OUTINGS

2013

This year four of your committee members have offered to organise one outing each, and this leaflet gives a brief outline of what is planned. More importantly, it tells you who to contact for further details—no one person will be able to answer all your queries.

Tickets for each outing will be on sale at the meetings in April and May. There is no facility for booking by post, but if you cannot get to the meeting then you can try contacting the organiser by telephone, to find out whether places are available.

Please keep this leaflet for details

Friday 21 June

Baginton

Evening visit by car

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The evening will start with a guided tour of the Bagot’s Castle ruin, with time to view the visitor display and have refreshments, before continuing to the parish church of St John the Baptist, Baginton. The castle is privately owned and the ruins have recently been archaeologically investigated and conserved. We will be guided round the site by the resident archaeologist, and there is a display of finds and discoveries at the site. The medieval St John the Baptist parish church is adjacent to the castle, and contains interesting stained glass, monuments and wall paintings. It will be opened specially for our visit.

The site is at the end of Church Road, Baginton, near Coventry. Please arrive at the castle at 6.30pm.

Cost £6.00 per person, for entrance to castle and refreshments (tea and cake).

Organiser: David Freke 01295 670516

mobile 07876290044

email frekedj@globalnet.co.uk

Closing date—Friday 7June

Friday 19 July

Guys Cliffe

Evening visit by car

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Guys Cliffe House is a romantic ruin just to the North of Warwick, beside the A429 Coventry Road. It was from here that 14th century Guy of Warwick was reputed to have performed many deeds of derring-do, rescued maidens and slain giants.

The walls you see now were originally built in 1757, with later additions. The house abuts cliffs with caves, many thought to have been in use in Norman times.

Our guide will show us as much of the ruins as is safe, and the 14th century chapel, now home to the Masons. If weather and footwear are fit, it will also be possible to go down to Guy’s cave by the Avon.

Our visit will include tea /coffee and cream scones.

Cost £11.00, includes guides and refreshments. Parking is available on site. Please meet at the car park promptly at 7pm

Organiser Gill Ashley-Smith 01926 640545.

Closing date—Friday 5 July

Saturday 10 August

Henley-on Thames

Day Coach outing

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Enjoy a day out at the River and Rowing Museum in Henley on Thames. The museum was purpose built in 1999, and is attractively set in meadows on the banks of the Thames, just 10 minutes riverside walk from the centre of Henley. There are 3 main galleries, featuring not only the sport of rowing, but also the local history of Henley and its place on the Thames. There is even a gallery telling the story of The Wind in the Willows, with 3-D models of the characters, theatrical lighting and sound – perfect for the for the young at heart!

The Terrace Cafe serves coffee, lunch, and tea. To give you maximum freedom, no meals will be booked, though your ticket will give you a 10% discount both in the Café and in the shop.

When you have finished exploring the museum, 2 companies, Salters and Hobbs, offer boat trips from just outside, and Henley’s shops are only a short stroll away.

The coach will depart from St Peter’s Church, Kineton at 9.15am, leaving from Henley at 5.00pm to reach Kineton by 7pm.

Cost £21.50 covers coach and museum entry fee, Meals and boat trips at your own expense.

Organiser Ilona Sekacz Tel 01295 670675

Closing date Saturday 3 August, or when all 36 places are taken.

National Memorial Arboretum

Saturday 7 September

Day Outing by minibus/car

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The National memorial Arboretum is at Alrewas, Staffordshire.

It will be possible to reserve seats on a minibus (max 15 seats), but some may prefer to use their own car.

However you travel, guide maps and walk leaflets are available on arrival at reception. Please meet at the Memorial Chapel at 10.45am for an introductory talk and a short remembrance service. After that, tickets will be obtained for a Land train tour of site lasting 1 hour, with taped commentary. Lunch can be taken at the reasonably priced self-service restaurant, or bring a picnic and use the picnic tables outside. In the afternoon, wander along the avenues, and enjoy the landscape and arboretum with its specimen trees, shrubs and gardens. The rivers Teme and Trent run through the site. and there is an array of wild life to be seen

To reach the Arboretum

By car, from the A38 Lichfield to Derby Road, take the A513 towards Tamworth and follow brown signs For those with Sat Nav DE13 7AR.

Alternatively there will be a minibus leaving St Peter’s Kineton at 9am, leaving the arboretum for Kineton at 5pm.

Cost£12.50 per person, or £7.50 if using your own transport, to include donation and land train.

Organiser David Beaumont. 01926 641076

Email david@jebeaumont.wanadoo.co.uk

To celebrate the 25th Birthday of Kineton and District Local History Group there was  a special event on the Staffordshire hoard held on Saturday 13th October 2012.

See Short Articles section for a report of the event.

To Warwickshire Art Fund committee and Kineton & District Local History
Group members

—– Original Message —–
From: “Katy Richards” <KRichards@artfund.org>
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2012 2:46 PM
Subject: Staffordshire Hoard

Since you may already be aware of this, I thought you would like this latest message from Stephen regarding the Staffordshire Hoard which is being sent to some of the supporters of the previous campaign:

I wanted to update you on the latest developments around the Staffordshire Hoard, which you may read about shortly in the press.

As you know the Hoard – over 1,500 items of Anglo Saxon gold and silver, believed to be the spoils of war – was unearthed in a field in 2009. Valued at £3.3 million, the Art Fund launched a public appeal to buy the Hoard for museums in the Midlands. In just 10 weeks the full sum was raised, including almost £1 million from members of the public. The campaign’s success was due in no small part to the incredibly generous contribution you so kindly made.

While experts believed they had gathered every piece of the Hoard still remaining in the field during extensive searches in 2009, we have just learned that during a recent re-churning of the same field,  90 new pieces
have been uncovered – evidently  having been previously at a deeper level. While many are tiny fragments, they include pieces of a helmet, a cross and an intriguing eagle shaped mount.   They are not nearly on the scale of the
original find,  of course,  but this is obviously still very exciting and will no doubt in time add to our understanding of the Hoard and more widely of our Anglo Saxon heritage.

The latest finds are being examined as I write and will be valued in the New Year, and we are in close touch with Birmingham, the Potteries and the British Museum. I thought you’d be interested to know of these latest
developments and will of course let you know when we hear more.

With best wishes for Christmas and Happy New Year
Katy

Katharine Richards
Regional Fundraising Manager (maternity cover)
Art Fund
Millais House
7 Cromwell Place
London SW7 2JN
020 7225 4800
020 7225 4863 (direct)
www.artfund.org

REPORT ON THE STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD TALK

KINETON & DISTRICT LOCAL HISTORY GROUP

On Saturday 13^th October at Kineton High School as part of the Group’s 25^th birthday celebration the Chairman David Freke introduced our speaker Dr. Kevin Leahy, National Finds Advisor for the Portable Antiquities Scheme.

Around 125 people sat enthralled by his excellent talk with photos and humour, on the latest research into the Staffordshire Hoard.

He spoke on the subject GOLD GOD and BATTLE, WHAT THE STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD WAS TELLING US.

He started with photos of the detectorist Terry Herbert who found the hoard and Fred Johnson the owner of the farm where it was found, the plough that brought it to the surface, and the site on an exposed hill midway between the M6 toll road and the A5 (Roman Watling Street).

Once the hoard was found it was important to keep the news an absolute secret and to get the site examined and artefacts lifted as soon as possible to avoid any Nighthawkes (detectorists who dig by night without permission) plundering the site. Security guards were employed answering inquisitive onlookers with the reply “Its a health and safety matter”. Various excavations and radar tests were undertaken on the find site and a total of over 1600 items were recovered.

Once the items were safely stored, news conferences were arranged to tell the story to the general public and what an important find it was.

A Coroners inquest was held and it was declared Treasure Trove, later a valuation was made by the British Museum of £3.285 million, which when raised, was split equally between the finder and the landowner.

The next step was to raise this amount to keep it in the country. The general public flocked to view the items put on display in Birmingham and Stoke, some queuing for over five hours. In four weeks, over 90,000 viewed it, and donations of £900,000 was raised by the public.

A website was created to display the 650 images and received over 10 million hits in the first week.

Dr. Leahy stated that the hoard is unique in the fact that it was not a grave burial as was the famous Sutton Hoo burial because the bulk of the items recovered were battle related and no personal items (such as brooches etc.)

The total weight of gold was 5.2 kgs and silver was 1.442 kgs and that many of the items came from swords and helmets, the parts being pulled away from the blades which were either reused or discarded.

Among other items were 3 crosses, one a large one thought to be a processional cross had been deliberately folded up. These were the only items found that were not war gear. One photo showed a battered gold strip with a Latin bible inscription on it, translated it read “Rise up O Lord, and may thy enemies be dispersed and those who hate thee be driven from thy face”

He talked about where the gold and garnets were thought to be from, gold from Rome and garnets from India, and how they were cut to fit in the intricate gold pattern work. Photos were shown so we could see the many sections used to make up a sword hilt.

Many pieces were engraved with intricate patterns of birds and intertwined snakes biting each other; all this evidence is leading the experts to date the hoard at around 650 AD. We had suggestions as to who may have placed the hoard where it was found, who the war lords were at the time, the area near Tamworth being the centre of Mercia.

Many questions were answered ably by Dr Leahy after the talk, which were interspersed with humour. A vote of thanks was given by David Beaumont, and the profit from the evening of approximately £175 will be donated to the Arts Foundation who helped with the purchase of The Hoard.

The website for the Staffordshire Hoard is www.staffordshirehoard.org.uk.

There are items on display at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, and The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery, Stoke on Trent.

Kevin & Dianne Leahy

Please Can You Help Us?

A group of us are starting to plan an Edgehill Visitor Hub to be based in St Peter’s Church in Radway.

We want to tell the story of the Battle of Edgehill and its effect on the surrounding area and on the people of the time.

We want to gather together, and preserve, artifacts and information on the battle and to share stories in a lively and creative way through displays, film, talks, events and hands-on experience.

Most of all we are hoping to bring alive the experiences of the local people, both during and after the battle itself. To do this, we need to find people with long-standing family links to the area, and to uncover research into the experiences of those involved in the battle and the local residents.

Can you trace your family back to 1642?

Do you have anything that you could share with us to take this project forward?

If so, we would really like to hear from you. Please telephone Brian Douthwaite on 01926 640314

Or e-mail wbdouthwaite@btinternet.com

Or even write to him at –

31 Park Piece, Kineton, Warwick, CV35 0NT

Thank you!

We celebrated our 21st birthday in 2008.

Founder member David Beaumont and Time Team’s Phil Harding, who gave the 21st birthday celebration talk at Kineton High School, 2008

Most of the activities of Kineton and District Local History Group involve the past history of the area but the visit in July 2011 was to a building open for less than a year: the Sikh Gurdwara Sahib in Leamington Spa.

The party was greeted by the young man who was to be the guide and the first impression was of the mixture of warmth and reverence that pervaded the building. Everyone, visitors and regular worshippers, removed their shoes, washed their hands and donned head scarves.  The party was first taken to the central worship area, where the Holy Book was being read.  All, even the apparently elderly, sat on the floor relaxed and attentive.  Any children present seemed perfectly at home in the space and free to move around without causing disturbance.  After some minutes the Kineton party too was absorbed by the sense of peace.

The main building is on three floors. When the group ascended to the first floor, musicians were practising and readily showed their instruments and explained them.  The views from this level were impressive; it was a surprise that this particular part of Leamington had so many trees.  As the sun was setting, even the chimneys had a new beauty and were turned to pure gold.

The group then descended to the basement, where they were shown a short film about the history of the Sikhs who fought with the British Army.  They were then led to the dining area where the Sikhs extended their well known hospitality in a delicious light meal.

A Viking visited the March meeting of Kineton and District Local History Group. Announced by by his splendid horn, he strode into the village hall clad in helmet, pieces of armour and woollen clothing to announce himself as Martin Way, about to give the group a lecture on Glimmer in the Dark, a celebration of art and craftsmanship in Anglo-Saxon England.

The rest of the evening more than lived up to this dramatic opening. By the end of it, Mr Way had convinced the members that any idea that Anglo-Saxon England was the Dark Ages, was totally mistaken. He had not only provided the group with well chosen slides illustrating the exquisite artefacts that the Saxons left behind, but also in particular metalwork, some domestic, some some with a war-like puirpose, they all displayed a degree of craftsmanship and design that passing centuries have not bettered. Skilled warriors these ancestors of ours might have been, but they were also people of great artistic sensitivity and skills.

Mr Way allowed time for the group to examine the generous number of artefacts he had brought with him and the number of questions asked of him after the lecture shows how much interest he had generated in the members of the group. Never again will they think of Anglo-Saxon England as being a Dark Age.

Local pictures of the pilgrimage that took place around the Coventry Diocese in 1962 to mark the dedication of the new Coventry Cathedral.  The 1962 pictures were taken by Beebie Winters who owned the sweet shop that was in Southam Street in the sixties.

A repeat of the pilgrimage took place in April 2012.