Newsletter
Page 1
HADAS Diary
Tuesday 14th January 2003 The archaeology and anthropology of Australian rock art, by. Professor Robert Layton. Professor Layton worked in Australia from 1974-1981, five years as research anthropologist to The Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Studies in Canberra and two years with the Northern (Aboriginal) Land Council in Darwin as anthropologist responsible for land claims. He has been Professor of Anthropology at Durham University since 1991.
Tuesday 11th February 2003 Kitchen crocks to Sunday best — ceramics in the home form Henry VIII to Victoria, by Jacqui Pearce. Jacqui has been working as a ceramic specialist with Museum of London for 25 years, first with the Department of Urban Archaeology, and now with the Museum of London Specialist Services, as a senior specialist in medieval and later pottery. She also runs the Ted Sammes post-ex course (see above).
Tuesday 11th March 2003The Mackery Burials, by Simon West Lectures began 8.00pm at Avenue House, East End Road, Finchley Central.
Church End Farm 1961 to 1966 — excavation report By Don Cooper
The recording of the artefacts form this excavation is nearing completion by the students on the Ted Sammes post-excavation course run under the auspices of Birkbeck College by Jacqui Pearce of the Museum of London Specialist Services. The next phase will be the analysis and research prior to publication. Can I therefore make one final plea for information on the whereabouts of any documents and/or artefacts (tiles, budding material, glass, metal objects etc.) that might be from the 1961-66 excavations at Church End Farm, Hendon. Any information please can be sent to me by post to Don Cooper, 59 Potters Road, Barnet, Herts. EN5 5HS. Or give me a ring on 020 8440 4350.
Avenue House Estate under new management By June Porges
In 1918 the ink magnate Henry C Stephens (known as “Inky Stephens” left the Estate for the benefit of the people of Finchley. On November 2002, after three and a half years of hard negotiations. the management of the house and its historic landscape gardens was passed form Barnet Council to Avenue House Management (AHEM). This is a new non-profit making charity company which has a 125- year lease to run the estate for the benefit of the local community. The house has rooms to let for receptions, parties, conferences, wedding and other events as well as housing the offices of a number of local charitable organisations. The 10 acres of gardens contain many fine trees and shrubs (some of them envied by Kew Gardens!), a pond and waterfall, lawns and a children’s playground. In the space of a few weeks the new team and house staff have made a real impact on the appearance of the house and gardens. Users of the house can now enjoy freshly made tea and coffee and order excellent quality buffet meals. A great deal of maintenance work needs to be done. The trustees are eager for local people to become involved In helping to run the estate on a voluntary basis and to help with donations and fundraising, and to use the house for their own function. There will be Open House events for people to see what the house has to offer and what they may be able to offer to the house. HADAS has had a long connection to the house, our Library was kept in a small room upstairs for some time before the east end suffered a very big fire. Since then we have had the use of the Garden Room for the library and to do work on digs and research, we now have the use of a garage to house our finds and tools, and since 1995 we have held our lectures in the house. We have agreed to help with maintenance of the house by keeping the terrace outside the Garden Room swept and tidy. Do come and visit us there -¬usually there are some members in the room on Sunday and Wednesday mornings. Check with June Porges (020 8346 5078) before coming or Andrew Coulson (07803 470 475 text or message) if you are interested in using the library. Meantime do please support Avenue House with physical help, money and by recommending it to your friends for their parties.
Page 2
Victor Jones’ legacy
Victor, who was a Vice President of HADAS and died in February 2002, bequeathed the sum of £1000 to HADAS and expressed the wish that the money be used to start a fund for a Borough of Barnet Schools Archaeological Funds Loan Collection
Membership Details By Mary Rawitzer
If anyone has noticed that a recent newsletter was sent to a strange address and that the current newsletter still hasn’t got it right, please let the Membership Secretary know (see back page). It’s all her fault, or at least her computer’s. Some people may be unhappy that only one member is now named on the envelope for households with one or morefamily members. This was the result of a new broom “modernising” the membership list. However, it was a first attempt and she hopes to improve things in due course. Computers are so useful — and so frustrating. Please be patient.
Camden History Review-Vol 26 By Denis J Ross
I have been sent by Dr. F Peter Woodward of Camden History Society the above-mentioned annual Review which is a very impressive and well-produced 32 page publication. Of course, most of the articles it contains relate to matters outside HADAS strict territorial area but nevertheless there are some items which could be of interest to our members. For example, Dr. Woodford writes, that this issue contains a history of Golders Hill Park (by HADAS member Yvonne Melnick), some of which lies in Hampstead but most of which lies in the ancient manor of Hendon. Another Articlerelates to eating out in Primrose K10856-2002 which could appeal to the gourmets among us! Other Articles are interesting in their own right. The review can be obtained from Camden bookshops at 6.95 or by mail (add £1 for postage and packing) from CHS Publications, Flat 13, 13 Tavistock Place, London WC1H 9SH – tel: 020 7388 9889.
Christmas Dinner
This years dinner was a local event held at the Meritage Centre, Hendon, and scene of a HADAS excavation in the 1970s. Beforehand we had a talk in the adjacent St Mary’s Church given by the Rev. Paul Taylor. The origins of the church are unclear but a documentary reference in Westminster Abbey and in the Domesday Book may point to a saxon foundation, perhaps a small wooden built structure. However, structural evidence and the font point to a mid 12th century date for the present church, apparently the font can be dated by the style of the interlocking arches carved on the font sides. The nave dates to the le century Early English style. The Hendon community was small in the medieval period then started to expand in the 16th & 17th centuries with wealthy people moving out from London. Galleries were inserted into the fairly small church to accommodate the newcomers. During the Jacobean era the manor was held by Welshpool, a prominent family at this time was the Herberts some of whom are buried in the church. A larger than life character was Theodore Williams who was vicar from 1812 to 1875. Amongst other things he had two spells in prison for dent (£1000s) and smashed a marble memorial statue in the graveyard because the family had not paid enough for it. William’s family had made money from slavery yet William Wilberforce lived in the parish. In 1915 the church was extensively rebuilt and expanded virtually doubling its size. Recently it has been refurbished being painted, decorated, new offices and a new organ – the last one was a terrible thing with pipes tuck away all over the place. After the talk, Reverend Taylor who is a dab hand at playing the new instrument gave us a tune before we left for dinner, thanks to him for the talk. Thanks to Dorothy for organising the evening, and to June, Eric, Mary & Doug for helping with the bookstall.
November Lecture — The Ups and downs of life in the British Palaeolithic Brian Wrigley — greatly assisted by Sheila Woodward
It came as quite a surprise to me and probably many others to find that a lecture about ‘Life in the British Palaeolithic’ concerned a period as long ago as 700,000 – 500,000 years BP, and a little later, a very large area of the earth’s surface (in terms of travel and settlement possibility). However, our knowledge has been increased by sites like Boxgrove and, more recently, High Lodge in East Anglia (where our lecturer had recently been In his work for the Leverhulme Trust who have given funds for study of “AHOB” — Ancient Human Occupation of Britain), and Westbury, Somerset. Whilst Boxgrove puts first hominid occupation of Britain at about 500,000 BP, Westbury and East Anglia now push it back to about 700,000 BP, much earlier than previous estimates derived from the Hoxnian period evidence from Swanscombe The Leverhulme Trust granted funds for study of ancient human occupation of Great Britain — not primarily for study of a few human bones found, but study of climatic evidence, and the nature of fauna and landscape. This brings into focus many finds long hidden away in museums of possible worked flints etc (including the “eoliths”) now being re-examined and re-assessed. The scientific methods being used include the Deep Sea Core method for very ancient dating, the Marine Oxygen Isotope Record which can be a record of ancient temperatures — giving warm/cool comparison from 700,000 on. Britain being on the edge of a continental landmass is the sort of area where migrations to and fro (of animal and hominids) may be caused by climatic changes e.g. from Gulf Stream changes. Remnants of the Interglacial c 130,000 show remains of elephants and rhinos etc but none of hominids, although for the 130,000 — 60,000 BP period there is some evidence in Northern Europe. In Britain about 22,000 BP, a cold period with some snow, there is evidence for dear, mammals and birds and possibly there may have been some hominids hunting them.
Page 3
The Site
The building site in East Barnet where the finds were made was situated at the southern end of the Prince of Wales Public House (No2 Church Hill Road, IQ 2719 9529). In the 19’h century, the area covered by the building site, was part of the estate of the mansion The Grange. Part of the mansion itself occupied the western portion of the building site and traces of the building were found there.
The Grange & Prince of Wales P.H.
Rear-Admiral Henry Warre, who called it Granada Cottage in honour of his victory over the French off the coast of Granada in South America in 1795′, built the Grange in 1800. From this name it may be supposed that it was not a particularly large mansion. The Grange estate was earmarked for re-development in the late 19d” century although much of this development only took place in the 1930s, which is when the mansion seems to have been demolished. Included in the Grange estate was The Prince of Wales itself. The pub is mentioned as a licensed beerhouse in 18782. On the Roque map of 1754 several building are shown in the vicinity of the site and one of them is certainly the pub or its predecessor. The pub was probably a private house and the main residence on the site at this time. East Barnet Village The mansion ‘The Clockhouse’ in East Barnet Village was mentioned in a rental document of 15063 by an older name Mendhams. Earlier still Katebrygge, an old name for the bridge over Pymmes Brook in East Barnet Village was mentioned in a will of 14064. The earliest reference to this area is in the Anglo-Saxon Charter Boundary S(iii)5 which outlines the boundary of Barnet in 1005. From this description it may be seen that both the building site and St Mary’s East Barnet (01140) lay along the eastern edge of Wakeling Moor. Wakeling Moor denotes the rising ground between East Barnet Valley and Whetstone (ie the Oakleigh Park area). This place name is possibly derived form the Anglo-Saxon Waeclinga tribe form St Albans who gave their name to Watling Street (Edgware Road) and to the old name for Kingsbury in St Albans, Waeclingaceaster. Circumstances Of The Finds The site was developed by the builders as a shop with flats above. The concrete capping and upper layers of soil and clay were already removed by the time the site was inspected for archaeological purposes. The builders reported that they had not found anything of any significance up to this point other than what they supposed to be -Victorian brickwork. This was in the form of small arches associated with drains near the pavement at the very front of the site (on the eastern edge). The archaeologist also noticed at this point the remnants of a brick foundation of a greenhouse and associated yard or outbuilding. There was also a short length of red brick wall running north-south mid way back on the front portion of the site which was probably associated with the east-west wall (wall R) at the back of the site (see plan previous page). A small hole was then dug by the builders near the front of the site out of which came a bottle neck (1780-1820). Due to a long delay waiting for pile drilling to be carried out, and then the sudden re-commencement of work following the pile drilling, the archaeologist missed seeing the bulk of the clay spoil from the foundation trenches being removed. It is estimated that two skips of clay were removed at this time. A bottle base of the mid 18th century was found in the aftermath of this work Due to heavy- rain, some clay then subsided from the garden of the Prince Of Wales and some mediaeval finds (South Herts Grey Ware) were made in that material. After the concrete had been laid in the trenches, the clay “islands” were dug out and moved to the area of the driveway. The archaeologist was able to pick over some of this material, and the bulk of the mediaeval finds (South Herts Grey Ware) were made at this time. It is not known exactly at what point the two Roman sherds were found, but they were found along with some of the mediaeval material and were not known to be Roman at the time. A small scale excavation was then carried out by the archaeologist at the rear of the site over several months in which the remaining finds were discovered.The possible Saxon sherd and the Coarse Border Ware and Hertfordshire Glazed ware sherds were found during this excavation along with some more South Hens Grey Ware. Four more Roman sherds were also found at this time. Wall P on the plan (previous page) was probably part of the mansion itself and was built of non-frogged yellow bricks. Wall Q was probably a 20th century garden wall built of frogged red bricks. The wall surrounding the blue cobble surface was probably also 20th century garden wall and was built of frogged bricks. Wall R and the associated wall at the front of the site were probably part of an out-building or house built in non- frogged red brick This out-building along with the mansion itself are shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1896 [New Barnet; Godfrey Edition; Middlesex sheet 6.08]. 7 From A Char About Barnet And Its History’ S. H. Widdicombe. 2 From ‘East Barnet Village’ Gillian Gear and Diana Goodwin 3 Rental of lands and tenements, acquired by Abbot Ramrygge, 22 Hen. VII. Will of John Rolf, 7Hen IV (Studies In Manorial History byAda Elizabeth Leven. 5. see HADAS newsletter 309, January 1997 ‘Early Barnet And Its Boundaries’ by Pamela Taylor. Finds discussion Bill Bass The pottery assemblage is an interesting collection as little material of this type has been found in the East Barnet area before, although it vs as founded in the medieval period. Most of the ceramic is not to badly abraded and came from a level that would indicate it came from the site or fairly close by, but the material is unstratified so some caution is needed The Roman pottery comprises of at least six small body sherds, which adds to the small amount of sherds found in High Barnet and also the pottery found adjacent to the St Albans Road when the Bridgedown golf course was being constructed. A single flinty/sand (probable) Late Saxon body sherd was identified by the MoL, there may be more of this in the Barnet record as it’s difficult to tell this apart from Medieval pottery. The medieval pottery ranges from ‘thumbnail’ size to a sherd of 60mm x 55mm mostly body sherds, there’s one base sherd and two rim sherds. The MoL comments: “one of the sherds is from the rim of a South Hertfordshire greyware howl. Many of the pottery sherds brought in are made of the same pottery type, even though some of them look quite different. The reason for this difference is that there were many small pottery producers working at the same time, producing variations in the colour and tenure of the pottery. Much of this was made near Arkley. Most forms were bowls, jugs or jars”. Also found of medieval date was a sherd of Hens Glazed Ware and Coarse Borderware. A variety of post-medieval ceramics were found including — Stonewares, Black Basalt Ware (2 sherds form a small vase and a cylindrical teapot). Combed slipware sherds (previously known from Staffordshire) but later produced locally at Isleworth. A mixture of 85 le century Red Border Wares, sherds from several porringers (small bowl with handles). 12 sherds came from a Sunderland Coarse Ware Lead Glazed Bowl, 10 century. Other finds included a whetstone, an 18th century copper alloy shoe buckle and button, also various roof tile and building materials. Some finds are still being processed but the above dyes the general picture.
Page 4
Meeting with Kim Stabler of English Heritage By Bill Bass
This useful meeting was held at Avenue House at the end of October attended by some 15 members. Kim is the English Heritage Archaeological Advisor for North and West London.
History
Kim started off by describing some of the history leading up to the present planning arrangements in London. For many years sites were monitored by the Ancient Monuments Act presided over by the Department of Works, in 1969 this became the Department of the Environment and in 1979 the Scheduled Monuments Act was passed being looked after by the Inspector of Ancient Monuments. Problems with the development of the Rose Theatre and other sites in the late 1980s led to the publication of the Planning Policy Guidance Note 16 by the DoE in 1990 leading to the Greater London Archaeology Advisory Service (GLAAS) being established. The creation of PPG 16 also saw the founding of the many small archaeologic units, consultants and so forth that are familiar today, before PPG 16 most archaeology was in the hands of, and funded by, local councils and museums etc, now archaeological units mostly work on a commercial basis competing for work by competitive tendering.
PPG 16
PPG 16 has been working well over the last 10 years or so, it requires the early assessment of planning applications, and these can go through several stages according to the risk to archaeology. If sites are perceived to be at risk the stages can include: •Desktop Assessment — consulting the Sites & Monuments Record (SMR), maps, plans, geo technical observations (boreholes) and similar
Field Evaluation — limited trenches to test if any archaeology exists or has survived basements, truncation etc.
Mitigation Strategy — can developments be redesigned to avoid sensitive areas, can the archaeology be left in situ?
Watching Brief – archaeologists observe the digging by developers and contractors on site, recording archaeology as they go.
Full Excavation (preservation by record) — usually the last resort if developments cannot be redesigned.
GLAAS researches the planning application and advises on a course of action. If planning applications were found to affect archaeology then some form of ‘Condition’ based on the above stages would be placed on the application before it was to proceed, or the application could be refused. It is not easy to ‘schedule’ sites, this where sites are protected through legislation. Most applications if possible are dealt using the above planning procedure and agreements. In Barnet there are two scheduled areas — Brockley Hill, Edgware and the Steinburg Centre, Finchley (moated manor).
Facts & Figures
Last year (2001/2002) GLAAS scanned 93,000 planning applications. This comprises nearly one fifth of all applications in England. Of these 3000 were appraised. EH gave advice on 1000 applications to local governments, 212 evaluations were secured by placing a condition on planning consent. In Barnet there were 4800 planning applications of which 154 were advised on, leading to 29 being pursued for their archaeological potential, with 3 having significant excavations. Some 24 significant excavations took place as well as smaller investigations. Advice given to all local bodies is free of charge. Borough of Barnet Barnet apparently has one of the better planning departments in the London area, they receive the most planning applications behind Westminster and are keen to act on sensitive developments. In the Borough several priority areas have been marked out as having archaeological potential (Areas of Special Archaeological Significance), no less. These were drawn up between English Heritage, Barnet Council and HADAS, they include the sites of various Manors, medieval settlements, battlefields, Roman sites, prehistonc activity and so on These are different from ‘Conservation’ areas, which is another story. Planning applications are also made public and are sent to various bodies in the borough including HADAS. HADAS monitors the applications by one member who receives them, and then distributes them to three ‘area mangers’ – the eastern area including: Edgware, Mill Hill, Colindale, Hendon etc, the northern area: Chipping and East Barnet, Totteridge, Cockfosters etc, the central area: Finchley, Cricklewood etc. These managers look for developments in priority (or other) areas by consulting maps, the SMR and local knowledge. They report their findings to English Heritage and HADAS as appropriate.
Sites & Monuments Record
The Greater London SMR is maintained by English Heritage and has some 72,000 entries, it contains records of all manner of archaeological and historical sites. All archaeological fieldwork from watching briefs, surveys to full excavation should be entered on the SMR. This information is used to advise various commercial, research and local government bodies. Recently EH has been reorganising and updating the SMR to make it compatible with similar systems in other counties, they have also invested in a new database program and have improved their mapping system by integrating the SMR data on to a Geographical Information System (GIS). EH wants to encourage the use of the SMR by working more closely with academic bodies and research students, in fact a member of HADAS has been working on the GIS aspect of this with a view to aerial photography/mapping in Barnet. HADAS are also looking to update our ‘Gazetteer’ of work conducted in the Borough of Barnet, this will done through a number of sources, the SMR being the main one, so work by EH to make the SMR more accessible will be welcomed. Eventually the Gazetteer will be on a database for easy access by HADAS members, or the public. Thanks to Kim for coming along and explaining her work at GLAAS.
Page 5
GRAHAM WHITE HANGAR UPDATE
Early in December 1 was fortunate to join a guided RAF Museum staff tour of the partially completed Graham White Hangar, which has now bee moved from its original position on the former RAF Hendon East Camp site to a new location within the expanded boundaries of the RAF Museum. Whilst externally identical to the original, modem building regulations mean there are some differences. The external brick walls are completely new, and now consist of a main internal wall and external brick skin, the huge original timber roof joists have been refurbished and reused. The interior of the wooden roof, as in the original, is a single coat of white paint. Many of the original window frames have been reused, as have the railway tracks used as guides for the hangar doors. Even the original ground floor water closets and urinals have been carefully relocated! The internal two-storey offices have been shortened to allow for provision of a lift and second staircase, due to fire regulations, but original radiators and some wooden doors have again been reused from the original. Particular care was taken to recreate the effect of wooden shutter to recreate the original appearance of the concrete office ceilings. Paint samples were taken before demolition to ensure accurate reproduction of the original internal paint scheme – green windows and doors and whitewashed walls for the offices. English Heritage and other bodies have been particularly helpful throughout the rebuilding process of the listed building. Completion is expected at the end of December 2002, and the RAFM will be filling this new display space with a selection of contemporary El World War aircraft in January/February 2003 as the museum gears up for formal opening of the new landmark building and Graham White Hangar in November 2003 – the centenary of the first Wright Brothers powered flight.
Page 6
U3A (University of the Third Age) By Eric Morgan
U3A is a learning cooperative for older people which enables members to share many educational, creative and leisure activities. They are wondering if any HADAS members would be willing to run a class on an aspect of Local History. “Most of our classes are held weekly with some fortnightly, and there are some spaces available at present at the Middlesex University- (Hendon), Masoritin Hall (Edgware) and at Glebe Hall (Stanmore). All our Group Leaders give their services on a voluntary basis. Sometimes the courses are on-going but sometimes, if the Group Leader prefers,they can be for just one or two terms. When we start a new subject, we like to publicise it in advance in our Newsletter so we do plan well ahead. This would mean that any new subject planned at this time (deadline March 7th) would start in the Summer term which runs from 2811′ April to 25th July 2003”. If any members are interested please contact: North West London of the Third Age, 137 Hale Lane, Edgware, HAS 9QP Tel: 020 8906 8621
===THE SEVERN ESTUARY LEVELS RESEARCH COMMITTEE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING,===
My annual trip to visit an old college friend gave the opportunity to attend the following conference… Not just the Thames Estuary has archaeological surveys these days. Andy Simpson reports from…. Saturday 16th November 2002 NATIONAL MUSEUM AND GALLERY CATHAYS PARK CARDIFF
Colin Green Travel and Trade on the Severn Sea
The River Severn and its tributaries and estuaries has been a major trade route for thousands of years, with archaeological evidence of shipping activity from the Bronze Age, Romano British and medieval periods, such as the famous Newport ship uncovered in 2002 and discussed in detail later on in the conference. The River Severn is relatively shallow, making operation of deep-keeled vessels impractical. Flat- bottomed vessels were more appropriate. Similar were the Hanseatic League cogs of the twelfth to fourteenth centuries, also being flat bottomed; Trading with the Baltic and other parts of the continent were Severn ports such as Chepstow, Bridgewater, Lydney, and small creeks and harbours such as Magor Pill, which was important from the Iron age right through to the sixteenth century. During this century important centres included Chepstow, Newport and Cardiff and some 18 creeks, some now lost. There was much trade across the Bristol Channel with Bristol, cattle in particular, interrupted by such events as the Great Flood of 1607. Small vessels of only 30-40 tons traded as far as Portugal carrying out coal and returning with iron ore, salt and wine. One of the ports now lost is Llantwit Major, due to late sixteenth century storms blocking its inlet. Trade included shipping out limestone to be burnt as agricultural lime, a distance of up to 14 miles across to the North Somerset coast at ports such as Dunster and Minehead. Migrant workers were also carried to South Wales as labour for the industries of the industrial revolution, and coal exported from Glamorgan Docks. Bristol and Bridgewater were two of the inland ports on improved rivers. The Severn Sea had a vital role in communications, water travel being quicker and cheaper than road travel on the indifferent roads of the eighteenth century, only being eclipsed by the advent of the railways in the nineteenth century; the railways killed off the river trade in the upper reaches early, but it lasted longer in the lower reaches and estuary. Newport, Bristol and Chepstow were still linked by sailing barges in the 1930s, however, In the nineteenth century there were still links to Ireland and continental ports. The Severn Trow (sailing barge) may have evolved from the medieval cog. Smaller wherrys were also used. One Severn barge — the Spry — built in Chepstow in 1894 was rebuilt to sailing condition at the Ironbridge Gorge Museum. Elizabeth Walker of the National Museum of Wales then spoke on the island of Burry Holmes excavation project. This tidal island lies off the Gower Peninsula, and features much Mesolithic and later archaeolo•. Originally an inland hill, rising sea levels mean that it is up to I lkrn away from the prehistoric coastline. It has been uninhabited since the seventeenth century — used as a temporary base by shell fishermen since. Medieval monastic site there founded U95, plus a fourteenth century hall and Iron Age promontory fort — a lot in a small area! However, coastal erosion is now truncating some of the archaeology. One 5.6m diameter VA roundhouse has been found, with postholes in clay-lined pits and evidence of two phases of activity. A Bronze Age barrow within the fort was dug over two half days in 1925, finding a bronze pin and the cremation of an adult female and young child. Early activity is represented by Mesolithic Archaeology lying above windblown sand, itself lying above glacial deposits, and some evidence of Palaeolithic activity. Environmental sampling includes sediment columns — no pollen present, but charred hazelnuts etc did survive, hazelnuts being a valuable source of protein. The Mesolithic layers were 100% wet sieved, with poor organic preservation, even of bone. One human ulna was found in a cave, dated to 8240 — 7600 cal BC. Stone tools are the most predominant evidence of Mesolithic activity, including microliths of quartzite and flint. Scrapers found are mostly single ended and often re-worked. Some show impact fractures, e.g. having hit bone. There is no structural evidence for this period. Next up was Martin Locock, discussing ‘Medieval encroachment and enclosure at Cabot Park, Avonmouth Rockingham Farm, Moorend Farm, `Yeomans’ and others’. This paper covered fieldwork for the period 1994 — 2002. Rockingham Farm featured a pre-Norman boundary bank and pasture that had been enclosed by the time of the 1770 estate map. There is a large defined platform. Excavation revealed a residual Roman brooch and shield stud. The enclosure ditches were frequently re-cut: thee was an early structure buried by the bank up cast. The one house on the site was rebuilt several times, its stone now mostly removed for use elsewhere, having been abandoned c.18$0 after the site had been occupied since c. 1200.Pottery from Portugal suggested widespread medieval trade. Moorend Farm mowed site featured two building clusters. The now derelict building stands on a site occupied since the twelfth century with a long sequence of building and rebuilding. A residual Iron Age bead was a continental import. More recent finds included an eighteenth century ‘slave bead’ made in Bristol to trade for slaves in Africa. Madder Farm. now demolished, was a complex seventeenth century building: a quern stone had been used to cap a well. These various moated sites date mostly from the twelfth century and represent high status encroachment with building platforms and stone buildings on what was theoretically common land. Sixteenth century encroachment was at a lower social level, e.g. cottages with ponds. (To be continued in the next Newsletter)
Page 7
Other Societies’ Events by Eric Morgan
Tuesday 7th Jan, 7.30pm Primrose Hill Community Association, Community Centre, 29 Hopkinson’s Place (off Fitzroy Rd) NW1.Transport (The canal & railways which shaped the area, and the traffic which now threatens to destroy it).Admission £4.00 will include wine or soft drinks.
Wednesday 8th Jan Stanmore & Harrow Historical Society, Wealdstone Babtist Church, High Rd Wealdstone Civil War in the Chilterns 1442 – 46, talk by Lawrence Evans,
Wed. 8th Jan 8.00pm Mill Hill Historical Society, The Harwood Hall, Union Church, The Broadway, NWT Myths & Legends of Britain and Ireland, talk by Richard Jones. 8 15pm
Thursday 9th Jan The London Canal Museum, 12-13 New Wharf Rd, King’s Cross. Barging into Britain, talk by David Hilling, Concessions £1.25,
Thursday 9th Jan 7.30pm Pinner Local History Society, Village Hall, Chapel Lane Car Park, Pinner.Stockers House, Rickmansworth & The Coal Posts, talk by Brian Mogan, 8.00pm, donation £1.00
Monday 13th Jan Barnet & District local History, Wyburn Room, Wesley Hall, Stapylton Rd, Barnet.Evacuation 1939, talk by Dr. Daphne Glick (of WA), 3.00pm (afternoon).
Wednesday 15 Jan London & Middlesex Archaeology Society, Interpretation Unit, Museum of London, 150 London Wall EC2.The People of Roman London, talk by Francis Grew (MOL) — Hugh Chapman Lecture, 6.30pm
