Basingstoke Archaeological and Historical Society (From Basingstoke Gazette)
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Basingstoke Archaeological and Historical Society
10:19am Tuesday 16th November 2010 in Reports
WINTER lectures returned to Church Cottage on October 14, when Professor Barbara Yorke, of The University of Winchester, described the settlement, language, scholarship and religious and secular importance of Anglo-Saxon Northumbria.
This kingdom, whose borders at one time extended from Lincolnshire north into present day Scotland, was internally unstable and often at war with its external enemies Mercia and Wessex, in the seventh and eighth centuries.
Nevertheless, when its last ruler Eanred submitted to Egbert King of Wessex in 829, it covered an area nearly half the size of England with its northern boundary on the Firth of Forth.
Society activities this past month included the planned visit to Horsham, where a group of members were given a guided tour of the town by Tim Hetherington, a past chairman of the society, who now lives there.
Of particular interest were the many surviving ancient buildings close to the beautiful church, parts of which date from the 12th century.
The month also saw the launch on October 22 of Bob Clarke’s entertaining book The Basingstoke Riots, which describes the disorders experienced in the town in the early 1880s when the arrival of the Salvation Army presented a dire threat to the interests of brewers and drinkers alike.
The event was attended by representatives of the Salvation Army, Hampshire Constabulary, Andwell Brewery and former mayor Councillor Brian Gurden representing the borough council, all of whom enjoyed a successful evening in happy contrast to the events that involved their predecessors of 130 years ago. The book is currently on sale at Waterstone’s.
Over November 13-14, members were due to be taking part as volunteers for Friends of Ancient Monuments in site maintenance work at Odiham Castle, and in the new year, this will happen at Silchester amphitheatre.
Plans are under way for an archaeological study day in early 2011 and work is continuing on obtaining access to land for field walking and woodland surveys.
At the meeting on November 11, the guest speaker was the well-known TV presenter of archaeological programmes Julian Richards, whose subject was ‘Stonehenge: the Debate Continues’.
