1711 wsv Proof ppp - stalbanshistory.org...Geraint John, President of the St Albans Civic Society,...

ST ALBANS & HERTFORDSHIREARCHITECTURAL & ARCHAEOLOGICAL

SOCIETY

NEWSLETTER 206November 2017

ST ALBANS & HERTFORDSHIREARCHITECTURAL & ARCHAEOLOGICAL

SOCIETY

President’s MessageAnnual General MeetingClock TowerLibrary

Society VisitsMuseum and GalleryBooks for saleLecture Programme

Some of the items included in this edition

What has this commemorative stamp to do with St Albans? See page 22

Contents

President’s Message 3SAHAAS and Social Media 4175�� Anniversary 5Annual General Meeting 2017 6Membership 8Publications Report 9Library Report 10Library Notes 11Sir John Evans: 12Do you have any expertise in old clocks? 13Computer wanted 13Clock Tower Report 14

Dennis Owen 1923 - 2017 15.1Visit to Samuel Pepys Library Cambridge 16Planned Coach Outing to Colchester 17New Museum and Gallery Site Visit 18St Michael’s School Dig 19More Improvements in George Street 20St Albans Network Conference 21

Sir Ernest Shackleton and St Albans 22Alban, Britain’s First Saint 24A Fire on Holywell Hill in 1653 26Hertfordshire Regiment Memorial 28Top Heritage Education Award for Verulamium Museum 29Digitisation of A Bedfordshire Bibliography 29

Lecture Programme 30More Books for Sale 35

NEW EDITOR SOUGHT

After five years as your editor and due to other commitments, I have decided to passthe baton on after the publication of the February 2018 Newsletter (207). The Societyis therefore seeking another to take over the role. Currently, I both edit the copy andprepare the Newsletter for print using basic desk top publishing software – it may bethat the job can be divided into two?

If you are interested in filling this rewarding and interesting post please email me [email protected] or Bryan Hanlon at [email protected].

John Humphreys

www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 206 Page 3

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

I write this having just attended theannual civic service at St Albans Abbeyin the presence of both the newMayor and the new Lord Lieutenantfor the county. Iqbal Zia is the 474thmayor of St Albans. Robert Voss isonly the 27th person to have held thelieutenancy in a very similar timeperiod. Lords Lieutenant have agreater longevity than mayors!

One is Muslim, the other is of theJewish faith. We were in St AlbansAbbey in an Anglican service presidedover by Dean Jeffrey John with theBishop of Bedford. Rather than havinga traditional sermon, the Mayor’sChaplain, Imam Abdul Muhit fromLondon Colney Islamic Centre, and theBishop of Bedford conducted a publicdialogue on Muslim and Christianinterpretations of Mercy and Commu-nity. Then we all sang the NationalAnthem before processing out.

It could not have been a more power-ful expression of diversity, completelyunimaginable to our predecessors,and really rather wonderful. Historyis made every day in our extraordinarycommunity. My fascinating first fewweeks as President of the Society haveemphasised to me what an importantrole we must play in tracking that

thread of history andmaking sure thatpeople understandthe context in whichwe go forward.

We have just pub-lished Chris Green’shistory of the OldTown Hall with its beautiful produc-tion quality and illustrations – I amhugely grateful to Pat Broad forguiding this into harbour! After agreat deal of effort by our libraryteam, our new online library cata-logue has gone live – see page 10 formore details.

Dave and Gill Girdziusz’ lecture pro-gramme has also had a cracking start.We’ve had home-grown talent –Louise Fowler was educated andbrought up in St Albans, Jon Mein isof course an invaluable member ofCouncil – and two speakers of nationalrenown, Carenza Lewis and ChristianWolmar. So far the move of ourTuesday lectures to the MarlboroughRoad Methodist Church seemsto have been a great success. Thenew venue is comfortable andaccessible and has plenty of room.However, our New Year Party will,as always, be held at VerulamiumMuseum.

Photo: John Humphreys

While every care has been taken in the preparation of this newsletter the publishers cannot be held responsible forthe accuracy of the information herein or any consequence arising from it


I was particularly struck by ProfessorLewis’s lecture. It recounted how ourunderstanding of the impact of theBlack Death has been enhanced bymobilising thousands of ordinaryhouseholders to dig trial pits (underproper supervision) on their proper-ties and record the pottery finds, thusdemonstrating the ebb and flow ofpopulation across the Eastern Regionsince Roman times. I would love it ifwe too could find a project that mobi-lised our wider community in a similarway.

Our light is rather hidden under abushel! I am struck by how manypeople say they have never heard ofthe Arc & Arc and are duly astonishedwhen I tell them about the lectureprogramme, the library, the clocka-teers and all the projects. There is agratifying increase in membershipalready this year but there is still ahuge untapped market out there. Wedo need to think how we communi-cate using every kind of media. I am

setting up a Publicity Group andwould be very pleased to hear of anyappropriate skills among the widermembership.

In two years time we have our 175thanniversary. A small team is consider-ing how best we mark this significantmilestone. Again please come forwardwith your ideas – see page 5. We arelooking for suggestions, big and small,from all of our wide membership.

We stand on the shoulders of giants,the Society has made an extraordinarycontribution over the last 173 years.With the opportunities provided bynew media, a local populationamongst the most highly educatedin the United Kingdom, a Counciland membership brimming withknowledge and talent, it will be ourfault if we don’t make the most of thisopportunity.

Sandy Walkington

SAHAAS AND SOCIAL MEDIA

We are very aware that new forms of social media, Facebook, Twitter andothers are transforming communication and information sharing. TheSociety does have a presence on Facebook and Twitter but we need to becleverer in reaching out to people who are not looking for us. We wouldwelcome someone to lead this, please contact Sandy by email([email protected]).


175TH ANNIVERSARY

As many of you will be aware, it will be our 175th anniversary in 2020 andyour Council feels that this should be celebrated in due fashion – thequestion is how? A ‘steering group’ (currently Sandy Walkington, PeterBurley, Helen Bishop, David Moore, Pat Broad, and Bryan Hanlon) willcoordinate the implementation of any projects that we undertake, but weneed suggestions as to what we shall be doing.

2020 may seem a long time away, but it is now little more than two yearsand we all know that projects can take a great deal of time and effort beforethey bear fruit. We do have some initial ideas but with over 500 memberswithin our Society, we believe that there will be a good number of sugges-tions that can be put forward so, please, start thinking now.

Please send your ideas to:

Bryan Hanlon24 Monks Horton WaySt AlbansAL1 4HA

Tel: 01727-851734 email: [email protected]

Closing date: 31st December 2017 – or of course earlier!

Bryan HanlonHon. Secretary


ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2017

The Annual General Meeting was held on 12th September 2017 at MarlboroughRoad Methodist Church. Eighty seven members attended.

1. Apologies for absence were received from Doreen Bratby, Jenny Burley,Romaine Byers, Caroline Howkins, Rosemary Knight, Andy Lawrence,Ian Martin, Alison Metcalfe, Beryl and Donald Munro and David Smith.

2. Helen Bishop, President 2014-2017 welcomed members to the newvenue for Tuesday meetings, Marlborough Road Methodist Church,and thanked the Church for having us. She referred to the achievementsof the Society over the past few years: publishing two books, movingits library to Sandridge Gate and fund raising for the New Museum andGallery. Her speech was met with applause.

3. Election of President for 2017-2020. Bryan Hanlon referred to theAugust Newsletter where Council recommended Sandy Walkington asthe next President. There being no comments from the floor, BryanHanlon proposed and Pat Howe seconded that Sandy Walkington bePresident of the Society. All members present voted in favour andSandy was duly elected. He then spoke a few words on his pleasure atbeing elected, and the future challenges for the Society.

4. On behalf of Council, Sandy Walkington made a small presentation to Helen Bishop and thanked her for all her hard work for the Society. Geraint John, President of the St Albans Civic Society, also made a short speech thanking Helen for her work over the past three years, and her cooperation with the Civic Society.

5. Minutes of the meeting held on 13th September 2016 had beencirculated. Their adoption was proposed by John Cox and secondedby Jane Gardiner and agreed unanimously.6. Accounts for the yearended 31st May 2017 had been circulated. Adoption of the accountswas proposed by Helen Bishop and seconded by Gill Girdziusz andagreed unanimously.


7. Subscription Levels: The Treasurer referred to the August Newsletterwhere the reasons for increasing the subscription had been set out.After some discussion, Roy Bratby proposed and Roderick Douglasseconded that the annual subscription be increased to £20 for a singlemembership, £30 for a joint or family membership and £10 forstudents, with effect from 1 June 2018. This was agreed unanimously.

8. Reports from groups had been published in the Newsletter. Adoptionof the reports was proposed by Ann Hobson and seconded by JaneGardiner and agreed unanimously.

9. Honorary Membership: It was proposed by David Girdziusz andseconded by Peter Burley that Doreen and Roy Bratby be elected asHonorary Members of the Society, in recognition of their many yearsservice for the Society, particularly in organising the lectureprogramme. The motion was carried unanimously and Doreen and Royduly elected.

10. Election of members of Council: The following members were electeden bloc, having been proposed by David Lasky and seconded byAnthony Oliver and agreed unanimously.

Bryan Hanlon SecretaryDavid Moore TreasurerPat Broad Publications OfficerMike Carey Clock Tower (jointly with Caroline Howkins)John Cox Publicity OfficerMaggy Douglas Minutes SecretaryRoderick Douglas WebsiteDavid Girdziusz Chairman, Programme Development CommitteeGill Girdziusz Lecture SecretaryPat Howe 17th Century Research Group

Caroline Howkins Clock Tower (jointly with Mike Carey) John Humphreys Newsletter Editor Frank Iddiols Technical Assistance


Christine McDermott Hertfordshire Archaeology and HistoryJon Mein First World War Project GroupRoger Miles Archaeology GroupDonald Munro LibraryDavid Smith Membership Secretary

11. Election of an Independent Examiner: The election of Mr Chris Hall as Independent Examiner of the accounts was agreed unanimously.

The meeting was followed by a talk on Doctors, Dissection and ResurrectionMen by Louise Fowler.

Bryan HanlonHon. Secretary

MEMBERSHIP

The Society welcomes the following new members:

Stephen Irwin & Deborah Spring RadlettMr Giles Harrison Chiswell GreenMrs Amanda James St AlbansMr Andrew Johnstone St AlbansMrs Janet Lynch St AlbansDr Trevor Roberts St AlbansDr Martyn & Mrs Jenny Stroud St AlbansFrancesca Weal WelwynDr Robert James Wiggins NorthchurchElaine and Martin Hudson Croxley Green,

David Smith Membership Secretary


PUBLICATIONS REPORT

Our public launch of The Old TownHall, St Albans took place at Water-stones on Saturday 2 September inthe form of a book-signing event. Theresponse was excellent, with manycustomers spending a few minutestalking to Chris Green about his book.One customer said that she hadknown nothing about the book untilshe saw the publicity display in thewindow, and came in and bought acopy. Traditional publicity still works!We were delighted that Cllr AnnieBrewster came along to congratulateChris personally on his achievement.

A second successful book-signingevent took place ten days later at theAGM, held at Marlborough Road

Methodist Church. Since then, wehave been out and about at otherevents to promote and sell the book.These included the Civic Society’sAwards Evening and the St AlbansLocal History Network conference. Wehave been pleased with the level ofsales and thank everyone for theirhelp and generous support.

A fresh supply of copies has just beendelivered to Waterstones, in time forChristmas shoppers and hopefully willencourage more sales. The book canalso be purchased at VerulamiumMuseum, HALS and SAHAAS Library(personal callers only) or direct fromme by email:[email protected] by phone: 01727 863340.

Pat Broad

Helen Littlewood discussesthe book with the author,Chris Green

Photo. John Humphreys

Follow us on Twitter: SAHAAS@stalbanspast


LIBRARY REPORT

The library has been really quite busywith numerous visitors over thesummer mainly, but not exclusively,consulting image collections. We havealso had a considerable number ofInternet and other queries which TonyCooper has been very ably fieldingwhilst my own attention has beenoccupied by family, health andSoutron migration demands.

SAHAAS Library online catalogueI am very pleased to confirm that, asannounced to most of you in aneNews in mid-October, our newSAHAAS Library online catalogue isnow live. This really is a significantdevelopment for the Library and forthe Society. The online facility is amajor step forward in terms of makingour research resources accessible.SAHAAS members and the worldin general can now look at our hold-ings from home on their personalcomputers or mobile devices.

You do this by going to the SAHAASwebsite (www.stalbanshistory.org)and clicking on the ‘Library catalogue’link in the right hand column.

Matt Saxe of Soutron, who handledthe migration, has been very easy todeal with and receptive of our sugges-

tions and corrections. Many thanksare due to our own group of datacheckers, note-takers, and logotweakers – Tony Cooper, Di Dunn,Susan Smith, Caroline Howkins andJohn Ridge – and Portal Page inputand linking SAHAAS Library pageupgrades from Jon Mein. Great Team!

The implementation took consid-erably longer than expected, but afterthe frustrating delays of a difficultsummer it is very good to have it upand running and now widely access-ible. The Library Team are now lookingto organise volunteers in an activeprogramme for tackling the widerange of resource discovery tasksawaiting attention. With the abilitynow to work on several machines atonce, after an initial Library Teamtraining period, we expect to makerapid progress over the next 12months.

Library Tasks VolunteersWe already have a sizeable volunteergroup but if any more of you, particu-larly amongst the members who havejoined in the past year to 18 months,are interested in becoming involvedin the work of the Library please doget in touch. We are particularlyinterested in hearing from memberswith experience of handling an auto-mated Library system, but many of


the tasks needing attention do notrequire any particular experience, andthere are plenty of jobs to do. [email protected].

We would like to hold a follow-upmeeting of volunteers in November tofirm up on a programme for tacklingthe Tasks identified in an earliermeeting last summer.

Other Library NewsFrank Iddiols acquired and installed alarge drop-down projector screen. Ithas already been used in meetings.

Malcolm Merrick continues his ever-useful work in optimising our ageingcomputer facilities. I would echo hereour appeal for discarded but reason-ably up-to-date computer equipment(see page 13). Malcolm has addedfurther materials to our digitisedimage collections and, in the absenceof prospects of a viable local internalnetwork, he has put the main SAHAASfiles on a portable hard drive whichcan be linked to any SAHAAS compu-ter in the Library as and whenrequired.

Sally Pearson has been busily listingand seeking to sell surplusBeardsmore stock and other libraryduplicates for the benefit of the

Library and the St. Albans Museumproject. The stall at the AGM was verysuccessful, and other lists will be cir-culated (see page 35).

Donald MunroLIBRARY NOTES

New acquisitionsThe Old Town Hall, St Albans, by ChrisGreen. St Albans: SAHAAS, 2017.48pp, illus.A detailed history of the Town Hall,from before its construction to the21�� century, describing its changingfunctions and alteration, generouslyillustrated. Our most recent publica-tion. To obtain copies, see page 36.

[We will feature major acquisitionsfrom the Beardsmore collection in thenext SAHAAS Newsletter. DM]

Recent journal articlesIn The Alban Link, no 87, Autumn 2017Pp 4-8. “The Abbey’s air raid precau-tions in World War 2”, by Sheila Green.

Pp 9-13. “An Abbey parishionertravels back in time”, by PeterGodwin.The author explores how a 15thcentury parishioner would have expe-rienced worship in St Andrew’s Chapeland in the Abbey nave.


In Herts Past and Present Autumn 2017Pp 2-7. “’A happy people’: a studyfrom the early years of LetchworthGarden City”, by Philippa Parker.Julia Reckitt, a philanthropist, SarahBirch, an artist, and Hope Rea wereearly residents of Letchworth,inspired by the ideals of EbenezerHoward. Their lives, closely con-nected, cast light on the social life ofthe young garden city.

Pp 8-9. “Barnet Battlefield Survey: thestory so far”, by Phillip Sheail.An account of the archaeologicalsurvey attempting to identify the loca-tion of the battle, long a matter ofdispute.

Pp 10-18. “A singular friendship: astudy of the letters from CharlesDarwin to Sir Edward Lytton”, by Jean-ette Kruger.The two writers exchanged letters for30 years, which provide interestinginsights into their curious friendship,each coming from such differentsocial worlds.

Pp 20-26. “Exploring the medievalfields of Wheathampstead, c. 1315”,by Mike Smith.It is rarely possible to identify themedieval geography of a location withany confidence, but Wheathampsteadis an exception. Using documents and

fieldwork, the author has been ableto locate its medieval landscape.

SIR JOHN EVANS:Most eminent of the Society’s earlyluminaries

John Humphreys’ interesting articleon Sir John Evans in the August News-letter has whetted appetites amongour readers to know more about him.We have in the library a substantialbiography by Arthur MacGregor, SirJohn Evans 1823-1908: commerce andnatural science in the age of Darwin(Ashmolean Museum, 2008), andsome of his own publications whichreflect his wide range of interests andexpertise. He was a Fellow of both theRoyal Society, and of the Royal Societyof Arts, President of both the EgyptExploration Fund and the GeologicalSociety and for 34 years of the Numis-matic Society of London, and VicePresident of the Society of Antiquar-ies. He held many other conspicuouspositions, in institutions both privateand public, and in 1872 was VicePresident of this Society. He formedimportant collections of stone andbronze implements, fossil remains,and Anglo-Saxon and English coins.Some of the implements from hiscollections are in the AshmoleanMuseum, Oxford. He was a friend ofCharles Darwin, and corresponded


with T H Huxley and Charles Lyell.With his friend and fellow geologistJoseph Prestwich he undertookarchaeological investigations whichcontributed to the mid-19th centurydebate on the antiquity of man.

Among his works in the SAHAASlibrary are The ancient stone imple-ments, weapons and ornaments ofGreat Britain published in 1872, anda number of papers by him, many onancient coins. He delivered twelvelectures to our Society between 1848and 1864, the texts of three of whichare in the library, on coins from Veru-lamium, Hertfordshire tokens, andJewish coinage. All are available formembers to borrow. Some of his

lectures were published by other soci-eties, but others from this periodseem to be lost. Some of his laterlectures were published in the Trans-actions once they started in 1883. Hewas an expert on water supply andcollaborated with Joseph Prestwich inresearch which led to the latter’s bookA geological inquiry respecting thewater-bearing strata of the countryaround London, published in 1851.Courtesy of the Beardsmore Gift,we now have from Evans’ own library,carrying his bookplate, a handsomecopy of this work bound togetherwith several other related works byPrestwich.

Tony Cooper

DO YOU HAVE ANY EXPERTISE IN OLD CLOCKS?If so, can we interest you in looking at our small collection of photos of clocksmade in St Albans in the 18th century to see what more we can learn fromthem? Please contact [email protected]

COMPUTER WANTEDDo you have a newish (2-3 year old) desktop computer (Windows not Mac)that you are looking to dispose of? If so, please bear the Society's Library inmind as we are looking to replace one of our computers. [email protected]


CLOCK TOWER REPORT

It was with great sadness that welearned the news of the death ofDennis Owen. From the late 1970she was very involved with the runningof the Clock Tower, becoming theChair of the Joint Clock TowerCommittee in 1981. An obituary isappended at Page 15.1.

Over the summer of 1988 a very jollyand enthusiastic Dennis was inter-viewed by the Editor of Newspaperfor the Blind. I came across a record-ing of that interview a few months agoin the SAHAAS library and sat andlistened for a full half hour to Dennisregaling the listener with story afterstory about the Clock Tower andrevealing fact after fact.

At one point during the interviewDennis was explaining that he andan American friend of his wereattempting to install a bell-rope fromthe Market Bell all the way from thebelfry to the entrance floor. The workincluded drilling through the timberflooring. The following is an excerptfrom the interview:

“…one evening, with an Americanengineer friend, I was putting thisrope down, which as I said wanders allover the tower on its way down to the

ground floor andwe had to drillthrough one ofthese big timbers.It was now darkand I was drillingthrough with along, long, longdrill to get therope through oneof these things.We thought wehad measured very carefully but unfor-tunately, we hadn’t realised that thewall was a different thickness on thefloor above and so we were just a littlebit out. And, as luck would have it, Imanaged to hit an electrical cable andthere was a great bang. I’m still alive,of course, but the whole tower wentinto complete darkness, you see. I thenheard this voice drawling through theouter darkness somewhere, ‘Well, Iguess, that’s time we went home.’(laughter). ”

Although frail, Dennis attended theClockateers’ Party in his ninetieth yearwhen he was thanked for all that hehad done for the Clock Tower and StAlbans. He, and his knowledge, will begreatly missed. It is the enthusiasmand work of the likes of Dennis Owenand Geoff Dunk in the late 1970s and1980s that helped keep the ClockTower open to the public. We today

Dennis Owen depicted infront of the Clock Tower


continue in their footsteps, welcom-ing visitors over the summer monthsto the tower just as they did.

2017 was another successful year: notonly was the Clock Tower awarded a“Certificate of Excellence” by TripAdvisor but we also had just over13,000 visitors, including 697 for Her-itage Open Days and 784 for theArtist-in-Residence, Abi Spendlove’s“Fragments” exhibition.

During Heritage Open Days the ClockTower formed part of the ThreeTower Challenge, along with St Peter’sChurch and the Cathedral. Partici-pants had to climb the 93 steps to thetop of the Tower, followed by the 122steps to the roof of St Peter’s Church,concluding with the 187 steps of theCathedral. It proved to be great funand good exercise. The successfulclimbers were all rewarded with apresentation of a medal at the Cathe-dral. The opening of the Clock Toweron the Sunday of Heritage Open Daysfor sunrise photography at 5.30amwas not so successful though – onedrunk and only one, but very keen,photographer!

Following on from the success of lastyear’s Artist-in-Residence, the ClockTower played host again to an exhibi-tion by a local artist. Abi Spendlove’sexhibition, “Fragments” (see photo)

at the end ofSeptember, wasan interestingand beautifuldisplay inspiredby fragments ofglass found inthe Museum’scollection. Abi created an installationthat ran for five days and was housedin the entrance room and on the firstfloor of the Clock Tower and playedwith light and colour. It was wellattended both by local residents andnumerous members of the artist’sfamily.

It is with joy and great relief that theTower clock was finally repaired a fewdays before the end of the season.Better late than never - but at least itshould be working for the countdownto the switching on of the Christmaslights, on Sunday, 26 November. TheClock Tower will be open for the after-noon from 2pm until 6pm duringwhich time the St Albans ChristmasLights will be officially turned on.

As always, Mike and I would like tothank all the Clockateers for givingtheir time to keep the Clock Toweropen for the public to enjoy.

Caroline Howkins & Mike Carey

DENNIS OWEN 1923 - 2017

Dennis cared deeply for our city, its archi-tecture and heritage. He and his late wife,Margaret, featured in many aspects of StAlbans’ life. With Geoffrey Trevelyan,Bernard Cox, George Atkinson and others,he supported institutions and causeswhich shared his concerns. Throughouthis time in St Albans he was a member ofour Society and a long serving Clockateer.He was, also, a member and Chair of theSt Albans Civic Society and served a termas a Labour Councillor.

Dennis, the son of a London taxi driver,was born in 1923 and while at DurhamUniversity was a member of the OfficerTraining Corps. He joined the Royal AirForce in 1943, trained in South Africa andspent the war patrolling the skies overEgypt and Italy in his beloved Spitfire.

Dennis and Margaret were married in1947 and in 1956, they bought a house inWoodstock Road North following a longwish to live in St Albans. In 1959, Denniswas sent to Trinidad to work as the archi-tect in charge of a hospital buildingprogramme and the family lived there fortwo years.

His friend, Bernard Cox, had bought theOld Crow in Fishpool Street and was intenton saving the street from destruction, andperhaps it is no coincidence that in 1973the Owens moved next door to number

13 with their twodaughters.

He was disap-pointed that StAlbans did not showoff its heritage butconcentrated onthe few centuries of the Roman occupa-tion and he felt the small museum inHatfield Road was inadequate. In 2007 hegathered together like-minded colleaguesfrom both the Arc and Arc and CivicSociety and began his successfulcampaign “A new Museum for St Albans”subtitled “the legacy of the City’s historyreborn”. Unfortunately, he will not bewith us to celebrate the opening of thenew museum and gallery next summer.

A gifted artist (his painting of the Abbeyat Christmas remains a best-selling Christ-mas card each year), a potter andresearcher. His interest in all thingsregarding the city and its heritage wasinfinite., a correspondent and author, andvery proud of his house at Number 13(See Newsletter 192 page 16) to which heinvited not only his friends but anyonewho showed an interest was taken on aguided tour.

His passing at the age of 94 on 25�� Augustis a sad loss for our City his family andmany friends.

John Humphreys

www.stalbanshistory.org SAHAAS NEWSLETTER 206 Page 15.1


VISIT TO SAMUEL PEPYS LIBRARYCAMBRIDGE

On a beautiful October day, 25 explor-ers ventured to Magdalene College tosee the Samuel Pepys Library. We weregreeted by the Librarian, Jane Hughes,who proved to be a most knowledge-able and enthusiastic guide and whoclearly loved sharing her work with us.

Initially we were introduced to the InnerCourt of Magdalene College, whichopened in 1428 and is a beautiful medi-eval building. In the dining hall we weretold that dinner is served every termtime evening by candlelight as thecollege has, by choice, not installedelectricity. Going through to the secondcourt we were faced with the impres-sive neo-classical Pepys Library building;its colonnade graced with stunninghanging baskets which took our breathaway.

The Library itself is housed on the firstfloor of the Pepys building and consistsof three thousand books in twelve mag-nificent bookcases designed by Pepyshimself and constructed by ship’s car-penters. The first bookcase is reputedto be the earliest of its kind to beglazed. Each bookcase was numberedat the top in gold leaf. Pepys had no idea

at that stage that he would go on toorder eleven more. All are virtuallyidentical and are staged internally in thesame way. The lowest portion of thebookcase door was designed to slideupwards to avoid obstructions at floorlevel and housed the largest books.

The bookcases were made from Aus-trian Red Oak which could be carvedmore deeply and ornately. Pepys wouldarrange books from sales in order of sizeso that each row was symmetricalthroughout the twelve cases. Everybook would include his portrait at thefront and the back. His albums ofmanuscripts were compiled from medi-eval tomes from which he would cutand paste items of interest. Post Disso-lution, manuscripts were frequentlydisregarded and recycled in bindings. Itwas not until the later sixteenth centurythat collectors began to preserve them.Amongst the Library’s treasures are 60medieval manuscripts, collections ofprints, ballads, maps and calligraphy.We were amazed at the tiny, perfectcalligraphy.

Of particular interest to us was a smallbook printed in 1486 by one 'school-master printer of St Albans' on the thirdprinting press in the country. Althoughsome controversy surrounds Dame


Juliana Berners as author of the “Bokeof St Albans”, she does seem to havebeen an historical person and Prioressof Sopwell Nunnery later in her life,having spent her early years at Courtwhere she would have learnt abouthunting, hawking and arms, which arethe subjects of the Boke.

Amongst its many treasures theLibrary includes six original boundmanuscripts of Pepys’ famous diaries.These were written between 1660 and1669 in Skelton’s shorthand and not incode as originally imagined.

An early sketch of the Library shows aunique ‘partner’ desk for two personsto share. Its large flat top enabledmaps and charts to be rolled out. One,such, the ‘Anthony Roll’, lists the“ships of the line”. In 1546 Pepys,however, when Secretary to the Admi-ralty, had the Roll cut up and bound in

book form. It includes a beautifulcoloured illustration of the Mary Rose.

Pepys was a lifelong bibliophile whocarefully nurtured, catalogued andindexed his large collections. It is oneof the most important surviving seven-teenth century private libraries. In histime he was a Member of Parliament,President of the Royal Society andSecretary to the Admiralty. Hisbequest to Magdalene College stipu-lated that none of his books “may besold or added to” which makes thislibrary unique and of special interestto us all.

After the very enjoyable tour we weregiven free time to enjoy a leisurelylunch and the treasures of Cambridgeitself. Our thanks to Pat Howe fororganising a very memorable day out.

Teresa Wood

PLANNED COACH OUTING TO COLCHESTER

We are planning a coach trip on 1 May, 2018, to what is claimed to be theoldest recorded town in Britain: Colchester. As well as enjoying Iron-ageand Celtic history, it was, for a time, the capital of Roman Britain. We donot have an itinerary yet but will plan for a tour guide with visits to historicsites and museums during the day.

If you would like to register an interest, please reply by email to:[email protected] Tony Berk


NEW MUSEUM AND GALLERYSITE VISIT

On 24�� October, inside the old Town Hallfor the first time since it closed its doorsin November 2015, our party of four, plusMike Gray and Caroline Eldred from theTrust and Museum Manager, KateWarren, assembled. Once we had beenkitted out with protective boots, gloves,hard hats and high visibility jackets,Robbie Hazelhurst, the site project man-ager, led us into the building to begin ourtour.

The first impression was of space. Thebasement area includes a new galleryproviding 180 square metres of exhibitionspace. This maximising of space continuesthroughout the site with light and airygalleries created above ground level and,unlike the old Hatfield Road Museum, haslevel access throughout. A lift with acapacity for up to seven passengers willmake the whole of the building, from thebasement to the roof galleries, accessible

to the elderly or disabled, although theoriginal staircase remains.

Everywhere, workers were busy plaster-ing, wiring, plumbing and painting, skil-fully utilising their many trades to breathelife back into this old and much-lovedbuilding. Two pillars which had previouslybeen covered over have been revealedand cleaned. Notices throughout the siteadvise workmen that this is a listed build-ing and that care must be taken.

From the entrance hall, which will housea visitor information centre, gift shop andkitchen with servery, it is possible to walkto the Court Room, where visitors will beable to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee, orvisit the learning centre. In the basement,as well as the Vault Gallery, there is accessto the prisoners’ cells, where old graffitihas been carefully preserved.

On the first floor light floods in throughthe glass walls of the connecting galleries.Views of the many roof tops of the inner

View from new glassconnecting gallery on1st Floor

Photo: John Humphreys


city give way to miles of open countryside.The Assembly Room remains intact. butwith new secondary glazing on thewindows and under floor heating;features which will make it comfortablefor visitors to exhibitions, and events suchas weddings and conferences.

This visit was reassuring. The old TownHall has been preserved for the future andnot destroyed and the Museum staff arebusy preparing their first exhibitions. We

are compiling a screen show of a selectionof photos we took on our tours for ourmembers to see.

Our thanks to Mike Gray, Chairman of theMuseums and Galleries Trust, for arrang-ing the visit for two parties of four, and toRobbie, Caroline and Kate for answeringour many questions.

John Humphreys

ST MICHAEL’S SCHOOL DIG

Several members of the Society wereinterested to learn more about the recentdig at St Michael’s School. Many thanksto James for providing the following shortreport and also to Simon West, theDistrict Archaeologist.

“Between the 12 and 15 July 2017 OxfordArchaeology East carried out a small exca-vation in advance of an extension beingadded to the mid-19th century StMichael’s Infant School in St Albans. Asmall north-west, south-east trench wasexcavated to the south-west of the schoolbuilding and close to the assumed courseof the Verulamium to Camulodunum(Colchester) road.

Although only 1m wide the trench wasexcavated to a depth of 2.2m. The lowerextent of the trench provided evidence ofextra-mural Roman building foundationswith associated layers that contained a

late Roman coin, pottery, glass, ceramicbuilding material and mortar. Buried soilsand pits dating to the Roman period werealso recorded to the north-west end ofthe trench.

The Roman archaeology was sealed bymedieval and post-medieval layers whichprobably relate to the Bell inn (seeSAHAAS Newsletter no. 203 p. 20) andsubsequent maltings that once stood onthe site. Finds of pottery, stamped claypipe and large amounts of roof tile wererecorded in these upper layers.

The overburden within the area of thenew extension was removed to a depthof approximately 0.30m. This providedfurther evidence of post-medieval activityon the site in the form of truncatedsurfaces and dumps of possibly heatedmaterial.”

James FairbairnOxford Archaeology


MORE IMPROVEMENTS INGEORGE STREETIn the previous newsletter wedescribed improvements made to thejunction of George Street and Rome-land Hill. Completed in 1814 theseinvolved the demolition of what isnow no. 16 George Street. The trus-tees of the local turnpike had origi-nally proposed this work in 1792 butthe then owners of no. 16 weren’twilling to sell up. Rebuffed, the trus-tees focused instead on other issuesincluding a problematic window at theGeorge Inn. This is the building furtherup the street, next to what is currentlythe ‘Thai Square’ restaurant.

According to the trustees’ minutebook (HALS TP5/2), the kitchenwindow jutted into the street but byhow much was not recorded. Assum-ing it was canted like those depictedon the first floor in Fig. 1, it perhapshad a projection of 2ft, maybe more.

According to our survey, the road atthis point is, and was then, around24ft wide measured from wall to wall.This was the narrowest part of thestreet making the window, even withthat small projection, a significantimpediment. In particular pedestrianswould have to dodge it by walking inthe increasingly busy and dangerouscarriageway.

In return for replacing the protrudingwindow Thomas Clarke, the inn-keeper, asked the trustees to pay forthe cost of bricking the front of theinn. Agreement was eventuallyreached for the ground floor only andthe resulting brickwork is visible inOldfield’s drawing dating to around1800 (Fig. 1). Clarke was followingfashion.

As other Oldfield drawings demon-strate, several inns had previouslybeen re-faced in brick to attractcustom with at least an outwardaspect of modernity. There are stilltimber-framed buildings, like theGeorge, in the medieval core of StAlbans lurking behind often impres-sive brick frontages.

A fully referenced version of thisarticle is available in the Society’sLibrary.

Jon Mein and Frank Iddiols

Fig. 1: the George Inn, c.1800 (Reproducedcourtesy of HALS, ref. Oldfield vol. 8, p. 471)


ST ALBANS NETWORKCONFERENCEThe Conference was held at the Veru-lamium Museum on 14�� October.SAHAAS was represented by our VicePresident, Peter Burley who reportedas follows:

“We had eight full conference ses-sions – two of them spin-offs from theHome Front Project - and eight 5minute “soapbox” sessions over a veryfull day.

We started with a comparison byPeter Burley between the very differ-ent stories of the two royal burials atthe Abbey (of Humphrey Duke ofGloucester in 1447 and of EdmundDuke of Somerset in 1455).

We heard about a career in the impor-tant Fleetville coat manufacturerAJ Nicholson from Alan Cannon Jones.

Frank Brittain told us what the scoutshad been doing in St Albans in the FirstWorld War, including making afeature film at Marshalswick Manor,and in which Baden-Powell took part.

Patrick McNeill told us the story of the27 pubs in Wheathampstead from1830 to 1915. Why did Gustard Woodneed seven of them?

Kate Morris set the record straight onIvy House, that it had been commis-sioned and lived in by the Rev RobertRumney (vicar of St Stephen’s) andnot Edward Strong (Wren’s mastermason).

Sue Mann told us about the role ofchildren in the First World War, espe-cially those exempted early from full-time education, and Julie Moorepresented her research on rediscover-ing the identities and biographies ofwomen who contributed to the wareffort but who had remained anony-mous to date.

Finally, Jeff Lewis told us about theproject to rescue and preserve thestation at Smallford and promote theAlban Way with the tantalisingprospect of a café there one day.

The soapbox sessions updated us onprojects at the cathedral, the newmuseum and Highfield Park amongstothers.

Congratulations and thanks to theNetwork and to the Museum for suchan informative and enjoyable day.”

Peter Burley

Editor’s Note: A full report of each itemon the Agenda is published on theSAHAAS web site.


SIR ERNEST SHACKLETON ANDST ALBANSIn 1914, explorer Ernest Shackletonmade a third voyage to the Antarctic,planning to cross the continent via theSouth Pole. Early in 1915, his ship,Endurance, became trapped in the iceand ten months later sank, but notbefore Shackleton's crew abandonedthe ship to live on the floating ice. InApril 1916, the crew set off in threesmall boats, eventually reachingElephant Island. Three days after theirarrival, on the very last day before thepack ice once again, sealed them in,Shackleton, with five crew members,set sail for South Georgia in a 23-footlifeboat, the James Caird, to seek help,leaving behind the remainder of thecrew,

Using only a sextant and a chronometerfor navigation, the six men spent 16days, crossing 800 miles of turbulentand icy ocean, to reach South Georgia.Then, Shackleton, with two compan-ions, trekked across the island to thewhaling station. The remaining menfrom the Endurance were rescued inAugust 1916. Not one member of theexpedition died in the South Atlantic.

The voyage of the James Caird fromElephant Island to South Georgia

remains one of the greatest journeysever accomplished in an open boat.

Shackleton is said to have relied upon aThomas Mercer marine chronometer,Number 5229, throughout the expedi-tion. Mercer 5229 (photo above) is nowin the possession of the National Mari-time Museum.

Thomas Mercer was born in St Helens,Lancashire, in 1822 and was introducedto clock making by his grandfather.Moving to London (supposedly en-routeto America) Thomas became appren-ticed to John Fletcher, a well-knownchronometer maker, after having seenFletcher’s work in his shop window.

In 1858 Thomas founded ThomasMercer Chronometers in Clerkenwell,

Photograph courtesy ofNational Maritime Museum


and in 1874 relocated his business asThomas Mercer & Co to Verulam Villa,a five-bedroom house at 18 ProspectRoad, St Albans. As business expanded,a two-storey building was constructedin the garden to house additional work-shops and machinery. The building wasknown as the Power House.

Ships relied upon chronometers todetermine longitude. Mercer’s instru-ments met the highest standards andThomas Mercer & Co was contracted bythe Royal Navy and commercial fleetowners to provide marine chronome-ters. Business was good, and in 1912the company moved to a purpose-builtfactory premises on the corner ofEywood Road and St Stephen’s Hill.Unused, the Power House became der-elict and in 1968 was converted intohousing.

Thomas Mercer & Co was family run,imaginative and prolific, a world leaderin its field. Apart from over 10,000chronometers, the company designedand manufactured instruments forcustomers at home and overseas; suchthings as telegraph tape machines, elec-tric time keeping systems and measur-ing equipment. In its lifetime, Mercersmanufactured 30,000 pieces of all types.As an example, all 700 clocks on theRMS Queen Elizabeth, from thecaptain’s cabin to the cocktail bar, wereMercers.

A staff photograph of 1880 shows aworkforce of 16 , although much workwas done by out-workers. A 1952/3Herts Advertiser article ‘Where StAlbans goes to work’ reported thatThomas Mercer & Co employed 250workers and there were branches over-seas.

In 1984, unable to compete againstcheaper quartz timepieces, ThomasMercer & Co was broken up andsold. The factory in EywoodRoad/Griffiths Way was replaced withoffice buildings. However, the companyname survived and is still trading,albeit under different ownership,making chronometers for the luxurymarket. (www.thomasmercer.com). InSt Albans, Mercer Row, built on part ofthe old factory site, commemorates thename.

Recently, a Mercer chronometer wasused by a Royal Navy and Royal Marinesteam in the Antarctic Endurance 2016expedition to navigate using a sextantand a chronometer alongside a modernglobal positioning system.

John Humphreys

References:National Maritime MuseumSopwell MemoriesHerts AdvertiserMercer Chronometers by Tony Mercer


ALBAN, BRITAIN’S FIRST SAINT

Update for SAHAAS Members

Many of you will have seen thearchaeological work happeningoutside the Cathedral since December2016. The dig is one of the first stepsof our exciting Heritage LotteryFunded project, Alban, Britain’s FirstSaint, which will transform the Cathe-dral visitor’s welcome over the nextfew years. This project will deliver:

● A new welcome centre and cathe-dral entrance at the top ofSumpter Yard;

● a compelling new presentation ofthe story of Alban and the Cathe-dral;

● a wealth of interpretive materialsin the Cathedral and its grounds;

● the restoration of the Shrine of StAmphibalus;

● a refreshed programme of eventsand activities to engage new visi-tors;

● a new learning space for children,families and adults in the ChapterHouse;

● new opportunities for volunteersto take part in their heritage;

● new improved facilities includingnew toilets, new retail space andrefurbished and more accessiblecafé;

● Improved physical accessthroughout the Cathedral.

Archaeological work began last yearwhen the team from CanterburyArchaeological Trust, under the guid-ance of Cathedral Archaeologist ProfMartin Biddle, performed a dig on thesite of the new Welcome Centre. Thepurpose of this initial dig was to dis-cover as much as possible about whatlies there, to ensure that the archae-ology is not damaged or disturbed bythe building of the new WelcomeCentre, and vice versa. They dug aseries of trenches that brought to lightan incredible amount of 20th centuryservices as well as a good number ofburials from the post-reformationparish graveyard. As many of theseburials were closer to the surface thanexpected, it was decided that a fullsite excavation was needed in order

Canterbury ArchaeologicalTrust team at workptember 2017


to remove and reinter these burials inthe North Churchyard.

The second and full site excavationbegan this summer and work willcontinue for the next month. Most ofthe graves uncovered date from the1750-1850s when the site served asthe parish graveyard and they repre-sent the full range of the town popu-lation from infants to elderly people.Some of the artefacts found dating tothis period include a decorated claypipe, ornate coffins with metal plateson top, and several coins. These itemshave been used as educationalobjects, which the team has beenhappy to share in conversation withvisitors and over 400 school children.Earlier burials are also being uncov-ered; a 13th century grave was foundrecently and they hope to findNorman and Roman burials as workcontinues.

Another exciting aspect of the currentdig is the uncovering of originalNorman apse ended chapels project-ing from the east side of the southtransept. These were demolished inthe 13th century and replaced by alarge rectangular building. There is noexisting record of this building any-where but it may have been part ofthe Abbot’s Quarter. The archaeolo-gists are very excited about the oppor-tunity to learn more about this

structure and the large apse endedNorman chapels as the dig continues.In a recent interview with archaeolo-gist Ross Lane, he explains what theteam hope to learn by the end of thedig:

“As we’re going through, we hope toadd to the story of how the Cathedralwas conceived, altered and ultimatelyused during its life to date as it fulfilledits purpose as a place of pilgrimageand worship. We hope to have evi-dence of some of the earliest Romangraves in order to prove just howextensive the beginning of the Chris-tian cemetery was across the hill top(Holywell Hill). All the artefacts werecover will help bring us closer to thepeople who made and used them andwe hope to have material from theRoman through to the most recentevents to have taken place at theCathedral.”

To keep updated on all aspects of theproject (and read the complete inter-view with Ross Lane) you can sub-scribe to the Cathedral’s Alban,Britain’s First Saint blog by visitingalbanbritainsfirstsaint.wordpress.comor visit the Cathedral’s website.

Laura Bloom Development Administrator

St Albans Cathedral


A FIRE ON HOLYWELL HILL IN1653While the risk of fire to timber-builtearly modern towns is welldocu-mented, we know little about fires inSt Albans. This note considers theeffects of the only fire in the town forwhich we have any idea of scale. Itoccurred in 1653, the same year as theso-called ‘Great Fire of Marlborough’,which destroyed around 250 houses,and smaller scale events at placessuch as Bungay and Newmarket inSuffolk.

The House of Commons Journal for 22August 1653 recorded “… the humblePetition of Thomas Dalton, JohnBurton, Samuell Sureties, ThomasBriggs, Samuell Jewell, and MargaretMay, Widow, of St. Albans, in theCounty of Hertford, who suffered Lossby Fire … to the Value of [£1,738]; …Collections be made for their Reliefwithin the Counties of Hartford,Bucks, Berks ...”

Thanks to the work of the Society’s17th century group, we can quicklyidentify who these petitioners were.As the plan in Fig. 1 shows, they wereneighbours on the east side of Holy-well Hill and four of them were inn-keepers. This was, of course, beforethe construction of London Road.

With around 30 inns in the town it wasa competitive trade at the time. Thismust have compounded the fire’sdisruption as a threat to long-termlivelihoods and it is clear from theaverage claim per petitioner of £290that losses were significant.

Somewhat surprisingly then, evidencefrom the 1655 Abbey parish poor ratepapers suggests that any disruptionwas short lived. All four were stilloccupying the same properties andnone of them was in receipt of parishrelief. Perhaps they never had been,instead quickly securing enoughcapital and credit to get, and thenkeep, their heads above water.

This fire was not significant in nationalterms. Assuming it was localised tothe properties of the six petitioners,it was of a lesser magnitude than theother three fires mentioned above.Compare the damage to six propertieswith around 250 in Marlborough orthe claim for £1,738 with £6,384 atBungay and £2,565 at Newmarket.

That alas is as much as we know aboutthe fire at the moment. A search ofother sources has not borne fruit. Thelate John Smith’s study of the onebuilding still surviving in anything likeits original form doesn’t help. This isthe Swan, otherwise no. 1 Holywell


Hill, a brick-fronted, timber-framedbuilding. Smith noted three phases ofimprovement but the fire doesn’tobviously tie in with these.

In the key source, the Boroughrecords, there’s no express indicationof the fire either. But there is probablya later, oblique reference. At theirmeeting on 13 June 1655, around twoyears after the Holywell Hill incident,the Corporation agreed to the follow-ing: “Many sudden fires having hap-pened, to the undoing of some andgreat impairing of the estates of diversothers, the sum of £40 was orderedto be collected by means of a rate …for the buying of two substantialengines of brass and their carriagesfor the purpose of ‘beating anddrowning’ of fires.” The agreementto purchase these fire engines, atsignificant cost to a town the size ofSt Albans, points to the seriousnesswith which fire was now being treated

as well as the development of technol-ogy to contain it.

While we can’t be certain that the1653 Holywell Hill event was one ofthe ‘sudden fires’, the 1655 agree-ment marks a watershed in the historyof fire service provision in the town.With the presence of an enginerecorded for the first time at incidentsat the Crow inn (Fishpool Street) andChristopher inn (French Row) in thelate 1650s, the Corporation must haveraised enough money to purchase atleast one appliance. There appear tohave been fire engines in the townever since.

A fully referenced version of thisarticle has been deposited in the Soci-ety’s library. Thanks to Pat Howe, KateMorris and Alan Smith for comment-ing on an earlier draft.

Jon Mein


HERTFORDSHIRE REGIMENTMEMORIAL

At 11:00sm on 31st July 2017 morethan 200 Hertfordshire residentsincluding many descendants of thosewho fought, were present just outsidethe village of Sint Juliaan (St Julien) inBelgium to unveil a new memorial, thefirst and only one to the HertfordshireRegiment in the Great War outsidethe UK. This memorial, unveiled byCountess Verulam, Lord Lieutenant ofHertfordshire was unveiled at 11amlocal time, 100 years to the momentthat the men of the 'Herts Guards' hadattacked and reached that exact loca-tion. Over the next hour a centurybefore, the Battalion, having beenunable to make further advances,facing unbroken wire and witheringmachine gun fire, were forced toretire, leaving behind every singleOfficer and 75% of Other Ranks, killed,wounded or captured. Today thememorial stands in that spot, proudlyremembering the sacrifice made byour own local men that day.

The memorial was designed, sup-ported and paid for entirely by thepeople of the local community. Fromthe incredibly generous donations oflocal companies, organisations, familyand individuals, we were able toexceed our target of £5,000 to build

and maintain the memorial into thefuture. We would like to take thisopportunity to offer our most sincerethanks to all of you who took part, inone way or another.

The memorial, which contains a dedi-cation to the Battalion for the entireGreat War, not just that one day, alsocontains a map and explanation ofwhy it was placed where it was and ofwhat happened to the Battalion thatday.

For more information about theproject see: www.hertsatwar.co.uk.

(Extract from article on Herts At WarProject web site. Ed)

The Countess of Verulam, representingH.M. The Queen, lays a wreath afterunveiling the Memorial on 31 July

2017


TOP HERITAGE EDUCATIONAWARD FOR VERULAMIUMMUSEUM

We have received the following notefrom the Museum.

On behalf of our members. I congrat-ulate Kate Warren and her team.Well done.

Sandy Walkington

Verulamium Museum has won a prestig-ious award celebrating the excellence ofits heritage education programme forschools. The Sandford Award for heritageeducation excellence is presented annu-ally to historic sites, museums, galleries,archives and collections. The award lastsfor five years and follows an assessmentof formal, curriculum-linked educationopportunities offered to schools by herit-age sites.

The award follows a successful judgingday at Verulamium Museum earlier in the

summer. The visiting judge joined schoolchildren as they stepped back into RomanBritain for a range of engaging and inform-ative sessions, praising the learningprogramme as ‘inspiringly taught’.Schools travel far and wide to VerulamiumMuseum, from across the Eastern regionto take part in its learning programmewhich supports History curricula. Themuseum also welcomes groups studyingLatin and Classics and runs a lively out-reach service taking artefacts into schools.

The award celebrates the dedication andteamwork of the whole museum teamand they look forward to collecting theofficial certificate at an award ceremonyat the Fashion Museum and AssemblyRooms in Bath in November.

Thank you for supporting us and spread-ing the good news!Best wishesEleanor

Eleanor PayneLearning and Interpretation Officer

St Albans Museums

DIGITISATION OF A BEDFORDSHIRE BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bedfordshire Historical Record society is pleased to announce the completionof its pilot digitisation project. The Bedfordshire Bibliography and its threesupplements, long out of print, are now available to view on the Society’swebsite at www.bedfordshirehrs.org.uk under the 'Publications' tab. TheBibliography was an initiative of the Society in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Thereis some useful material for Hertfordshire researchers.


LECTURE PROGRAMMENovember 2017 - February 2018

Tuesday 14 NovemberHow Hertfordshire entered theRoman EmpireDr Isobel Thompson

Late Iron Age Hertfordshire was aninteresting place, with a ‘friendly king’at Verulamium whose territory stoodaside from the Roman invasion in AD43 and was still in place when the newcity of Londinium was founded in AD48.

The great amount of excavated datafrom both places is beginning to makeit possible to compare them andexplore their relationship, both beforeand after the Boudican destruction inAD 60. This illustrates how gradual thetransition was from being ‘late IronAge’ to being ‘Roman’; it was not untilat least AD 70 that Hertfordshire could

be considered to be Romano-Britishin character.

Isobel worked for Ros Niblett at St Albansfrom 1995 to 1998, compiling the StAlbans Urban Archaeological Database,and then went to the Historic Environmentteam at Hertfordshire County Council. Sheis now Historic Environment RecordOfficer but for the past two years hasworked part-time, making it possible forher to do some research.

Friday 24 NovemberTransforming historical buildingsSt Albans old Town HallKatherine Watts

Katherine will talk about JohnMcAslan & Partners' approach to andimplementation of plans for the trans-formation of historical buildings withparticular reference to the refurbish-ment and adaptive reuse of St AlbansOld Town Hall. Katherine will explainthe process by which the project willshowcase the rich history and heritageof St Albans while also helping totransform the building into a majorcultural destination for the City.

Katherine is a Project Architect at JohnMcAslan and Partners and is registeredwith RIBA, ARB, AABC and SCA. She is aspecialist conservation architect withauthoritative knowledge of conservation

All lectures commence at 7.45pm

Tuesday lectures will be held atMarlborough Rd Methodist Church.

Friday lectures will be held atSt Albans School.

Late changes of venue will be notifiedon our web site and via e-news.


practice and extensive experience in thealteration and repair of historic buildings.She was involved in the redevelopment ofKing’s Cross Station for a number of years,taking the project from design develop-ment to completion, including workingclosely with the contractors for three yearsas their heritage advisor. She has beenProject Architect for St Albans NewMuseum and Galleries since 2015.

Tuesday 5 DecemberVerulamium RevealedKris Lockyear

The Roman city of Verulamium wasthe third largest in Britannia. It is alsothe largest Roman city in Britain whichdoes not have a modern settlementbuilt over it. Since 2013 the Commu-nity Archaeology Geophysics Grouphas been conducting a series ofsurveys in the town. When Kris lastspoke to the Society in March 2015the group had completed the magne-tometry survey of Verulamium Park.Since then, the group has completedthe magnetometry survey of theGorhambury side of the town, as wellas undertaking Ground PenetratingRadar and Resistance surveys. Thistalk, after a brief lay-persons introduc-tion to the techniques, will reviewthese latest findings including theresults of the surveys undertaken inAugust 2017.

Kris became interested in archaeology atthe age of 10 when he visited Verulamiumon a school trip. He joined the WelwynArchaeological Society when he was 11,and excavated with Martin Biddle on theChapter House site at the age of 13.Having undertaken a BA at Durham, anMSc in Archaeological Computing inSouthampton, and then a PhD at UCL, Kristook up a post at UCL where he is now asenior lecturer. He returned to live inHertfordshire in 2002, and was able todevelop his love of the archaeology of thecounty. Since 2009 he has been directorof the Welwyn Archaeological Society, andin 2013 he founded the CommunityArchaeology Geophysics Group.

Friday 5�� January 2018NEW YEAR PARTY –7.30pm Verulamium Museum

Tuesday 9 January180 Years of Policing in St AlbansNik Pringle

Nik will cover the history of St AlbansBorough Police (later St Albans CityPolice) from the foundation of theforce in 1836, its amalgamation withHertfordshire Constabulary in 1947and its development to the presentday.

After 30 years as a police officer in theHertfordshire Constabulary Nik retired


from the force in October 2010. Duringhis time with the police he worked in anumber of roles and utilised his skills insome of the major critical incidents suchas the Potters Bar and Hatfield rail disas-ters and the Buncefield incident. He hasalso been active in the Hertfordshire Con-stabulary Historical Society for many yearsand is currently working on a book aboutHertfordshire murders since 1700.

Tuesday 16 JanuaryWaterloo GeneralJohn Morewood

On 18th June 1815 Napoleon nearlywon the Battle of Waterloo. Howeverin 30 minutes his main planned attackwas defeated as a result of thedecisions made by one man,Major General Sir WilliamPonsonby, commander of the UnionBrigade of British heavy cavalry. SirWilliam died during the Frenchcounter attack and his actions weresubsequently criticised by armchairhistorians. No biography had beenwritten about him and secondaryworks simply repeated the sameaccounts. John decided to produce abook to get closer to the truth. Inthis talk John will talk about theapproach he followed to uncover SirWilliam's story and re-establish his

reputation. He will give hints and tipson writing your first book.

John Morewood read Modern History atOxford University. He specialises inthe 18th century, specifically the period ofthe French Revolutionary and NapoleonicWars and in particular the British cavalryand the Royal Navy. He is Secretary to the500 strong Waterloo Association dedi-cated to increasing knowledge of theperiod and helping preserve the Waterloobattlefield. John lectures widely andguides historical tours. His first book"Waterloo General, the Life, Letters andmysterious death of Sir William Ponsonby1772-1815" was nominated by ProfessorAndrew Roberts in The Evening Standardas one of his "Best Buys of 2016". Hebegins his PhD on "The Slavery Emancipa-tion Act and the role of Lord Brougham"at the Institute of Historical Research inthe autumn.

Friday 26 JanuaryThe People of St Albans and theirAbbeyProfessor James G Clark

The archives and manuscripts surviv-ing from St Albans Abbey have pro-vided a vivid picture of the medievalchurch and monastery and its artistic,literary and learned culture. Yet these


sources also have much to tell usabout the people beyond the abbeyprecinct, the people of the town andthe surrounding villages, who livedand died, worked and worshipped inthe sight of the abbey, and whosecontributions – and challenges – tothe great abbey left as much of a markon its history as the church commu-nity itself. Drawing from the pages ofthe richly illuminated books of bene-factors, as well as other recentlyrecovered sources, this talk will bringinto focus the generations ofmen, women and children whoshaped St Albans history fromSaxon Warlamcaester to the Reforma-tion town of the sixteenth century.

James Clark is Professor of History at theUniversity of Exeter. A medievalist, hisresearch focuses on religious and culturallife in England between the Black Deathand the Break with Rome. He has pub-lished widely on these topics and makesregular contributions to TV and Radio,including BBC Radio 4’s Making History.He was historical consultant for the BBCTV series Tudor Monastery Farm (2013).His edition of the medieval chronicle TheDeeds of the Abbots of St Albans will bepublished in 2018. He is currently com-pleting a new history of the Dissolution ofthe Monasteries.

Tuesday 6 FebruaryLondon UndergroundMark Pardoe

The history of the London Under-ground began in the 19th century withthe construction of the MetropolitanRailway. Opened in 1863 using gas-litwooden carriages hauled by steamlocomotives, it was the world's firstunderground railway. This talk willdeal with the first 120 years of thehistory of the Underground.

Mark was the Chief Archivist of the BritishRailways Board until he retired at the ageof 49. Since then he has undertakenprivate work as a genealogist and histori-cal researcher. Although he comes fromNottingham he has had a lifelong inter-est in the London Underground and he hasspent the last 45 years reading andresearching (and forgetting) about thesystem.

Tuesday 13 FebruaryThe M Room Trent ParkHelen Fry

During World War Two, British Intelli-gence bugged the conversations ofover 10,000 German Prisoners-of-Warat three clandestine stately houses.Trent Park was reserved for Hitler’sGenerals who were housed in luxuri-ous conditions in Sir Philip Sassoon’s


former home. By the end of the war,there were 59 of them under one roof.The Generals relaxed and becameunguarded in their conversations.They inadvertently began to givesome of Hitler’s most closely guardedsecrets, including discussions aboutthe V1, V2 and atomic bomb pro-gramme. For over 60 years the secretlisteners who bugged the conversa-tions, never spoke about their work,not even to their families. Havingworked through the declassified files,historian Helen Fry sheds light on oneof the little-known, but greatestdeceptions of the Second World War.

Historian Dr. Helen Fry has written numer-ous books on the Second World War withparticular reference to the 10,000Germans who fought for Britain, and alsoBritish Intelligence and espionage. Herbook “The M Room: Secret Listeners whoBugged the Nazis” was the subject of theChannel 4 documentary Spying on Hitler’sArmy. Helen has appeared in numerousTV documentaries and in live interviewswith Huw Edwards in Normandy for theBBC’s coverage of the 70�� anniversary ofD-Day. She has written over 20 books –her most recent is “The London Cage: TheSecret History of Britain’s WW2 Interroga-tion Centre”.. Her new research is focusingon espionage, World War Two and theCold War. She has been engaged to write

a history of M.I.9 – Escape & Evasion inWW2.

Friday 23 FebruaryHistory and Architecture of 18thcentury GorhamburyViscountess Grimston

Gorhambury House was commis-sioned by the 3�� Viscount Grimstonand was designed by Sir Robert Taylor.Construction commenced in 1777 andwas completed in 1784. It is now aGrade II listed building with significantrestoration and renovation work cur-rently in progress. Viscountess Grim-ston’s talk will illustrate the historyand development of the house andestate over the years. Her talk willinclude a film recently made atGorhambury by Steph Trowel.

Rosie Grimston has always had a passionfor history, historical houses and theircontents. From 2004-2009 she worked inand latterly ran the Russian works of theArt Department at Sotheby's. Until Febru-ary of this year Rosie continued to valueFaberge and other Russian articles includ-ing silver, vertu, bronze and porcelainfrom late 18th C to the early 20th century.An impending building project at Gorham-bury has focused all her attention on thehouse and its contents.

Gill and David Girdziusz


MORE BOOKS FOR SALE

First, and most importantly, a big thankyou to all members who supported thesale of surplus Hertfordshire historybooks at September’s AGM. We raisedjust over £200, to be divided betweenthe Society and the New Museum andGallery project.

Further sorting of the Beardsmore Col-lection of books donated to the SAHAASlibrary has identified a number ofvolumes of biography/autobiographywhich are either duplicates or unrelatedto the Society’s work, and these too arenow offered for sale. A full list of titlesand prices can be found on the Society’swebsite (www.stalbanshistory.org) buthere is a brief taster.

They are an interesting mix! Not sur-prisingly, the majority describe the livesof people with Hertfordshire connec-tions. The great and the good are there,of course, so Edward I, Lord Melbourne,and several members of the Lytton andCowper families. A number of ecclesi-astical characters too: Bishop ThomasKen, Dr Thomas Fry, hymnwriter IsaacWatts, Bishop Samuel Wilberforce.Also, soldiers: Frank Rhodes, brother ofCecil, and double VC Martin Leake.

There’s a scattering of works aboutartists, writers and musicians: singer

and composer Michael Balfe, artistMyles Birket Foster, playwright GeorgeBernard Shaw, essayist Charles Lamb,and a reflection on his childhood bypoet Herbert Palmer. A good numberare about women’s lives, for example:Emily Davies, co-founder of GirtonCollege; author Mary Carbery, writingabout her Victorian childhood at Child-wickbury; and contemporary VictoriaGlendinning reflecting on the life anddeath of a Quaker daughter (her greataunt).

Finally, there are a couple of quirkytales. One about Peter the Wild Boy, aferal child found by George I whilehunting in Hanoverian woods, who isburied at Northchurch. And, anothereighteenth-century story from the‘Library of Imposters’ about the aston-ishing adventures of John Daniel – notsure how much truth there is in thisone!

Sally Pearson

Book Sale on 12 September 2017

St Albans: Life on the Home Front1914-1918

Jonathan Mein, Anne Wares andSue Mann

‘Local historians wishing to tell thestory of their area in wartime will beinspired.’Herts Past and Present

This book explores what life was likefor the people of St Albans during theFirst World War.

UH Press£18.99 (£14.00 to members)

Support SAHAAS with abook for yourself or thehistorian in your family

[Both publications are available at Waterstones and otherlocal outlets (at full price) and from SAHAAS library]

The Old Town Hall, St Albans

Chris Green

‘A truly wonderful book clearlyreflects Chris Green's great passionfor the Town Hall … It is a fascinat-ing read,’Cllr Annie Brewster, SADC

This short illustrated book charts thearchitectural history and past uses ofSt Albans iconic old Town Hall sinceits construction in 1832.

SAHAAS, September 2017£6.99 (£6 to members)

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