Roman finds at Holy Trinity Churchyard, Dartford

ROMAN FINDS AT HOLY TRINITY CHURCHYARD, DARTFORD GREG PRIESTLEY-BELL AND LUKE BARBER Archaeology South-East was commissioned to undertake an archaeological excavation on land to the north of Holy Trinity Church, Dartford (Fig. 1.). The Church is situated to the east of the modern town centre, immediately to the west of the River Darent. According to the BGS l :50 000 map the underlying geology at the site consists of alluvium. Planning permission was granted for an extension to the Church Hall in 1994. As construction would necessitate groundworks in the area, and possible disturbance of buried archaeological remains, provision was made for an archaeological evaluation. This, undertaken in 1995, revealed seven undisturbed human skeletons and evidence of at least fourteen disturbed burials, all of seventeenth- to early nineteenth-century date. The burials overlay an occupation deposit containing early Roman pottery encountered at a depth of c. l .8m below the present ground surface (Kirk 1995). As a result it was decided further archaeological investigations would be required at the site prior to the onset of construction works. It was agreed that the Roman deposits were to form the main focus of the work and that only limited recording would be undertaken on the post-medieval burials. However, due to a misunderstanding by the developer a significant part of the site had been excavated and cleared of burials prior to the onset of archaeological work. This had resulted in the removal of virtually all of the burials as well as some truncation of the underlying Roman deposits. After consultations with the developers and KCC, it was decided to excavate the surviving remains. The on-site work was directed by Greg Priestley-Bell (Priestley-Bell et. al. 1996). The site lies immediately to the north of the projected course of Roman Watling Street which probably runs directly under the main body of the church. Numerous Roman remains have been found in the 75 -.J 0\ •Maidstone KENT : · : · : · Community hall · : · : < · : . . . . . . . . ·. ·. ·. HOLY TRINITY CHURCH.·:·. . . . . . . . . . ..... • -􀀚,-1--;;;,!J-==􀀛􀀜:,;;;;;;;t:􀀝􀀞¥s::.e:::....t---t-l : : : : : : __ Ar􀀆•Of assessma:it : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ·: ·: - . ' . . . . . :::::: 1/1111 A􀀗􀀘f􀀙in􀀚t-􀀛 :· :::::::::::::::: 0 4m 􀀔􀀕=1r---t----lJl---'='j"-􀀖H--.....:..:.+---=􀀗 . . . . . . L------' . . . . . . Fig. 1 Site and Trench Location Plans (NGR TQ 5435 7405) C. ROMAN FINDS AT HOLY TRINITY CHURCHYARD, DARTFORD vicinity of the church. Other recorded Roman discoveries from the town, including building foundations, numerous coins and pottery (both local and imported) suggest that an important Roman settlement existed in the area (Detsicas 1983, 80; Hutchings 2001). Much of the material has been dated to the first century suggesting an early foundation at the crossing point of Watling Street over the River Darent. The church is recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086, its tower dating from before the Conquest. However, the main body of the church dates to the fourteenth century and lies to the south of the original tower. The extension to the church and the diversion of the road around it explains the 'kink' in the otherwise straight Watling Street/modern High Street (Fig. IB). A graveyard once existed to the south of the church, but was removed with part of the west nave to enable road widening. A probably slightly later graveyard was located to the north of the church in the area to be developed. The last burial is thought to have occurred towards the end of the eighteenth century (John Gilbert, Church Historian. pers. comm.) The site was cleared by hand of loose soil that had accumulated during shoring work following the machine excavation. The shoring effectively prevented the sections of the excavated trench (Fig. 1 C) from being archaeologically recorded and as such the deposits removed prior to archaeological excavation were correlated with those studied during the evaluation. The section from the evaluation (see Fig. 1 C, S l and Fig. 3, S 1) is deemed representative of the site's stratigraphy. All remaining skeletons were assigned an indi victual skeleton number and briefly recorded before lifting. The position and orientation of the burials were planned before lifting (Fig. 2). The skeletal numbering, which was separate from the general context numbering system, began at eight, taking into account the seven skeletons recovered during the evaluation. A section of the northern baulk of the excavation was cleaned and a test-pit sunk into the gravels at this point to facilitate the study of these deposits (Fig. 2B: GSF section). Following the completion of the main archaeological excavation. the site was visited a number of times in order to inspect further deep groundworks within the previously excavated area and other groundworks in the vicinity of the trench. These vis its produced more artefacts but little new data regarding the development of the site. 77 A B 0 N / GREG PRIESTLEY-BELL AND LUKE BARBER / - 1 -·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-·-· 7 i I i \ i 19 0! . 􀀄 I l{-""r-. . 260_, ___ I I 240-- 18C ·1 􀁄c 35C 22􀁅􀁆j 5m . 32C ,-:::-􀀇--•E- 􀁇Oj I I 􀀉a-􀀊1 / 􀁈- -- . , 370,_91f'"-f{31C I I 􀁉14C 13C􀁊30C ·- """'-:􀀈 I -,:::; I --.. 11c "- '-􀀜<-"----' 450 39 􀁋_36C ---·-·-·-·J Position of Crypt Sf 􀀾,i;;::: "" \ 38 C I 28C .;F,, "'- - l!'5; ·41C _ qa-. _,1...::;: - C 43='= 􀀿34B I ,, 􀀯􀀰 iso--j:; 􀀱s􀀲5::l􀀳c ! 16 C 􀀊-=-