Plumpton Roman Villa

Events: 
Fieldwork
Groups: 
Non-Society
Periods: 
Roman

Plumpton Roman Villa: this summer another programme of research and training excavations will take place, starting Saturday 18th June and ending on Saturday 30th July. Project director: David Rudling. Volunteer excavation opportunities are available Monday-Friday throughout the digging season, 9.30am-5pm.

Library Archives

The Library holds a wide variety of archives, in the form of documents, prints, drawings, parish documents and maps.  These are not held at Abinger, but are located in a variety of storage locations.  The files below are scans of documents held by the Library containing detailed listings of these holdings.  These PDF files are indexed and can be searched, although the variable nature of the original documents means that not all keywords will be found by a search. The documents are also listed individually in the Library catalogue. It is hoped to publish digitised scans of some of the collection on this website in due course.

Grinling-Collins Collection

The Lithics section of the Prehistoric Group recently reassessed the Grinling-Collins collection of lithic tools held in GuildfordMuseum. Little is known about Charles Grinling (1860-1947) (below) who moved to ‘Merriedown’, Peaslake at the end of WWI, except that he is said to have excavated at Holmbury Hill (pers. Comm.: K Winser), although there does not appear to be any record of this activity. In due course he met and encouraged Patrick Collins in his interest in lithics. Collins (c1921-1991) lived at Weyside, Wonham Way, Peaslake, and joined the Surrey Archaeological Society in 1935, eventually becoming a well known and respected archaeologist in Northern Ireland. He moved from ReadingMuseum to join the newly established Archaeological Survey of Northern Ireland in 1950, and lectured at Queen’s University Belfast. Collins was primarily responsible for prehistoric sites and carried out a number of pioneering excavations on megaliths. He was interested in ancient technology and an international authority on the production methods of flint tools. His memory was honoured in 2003 when the public archive facility, Waterman House, in Belfast was opened with the naming of the research room as ‘The Pat Collins Reading Room’.

Hooper Collection

During 2010 the lithics section of the Prehistoric Group continued to reassess lithics collections held by GuildfordMuseum. One of the more interesting collections was that of Dr Wilfrid Hooper, LL D, FSA (1882-1950). There were 86 bags and boxes which included examples of lithic forms from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age collected largely from parishes between Dorking and Redhill. These items represent only a portion of a collection amassed by an enthusiastic prehistorian and member of Surrey Archaeological Society. Other parts of his collection are held in the Museum of the Holmesdale Natural History Club and in private hands.

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