Hi all. Not exactly genealogy I admit, but this is to do with our intercessing predecessors. If you get the chance to pass by Waltham Abbey this week, you might want to make a brief visit to the Abbey Gardens (which surround the parish church in the centre of town), where WA Hist Soc are conducting a week-long archaeological dig, looking for structural evidence of the abbey infirmary and its adjoining chapel, dedicated in 1188 (or thereabouts - grey cells need zapping). We started on Saturday, and will be on site every day, 10am - 4pm(ish), until next Sunday (I'll be there Wed - Sat all day). There is no admission fee, and the parish centre, right next door, sells teas/coffees/ice creams/toasted tea cakes each afternoon if it's sunny. We're doing this partly to support and promote National Archaeology Week, and our effort represents one of only nine different events under the NAW umbrella in the whole of Essex, in seven different locations around the county. I believe our event is the only actual Essex dig, although our good friends Enfield Archaeological Society are also supporting NAW in Hertfordshire in a similar way. More info, including links to the NAW website, via a link on our homepage: www.walthamabbeyhistoricalsociety.org.uk Finds so far include some hand-made clay marbles(?), half a trivet handle, and a 1699 penny - not to mention extensive medieval rubble, oyster shells, and horse, pig and dog bones! We're next to a modern work of art called "The Ancestor", a log carved to represent a medieval monk - but how exactly a monk could have produced descendants is (almost) beyond me! Maybe the answer has something to do with why Henry 8 knocked all the abbeys and monasteries down in the first place. Cheers, Lawrence No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 270.4.7/1541 - Release Date: 08/07/2008 19:50