excavation going, all on her own. As a result of subsidence she has rebuilding work at her house in Galley Lane, Arkley (late Gallows Lane) and has pottery galore coming up, probably from a local kiln. It is C.13 or 14, and could be Herts Greyware.
Daphne Lorimer fell in her garden on Orkney, with a cut leg, stitches and much bedrest. We wish her a sound and a speedy recovery.
Isobel McPherson is at Edenhall, 11 Lyndhurst Gardens, London NW3. She would welcome a line (or postcard) from any members who would like to write to her.
Paul Beevor, who joined HADAS nearly 20 years ago as a small boy, is off to do postgraduate teacher training at St Peter’s College, Oxford, after doing preliminary practice at St Mary’s and St Joseph’s School in Hendon. He has travelled abroad a good deal.
THE THREE RIVERS PIPE LINE – THE CROSSING OF WATLING STREET
Victor Jones
With this Newsletter comes Victor Jones’ report on the Water Pipeline crossing Watling Street. A report on It@ Pipeline has been received’ from the Museum of London, and now awaits our next Newsletter.
Note – Tessa Smith has collected many of the finds from our walks and has offered to hold an exhibition, with those any other members may have. This will be at her house, 94 Hillside Gardens, Edgware, 081 958 9159.
In the October Newsletter I reported that Watling Street had been crossed, but we had little warning of the timing. The work was undertaken in a very concentrated way over one weekend. This, of course, had to happen only a day or two before I was to go on holiday, so there was only time for a brief note. Since then, not only has that work been finished but most other work is also completed.
The track across the golf course is now within a short distance of the Motorway, and the tunnel underneath has been constructed. Same of the pipes are in place on the north side, and may well be so on the Edgwarbury side as I have not recently walked there. The tunnelling is under both the A1000 and the A41.
The field walking has been continued and further observation obtained inthis way, However, the major remaining item of interest is the result of theexcavation at Watling Street, to take the pipeline across this major Roman road, now used as the route of the A5 and so still one of our great trunk roads.
The place chosen for the crossing is towards the top of Brockley Hill. It is interesting both because of the close proximity of the early manufacturing site of Roman pottery at Sulloniacae, and because we might hope to find remains of the original Roman road. Watching of this special area was undertaken as a joint interest-of HADAS and the Museum of London.
The work was planned to be undertaken in August and, to avoid major traffic disruption, limited to four days around a weekend, first intended for August and then rearranged for 6-9 September, at a final starting time advised only shortly before the event.
As reported earlier, the wide soil-cleared track and its deep central pipe trench had only been taken to within about 40 yards of Watling Street.
The first stage of the preparations for making the deep trench to take the pipe across the road was to clear the trees and bushes and level the approaches to the road edges, in order to get the heavy earth-moving and other equipment to the road. This work was started on Friday 7th, and I and a representative of the Museum watched that day until late in the evening. On both sides the road surface is below the fields levels, so a considerable depth of soil had to be removed. The big water-supply pipe had, for safety reasons, to be
taken deeply below the road, and the central trench was of the order of 8ft below it.
On the east side the ground slopes irregularly but steeply, upwards and risessharply at the road edge, from 4 to 10 ft. When the soil was cut through to the road, there was exposed a section of heavy clay with a varying gravel-clay mix of 1-2 ft at the surface. A few brick and tile fragments were found in it.
On the west side of the road there is a drainage ditch and a short flat area and the ground then slopes steeply to above the road level. The field on the west is the one in which a number of Roman kilns were found by Stephen Castle in the 1960s (reported in LAMAS Trans. V.23 Pt 2 1970). In the 1960s the field was used as a dump for demolished materials (Young Archaeologists, please note for future reference). They were probably from London bomb sites and raised the ground level by over 10 ft in places. Nothing of interest to us was to be found here. The broad trench had to be dug through this stuff and then the pipe trench down a further 8-10 ft across the road. This produced a volume of soil to be dug and moved, making the site more like a mine than a building operation.
A section was produced on the east side of the road, well below the natural (pre 1960s) level. Next day, Saturday 8th, John Mills of the Museum saw a small dark section in this exposure which he thought interesting. We worked on this through the day, extending it and cleaning it, and when fully exposed it proved to be a section of a small road.He photographed and drew it in some detail using his portable equipment.
I arrived on the Sunday to find the pipe already laid at the bottom of the road-crossing section, which must have been worked on during the night. Two large machines were operating either side of the road, still clearing away further materials and men were working on the pipe at the bottom of the cutting with others repairing various disturbed services. A sort of approach-reinforcement for machine had been made at the centre of the road and I was able to perch on it. Made of two thick steel plates covered with clay, it was the only way to see, at a right angle, into the narrow cutting (less than 1 M wide and ¾ m deep.
I was surprised to see that the section was very cleanly cut; there were very sharp outlines in the clay of various coloured materials across as much of the road as I could see. The view on the left was restricted but I had a clear view at an acute angle to the right and down to the base of the trench. The layers extended down a long way with the clay appearing at about 9 ft, near the pipe at the bottom. At the top was tar with small gravel; then large tarred granite chips; then a lighter layer appearing to be a concreted gravel; below, a layer of brown gravel-and-sand. Under this was the outline of a section very similar to that of the road found on the previous day, but much wider and several times thicker with a deep central section. Photographs were attempted but the acute angle of view and the low level of light in the trench gave poor results. However notes were taken and a rough measurement made, even this being difficult in limited space on a slippery surface, A sketch was completed in situ and further activity was curtailed by the approach of a large excavating machine. These observations of the trench were made facing north, up the hill.
HADAS THAT NAME
Pat Alison writes: ‘Why change the name of HADAS? Does it matter what words the initials stand for? People join HADAS for the wealth of information and enjoyment the Society offers. People from far and wide belong. The fact that H stood for Hendon never deterred me from remaining a member when I moved from FINCHLEY to POTTERS BAR.’
Harold Cover writes ‘as I no longer live in the area that enables me to participate in the Society’s activities, the name HADAS means more to me than a geographical location. HADAS is a compact sturdy logo that to me signifies a group of archaeologically minded, enthusiastic and friendly people eager to share any knowledge gained with others. I still treasure the memory of
Daphne Lorimer in her best dress on the floor at Flower Lane classes – giving us a demonstration of flint-knapping to her admiring pupils – Happy Days!! I am still interested in all archaeological activities and look forward to the monthly Newsletter. Please keep the name of HADAS untarnished. (from Kirby Cross, Essex)
Fraternal greeting from Mr Richard Nichols, Mill Hill Historical Society ’I should stick to HADAS by which you made your reputation over a very wide field, in more senses than one’.
BOOKS The Story of Mill Hill can be bought from some of the Barnet libraries, including that at Mill Hill; Maxfields in Mill Hill Broadway, Whites, newsagents in Hale Lane, Lodges paper shop in Daws Lane (opp.main sorting office) and Kelly’s paper shop Mill Hill East.
The Museum of London have published Recent Archaeological Excavations in Greater London, the work of the Department of Greater London Archaeology, 1990. This covers prehistoric, Roman, Saxon and medieval London excavations in brisk text, sketh maps and plans, and generous coloured photographs.A good buy for £3.25. (References to such outlying places as Harlington, Merton Priory and West Heath)
THINGS TO GO TO
Day School on The Archaeology of Greater London, Sat November 17th. at the Museum of London, from 10.0am to 16.45pm. Various DGLA speakers on Prehistory, Uxbridge site, Roman Southwark, Roman burial practices and Hooper Street cemetery, Saxon London, Med. Religious Houses incl. St Mary Graces, the Post Med. Archaeology of Limehouse Link Project, and Post Medieval Theatres. Fee £10, concessionary £5 further information and tickets from Education Dept. at the Museum, London Wall, EC2Y 5HN. If by post, send SAE.
REWLEY HOUSE WEEKENDS, Oxford Flints November 24-25, 1990. Surveying in Archaeology.
16-17 March 1991. Jean Snelling has further information.
