Annual Report 2022-2023
Roman Roads Research Association Annual Report 2022-2023
The Annual Report of the Trustees of the Roman Roads Research Association
2021-2022
Registered charity no. 1163854
Principal address:
Ellerbeck Cottage, Ellerbeck, Northallerton, North Yorkshire, DL6 2RY
https://romanroads.org, contact: info@romanroads.org
Cover Image: Gradiometer survey east of Thorp Arch trading estate, Wetherby, West Yorkshire, superimposed on a Google Earth aerial photo from 2018. The survey, undertaken by RRRA members in 2023, shows that RR280 almost certainly passed directly through the Flavian fort at Newton Kyme before crossing the R. Wharf by a bridge then heading north. This calls into question the traditional notion that the course of RR280 is represented at this point by the medieval road known as Rudgate and St. Helen’s Ford some 450m to the west.
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Contents
| Contents | |
|---|---|
| From our Chairman, Mike Haken | 1 |
| Progress in 2023 | 2 |
| Membership | 2 |
| Itinera | 2 |
| Talks & Seminars | 2 |
| Geophysical surveys | 2 |
| Excavation | 3 |
| Roads of Roman Britain | 3 |
| Moving Forwards | 4 |
| Our Aspirations for 2024 | 4 |
| Strategic Objectives | 4 |
| Structure, Governance & Management | 6 |
| Legal Structure | 6 |
| Ensuring our activities achieve our charitable aims | 6 |
| Organisational structure | 6 |
| Financial review | 8 |
| Trustees & Declaration | 9 |
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Our vision & our mission
From our Chairman, Mike Haken
Last years Trustees’ Report provided a review of everything that had been achieved over the previous seven years, and it was quite a list, and a hefty report as a result. This year the report is slimmer, since it it only looks at what has been achieved last year, and most importantly how we can move forwards in the years to come.
In ‘Structure and Governance’ on p.6, we have reproduced our Objectives as stated in our constitution, as the Charity Commission requires us to do. However, rather than that formal four clause layout, I think the the idea of what RRRA aims to achieve can be better summed up in the following paragraph (I’m trying to avoid using the phrase ‘Mission Statement’!).
We promote the study and understanding of Roman roads, infrastructure & heritage in Britain from over 350 years within the Roman Empire. We aim to provide an accessible focal point for our members, our volunteers, local communities, the general public, and heritage organisations both large and small, working together to gain a fuller understanding of the infrastructure and administration of Roman Britain along with the impact it had and continues to have on the development of our nation.
I think its fair to say that in our first eight years we’ve made a good deal of progress along that path, but there’s a very long way to go, and there are clearly things we could do much better. The statement above is as much about involvement and inclusivity as it is about understanding the archaeology, and unfortunately, this is one area where we could, and should do much better, since we suffer from a very clear geographical bias towards Yorkshire and northern England. As an entirely voluntary organisation, whose Treasurer lives in Nottinghamshire, Secretary in Co. Durham, Chairman in North Yorkshire, and archaeological consultant in the East Riding, it was inevitable that this would happen. However that does not make it right. We have been aware of the issue for some considerable time, without successfully addressing it, a failing for which I take full responsibility.
So, how are we going to encourage greater involvement among our membership irrespective of where they happen to live?
First, we now believe that we are large enough (506 members at the time of writing) to start establishing regional groups, something that will begin to happen in the coming months. Of course, Dave and I can’t possibly run a group in, say Bristol, from up north; for this to work it will need you, our membership to get involved, with some of you taking responsibility for coordinating a regional group, with of course guidance and mentoring from the centre.
Second, we will soon be announcing the start of a major project, part of the larger Roads of Roman Britain project, to create digital mapping of all the Roman roads in Britain. There will be plenty of opportunities to get involved, utilising the regional groups we’re aiming to establish and I promise it won’t start in Yorkshire!
Mike Haken
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Progress in 2022-3
Membership
We are pleased to be able to report that our membership numbers, largely static during the previous year, have risen again. Whilst we haven’t quite emulated the rapid rise in 2021, our aim of achieving 500 members was finally achieved during October 2023. Given that the entire sector has struggled with maintaining membership levels over the last twelve months due to the cost of living crisis, this rise is both surprising and gratifying, especially after our decision to raise membership fees taken at the last AGM. Clearly, that was the right decision. The last AGM also approved the addition of an optional £5 donation, which interestingly hardly any of our members have taken up.
Itinera
Unfortunately, neither of the two major papers that were advertised for Volume III in last year’s Trustees Report actually made it into publication. Despite this, it was an excellent volume, that confirmed Itinera’s unique place amongst the more long-established archaeological journals of Britain and Europe. At the time of writing, Itinera IV is in preparation and ahead of schedule, with the first papers already back from review and about to be set in what will be a bumper volume. In addition to our usual format, we will also be publishing a separate section of five papers related to the Devil’s Causeway in Northumberland, which were presented at a one day conference in June organised by Lindsay Allason-Jones and the Border Archaeological Society.
Itinera remains unusual in Britain thanks to our policy of making each volume Open Access after twelve months, only made possible by our ability to keep everything in-house and avoiding the paywalls created by the big publishing houses. This couldn’t happen without the efforts of the 36 RRRA members who are willing to devote so much of their time to making the publication a success. Unfortunately, Gary Whitaker, who has done such a good job in handling the distribution of hard copies since the inception of Itinera, has had to stand down on health grounds. Another member, Chris Webb, has already volunteered to take over.
Talks & Seminars
Since its introduction, we have aimed to provide a programme of talks each year that is as varied as possible, not restricted to Roman road studies but relating to Roman archaeology more broadly. Our approach is not only successful, but audience continue to increase, with many talks attracting over 200 viewers on the night, and even more on You Tube. It is worth noting that four of the seven talks in the 2022-2023 are now in our top ten on You Tube, out of a total of 21 recordings so far.
Geophysical surveys
Life Beyond the Town: Petuaria. As reported last year, this project has struggled slightly with volunteer numbers, the majority of work being done by just the same three people, plus our professional consultant archaeologist, James Lyall. There has been only limited progress over the last year, however there remain two key areas still to survey; an area of apparent settlement to the south east of South Cave where we now have permission, and the immediate area around the so called Brantingham Villa where we currently don’t. The latter site is perhaps most important, since we suspect it could be a much more complex site than simply a typical agriculturally focused villa, potentially a temple complex.
Devil’s Causeway Project. After our successful survey at Low Learchild in 2022, volunteers from the RRRA and from the Holystone History and Archaeology Group conducted a gradiometer survey at Todburn West in July. The site had been identified by Bryn Gethin of Warwickshire Archaeology as a possible temporary
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camp, and the northern part of it certainly looks convincing on the ground. Unfortunately, the results were inconclusive potentially resulting from ground conditions and the local surface geology. Further work is needed, possibly using our resistivity equipment.
The work on the early south-north corridor through Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire, now dubbed the Roman A1 project, has moved a little further forwards, with the completion of a survey north of the R. Wharfe, opposite the fort at Newton Kyme. This has shown that the Roman road (RR280) did not swing west around the fort and vicus along the line of the Medieval road known as Rudgate 435m to the west, and across St. Helen’s Ford, but went straight through the fort and almost certainly crossed by means of a bridge (see cover image of this report). Work on this route will continue, with a potential fort site at Leeming, and an unconfirmed stretch of probable road in Nottinghamshire just east of Staunton in the Vale.
RRRA geophysics volunteers on site at Walton Lodge Farm, Thorp Arch, West Yorkshire
Excavation
No excavation was undertaken in 2022-3. It was felt that our two previous excavations needed to be written up, at least to an interim level, before embarking on any further projects. However, the specialist reports for both excavations have now been completed, and work will soon commence on getting the reports prepared.
Roads of Roman Britain
There has been no progress on the development of this project over the last year. Over the next year, a plan will be formulated to enable the project, in particular the gazetteer , to get back on track. This is addressed ion the next section of this report.
In the previous Trustees Report, reference was made to the online database, development of which stalled in 2019 when the volunteer who was in charge could no longer commit his time to the project. Until last year, however, the prototype did ‘appear to function well’ despite a very clunky interface. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case, since it seems to have been hacked, and the files no longer accessible, although efforts are being made to rectify this. Whilst this project remains on hold, it will be re-visited at some point in the future.
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Moving forwards…..
In last year’s Trustees’ report, we took a close look at each of our activities and examined what may be necessary in order to progress each one. The problems and obstacles highlighted there still remain, however in order to move forwards we have begun to make realistic and achievable plans for the future. We have taken on board feedback from our membership in terms of what you would like to see achieved within the next five years and how the Association should be seen by the rest of the archaeological community and the general public. On behalf of the Trustees, our secretary, Dave Armstrong, has formulated the following aspirations and strategic objectives.
Our Aspirations for 2028
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RRRA will be seen as a well-managed and respected Association of enthusiastic individuals/groups researching Roman roads in a variety of ways.
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RRRA will be visible to others through its reputation, on-line and social media presence, annual journal Itinera and the activities/functions it promotes.
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While predominantly made up of non-archaeological professionals the Association will be respected for the high, professional, standards it consistently applies to all of its work.
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RRRA will have created and made available as an open access (OA) resource, a comprehensive, easy to use and accurate set of detailed mapping of the Roman roads of Britannia, which will become the accepted ‘go to’ source for any mapping of Roman Britain.
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RRRA will have created free open-access resources detailing the construction methods & techniques including details of alignments, LDAs and surveying of Roman roads along with excavation and geophysics advice.
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RRRA will actively encourage members and aligned community groups to research known and new Roman roads to a high standard providing expertise in the form of assistance, resources and training.
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RRRA will make steps to contribute to Empire wide Roman road activities by providing expertise through individuals to projects, resources and technical papers.
Strategic Objectives
In order to achieve these aspirations, a set of specific Strategic objectives have been identified.
1. Placing the Association on a firm organisational footing in terms of business and risk management . This to include succession planning for Chair and Trustees, timely replacement of members in other key roles, centralised cloud storage and backup for information systems, and an annual programme of meetings, including the AGM.
2. Grow the Membership . Both for the purposes of enlarging the pool of potential contributors, and for increasing subscription revenue to enable other activities.
3. Involving members in activities . This for the purpose of extending the Association’s core objectives, developing the level of satisfaction in membership, and providing a pool of potential role holders and officers. This strategic objective is linked to an associated objective:
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4. RRRA Education Initiative , aimed at increasing the knowledge of, and interest in, the study of Roman roads. This will include continuing to produce publications such as Itinera, along with the development of a suite of training and educational guides, programmes of seminars and talks (both on-line and in person), and an outreach programme involving schools and local communities.
5. Improved management of the Association website as an effective, and up-to-date digital showplace, and access point, for the Association. It should include removal of out-of-date information, verifying of links, and ensuring relevance to current activities. This to be achieved through appointment of a paid web manager, lifting a major administrative and technical burden off the current Chairman.
6. A planned approach to completing the gazetteer ‘The Roads of Roman Britain’ . This is key to the organisation’s purpose of becoming the acknowledged reference point for information on the roads of Roman Britain, developing Margary’s work in the context of present knowledge, making it fit for purpose in the mid-21st century. Actions to be detailed about how this should be achieved, e.g. by creation of digitised road maps (GIS and Google Earth (.kmz files), and milestones for step-by-step completion of the whole gazetteer.
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Roman Roads Research Association Annual Report 2022-2023
Structure, Governance & Management
Legal structure
The Roman Roads Research Association was established as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in October 2015, and is registered as a charity with the Charity Commission, no. 1163854
Ensuring our activities achieve our charitable aims
The Roman Roads Research Association’s objectives, as set out in our constitution are to advance the education of the public in general about the Roman road network in Britain and promote the study of Roman roads and Roman heritage more generally. In particular, we do this (but not exclusively) by
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carrying out research into the course and construction of individual Roman roads.
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promoting the study of Roman roads and associated sites by community groups and organisations.
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presenting talks, lectures and displays to the general public, schools and community groups
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publishing the results of research and excavation.
The aspirations and Strategic Objectives set out in the previous section of this report will enable us to achieve those primary objectives in our constitution, over the next five years.
As a matter of policy (having considered the guidance on public benefit issued by the Charity Commission, in particular Section 17 of the Charities Act 2011), the Trustees take the view that it is not only important that the results of our activities have public benefit, but that the activities themselves should do so. To this end, it is our policy that whilst our archaeological activities may be professionally led, the bulk of the actual work should be carried out by volunteers, with a focus on local communities, not just our own membership.
Organisational structure
Our Board of Trustees makes sure the RRRA is governed effectively and responsibly. The Trustees are responsible for us delivering our charitable objectives and for ensuring that we are governed in accordance with our Constitution. Whilst we currently have three Trustees, we will be seeking to recruit two more during the next year.
The trustees delegate some functions of management to committees and working groups, drawn from our membership, in order to deliver our five main activities. Whilst a committee will be run fairly formally with regular meetings having an agenda and minutes, the membership and running of our working groups is maintained on a much more informal basis, always remembering that we are all volunteers often with busy lives outside the RRRA. Our current committees and groups are listed below, although these are very likely to change and develop during the next twelve months.
The Itinera Editorial Committee is responsible for the preparation and publication of our peer-reviewed journal, Itinera, and is assisted by an advisory panel which may from time to time include specialists from outside our membership. It generally meets monthly, or at greater intervals should that be more appropriate.
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The Strategic Planning Committee , which currently consists of the trustees along with our Secretary, Dave Armstrong. The Trustees may choose to expand that committee as and when they see fit
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The Seminar and Talks working group has five members, who ensure the smooth running of all our talks and seminars held online (currently via Zoom). Responsibility for organising the programme rests with our Talks and Seminars Coordinator, a position currently vacant, although Dave Armstrong is temporarily standing in.
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Fieldwork working group. A very informal group of four, tasked with organising the RRRA’s geophysical surveys and excavations. Additional members of the group, particularly from southern Britain, are needed to help ensure a more equal geographical coverage.
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Financial review
Income
| Income | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2021-2022 (£) | 2021-2022 (£) | |
| Membership Subscriptions | 6848 | 6196 |
| Donations & Bequests | 812 | 20005 |
| Itinera (journal) sales | 3226 | 1588 |
| Total Income | 10886 | 27789 |
Income from subscriptions has increased over the past year, due both to the rise in subscriptions and our increasing membership from 450 to around 500. We have had no majopr donations, the bulk of donations coming from those who choose to donate when booking for one of our online talks.
Expenditure
| Expenditure | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2022-2023 (£) | 2021-2022 (£) | |
| Fieldwork Costs | 3341 | 6635 |
| Itinera Production | 2002 | 2152 |
| Outreach (Talks, exhibition, etc.) | 1313 | 2529 |
| Other | 330 | 291 |
| Total Expenditure | 6986 | 11606 |
Slight increases in fieldwork costs has been largely due to post excavation expenses relating to our excavation in September 2021. The increase in Outreach was largely down to the purchase of a high quality and heavy duty pop-up gazebo, along with accompanying exhibition material, to enable us to have a presence at outdoor heritage related events.
Unrestricted funds
| 2022-2023 (£) | 2021-2022 (£) | |
|---|---|---|
| Cash funds thisyear end | 26624 | 22724 |
General Income and Expenditure
We are pleased to be able to report that the Association created a surplus of £3900 in the last year. Whilst this was in part due to a rising membership, increased membership fees, and higher Itinera sales, we had significantly reduced fieldwork costs, being £3294 less than in 2021-22.
Since we are intending to engage a professional web designer to overhaul our website, the cost of which is currently unknown (although likely to be substantial), it can be expected that in 2023-24 expenditure will be significantly higher than in 2022-23. Given the current economic uncertainties, and the remaining (although diminishing) possibility of recession, the Association will need to continue to take a cautious approach to expenditure in the coming year. There are no planned major purchases, and it seems likely that other general expenses will remain fairly static. If we expand the amount of fieldwork we carry out, as is our aim, it seems probable that the next year will see a substantial deficit. Therefore, we will be examining the possibilities of acquiring external grant funding to cover some our fieldwork costs.
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Reserves
In order to ensure the maintenance of our core activities, and in accordance with good practice as recommended by the Charity Commission, it has been the Trustees’ stated aim to establish a reserve fund, to hold sufficient funds to maintain our scheduled activities for twelve months. However, since no suitable high interest accounts were then available, our entire funds remained in effect unrestricted, although held divided between two separate current accounts. Since higher interest is now possible, our Treasurer is currently exploring our best options for a reserve account holding approximately £10,000 which could yield up to 5% p.a. (ie £500), dependent on the length of notice given for withdrawals.
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Trustees
Michael S Haken Chair (subject to re-election at 2023 AGM) Albert Hills Treasurer (Elected 17 November 2022) Robert Entwistle (Elected 17 November 2022)
Declaration
The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.
Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees
Signature
Michael Stuart Haken (Chair)
27 November 2023
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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examiner's report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trustees Roman Roads Research Association On accounts for the year ended 31110123 Charity no lif any) 1163854 Set out on pages CC16a Pages 1, 2, 3, and 4- attached I report to the trustees on my examination of the acGounts of the above charity ("the Trust'l for the year ended 3111012023. Responsibilities and basis of report As the charity's Iruslees, you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities A¢t 2011 ("the Ad"). I report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(51{b) of the Act. Independent I have completed my examinalion. I confirm thal no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention in connedion with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect.. the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; or the accounts did not accord with the accounting records; or the accounls did not comply with the applicable requirements concerning the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fair, view which is not a matter considered as part of an independent examination. I have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the a¢counls lo be reached. Signed: Date: 02108124 Name: Mr Peter Russell Relevant professional qualifiGation{sl or body (if any): ACA, ATII Address: 85 Main St, East Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, NG13 8NH IER Oct 2018
Section B Dlsclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight material matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of Charity aGGounts.- directions and guidance for examiners). Give here brief details of any items that the examiner wishes to disclose. IER Oct 2018
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