Excavation of a Belgic and Roman site at 50-54 High Street, Rochester

EXCAVATION OF A BELGIC AND ROMAN SITE AT 50-54 HIGH STREET, ROCHESTER A.C. HARRISON, B.A., F.S.A. This site was excavated in 1961-62 by Mr R.E. Chaplin, B.Sc., F.Z.S., who published a brief report on it in 1963, 1 while the group of post-medieval pottery from the well in no. 50 has been described by Mr P.J. Tester, F.S.A.2 For various reasons it has not been possible to produce a complete report of the excavation, but in view of the importance of the discoveries, particularly those of the pre-Roman period, it has been decided to publish as full an account as possible in the hope that details of the pottery, small finds, etc., may be added later. The present writer took part in the excavation, though not in its direction, and relies for this account on the plans and notes supplied by Mr Chaplin who has given his approval to this course of action. ,THE SITE Nos. 50, 52 and 54 High Street are in the heart of ancient Rochester, between Northgate and the Medway bridges (N.G.R. TQ 74276864) on the south side of the street. Their frontage extends for 50 ft. and at the rear the property runs back about 90 ft., tapering somewhat towards Epaul Lane, beyond which the land rises sharply to the Castle grounds. Demolition of the houses on the site had exposed three cellars close to the frontage (Fig. 1). EXCAVATION After a preliminary reconnaisance, Mr Chaplin obtained permission to excavate from Manning and Co., Ltd., agents for the owners, 1 Arch. Cant., Ixxvii (1962), pp. I-Ii. 2 Arch. Cant., xcix (1983), 262-6. 41 54 - - - - - A.C. HARRISON l. t01 .. l:o11o. 1·;:­ !.,.) A STREET LEVEL CELLAR FLOOR 0 SCALE OF FEET 5 NATUR AL CLAY REC I. ACH Fig. 2. Section A-B. I. Grayel Metalling. 2. Burnt wattle and daub. 3. Sandy silt. 4. Sandy silt and rubbish. B ► totT1 l' C) 0 ► z t:, :;>j 0 􀀦 ► z rJl 􀀧 :;>j 0 (j @ rJl ;;l :;>j A.C. HARRISON Floor levels in nos. 50 and 54 were 6 ft. 9 in. below the pavement but that of no. 52 went somewhat deeper, causing the destruction of stratified levels over most of its area. Early in January 1962 the excavation was extended into the area south of nos. 52 and 54. Back-filling was completed on 27 May, 1962, with a final entry in the Field Noteboook "Rain really sluicing down. Site like a quick-sand". MEASUREMENTS All linear measurements were made in feet and decimals of a foot (1 ft. == 0.3048 m.) or in inches (1 in. = 25.4 mm.) and that system has been retained. It was calculated that cellar-floor level was at 22 ft. A.O.D. As previously noted,4 the venerable convention that the City has its long axis due east-west has been observed and the terms 'north', 'south', 'east' and 'west' are to be interpreted accordingly. RESULTS Belgic: Immediately above the brick-earth subsoil, which lies 10-12 ft. below pavement level, is a layer of dark soil containing a considerable quantity of domestic rubbish, including bones and pottery of early first-century Belgic types, including pedestal urns. At the base of this layer 10 fragments of coin pellet moulds were found (Plate I) associated stratigraphically with a hearth, fragments of slag and small pieces of chalk (see Appendix). In addition, from this same Belgic horizon were recovered some copper alloy objects, mainly coins and one iron object. 5 It had been thought that the iron object (AM Lab. No. 620859) was a hoard of Belgic coins as the surface was coloured green with copper corrosion products, but X-ray examination showed that this was not the case; it was a deeply corroded piece of iron sheet. All the copper alloy objects are coins except for the following: (1) possible coins nos. 620875, 620877; (2) Fragments of copper alloy nos. 6208866--7, 620870 and 620879; (3) Possible coin blank no. 620862. This is a copper alloy disc 3.5 mm. thick and with a diameter of just over 9 mm. The coins comprised eleven potin coins and three struck 4 Arch. Cant., lxxxiii (1968), 55, note 2. 5 For the information concerning these finds I am indebted to Miss Justine Bayley of the Ancient Monuments Laboratory; cf. also A. Detsicas, The Cantiaci, Gloucester, 1983 and 1987, 4 and Fig. 2. 44 A BELGIC AND ROMAN SITE, ROCHESTER PLATE I - ,.,., .... \ 􀀃 ( ·\f l , . 1 .,, • r r ..... _-􀀄 e .. ' ,,.,., t' 0 50mm • 􀀄 (Photo.: A.M. Laboratory. Crown copyrighr.) Coin pellet moulds (Reproduced with permission of the Controller, H.M.S.O.) bronze coins. It seems unlikely that any of these were produced from the coin moulds which would appear to have been used for melting silver (see Appendix). In view of statements published in the press and elsewhere it must be stated that no definite evidence of Belgic structures was found. Roman: In the cellar of no. 54 the northern edge of the Belgic layer was sealed by two remaining layers of the gravel metalling belonging to the earliest Watling Street (Fig. 2, layer I) bounded by a small side-ditch which had apparently been originally stone-lined. Fortunately, it was possible by removing a coal-chute in the cellar of no. 50 to expose a complete vertical section of the road showing seven superimposed re-makes of the carriage-way (Fig. 4). Two of these were of chalk and, presumably, were simply to raise the level as they can hardly have formed the road surface. To the south of the side-ditch was a layer of burnt wattle-and-daub (Fig. 2, layer 2) on top of which were two layers of gravel metalling 11 ft. in width. This was interpreted by Mr Chaplin as indicating that the original road had been turned into a dual carriageway. To the present writer this seems improbable as no indication of it was found 45 A.C. HARRISON STREET LEVEL C 0 5 FT PIT . 4 NATURA L CLAY REC & A CH Fig. 3. Section D-C. I. Clay. 2. Clay, stones and tiles. 3. Robber trench. 4. Sand. 5. Sandy clay. 6. Clay. 7. Burnt material. 46 A BELGIC AND ROMAN SITE, ROCHESTER 0 1 2 Scale in Feet Fig. 4. 1. Modern top-soil. 2. Fine gravel. 3. Chalk. 4. Sandy gravel. 5. Gravel with flints. 6. Gravel. 7. Chalk. 8. Fine gravel. 9. Original top-soil. 47 A.C. HARRISON in the East Gate excavation6 nor in the recent excavation 7 of the cellar of no. 38 nearby where a lane was traced running at right angles to the line of the original road and there were no signs of a second carriageway. Perhaps this metalling can be explained as a courtyard in front of the building further to the south which seems to have had floors of coloured opus signinum and walls covered with red and green plaster and which was tentatively identified as a bath-building. The fragments of walls surviving in the cellar of no. 50 were of three different periods suggesting at least two re-buildings. Conclusion While the details of the line and stratification of Roman Watling Street are valuable, the really important discovery is the clear evidence for the first time of pre-Roman, Belgic occupation in Rochester. Furthermore, the discovery of the coin moulds makes it virtually certain that this settlement was sufficiently important to have been the site of a mint. Mr Chaplin suggests that this maybe belonged to Eppillus, the son or grandson of Commius of the Atrebates, who is known to have held territory in north and east Kent during the early years of the first century A.D.8 Alternatively, it could have been an out-lying mint of Cunobelinus, whose currency circulated in north Kent a little later. 9 Acknowledgements I am grateful to L. Biek, Justine Bayley and Paul Wilthew of the Ancient Monuments Laboratory for information on the finds, and to Mr D. Bacchus, Miss M.E. Crowhurst and Mr P.J. Tester, F.S.A. for much help with the figures. 6 Arch. Cant. lxxxvi (1972), Fig. 1, Trench 6. 7 Arch. Cant., cvii (1989), 214 ff. 8 Graham Webster, The Roman Invasion of Britain, London, 1981, 66. Distribution Map. 9 Ibid., 62. Distribution Map. 48 A BELGIC AND ROMAN SITE, ROCHESTER EXAMINATION AND ANALYSIS OF COIN PELLET MOULDS FROM ROCHESTER Paul Wilthew Ten fragments of Iron Age coin pellet moulds were examined (AM620881-87 and 3 unnumbered samples). A X-radiograph of each fragment was obtained (X-ray A5261) and suitable surfaces of each piece were analysed qualitatively using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (X.R.F.); where possible the diameters and depths of the individual impressions were measured. The results are summarised in the appendix. All the mould fragments had a similar fabric which was porous, unrefractory and contained only a few, fairly small, inclusions. They had all been reduced fired. No evidence for the presence of residual metal on the moulds was found by visual examination or x-radiography. However, significant levels of elements, which may have been contained in the metal melted in the moulds, were detected on some fragments by X.R.F. Silver was detected on three fragments (AM620887 and 11), lead was present on (AM620883) and copper was found on fragments (97) and (98) ( excavator's numbers). Apart from (98), all the impressions on the moulds were similar, although a wide variation in depth was observed, but this was even found between impressions on the same fragments. The impressions had a diameter at the mouth of about 9 mm. and their sides sloped to a flat bottom of slightly smaller diameter. Fragment (98) included part of one shallow impression, which had a much larger diameter at the mouth than the impressions on other moulds. The bottom of the impression was rounded and it is possible that this fragment was not intended for the same purpose as the others. Pellets produced from mould (98) would certainly have been considerably larger (in diameter at least) than those produced from other moulds. Although coin pellet moulds have been found on several sites of this period, their original use is not entirely clear, and it is possible that pellets from similar moulds were used in producing a variety of objects using various metals (Tournaire et al. 1982). However, the most probable use for the moulds examined, with the possible exception of (98), would seem to be to produce silver pellets for striking into coins as traces of silver were present on three of the fragments. The presence of traces of copper or lead on some fragments does not rule out the possibility that silver was the major component of the alloy being cast, as both copper and lead could have been minor elements in the silver alloy and the X.R.F. method used is relatively insensitive to silver. The variation in depth of the impressions would not have been important as control of the weight of the pellet was presumably achieved by placing a known amount of metal in each impression. When melted the silver would have formed a spheroid shape suitable for striking (Tournaire et al. 1982), unlike copper alloys which would take the shape of the impression (Sellwood 1976). Like moulds from other sites, some of the fragments examined were vitrified on their upper surfaces, although several showed no signs of vitrification at all, and they were probably heated from above. The details of how coin moulds were used are, however, largely still a matter of conjecture. A discussion of the current position is given in Tournaire et al., 1982. References J. Tournaire, 0. Buchsenschutz et al., 'Iron Age Coin Moulds from France'. PPS, lxviii (1982), 417-35. D. Sellwood, 'Minting', in (Eds.) D. Strong and D. Brown, Roman Crafts, London, 1976. 49 A.C. HARRISON Appendix > = greater than n.m. = not measurable n.d. = nothing significant detected No. Elements No. of Diameter Depth of Comment detected impressions of mouth of impressby X.R.F. impressions ions - all of trace (mm.) (mm.) leads partial complete AM620881 n.d. 2 0 >8 6-7 Edge fragment AM620882 n.d. 3 0 >9 4-8 Flattened towards one side AM620883 Pb 4 1 9 8-9 - AM620884 n.d. 4 0 9 7-9 - AM620885 Ag 4 0 9 7-8 - AM620886 n.d. 2 0 >7 6 - AM620887 Ag 1 0 n.m. n.m. - (11) ag 6 1 9 9 - (97) Cu 4 0 >8 9 - (98) Cu 2 0 >12 5 Edged fragment 50