The Surrey Archaeological Society is pleased to be participating in Athel’s Town: Saxon Encampment and Reenactment, a major public heritage event organised by Kingston Heritage Service to commemorate the 1100th anniversary of the crowning of Athelstan as king of Wessex at Kingston upon Thames. Please come and visit our stall at the event on Sunday 27th 2025 (11am — 5pm), which will feature displays about the activities of the Society and Athelstan’s connections to Surrey, replica artefacts to handle, a mini archaeological digging experience, books, themed information leaflets and more.

We will meet in the Farthing Downs car park at 10am for a guided tour of the Downs by the ranger, Thomas Oliver. Tom, who is the Conservation Ranger for City of London Corporation, will talk about the use of the Downs throughout history, including the Iron Age site and the many Saxon graves. The leisurely walk will take about 1.5 to 2 hours with the route following a flat grassy path on the top of the downs with a few gentle slopes. In summer this should not be slippery. The total length of the route is around 1-2km and we will finish at the car park where there are toilets.

A Meeting of the Forum has been arranged at which a series of talks will be presented by members of the Forum on a wide range of interesting topics.

The programme for the meeting is attached. The charge for the meeting is £5, payable on the door. All are welcome.

To help with practical arrangements including refreshments please e-mail medforum@hotmail.co.uk to register your intention to attend.

On Thursday 16 November at 18:00, the MSF will be hosting their annual lecture online via Zoom.

This year’s talk will be by Dr Gabor Thomas of the University of Reading, who will be speaking on ‘Anglo-Saxon monasteries of the Middle Thames: New Archaeological Perspectives from Cookham, Berkshire’. Dr Thomas has been leading excavations at Cookham, close to the parish church and the river which has been producing new insights into the Middle Saxon period.  

The Annual Symposium of the Society will take place in East Horsley Village Hall. Online booking via PayPal at £12 per person is now available by clicking on the BOOK tab above. Due to difficulty in paying them in cheques cannot now be accepted. Online booking enables us to assess the catering requirements and streamlines the administration process.

Payment by cash on the day is discouraged but will be possible and exact change would be appreciated. Tickets cost £12 per person.

The Medieval Studies Forum have arranged a special lecture by Professor Alexandra Sanmark (University of the Highlands and Islands) on 'Medieval Sites of Power and Assembly in the Thames Valley', which includes a look in detail at the sites of both Kingston and Runnymede.

After Prof Sanmark's lecture, the National Trust team will provide a short presentation and update on the Runnymede Explored project.

This talk will be held online, via Zoom.

Although welcome to all, the event is free for SyAS and MSF members, with a fee of £2 from non-members.