NEWSLETTER 5th August 2019
REMINDER OF OUR IRONBRIDGE GORGE Coach Trip this Saturday 10th August
The coach leaves promptly at 9.00am from St Peter’s Church, Kineton
We are looking forward to visiting this World Heritage Site, a cradle of the 
industrial revolution, which includes Blists Hill Victorian Town, the iconic bridge itself and other historic industrial sites in Ironbridge Gorge.
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If you have any queries please contact Isobel Gill on 01926 640426 or reply to this Newsletter email
Report on 13th July visit to CHIPPING CAMPDEN
Vin Kelly started our tour of this busy town at the Market Hall, with a discussion of the geology, illustrated by examining the fossil shells in the oolitic limestone of the building, then came a quick scamper through prehistory and the Romans to come to the Saxon name 
of “campa denu” – valley with cultivated fields – which had become a village by the time of the Domesday survey. The “chipping” – market – was added by Hugh de Gondeville in 1185, who also laid out the plan of the new town with regular burgage plots running back from the wide market street, still clearly visible in the town’s plan.
The town benefitted from the growth of the prosperous wool trade, with Grevel House and Woolstaplers House surviving from that period. The large medieval church also benefitted.
In the early 17th century Sir Baptist Hicks, an
immensely wealthy man, built the market hall and bought the newly built Camden House
As a strategic location Campden saw action in the civil war; foragers from both sides plundered the inhabitants, and Campden House was burnt down by Royalist troops as they withdrew, to prevent it falling into parliamentarian hands. All 
that survives are the banqueting houses and stables. The later 17th century was a period of construction, as evidenced by the many date stones proudly displayed on buildings, either newly built or added to in this period. There seems also to have been an obsession with timekeeping as sundials sprout out of facades all down the High Street
The early 17th century occasionally saw the awkward adoption of contemporary Palladian architectural features, like pilasters growing out of upper storeys with ionic capitals perched on them.
The town’s later decline was arrested in the early 20th century by the revival of the arts and craft traditions, specifically CR Ashbee’s decision to move the Guild of Handicraft to Campden in 1902. The silversmithing operation set up by the Guild is still run by David Hart, 
the grandson of George Hart who joined Ashbee 1901. The workshop in Sheep Street is fascinating, with the traditional tools around the walls and on benches, and bunches of old invoices hanging from the ceiling like wasps nests (also made of paper!)
Our route then passed the grand almshouses to end at the church, within sight of the remains of Campden House. Inside the church is a splendid series of effigial tombs of the great and the good of Campden, and outside are more modest memorials, many dating back to the 17th century.
We all agreed that the tour was a great introduction to the historical riches of Campden, I for one will be back to see more.
Other Group News. The Group mounted a well attended display at the exhibition organised by Kevin Wyles at Tysoe Schoolroom on 14th – 15th July as part of the Council for British Archaeology’s Archaeology Week
World War 2 Oral Histories. A website founded by broadcaster and historian, Dan Snow, and author and broadcaster, James Holland, WarGen (http://wargen.org) is a crowd-sourced online repository of oral-history from the people who lived through World War 2. As well as containing varied stories from this fast disappearing generation, this group is now looking for individuals to join their volunteer team as interviewers in their local communities. They are also eager to hear from people who might have their own stories to tell. If you are interested in either becoming an interviewer or sharing your story, please contact Shane Greer at shane@wargen.org
KDLHG Committee Matters.
At the Committee meeting on Monday 1st of July we heard the good news that our new Treasurer Ted Crofts had finally managed to gain access to our HSBC accounts. Peter Ashley-Smith’s collected essays, edited by our president Bob Bearman, is printing. It will be priced at £9.99 and members and friends are invited to a launch party in the Village hall at 7.00pm on Friday October 4th for drinks and nibbles. We discussed a provisional programme for 2020-21 and agreed to canvass members for suggestions for outings and talks. The committee is concerned that we currently have neither a secretary nor a programme organiser, and help in these roles is urgently needed. The plans for the proposed archive room in the Village Hall have been submitted to the District planning authorities for approval. The next committee meeting is on Monday 16th of September at 7.30, at Catherine Petrie’s home.
DF 05.08.19