Flare Activities

It hardly seems a year since our last AGM when Philip Crummy brought us up to date with recent work at Colchester. Since then our monthly talks have taken us into the early Mesolithic, from Pre-Roman to Post-Roman religious sites, from Silbury Hill to Whitby, from Norwich to Caerwent, and on to present day Manchester and Jerusalem. And all of these delivered by the experts and authorities in their respective fields – with more than half an eye always on Lincoln! The rest of 2004 looks equally appetising. Look out for a new revised programme card due out about now. There are details of planned excursions to Rievaulx Abbey and Helmsley Castle in July and Norwich and Sutton Hoo in September. Book early.
P.S. We are looking to improve our audio-visual equipment in the near future.

Archaeology in Lincoln

Committee members have continued to take a great interest in the work that local independent archaeological units are doing in the City. We are fortunate that with the closure of the City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit a number of staff have been taken into the City Heritage Team, have found employment with other local units, or have become self-employed. Much of the knowledge and expertise they have accumulated is therefore still being put to good use, especially as they are still working closely with the City Archaeologist. Evidence of this close ongoing cooperation is most clearly demonstrated in the publication of The City by the Pool (Oxbow 2003) and two further volumes in the ‘Lincoln Archaeological Studies’ series due out later in 2004.

Officers of FLARE are also playing an important role as advisers to Lincoln City Council by serving on the Lincoln Archaeology Panel under the Chairmanship of Jean Scott. News of important projects and discoveries is passed on to FLARE members via our monthly meetings and in our regular Newsletters. We continue to assist the Council with the care and presentation of monuments, and to be involved in projects like the ‘Conservation Plan’ for Lincoln’s Roman monuments. We also encourage and assist projects like the ‘Historic Town Plans of Lincoln 1610 – 1920’ undertaken by the Lincoln Record Society and The Survey of Lincoln. Publication of this collection of early maps of Lincoln is due in October and a ‘Launch’ has been arranged for 16 October. Please look out for a pre-publication offer leaflet.

Lincoln Archaeology Centre

We are grateful to the City Council for yet again extending the life of the Lawn Archaeology Centre. It was first proposed that it should close in September 2003, delayed to December 2003, then March 2004, and now September 2004. This time, however, closure by the end of September appears inevitable. With work on internal design and display areas in the new City and County Museum due to commence fairly early in 2005, it is hoped that elements of the Lawn Archaeology Centre will be included. FLARE members are involved with the Museum Interpretation Group, and FLARE would be more than willing to assist by sponsoring an appropriate and agreed archaeological display or interpretation element.

David Vale: A Token of Appreciation

It is now some two years since David Vale MBE died, but his presence is still very much with us. On 26 March an exhibition of the fifty or so drawings held in the Library of Lincoln Cathedral was launched with an evening of memories and tributes. David was a founder member of FLARE and rarely missed a meeting. As he was an architectural and archaeological illustrator, an authority on Sir Christopher Wren, and closely associated with Lincoln Cathedral, FLARE looked there for an apt memorial that might be adopted and dedicated to him. The answer was found in a remarkable book of archaeological drawings and illustrations by Antonio Bosio (1576-1629) published in 1632 – the year of Wren’s birth. Bosio, Wren and Vale had much in common and ‘Roma Sotterranea: opera postuma di Antonio Bosio Romano, antiquario ecclesiastico singolare de’suoi tempi…’ will be forever dedicated to and associated with David in his beloved Wren Library. Among those at the formal dedication ceremony and the presentation of certificates to David’s widow and sister was a large contingency of FLARE members. David’s ‘opera postuma’ exhibition, A View over Lincoln, ran in the Cathedral Library from 27 March to 17 April 2004.

Andrew Stokes: President of Flare

It was with regret that FLARE received the resignation of its President, Canon Andrew Stokes, following his recent retirement as Lincoln Cathedral’s Precentor. He and Jane will be living in France from late April to October each year and he feels it is time for a new President. He has proposed Jean Scott, and she has agreed to stand at the AGM. The Committee unanimously and enthusiastically endorsed Jean’s nomination. Her period of Chairmanship was outstanding, and her Presidency would, we are sure, be very much a high-profile hands-on involvement. She is already Chairman of the City Archaeology Panel, and takes the closest interest in all things archaeological. As Chairman I hope that everyone will support this nomination.

The Constitution of FLARE

With the closure of the Lincoln Archaeology Unit, our closer links to the City Council, and several other changes that have taken place, it has become necessary to review our Constitution. Advice was sought from the Charity Commissioners over suggested amendments. The next stage is a formal adoption at the Annual General Meeting. It was agreed that Richard Hutchinson should present the amended Constitution to members at the A.G.M.

John Wilford
Chairman

CITY ARCHAEOLOGIST'S REPORT

The restructuring of the City Council’s Planning Service is now complete, and the in-house Heritage Team will soon have two new colleagues, one to deal with a range of duties and the other to undertake the Townscape Assessment. At the same time, the staff of the former Unit field team have now left to pursue individual careers, although the core of a post-excavation team remains to prepare archives and publications.

The Heritage Team is now working as part of the Development Policy section, which is responsible among other things for the Local Plan and for drafting responses to the relentless stream of Government initiatives and consultations on planning matters. On a day-to-day basis, the primary work of the heritage staff is to manage and promote the City’s historic environment. This means setting up specifications for and monitoring archaeological fieldwork occasioned by development applications. In recent weeks, this has led to some investigations off Nettleham Road, adjacent to the Roaring Meg spring (beyond Safeway). Unfortunately, deep ploughing appears to have removed traces of the Bronze Age barrows noted by early antiquarians and visible on aerial photographs as recently as the 1970s. Nor do any traces appear to survive of any possible extension of the Roman aqueduct. Deeper ditches, for a Roman enclosure near to the spring and an Iron Age equivalent (a farmstead?) near to the by-pass have only just survived. More might be found in advance of and during the major housing development here.

Meanwhile, yet further developments are planned around the Brayford Pool. The buried peat deposits in particular should enhance our understanding of the early landscape and any occupation in this part of town.

Other activity is taking place outside our planning framework, including the last weeks of the South Common survey (to be explained to FLARE on 16 June), excavations in the Nettle Yard of the Cathedral, and surveys of buildings and land inside the castle: we hope to hear the results of these in due course.

Members will remember that we produced a detailed document on the city’s Roman Monuments which went out to consultation in January. Some of you saw the full document, and many more sent a response into us via the leaflet which was circulated. I am pleased to report that at least 96% of those consulted considered that improvements should be made and that the City Council should take the lead in this process, although it was also felt that much of the funding needed to be sought externally, ie, from such bodies as the Heritage Lottery Fund.

The latest position is that the responses have been incorporated into the final document, which is currently being printed – in glorious full colour. It is already being cited by English Heritage as a model of its kind. A public launch date has still to be fixed, although it is expected that it will take place later this month. Copies will be available in public venues, and with help from English Heritage East Midlands will also be circulated to local schools. A group will be set up to develop and monitor an action plan for improving the condition and interpretation of the monuments.

There is more good news in that the City Council has found £20,000 to carry out further repairs in the current financial year, and for ongoing maintenance, including the adjacent grounds: the sites to be immediately affected are yet to be selected. Let us hope that we can now maintain the momentum.

As John Wilford has noted, with this newsletter you will receive a leaflet offering a pre-publication price for the Historic Maps volume, the brainchild of our member Dr Dennis Mills. It will make a useful and decorous addition to your library, and an excellent present (last year I know that many people bought a copy of The City by the Pool). There is also an updated events card: note the extra lecture on 7 July in preparation for the trip that weekend, and a change of speaker in October (an improvement!). We now have a date for the Xmas party: details will be in the September newsletter but it is likely to follow the usual successful format.

Finally, it is not difficult for those resident in or regular visitors to the city to view the excellent progress on the building of the new Museum. A topping-out ceremony is planned for June, and there will soon be signs of the concrete frame being clad in limestone. Detailed design work on the interior is now very advanced but will continue until the building is handed over for fitting out at the beginning of 2005.

Mick Jones