AGM followed by “Our Cross to Bare: Chalk carvings in the Central Chilterns”, a talk by Wendy Morrison
On Friday 13th March (hopefully not an inauspicious day!) the Society will hold its AGM in the United Reformed Church hall, Welwyn Garden City at 7.15. All members welcome.
The AGM will be followed at our usual time of 7.45 by a talk by Wendy Morrison entitled Our Cross to Bare: Chalk carvings in the Central Chilterns. All welcome, visitors £3.
The archaeology of human remains
The next WAS lecture is by Laura Dodd giving us an insight into the archaeology of human remains. What can skeletal evidence tell us about death, disease and diet in the past? Come and join us for this fascinating lecture by Laura Dodd, a specialist in the analysis of human remains. The lecture will be in the United Reformed Church hall (opposite Sainsbury’s) in Welwyn Garden City. Meeting starts at 7.45 but coffee/tea available beforehand. Visitors £3 and there will be a raffle.
The Battle of Barnet
Our next lecture is by Peter Masters who will be giving a talk entitled: “Battle of Barnet 1471. Where is the battlefield? New thoughts, research and surveys.”
The meeting begins at 7.45pm in the United Reformed Church hall, Welwyn Garden City (opposite Sainsbury’s). The venue is a short walk from the railway and bus stations. There is also parking at the church (contact us for the code). All welcome, visitors £3.
This Friday sees a lecture by Miles Russell about the ongoing excavations in Dorset. They have had some fantastic finds (see @durotrigesdig.bsky.social on BlueSky). This lecture is sponsored by the The Prehistoric Society to whom we send grateful thanks. The meeting is at 7.45pm, United Reformed Church hall, Welwyn Garden City (opposite Sainsbury’s). All welcome (visitors £3).
My life in archaeology: the first fifty years
The 5th December 2025 marks fifty years since I attended my first WAS lecture in 1975. I was 11, and Francis Pryor gave a lecture entitled Prehistoric Excavations at Fengate, Peterborough. I joined the Society back then and never looked back! To celebrate the 30th anniversary in 2005 I gave an autobiographical lecture entitled From Chapel Wood to Noviodunum, and back again, and in 2015 I spoke about Lamer Park. This year I’m returning to my original theme and giving a hopefully entertaining look over my life in archaeology. The meeting will be preceded by a “bring and share” Christmas party from about 7.10 so do come along and help celebrate both the season and my first 50 years!
Wilbury, the “Willow fort”
The next WAS talk on the 28th November 2025 is Keith Fitzpatrick-Matthews talking about Wilbury fort which lies on the edge of Letchworth Garden City. This site, which appears to have Bronze Age and Iron Age phases, and possibly a Roman one, is not very well known. Much of it’s circuit is now ploughed-out and can only be seen as crop marks. Come and find out the latest thinking on this important site. The meeting will be held, as usual, at 7.45pm in the United Reformed Church hall (opposite Sainsbury’s), Welwyn Garden City. The venue is a very short walk from the railway and bus stations. Members free, visitors £3. Tea and coffee served beforehand and there will be usual raffle.
The Rise and Fall of Wheathampstead Manor
The first talk of the 2025/2026 will be Mike Smith talking about the manor of Wheathampstead. Mike has been researching the medieval history of Wheathampstead especially its field systems and landscape. The talk will be on Friday 17th October 2025, 7.45pm.
This is also the start of our year so subscriptions are due: £20 for individuals and £25 for families.
We look forward to seeing you there.
The 2025-2026 lecture season
A recent email gave the wrong date for the start of the season. The first meeting is on Friday 17th October.
Thank you.
Hertfordshire Archaeology Fair, exhibition and survey
To mark 50 years since Welwyn Roman Baths opened to the public, the first Hertfordshire Archaeology Fair was held at Welwyn Roman Baths last Saturday (26/7/2025). A variety of groups had stands at the fair. The East Herts Archaeological Society ran a children’s mini-sandpit excavation which was very popular. St Albans Museums’ stand included giant jigsaws of two of their mosaics which were very popular with children and adults alike. WAS had a stand with finds and adverts for coming lectures along with the Community Archaeology Geophysics Group with the Ground Penetrating Radar. The Arc’n’arc had a stand selling copies of Hertfordshire Archaeology and History. Both the Walkern and Codicote Local History Societies had displays about their research, and North Herts Museum bought along a series of archaeological artefacts for people to handle and look at. The Institute of Archaeology, UCL, bought along replicas of early looms and showed people how to weave. Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies had a display showing highlights of their collections including the 1060 Wheathampstead Charter. All day long stall holders were talking with visitors to the Fair. St Albans Museums recorded over 500 ‘interactions.’ All the stall holders said it was a very worthwhile day.
In addition to the stalls, the new exhibition about WAS founder Tony Rook and his family was opened. Due to problems at Mill Green, this is now on the wall of the Roman Baths. Tony’s daughter Sylvia, who came for the day, was a great help in putting the exhibition together.
During the day Kris was scheduled to give a talk about the Roman Baths and the Roman Bath three times. All three talks were sold out, and with a few extras from stall holders he probably had 200 people listen to his talk during the day.
All in all, the day was a great success if somewhat exhausting for all those involved. It is hoped to hold the Fair again next year. Many thanks to Ellen Shlasko, Nigel Harper-Scott and Susan Sturgeon who manned the WAS and CAGG stalls, and to Mike Smith who turned-up to visit and stayed to help demonstrate the GPR!
Whilst on the subject of the GPR… We managed to get permission from Sherrardswood School and Historic England to survey “the Meadow”, the field to the east of the A1(M) onto which the Emergency Exit from the Baths leads. In 1972, the Lockleys Archaeological Society (which became WAS) excavated a part of a large Roman building in advance of the motorway being built. They could only excavate the part that was to be buried, so most of the building still lies under the Meadow. The building had originally been found in 1969 when a line of auger holes had been put in along the edge of the football pitch. The excavated part was a second bath house, much larger and grander than the one preserved under the motorway. The building, now known as “Building 3”, was nick-named “the Palace”!
On Monday we completed the magnetometry survey and laid out grids for the GPR. On Tuesday we started the GPR survey which we finished Wednesday morning. In the afternoon, and for the rest of the week we undertook Earth Resistance survey, with the addition of mag sus on Thursday when we had quite a big team. The GPR survey was the star of the show. The next image shows one of the GPR time slices overlain on Tony’s site map and the satellite image of the area. The georeferencing of Tony’s map might not be all that precise, but one can see how the GPR results match-up pretty well with the excavated plan.
I am hoping to do some more survey in the next week or so. I’m keen to see if either the new EM meter, or resistivity pseudosections might pick up the line of the ‘canal’.
Many thanks to all those involved especially Esther Green, Curator for the Museum Service, all those involved in the geophysics especially Mike and Jim who collected the gear and me every day, and to all the stall holders: Ellen Shlasko, Niger Harper-Scott and Sue Sturgeon manned the WAS and CAGG stalls.
AGM and the first Tony Rook Memorial lecture
On March 14 the Society will be holding its AGM at 7.15pm in the church hall. Members will have the minutes and the agenda sent by email.
Following the AGM at our usual time of 7.45pm we will be hosting the first Tony Rook Memorial lecture in the United Reformed Church Hall, Welwyn Garden City. The Director of the Society, Dr Kris Lockyear, will be speaking on an appropriate topic: “Baths in Roman Britain.” This year is 50 years since the bath house opened in May 1975. The meeting will be attended by the Mayor of Welwyn-Hatfield.
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