Excavations at Eccles 1972

EXCAVATIONS AT ECCLES, 19721 ELEVENTH INTERIM REPORT By A. P. DETSICAS, M.A., F.S.A. INTRODUCTION EXCAVATIONS were continued, for the eleventh successive season, under my direction and on behalf of the Eccles Excavation Committee, at the site of the large Romano-British viUa situated at Rowe Place Farm, Eccles, in the parish of Aylesford (N.G.R. TQ 722605; O.S. 6-inch Sheet TQ 76 SW), and at a nearby site (N.G.R. TQ 718605; O.S. 6-inch Sheet TQ 76 SW); this work was undertaken at weekends, from the beginning of April tUl the end of October, 1972, and during a fortnight in August when a training course in Romano-British archeology, jointly sponsored by the Kent Archseological Society and the Eccles Excavation Committee, was based on the site. Once again, I am greatly indebted to the landowners, Messrs. Associated Portland Cement Manufacturers Limited and Messrs. Reed Paper & Board (U.K.) Limited, for readily allowing this work to be continued on their property; I am also very grateful to their tenant farmers, Messrs. A. A. and A. C. Southwell, without whose wholehearted support and many acts of kindness this excavation would have been impossible. Financial support for this excavation was again granted by the Kent Archseological Society, the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, the British Academy, the Society of Antiquaries of London, the Haverfield Bequest of the University of Oxford and private donors to all of whom I am most grateful. Many volunteers shared the burdens of this work throughout its long campaign and space considerations alone preclude me from mentioning each by name. However, I should be aUowed to make an exception in the case of the following on the grounds of their sustained support: first, Mr. A. C. Harrison, B.A., F.S.A., upon whom feU a large share of the supervision ofthis work; Mesdames S. M. Frettingham, B.A., and A. Thomson; Miss R. C. Symes; and Messrs. 0. K. Hales, T. Hetherington, T. ItheU, B.Eng., W. A. Knowles, C. E. J. Martin, 1 Arch. Cant., Ixxviii (1963), 125-41; Ixxix (1964), 121-35; Ixxx (1965), 69-91; Ixxxi (1966), 44-52; Ixxxii (1967), 162-78; Ixxxiii (1968), 39-48; Ixxxiv (1969), 93-106; Ixxxv (1970), 55-60; Ixxxvi (1971), 25-34, and lxxxvii (1972), 101-10. Professor S. S. Frere, M.A., F.B.A., F.S.A., has again been kind enough to support this work and to read this report in draft to its great advantage; I am very grateful indeed. 73 A. P. DETSICAS L. Thomson and P. Thornhill, B.A. I am also grateful to Mr. I. J. Bissett, for drawing the coarse pottery; Miss D. Charlesworth, M.A., F.S.A., for reporting on the glass; Mrs. K. F. Hartley, B.A., F.S.A., for reporting on the mortaria; Mr. M. R. Hull, M.A., F.S.A., for reporting on the brooches; Dr. J. P. C. Kent, B.A., Ph.D., F.S.A., for identifying the coins; and Mr. R. P. Wright, M.A., F.S.A., for reading and reporting on the graffiti. Lastly, I am also greatly indebted to Miss D. M. Rooke, for taking charge of the recording of the finds and much personal assistance, and Miss C. E. Cockram, for help with the preparation of this report. THE EXCAVATION Work this year was concentrated in the courtyard area of the villa, to east and south-east of the house, and at one other site; its aim was the continued examination of features partly explored in 1971. Periods I-IV, to c. A.D. 65: The Ditches Further sections were cut across the Hnes of the three ditches already reported on.2 Ditch IX was sectioned to the south of the building's south-east wing and its known length increased to some 150 ft. (45 m.), its width remaining constant at 7 ft. 6 in. (2 -25 m.) on average; this ditch continued on a straight ahgnment and had been filled in with material deriving from its cutting, probably not long afterwards as it contained httle sUt at its bottom. Ditch X was traced in several new trenches and its known length increased to 181 ft. 6 in. (54-45 m.); its width remained o. 7 ft. (2 -10 m.). In one or two trenches, the outline ofthis ditch was nearer to a V-shape than elsewhere and showed a rather shaUow, rudimentary cleaning channel which is reminiscent of military work. The amount of grey silt, present at the lowest levels of this ditch below its back-filling of Romano-British topsoil, and the pottery stratified in it demonstrate that it remained open rather longer than Ditch IX, though it must have been fiUed in by the time the first house was built in c. A.D. 65. Two new trenches, cut across the line of Ditch XI (Plate IA) which was first examined in 1971, in an area of great disturbance,3 aUowed its correct course and width to be estabhshed; its present length and width arc 28 ft. 6 in. (8 -61 m.) and 4 ft. 9 in. (1 -74 m.), respectively, and it was found to be U-shaped. Its back-filhng of yellow clay had subsided towards the middle of the ditch; this subsidence has been made good by a layer of d6bris consisting mainly of loose tesserae, mostly white and grey in colour but also a few red ones cut from samian ware. 2 Arch. Cant., lxxxvii (1972), 102. 8 Ibid., and Fig. 1. 74 ECCLES 1971-72 Ditch XIV iiokthoit , ._l 0/7cA W Andlo-Saxori Ctmtttry BurioP. v/,,. •fflZ,;%*/ Ditch XII JTGully Drain \ Htarth Ditch XIII Ptriod IV SSPtrlod IV. fiobbtd or Inftrrtd Ptriod V-. Robbtd or inftrrtd E H Ptriod VI Ptriod VI: Robbtd or inftrrtd ES Ptriod VII ISSPtriod VII fiobbtd or inftrrtd &§&Ptrlods VI- VII ESS Ptriods VI- VII, Inftrrtd urrnesfOBt Fro. 1. {face p. 74 rwssn ECCLES 1972 I j South-HrtMt Wing 1 _l Courtyard Area KS/»*/votf V •riod V.-lnftrrtd WZ&Ptriod VI WZ&Ptriod Vklnttrrtd L.-.J [HflBflAa South-tost W/ngi, Ditch XIII Baa in-* r i "~l j£_ FIG. 2. [face p. 75 EXCAVATIONS AT ECCLES, 1972 This debris represents the remnants of the manufacture of tesserae on the site, for, apart from many unfinished tesserae, the layer also contained several large stones from which white and grey tesserae had obviously been cut. A preliminary examination of the samian and coarse wares in this debris suggests that the layer dates to the early years of the second century and is contemporary with Period V (c. A.D. 120-180) though, as the house was then turned round to face south-west, Ditch XI may have been filled in earHer to allow for the subsidence of its backfilling. Most of the area to east and west of Ditch XI, i.e. to east of the south-east wing, was later spread over with a large deposit of domestic refuse dating at least to the middle of the third century A.D. Ditch XIII (Fig. 2) was found running diagonally across the courtyard and has been examined in the area occupied by the ornamental basin (see below, pp. 76-7) which it clearly antedates; its known length is 102 ft. (30 -60 m.) and its width 7 ft. (2 -25 m.). Traces of this ditch could be seen obhquely in a buUdozer trench cut close to the west corner of the south-east wing and, if the ditch continued on a straight line, it would have passed below the north-west wall of this wing at a point where no excavation was undertaken and reached the trench where Ditches IX and X intersect; however, when trenched in 1971, this area was found to be greatly disturbed, and it is not certain that Ditch XIII ever reached this area. To south ofthis ditch ran a shaUow and narrow ditch or gully which seems to be associated with Ditch XIII as it is approximately paraUel with it as was the case with Ditches IV and VI.4 However, if these shallow gullies are associated with their nearby larger ditches, it is difficult to see how Ditches VI and XIII relate to one another as their respective gullies had not been cut on the same side as the ditches. Period VI, c. A.D. 180-290: The South-east Wing Three fresh trenches were cut across the Hne of the south-west wall ofthis wing and confirmed its previously inferred ahgnment. ExternaUy, the wall had been rendered with painted waU-plaster, 2 in. (0 -05 m.) thick, mostly wine-red in colour with blue stripes outlining panels, some of which survived in situ. The waU was of the standard construction, of ragstone and yellow mortar, 2 ft. (0 -60 m.) wide, and its foundations were bedded right into the bottom of Ditch IX where the wall crossed it; this wall had survived in two of these trenches, but the south corner of the wing had been completely robbed. Some evidence was found for the flooring of Room 122; it consisted of a layer of compacted yeUow mortar laid directly on the subsoil and present immediately within the waU. However, it was not possible to estabHsh * Ibid., Ixxxiv (1969), 94, Fig. 1; Ixxxv (1970), 56-7, Fig. I. 75 A. P. DETSICAS whether this mortar represents the actual floor of the corridor rather than a base for tiling. Immediately outside the line ofthis waU were several much-repaired floors of opus signinum; these floors were not present in the 1971 trench containing the west corner of the wing, nor did they continue into the trench south-east of the wing's south corner. Furthermore, as these floors barely reached into a trench south-west of the wall, it seems likely that they were laid at a point outside the south-west waU where a door into the wing may have been located; though this would accord with the patching of these floors and their superimposition, no direct evidence for such an entrance survived across the waU. Periods VI-VII, c. A.D. 180-400: (i) The Boundary Wall This perimeter waU was found clearly abutted on to the south corner of the south-east wing, but not at right angles to it; from this junction, it continued south-east for some 15 ft. (4-5 m.) before turning to south-west, again without forming a right angle, for at least 42 ft. (12-60 m.); the waU had been built of ragstone and yeUow mortar to a 2 ft. (0 -60 m.) thickness, though it also contained some flint and dressed tufa blocks which formed its east corner—its construction trench had been fiUed with loose gravel rather than the standard ragstone chippings, and its construction suggested that the wall was not expected to carry a great load. Immediately outside the east corner of this wall was an elongated, fairly deep pit; its darkgrey, organic filling, which contained Httle debris, suggested its possible use as a cess-pit; it contained late third-century coarse pottery in its filling though this may have been a survival and need not indicate that the pit and waU were in contemporary use. South-west of this pit was a curious feature which was cut lUce a shaUow gully running north-east to south-west for 14 ft. 6 in. (4 -35 m.); it was 1 ft. (0 -30 m.) wide, and its north-eastern end was wider than its opposite counterpart. Whatever its purpose, this feature clearly antedates the boundary wall as, when the latter was built, great care was taken to fill this guUy with a sohd layer of mortaresd roofing-tiles. Further south-west, the perimeter wall crossed over an earlier, narrow gully into which the wall's foundations were bedded. No evidence for floors was found within the area enclosed by this boundary wall. (ii) The Courtyard Three long trenches were mechanically out in the courtyard area immediately south-west of the south-east wing where little work had previously been undertaken. The most north-easterly of these 76 PLATE I X. Photo.: A. P. Detsicas A. Section across Ditch XI. Photo.: A. P. Detsicas B. Courtyard Area: General View of the Basin. 11M [ face p. 76 PLATE II ^ ^ s H i ^ a r «|*4fi^* >m. Photo.: A. P. Detsicas A. Courtyard Area: The Basin, showing Foundation Raft. •Isftk' Photo.: A. P. Detaicua B. Courtyard Area: Section across the Basin. PLATE III %.l* Photo.: A. P. Detsicas A. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery: Burial 19. Photo.: A. P. Detsicas B. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery: Burial l'.l, Close-up showing Buckle and Knife. PLATE IV Photo.: R. L. Wilkins, Oxford University Institute of Archivoloyy A. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery: Burial 19, Buckle, Front View (Scale 1 : 1). ~,. Photo.: R. L. Wilkins, Oxford University Institute of Archwoloou B. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery: Burial 19, Buckle, Rear View (Scale 1:1). EXCAVATIONS AT ECCLES, 1972 trenches provided some evidence for Ditch XIII (cf. above, p. 75) at its extreme eastern end; the most south-westerly contained no archseological evidence. However, the middle one of these trenches coincided with the northeastern face of a feature and, consequently, this trench was widened to aUow for fuller examination which estabhshed the plan of an ornamental basin situated in this area (Plate IB). This basin had been constructed over the line of the filled-in Ditch XIII and some subsidence had occurred at the basin's north corner. The structure, measuring internaUy 11 ft. 6 in. by 5 ft. 6 in. (3 -45 by 1 -65 m.), consisted of a very sohd foundation of roofing-tiles laid directly on the subsoil, with their flanges upside down and embedded into a layer of yeUow mortar; the waU of the basin was next constructed on top of this sohd raft (Plate IIA): it was 1 ft. (0 -30 m.) wide and built mainly of dressed tufa blocks to an unknown height though Httle of the basin's depth appears to have been lost. The waU was rendered internaUy with opus signinum, 1 in. (2 -5 cm.) thick. Next was laid the floor of the basin, consisting of opus signinum to an average thickness of 3 in. (7 -5 cm.) and surviving intact apart from some pitting by frost; the opus signinum had been shaped to a quarterround moulding at the junction of waU and floor, and the whole structure made quite watertight (Plate IIB). No dating material was found stratified below this basin which must clearly belong to the later structural periods of the viUa on the foUowing grounds. Its function is evidently that of an ornamental garden-pond, almost certainly containing aquatic plants and fish; its location exactly at the centre of the courtyard between the viUa's two projecting wings makes this conclusion inescapable and, moreover, shows that the basin must have been built at the same time as or after the construction of the south-east wing, certainly after the house was turned round to face south-west. Later Features These later features consist of lengths of four ditches. Ditch XII was first found in 19716 and this year was further cut in a new trench at the eastern corner of the south-east wing extending its known length to nearly 30 ft. (9 m.). Ditch XIV was 1 ft. 6 in. (0 -45 m.) wide and traced for some 49 ft. 6 in. (14 -85 m.). Running into it is a short length of Ditch XVI of about the same width. Ditch XV was 3 ft. (0 -90 m.) wide and has been traced for some 52 ft. 6 in. (15 -75 m.). Ditches XIV and XV obviously merge or interesect in an unexplored area beyond the most easterly points yet traced. 6 Ibid., lxxxvii (1972), 106. 77 10b A. P. DETSICAS The purpose of these ditches is not clear, nor is their dating. However, Ditch XV was cut into the backfilling of the early Ditch X, which was fiUed in when the first house was built; it is clear, therefore, that aU these ditches postdate the earhest buUding, though they could have been cut, at the rear of the house, in much later times for they certainly were open after the demohtion of the viUa in view of the fact that some of the Anglo-Saxon burials had been inserted into these ditches. The Anglo-Saxon Cemetery Evidence for scattered burials in the ruins of the vflla has been accumulating from the very first season of excavation in 1962. Some of these were found in the derehct hypocausts of the third bath buUding,6 others in the ruined servants' quarters of the house7 and elsewhere. It is only since 1970, however, that conclusive evidence for a large cemetery has been forthcoming and its position located mainly east of the north-east wing;8 in 1972 many more burials were found in this area. The great majority of these inhumations had been laid, approximately east-west, in a dark soU which made it impossible to distinguish the outlines of individual graves, though these were clear wherever the burial had been dug into the yellow clay subsoil. As in 1971,9 burials were found superimposed, each subsequent inhumation usuaUy badly disturbing the one below it. Fortunately, however, some of the earhest burials had been provided with grave goods (Plates ULA and B, IVA and B) and these showed that inhumation had begun during the closing years of the pagan Anglo-Saxon period and continued into Christian times.10 Site D (N.G.R. TQ 718605) Trenching was carried out on two occasions, at the beginning and end of the excavation season, at a site used for the disposal of wastepaper where a dark layer, containing pottery, had been observed in a mechanicafly-exposed section in 1971.n As a result, a large pit filled with pottery wasters was found at the foot of the present slope and • Ibid., Ixxviii (1963), 140 and Plate VIII. 7 Ibid., Ixxix (1964), 130. 8 I t is not unlikely that the few soattered inhumations found in 1970 to north-west of this wing (Arch. Cant., Ixxxvi (1971), Fig. 1) also belong to this cemetery. 9 Arch. Cant., Ixxxvi (1971), 31. 10 I am greatly indebted to Mrs. S. C. Hawkes, M.A., E.S.A., for arranging for the conservation, drawing and photography of some of these objects at the Institute of Archseology, University of Oxford, and for reporting on them (of. Antiq. Journ., Iiii (1973), 281-6). 11 Arch. Cant., Ixxxvii (1972), 108. 78 EXCAVATIONS AT ECCLES, 1972 cutting into it. Mechanical stripping of the overburden on the fairly level plateau above this waste pit brought to Hght the upper part of a badly-worn kiln12 surrounded by enormous quantities of wasters; these consisted mainly of Hofheim-type flagons but also included early colour-coated wares, terra nigra platters and other forms imitating GaUo-Belgic wares, mortaria, carinated bowls, butt beakers, etc. Samian ware stratified with this material supports a closing date of c. A.D. 70 for this activity, though it is not unlikely that pottery continued to be made in that vicinity in later times. In view of the lateness of the season, this site has been covered over to await fuU examination in 1973. DATING No fresh evidence has been forthcoming during this year to cause any reconsideration of the chronological sequence proposed in earHer reports. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION As a result of this year's work, some of the gaps in the history of the occupation of this site are now beginning to be filled. The discovery of incontrovertible evidence for pottery manufacture in immediately post-conquest times now supphes the economic background for the obvious wealth of the owner of the first house and baths and supplements the previous suggestion of a local phUo-Roman magnate13 who wiU have increased his wealth, if not made it, by engaging in large-scale pottery manufacture and supplying the greatly expanding markets foUowing the Roman invasion and conquest. The location of Site D, overlooking and close to the Medway, indicates the probahflity of industrial instaUations, such as workshops, stores and wharves, just as the amount of wasters found in a comparatively very smaU area points to several kilns operating nearby. Unfortunately, the area where such evidence may have survived has been very badly disturbed during the last century by the excavation of large pits for the disposal of industrial waste-products, which could have destroyed aU remaining traces of Romano-British industrial activity; furthermore, the Romano- British ground level, where it survives, is so badly overgrown and laid over by several feet of soU from the excavation of the modern industrial pits that it would require considerable expenditure before archaeological examination could be begun. The discovery of the ornamental basin in the courtyard confirms conclusively the earHer evidence that the original house had been M Excavation in 1973 established that this kiln, was a medieval tilery built into the d6bris of Bomano-British pottery manufacture. 13 Arch. Cant., Ixxix (1964), 135. 100 79 A. P. DETSICAS turned round to face in the opposite direction as well as reconstructed and expanded between the second and fourth centuries A.D. Some reexamination of the open courtyard area needs to be carried out to seek evidence for possible paths, perhaps even, for flower-beds and hedges, though a large part of this area has been disturbed by a deep medieval excavation. The boundary waU found this year indicates the south-eastern hmits of the enclosed area; however, other instaUations may stUl await discovery farther away from the house. Likewise, evidence for a service road linking the estate with the main Roman road from Rochester to Hastings on Blue BeU HUl is stiU elusive. No evidence has come to Hght so far to point to the location of the Romano-British cemetery. If the ditches (Ditches XD7-XVI) found below the Anglo-Saxon cemetery can be conclusively shown to belong to the period after the end of Roman Britain but opened some time before the earhest burials another gap in the occupation of the site wiU have been closed. The Anglo-Saxon cemetery extends the history of occupation, though it is not yet known how far. Its complete Hmits have stUl to be estabhshed, and work is also needed to explore the possibility of a chapel in the vicinity of the cemetery and, stfll more important, the likelihood of an Anglo-Saxon settlement not too far away.1* 14 Further evidence for later occupation was found in 1973 when part of a site, dating from the thirteenth century, was examined south-east of and close to the boundary wall. 80