Whitefriars Highlights
Between November 1999 and December 2003, the Whitefriars area of Canterbury was the scene of the largest series of excavations ever undertaken within the city. Working behind the demolition contractors, and ahead of the construction teams, Canterbury Archaeological Trust was involved in a rolling programme of work investigating some 5% of the area contained within the city walls. Three major open-area excavations were undertaken, at times employing up to 65 archaeological excavators, together with numerous finds and support staff. In addition, the project was interspersed by a series of smaller site investigations and an almost continual watching brief presence.
Looking back over the four years of site work, it is not difficult to pick out some of the many highlights. The Roman town houses, with their evidence of under-floor heating systems (see overleaf), floors with mosaic panels, and fine painted walls, would rank highly. These were probably the residences of the towns elite and probably dated to the third century AD. Another feature would have to be the wall turret, abutted against the line of the Roman town wall, erected in AD 270-90 as part of the settlement’s defences. Still standing some 1.50m high, it was a totally unexpected discovery. Perhaps the most intriguing Roman discovery, however, was the line of eight articulated bodies buried unceremoniously within a shallow ditch. The bodies had been placed in the ditch at different times, since some were intercutting, with apparently little care for their positioning; one was buried face down, another with its limbs tucked under the body. Of probable fourth century date, yet buried within the town walls, their nature and location appears to show scant disregard for the normal Roman burial practices.
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Cleaning the subterranean vaulted latrine.
Representing the Anglo-Saxon period would be the intact lengths of cobbled roads, possibly the earliest evidence for the origin of Canterbury’s street plan, as well as the many sunken-floored structures which were located across the development area. Interestingly, these were nearly always located along or adjacent to the lengths of former Roman roads, suggesting some form of continuity for these early routes. Another Anglo-Saxon feature of note, probably of tenth century date, was a cellared structure which, after abandonment, had been partly backfilled and the body of a young woman lain centrally within it. This is one of the many instances where archaeology can only tell part of the story: was this the burial of the occupant? We shall never know.
The most dominant medieval structure was the Austin friary, later called Whitefriars and so giving its name to this area of Canterbury. Documentary evidence indicates that the establishment, founded in 1324, finally covered an area of 1.5 acres, and a large part of this area was uncovered during the course of the Whitefriars project. These were parts of the church, main cloister, possible infirmary cloister and significant elements of the southern range which included the kitchens, refectory, dormitory and the latrine. The latter (see above) was quite spectacular, being formed from a large subterranean vaulted structure.
vaulted structure, set down into the ground to a height of some 5.50m, and containing the most wonderful sequence of cess deposits. These will undoubtedly shed light on the diet and health of the friars.
Alongside the archaeological work was an ambitious programme of public involvement, principally taking the form of a ‘Big Dig’ visitor centre. This public involvement initiative enabled people to view the excavations in progress from an aerial walkway, where volunteer stewards were on hand to explain what was happening. Alongside was a visitor centre displaying some of the finds, together with information boards explaining previous and ongoing work. The visitor centre attracted many people during the course of the project, perhaps the most rewarding groups being the school parties, many of whom will have left with a far greater understanding of Canterbury’s archaeology than they had before.
With completion of the excavation work just before Christmas last year, a programme of post excavation analysis is now in full swing. With thousands upon thousands of artefacts to process and analyse, paper records and plans to examine and photographs to study, this is no mean task, and it is not projected to finish until summer 2007. However, when complete, the resulting publications on the Whitefriars area of Canterbury will undoubtedly rewrite the history of this important city.
Alison Hicks
Whitefriars Project Co-Director
CANTERBURY’S X-RAY UNIT PROBES BIG DIG FINDS
Canterbury Archaeological Trust’s compact Faxitron X-ray analysis unit is working overtime helping to assess thousands of metal artefacts from the Whitefriars series of excavations.
The X-ray equipment was purchased last year following a £6,000 donation from the Friends of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust. This was followed last November by a second donation to fund training for Trust Conservation Assistant Adrian Murphy. He spent two days at Bradford University’s Archaeological X-ray Unit, deepening his understanding of the latest X-ray techniques for non intrusive assessment of metal objects.
Adrian Murphy says: “The Bradford course was very valuable, especially the part of the programme concerned with digitising and enhancing images. This training came at just the right time as we are now very busy with objects from Whitefriars, which range from iron knives, household and architectural fittings, to bronze mounts, coins (for identification) and rather delicate cosmetic items such as tweezers and ear scoops.
Adrian Murphy examines some of the recent X-rays of objects found in Whitefriars.
We have two main tasks. The first is to examine objects and identify those which require assessment and conservation by specialists. Here, it is important to set priorities as funds for conservation are limited. Secondly, we are available to provide instant support for experts who may require X-ray photography of particular artefacts.
Thanks to the Friends’ successful fund-raising, we no longer need to despatch these objects around the country for X-ray analysis. We have the equipment at our Canterbury headquarters. It is available at all times and is likely to continue to save money for the Trust for years to come.”
The 5cm diameter disc and its 'instant' X-ray showing the heraldic design.
The major advantage of X-ray assessment is that the technique is entirely non destructive. It is also ‘instant’, revealing the original form of a metal object and any fine detail, such as decoration. One recent example is a disc, with a 5 cm diameter and 1 cm thick, found during the Whitefriars excavations. This copper alloy disc bears an heraldic design in relief (possibly part-enamelled).
* Membership of the Friends of the Canterbury Archaeological Trust has been increasing over the past six months. More members are needed, however, to support Canterbury’s professional archaeologists in important tasks, including the processing of the Whitefriars finds. Contact Canterbury Archaeological Trust (on 01227 462062), or complete the form enclosed with this issue, to become a member of the Friends network.