The Cantiaci Forum Friends  met for the first time on Sunday 4th March.

Corinne, Caz, Shane and Anne B met at Rochester together with Pete from London and Sir Mark of Essex, plus a few ‘extras’ – Corinne brought her niece and nephew – Jed and Zoe, Caz brought daughter Lauren, Shane brought son James, Anne brought husband Bob and daughter Susan, and Mark brought daughters Emily and Charlotte. 

Pete remarked that it was the first time he’d been to a meeting with as many youngsters as adults!! Mr Topes tearoom provided a welcome chance to get to know each other a bit (as well as have a warm drink on this very cold day!) before we adjourned to our first port of call.

 The Guildhall Museum

The 17th century Guildhall building houses a wide-ranging collection of local artefacts, from the biggest Neolithic axe-head I’ve ever seen right up to Victorian and Edwardian times. The exhibits are laid out chronologically. They are clearly displayed with interesting background information and lots of hands-on activities for the children, including a replica musket which could be loaded and “fired”. This was particularly popular with Jed, Emily and Charlotte ! The children (as well as the adults) could also have a bash at brass-rubbing and coin minting.

Personally, I was particularly struck by the life-size reconstruction of part of a “hulk” – a warship reduced to its hull and little else, then anchored in the estuary and used to house prisoners-of-war. Kept below deck with little fresh air and exercise, the men kept in these living tombs still produced the most amazing pieces of artwork, from the most unpromising materials such as straw and bone, some of which were on display.

There are two panoramic cameras located above the tower which give you the opportunity to ‘city watch’ – Sir Mark of Essex had great fun with these!

The Guildhall Museum Building 

The building now housing the Guildhall Museum was built in 1687 – the architect was Sir Christopher Wren. It has an arcaded ground level with paired Tuscan columns. In the Council Chambers are richly decorated plasterwork ceilings by John Bryan.

Rochester Castle

Rochester Castle has one of the best-preserved Norman keeps in the country, with the outer walls intact up to roof level – it stands at 113 feet and is 70 feet square! 

The four angled turrets stand a further 12 feet high.

You can climb right to the top and walk right around the battlements and admire the views. This involves a long climb via the circular stairwells Some of us (Corinne) had to tackle this twice due to wee ones needing lb’s .

Unfortunately the views were mostly hidden in the murk of the day , but we could still see enough to appreciate why there has been a fortification here since the Romans guarding Watling Street’s crossing over the Medway.

Finally we had a quick mooch around the cathedral before a service started.

Outside, we all agreed how much we’d enjoyed meeting each other and putting faces to the names we see regularly on the Forum. 

To all those fledgling groups out there I say – Go for it! It is really worth the effort and you’ll be glad you did. 

And to anyone else living in the Kent/Sussex/Surrey area – you missed a great day out but we hope to see you next time

– introduction
– 12th century
– 13th century
– 14th century
– 15th century
– royal palaces
– robert adam
– william adam
– distance slabs
– Introduction
– Bannockburn
– Culloden
– Tay Rail Bridge
– Index
– Balfour Battery
– Churchill Barriers
– Torry Battery
– Portraits
– Timeline
– Index
– Steness
– Brogar
– Maes Howe
– Mine Howe
– Gurness
– Skara Brae
– listing
– Antonine Wall
– Rough Castle
– Castlecary
– Callendar Park
– Watling Lodge
– Carpow
– Trimontium
– Index
– Index
– Dundee
– Fife
– World War 1
– Glasgow
– Dundee
– Misc Scotland – index – Introduction
– The Picts
– Symbolstones
– Aberlemno1
– Aberlemno2
– Brodie
– Bullion
– Burrion
– Cadboll
– Grantown
– Monifieth
– Rosemarkie
– Strathmartin
– Strathmiglo
– Tankerness
– Woodwray
– Norries Law
– Woollen Hood
– Monymusk
– Whitecleugh
– St Ninians – Background
– Interim Interpretation
– Excavations
– Discoveries
– Post-Excavation
– Summary
– YAC visit – Fetlar
– Finlaggan
– Govan
– Roxburgh
– Kinlochbervie
– Mine Howe
– Sanday
– Drumlanrig
– Wemyss
– Wemyss
> – Flora
– Sites

“Diving for the Armada”

 Broadcast 20th January 2002 / Recorded 10th, 11th & 12th July 2001

Time Team Pages – http://www.channel4.com/history/timeteam/kinloch.html

Other links of Interest

http://www.nasscotland.org.uk/projects/klb.html

http://www.nasscotland.org.uk/projects/klb-report.pdf

http://www.highland.gov.uk/cx/pressreleases/archive2001/july2001/armada.htm 

Publications

Brown and Curnow, D H and C (2004)
‘A ceramic assemblage from the seabed near Kinlochbervie, Scotland, UK’ International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 33, 1, 2004, 29-53, 29-53,

McElvogue, D (2002) ‘Doing it in Kinlochbervie’,

Nautical Archaeology, 2002, 3, 2002, 4-5,

Robertson, P (2002) ‘Bagh Poll A’ Bhacain, North Minch, Highland (Maritime – Highland), wreck’,

Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 3, 2002, 74,

Robertson, P (2004) ‘A shipwreck near Kinlochbervie, Sutherland, Scotland, UK’

International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 33, 1, 2004, 14-28,

Drumlanrig, Dumfries Fighting on the frontier Sunday 23 January, 5pm Twenty years ago, during a particularly dry summer, parch marks revealed what seemed to be a huge Roman fort a few hundred metres from the Duke of Buccleugh’s extraordinarily grand house, Drumlanrig Castle, in Dumfries. The discovery lay untouched until Time Team took on the challenge to investigate it further.

If you find an object, which is below the plough-soil, please be prepared to contact your local FLO to see if an archaeologist can help you dig it out. The same applies to any find within the plough soil where it is evident that its particularly complicated or fragile – or an important find.

It’s useful to carry a contact card around with you with the phone numbers of your local archaeological unit and FLO on. However the chances are that you will be detecting at weekend’s which doesn’t tie in with their working hours so you need to think through very carefully what you are going to do. It won’t do any harm to cover the find up and make a record of where it is for a few days. This will then give you time to contact your local FLO for assistance and guidance

The Time Team travels to Orkney, where local farmer Douglas Paterson went in search of a mysterious underground chamber, said to be lost on his land after its discovery some 50 years earlier.

Broadcast 27th December 2000

Time Team Web Page – http://www.channel4.com/history/timeteam/archive/2000minehowe.html

This is one of many glacial-looking hillocks lying East of the cemetery and 400m South East of the parish hall at Toab. A good few years before 1979 a school-teacher moved some stone on the summit and found an opening with steps leading down. The proprietor caused the opening to be re-sealed.
An underground chamber relating to the mound was rediscovered in 1999. An excavation was undertaken and the mound, though natural, contained a chamber and was surrounded by a ditch

Other Links

 http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/minehowe/

Part of the online journal of the excavation at Minehowe by the Orkney Archaeological Trust describing the involvement of the Time Team

More details can also be found on the Canmore website

http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/pls/portal/newcanmore.details_gis?inumlink=2998

Publications

Card, Downes and Gibson, N, J and J (2000) ‘Minehowe, Orkney (St Andrews & Deerness parish), later-prehistoric acvtivity’,

Discovery and Excavation, Scotland, 1, 2000, Fig 23, 65-6

These are details of digs by Time Team in Scotland including website links and programme details

The Viking invasion was a significant event in British history. Orkney was used by the ‘Northmen’ as a stepping stone for their forays, and on the Ness of Brough on the island of Sanday, Time Team investigated a series of mounds that might just be a Viking burial site.

(Description taken from Time Team Web Page)

Broadcast 18th January 1998

Recorded 7th – 9th June 1997

Time Team Web Page

Other Links

The Time Team at the Ness of Brough 

Account on the Orknet Website  of the Time Team’s visit to Sanday during the summer of 1997