Held at Troston Church on 24th April 2010
The meeting opened at 11.00 a.m. when the Chairman, Edward Martin, welcomed c.80 members and introduced the business of the day.
1. Apologies for absence: Mel Birch, Rosemary Hoppitt, Caroline MacDonald.
2. Minutes of the 161st AGM held on 25th April 2009 were published in the Spring 2010 Newsletter. They were confirmed and signed.
3. Matters arising from the Minutes: there were none.
4. General Secretary’s Report: This has been another active year for the Institute with Council holding its usual three business meetings. In addition to the regular programme of events, a Basil Brown Commemoration Service was held at Rickinghall Inferior at the end of August, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the discovery of the great Ship Burial at Sutton Hoo.
Clive Paine's summer excursions drew good numbers of attendees, with Bob Carr's visit to the church and priory at Blythburgh benefiting from the Time Team effect and more than 70 members were keen to explore the Priory site. The successful winter lecture programme assembled by Mary Pereira was well received, and thanks are recorded to Nick and Teresa Wiggins and their assistants for providing refreshments. The wintry conditions of mid-January did not deter around 50 stalwart members from attending Diarmaid McCulloch's excellent lecture on Redgrave Hall, following which Council held one of its more succinct meetings, as yet more snow began to fall Joanna Martin has just completed her first year as Editor of the proceedings and has published part one of vol 42, handsomely embellished with a coloured cover. An Index to vol 41 was compiled by Sarah Muldoon and distributed with vol 42. Also completing first years in office for the Institute are Nigel Maslin as Membership Secretary and myself, Jane Carr as General Secretary. And with my husband Bob we have produced two more Newsletters this year. Rosemary Hoppitt is working on improvements to the Institute’s website with the help of a sub-committee. Members may have noticed the News Page on the website and are urged to send in relevant news items. It is planned to increase and improve our e-communications with other organisations and our own membership.
The Institute was represented by Brian Seward last year at the Blaxhall celebration of George Ewart Evans, and, more recently, with an updated exhibition and book stall at Suffolk Local History Council’s Societies Day. Council awarded Grants this year firstly to Charles Tracy toward the cost of publication of his work on the Spring Chantry at Lavenham, and secondly for the refurbishment of the tombstone at Thorndon of the Rev Harris, who had a long record of service to the SIAH.
Perhaps the highlight of the year was the coming to fruition of the Archaeology in Suffolk conference, celebrating 60 years of recording archaeological sites and finds from the county which have been published in our own Proceedings over the years. The event was the result of much hard work by our Chairman, assisted by the Secretary, and held this March in partnership with Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service, CBA East Anglia and Harvey Osborne for our hosts University Campus Suffolk. Their splendid new Waterfront premises at Ipswich were much appreciated by all who attended. It is hoped that this may be one of many occasions for our two organisations to work together. It is planned to publish the papers from the conference in due course.
Finally, having congratulated ourselves on this year’s Conference, we should not be resting on our laurels but, to echo John Fairclough’s words from last year’s report should be seeking other ways to promote the interest that exists in our County’s heritage to a wider public. To achieve a more balanced demographic we need to attract some younger members too. To do this we need more people to help organise events such as Heritage Fairs and Archaeology Finds Days which are popular and educational. There are plenty of suggestions about possible activities but a lack of offers of assistance to plan and run them. If you feel inspired to help please get in touch - contact details are printed in the Newsletter.
5. Membership Secretary’s Report: the following summary of figures for membership was given by the General Secretary, on behalf of the Membership Secretary.
Year ending 31 Dec 2009
The Institute has 683 subscriptions, comprising 605 personal memberships (ordinary and joint) and 78 institutional memberships (societies, universities etc). Of the personal memberships, 599 are in the UK and 6 abroad, and of the institutional memberships, 57 are in the UK and 21 abroad. Of the personal memberships, 428 are individual (ordinary members) 177 are double (joint memberships) making a total of 782 members.
Numbers given in the 2009 Proceedings:
611 full members (UK and abroad)
186 associate members (additional spouses or partners in joint memberships)
78 institutions (UK and abroad)
Comparable figures for y/e 31 Dec 2009 are:
605 full members (UK and abroad)
177 associate members
78 institutions (UK and abroad)
6. Financial Secretary’s Report: The Financial Statement had been distributed to members present. Income for the year was £14,730, while expenditure totalled £14,841. The Balance Sheet for investments shows a Creditor figure of £10,510, being the cost of producing the Proceedings and Index. General expenditure included an increase of £300 in the cost of lectures, and £303 for the Basil Brown commemoration event. As in previous years, part of the cost of the Newsletters and Insurance had been charged to the Research, Excavation and Publication fund. The investment in Treasury Stock, which had been yielding 8%, was redeemed in Sept 2009. The accounts will be published in the 2010 Proceedings. A question from membership concerned Gift Aid, which Adrian Parry explained had a low take-up. The costs of the Conference had just about broken even. Edward Martin explained that it was a not-for-profit event, with admission costs kept low for maximum accessibility. The adoption of the Accounts was proposed by Wing Co Lewis and seconded by Clive Paine and carried unanimously. Edward Martin explained the proposed increase in subscriptions to be applied from Jan 2011. The rates had not been raised since 1995, and are very low compared with other archaeological/historical societies. Membership enjoyed the Proceedings, two Newsletters, five Winter Lectures and six Summer Excursions for the cost of their subscription. The new rates were published in the Spring 2010 Newsletter as follows: Single member £20, Single under 25 years £12, Double (2 adults, family with children under 16yrs) £25, UK Institutions £30, Overseas Institutions £35, Visitors to lectures/excursions as guest of member £5. After a brief discussion, it was proposed by Lorna Turner, seconded by Tony Redman, and carried unanimously, that the change in subscriptions be approved.
7. Editor’s Report: Volume 42, part 1 of the Proceedings (2009) was published in January, a little late due to delays at the printers. The journal was well received and members seem to be happy with the changes made except for the size and legibility of the print, the quality of which has declined in recent years. The Baskerville font used does not transfer well to digital format, and a clearer typeface will be used in future. The index to volume 41 was also distributed at the beginning of this year, and our thanks are recorded to Sara Muldoon for compiling it. Sara has indicated that she does not wish to continue as indexer, so a new one is needed. The editing of Vol. 42, part 2 is progressing well and the main articles will be the postponed report on the excavations at Priory Farm, Preston St Mary; the second part of Anne Sutton’s article on Suffolk mercers; and an article on Melford church by Frank Woodman. Several articles are in hand for 2011, including a particularly interesting one on Beccles Grammar School by Professor Nicholas Orme of Exeter University.
8. Field group report: The General Secretary reported on behalf of Mel Birch. The Field Group has been through a period of transition and has emerged with a new organisation, allowing its members to continue to enjoy fieldwork in the county, whilst benefiting from a closer association with SCC Archaeological Service. The changes include the forming of a management team co-ordinated by Mel Birch, along with Gilbert Burroughes, John Fulcher and Sue Marszal to form a project committee whose duties will include seeking sites to investigate, preparing project evaluation reports for submission to the SCC Archaeological Service and leading agreed projects. In addition to becoming members of the Institute, Field Group members will pay an annual subscription to the Field Group. Members of the SIAH are welcome to attend the Spring and Autumn meetings of the Field Group which are advertised in the newsletters and will be held in Coddenham.
9. Election of Council Members:
Gilbert Burroughes and Philip Pantellis were retiring in rotation, and Timothy Easton, Margaret Thomas and Harvey Osborne were suggested by Council. There being no further nominations it was proposed to elect these three to Council by Wing Co Lewis and seconded by Gilbert Burroughes and carried unanimously.
Edward Martin reported that our President Norman Scarfe, would be retiring at the next AGM in 2011. The Chairman thanked Norman in advance for all he had done for the Institute over the years. Our President accepted the thanks, and also recalled with sadness the death of Peter Northeast last year. Clive Paine said that the SLHC was planning a Peter Northeast Conference for 2011, and Joanna Martin said there would be an appreciation of his life and work in the next SIAH Proceedings.
10. Date of next AGM: This was fixed for 7th May 2011, a little later than usual due to the juxtaposition of a late Easter Saturday followed by Early May Bank Holiday.
11. Any other Business: there was none
The meeting closed at 11.35am.
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| Hamlet Watling's reconstruction of finds made during the construction of the railway near Needham Market, now identified as a 6th century Byzantine patera and parts of a Celtic hanging bowl. |
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| Ornamental pendant from the burial of a lady in the Saxon cemetery beside the River Gipping at Boss Hall, Sproughton. Now on display at Ipswich Museum. |
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| The remains of All Saints Church, Dunwich in 1916, before the last of it collapsed into the sea. |