Monthly Archives: October 2010

Wednesday 27th October 2010 will be 50 years to the day since the first lecture was given to the then newly formed North Hertfordshire Archaeological Society, founded on the initiative of John Moss-Eccardt, at the time assistant curator of Letchworth Museum, and local enthusiasts.

At 8pm on that day David Hillelson of The Heritage Network Limited will enlighten us with a lecture entitled ‘Relics and Relicts: Watford’s aristocratic past’. The lecture will be given in the Letchworth Museum library hall where our first lecture was presented exactly 50 years before.

Don’t miss out on this memorable anniversary.

Wine, soft drinks & light buffet available.

Evening dress and black tie optional.

The latest issue of British Archaeology, the magazine produced by the Council for British Archaeology, contains a review by Ian Armit of the Society’s recent publication of its excavation at Wallington Road, Baldock, directed by Gil Burleigh back in 1982. Ian Armit says that “this forms a valuable contribution to our understanding of iron age and Romano-British burial practice… [It] also contains a very useful summary of Baldock’s development from native oppidum to Roman town, synthesising much previous work.”

At David’s Bookshop, Eastcheap, Letchworth Garden City, on Thursday, 14 October at 7:30 pm. Tom Williamson, Professor of Landscape History at the University of East Anglia, will introduce his new book, The Origins of Hertfordshire, which examines the history of Hertfordshire from late prehistoric times to the thirteenth century. It looks at the origins of the county and the early evolution of its landscape and, in examining the subtle and complex relationship between early territorial organisation and natural topography, emphasises the surprising degree of territorial and administrative continuity from the Roman period through to the time of the Norman Conquest. Hertfordshire is often described as an ‘unremarkable’ county, lacking a clearly defined identity and, lying close to London, extensively suburbanised. In fact it has a long and complex history and a rich archaeological heritage; developments in the remote past continue to shape its character and appearance to the present day.

The event is free but it is necessary to reserve a place in advance by calling the bookshop on 01462 684631.