In Other News…
Happy 168th birthday to us!
The Kent Archaeological Society was born in the old State Bed Room at Mereworth Castle on September 19th in 1857. Eleven noblemen and gentlemen of the county met at the castle, at the invitation of the Viscount and Viscountess Falmouth.
Frank W. Jessup gives an excellent account of the origin and first hundred years of the society in Vol 70 of Archaeologia Cantiana dated 1956 which can be read on our website: https://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/journal/70
Powell-Cotton Museum Mystery
A row of Roman marble headstones, originally purchased by Percy Powell-Cotton in 1884 from the garden of an unnamed person in Herne Bay, likely souvenirs of a Grand Tour between the 17th and early 19th century, have begun to reveal their story.
In recent weeks, a visitor spotted them and after some investigation, found that they weren’t listed on the Roman Inscriptions of Britain (RIB) database.
One fragment stood out, as its missing half is in the Vatican’s collection, and an 18th-century print shows the stone complete at the time of excavation.
The museum conservation team carefully cleaned and condition-checked the headstones before photographing them under raking light to reveal their inscriptions. Thanks to this chance discovery, the Powell-Cotton Museum memorial inscriptions will be included in one of the RIB's future publications.
Minster Gatehouse new collections page
The Sheppey Local History Society volunteers with the help of Jon Pratty and James Bell are proud to announce a live online collection page on their website.
Minster Gatehouse Museum is housed in a 1000-year-old grade 1 listed building adjacent to the historic Minster Abbey. The museum displays local artefacts with connections to the Isle of Sheppey as well as fossils. The museum also has a roof viewing platform with an almost 360-degree vista of the surrounding area.
After a lot of blood, sweat and tears, and an award from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Sheppey Local History Society volunteers are proud to announce that they now have a live online collection page on our website: www.minstergatehouse.co.uk/
You can also follow them on Facebook: /Minstergatehousemuseum and Instagram: /minster.gatehouse/
Email: minstergatehouse@gmail.com
The Archaeology Forum (TAF) publishes new promotional leaflet
The Archaeology Forum (TAF) has published a new leaflet, with the purpose of promoting archaeology to audiences unfamiliar with the subject and the wide range of positive effects it can have for people and society. The leaflet will be used by CIfA to engage with politicians, officials and wider external stakeholders.
You can download the leaflet below.
CIfA members are invited to use the leaflet, for example, by sending it to their MPs or local representatives. If you would like to use the document and would like some printed copies, please contact rob.lennox@archaeologists.net to arrange this.
The leaflet explores why society needs archaeology, and sets out how archaeology informs change, unleashes creativity, drives innovation, sustains growth, and improves wellbeing.
Analysing Roman hobnail footwear in soil-blocks using radiography
James Elliott of CCCU and Adelina Teoaca of Canterbury Archaeological Trust have released a study which presents the radiographic imaging and analysis of eight soil-blocks containing hobnailed footwear from a late Romano-British cemetery in Canterbury. Of 215 inhumations identified, 51 contained evidence of footwear by virtue of hobnails in varying quantities. The resultant imaging showed a range of designs in keeping with known examples elsewhere and can assist dating according to changes in fashion. Radiography has been demonstrated as a useful tool, particularly when imaging soil-blocks where no skeletal remains have survived, in which case footwear design and dimensions may offer the only clues for age-at-death, biological sex, and social status.
Read the full report here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X2500433X
Lower Thames Crossing
Digging up Gravesend’s past at St Andrews Gardens!
The Lower Thames Crossing team and Gravesham Borough Council recently supported a community excavation in Gravesend, uncovering fragments of clay pipes, pottery and glass, along with the footings of a Victorian cottage built in the 1840s.
The excavation was carried out with the help of archaeological volunteers, as well as pupils from local Chantry School in Kent.
This community excavation is part of a wider Heritage programme made possible through National Highways’ Designated Funds, a programme that invests in projects beyond construction of the Lower Thames Crossing project.
find out more at: https://lnkd.in/ejdDUUqD
Historic windmill fully operational after refurb
A historic windmill in Kent is fully operational for the first time in more than 30 years following a restoration.
The Grade II listed Meopham Windmill, which was built around 1820, but had fallen into disrepair.
A £300,000 restoration programme has seen it reconstructed with new mechanisms, revitalised grounds and its sweeps turning once again.
The funding for the Meopham restoration came from a collaboration between Kent County Council, Meopham Windmill Trust, Suffolk Millwrights and the local community.
Read more: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cp8w0nw9kp9o
Maidstone: Through the Lens
For a new exhibition coming 4th October 2025, Maidstone Museum need keen photographers to capture modern day photos of the certain spaces in the town (see the Maidstone Museum website for details).
In 2006, the museum held an exhibition ‘Out of the Shadows: Into the Light’. The exhibition showcased the museums historic photograph collection showing Maidstone and the surrounding Kent countryside as they were during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The photographs displayed were produced from scans of the original glass plate negatives, as part of a collaborative project between Maidstone Museum and Maidstone Camera Club.
Much of the townscape appeared to have changed beyond all recognition. This led to another display in 2011 of photographs taken from the same viewpoint as the historic images. Visitors can witness how some parts of the town have changed again in the last 14 years.
The museum are encouraging visitors to take their own photos of the same scene and send them to exhibitions@maidstone.gov.uk. They will display these photos alongside the historic and 2011 images to show how once again Maidstone has evolved.
Sittingbourne Heritage Museum Closure
The society is saddened to see the news from Sittingbourne Heritage Museum, who have been told to vacate their location at The Forum, Sittingbourne. The organisations are to be forced out by the end of November. Museums in the county are already under significant strain and with important collections held both at the Heritage Museum and CSI Sittingbourne (where our nationally important Ozengell collection was conserved) we hope that a solution will be found for both organisations.
The Museum is a registered charity and is run entirely by volunteers. Its trustees are appealing to for help among the town’s residents and business community, to help them through this emergency situation. If you know of any short term storage solutions (container/warehouse/empty stores, etc.) or potential long term solutions such as new premises, please contact the Museum directly on
secretary@sittingbourne-museum.co.uk or call 07472 268388
Professor Sir Robert Worcester (1934-2025)
The Society is saddened by the news of the passing of Sir Robert Worcester, aged 91, a prominent figure in the county’s public life and long-time patron of the Society.
He lived at Allington Castle, near Maidstone, opening its historic doors for civic occasions and private events. Sir Robert was knighted in 2005 and became a deputy lieutenant of Kent, serving as a Kent Ambassador and supporting a range of local organisations. He held the post of chancellor at the University of Kent between 2006 and 2014, after more than a decade on its council. He was also chairman of the Magna Carta 800th Anniversary Committee and deputy chairman of the Magna Carta Trust.
An obituary will feature in the Society’s Archaeologia Cantiana journal for 2026.