Rescue News 103 for Autumn 2007 will be distributed sometime after mid November

Articles include:

Estuarine archaeology under threat by Fiona Haughey Intertidal Archaeologist & Archaeological Illustrator   

The archaeological world has for some time been aware of the effects on the coastline of Britain of erosion with its consequential exposure and loss of archaeological features and surfaces of a range of periods.   English Heritage and Historic Scotland have funded a number of projects both desk-top assessments and field surveys to establish where archaeology is extant and to estimate the damage erosion is inflicting upon these remains.   In England, the north Norfolk coast, Essex and Suffolk coastlines have received attention and in Scotland, systematic survey under, latterly, the Scottish Coastal Archaeology and Palaeo-environment (SCAPE) Trust have identified 12,000 sites of half of which are thought to be of ‘exceptional importance’.   The disappearance of cliff top sites as such as those at Happisburgh, North Norfolk, have captured the public imagination and illustrate the inevitability of the loss through natural erosion.

Estuarine erosion

Natural erosion is not confined to coastal environments.   The many estuaries that are found around the British Isles also suffer erosion at a variety of rates.   Several of them penetrate deep inland and a significant number also have an urban context.   Best known is the London Thames which is tidal almost all the way across the metropolis; others include Glasgow (Clyde), Newcastle (Tyne), Kingston upon Hull ( Humber ) and Selby (Ouse).   In these contexts, it is not just the tidal current which poses a threat but also the fluvial current.   To the public, the twice-daily tidal regime is the most noticeable characteristic in estuaries, but the river-current itself will also a cause erosion patterns on the foreshore.   Urban rivers are subject to extra constraints of containment and in some places they can be considered more or less as canals.   The waters causing flooding in the upper reaches of major systems such as the Thames must eventually pass through these areas of constraint, generally in the lower stretches of the river as it reaches the coast.   This has resulted in extensive erosion in some areas and accretion in others.  The Thames basin has suffered three significant inundations since the turn of the century, in 2000, 2003 and 2007.   The combination of this extra volume of river water and rising tidal heights has stripped archaeological remains exposing new deposits and features, as well as submerged forest and peat beds in many areas threatening archaeological as well as natural deposits along the foreshore.  

The Nighthawking Survey update by Oxford Archaeology

The Nighthawking Survey has been up and running since June this year (go to www.nighthawking.thehumanjourney.net), and the response has been anything but indifferent! Quite apart from the responses to the on-line questionnaire reaction to the Survey’s very existence has provoked a lot of strong feelings and discussion. We’ve been accused of being the smokescreen for an anti-detectorist vendetta and of generating false data to support a total ban on all metal detecting. Ironically we’ve also been accused of generating false data to downplay the seriousness of nighthawking, and so take pressure off English Heritage.

We can’t win! If nothing else this Survey - and the reaction in some quarters to it - has shown the depth of mutual distrust between the more extreme elements of both the archaeological and metal detecting worlds.

Adapting archaeology: foresight for climate change in the UK

Due to circumstances beyond our control RN102 unfortunately appeared after the conference, on climate change organised by the CBA at the British Academy on 10 th July, had already taken place .   For those who want to know more the papers are available at: http://www.britarch.ac.uk/conserve/confadapt.html

Bad Archaeology: www.badarchaeology.net

The cultural heritage of Iraq after the 2nd Gulf War by John Curtis, Keeper of the Middle East collections , British Museum

Full text with illustrations of the talk to the Rescue Open Forum in April 207

Iraq Postscript

The Independent Published: 17 September 2007 (see http://news.independent.co.uk/fisk/article2970762.ece) published a Special investigation by Robert Fisk It is the death of history

A letter from J ohn Curtis, was also published in the Independent on 17 September 2007 stating; `We had hoped the looting of archaeological sites was on the wane but if Robert Fisk's information is correct, looting is on the increase. We have signally failed in our duty to safeguard and protect the Iraqi cultural heritage. And lessons still have not been learned. Not only did military planners fail to heed the warnings of archaeologists at the time of the invasion, they continue to do so. This cavalier behaviour must stop, and we must unite to try to rescue the Iraqi cultural heritage.

World Heritage Status: an evolving definition : The final of the three excellent contributions to Rescue’s 2007 Annual Meeting, a well-structured presentation by Susan Denyer of ICOMOS is summarised by RESCUE Vice-Chaiman Mick Jones.

The Archaeological Heritage –   Malta leads the way! by  Brian Philp,   RESCUE Council

Following the exceptionally revealing report in Rescue News 102, on Afghanistan and Macedonia and in this issue on Iraq , it seems appropriate to outline recent progress in Malta . I have been associated with this newly elected European Union member, for over 9 years from 1998. I have often outlined in the Malta Sunday Times the failing and advantages of UK Archaeology over the past 40 years, hoping to interest the growing band of archaeological graduates being generated by the University of Malta . In addition, I was fortunate enough to join an urgent rescue excavation in the centre of Mdina, the ancient capital. By introducing Kent rescue methods, the multi-national team ( Malta , Kent, Essex and Australia ) was able to provide drastic evidence of the 'lost' Roman city of Melita , deep beneath the present streets.

Not withstanding these events, the Maltese were themselves actively updating their protective legislation and this resulted in the Cultural Heritage Act 2002. My view is that this should be a model for other EU members (and beyond) to follow. Some of its highly significant conditions are reproduced.

Grants to Ancient Monuments near quarries

English Heritage will disburse £4 million of ALSF in 2007–08. The majority on research to improve understanding of   archaeological sites that lie within areas favoured for extraction; publication of results of archaeological discoveries made during past extraction; and to develop a higher  awareness within communities and aggregates companies of the relationship between the historic environment and the aggregates industry. It also helps to repair nationally important monuments built as part of that industry or others that are directly threatened by the legacy of past extractions.

Eight important historic monuments consisting of four churches, a park, an old mine, a guildhall and a 14th century castle, all situated on or close to working aggregates sites, have received repair grants estimated at £433,000 from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF). The Fund is partly distributed by English Heritage on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to reduce the impact of aggregate extraction on the historic environment, both on land and under the sea

Bonds Garage, Avebury: request for Emergency Listing by Kate Fielden, WANHS: www.wiltshireheritage.org.uk

The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (WANHS) has written to English Heritage asking them to consider Listing Bonds Garage, Avebury, for its rarity, and its historic and architectural interest. The building is under threat of demolition with a planning application registered for five new houses on the site.

Bonds Garage was constructed in the 1930s, at the instigation of Alexander Keiller who, we understand, provided a plot of land and a loan for removal of the business from inside Avebury stone circle to its present position just north of the henge and on the northern approach to the village.

We hope that emergency Listing of the   garage would not only preserve an interesting building and an historic element of Avebury’s more recent history,   but also save the site from inappropriate redevelopment that would form an incongruous and prominent feature in the World Heritage Site.

New British Archaeological Awards by Alison Taylor Secretary BAA

British Archaeological Awards launched in 1976 and held biennially ever since had become accepted as the most prestigious and wide ranging archaeological awards in Britain , growing to fourteen categories and incorporating every aspect of British archaeology.

It was realised in 2006 that the Awards needed an overhaul to appreciate the greater professionalisation of archaeology, increased public interest and involvement, and more varied means for disseminating knowledge. Gill Andrews was asked to conduct a thorough review. She came up with a new constitution, a streamlined list of possible awards with formal criteria attached, an improved system for running judging panels, and a more open system of organising the whole programme in accordance with the requirements of The Charity Commissioners. After much debate and refinement, revisions were formally approved in October 2007. The new approved constitution (a lengthy document to satisfy the Charity Commission) can soon be read on the BAA web site. The next BAA ceremony and prize giving will be in November 2008 in the British Museum . Details of the new awards andhow to nominate will shortly be available on the British Archaeological Awards website, http://www.britarch.ac.uk/awards/index.html, or can be requested from Alison.Taylor@archaeologists.net, or Sarah Howell, c/o Robert Kiln Charitable Trust, 15a Bull Plain, Hertford SG14 1DX.

Prospect Archaeologist’s: Terms and Conditions Survey by Chris Perry, Prospect HQ

The total of 185 responses proved to be statistically valid, and the many accompanying comments made by respondents will assist the analysis. Brief details and observations on the results are set out.

Minister responds on archaeological storage and access problems by Jude Plouviez, RESCUE Council

RESCUE was represented, along with Philip Wise, chair of the Archaeological Archives Forum and Sue Davies, director of Wessex Archaeology, at a meeting between Robert Key, MP for Salisbury and James Purnell MP, Secretary of State for Culture Media & Sport. Robert Key (who is also a trustee of Wessex Archaeology) had asked questions of the former minister, David Lammy, about the problems of archaeological archives in temporary storage because no museum could or would take them (as highlighted by RESCUE, see RN 99 on Saffron Walden and RN 86 on opening of LAARK) but had received no relevant response and had not received a reply to a letter in May outlining the problem. The meeting was positive in tone, with a recognition that it was not fulfilling the implicit requirements of PPG 16 for thousands of boxes to remain in temporary stores in arbitrary places around the country (The minister had been well-briefed on the problem (a copy of RESCUE’s pre-meeting submission is elsewhere on the website) and had brought with him a reply to Robert Key’s letter published in full in RN 103. Hopefully recognition of the problem at this level will mean we now have a chance to make some progress.

Roman bath house for sale: Offers sought over £300,000

Freeman Foreman, an East Sussex and Kent Wealden area estate agency, has on its books the site of Beauport Park Roman Bath House, and iron working site, Sussex .

The site is a scheduled ancient monument, dating from the first to the third century AD, was one of the largest ironworks in the Roman Empire and is remarkable for the quality of its bath house, considered to be one of the best-preserved small Roman buildings in Britain .

The site is being sold to fund a proposed child-friendly native wildlife visitor centre, and represents an important and unique opportunity to secure a scheduled site of significant archeological importance for the educational and cultural benefit of future generations.

AGM and Open Forum 2008

In a change of venue the 2008 RESCUE AGM and Open Forum will be held jointly with the Council for Kent Archaeology on Saturday 19 th April at the Sevenoaks Community Centre, Cramptons Road, (off Otford Road) Sevenoaks Kent.   The Community Centre is near the Bat and Ball Station and easily accessible from the A25 and the M25.   It is hoped to have speakers talking about RESCUE’s long running campaigns at Verulamium and Stonehenge as well as contributors on Kentish archaeology.   Full details will be given in the Spring issue of Rescue News, but make a note in your 2008 diary now.

RESCUE News 102 Summer 2007, to be distributed in July features articles on the following topics

New discoveries at St Martin-in-the-Fields

By Emily Burton,MoLAS Senior Archaeologist, Member of St Martin ’s Project Team

A project at St Martin-in-the-Fields church to provide new facilities for the congregation has allowed archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology Service (MoLAS) an opportunity to investigate its past. Its recent excavations offered a glimpse at late Roman origins:  a Roman limestone sarcophagus and a Roman tile kiln last fired between AD 400–450, suggests a significant Roman presence at the site well outside the previously established boundaries of London ’s Roman city walls.  High status Saxon burials and grave goods from a 7th-century cemetery have confirmed a long-suspected Saxon presence at the site.

The area lies within the 7th–9th-century Saxon town and trading centre of Lundenwic suggesting that the church may have had Saxon origins, possibly built over or associated with a 7th century Saxon cemetery.   Roman activity on the site was not previously suspected

Little is known of the layout of the medieval church. It was substantially rebuilt in 1543–4 and again in 1606–9.   The remains of a Tudor cellar wall and part of a floor, from one of the small tenement buildings shown on historic maps of the 16th century onwards were recovered confirming pictorial evidence which suggested that the Tudor church was on a different alignment to the present church

Following earlier preliminary investigations from 2001 onwards, the £36 million project to facilitate modern use of the 18th-century church of St Martin-in-the-Fields and its 19th-century burial vaults began in 2005 with  the first of several phases of excavation by MoLAS (the final phase is still ongoing). This has provided a unique opportunity to investigate a site with a documented history dating back to 1222 and archaeological evidence of activity for several centuries before.

Finds from recent work are on display at the Museum of London until August 2007.

Stonehenge update

By Kate Fielden, Rescue and Stonehenge Alliance

English Heritage’s Appeal against refusal of planning permission for its Stonehenge visitor centre has been allowed and planning permission granted by the Secretary of State, subject to 58 conditions and a Section 106 Agreement between Salisbury District Council and the applicant.

However among the planning conditions set for construction of the visitor centre, two are highly significant and both relate, ultimately, to finance.

Implementation of the visitor-centre scheme remains firmly linked to the A303 Published Scheme onsidered at Public Inquiry in 2004 and recommended for approval by the Inspector. This till awaits a decision by the Secretary of State for Transport, who announced an A303 Options Review in January 2006 (see RN 98 and RN 99). The outcome of which is still awaited. It is possibile, apart from the Published Scheme or doing nothing, if any other option were chosen, Public Inquiry would be needed to consider new road Orders.

Also The National Trust, who own the land over which the contentious land-trains would run, may not support the scheme unless a road tunnel of at least 2.9km in length or a less damaging A303 alternative were implemented   A 2.9km tunnel was not included in the Options Review.

One hope is that the expense of implementing the officially set out Stonehenge Project will be considered too great, particularly in view of the extraordinary financial demands of the 2012 Olympics. To implement a road scheme that is not a priority on highways grounds, at enormous cost both in financial terms and in damage to a WHS, would now seem irresponsible.

The only satisfactory way to resolve the present confrontations over Stonehenge , an undignified battle amongst the conservation bodies concerned, is to move forward from a position we can all agree with. An interim solution involving closure of the A344 and some improvement to the present visitor facilities would be an acceptable start which would ensure, at relatively little cost, an enhanced experience of Stonehenge for all visitors, including those who may come during the short period of the 2012 Olympics.  

Historic Environment Champions

By Adina Gleeson, Policy Adviser (Local Government) English Heritage

Local authority Historic Environment Champions is an EH initiative that aims to tackle leadership for the heritage sector at a local level. Over half of Authorities have now asked an elected Member to undertake this vital role.

By April 2007, 60% of Local Authorities had a Historic Environment Champion, as well as four National Parks and the Greater London Authority. Following the recent local elections, numbers have dropped to 51%, but new appointments are now being made with the aim of achieving 75% coverage by April 2008. The role of Historic Environment Champion requires a number of different skills and attributes to ensure strong leadership.

English Heritage is working with both Government and Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) to support Historic Environment Champions so they can keep up-to-date, develop skills, share ideas and build partnerships.

Later this year, Historic Environment Champions will also receive training on design issues alongside CABE Design Champions. This training will be based on the successful Building in Context toolkit, a programme developed jointly by EH and CABE to help deliver better design solutions in historic areas.

Champions have been involved in a wide range of activities and projects, which have enabled their local authority to make much better use of the historic environment resources at their disposal. In the future, EH will continue to develop the Historic Environment Champions role, to attract and support high quality leaders and ensure they can make a difference.

T o find out more about the HEC programme, read the latest publications or see if your local authority has a Champion, visit the HELM website (www.helm.org.uk) or email champions@english-heritage.org.uk.  

Measure twice, cut once

By James Stevens, Research and Policy Officer, English Heritage

The suddenly heightened concern over climate change following the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) earlier this year has provoked a flurry of activity over recent months, not least in the heritage sector.

English Heritage is planning to inaugurate a wide ranging multidisciplinary dialogue which places the study of the historic environment squarely at the centre of an exploration of what we can learn from history. It aims to encourage a constructive debate with others in the planning, building, research and development sectors to help us make the transition back to a low-carbon economy, and ease the difficulties of dealing with the results of climate change. Putting specialist knowledge, experience and expertise at the service of planners, government, and industry, and encouraging them to explore how people, societies and buildings functioned in the past.

Heritage management in FYR Macedonia

By Tony Howe, RESCUE Council, Archaeological Development Control Officer

Surrey County Council

Modern day Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is an historically recent creation, largely defined after the first Balkan War against Ottoman Turkey in 1912, At the end of the Second World War Macedonia was recognised as a sovereign republic within the People’s Republic of Yugoslavia, and with its break-up managed to peacefully negotiate independence in 1991, The nation state of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was officially recognised as a European Union Candidate State in 2005.

As part of its preparations for eventual membership of the EU, the Macedonian Government has recently signed, but not yet ratified, the Valletta European Convention on the Protection of the Archaeological Heritage. A conference was held at the British Council in the Macedonian capital Skopje to discuss issues arising from the convention,. With funding arranged through the British Embassy, Invited participant from Britain outlined their area of work, followed by discussion in a series of workshops.

The conference is part of a longer-term project initially centred around the Roman city of Scupi  to investigate the city further through a programme of fieldwork, provide an archaeological database which can be used in the management and further research of the city. The systems establshied will be eventually rolled out across the country, creating a more modern SMR database for Macedonia . Also the project will provide training and development for local archaeologists and heritage professionals to become i self-sustaining. MACAR is also about to translate of RESCUE’s own First Aid for Finds into Macedonian.  

Rogue diggers rob ancient sites

Summary of an article by Teresa Albor, Director of Communications US Agency for International Development circulated by The Associated Press in April, 2007

Since Macedonia gained independence 16 years ago its ancient heritage has become increasingly vulnerable to looters using sophisticated navigation and excavating equipment, with little to stop them. A third of the country's work force is jobless, and the government has only one dedicated official to tackle the rampant illegal antiquities trade.

Fees offered by corrupt art collectors encourage illegal excavations which are impossible to stop, Macedonian bronze can fetch very high prices on the black market

Afghan archaeology: the current situation

Summary of Dr Alison L Gascoigne’s talk at the RESCUE open meeting, text and illustrations to be reproduced elsewhere on this site in due course

Further information from

MJAP: http://www.arch.cam.ac.uk/~alg1000/mjap/

Afghanaid (currently running a special   or_appeal.phtml

SPACH: http://spach.info/

TMF: http://www.turquoisemountain.org

DAFA: http://www.dafa.org.af

Finds Research Group AD 700–1700 meet in Cork

archaeologists, finds researchers, museum workers and interested parties (most of whom had travelled from the UK) gathered in Cork in the very south of Ireland for a three-day meeting of the FRG AD700–1700 in May including visits to  Cork Public Museum, to view Viking and medieval material from the many excavations undertaken over the last 25 years.  Then the Archaeology Department at University College Cork ,  and the Waterford Treasures Museum

Searching for Treasure: PAS monitoring of eBay

by Michael Lewis,Department of Portable Antiquities and Treasure, British Museum

Describes the results of monitoring or eBay following the Memorandum of Understanding with eBay reported in Rescue News   101

Letter from: Bob Sydes, North Yorkshire County Council Environment & Heritage Manager Neil Redfern. English Heritage Team Leader, North Yorkshire and Dr Mike Heyworth, Council for British Archaeology Director

Response to the comments byMark  Horton, on Thornborough Henges in Rescue News 101

Letter from: Steve Timms, MGA Ltd Archaeological Consultancy Consultants for Tarmac on the Ladybridge application and Rob Moore, Estates Manager, Tarmac Ltd

Response to the comments byMark   Horton, on Thornborough Henges in Rescue News 101

Response from: Dr Mark Horton, Reader in Archaeology, Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Bristol

To the letters above

Letter From: Paula Griffiths, Head of Division, Cathedral and Church Buildings Division, Church of England, Church House, Great Smith Street , London SW1P 3NZ

Responding to `St George’s church, Southwark; what price our heritage?   by Bruce Watson, in Rescue News 100 and  the letter from Taryn Nixon, Managing Director of MoLAS member of the Museum of London Archaeology Service staff) in Rescue News 101 clarifying that neither the Church of England’s national offices nor any of its representatives at any level had been directly approached and setting out their position.

Job cuts at MoLAS

Statement from MoL Prospect Branch

In February, executive managers at the Museum, advised by business consultants with no previous experience of archaeology, proposed cutting up to 17 posts, 11 specialists and 6 managers. Some of the threatened staff have worked for MoLAS for over 20 years. This threat of major job cuts at the Museum of London ’s Archaeology Service has now been reduced, but 6 staff still face redundancy.

The specialists at risk were experts in post-Roman pottery and finds, building material, animal bone, and botany. Executive managers said that there was a ‘decrease in demand’ or ‘demand does not exist’ for their work. Meanwhile, almost the entire management team were effectively obliged to reapply for their jobs in a new management structure.

The MoLAS website says that specialists ‘are at the forefront of current research in their fields and command international reputations’ and ‘offer a comprehensive range of services that combine reliability and cost-effectiveness with academic excellence.’ The management team has worked on hundreds of projects in London , including the proposed Olympics sites, and further afield. The work of specialists and management has helped make MoLAS one of the leading archaeological units in the country and one of the foremost archaeological publishers in Europe . The union argues that the loss of their skills would damage not only MoLAS, but British archaeology and heritage too.

Prospect union’s MoL branch campaign against the cuts included producing leaflets, lobbying the Museum governors and organising a petition. Antony Francis, the Branch Chair, said that the response from the heritage community has been overwhelming. ‘Hundreds of people have called for the job cuts to be stopped – including individuals from English Heritage, the Institute of Field Archaeologists, national and local museums, archaeology societies and universities, both in the UK and abroad.’.

MoLAS’s booming work programme removed the threat of redundancy from the post-Roman pottery and finds and the botany specialists. The union is still in negotiations with executive managers to reduce the number of potential redundancies down from the current 6 and it is hoped that there will be no need for any compulsory job cuts.

The situation at MoLAS has implications beyond this archaeological unit. The APPAG report The current state of archaeology in the United Kingdom, first report of the All-Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group, Society of Antiquaries, London, 2003, p14, highlighted the ‘serious skills shortage in expertise in archaeological artefacts’. Since the report was published this situation has not improved. MoLAS is one of the few remaining UK archaeological units with an in-house team of specialists and if archaeological units continue to cut back, such skills will be lost for good. The Portable Antiquities Scheme is the most visible example of why such skills are crucial. An increasingly urgent question is: where will the next generation of finds specialists come from?

The situation also highlights the problem with the way UK archaeology is currently organised . Competitive tendering shifts the focus for archaeologists away from understanding the past and towards making a profit. In a cut-throat market, fear of losing out to a competitor forces archaeological units to slash costs, resulting in the sort of cutbacks seen at MoLAS.

A dapting archaeology: foresight for climate change in the UK

A CBA national one-day conference is to be held on 10 July 2007 at the British Academy , London on the likely effects of climate change on the historic environment and how archaeology and conservation need to adapt to meet the challenge.
A detailed programme is available for flyer, downloadable PDF, and booking form see www.britarch.ac.uk/conserve/conference.html, Email mailto:conservation@britarch.ac.uk.or contact: Sue Morecroft, Council for British Archaeology, St Mary's House, 66 Bootham, York YO30 7BZ Tel: 01904 671417 Fax: 01904 671384

Annual General Meeting and Open Meeting

RESCUE AGM and Open Meeting for 2006–07 was held on 14th April 2007 at the Institute of Archaeology , Gordon Square London . Reports from the, Chairman Roy Friendship-Taylor, Secretary Chris Cumberpatch, and Treasurer Bernard Johnson were presented. The accounts were adopted, and members of council were thanked for their hard work and support.

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