Researches and Discoveries in Kent

RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT RYARSH Copper alloy seal matrix found in his garden by S. Davis (N.G.R. TQ 667602). This personal seal pendant probably originally belonged to a merchant or trader and the suggested date is thirteenth- or fourteenthcentury. The protrusion at the top of the seal would have had a loop for its suspension. The central design is of a wheel of eight lines with a cross at the end of each and the inscription reads 'S. Ricardo Fil Walkelin'. The name Walkelin, also Wakelyn, Walkelyn and Walkelen was not uncommon in Kent, eleven examples being mentioned in Archaeologia Cantiana, of which the earliest and most distinguished is Bishop Walkelin of Rochester, who died in A.O. 1098. The co-operation of Mr Davis who brought this find to our attention, and of Barbara Wood of the Museum of London, for her help with identification, are very much appreciated. D. BACCHUS and A.C. HARRISON 0 2 3 ems. Fig. 1. Seal matrix from Ryarsh (right: wax impression) (Drawn by D. Bacchus) 453 RESEARCHES AND DISCO VERIES A MOATED SITE AT ROMSHED FARM, UNDERRIVER Between July 1994 and February 1995, Otford and District Archaeological Group (O.D.A.G.), in conjunction with the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (R.C.H.M.E.), carried out an earthwork survey of a well-preserved moated site and its associated fish-ponds, lying on the boundary of Sevenoaks Weald and Tonbridge parishes, on Romshed Farm (N.G.R. TQ 552519). The survey was undertaken following a request from the County Council Archaeology Section, in advance of the cleaning and re-flooding of the moat (which is not scheduled) and was intended to inform subsequent investigations by O.D.A.G. Considerable documentary research has been carried out into the history of the medieval manor of Romshed (notably by Dr Gordon Ward1 and T.A. Hollobone2), suggesting that though the origins of the site are probably Saxon, the earliest reference to the name Romeshedde dates to 1254-55, and that the moat itself is likely to have been built between 1279 and 1307. A conveyance of 1557 mentions ' ... one piece of land enclosed with a dry mote', indicating that by that date the moat was no longer maintained and the medieval manor house, assuming it had stood there, had been demolished. An estate map of 1 G. Ward, 'A short history of Romschedde Manor', unpublished typescript, n.d. 2 T.A . Hollobone, 'St Julian's Farm or Romshed Farm', unpublished typescript, 1989. 455 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES 1655 adds considerably to the understanding of the development of the site, showing that activity had shifted entirely to the site of the present Romshed Farm. The present farm-house is largely of eighteenthcentury date, but incorporates elements of a seventeenth-century structure (probably an outbuilding attached to the earlier post-medieval house). A fine sixteenth-century timber-framed barn also survives. Detailed study of the architecture has been undertaken by R. Harris of the Weald and Downland Museum,3 and only limited investigation was carried out by R.C.H.M.E. The earthwork survey at 1: 1000 scale was the first intensive fieldwork to be carried out on the site. The moat is square and relatively small, enclosing an area of 0.11 ha. The associated fish-ponds comprise two extant large sub-rectangular ponds and one three-sided moat enclosing a rectangular 'tank', both now dry, which were apparently all added to the moat in a single phase tentatively dated to the mid-fourteenth century on documentary evidence. The survey suggested that earthworks preserved in pasture in an adjacent field, alleged to be a fourth ploughed-down fishpond,4 could not have held a pond and are more likely to be ornamental in purpose - possibly part of an enclosed medieval garden. It was conclusively shown that other earthworks in the same field, alleged to be building platforms, are actually associated with a previously unrecorded leat supplying the fish-ponds and with the course of a medieval hollowed trackway called Stobbe Lane. The survey and full report are available at the National Monuments Record Centre, Kemble Drive, Swindon SN2 2GZ (reference: TQ 55 SE 21) and the Kent Sites and Monument Record. ALISTAIR OSWALD 3 R. Harris, 'Romshed Farmhouse, Underriver, Kent', unpublished typescript, 1986. 4 O.S., Field investigation, 1971. 456 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES KENT UNDERGROUND RESEARCH GROUP REPORT A number of sites have been investigated by our members during 1994. SHOTTENDEN - Jim Bradshaw visited the sites of three subsidences. The first at N.G.R. TR 04905416 appeared beneath the rear wheels of a tractor employed in grubbing an orchard. It was found that the subsidence was the result of the collapse of a chalkwell chamber. At the east end of the 4.30 m. long chamber was the filled original shaft of 1.10 m. diameter. 456 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES A second shaft appeared at N.G.R. TR 04915404 and was 9.80 m. deep to infill, with no chambers visible at the bottom. An unusual feature was that the footholds cut in the side of the shaft spiralled down in a clockwise direction for 180° in the 7 m. of chalk in which they were visible. At N.G.R. TR 04845384 on a south-facing chalk bank above an old quarry the ground collapsed in an almost perfect circle to a depth of 1.50 m. and a diameter of 9 m. This suggested a subsidence of an old shaft or chalkwell chamber. NEWINGTON - At Chesley Farm, Newington, a subsidence occurred at N.G.R. TQ 84846412 in April 1994. A survey by KURG members found it to be a shallow four-chambered chalkwell, probably dating from the eighteenth century. The farmer, Mr Holt, kindly supplied details of other chalkwells that had appeared over the years and their positions plotted as, N.G.R. TQ 84146404, TQ 85016354, and TQ 84736346. NORTHUMBERLAND HEATH - A subsidence in the rear garden of a house in Courtfleet Drive, Northumberland Heath, lead to the discovery of a 1.30 m. high x 1.30 m. wide tunnel blocked at one end by a concrete plug. It is probable that the tunnel was the remains of a small sand mine driven from a nearby hollow to supply sand for local building use. MAIDSTONE - Another underground ragstone quarry has been surveyed east of Maidstone and near to the one investigated at Mote Park. The site was first noted in 1938 by members of the London Speleological Group and a rough survey made in 1948. At that time access was from a hole at the base of an overgrown quarry to the east of Willington Street and the site was known as Senacre Wood Cave. In more recent years housing development has taken place both around and in the floor of the old open-cast ragstone quarry. The entrance remained more or less open and is now in the garden of a house in The Beams, Ufton Close, whose rear boundary is the old quarry face. A survey of the underground galleries showed that the stone had been worked in a similar way to the Mote Park mine in which large areas were worked out and filled with waste material retained behind dry stone walls. Several natural vertical fissures crossed the mine and a number of roof falls have occurred in the past. Documentary research into the underground ragstone quarries of the area is continuing. R.F. LeGEAR 457 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES TECHNOLOGY OF ROMAN IRONWORKING AT CRANBROOK Three very important features of the Roman ironworking at Little Farningham Farm, Cranbrook, were noted after excavation during 1958-60, but they need to be related to each other for fuller understanding of the technology. First, there was an actual bloom which was submitted to the Iron and Steel Institute and metallurgically examined by Mr G. T. Brown, M.Sc., who gave the following analysis: Carbon 1.46%, Silicon 0.2%, Sulphur 0.03%, Phosphorus 0.02%, Nitrogen 0.004%. The high carbon content is attributed to a furnace worked at a relatively high temperature, although not quite high enough to achieve melting of the iron. Such a furnace would need to be equipped with apparatus for supplying a forceful, and more or less continuous draught. Secondly, a large number of tuyere fragments was recovered from the site, and they are now stored in Maidstone Museum. Tuyeres are openings in a lump of clay placed in the outer covering of a furnace, and intended to receive the blasts of bellows, and to convey them into the smelting fire in order to raise the temperature. The more complete tuyeres found at Little Farningham Farm measured approximately 2½ x 3 x 4 in. and each contained a pair of tubular passages, 1 in. in diameter, passing through them longitudinally with divergence from the trumpet-shaped mouth which remained outside the furnace to the opposite end, and was heavily clinkered from exposure to the fire inside. How did the tuyeres facilitate the application of sufficient draught for maintaining the high temperatures which were achieved in the furnaces? It would allow the draught to spread widely and fan the fire continuously if two pairs of bellows could be used simultaneously. However, it would not be easy to fit both into the trumpet-shaped mouth of the half-baked, two-holed, and fragile tuyeres container. But, two pairs of bellows could have been used in conjunction with some intermediate appliance fitting into the tuyeres trumpet, and serving to conduct the blast from bellows. The unique 'bellows pot' found at this site, and now in Maidstone Museum, seems to supply an answer. Of the three holes which occur equidistantly round the circumference of this curious, bulbous pot, only one has a projecting rim or spout which could be fitted into a tuyere mouth, the so-called trumpet end, giving access for air into the lower part of a furnace covering. The other two holes would accommodate two pairs of bellows, conveniently separated to be pressed alternately by the operator to keep 458 clay covering of bloomery RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES continuous blast distributed Bloomery furnace filled with layers of iron ore, charcoal and crushed limestone. I I 0 (Bellow·s not found: form conjectural) Fig. 1. Transverse Section: How a bellows pot could be used to produce a continuous blast into a bloomery furnace. Each operator deflated his two pairs of bellows in alternation. The blast could be increased by multiplying the apparatus around the circumference of the bloomery. up a continuous blast through the pot which seems designed to be sealed over the top. It has a flat rim, and a groove at the base of the neck. Both features are presumed to have functional significance. The diagram (Fig. 1) shows a transverse section of the conjectural arrangement of the pot in relation to a bowl furnace. We should expect to find the apparatus repeated several times round the circumference of the bowl for effective firing to achieve a maximum temperature not far short of melting the iron. It may be relevant to cite the twentieth-century use of a somewhat similar method of iron working in Uganda. It is taken from H. B. Cott, Uganda in Black and White (Macmillan, 1955, 106). 459 RESEARCHES AND DISCO VERIES 'In most districts one can still see iron workers heating and handling the metal as their ancestors have done from time immemorial. The charcoal fire is fanned by a circle of women and boys, each holding in either hand a stick which is attached to a bladder-shaped skin stretched over an earthenware jar that serves at bellows. By rapid, alternating thrusts, a stream of air is blown along a wooden, clay-spouted vent, and so the forge is fed with a draught coming from all sides.' The Roman Classis Britannica may have been using a technique which has continued among primitive people into the present century. Until other 'bellows pots' are found, the usage must remain conjectural. M. CECILY LEBON 460 RESEARCHES AND DISCO VERIES A MIDDLE BRONZE AGE PALSTAVE FROM HEADCORN The palstave was found during a metal detector survey at New House Farm, Headcorn in 1994. It is 143 mm. in length, the blade edge is 55 mm. wide, and the total weight is 283 g. Some 900 m. due south of the parish church and 450 m. from the River Beult is a small hill known as the Marl Bank. The palstave was discovered in the ploughsoil on the crest of this hill at 30 m. O.D. Despite an intensive search no other artefacts of this period were located. There are signs of contemporary wear along the edges of the blade. The palstave has suffered varying degrees of corrosion and the original surface only survives over a small portion of the implement. Below the stop-ridge is a small hollow which is a feature of many low-flanged palstaves of the south-eastern type.1 Close parallels for the Headcorn palstave can be found in some of the material from the 'Workhouse' site at Taunton, Somerset. A pair of 'Crediton' palstaves from this hoard are slightly larger at 167 mm. in length,2 but otherwise appear to be of the same type, which can be assigned to the Taunton phase of the later Middle Bronze Age. 3 The nearest other finds of Bronze Age material are from Benenden and Marden. 1 PPS, XXV (1959), 167. 2 S.M. Pearce, Bronze Age Metalwork, (1984), 31. 3 D.B. Kelly, Arch. Cant., xcvii (1981), 304. 460 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES 0 5 10cm Fig. 1. A middle bronze age palstave from Headcorn. (Drawn by N.R.A.) A palstave was found during the construction of the Sanatorium (now Benenden Hospital), but the type is not known.4 The artefact was submitted to the British Museum who assigned it to the Middle Bronze Age, c. 1000 B.C. 4 Arch. Cant., Ii (1939), 204. 461 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES A Bronze Age hoard was found at Marden during the nineteenth century.5 The Headcorn palstave probably represents a chance loss, but is further evidence for penetration into the Weald at an early date. A palstave from East Malling6 is of similar type as is an example from Plaxtol.7 A further implement from Newington, near Folkestone, is of almost identical size and type though with rather more corrosion over the surface. 8 From the general area of the find-spot has come a scatter of lithic material of probable Neolithic date, the assemblage including finished blades and scrapers, as well as quantities of waste flakes. 5 Arch. Cant., v (1862), 41-44. 6 Arch. Cant., lxxxvi (1971), 220-1. 1 Arch. Cant., xcvii (1981), 301, 304. 8 Arch. Cant., civ (1987), 373. N .R. ALDRIDGE 462 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES HEADCORN A medieval lead seal matrix (Fig. 1, shows an impression) was found by metal detector during 1994 (N.G.R. TQ 83154315). It is inscribed + S' Stepht de Steaphet, (seal of Stephen? de Steaphet). In the centre of the seal there is a crudely incised fleur-de-lys; the reverse is plain. Diameter 31 mm. The second part of the personal name may represent the place name 'Steap-hurst' ,1 which is recorded as 'lost' in the parish of Biddenden. The seal matrix was found 400 m. due north of a prominent isolated hill in the south of the parish of Headcorn (N.G.R. TQ 83054275). To the west of the find-spot, at Brook Wood, is the site of a medieval moated enclosure that was destroyed during the 1980s (N.G.R. TQ 82754312). In 1961, this was described by the Ordnance Survey field archaeology team as 'a well preserved rectangular homestead moat' .2 It is suggested that during the early medieval period this site may have been known as 'Steap-hurst', taking its name from the adjacent steep hill which was clothed in thick tree cover, and was located in Headcorn rather than Biddenden, as was suggested by Wallenberg. Among the dens 1 J. K. Wallenberg, The Place Names of Kent, Uppsala, 1934, 334. 2 A. S. Phillips, Ordnance Survey Arch. Record Cards, 1961. 462 0 I RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES • 5cm I Fig. 1 Medieval Lead Seal Matrix. (Drawn by N.R.A.) listed in the Kent Feet of Fines for 1257 is Stepherst. Discussing this, K. P. Witney suggests that it was situated where the parishes of Biddenden, Frittenden and Headcorn meet3 (the Brook Wood moated site would fit this location precisely). The hill itself has been extensively field-walked; however, this has failed to produce any evidence for occupation which possibly lends further support to the suggestion that the tree cover was fairly extensive in this area during the medieval period. It appears therefore, most probable that the seal matrix originated from the moated homestead. It probably dates from the thirteenth century and is similar to personal seals from Appledore4 and Wichling,5 which have been published in Arch. Cant. The Appledore matrix has a 'fleurde- lys' of comparable form to the Headcorn example. 3 K. P. Witney, The Jutish Forest, 1976, 255-6. 4 Arch. Cant., xcvii (1981), 300-1. 5 Arch. Cant., xciv (1978), 265, 268. 463 N.R. ALDRIDGE RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES REPORT ON WORK BY THE THAMES TRUST FOR ARCHAEOLOGY Recent field work in Thanet by the Archaeological Trust and Society made discoveries that are of great interest and, in one or two cases, are quite unique in the South-East. Since these will be the subject of future full publications they will only be referred to in a general way in this report. The first is 'South Dumpton Down', a site adjacent to Dumpton Gap Road, Broadstairs. This site has been the subject of previous evaluations carried out at the request of the County Archaeologist, Dr John Williams, on land belonging to the KCC and being sold by them for urban development. The results of the investigation were reported in Arch. Cant., ex (1992). As a result of the findings of the evaluation at South Dumpton Down, it was decided that a fuller excavation was required prior to planning consent being given. The excavation revealed abundant evidence of three phases of human settlement from the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age (Phase I) through to Early Iron Age (Phase III) c. 2000-350 B.C. 468 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES OTHER PREHISTORIC DISCOVERIES The Trust carried out an evaluation prior to the granting of planning consent for a Business Park extension at a site which was on high ground north of Minster, Thanet. The site abutted an ancient monument and also contained within its perimeter a crop-mark of an oval enclosure with internal features. These had been plotted by the R.C.H.M.E. during their programme of aerial photographic survey of the County in 1986/7. Metal detector survey and field walking produced a scatter of waste flakes, worked flints including scrapers in all stages of patination. Only late medieval and modern pottery were present while only modern metal artefacts were detected. The site area was laid out with a system of machine-cut trenches which revealed pits or large post-holes and ditch sections and a plough-disturbed Jutish burial. Residual sherds of two Beakers, one cord decorated, were found in the fill of the grave. In a nearby pit was a bronze ring similar in shape and size to the suspension rings of the bronze mounted wooden buckets sometimes found in Saxon graves. It was the material from the fill of the ditches that was to provide the major interest. These included sherds of domestic Beaker from two vessels and barbed and tanged flint arrowhead. Taken together with the residual sherds from the Saxon grave, the surface flint scatter and a marked lack of evidence of any later prehistoric occupation, it suggests that the site is a domestic settlement of the Late Neolithic-Early Bronze Age c. 2000 B.C. If the definition of such sites is restricted to 470 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES those enclosed by banks or ditches with occupation evidence then only thirty-forty have ever been encountered by British archaeologists (Alex. Gibson. pers. comm.). Further prehistoric remains were discovered during an evaluation at the Kent International Business Park, Manston, Ramsgate. The investigation of the large 63-acre site was carried out by machine cutting a series of 178, 20 m.-long trenches, set to a pattern to ensure maximum coverage. Finds included two bronzes mentioned below and the ditches of what is presumed to be a Late Iron Age, 'Belgic' farm enclosure. 471 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES INVESTIGATIONS AT NORTH FORELAND HILL The Thanet Archaeological Society has long been interested in the potential of the hillside fields to the south-west of North Foreland Lighthouse and of North Foreland Hill. Archaeological remains at this site were first mentioned in Arch. Cant., xii (1877-78) xxxiv, and later crop-marks were referred to (Jessup 1957; Perkins 1993). These crop-marks show an extensive system of double parallel ditches running northwards along the landward slope of North Foreland Hill for some 400 m. before turning seaward just north of the lighthouse where they are lost under a road but can just be glimpsed beyond it curving towards the cliff-line. During the spring and early summer of 1995, members of the Thanet Archaeological Society were kindly given the opportunity to carry out an investigation of these marks by the farmer, Mr G. Philpott. The topsoil on the slopes proved to be only 300 mm. deep, so that if any earthworks associated with the ditches had existed, all trace of them has gone with plough attrition which has also reduced the surface of the Upper Chalk bedrock. Ditches and other surviving features are, therefore, truncated. Several sections 2 m. wide were taken across the parallel ditches. Details of a typical section are given below illustrated by Fig. 2. Section 1300-1400. This revealed an 'inner' up-hill ditch (F.1400) of V-section, 2 m. wide and 0.81 m. deep. Chalk rubble and silt from uphill had commenced its infill, with a loam and chalk mixture completing the process, again from up-hill. Further down hill a much larger ditch had been cut truncating the fills of two earlier and smaller ditches, see Fig. 4, a and b. This later ditch (F.1300) was roughly 5 m. across by 1.5 m. deep, and of truncated V-section. Its primary infill of chalk rubble and silt had come from down hill, being followed by a long slow filling with loam. In another section the fill of ditch (b) was seen to be cut by 'post ghosts', so that it presumably functioned as a palisade trench. The ceramics from the ditches have been kindly spot-dated by Nigel Macpherson-Grant. Initial study indicates a Middle-Late Iron Age construction, say 300-25 B.C., with the ditches infilling during the Belgic-Romano-British period, c. 25 B.C.-A.D . 150. There are, however, elements of continuity into at least the third century, and, with one possible Alice Holt vessel, into the fourth. A fragment of a Roman fine grey sandy lamp, c. second/third century was also found. From the information gained by plotting and material evidence, our initial tentative conclusion is that the ditches probably once formed the defences of a hillfort or oppidum with an area of at least 24 ha. 475 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES ( 60 acres), built during the Middle to Late Iron Age. While the dimensions of the ditches are not as massive as often encountered in such sites, it must be born in mind that the steepness of the hill, and proximity of high cliffs augmented these defences on a site that was at that time on an island. Thanet Archaeological Society intends to carry out further research at the location. PAUL HOGWOOD REFERENCES R. Jessup, 'The Follies of Kingsgate', Arch. Cant., lxxi (1957), 11. D.R.J. Perkins, 'North Foreland Avenue, Broadstairs', Arch. Cant., cxii (1993), 411. 476 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES s 0 0 􀀂 ('f') - .ii; u; A 0 'J:I u (I} C/.l ffi 'C) § <) & 􀀁 z C'i oii l£: 478 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES REMAINS OF SAXON BUILDING DISCOVERED While co-operating with the Wessex Archaeological Trust in carrying out an evaluation prior to planning consent at a site near Manston, Ramsgate, the remains of buildings and ditches containing thirteenth-fourteenth century pottery were discovered. There is no evidence that the use of the buildings continued into the post-medieval period, although this is considered likely. These remains are almost certainly the site of 'Upper Court', which according to John Lewis ( 1723) were 'carted off to build a barn in the reign of Queen Ann.' Also present was a short length of ditch containing fragments of animal bone and Late Bronze Age pottery. Of greater interest was the finding of a Saxon sunken-featured building, rectangular in plan, aligned approximately east-west and measuring 3.60 m. long by 2.20 m. wide, surviving to a depth of 0.32 m. A single post-hole was found at the western end; whether a similar post-hole existed at the other end could not be determined as this area remained unexcavated. The fill from the sunken pit floor produced one amber and five glass beads, several fragments of a glass cup or small bowl, an? ivory pin, a perforated copper alloy disc, two small pieces of iron (? smithing) slag, a pottery spindle-whorl and a number of pottery sherds. This Saxon building containing evidence of spinning and iron-working only 500 m. from the Ozengell, a sixth-seventh-century Jutish cemetery, makes this a discovery of considerable interest. LEN JAY 476