Nathalie works part-time with both the Thames Discovery Programme and the National Trust (NT), and the rest of the time is Southwark Cathedral archaeologist.  This talk would be about her work with the NT.  There are 73,000 recorded archaeological sites across NT properties and part of Nathalie’s role is to bring their archaeology more to the fore.  The archaeologists are part of NT’s Regional Consultancy Groups: Nathalie is with Kent and East Sussex and has been in post two years.

At Rodwell, outside Lewes, East Sussex, is Monks House, associated with Virginia Woolf.  Work on expanding the car park into an adjacent field also owned by the NT led to a lot of archaeology being found in the field, including a robbed-out building with a series of pits and postholes - a more intensive occupation than anticipated, perhaps medieval, and there was some limited Roman and Iron Age activity.

In the 1920s human (Neolithic) remains were found at Coldrum megalithic chambered tomb in the Medway Valley, so a new interpretation board includes this, plus mention of other sites in the Valley such as Kits Coty.  Kent Archaeological Society are digitising some early slides which show the 1920s excavation in progress plus finds such as bones which  may be in Maidstone Museum – this will be investigated. The White Cliffs of Dover: after a huge and successful fundraising campaign to acquire a section of the cliffs the NT now owns quite a long stretch of the cliffs, including the Fan Hole Battery site, which the NT wants to make safer for the public to visit and experience as it would have been during the War.  Sound mirrors there are inaccessible at present.  There is a lot of 1940s and later graffiti in the tunnels: how to interpret it? 

Winchelsea: a small town, but with active archaeological societies.  Someone digging in an allotment on NT property found a silver jetton dating to 1250-60, which slightly pre-dates the building of New Winchelsea around 1280. There are medieval cellars in Winchelsea, including the Blackfriars Bar/Cellar, one of the largest.

  Cleared out in the late 1980s it was found to be full of post-medieval pottery, which Winchelsea Archaeological Society are looking at.  It was decided to record some graffiti recently noticed on the walls, helped by Matt Champion who had carried out a graffiti survey in Norfolk.  They found about 12 medieval ships, perhaps mid-14th century, sailing across a wall, plus some mysterious symbols.  There are a lot of medieval ships images in churches, but not usually this size, this many and which have been inscribed into wet plaster.  In the 14th century there was a sea battle which would have been in sight of New Winchelsea - is this a depiction of the battle?  It is hoped to publish something on the images.

In Rookery Field at Winchelsea there is a barn with medieval masonry foundations;  they are trying to understand more about the site.  The medieval town wall still runs round part of the town.

Bodiam Castle: working with the University of Southampton and North Western University, they are looking at the Castle, particularly the interior, of which nothing much remains, trying to understand the construction sequence.  The fields around the Castle have been surveyed.  They found the masons’ camp for the construction of the Castle, plus evidence for Roman activity - there was a Classis Britannica Fort there. 

Knole:  This will be the number one priority for the next five years.  Knole was a palace of the Archbishop of Canterbury, acquired for this purpose in the late 15th century; previously it was probably a Manor House.  Parts of the old structure are still buried inside.  It passed to the Crown (Henry VIII) but Elizabeth I sold it to her cousin Thomas Sackville and the family are still in residence.  In the 17th century more rebuilding was carried out, so it is largely a 17th century house with a medieval core.  It houses a major collection of artwork and furniture, the latter coming from Hampton Court and Whitehall Palace.  It is perhaps a “Calendar” house, e.g. with seven courtyards, 365 rooms, 52 staircases.  They are currently in Phase One: a £3m project, with a huge amount of work to do.  So some of the building is always covered in scaffolding.  As the scaffolding moves round the house, they take off another part of the roof, then put it back.  MoLA has found 20 different constructions of roof, including part of a medieval roof which was perhaps once open above the kitchens inside.

Yvonne Masson