Researches and Discoveries in Kent 1915-1919

( 153 ) RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT. 1915—1919. GREENWICH. I t may be interesting to know that Mr. Reginald Woodham of Catford, the Contractor, recently told me that some time back, when his firm was laying a sewer in Park Street, Greenwich, his men broke into some old vaults or graves about halfway between the river and the Woolwich Road. The vaults were four in number, about 7 feet by 4 feet and 5 feet high. The sewer was filled in as soon as possible, lest the news should get about and the work be delayed at the contractor's expense. Mr. Woodham tells me he has frequently had to cut into and across the Roman roads in the district. L. M. BIDBN. . 8 January 1919. SANDWICH DISTRICT. PARAMOR GRANGKE, NEAR ASH.—Some mural paintings were found on the walls of a room in this house, and have been seen by the President, Lord Northbourne, and the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Cooke, and reported on by them. OLD ARCHES AT SANDWICH.—On pulling down a house which stands between the Pillory Gate and the Barbican, on the river side of Strand Street, Sandwich, some pointed arches and part of an old wall were exposed under the partywall of the next house, No. 14. It is possible that these arches formed part of a building called the King's Castle (not the King's Castle outside the town). They were inspected by the President and Mr. Cooke. VOIi. xxxiv. M 154 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT. THE OLD HOUSE AT THE CORNER OF QUAT LANE.—This house has been purchased by Mr. Raggett of Manwood Court, and is now in good hands. It was becoming very dilapidated, and will require careful repairs. There are good plaster ceilings in some rooms, and royal arms in plaster over the fireplace in the lower room. RICHBOROUGH.—22 November 1918. Mr. G. C. Solley reports : " In making an excavation about 4 feet below the surface near the castle, about half-way up the hill from the foot crossing, some foundations (of a possibly Roman wall) have to-day been found." Lest at any future time coins or other relics should be discovered in Sandwich Bay, it ought to be recorded that much earth has been removed thither from Richborough Castle— earth which may possibly contain traces of the former occupants of Richborough; but under the circumstances it must not be assumed that such finds lie in their original resting place. A great quantity of earth was taken from the castle for making up several of the gardens to the new houses at Sandwich Bay. I have not yet been able to ascertain exactly to which house it was taken, but it is said to be one of the new houses near the sea. STEPHEN MANSER. 17 January 1919. SHEPPEY, ISLE OF. COINS. In the course of recent trenching works the following finds were made :— 2 coins, copper, Hadrian, 117—138. 1 coin, copper, Maximin, 286—310. Both these Emperors were in Sheppey for considerable periods during their visits to Britain. One of the coins is stated by the authorities of the British Museum to have been minted in Alexandria. Silver coins of the time of Julius Csesar, died B.C. 44. At Minster a silver coin of Alexander II. of Scotland RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES itt' KEN*. 155 (1214—1249). This was given to the Antiquarian Society of Edinburgh. It was the best specimen they had. A silver coin of Henry III. of England was dug up at Warden. No pottery was found except some Roman tiles. JOHN COPLAND. June, 1918, BURHAM. Communicated by GEORGE PAYNE, F.S.A. In Archceologia Cantiana, Vol. XXIII. , p. 12, I recorded the presence of Roman masonry traced over a considerable area, on the Barham Cement Company's land. The Rev. E. E. Le Bas reports that he has been permitted to make some further researches there, when he found the wall of a Roman building, and traced it for 30 feet in a north-easterly direction. He also met with other walls at a depth of 8 feet. Unless a large sum of money is forthcoming, it is useless to open portions here and there. If the foundations of ancient buildings cannot be fully worked out it is better to let them alone, where they are safe from disintegration and destruction. DOVER. Mr. T. W. Whitley, C.E., furnishes particulars of discoveries made in and around the town. At Dover, pottery, tiles, animal bones and bronze fragments near the market opposite the bank. One of the tiles bears the stamp CL.BK, which the late Mr. Roach Smith, F.S.A., interpreted Classiarii or Olassici Britannici (British troops trained to sea warfare— Marines.) * The correctness of this reading is exemplified by the later discovery, also at Lymne,t of an altar erected by . AVKDIVS PANTERA PRAEFECT CLAS BRIT . There was also found built up in an old wall at Messrs. * Eichborough, Reculver and Lymne, p. 268. f Excavations at Pevensey and Lyme, plates vi, vi i ; p, 24( 156 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT. Dickenson's premises in Queen Street, Dover, a sculptured head of a Roman figure, shewn in FIGURE. My friend Robert Blair, F.S.A., of South Shields, confirms Mr. Whitley's opinion of its Roman date. Between Folkestone and Dover, at Hougham, during building operations, Roman interments were found, with a terra-cotta lamp and part of a glass vessel. Near Castle Hill, Folkestone, on Terlingham Farm, coins were unearthed of Antoninus and of the Constantines; at Farthingloe Farm, Hougham, pottery, with piece of embossed pseudo-Samian ware. At Capel Farm, near Folkestone, coins occurred of Vespasian, Antoninus Pius, Lucilla and Germanicus, all of large brass; also two of second brass of Gratian and Julius Crispus. FOLKESTONE. Mr. 0. Hastings Stevens has made an interesting find at Folkestone. When digging in an allotment in Radnor Park, west of Julian Road, he came upon a Roman cinerary urn, and about 4 feet to the north-west of it another smaller urn, jug and food-cup. Both urns were upright and partly filled with calcined bones; the jug was standing in the food-cup and slightly inclined. They were about 10 inches below the surface. The larger urn is quite plain and of the usual hard, dark-coloured pottery. The calcined bones it contained consist chiefly of bones of vertebras and fragments of ribs and skull. In the smaller urn, of lighter and more graceful shape, the bones were more completely consumed; the remains more porous, and apparently those of a child. The jug is a red, rough, coarse ware, quite entire. The food-cup is pseudo-Samian, with a good smooth glaze, quite plain. There were also the remains of two fibulas, and half a very small unguent bottle, about 1 inch in height. Some fragments of pottery were found in the near neighbourhood, two pieces being black (Upchurch), apparently portions of a fairly large vase. DOVER. Profile and full-face views of a Sculptured Stone Head, Roman Work, found built into an old wall at Messrs. Dickensons' in Queen Street. Photo, Amos, Dover. RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT. 15? Site of larger urn 8 ft. from north side and 22 ft. 6 ins. from west end of plot 17, off Wilton Road. Larger Urn, 8T 8^ ins. high, 7 ins. wide. Smaller Urn, 5 | ins. high, 5£ ins. wide. Jug, 5 | ins. high, 4 | ins. wide. Cup, If ins. high, 3f ins. wide. A. RANDALL DAVIS. May 1918. IGHTHAM. Mr. Benjamin Harrison contributes some notes on discoveries in the district. By the head of a stream called the " Busty" much burnt earth was met with, ashes, calcined stones and fragments of some sixty urns, suggesting that this spot may have been the site of a bustum or ustrinum. Similar places, where bodies have been cremated, in close proximity to Roman interments, were occasionally met with by the writer in past years in the neighbourhood of Sittingbourne. At Patchgrove Wood, east of the above, near Oldbury Camp, much debris of pottery, remains of several urns, some Roman and others perhaps earlier, many flint flakes and large blocks of Oldbury stone have been found. MILTON BY SITTINGBOURNE. My correspondent, Mr. S. Nicholls, Portreeve of the ancient town, informs me that in a field close to the old church, near the stream, in the process of digging for gravel a great quantity of burnt earth was brought to light, with Roman tiles and. potsherds strewn over the place, similar to that met with at Ightham. This must be taken in connection with the important discoveries made near by, and recorded in the writer's Collectanea'Cantiana, pp. 23—33. A further report states that heaps of human bones were met with in a field on the north-east side of the church, facing Kemsley Downs. 158 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN &EN*. Mr. Nicholls has been instrumental in the opening up of two fourteenth-century windows, that were formerly blocked and concealed from view, in the porch of Milton Church. STROOD. WOODSTOCK ROAD. During slight excavations for a drain the grave of a Jute was met with, about 4 feet from the surface. The writer, on clearing it out, found a skeleton lying at length, east and west, head to the west; the legs were crossed just below the knees, the right leg over the left. On the right side of the skull lay an iron spear-head, and by the waist the iron umbo of a shield with its cross-bar for handle. The site of the interment is on Mr. Beckford Ball's property, near the Roman Way at Strood Hill. WROTHAM. At the pumping station at White Fields, between Wrotham and Nepicar, skeletons of some of the Jutisb. settlers came to light, and Mr. Harrison obtaiued an iron spear-head, a gold ornament, and a bronze brooch or buckle. At Bradford Piatt other skeletons of the same period were found. An iron spear-head, a bronze ring with two beads strung upon it, and a bronze buckle were secured. Through the kindness of Mr. W. Coles Finch, the Engineer of the Chatham Waterworks Company, I was enabled to secure a hoard of eighty small brass coins that were found in a bag, at the back of a drawer, by an old lady to whom the chest of drawers belonged. Whether they were found in the neighbourhood of Rochester cannot be determined, but from their general appearance and uniform patination, and tho fact of all belonging to one period—some to tho end of tho third century, and the majority to the fourth century—I oame at RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT. 159 once to the conclusion that they had been found in a hoard. They were, as it will be seen, chiefly minted at Treves, but some of the mint marks are difiicuit to decipher. The list of the coins is as follows:— CONSTANTIUS I. (CHLORUS). 1. P. L. IVL OONSTANTIVS NOBC. 2 soldiers, ensign between. Gloria Exercitus. T R P. 2. 8. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. T R S. T R P. 2 ensigns between. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. T R P. R P T. * T R P ijc. S)C I» L 0 ifs . P C N ST. T R S. T R P. T R P. T R S. HELENA (WIFE OP CONSTANTIUS CHLORUS). 1. PL JVL HELENA AVG. Securitas Reipublicaj. Securitas. T R P. 2. Ditto. 3. Ditto. 4. Ditto. OONSTANTINUS. 1. OONSTANTINVS. 2 soldiers, military ensign between them. Gloria Exercitus. T.R.S, RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT. CONSTANTINVS. Same, on shield of ensign monogram of Chrisfc. T R P. CONSTANTINVS. Same as No. 1. P T R. CONSTANTINVS. Same as No. 2. CONST. Monogram of Christ. CONSTANTINVS. 2 soldiers, 2 ensigns between them. Same as No. 1. T R S. CONSTANTINVS. Same as No. 5. T R P S. CONSTANTINVS. Same as No. 5. T R P. CONSTANTINVS. Same as No. 5. CONSTANTINVS. Same as No. 5. IEP, CONSTANTINVS. Same as No. 5. CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG. Same as No. '5. CONSTANTINVS MAX AVG. Same as No. 5. PIC. CONSTANTINVS MAX NOB. Same as No. 5. CONSTANTINVS. (Broken.) CONSTANTINE II. (JUNIOE). CONSTANTINVS JVN NO. 2 soldiers, 1 ensign between. Gloria Exercitus. Ditto, T R s. Ditto. Star PIO, Ditto. CONSTANTINVS JVN NOBO. 2 soldiers, 2 ensigns between. * n o ^ RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT. 161 CoNSTANTINOPOLIS. CONSTANTINOPOLIS. Helmeted bust of the city of Constantinople personified, the hasta pura on her shoulder. Figure of Victory with spear and shield. Jfc p L c. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 32. 13. 1. 2. 8. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. * in the field, ^ C P I C . , T R P. P L C . P L C . T R S. T U S ^ : . T R S. T E S i(t. ,. P C 0 N S T. •j URBS ROMA. VRBS ROMA. % T R S * . Wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, ! Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. Ditto. ^ P t C . Palm between 2 stars above. ' 2 stars above. 2 stars, wreath between above. ditto. 2 stars above. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. ditto. VOL. XXXIV, T R P. T R P. T R P. T. R. P. T R S. T R S. T R P. T R C. T R P. N 162 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT. SUMMARY. Constantius Chlorus Helena . Constantinus I. Constantinus II. Constantinopolis Urbs Roma Defaced . 16 4 14 5 13 18 . 10 SO During the past few years no excavations of any magnitude have taken place, and building operations have almost ceased, hence nothing has been met with of any importance. A complete account of what was discovered during the military trenching works that were going on all over the country has not transpired, and it may be presumed that most of the objects found were appropriated by the finders.