A Report of the Meetings of

The Warmington Heritage Group

2017

19^th January Edge Hill Tea Rooms Andrew Baxter

Andrew, as usual, gave us a very personal view of the tea rooms that had attracted visitors from a wide area for a number of years. It was almost a cottage industry with several families joining in.

16^th February Burials and Bones in Cropredy Churchyard. Stephen Wass had been involved in a community dig at the church that had been funded by the HLF in order to provide some much needed facilities. There was a great deal to discover, lots of bones (only recently re-buried) headstones used to make a path and, of course the painted roof timbers. Read the full story at http://www.church-of-st-mary-the-virgin-cropredy.org/Archaeology/Dig.html

16^th March The Cotswolds AONB — A celebration of 50 years. Robert Barber. The AONB were hoping to gather in photographs of the area to show how things had changed over the last 50 years. Robert gave a very short presentation but sadly we were not able to follow this up.

http://www.cotswoldsaonb.org.uk/

20^th April  – Andrew Baxter – ‘The Cleverness of Ancient Astronomers’ John Hunter had to change the date of his talk and so Andrew stepped in at short notice to talk about the cleverness of ancient astronomers. It proved a real eye-opener for those able to keep up with the geometry!! – an amazing look at the accuracy and dedication underlying their discoveries.

18^th May Forensic Archaeology. John Hunter took us through the various ways that forensic archaeology can help solve the who, the how and the when. His branch of archaeology is often an essential aid when locating and recovering buried human remains. It draws together specialist search techniques and applies exacting manual archaeological methods in the excavation of remains and recovery of buried evidence. John Hunter and his team had been particularly helpful in the recovery of the burial chamber at the dig site in Warmington

22^nd June was a chance to celebrate the summer solstice (almost!!) at Hanwell Observatory plus a look at Stephen’s work in the castle grounds. Following from the cleverness of ancient astronomers, Andrew invited members to look at the exploits of some current astronomers at the community observatory in the grounds of Hanwell castle

http://www.hanwellobservatory.org.uk/drupal/acknowledgements

http://www.polyolbion.org.uk/Hanwell/Project.htm

20^th July – Rollright Stones. David Shirt, one of the founder trustees of the stones, gave a fascinating talk about the stones; their history, meaning and management. We then went for a guided tour (in the pouring rain) on the following Saturday. A link to our next event was unexpected…..the previous owner of the Stones was Pauline Flick, daughter of Percy Flick, the sometime MD of the Hook Norton Brewery.

http://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/stones

5^th August.  An outing to Hook Norton Brewery. (1^st Sat of the month – beam engine and Shires) A brilliant visit although some of us found the precipitous staircases to the top of the building a bit challenging – a bit like being on board ship. The guide was excellent, the beam engine burst into life, the shire horses friendly and the tasting session afterwards was, for some, the icing on the cake. There was also an interesting museum and a shop full of goodies.

https://www.hooky.co.uk/

21^st September. Warwickshire Women and the Fight for the Vote.  Sarah Richardson gave an overview of the general fight for suffrage and then linked it to more local personalities. This was an excellent talk and Sarah will certainly be asked to come again.

Oct 13 – Fund raising dinner with Professor Carenza Lewis at Primrose Hill farm. This was a huge success and raised just over £1500 towards the cost of professional finds analysis. The WHG owe an enormous thank you to Sue who masterminded the event, John Jeffries who donated the use of the room, Sam at the Herb Centre who provided printing and a raffle prize of lunch for two, The Manager of the Falcon who provided a dinner for two and all the other donations we received not forgetting the 90 people who came and helped make it such a memorable evening

19^th October Members miscellany. Another huge thanks to Andrew, Stephen and David. Andrew shed new light on Edgehill and made some surprising links with America. Stephen talked about the various roles he undertakes as an archaeologist; from painstaking excavation and research leading to reconstruction for the National Trust to somewhat rushed investigations before the bulldozers on construction sites. David then explained the current status with his work at the herb centre.

The sixth annual Archaeology Open Day at the National Herb Centre, Warmington – part of the national Festival of British Archaeology on Sunday July 12th, 2015.

Warmington Heritage Group has been investigating this site for several years now under the direction of our resident archaeologist and have so far uncovered evidence of occupation from the Iron Age through to the Romans and have made many important finds.

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New members of Warmington Heritage Group are always welcome! November is traditionally when people renew their membership but you can join at any time of the year. We normally meet on the third Thursday of the month in Warmington Village Hall at 7.30pm, though in the summer months we also take advantage of the lighter evenings to have a walk and talk in the local area. We have at least two outings further afield during the year, as well as taking part in other local events.

Fees are only £10 a year and whether your interest is local history and heritage or archaeology our programme is very wide ranging! For more information please contact us – you would be most welcome.

Warmington Heritage Group has published a collection of reminiscences from former Coventry schoolchildren who were evacuated to the village during World War 2. This has been beautifully illustrated by local artists and thanks to a grant from the Peugeot Heart of England Foundation is available at only £3 a copy plus package and postage. Please click here if you would like a copy.

From City to Village

The 2012 third annual family archaeology event was a great success with around 300 people of all ages enjoying the archaeology, traditional crafts, talks and children’s activities. With lots of help and support from our wonderful volunteers – and assisted by a largely sunny day – everyone seemed to have a really enjoyable time.

Many people had travelled some distance to visit the event and found much of interest – whether it was discovering more about the history of Warmington and surrounding settlements, learning archaeological skills or finding out about the life of an Anglo-Saxon.

The event showed it is possible to make history appeal to people of all interests and ages.

This is a really exciting time for Warmington Heritage Group, and the archaeology is uncovering some really surprising and challenging finds – watch this space!

ROMAN WEEKEND A GREAT SUCCESS

The weekend of archaeology and family activities held at the National Herb Centre was a great success – with further excavation continuing on the site throughout the festival fortnight.

The talks led by archaeologist David Freke and Roman coin expert David Hall were packed and tours of the excavation were well attended. Traditional and children’s crafts were very popular – a special thank you to all our volunteers including those from the Banbury Museum who helped make these go so well.

Anni Byard from the Portable Antiquities Scheme was kept busy with finds brought in from members of the public and children had great fun beating their parents at the Roman games of Nine Bridges and Rota.