Archaeology Group

The group was formed in Sept. 1969 with a membership of about 25. Since then we have done many interesting things but unfortunately not everyone has actively participated in a 'dig' yet.

Places we have visited:
Guildhall Museum, St. Albans, Colchester, London Museum, Fishbourne Roman Palace.

"Digs" in which we have participated:
Northolt, Montague Close by Southwalk Cathedral, Brentford by the County Court.

In addition we:
Attended a lecture on the Black Prince's Palace at Kennington;
Went on a guided tour of the Roman sites of London;
Were present at the annual conference of London archaeologists, where we heard about the emergency excavations at Heathrow Airport and Staines.
We have also exhibited at the School Hobbies Evening and the First Form intake evening.

Colchester - D. Coleman.
Colchester is the oldest recorded town in Britain; its Roman name was Camulodunum. The place we were interested in was the museum contained in the castle. There were models of the castle at different periods in history, with a detailed description of the 1684 siege. The upper floor housed a very large display of flint tools, an interesting collection of glass, and a section on Roman antiquities. All the exhibits had been found in the Colchester area.

Roman sites of London - F. Waddington.
The tour of the Roman sites of the City of London was under the guidance of Mr. Peter Marsden, a well-known London archaeologist. We assembled at the Guildhall Museum from where we made our way to the Barbican to see a preserved section of the Roman Wall. From there we followed the wall while the interesting sites were pointed out to us.

I thought the most interesting part of the tour was the newly-excavated Roman bath and hypocaust near Billingsgate market. The site was enclosed in a pre -fabricated hut but even this had been penetrated by vandals who had destroyed part of the hypocaust.

Staines Posthouse - B. Staunton
During operations for the building of an extension to the Staines branch of Barclay's Bank, the workmen found some articles of possible archaeological interest. The local archaeological groups was informed and they immediately organised an emergency excavation, determined to salvage as much as possible of what lay beneath the site before it was necessary to complete the building. The workmen were extremely helpful, handing over any finds they themselves uncovered.

Since time was limited, intensive digging by an enthusiastic group of amateurs, under the direction of Mrs. Maureen Rendell, went on in all weathers, including snow. The excavation was typical of the way in which enthusiasts, guided by professional archaeologists, are helping to uncover the past before it is obliterated by modern developments.


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