The Roman Shrine at Westhawk Farm, Ashford: a Preliminary Account

THE ROMAN SHRINE AT WESTHAWK FARM, ASHFORD: A PRELIMINARY ACCOUNT PAUL BOOTH One of the most remarkable discoveries made in the 1998-9 excavations at Westhawk Farm, Ashford, was that of a probable Roman shrine. A small-scale plan of this structure has appeared in a recent summary account of the site (Booth and Lawrence 2000, 480) but it seemed appropriate to present more detailed information in advance of full publication of the excavations. The writer is therefore very grateful for the invitation to contribute to this volume in memory of Alec Detsicas, for many years a fellow member of the Study Group for Roman Pottery. The Roman roadside settlement of Westhawk Farm, Kingsnorth, Ashford, Kent, lies some 3km south-south-west of the centre of Ashford, with its centre at NGR TR 000399. It lies along the NE-SW aligned edge of a slight plateau of Wealden Clay, and also extends down its south-eastern side towards the Whitewater Dyke, a tributary stream of the Great Stour. The underlying geology is capped with acidic silty clays. The settlement is situated at an important Roman road junction, where the road (Margary 131) from Dover and Lympne, the latter about 13km distant to the south-east, meets the wsw-ENE aligned route (Margary 130) from the Weald to Canterbury, which is some 25km away. The latter road (hereafter 'the Canterbury road') formed the principal axis of the Roman settlement. There was no detailed knowledge of the site prior to evaluation work carried out in advance of a proposed housing development. Following an extensive geophysical survey carried out by Geophysical Surveys of Bradford, and trenching by the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit (Philp 1998), an area of some 6 hectares, located mostly in the south-west part of the settlement, was excavated by the Oxford Archaeological Unit in 1998 and 1999 (Fig. 1). The work was carried out on behalf of Kent County Council, with funding provided principally by the developers, Wilcon Homes. 1 100 I I I \ ' '- Early ditch alignment /1, Enclosures • Melal-worl