© CAHS & contributors 2016-9
Registered Charity 287289
Reports of our lectures held
during 2018-9
We have reported our lectures in the Wilts and
Gloucestershire Standard for many years. Each
year for some years we
have gathered these
together at the end of
each season and
published them in late
summer as one of our
newsletters. If you
should look through our
past Lectures page or
our publications pages,
you can find which Newsletters have reports in
them. Back copies of some of our Newsletters
may be available on request from our editor. A
copying charge may be made. Since 2014 we
now only publish these reports online. We will
keep paper copies solely for archive purposes.
In general reports will appear online about a
month after they have appeared in the Wilts &
Glos Standard.
If you would like to write up a report on a
particular talk, contact a committee member as
early in the season as possible, as we arrange a
rota to ensure that every talk is reported.
September 2018 Report
‘Wot! No Engines? Horsa, The Silent
Wooden Warrior’
James Rendell
James Rendell, a local historian provided a fascinating insight
into the story of the WW2 Horsa gliders and the significant
contribution they made to the success of the D-Day invasion
and the Arnhem landings in 1944.
The Horsa gliders were constructed mainly of spruce with
birch ply. This, together with careful design made them very
strong. The timber sections were made by various companies
with HH Martin of Cheltenham manufacturing 3500 cockpits
in the 1943/44 period.
These gliders were designed to carry heavy equipment or
troops and set them down together in one place. The 88 foot
(30m) wingspan and 67 foot (22m) length made the Horsa a
large and notoriously difficult aircraft to fly.
Pilots trained to fly other aircraft, including Spitfires, were
often transferred to fly Horsas with very little training.
To get them airborne, the gliders were towed behind Stirling
and Halifax aircraft at speeds of up to 150 mph.
To enable gliders not seriously damaged during landing to be
re-used, a system of snatch - recovery was developed. This
allowed the gliders to be hooked direct to an aircraft, in flight,
testifying to the strength of their timber construction.
Gloucestershire played a major part in the Horsa story with
glider training at RAF Stoke Orchard; the assembly of gliders
at Aston Down and Kemble and gliders full of troops and
equipment for D-Day being towed out from RAF Fairford and
RAF Down Ampney.
October 2018
Northleach- A ‘Planted’ Town
Peter Dawson
At the Society’s October meeting, Peter Dawson told us about
the “planted towns” of the Middle Ages. Using many slides
and pictures, including some by LS Lowry, he showed us how
to recognise one of these towns.
They mostly have a small castle, or its remains, at one end of
a street and a church at the other. The terraced houses tend
to be of a uniform width of 2 perches (33feet) with very long
gardens half a furlong long (330 feet). These were known as
burgage plots.
There will also once have been a triangular market-place,
though if large enough, the space may have been
subsequently filled with houses. There is often a market-
cross with 3, 5 or 8 steps. Big enough to sell wares from.
Professor Beresford, of Leeds University, wrote a book (1967)
and it seems the Normans created about a thousand such
towns, many added onto existing Saxon settlements, as at
Northleach. Most of the towns were within a day’s hard walk
of each other. They grew through the Middle Ages and maps
even show Birmingham and Leeds to have such a town at
their core.
So why were there so many? Building new towns allowed the
King and the Barons to ‘keep an eye on’ the people and
encourage them to speak French, which clearly failed, but
Celtic languages were discouraged. The landlords would have
had a good income from the rents.
November 2018
Francis Haverfield’s ‘Roman Cirencester’:
Then and Now
Neil Holbrook
It was a rather damp, miserable night, but this didn’t deter
many members and friends from attending an illustrated talk
by Neil Holbrook, Director of Cotswold Archaeology, on
Francis Haverfield’s ‘Roman Cirencester’: Then and Now.
Many there had little knowledge of Haverfield, but nearly 100
years ago, in September 1919, he gave a lecture on Roman
Cirencester, which was to prove influential to our
understanding of the town, and the inspiration to many
famous names in the field of archaeology. Sadly, a month
later, at the age of only 58 he died.
A study of Silchester had given him an interest in Roman
Town Planning, and his aim was to write a book on all the
Roman towns in Britain. Only two papers were published –
Leicester and Cirencester.
Cirencester had achieved some fame with the discovery of
the Hunting Dogs mosaic in Dyer Street in 1849, and by the
end of the century, interest was renewed when the end of the
Basilica was discovered. Haverfield was interested in material
culture, particularly inscriptions, and the importance of coins
in chronology. He felt that the people of Corinium led a
comfortable life in a country town, dependant on local
agriculture, unromantic and therefore happy. He was
particularly interested in the text on the Septimus Stone (
seen now in the museum), which appeared to be restoring
paganism in the 4th Century, after the introduction of
Christianity.
Neil also exploded some myths about Cirencester – was it
really called Corinium? Far more likely, it was Cironium, which
would have been more likely to develop in Saxon times into
Cirencester. How did Roman Cirencester end? Probably not
in a battle in 577 as recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
What was Haverfield’s legacy? His paper published in 1920
after his death, was the best paper for at least half a century,
and although he is little known himself, he was the
inspiration of people like Atkinson, a founder member of the
Cirencester Excavation Committee, Shepherd Frere and many
other more famous archaeologists.
January 2019
The Storming of Cirencester 1643
John Paddock
At the January lecture, John Paddock told the meeting about
the Storming of Cirencester, a traumatic event for the town
that took place on the 2nd of February 1643 during the
English Civil War. Cirencester was the first town to be taken
by storm in more than two generations and the first English
town to be subject to an artillery barrage. John Paddock gave
a fascinating exposition of both the background to the
conflict at national and local level and details of the actual
battle.
At the start of the Civil War Cirencester, with a population of
about 4000, had strong Parliamentary tendencies and was
held by a Parliamentary force of about 700, supported by 5
artillery pieces and the ‘men of the town’.
Earlier probing by Royalist forces had been driven off, but in
January 1643 Prince Rupert left Oxford and moved
determinedly towards Cirencester with a force of about 1000
infantry, 3000 mounted troops, two cannon and a mortar.
Rupert used his cannon to attack key strong points, whilst the
mortar shelled the town.
The psychological effect of the artillery on troops and civilians
unfamiliar with such weapons was undoubtedly significant –
the Civil war equivalent of ‘shock and awe’ – although Rupert
only had ammunition to fire 120 artillery rounds. After a
period of barrage, the town’s defensive barricades were
rushed and blown aside. The town was swiftly taken in less
than four hours.
Reports of casualties are confused, with some records
indicating 300 killed and 1000 captured. Parish Records,
however, only indicate 39 males, 6 females and 5 children
buried over the period.
Attacking forces carried out extensive looting, normal for the
time, but there is no indication they ‘ran amok’.
The Royalists held Cirencester, without local opposition, for
the rest of the War.
February 2019
The Croome Lecture - Report awaited
March 2019
The Mick Aston Lecture
The Origins of Wessex: Archaeology and
Landscape in the Upper Thames Valley,
5th-7th Centuries AD
Professor Helena Hamerow (University of Oxford)
Watch it Here>
https://www.youtube.com/c/CotswoldArchaeology
March 2019
Over to You – Members’ Evening
It is always a privilege to be given an insight into personal
stories through treasured objects and pictures. The audience
at our society's new 'show and tell' venture in March were
treated to a range of brief talks and a display of artefacts, and
a summary follows here. We have not included the names of
speakers, but any follow-up information could be passed on
via this website and the CAHS committee. Thank you to all
contributors and the welcome audience; we will certainly
consider holding another similar evening in the future.
Talks and artefacts on display:
An attractive collection of post-medieval ceramic sherds,
made into a plate mosaic by grandchildren, from a probable
midden site in a cottage garden in Coxwell Street.
A knuckle-duster handed down from a formidable retired
headmistress to the family, with no explanation recalled
about how she obtained it, or whether she had ever used it
herself!
The siver cigarette case of Highland Light Infantryman
Charles McCrostie, who died near Albert, France on 1st July
1916. This remains as a poignant witness to his death with a
bullet hole through it. His niece and family have visited the
site of the battle and marvel to this day how it made it home
to the family, to remain with them as a memorial to his
sacrifice.
The Military Medal awarded to a grandfather, Harry Bough, in
August 1918.
A 'Death Penny' and an explanation of their history and their
symbolism of British imperial power. This 'Penny'
commemorates Charles William Selby, who died in 1918
when a member of the 63rd Field Ambulance RAMC. He was
born in Poole Keynes and is remembered on the memorial in
Poole Keynes church. With it, a picture of his gravestone in
Hermonville Military Cemetery, France and his two service
medals.
Large iron mooring posts(?) displayed by a member who is
currently volunteering with the archive of the 'Stroud Water
Navigation Company', helping to put the information online
thanks to Heritage Lottery Funding. Much of interest is
emerging from the archive concerning the salt trade and the
18th century salt warehouse at Brimscombe, and the trade in
iron nails from the Bromsgrove and Redditch foundries. A
Timothy Lewis has come to light as a prominent Cirencester
merchant who appears very involved with the Navigation
Company in the 1770s, but little seems known of him. A
suggestion has emerged through research that he was
described as the 'son' or 'grandson' of the then Lord
Bathurst. What role did the Bathurst family play in
establishing the canal? More information needed...
An assemblage of late Roman pottery sherds, animal bones
and other objects typical of 'low status' settlement midden
content from just beyond the Corinium town area. The items
were in the possession of the landowner with the knowledge
and consent of the Oxford Archaeological Trust who had
supervised the site in 2009.
'Then and Now' photographs -
The Stroud Subscription Rooms in 1940, with a large
public above-ground air raid shelter in the forecourt. With it,
a brief history of the building and how it has been used since
it was built in 1833-34.
Charlie Morse from Fairford c1930, a head ganger on the
railway between Fairford and Lechlade (closed 18th June
1962). Considered a smartly dressed man, he always wore a
carnation in his buttonhole.
A picture, early 1940s, of two gunners from a WW2 heavy
anti-aircraft gun battery and Miss Betty Tombs enjoying some
time off punting an old water storage tank across the farm
pond at Hayden Farm. The gun battery was nearby, close to
the 'House In The Tree' public house between Gloucester and
Cheltenham. A snapshot of life during a very difficult period.
An illustrated talk and 'walk' along the old Swindon Road
route out of Watermoor, now truncated and disguised by the
ring road and Kingsmeadow Tesco, Premier Inn, McDonalds
development. The discussion helped establish the probable
site of a 1920s 'Cirencester- Please drive slowly through the
town' sign, found at auction, now protected and preserved
locally. This would have been one of four original signs put
up on the main roads into Cirencester by the Urban District
Council before statutory speed limits. The 'Siddington Road'
sign that was probably nearby before the road changes has
also been rescued.
April 2019
Joint meeting with Cirencester Science & Technology Society
The Cheltenham Branch of Mr Brunel’s
Great Western Railway
Colin Maggs -Report awaited
May 2019
AGM followed by
Ghosts In The Stones: Supernatural Tales
in Gloucestershire.'
Kirsty Hartsiotis, The Wilson in Cheltenham
The decline of folklore has been spoken of since Puritan
times, and yet people still tell tales that are ‘as old as the hills’
for entertainment. The store of tales is constantly
replenished as people find new wonders to share with
friends. Stories about ghosts are prominent in the catalogue
and are constantly renewed with new sightings in old places.
Kirsty Hartsiotis is a storyteller and writer about folk tales.
Her purpose in writing and re-telling the stories, legends, and
myths is to give people an opportunity to hear the tales most
closely linked with the places where they live. Gloucestershire
has many of these old stories – and its share of the newer
ones. We did not hear any of the stories in full, but Kirsty’s
talk gave us a flavour of the wide variety that can be heard in
our county.
Our archaeological sites often have their spectres, such as
the squad of ghostly figures with tattooed faces, dressed in
leather tunics, and carrying stone-tipped spears who were
seen through a mist at West Tump Long Barrow in Buckle
Wood, near Cranham. Barrows were, in more superstitious
times, seen as doorways to an underworld where ghosts and
fairies lurked. In one tale two labourers discovered a
concealed entrance in a hill which led to a series of
underground chambers. They heard sounds and a groan and
ran for their lives as the chambers collapsed behind them,
never to be seen again.
Not all apparitions have involved the figures of people. In the
case of Edward II only the scream that he gave when he met
his horrible end survives to haunt Berkeley Castle.
Gloucestershire has more than its share of royal ghosts, such
as that of Margaret of Anjou, who haunts Owlpen Manor. A
house of any great antiquity would be sadly deficient if it
didn’t have a ghost of its own.
It was still twilight as we left the Ashcroft Hall, but I suspect
that those who had listened to this enthralling talk were
keeping their eyes peeled as they walked home through the
ancient stones of Cirencester.
Martin Graebe
23 May 2019
Feb 2019 - Croome Lecture
Mar 2019 - Members evening
Mar 2019 - Mick Aston Lecture
Apr 2019 - Colin Maggs
May 2019 - Kirstie Hartsiotis
Page last updated 1 March 2022