ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The Annual General Meeting is on Tuesday 9th May 8pm Stephens Room, Avenue House
Our President, Dr. Ann Saunders, FSA will chair the meeting. Do come and air your views and comments on your society. After the business meeting, there will as usual be talks and slides about our activities during the past year.
HADAS DIARY
Tuesday May 9th AGM (see above)
Saturday June 24th Outing to North Oxfordshire and the Pitt Rivers Museum
with Micky Watkins and Mickey Cohen
NB – a change from the programme card which says Sussex (a Roman bath-house in Beauport Park). The wooded site has become so overgrown since the death of its excavator last year that we would need `Tarzan’ gear to reach it. Hopefully it would be cleared by next year.
Saturday July 22nd Outing to Dover with Tessa Smith and Sheila Woodward
The bronze age boat excavated. a few years ago has at last been installed at the superb Dover Museum and Keith Parfitt, its excavator, will be there to tell us about it.
Mid July A few days in Orkney – plans are going ahead. Members who have applied will be notified shortly when full details are available. Ring Dorothy Newbury (203 0950) for information.
Ted Sammes evening April 11, 2000 Dorothy Newbury
I would like to thank Tessa Smith, June Porges and Bill Bass for coming to me and sorting out various papers, pictures etc prior to Ted’s evening; and thanks to Vikki O’Connor for organising refreshments, and to Stewart Wild for organising and serving the wine.
The report on the evening will appear in the next Newsletter.
[A letter from Brian Boulter is enclosed with this issue. – Ed.]Golden Diadems from Peru by Jeffrey Lester
Most of us are less familiar with the archaeology of the Americas than with that of Europe and the Middle East. It was therefore with particular fascination that we welcomed on March 14th Colin McEwen, Assistant Keeper and Curator of the Central and South American collections at the British Museum. Although his lecture was entitled ” Golden Diadems from Peru”, he was able to range over the surrounding areas of South America to illustrate his theme. The European explorers had been motivated by the search for El Dorado, the Golden City, but metals had been worked long previously in the pre- Columbian period. Metal is known to have been used in Peru as early as 2,000 BC, and developed differently from that of the Old World and included copper, silver and gold and combinations of these. Surprisingly platinum was another material employed. Both beaten gold and the lost wax technique were practised as well as fine soldering and filigree work.
Images were both highly abstract and naturalistic, reproducing forms close to those known by the artists in Nature, particularly Zoomorphy. Peruvian artefacts included, as expected, llamas and jaguars. Many were in the Itasca tradition, as in the use of spirals which represented growth.
There were no written records, even among the Inca, nor hieroglyphs nor codices, so it is impossible to interpret the symbolism exactly. However, it is clear that the pectorals, some very large, were indicators of rank as with maces elsewhere. Some of the human figurines give a clue to the social structure_ Representations of Shamens with eyes closed, suggest the use of hallucinogens and fasting. Certainly there was knowledge of planting and the use of coca leaves with lime. Social activity was represented in groups of dancers. As in every culture, there were artefacts relating to procreating and fertility.
The lecture was lavishly illustrated with slides of intricate objects, some shown at the Exhibition of the Gilded Image at Burlington House Museum of Mankind before they were hidden away in the British Museum. It was refreshing to see on the screen so much from the period 100-1400 AD before it was looted and we look forward to viewing some of these objects in the round when space at the BM permits.
Avenue House Bothy Eric Morgan
Visitors to the Church End Festival on 14th May can visit the Bothy in the Avenue House Grounds, which Finchley Art Centre Trust are currently restoring. The Bothy is featured in London, Sight unseen by Lord Snowdon, published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson, as follows:-
“Inky” Stephens never minded his nickname; Stephens ink provided him with a substantial fortune which he spent on improving his north London estate. He commissioned an Italian architect to extend and beauty his house in Finchley, and in the picturesquely landscaped grounds he assembled an impressive arboretum. At the eastern end he built, in the 1870ties, a bizarre concrete structure known as The Bothy; possibly the first concrete building in Britain since the Roman White Tower at Dover Castle, but now languishing forgotten and overgrown.
The Bothy is one of the earliest reinforced concrete buildings. It is a romantic castellated structure with enclosed courtyards and a walled garden with much potential for enchantment. It has recently been given a Grade II listing by English Heritage. The Bothy is intended to be a place where people from the local community and surrounding area can meet.
HADAS members who go on the July outing may have an opportunity to see the Roman White Tower in Dover
43 Bannard Road
Maidenhead
SL6 4NP
17 April 2000
01628-418555
Mrs Dorothy Newbury 55 SunningfieIds Road Hendon
London
NW4 4RA
Dear Mrs Newbury
Thank you for inviting me to your Ted Sammes Evening which I enjoyed I am glad you found my account of his life at Weston Research and with the Maidenhead Archaeological & Historical Society of interest. Like many of your members, I had no idea of the hardships the family had gone through in the 1930’s. and Matthew Wheeler’s account of their determination to escape debt was as fascinating as the early postcards. When I heard the anecdotes about his work on artefacts and displays it all sounded very familiar. Because Ted appreciated the significance of a flint or potsherd, he thought that we all would. Today’s exhibitions with reconstructions and touch-screens were not Ted’s idea of a museum.
What Andrew Selkirk said about Ted having a chip on his shoulder for not being a graduate. was true also in his professional life. Although he had an encyclopaedic knowledge of the history and technology of the milling and baking trades_ he always felt he could have progressed further with a degree.
Ted sometimes appeared to be a solitary and private person, but he enjoyed the convivial company of friends who had similar interests and I am sure he would have smiled at the evening of memories.
With best wishes to H. A.D.A.S. Yours sincerely
Brian Boulter
Another Sunninga Site? Brian Warren
As a new member I have only recently seen Philip Bailey’s article on “Another Sunninga Site?” and wish to comment on certain points. He suggests that “Sunningas Grove” was within “Enfield Chase”, but if one consults the original 1635, 1650 and 1686 surveys of Enfield Chase (I) the section in question was tracing the boundaries. There one will find, “From thence along by the Hedge of Sunns Grove”. In the 1635 survey (2) it was further recorded “Also the fence of Sunns Grove adjoining also to the said Chace”. As the grove called Sunns Grove was held under Barnet and East Barnet it would have been in Enfield Chase, as that was under the jurisdiction of the Duchy of Lancaster. (3)
In the earlier 1572 survey of Enfield Chase “the Hedge of Sunnsgrove” was recorded as “the hedge of East Barnet”. (4) The hedge of Sunnsgrove continued to the house of William Rolfe (1572), Mr. Hewett (1635 and 1650) and William Pecke (1686) from which one can identify the house as Dacre Lodge later called Buckskin Hall, which was held of the Manor of East Barnet, (5)
I would expect the references to “Monelond” to be adjacent to Old Fold, as the Frowyks were the resident Lords of the Manor from shortly after 1271 until 1527. (6) I have never come across any reference to the Frowyks holding any land near or at Cockfosters.
References: (1) PRO DL42/125, Bodleian Mss Top Middx b2 and PRO DL43 7110
(2) PRO DL42/125;
(3) F.C.Cass. South Mimms, 1877, p71 quoting Newcome’s History of St. Alban”s, p.483 et seq. (4) PRO DL43 7/5 (5) F.C.Cass. East Barnet, 1885-1892, pp:150-152; PRO DL43 7/6
(6) VCH Middx. vol.5 p28
Current Fieldwork by Brian Wrigley
Barnet Gate
We hope to be able to explore this site by small test pits and augering during the summer, before further tree planting in the autumn; we are not however seeking dates for this yet as we have to hold ourselves in readiness for an opportunity at Hanshawe Drive, Burnt Oak (see below) where time may be more of the essence. I should be very glad to hear from anyone interested in taking part in any summer digging available at these sites – my address is 21 Woodcroft Avenue, NW7 2A14 (020 8959 5982)
Hanshawe Drive
We have submitted to the Borough a research design for this, and they have replied that there is no objection in principle, but plans for the landscaping have not yet been submitted, we thus have to await hearing further from them about the future timetable. We are suggesting resistivity testing, deturfing and exploration by test pits of anything which resistivity suggests might be interesting. This to be followed by further digging of trenches to show the stratification if the green does not appear to be a natural feature, which should explain its purpose or expose earlier building remains or evidence of occupation.
London Charterhouse
We completed the resistivity survey in one weekend of the area estimated from the aerial photos the parch marks showed in the grass. We did find an area of slightly higher resistances about where we expected, but not showing any detailed pattern. We understand that such marks in turf are likely to show only features very near the surface, which suggests that probing may be the next useful test and Colin Bowlt is pursuing the possibility of this.
OTHER SOCIETIES EVENTS
– Barnet Local History Society: Talk: Wednesday 10th May 8pm
Herts Tudor Farmhouse. Gillian Gear. Wesley Ha11, Stapylton Road, Barnet
– Camden History Society: Talk: Thursday 18th May 7. 30pm
University College, London. Negley Harte
Burgh House, New End Square, NW3 £1.00 donation
Finchley Church End Festival: Sunday 14th May afternoon
Avenue House grounds, N3 (Bothy and walled garden open)
– Finchley Society: Talk: Thursday 25th May 8pm
History of the Phoenix Cinema. Laurence Lewis
Drawing Room Avenue House, East End Road, N3
– Highgate 2000: A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME: an exhibition of paintings, images, documents and other objects. From Saturday 3rd June to Thursday 15th June. Tuesdays 7.45 to 9pm, Wednesdays to Fridays 1 lam to 5pm, Saturdays 1 lam to 4pm, Sundays 12 noon to 5pm. At the Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, 11 South Grove, Pond Square, Highgate N6 6BS (020 8340 3343)
London Archaeologist: Talk: Tuesday 16th May 7pm
Excavations at Spitalfields (preceded by AGM). Chris Thomas
6th Floor Suite, Institute of Archaeology, 31-34 Gordon Square, WCI (refreshments 6.30pm)
– London Canal Museum: Talk: Thursday 4th May 7.30pm
The Regents’ Canal; yesterday and today. Dr. Michael Essex-Lopresti.
12-13 New Wharf Road, Kings Cross, London, NI £2.50 (£1.25 concessions) Pinner Local History Society: Talk: Thursday 4th May 8pmThe
Fives Court; a centenary (preceded by AGM) Jim Gollard
Pinner Church Hall, Church Lane (corner High St) £1.00 donation
– Willesden Local History Society: Talk: Wednesday 17th May 8pm
Theatres of Willesden. Terry Lomas.
Willesden Gallery, Willesden Green Library, High Road, NW10 £1.00 donation
