Newsletter
Edited by Deirdre Barrie
Diary
January 1992 – No Lecture
Tuesday February 4th: “Paleolithic Cave Painting and Underground Artwork in the Netherlands and France” – Sylvia Beamon.
Tuesday March 3rd: “Ancient Monuments – Their Care and Preservation” Helen Patexsoll.
HADAS lectures are held at Hendon Library, The Burroughs, at 8.00 for 8.30 start. Coffee is available before the lecture. Members with cars please offer lifts home.
The Christmas season began on 3rd December when, with a coachload, a visit was made to Doughty Street and the City of London. The visit to Dickens’ house was intriguing enough to whet the appetite for a repeat. The atmosphere was such that a knock at Mr. Dickens’ bedroom door would ~ not have been amiss: Thence to the “George and Vulture”, and while no sight or feeling was experienced of the ghost, we did have an excellent dinner and the opportunity to see part of the City of London at its best, i.e. in the evening. A prayer that such a wonderful eating house escapes the demolition squads.
Grateful members say a sincere “thank you” for a superb treat, so well organised. MR. AND MRS. W. N. FROUDE
(Dorothy Newbury would like to thank Stuart Wild for suggesting the “George and Vulture” in the first place. Ed.)
Medieval Ridge and Furrow in Clitterhouse Playing Fields?
Ted Sammes
Following a letter from a member, Brian Wrigley and myself visited the playing fields on October 1st 1991. The area in question was just to the south east of the Hendon Football Club pitch. At that point land slopes away from Claremont Road down to a stream.
Yes, there were lines running downhill and other disturbances also. We paced the distance between as being 5-6 paces apart – close, but not totally impossible for ridge and furrow. At one point close to what had possibly been a hedge, there was a deeper depression running down the hill. This had manhole covers at intervals.
After a while the groundsmen asked if they could help, and they said the parallel lines were the result of mole drainage lines. Before this work had been carried out, the Hendon Football Club pitch at the top was often waterlogged. They also said that much of the area had been used for allotments, and this could account for the other areas which looked like small medieval tofts (house platforms).
Since the site is close to the site of Clitterhouse Manor (a sub manor of Hendon) it is still just possible that some is ridge and furrow. It
could only be decided by cutting some sections in the future. A similar claim can be made for the ridges at the north east end of Sunny Hill Fields, Hendon.
Hadas Donation to the Phoenix Trust
(In memory of Brigid Grafton Green)
Dorothy Newbury received the following letter from Paddy Grafton Green: “I am writing to thank you very much indeed for your letter of 15th November last and for the cheque enclosed with it in favour of the Phoenix Trust made up of contributions from the many friends my mother had in HADAS. It is a great joy and comfort to find that during her life my mother had so many friends who had such affection for her; although she rarely displayed her emotions I know she was very attached to them and that they meant a lot to her.
Apart from the great sadness of losing someone so dear what has been most difficult to accept (and I am sure my sister would agree) is the loss of a person who had such extraordinary breadth and depth of knowledge and who had so much still to contribute that remains and is likely to remain unfinished. That must be so of many people but perhaps in mama’s case the consolation is that she did indeed contribute more than one realises and the kindness of those at HADAS is recognition of that fact. The generosity of you all is much appreciated.”
(The Phoenix Trust is an organisation for the advancement of reconstructive surgery.)
Hadas Library – Books for the December Outing
Books on the theme of historic London as opposed to archaeological London held in the library at Avenue House include the following:
The Lost Treasures of London W. Kent
The Heart of London H.V. Morton
The Vanished City R. Carrier & O.L. Dick
Discover Unexpected London A. Lawson
And, surprisingly, on the subject of Christmas, a small illustrated publication, “Christmas – a fact book”.
Members News – Reva Brown
Yet another mature member who went off to university (Bradford) and returned with a success story at the end of it. She is now Reva Brown M Sc, MA, BA, PhD, and Director of MBA Programme in the Department of Accounting and Financial Management at Essex University – congratulations:
Reva was a regular on outings, and did her stint as Newsletter editor before going to Bradford. She is prepared to renew that task during 1992, and maybe join us again for a lecture or outing occasionally.
Digging News
At the time of going to press, the contractors have been able to provide a machine for top stripping at the St. Joseph’s Convent site, and we hope to be working on the weekend of 21st/22nd December.
Tudor House in Whetstone
(December 1991 Newsletter)
John Heathfield writes that in this article “Le Westone 1485 it should read “Le Wheston in 1398”.
Anyone interested in the documentary evidence for early Whetstone should contact John Heathfield through Barnet Museum.
Finchley Manor House, East End Road, N3
Brian Wrigley
The Department of Greater London Archaeology of The Museum of London have recently made an an archaeological evaluation of this Scheduled site, at the request of the owners pursuant to their application for permission for a new building. The DGLA kindly invited some HADAS members to visit the site to see their exploratory excavations. The notice was too short for an announcement in The Newsletter, but a party of 4 members were able to visit and view the interesting new information shown.
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On this site, a medieval manor house is historically recorded as standing ‘within the moat’, and the L-shaped remains of a moat (see accompanying diagram) have interested HADAS for years and provoked much discussion as to where the rest of the moat ran. Now the DGLA work has provided atleast some answer.
The excavation, as is now usual for such evaluations, was confined to areas which would be disturbed anyway by the proposed building, and one trench at (about A in the diagram) turned out to be a cross-section of the continuation or the moat, at right angles, where it had been backfilled in the past. Thus the course of the moat originally was apparently between the dotted lines at B – settling a longstanding topic; of HADAS discussion’.
No structures were found in the investigation, and none of the finds went as far back as medieval. So where the medieval house was, remains unsolved: was it under the tennis court and nearby grounds between the 2 known arms of the moat? Or was it further north, under the present Sternberg Centre building, where any remains might have been removed by the basement of the present building? Questions remain for future archaeology.
Manor House Moat, East End Road, Finchley
Ted Sammes
Prior to development of an area close to the house on the north west area of the property the Department of Greater London Archaeology cut a section using a machine at a point, in the development area, on the assumed line of moat. It was hoped to establish that the dry ditch which is visible on two sides did in fact return on the west side.
The opportunity for HADAS to view was arranged by Mike Hutchinson of the DGLA. Victor Jones, Brian Wrigley and myself were able to view the mechanically-dug section on Monday November 18th.
The outline of the ditch in boulder clay was clear, and just where both Paddy Musgrove and Brigid Grafton Green would have expected it to be. The fill of the ditch was mostly boulder clay wash, with a few small brick sherds. From a finds point of view, it could be said to be disappointing. As a result of this work we now know that the moat existed on three sides. The chance of locating the fourth under or near the house is remote.
The December 1991 Newsletter gave news that the existing moat is to be cleared of scrub and maintained by agreement with English Heritage. Regrettably the site is not open to the public.
This work apparently concludes a saga which HADAS started in about 1970 with a survey of the existing moat by B.R. Martin. A copy of this plan was passed to the DGLA.
Lively Latin
Latin has never been livelier, according to Henry Beard of Novi Eboraci in his “Latin for All Occasions”. (What is more, there are no Romans about to correct your pronunciation.)
No more need to struggle with deponents, ablatives and gerunds: This handy volume will provide you with essential phrases for every occasion. There is material for bumper stickers: SI HOC ADFIXUM IN OBICE LEGERE POTES, ET LIBERALITER EDUCATUS EST ET NIMIS PROPINQUUS ADE5. (If you can read this bumper sticker, you are both very well educated and much too close); useful curses: UTINAM BARBARI SPATIUM PROPRIUM NUM INVADANT (May barbarians invade your personal space!); there is vital information you may need to convey to your psychiatrist: INTERDUM FEROR CUPIDINE PARTIUM PJA.GNARUM EUROPAE VINCENDARUM (Sometimes I get this urge to conquer large parts of Europe.)
Every situation is covered from starting relationships, the company meeting and answerphones to the cocktail party and (finally) epitaphs (SIC FRIATUR CRUSTUM DULCE – It is thus the cookie crumbles.) This could be the present your light-hearted Latinist has been waiting for.
D.R.
Latin for All Occasions: Henry Beard, Angus & Robertson £5.99
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