SURREY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Following publication of 'The Rise and Decline of Druce Farm Roman Villa (AD60-650)' BAR Brritish Series 676, 2022 Archaeology of Roman Britain Volume 8, Lilian Ladle has kindly agreed to talk to us about this multi-period site. Exacavations were carried out 2012-2018  by East Dorset Antiquarian Society under Lilian's direction.

This long-lived site reveals evidence for prehistoric activity, and Roman occupation from mid-1st century, with the earliest proto-villa found in Dorset. Phases of constructon and demolition highlight a story of villa development and decline.

Emma Corke, Director of the Cocks Farm Abinger excavations, will be telling us about the latest discoveries at Cocks Farm Abinger. Fieldwork has been taking place in the area outside the known Roman villa for more than a decade, and has revealed evidence for wider land use, both during the Roman period but also in prehistory.

The Zoom link will be sent a week in advamce to RSG members. If you are a SyAS member you can join RSG for free - just click on the membership tab and follow instructions to join RSG.

A Zoom talk will take place on the evening of 7th January, 2025. David Bird, who directed excavations at Ashtead Roman Villa and Tileworks between 2006 and 2013, will be telling us about what information has come to light in the build-up to the final publication. You can see the interim reports via the links on the Roman Studies Group page - Recent reearch and fieldwork - Ashtead Roman Villa Project 2006-2013. 

Following on from the RSG Surrey Rural Settlement Project, a sub-group took on the challenge of identifying possible Roman roads in the Ewhurst area together with related settlement evidence. Chris Gibson will tell us about the research and fieldwork undertaken, together with archaeological issues along the way.

The Zoom link will be sent a week in advamce to RSG members. If you are a SyAS member you can join RSG for free - just click on the membership tab and follow instructions to join RSG.

Following the Roman Studies Group AGM, David Millum of the Culver Project will update us on excavations at Bridge Farm, a Romano-British settlement in the Ouse Valley, East Sussex. RSG members visited the site in Summer 2024, and David will tell us not just about the current season's excavation, but about the project over the last two decades.

Learn more about David Millum, his research projects and publications at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/David-Millum

The Roman Studies Group's November talk is on the subject of Roman glass. Professor Ian Freestone has kindly offered to talk to us about 'The Long Roman Glass Industry'.  

As a change to our normal ZOOM meetings Dorking Local History Group have invited SIHG members to come along to their January talk.  The talk is about  " The Post-Medieval Iron Industry in the Weald" and will be given by Jeremy Hodgkinson.

It is on Monday 8th January at the Crossways Community Baptist Church , Junction Rd, Dorking RH 4 3 HB doors open at 7pm and the talk starts at 7:30pm. Admission is free for SIHG members  who are also invited to go for a drink and a chat to the nearby House at Home pub after the meeting.   There is no need to book , just turn up!

Wallis is best know for his bouncing bomb used to destroy German dams in WW2, but in his early years he was a Naval Architect before moving on to become one of the country's leading airship designers. Reluctantly he transitioned to design aircraft, following the demise of airships, and perhaps his most famous design was the Wellington bomber. He studied bomb design and as well as the dams bomb, he designed the two largest  bombs used during WW2, the Tallboy and Grand Slam.  This talk will be given by Bill Mc Naught, Chairman of the 5 Deans U3A.

In 1914 the British aeroplane industry was in its infancy, as was the flying arm of Britain's armed forces. When World War One began in July the British went to France with only a handful of primitive aeroplanes, but by 1918 the Royal Flying Corps was the biggest and most capable air force in the world with many thousands of aircraft in service.  This talk will be given by Richard Marks, Freelance professional historian.