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Planned Events

Meetings Programme 2025-26

Meetings will start at 8pm. The talks and AGM will be in Chesham Town Hall only, with the exception of those in January and February, which will be on-line only. Non-members are welcome to attend.

For online talks, members and non-members who book with Ticketsource (see below) will receive joining instructions by email shortly before the event. All meetings, INCLUDING THOSE ONLINE, will cost £2 for members and £4 for non-members. Free tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided at the Town Hall meetings.

The entry fee will be payable on the door (cash or card) for Town Hall meetings and via an online booking system for the January and February meetings www.ticketsource.co.uk/cvahs

The full programme is still being finalised. Here is what has been confirmed so far:

Friday, 17th October 2025

The Brickworks at Bellingdon   Katharine Dallas, Local Historian

Katharine will talk about the family business of HG Matthews, brick manufacturers near Chesham for over 100 years. She will bring samples of the traditional types of brick that they still manufacture on site.

Friday, 21st November 2025

"Be Patterns, Be Examples" - The History of Quakers in the Chilterns    Catriona Troth, Author and Quaker Historian

Catriona will tell us about the history of the Quaker movement both locally and nationally.

Friday, 16th January 2026 (Zoom Talk)

Finds from HS2   Jay Carver, Archaeology Consultant

Jay is returning to tell us about the HS2 post-excavation work, and what finds research has uncovered.

Friday, 20th February 2026  (Zoom Talk)

TBD

Friday, 20th March 2026  

The Development of Ceramics   Prof Ian Freestone, Emeritus Professor of Archaeological Materials & Technology.

Ian will be describing the development of ceramic technology from the 6th Century AD in North China, through to 18thC UK bone china  

Friday, 17th April 2026

AGM, and President's Talk by Dr Wendy Morrison FSA:

Subject TBD

Dr Wendy Morrison is currently Heritage & Archaeology Manager for the Chilterns National Landscape. She also is Senior Associate Tutor for Archaeology at the Oxford University Dept for Continuing Education. Wendy’s research areas are Prehistoric European Archaeology and Landscape Archaeology. She has nearly two decades’ excavation experience in Southern Britain, the Channel Islands, and India and is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

 

Archaeology Field Group Programme 2025-26

Digs will be announced to members as and when they are arranged. Participants in all digs must be CVAHS members. If you are interested, but not yet a member, please contact CVAHS via this web site to confirm details of how to participate.

On our digs, we welcome people with experience and also novices - training in survey, excavation and recording techniques is given. For those who find digging difficult, there is valuable work to do on post-excavation cleaning, analysis and recording of finds.

Excavating a medieval ditch at Chesham Bois House
 
Medieval pottery fragments from the ditch and examples of complete pots