Newsletter
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November Lecture
Although the November lecture will coincide with Guy Fawkes night,
we urge members to forego the delights of fireworks in favour of the
pleasure of hearing Portia Wallace-Zeuner talk to us about Mycenae.
Mrs. Wallace-Zeuner is a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological
Institute. She did research in dendrochronology at the Institute of
Archaeology and published her findings in the Institute Bulletin. She
has been a tutor in the Extra-mural Departments of London and Oxford
universities for fifteen years.
Her present day field-work centres of archaeological sites in
the Mediterranean doing Museum research and photography for current
courses. She has studied sites in France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia, including the islands of Crete,
Delos, Sicily and Sardinia.
5 November will be a HADAS meeting you can't afford to miss.
Come to the Central Library, at 8.00 for coffee, followed by the
lecture.
The other dates in this winter's programme will be:
Friday Dec. 6
| - Christmas Party, 166 Station Road, NW4. Starts 7.30 p.m.
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Tuesday Jan. 7
| - Mucking, Essex, Crop-mark Sites - M. U. and W. T. Jones
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Tuesday Feb. 4
| - The Lunt Roman Fort, Warwicks - Excavation and reconstruction - Brian Hobley
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Tuesday March 4
| - Medieval Jewellery and Pottery - John Cherry
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Tuesday April 1
| - Are We Fair to Neanderthal Man? - Desmond Collins
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Digging and Pottery Processing
Digging has begun on the latest HADAS site -- Fuller Street, Church
Road, Hendon, NW4. The site, which is behind a large advertisement
hoarding on the right of Church Road going west from Brent Street, has
been partially gridded. Work has started on a trial trench 1 metre
wide, running North-South across the middle of the site.
Unfortunately the trench crosses a concrete yard, so a certain
amount of concrete-bashing has had to be done before diggers could get
down to the gentler and more expert techniques of trowelling. However,
sufficient space has now been cleared to allow between six and ten
members to work on the site. Digging takes place every Sunday (weather
permitting) from 10.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.
At the same time processing of finds from the Church Terrace
dig it goes on, also every Sunday from 10.00 a.m. to 5.30, in the
temporary workshop which the Borough has lent us behind the PDSA
building on the corner of Church Road and Church End.
This means there is work for everyone, either digging or
helping with pottery, wet or fine, every Sunday; many hands are needed
and will be made very welcome. Please come as often as you can. If you
don't find anyone at the workshop, walk down to the dig -- or vice
versa.
No digging or processing on Sunday October the 6th, due to the
HADAS weekend visit to Shropshire. No work, either, on Saturdays at
present. This situation may change if the trial trench at Fuller Street
produces any interesting finds.
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Digging Needs
Have members any of the following which they would be prepared to add to the Society's equipment:
Metal meat skewers (for stringing out trenches);
Seed trays, tomato boxes or other shallow, stout boxes (for use as finds trays);
The strong, cube-shaped cardboard boxes in which Xerox copying paper comes (for storing pottery);
Old nail varnish bottles (with brush attached) -- ideal for vanishing pottery markings.
Any of these will be gratefully received by our Hon. Secretary, who will arrange collection if necessary.
And a bigger need
Has any member a small piece of land, with access from a road, on
which they will be prepared to house a caravan from time to time? We
have the chance to buy a second-hand caravan to use as site
headquarters, but it will not always be in use on site. We hesitate to
buy until we can be sure that when we are not digging, we have a place
where the caravan can rest.
Again, any suggestions to our Hon. Secretary.
Roman Cirencester
A note from A. V. Turner.
Following the HADAS visit to Cirencester in August, 1973, I
wrote to Corinium Museum to inquire why, and at what period, so many
English towns -- such as Winchester, Gloucester, etc., had had the
suffix "cester" or "chester" added to their names.
Members may be interested to see the explanation given me by David Viner, Curator of Corinium Museum. He says:
"Corinium is the Latinised form of the native British name
Caer-Coryn, which means "town on the highest part" (the Churn, the
river on which Cirencester a stands, is the highest source of the
Thames). It was a regional tribal capital, hence Corinium Dobunnorum –
"Corinium of the Dobunni". The British "Caer" becomes Saxon "caestre",
hence Coryn-caestre, then Cyrenceastre and Cirencester."
From this it appears there the word merely means "town" or
"city" and was added by the Saxons to the previous names of places
established during the Roman occupation.
Footnote: Ekwall's DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH PLACE NAMES carries
this entry on the old English word "ceastre": an early loan-word from
Latin castra, which means "a city or walled town, originally one that
had been a Roman Station". This is the actual meaning of many place
names; but in other cases the meaning must have been "prehistoric fort"
generally. The Northumbrian names in -chester, for instance, cannot all
denote old Roman stations. The usual form in place-names is -chester;
but –caster is regular in some districts. Owing to Norman influence,
-chester often becomes –cester or even -ceter, as in Exeter."
Outing to Warwickshire
Report by Joanna Wade.
The last of the season's outings -- if you don't count the
special weekend in Shropshire this month -- took place on 14 September
and was a great success. We arrived at Wormleighton in beautifully
sunny weather which remained the whole day, and walked into the
gatehouse of the manor, built by the Spencers in 1519 but now mostly
destroyed. In 1506 the Spencers had bought, for £2,000, the large
pastoral estate, which included the site of a village that had been
de-populated in 1499. They themselves built another small village on
the other side of the Church from the deserted one. There are still
houses on the second site today.
Eric Grant, without whose help I would never have been able to
understand the tantalisingly un-excavated bumps, guided us round of the
site. Standing in the main street as we approached were some friendly
bullocks, which followed us to the manor moat and, I am afraid,
distracted many of us from the proper appreciation of the fishpond and
stew ponds. The older and newer villages were both fascinating to the
visit, and I was sorry to leave so soon. Lunch was on Burton Dassett
Hill, with views of Warwickshire and Oxfordshire on all sides.
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Afterwards we drove over Edge Hill, site of the Civil War battle
of 1642, to Compton Wynyates -- a beautifully mellow and friendly house
(built in 1480, altered in 1520 and deprived of its moat after the
Civil War) with twisted chimneys, a peaceful inner courtyard and
topiary-ed hedges in the garden. Inside we saw the room where Sir
William Compton's friend Henry VIII slept, and a room in the roof with
three exits, used to hide a priest and containing a makeshift altar
carved roughly with crosses.
After tea in Shipston we returned to London, having thanked
Eric Grant, who had compered this trip, and the organisers of the other
outings in this very successful season and not least Mrs. Newbury, who
co-ordinated all the efforts.
A 1974 find
Is anyone short of a man's raincoat, light navy in colour, with a
pair of leather gloves in the pocket? Found on the coach after our July
outing to Danebury and still unclaimed. Ring Dorothy Newbury if it is
yours.
Church Farm House Museum
The exhibition at present showing at the Museum (it closes on
October 13th) on Blue Underglaze Printed Earthenware is well worth a
visit by anyone interested either in pottery or in the history and
artefacts of the more recent past.
The heyday of "Staffordshire Blue", as it's commonly called,
was c 1795-1845. The exhibition shows a cross-section of the wares
produced between these years, starting with the chinoiserie influence,
followed by the vogue for topographical scenes and then finally the use
of patterns of every kind.
When Staffordshire Blue was first produced (probably by John
Turner of Lane End in the Potteries) cobalt was the only chemical base
sufficiently stable to give reliable colour results when fired at high
temperatures -- and cobalt produces blue pottery. Later, about 1835, as
knowledge of chemical process is improved, other colours -- red,
purple, green and brown -- also became common.
The exhibition displays blue ware vessels of many forms and
uses; there is a case devoted to colours other than blue; and a
fascinating case illustrates the whole process of transfer printing.
One of the finest pieces is a small multi-coloured plate, in
greens, mauves and yellows, by Spode (the first potter really to
popularised Staffordshire Blue, and the most consistent producer of
wares of high quality). It is dated 1815 and shows as its central scene
a group of "bottle" kilns for firing pottery. It illustrates how this
ware, as well as being pleasing in itself, throws a light on social
conditions, topography and even industrial processes.
The exhibition catalogue contains a valuable list of ten books
or articles which are "recommended reading" on Staffordshire Blue.
The Museum looks like providing a continuous feast for members
this autumn. Staffordshire Blue will be followed by Old Middlesex Maps
(October 19th-November 24th); and then Old Houses of the Borough
(November 20th-January 5th).
HADAS book box
With winter meetings about to start, members are reminded that HADAS
now has its own book box, in the capable hands of George Ingram. There
are well over 100 volumes, which is too many to bring to each lecture.
Mr Ingram will, however, provide a selection each month; and will be
happy to supply any member with information about the books available.
Consult him at meetings or ring him.
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Recent Bookbox accessions include
Notes on Nonsuch, a lost Tudor Palace (from Mary Macalaster)
Camden History Review No. 1 (from Brigid Grafton Green)
The London Archaeologist (quarterly) winter 1968 to spring 1974 (all Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 1-6) (from Mrs. Worby)
Rescue News, Nos. 2-5 (also from Mrs. Worby)
HADAS Farm Survey
By Rosalind Batchelor.
The Industrial Archaeology Group is at present concentrating on
a survey of farm buildings in the Borough of Barnet. The main aim of
the project is to identify, visit and record farms which are still
active, although buildings known once to have been farms but now
serving some other purpose have also been included.
Research suggests that there are at least 20 working farms in
Barnet today. In addition there are many riding stables, plant
nurseries and golf clubs which occupy old farm buildings. Most of these
are to be found, not surprisingly, in the "green belt" of the Borough,
near High Barnet, Totteridge and Mill Hill. Tithe Award Maps of 1843
indicate that farms were spread fairly evenly throughout the Borough;
many which were in built-up areas have now disappeared without trace.
It is hoped to visit each farm and record systematically with
sketch plans and photographs the layout of the farm and design of its
buildings, together with any information about its activities, past and
present.
So far progress has been rather slow, especially as nearly all
the members of the group also working on the Historic Buildings Survey.
However, it is hoped that visits to farms can begin in earnest in the
autumn. Anyone interested in helping will be most welcome. The only
requirements are a pencil and camera, a knowledge of shutting gates and
a lack of fear of cows, horses and mud!
Contact Rosalind Batchelor or Alec Jeakins.
Paid Your Subscription Yet?
The Hon. Treasurer would be happy to receive any outstanding
subscriptions for the current year, which began 1 April 1974. Rates:
Full membership
| - £1.00
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Under 18
| - 65p
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Senior Citizen
| - 75p
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Subscriptions should be sent to Jeremy Clynes.
New members
The ramifications of HADAS have taken an international turn
recently. Last week a South African, Mrs. Lucy Waldbaum, who last
autumn spent a morning on the Church Terrace dig and at Church Farm
House Museum, wrote from Johannesburg to say she and ten members of her
local archaeological society were coming here in October and that
Hendon and the Museum were a "must" on their programme. The Borough
Librarian has kindly agreed to open the Museum specially one Sunday
morning for their visit.
The same week a letter arrived from St. Lucia, West Indies,
from an 81 year old gentleman, born in Hendon, who wants to join HADAS.
He had seen the catalogue of Archaeology in the Borough exhibition. "I
am familiar with the terrain you are excavating", he wrote, "and lived
for some years near the parish church. Since living in the West Indies,
I have developed an interest in archaeology and history and helped to
establish a local society, of which I'm now President. Of course our
field here is very different from yours, as we deal mainly with
Amerindian remains."
Naturally we're delighted to have a member from so far afield.
Meantime, since we last welcome new members in the May newsletter, 32
new colleagues have enrolled. We would like to wish them real enjoyment
in the various activities of our Society. They come from all parts of
the Borough and outside it: Edgware, East Barnet, Hendon, Finchley,
Cricklewood, Friern Barnet, Colindale, Golders Green, Garden Suburb,
North Finchley, Totteridge, Mill Hill, Highgate and Chiswick.