THIS year the Abingdon Area Archaeological and Society (AAAHS) is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

For half a century its members have taken part in excavations large and small which have contributed to the town’s designation as the ‘oldest continually occupied settlement’ in the country.

Abingdon County Hall Museum is currently hosting an exhibition entitled 'Exploring Abingdon’s Past' which chronicles these diverse activities over the last 50 years. This exhibition will be run until Sunday, September 23.

The society was founded in 1968 as the Abingdon and District Archaeological Society in response to an advertisement placed in the North Berks Herald by Lucy Hale and was the first amateur archaeological society in this area.

Abingdon was expanding rapidly in the 1960s and 1970s, with new estates being created to the south and east of the town centre.

The first excavation, directed by society member Eve Harris, a professional archaeologist, took place at Tithe Farm in 1969 where a small stone building of the late Roman period was uncovered.

These housing developments, plus the construction of new roads, Stratton Way and the A34 Abingdon Bypass, increased the demand for gravel extraction which led to the discovery of archaeological sites during the gravel stripping process.

The society’s early ‘digs’, eg at Wilsham Road and in the gravel pits at Thrupp, were essentially ‘rescue’ archaeology.

It was soon evident that the society’s resources were insufficient to cope with the volume of potential excavations.

The Abingdon Excavation Committee was formed in 1971 to raise funds to employ a professional archaeologist with responsibility for excavation and fieldwork in the Abingdon area.

The society assisted on many of the town’s major excavations: Barton Court Farm, Ashville Trading Estate, and Barrow Hills, while maintaining a good relationship with the local professionals from Oxford Archaeology.

The most exciting find, fragments of an Islamic beaker, was made in the cellar of a medieval house in Lombard Street. This is now in permanent display in the town’s museum.

In the early days the society was fortunate to be granted a licence from the borough corporation to use the museum basement two evenings a week for the storage of finds, washing and marking pottery, and other projects.

During this period the society began to collect old photographs of Abingdon leading to the hugely successful publication, ‘Abingdon in Camera’, produced to celebrate the society’s 10th anniversary.

It also acquired a caravan as a site hut and tool store; this was stored over winter in one of the old hangars at Milton Park. In 1974 it was used to house an exhibition at the Ashville Iron Age Settlement Site open day.

The change in name in 1970 to Abingdon Area Archaeological and Historical Society reflected an increasing interest in documenting the town’s history.

Members have contributed to two Heritage Lottery projects, ‘The Lost Abbey Trail’ and ‘The Heart of Abingdon Trail’ – information boards providing self-guiding history trails in addition to researching two timelines now on display in the abbey buildings.

The society’s ‘Buildings and People’ group provide the articles on buildings and prominent historical figures for the history section of the town council website.

There is also a Local History Group which meets three times a year to discuss member’s projects.

Currently the society is involved in an outreach project with Bridge House, providing speakers to give short talks to the residents.

What does the future hold for archaeology and local history? The principal aim has always been to foster an interest in the past and to make any findings available to the general public.

This has been achieved through lectures, exhibitions, and articles published in journals and the local press.

AAAHS is planning a project to catalogue and publish past finds. Local plans for housing and mineral extraction will undoubtedly guarantee the future of archaeology in the Abingdon area for some time.

The society’s AGM takes place on Thursday, September 20, at 7.45pm, Northcourt Centre, Northcourt Road, Abingdon.

Visitors are always welcome. Further information on society membership and activities is available on the society’s website aaahs.org.uk