Hendon and District Archaeological Society

Not to be confused with Hadas.

Hendon and District Archaeological Society (HADAS) is an amateur archaeological society based in the London Borough of Barnet, U.K., and is registered as a charity with the UK Charity Commission (Registration number 269949).

History

HADAS was founded in 1961 by Themistocles Constantinides to investigate the Saxon origins of Hendon and since has grown to over 200 members covering the whole of the London Borough of Barnet, and addressing all archaeological periods.[1][2][3][4] Its two declared objectives are to undertake archaeological and historical research, and education for the public benefit, with particular reference to the London Borough of Barnet.[5]

Archaeological activities

The society has been active in many excavations and other fieldwork in the Borough of Barnet and surrounding areas, the results of which are published in the Society’s Journal and newsletters, or published in books such as “A Place in Time – The London Borough of Barnet up to c.1500” (ISBN 0 9503050 6 5).[6] The first excavation in 1961 was at the ruins of Church End Farm, near the parish church of Hendon St. Mary’s.[7] Further excavations have included the West Heath Mesolithic camp site at Hampstead,[8][9] Roman Hendon,[7] medieval Chipping Barnet,[10] and the Roman site of Sulloniacis at Brockley Hill, a centre of Roman pottery production.[11]

With the introduction of the UK Government’s PPG 16 (Planning Policy Guidance 16: Archaeology and Planning) in 1990,[12] the opportunities for amateur societies to undertake invasive archaeology, such as excavations, reduced greatly[13] and so the Society has developed its use of non-invasive techniques such as ground resistivity analysis, and expanded its activities towards its other stated goal, that of education.

Educational activities

A training programme was created in 2003 in association with Birkbeck College, University of London, in the area of post-excavation analysis. The first instance of this was run under the title “Post-Excavation: Analysis of materials from the Ted Sammes archive”,[14] and resulted in a book published in 2006 in association with Birkbeck College and the Museum of London entitled “The Last Hendon Farm: The archaeology and history of Church End Farm” (ISBN 978-0-9503050-7-3).[11] This book won a commendation at the British Archaeology Awards (BAA) in 2006 in the section for the Pitt-Rivers Award for the best project by a volunteer organisation.[15] The latest course in this series is entitled “Looking at Finds – A Practical Course in Post-Excavation Studies”, and is tutored by Jacqui Pearce BA, FSA, MlfA, of the Museum of London Archaeological Service (MoLAS).[16] Under the UK Government's Equivalent or Lower Qualification regulations (ELQ) the cost of providing this course through Birkbeck College would have increased significantly and it is now provided independently by HADAS.[17] In April 2011 HADAS and Jacqui Pearce were jointly awarded the Ralph Merrifield Award for London Archaeology for this course by LAMAS (London and Middlesex Archaeological Society).

Training excavations are performed for local schools, such as Hendon School and St Mary’s CoE High School, Hendon,[18] with the aim of introducing archaeological concepts and skills to young people.[19][20][21][22] These excavations are operated in conjunction with the Widening Participation Initiative of University College London, University of London (UCL), and took place either in the school’s own grounds or in those of the Church Farmhouse Museum in Hendon, a facility that has now closed. Barnet Council voted to withdraw funding from Church Farmhouse Museum, as well as Barnet Museum, from April 2011. The Council’s cabinet met on 13 December 2010 and approved the budget for 2010/2011 which included this proposal. There was a period of public consultation up to 17 January 2011, followed by a final recommendation by the Cabinet in February, as a result of which the museum closed on 31 March 2011.

A programme of monthly lectures on archaeological topics is open to the public.[23] Given by external subject-matter specialists, these take place at Avenue House, Finchley, London N3.

HADAS also participates in the Council for British Archaeology’s annual Festival of British Archaeology,[24] designed to stimulate public interest in archaeology, usually providing an active demonstration for the public, such as in 2009 a demonstration of Roman cookery techniques and kitchenware.[25] In 2010, the HADAS contribution to this festival was an excavation in the grounds of Church Farmhouse Museum, Hendon, and the survey and excavation of a second world war public air-raid shelter and bunker complex in Sunny Hill Park, Hendon, in conjunction with Subterranea Britannica.

References

  1. ↑ Museum of London
  2. ↑ “The London Archaeologist”, Volume 11, Summer 2007, pp 242 - 243
  3. ↑ “Current Archaeology”
  4. ↑ “The London Archaeologist”, Volume 9, pp. 266 and 294
  5. ↑ Charity Commission
  6. ↑ The Finchley Society
  7. 1 2 London Borough of Barnet
  8. ↑ Council for British Archaeology, Archaeology Data Service
  9. ↑ "The London Archaeologist", 2:16 (September 1976), pp.407-409
  10. ↑ Scribd/Wessex Archaeology
  11. 1 2 Museum of London “A Research Framework for London Archaeology”, 2002, Page 100
  12. ↑ UK Department of Communities and Local Government
  13. ↑ UK Government All Party Parliamentary Archaeology Group, APPAG Report, page 15
  14. ↑ The Daily Echo
  15. ↑ British Archaeology Awards
  16. ↑ Birkbeck College, University of London
  17. ↑ "Current Archaeology", Issue 239, February 2010, page 48
  18. ↑ ”The London Archaeologist”, “London Fieldwork and Publication Roundup 2007”, p.2
  19. ↑ “Barnet Times”
  20. ↑ “Barnet Press”
  21. ↑ “The Archer”
  22. ↑ Church Farmhouse Museum
  23. ↑ London Borough of Barnet
  24. ↑ Council for British Archaeology “London Newsletter”, Winter 2009
  25. ↑ Council for British Archaeology

External links

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