Interim Reports on Work carried out by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust 1998-2000

INTERIM REPORTS ON WORK CARRIED OUT BY THE CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST 1998 - 2000 CANTERBURY SITES 1. Market Way, Canterbury (TR 151 588) [September I 998] An archaeological evaluation was undertaken on the site of the former Cattle Market. Although flints of Neolithic and Bronze Age date were recovered from topsoil and in residual contexts, the earliest archaeological features comprised a ditch and an inhumation burial, both dating from the late second century AD. The most significant discoveries, however, were Anglo-Saxon and comprised a sunken-featured building that may have related to small ditched enclosure nearby. Pits of various types were common, but only two of these contained definite Anglo-Saxon material. Many of the pits appear to have been originally used as cess pits and then subsequently used for the disposal of domestic rubbish. The ceramic evidence suggests more than one occupation phase, the earlier of c. AD 700-850, and a later of c. AD 850-1000. 2. Station Road West, Canterbury (TR 145 584) [September- October 1998] Evaluation trenching and selective excavation was conducted on land to the north of Barton Mill Court prior to housing development. Remains of at least four well preserved sixteenth- or seventeenthcentury brick clamp kilns and a series of large contemporary brickearth quarry pits were uncovered at the northern end of the site. A further large brickearth quarry pit was discovered on an adjacent site at 40-42 Station Road West during another evaluation in January 1999. 3. South Close, The Precincts, Canterbury (TR 1512 5782) [April-May 1999] Evaluation excavations were conducted on the site of a proposed 343 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 residential wing and access road to the new Education Centre in the precincts of Christ Church Cathedral. The overall results of the fieldwork indicated that although deeply stratified archaeological deposits extended over most of the site, significant archaeological remains were deeply buried beneath recent overburden. The earliest feature exposed was a masonry wall foundation for a Roman building at the base of the archaeological sequence. The remains of medieval wall footings flanked by clay floors and metalling were revealed and nearby were medieval metalled surfaces possibly for a mason's yard. The remains of an early Sacrist's House of several periods was found as was evidence for its demolition and subsequent rebuilding on the site for the servant's hall of a prebendal residence. The remains of a clay-pipe kiln dating to c. l 640-1700 and rubbish pits dating from the sixteenth century were also discovered. 4. 48 Palace Street, Canterbury (TR 150 580) [July 1999] A watching brief was undertaken during the installation of a new gate-mechanism in the yard of 48 Palace Street. A shallow trench, cut along part of the inner face of the northern part of the yard wall and gateway, exposed several phases of earlier walling fronting the street, the earliest of which seems to have formed part of the Archbishop's Palace precinct wall built in the 1070s. A later wall found abutting the precinct foundation was for the western gable end of the Archbishop's Great Hall completed in c. 1220. Later phases of build and repair were also recorded. 5. Station Road East, Canterbury (TR 147 573) [June 1999) Builders carrying out work in the basement of The Biz nightclub in Station Road East disturbed the remains of a human skeleton. The skeleton appeared to be a female aged about 30-45 years. Although no dating evidence was recovered it is likely that this individual dates from the Roman period and forms part of a cemetery known in this area from discoveries made during the construction of the railway and other local building work in the nineteenth century. 6. Ivy Lane, Canterbury (TR 1544 5757) [Apr-May 1999) Evaluation trenching undertaken at the junction of Ivy Lane and Lower Chantry Lane in advance of a housing development revealed a large clay quarry capped by a developed soil horizon of Roman date. Most features were rubbish and cess pits of twelfth to fourteenth 344 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 century date, cut within the back gardens of properties which fell outside the excavation area. Although the majority of the features reflected domestic occupation, industrial processes such as clay quarrying and iron working were also evident, these probably dating from the latter part of the fourteenth century to the early sixteenth century. 7. City rampart, south of St George's Gate (TR 1525 5755) f August 1999] A small evaluation excavation was undertaken on the rampart bank behind the City Wall, just west of Tower 7 and south of St George's gate. The work in advance of the construction of a cycle facility (part of the Canterbury Whitefriars development) clearly demonstrated that the rampart mass was well preserved and that intact medieval and post-medieval deposits survived close to the existing ground surface. 8. 5 Rhodaus Town, Canterbury (TR 1497 5701) [October 1999] Three evaluation trenches cut on the site of a proposed new building revealed a single Roman inhumation burial dated to the late second to third century and a medieval soil horizon. 9. St Stephen's Fields, Canterbury (TR 1475 5840) [March 2000] A small excavation carried out in advance of a residential housing development revealed the foundations of a late fifteenth- or early sixteenth-century timber-framed structure represented by stone and chalk dwarf walls and beaten earth floors. The building was overlain by the foundations and brick floors of a late nineteenth-century lemonade bottling plant. SITES OUTSIDE CANTERBURY 10. Old Dover Road, Barham (TR 2200 4955) [August/September 1999] An evaluation undertaken in advance of a proposed development on the site of the former Spinning Wheel Hotel revealed three sunken ways. Two tracks aligned north-west to south-east were cut across the contours of the Barham Downs; the third was aligned east-west and connected Barham to the Dover Road. All of the tracks showed 345 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 evidence of wear and repair and a series of wheel ruts and intervening ridges were evident. The three trackways were probably contemporary, being constructed no earlier than the medieval period and they remained in use as late as the mid eighteenth century. 11. Island Road, Hersden (TR 2125 6235) [June 1998-August 2000) (Fig. 1) Two evaluations and a watching brief were undertaken on land abutting the south side of Island Road in advance of a large scale development. The results of the excavations undertaken so far have revealed sections of a substantial Roman roadside settlement extending over many hectares, including burials, both cremations and inhumations. The site lies against the former Roman road connecting Canterbury with the port and late Roman shore fort at Richborough. Amongst the significant numbers of archaeological features revealed on the site are: ditches, pits, post- and stake-holes, clay quarries, two metalled roads and two cemeteries. As yet, few of the features have been Fig. 1 Island Road, Hersden (Westbere): extract from overall site plan showing known archaeological features to date. 346 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 excavated, but the huge corpus of finds and detailed plans of features revealed, has allowed a tentative interpretation of this important site. Ceramic evidence suggests that the earliest occupation dates to the early Iron Age (c. 550-350 BC) and includes ditched enclosures with post-hole clusters within them suggesting structures, perhaps roundhouses. After a period of abandonment the site was re-occupied during the late Iron Age 'Belgic' period c. 150-100 BC when a field system was laid out. The quantity of pottery recovered suggests that a contemporary settlement lay nearby. Most of the features were of Roman date. Of particular interest were two metalled roads consisting of a principal road flanked by side ditches and a branch road springing off from it. To the north of the angle of the two roads a regular pattern of plot-boundary ditches was recorded, containing groups of pits and post-holes indicating the presence of structures. Two four-post granary type structure have been identified. Ditches and trackways separated tenement plots. A large pit complex was also revealed and may in part represent brickearth quarrying. Also a single inhumation burial was recorded close to the Roman arterial road to the north. A group of cremation burials lay close by and a second cremation cemetery was identified further to the south. The presence of regular tenement plots abutting a major Roman road suggests that the site developed as a planned roadside settlement and may be comparable to the extensive Roman settlement at West Hawk Farm, Ashford. 12. Bogshole Lane, Broomfield (TR 1984 6695) [March 1999] An evaluation excavation carried out on farmland to the east of Bogshole Lane ahead of housing development led to the discovery of a Late Bronze Age 'founder's hoard' along with some evidence for an associated settlement. The hoard, located in a shallow pit, consisted of some twenty-seven copper alloy fragments mostly dated to c. 850- 700 BC. The evaluation also yielded evidence for Roman activity and a possible medieval settlement. Medieval features included ditches, pits, post-holes, beam-slots and occupation deposits dating from c. 1075-1550. 13. Willow Farm, Hoopers Lane, Broomfield (TR 1940 6705) [September 1999] An archaeological evaluation of open grazing land, carried out ahead of proposed housing development, yielded significant remains dating 347 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 from the Late Bronze/Early Iron Age to the Early medieval period. The earliest features comprised numerous pits, ditches, gullies, post-holes, occupation layers, a metalled surface and a buried soil horizon all suggestive of long-term settlement. Later Iron Age and Romano-British activity of several phases spanning the period from the early first to the late fourth century AD, was represented by numerous boundary and enclosure ditches for a long-lived farmstead. Small scale industrial activity late in the Roman period was also suggested. A third phase of agricultural activity was represented by medieval field boundary ditches and a single pit dated from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries AD. 14. Eddington Farm, Herne Bay (TR 1700 6705) [August 1998- Spring 20001 A programme of evaluation trenching followed by extensive largescale open area excavation was carried out at Eddington prior to a large housing development. The earliest evidence for occupation was a scatter of small features mainly pits containing worked flints of Late Neolithic date. One pit yielded a complete polished stone axe. A period of abandonment followed before re-occupation of the site in the Late Bronze Age when a large enclosure with a causewayed entrance was constructed. Within the enclosure, were a number of smaller causewayed ditches, pits and post-holes indicating the presence of at least one timber structure. To the south-west was a large ring ditch, possibly a barrow. Occupation appears to have resumed in the early Roman period with the laying out of a field system defined by shallow ditches. Within one field was a substantial pit containing a large flat worked piece of natural sandstone, weighing over half a ton and placed upright on its edge. An adjoining pit contained two complete pottery vessels tentatively interpreted as votive offerings. Associated with this phase, but at some distance from the previous discovery was a cluster of Romano-British cremation burials, one of which contained a pair of hobnail boots and another a wooden casket. Further west there was a high concentration of features, mostly pit and post-holes and occasional ditches of mid third- to mid fourth-century date. A final and rare phase of occupation dating to the early to middle Anglo-Saxon period was discovered on the northern slopes of the site. Here a double ditched enclosure defined the boundaries of a small farmstead, containing a large number of features many producing pottery, animal bone and marine shells. 348 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 15. Churchwood Drive, Chestfield, Whitstable (TR 1400 6625) [January-July 1999] Evaluation trenching and open area excavations were undertaken at Churchwood Drive ahead of housing development. The earliest features revealed were a series of ditches forming a prehistoric field system and a sunken-floored hut with associated ditches and gullies containing pottery dated to c. 1100-600 BC. The remains of a contemporary cremation burial was found close to the hut. A second occupation phase dated from the Mid to Late AngloSaxon period and comprised a series of large oval enclosures. Two sub phases were indicated, the first c. AD 850-1050 and the second c. 1050-1175. Leading from an entrance in the main enclosure was an early drove road or hollow way, flanked by side ditches. The hollow way may have been a predecessor for Radfall Road. A later set of enclosure ditches of rectilinear form which respected the line of the drove road and used its ditches as boundaries were also revealed together with a medieval sunken hut. The hut, with associated midden deposit and a rubbish pit nearby, dated from c. 1200- 1300. 16. Sunset Caravan Park, Thanet Way/Church Lane East, Whitstable (c. TR 102 647) [October 1997-April 1998] (Fig. 2) Evaluation trenching and subsequent large scale area excavations were carried out on adjacent sites north of the Thanet Way ahead of housing development. This work revealed the presence of a hitherto unknown large Late Bronze Age and Iron Age settlement situated on part of the crown and lower slopes of a high promontory overlooking the coastal plain and low-lying marshes of Whitstable and Seasalter. The settlement nucleus was situated on the former Sunset Caravan Park site on top of the promontory with a range of features including many pits, post-holes, post-pits and ditches often in dense concentration around a group of circular and semi-circular gullies, possibly representing the remains of circular huts. On the Church Lane E ast site to the west the features were more diffuse and included hearths, post-hole clusters (indicating different phases of structures), many linear features (principally ditches), and numerous pits. The largest group of features across both sites were quarry pits suggesting clay extraction on a large scale. Others contained large quantities of burnt flint. This material together with a large corpus of flinttempered pottery suggests pottery production on the site. Other finds such as spindle whorls and iron slag suggest weaving and iron working 349 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 Whitstable Bay .•' 35 •• •,, · ... ..... . (/ .... . .. ···<....-·· ......... .... •.11 · Fig. 2 Whitstable - the four sites in which Iron Age remains have been exposed. also took place. The combined ceramic evidence from both sites suggested near continuous activity in the area from the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age through to the end of the first century AD. 17. Wraik Hill, Whitstable (TR 103 645) [April-October 1999) (Fig. 2) An archaeological evaluation and a subsequent area excavation were undertaken ahead of development proposals on a large site south of the old Thanet Way on Wraik Hill. The work, which followed the 350 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 discovery of a large Iron Age settlement beneath the former Sunset Caravan Park and at Church Lane East (see no. 16), revealed a series of ditches, pits, hearths and post-holes indicating an extension to the same settlement. Occupation of the Wraik Hill site was dated to c. 150 BC to c. AD 70. 18. Borstal Hill, Whitstable (TR 1045 6465) [September I 999) (Fig. 2) An evaluation and area excavation was carried out on land east of the former Sunset Caravan site. Excavated features included ditches, gullies, post-pits and large pits dated by pottery to c. 150 BC to AD 50. The occupation features represent further evidence for a widespread area of settlement occupying the higher slopes of a promontory overlooking the coastal plain between Whitstable and Seasalter (see no. 16). 19. Rams gate Harbour approach road (TR 362 647) [April I 997- June 1998] (Fig. 3) An extensive archaeological evaluation followed by excavations were carried out at Chalk Hill, overlooking Pegwell Bay, ahead of the construction of the new approach road. The earliest discovery was of a triple-ditched Early Neolithic causewayed enclosure, measuring about 150-170m in diameter, and consisting of three roughly concentric circuits of interrupted ditches as well as accompanying postholes, pits and other features. Some of the ditch segments contained human and cow skulls, as well as a quantity of flint implements including leaf-shaped arrowheads, scrapers and many flakes, pottery fragments and animal bones. Later Neolithic phases on the site were represented by a pair of long parallel curving, interrupted ditches that cut the earlier enclosure and a slightly later pair of parallel ditches, thought to be a curs us, aligned towards a henge-type monument 600m further north. Two crouched inhumation burials were discovered outside the causewayed enclosure. To the south was a large Early Bronze Age round barrow containing a single crouched inhumation burial at its centre and a possible secondary child burial within the enclosed area. Nearby was a domestic enclosure dated to the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age. Within the enclosed area a possible small round-house and other structures were revealed as well as pits and a metalled surface. Human skull fragments were found in one pit and human long bones in a ditch segment. Within the area of the enclosure, but post-dating it, was a 351 Late Bronze Age 􀁔 enclosure . \ Early Bronze Age round barrow Late Bronze Age field system Late Bronze Age trackway I Late Bronze Age field system 0 SOm. () 􀀃 􀀄 ez 􀀃 􀀂 ::r::(") 􀀃 § n 􀀅 􀀆 Neolithic crouched burials I􀁕 Fig. 3 Ramsgate Harbour Approach Road: overall site plan showing main prehistoric features. CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 small Anglo-Saxon sunken-floored building with a post-hole at either end. Within the hut infill two cylindrical ceramic fishing net weights were discovered. 20. East Barracks, Deal (TR 376 519) [Spring/Summer 1999] An extended watching brief was undertaken during the conversion of the old Royal Marine East Barracks into private dwellings. A quantity of human bones, discovered on the western side of the b.arracks are believed to have related to the Royal Naval Hospital that once occupied the site between 1795 and 1860. The remains are believed to be those of British soldiers and sailors, as well as a few Russian prisoners of war. Bones from four children were also recovered. A small quantity of prehistoric struck flints, recovered from the top of the natural brickearth and lower sand deposits, implied activity in this area during the Neolithic and Bronze Age periods. A small corpus of Early Iron Age pottery recovered from several carbon rich occupation layers interleaved with the basal sands, suggested occupation in the area between c. 550 and 350 BC. 21. North Barracks, Deal (TR 3749 5170) [Summer 1999] A programme of evaluation trenching established the extent of an area of prehistoric wind-blown sand and three small gullies, two pits and an isolated post-hole, possibly of prehistoric date, were found cut into the adjacent brickearth. An early nineteenth-century brickearth pit close to Canada Road was also discovered and this may relate to a number of other extensive brick-pits known to have existed in the area at this time. Evaluation work on an adjacent Parade Ground plot in 1998 (TR 3755 5169) discovered a series of infilled prehistoric ponds; these were later cut by a series of ditches containing substantial quantities of prehistoric struck flints, calcined flints ('pot boilers') and some pottery of Early Bronze Age date. 22. Townwall Street, Dover (TR 3228 4145) [July 1999) A watching brief was maintained during the removal of two large petrol tanks and other deep services on a vacant plot of land at the junction with Woolcomber Street. Observations of the excavated pit revealed well-stratified archaeological deposits. The earliest was the top of a natural marine sand and shingle spit infilling the old Roman harbour. Later deposits appear to relate principally to a complex sequence of medieval chalk-floored timber buildings and their assoc- 353 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 iated levelling deposits, roads and pathways. Traces of subsequent, later medieval and early post-medieval stone buildings survived above these. These seem to be related to extensive medieval and early post-medieval remains recorded during major excavations by the Trust on an adjacent site in 1996. 23. Langdon Cliffs, Dover (TR 335 422) [October-November 1998] A watching brief was undertaken during construction work for a new Visitors' Centre on site of the former Langdon Military Prison which is now situated within the National Trust Nature Reserve on Langdon Cliffs. The convict prison was built over a series of terraces in 1884 just after the Penal Reform Act, which instituted the 'separate' systems for prisons requiring single celled isolation units. The work revealed the footings of the outline and internal sub divisions of Prison Block A, one of two identical rectangular shaped cell blocks placed across the lower terrace of the site. The structure had two rows of small cells disposed on either side of a central corridor. After seven years as a military prison, the site became a barracks in 1908. Prison block A was demolished in 1924. 24. The Citadel, Dover Western Heights (TR 3075 4035) [November 1998-May 1999] An intermittent watching brief was carried out of various construction works conducted at the Young Offender's Institution at the Citadel. Across the road to the old West Sallyport (a nineteenthcentury brick-lined access tunnel) trenching revealed a largely intact surface area of original granite setts relating to the gate passage. Nearby an iron rail was set in concrete running along the eastern side of the passage and an associated cast-iron flanged wheel was found in rubble overlying the rail. Together the wheel and the rail seem related to a sliding bridge that originally crossed the moat from the West Sallyport to the Western Outworks which was added to the fortress between 1858 and 1867. 25. Honeywood Parkway, Whitecliffs Business Park, Whitfield (TR 305 445) [October 1998] Evaluation trenching ahead of a proposed business and industrial units revealed several ditches and pits of Late Iron Age and early Roman date. Similar discoveries, possibly related, were made during evaluation work on an adjacent site in Honeywood Road (TR 304 354 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTER.IM REPORT 1998-2000 444) in 1998. Here various features such as ditches, pits, post-holes and an iron smithing hearth indicated the presence of a settlement, perhaps a farmstead. 26. Tram Road, Folkestone (TR 232 361) [November 1998] Evaluation trenches were cut within the Tourist Information Centre Car Park in advance of sewer works. Cut into underlying alluvial deposits were three medieval pits, one possibly a well shaft dating to c. 1075-1125. South of these the northern edge of an infilled deep water channel, possibly the northern edge of the old medieval harbour was discovered. Overlying the infilled channel was a large masonry wall, constructed of greensand blocks built on stone piles cut into the underlying silts. This wall is possibly the early medieval harbour wall built c. 1075-1150. To the north (shore side) a roughly cobbled surface, possibly the quayside was revealed, this was overlaid by later soil deposits containing pottery exclusively of medieval date. This is the first evidence of the early medieval harbour to have been archaeologically recorded and it lies at the northern limits of a large triangular-shaped inlet on the foreshore formed about the mouth of the Pent Stream. During the medieval period this inlet provided a small haven for ships and boats to be safely moored from the rigours of the English Channel. Despite continued effort however the inlet was continually silting up and by the end of the seventeenth century the silting was so serious that the small haven had been blocked completely and was subsequently abandoned. 27. Land south of St John the Baptist Church, Mersham (TR 0518 3929) [December 1998-January 1999] Detailed archaeological excavations were carried out ahead of construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link at Mersham. The excavation recovered small quantities of residual mid Anglo-Saxon and earlier material. More significantly five pits and a probable ring-ditch of late Anglo-Saxon date c. 850-1050, were discovered. One of the pits was filled with iron smelting waste, whilst others yielded domestic material and textile-working implements suggesting a mixed economy. The early medieval period saw the site at its most active although occupation may have continued until c. 1200. The majority of the features dating to this phase, including many associated with iron working, were concentrated within an area bounded by a large enclosure ditch. During the latter part of this period the enclosure was reduced in size, or partitioned into two separate enclosures. The main 355 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERilvl REPORT 1998-2000 domestic area to the north contained many rubbish pits, cess-pits, small gullies, several post-holes and beam-slots. Post-pits spread across the northern and southern areas, may have related to structures of both domestic and industrial use. 28. Gigger's Green canal bridge (TR 0705 3418) [July-September 1999] A watching brief was carried out during the reconstruction of the bridge which spans the Royal Military Canal near Aldington. The bridge, one of a series, forms part of the defensive waterway system built in the period 1804 to 1809 in response to the Napoleonic invasion threat. Although designed to have brick-built abutments carrying wooden bridges, the shortage of bricks led to the earliest structures being entirely of wood. Later in the nineteenth century most were rebuilt in brick. At Gigger' s Green Bridge all of the superstructure appears to have been modern and of twentieth-century date, much of it being strengthened with steel decking during the Second World War to take armoured vehicles. However a pair of underlying brick-built abutments that date to the later part of the nineteenthcentury rebuilding programme largely survived and were photographically recorded. 29. Crowbridge Road, Ashford (TR 027 409) [January-September 19991 An intermittent watching brief was undertaken during the construction of a new road at the Orbital Park, Sevington. The work revealed several ditches at the northern end located on the periphery of an Iron Age site (found in 1990) containing a large enclosure and associated features. Although the greater part of the settlement occupied higher ground to the north-east these newly discovered ditches almost certainly relate to the overall complex. 30. Kemsley Fields, Kemsley, Sittingbourne (TQ 910 660) [August 1998-January 1999] Evaluation and open area excavations, carried out on a large area of farmland ahead of an extensive housing development, revealed a substantial settlement which appears to have remained in use from c. 1700 to 500 BC. Over 300 features were recorded, mostly clustered in small groups over the area. Amongst the numerous groups of features were enclosures of various phases (one of which appears to have had 356 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 a timber palisade), field boundaries, as well as associated hut circles, a sunken-hut, pits, gullies, cremation burials and post- and stake-hole clusters. Significantly the site is situated on ground just above the flood plain on the west side of Milton Creek which provided both access to the site and a network for trade to other settlements along the banks of the estuary and the Thames and Medway rivers. 31. Castle Road, Murston (TQ 9212 6492) [November-December 1999] An evaluation undertaken on Plot L2 of Eurolink Phase 2 industrial estate at Murston yielded evidence for Late Iron Age and Roman occupation. Separate deposits of brickearth and silty clays produced a small quantity of Iron Age pottery, daub and calcined flints. Roman occupation was represented by extensive shallow features filled with debris from domestic occupation including layers of oyster shells and pottery dating from the mid to late first century AD. The shallow features, together with a small number of pits, were clearly indicative of the presence of a settlement. The site lies just north of the London to Canterbury Roman road and adjacent to Milton Creek, thus benefiting from two major transport links. 32. Boley Hill, Rochester ( centred TQ 7415 6855) [March-December 1998] An extended watching brief was undertaken during a repaving project from Rochester High Street, past the west front of the cathedral, along Boley Hill and Minor Canon Road to St Margaret's Street. During the course of the project a large number of important discoveries were made. The main results included evidence relating to: the Roman and Norman South Gates; the Norman Prior's Gate; the seventh-century Anglo-Saxon church beneath the west end of the cathedral; three medieval monastic buildings; sections of the town and precinct walls and associated ditches; and a series of road \ deposits of Roman, medieval and post-medieval date. 33. Rochester Cathedral (TQ 743 685) [July-August 1999] Several trenches were opened in three locations within Rochester Cathedral as part of a project to install air blowing equipment for the organ. Between the south wall of Gundulf' s Tower and the north wall of the north aisle of the cathedral lies the medieval wax chandler's room which had been largely filled with rubble in the mid eighteenth 357 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 century. During the recent work the rubble was removed, the flanking walls of the room were recorded and a doorway giving access to it from the north-aisle was discovered together with steps leading up from the door flanked by brick walls built to retain the rubble infilling. To the east of the candlemaker's room within the 'Checker's Yard', a trench excavated in the late nineteenth century by Sir William St John Hope was re-excavated to reveal the exterior face of a window in the north aisle of the crypt. Undisturbed deposits were excavated for a further depth of 2.60m to install a new duct. The re-excavation showed for the first time that Gundulf's Tower was constructed after the crypt and possibly no later than c. 1110-1120. A final trench was cut in the crypt. Here of four rubbish pits identified, three produced only Roman pottery of late first to third-century date; the fourth produced a few late tenth-century potsherds. Remnants of postmedieval beaten earth and clay floors or bedding deposits were also recorded. 34. Ferry Road, !wade (TQ 90[5 6770) [May-June 19991 Trial trenching followed by a small scale excavation was carried out ahead of a housing development. The excavation revealed ditches, hearths and pits representing short-lived domestic occupation between c. 1175-1225 and a later phase of agricultural activity dating up to c. 1300. 35. Hermitage Lane, Barming (TQ 7350 5635) [September 1998] An area of former agricultural land to the east of Hermitage Lane subjected to evaluation provided evidence for Late Neolithic occupation in the form of residual pottery recovered from later features and topsoil. A second phase of occupation was represented by a few ditches and pits containing ceramic material dating to c. 750-550 BC. The majority of the features discovered, mainly pits and ditches, probably related to a small farmstead dating from c. 75 BC to AD 75. 36. Tottington Farm, Aylesford (TQ 7320 5945) [November 1998] A small evaluation was carried out ahead of gravel extraction. Features revealed included enclosure ditches, pits; gullies and stakeholes. Limited ceramic evidence suggested that occupation of the site spanned the period c. 50 BC to AD 75. The presence of some building materials, including opus signinum, and quantities of domestic waste suggested a masonry structure may have been located nearby. 358 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 37. High Street, Gravesend (TQ 647 743) [November 1998] An archaeological evaluation was carried out between 67-76 High Street and 36-8 Princes Street, ahead of re-development for housing. Many of the plots had deep basements which had destroyed much of the archaeology, but in several areas some features survived. Some twenty post-medieval wells were recorded together with several large post-medieval pits, one containing pottery and clay tobacco pipes dating from c. 1640 to 1850. A separate pit contained large quantities of nineteenth-century clay tobacco pipes, including many wasters, suggesting a pipe kiln had been in operation in the near vicinity. BUILDING RECORDING 38. Horton Manor Chapel, Chartham [February 1998] A survey was undertaken of the collapsed nave roof of Horton Manor chapel. At the time of the survey most of the roof timbers were lying within and around the building. Only a handful remained in place and few of these were in good enough condition to be saved or re-used. A detailed set of drawings was made to provide a record of the roof before the timbers deteriorated further or were lost. The drawings will hopefully enable an accurate reconstruction of the roof to be undertaken at a future date. The chapel dates perhaps to the late thirteenth or early fourteenth century and comprises a simple two-celled structure of nave and chancel. The nave roof, which (unusually) combined both scissor braces and crown posts in its construction, appears to be a later fifteenth-century rebuild associated with alterations to the chapel, including the insertion of a chancel arch. 39. Old and Water Street Cottages, Lenham [summer 1999] Old and Water Street Cottages, a Grade II listed building, was one of a number of properties dismantled to make way for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Originally located one and a half miles south-east of the village of Lenham, the cottages were reconstructed in 2000 at the Kent Museum of Rural Life, Cobham. A modest three-bay timber-framed building, dated by dendrochronology to between 1605 and 1625, was found to lie at the core of the property, surrounded by later work of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The early building is a relatively late example of 359 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 a 'transitional' house, built after the demise of the open hall, but before the introduction of the early modern house. Many changes to the original building occurred in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries including the addition of single storey outshuts against the ends of the property, the introduction of glazed windows and the application of decorative pargetting. The outshuts and a number of other features were swept away during the construction of more modern extensions, the most notable a brick and softwood-framed two-cell cottage built against the south end of the building in the second half of the nineteenth century. 40. 22 Palace Street, Canterbury [July 1998] An architectural survey of this building which dates perhaps from the third quarter of the seventeenth century was undertaken in advance of restoration. Although obscured by a mathematical-tiled Georgian fa9ade, a timber-framed building of three bays aligned at right angles to the street substantially survived behind the later work. The building probably accommodated a shop on the ground floor, accessed by a door from the street. A door in the rear wall gave onto domestic quarters and stairs to the two upper floors and half-storey garret. Many interesting seventeenth-century carpentry details were recorded including small square panels above and below a mid rail; facehalved scarves; and an ovolo moulded oriel window with flanking clerestory lights. The form and layout of No. 22 Palace Street is typical of an urban property of this period. One of its features, a half storey garret with interrupted tie-beam assembly, illustrates a common solution to the problem of providing increased accommodation within the roof space of a building. 41. Manor House, Fordwich [January 1998] An architectural survey of Manor House, located at the junction of High Street and King's Street, Fordwich, was undertaken following a small fire and subsequent restoration. The building, which probably dates from the early seventeenth century, comprised two distinct but contemporary ranges built at right angles to each other. The upper floors of both ranges are timber-framed and jettied; the ground floor elevations are of brick. The King's Street range was clearly built for domestic use; the High Street range appears to have functioned as a workshop or store. 360 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST Il'ITERIM REPORT 1998-2000 42. George Inn, Newington [January 2000] A survey of the George Inn was undertaken following a major fire in February 1998. The building was found to comprise two timberframed structures dating from the second half of the seventeenth century. Very little survived of the older of the two structures located to the west of the frontage. This formed part of a cross wing for an earlier complex which included perhaps on open hall to the east. The cross wing, of two storey height and built at right angles to the street, was considerably modified when the second timber-framed structure to the east replaced the hall. The walls of the cross wing were raised, the roof remodelled and the wing shortened to the rear to accommodate a new roof. Stylistically similar to the cross wing, the second building was built perhaps only a decade or so later. 43. 2 Upper Bridge Street, Wye [November 1998] A drawn and photographic survey of a fifteenth-century undercroft was undertaken in advance of restoration. The present undercroft probably replaced an earlier structure of which only the south (rear) wall survived in flint with Caen stone-dressed centrally located Gothic doorway and lancet window. The later undercroft, which replaced the earlier arrangement but re-used the south wall, forming a rectangular space measuring 5.38 x 4.25m and 3m high, spanned by a sexpartite vault with ribs rising from corbels to a decorated central boss. All dressings for the later undercroft are in ragstone with intermediate webbing in axe-dressed blocks of chalk. The walls of the undercroft are in flint. The road frontage north wall retains a large centrally located door with steps to the street blocked by brickwork. Two small windows, also blocked by brickwork, survive either side of the door with a number of original fittings. An original stairwell connecting the undercroft to oversarnng floors was replaced in more recent times with the present stair arrangement. Nothing survives of the overlying buildings. 44. Chambers Wall Farm, St Nicholas at Wade [March 1999] A pebble-dashed and corrugated iron clad farm building with asbestos roof was the unusual subject of an architectural survey. Chambers Wall Farm comprises a large collection of buildings dating from the seventeenth century. The present building at the north-west comer of the foldyard proved to be a chapel of medieval date. The single-cell chapel, 9.30 x 4.0m, was defined by walls of banded chalk 361 CANTERBURY ARCHAEOLOGICAL TRUST INTERIM REPORT 1998-2000 blockwork and flint 0.6-0.7m thick, standing to a height of 2.Sm. Internally the walls were covered by a coarse lime render. A small piscina primitively carved in chalk was located in the north wall. Blocked windows with splayed reveals were identified in the east and west walls. A smaller blocked window was observed in the north wall. The building was converted for domestic use probably during the first half of the seventeenth century when a jettied timber-frame was added to the top of the medieval walls. The south wall of the chapel was demolished at this time and replaced with a timberframed elevation. Several features associated with this domestic period of use were observed including a decorated fascia board dated 1694, a substantial brick fireplace with bread oven, located in the north-west corner of the chapel and a passage dividing the ground floor into two rooms. An early farm building was found to abut the north-east corner of the chapel. Built in brick towards the end of the seventeenth century, little of the building now survives save for a fragment of oak-framed collar rafter roof and two hearths and a copper reflecting its use as a brew house in the late nineteenth century. 45. Units 19/23, former Gunpowder Works, Bysing Wood, Oare [March 1999] Two buildings forming part of the former Oare Gunpowder Works were surveyed in advance of redevelopment. The buildings, units 19 and 23, formerly a tin, japan and label shop and a cartridge packing shed respectively, were photographically recorded prior to and during redevelopment. Unit 19 was constructed between 1846-68 as an Lshaped building of two unequal length ranges. After 1868 the southeastern range was extended with furnaces built at its southern end. Some thirty years later the furnaces were in disuse and had been floored over. The building remained in use as a japan and label shop until 1935. Unit 23 was constructed between 1846-68 as a large rectangular complex with two separate ranges to the north-east and south-east. The complex remained relatively intact until 1897 when the ranges were demolished. The shell of the main building, which still survives, remained in use as a general store and boiler house until 1935. 362