Lower Medway Archaeological Research Group; Building Recording: May 1992. 24 High St Rochester

Lower Medway Archaeological Research Group: Building Recording: May 1992. 24 High St Rochester

24 High St Rochester. Members of LMARG were invited by Lanton Park Ltd. to survey a building in Rochester High St. No. 24 High St., a Grade II Listed building TQ7468 NW7/48, one of a row of timber-framed buildings on the southwest side of the High St. about 200m. from the Medway and Rochester Bridge. The back yard of the house includes a section of the old Town Moat framed by part of the Castle curtain wall as it circles the edge of the castle mound. The house plot is a narrow strip, one of several radiating from the castle mound, probably reflecting Anglo-Saxon dwelling sites. The immediate area of the house has been examined piecemeal in widely separated archaeological excavations, e.g. No. 32 (Cobbs), 'The George' the 'King's Head' etc. and existing buildings, largely of Georgian/Victorian periods, display evidence of medieval undercrofts, overlying Roman and earlier deposits.

The Building: is the northern hall, No. 26 being the southern, of a timber-framed building dating at least from the 17th century. Presently, the front of the brick-faced building is in good condition and there is a lock-up shop occupying the front ground floor, while the rest of the building is in a very dilapidated state, particularly the rear which is neither weathertight nor secure. Many of the timbers that survive, especially those adjacent to No. 22 are very old, but are severely damaged by wood-boring beetle (Lyctus). The raising of the first-floor level in the early part of the eighteenth century, and subsequent alteration of the second floor and roof levels, along with the continuous repair and patching of the structure with inferior timber has reduced the options for preserving this building as an integral unit with historical value because the timbers of the frame have little, if any, structural integrity.

The Basement: The basement has a dirt floor, which has been well swept, thus anticipated coal dust was minimal. The lack of debris from previous occupation indicated that the basement had not been subjected to hard use, or even to much use at all until recent times, and had been well cleared. The shop floor joists above had been given prop supports to add strength, but all had rotted away at their base because lack of ventilation provided excellent conditions for the development of Merulius fungus, although there was no appreciable dampness in the basement due to rain penetration. No natural light penetrated the basement and, as there was also no mains electricity supply, our work had to be carried out with camping-gas lamps and electric torches. The visible ragstone blocks looked, at first impression, like the construction used in other C14th. undercrofts in the High Street but closer examination showed them to be more regular and less worn and therefore less ancient. The first cut in the basement floor was made about 300m. from the party wall of No. 22, near the blocked stairway. Within the first 25mm. of surface dirt Roman sherds were found. This was a surprise, for it was expected that, in common with other Rochester sites, deposits of Victorian and Georgian material would be found when the wall foundations were examined. The first cut was carefully extended to the wall and the lack of foundation for the ragstone blocks revealed. The blocks were laid with about 25mm. of mortar directly onto reddish brickearth, which contained the sherds and continued under the wall into No. 22. The cut was gradually extended to about 2m. long by 1m. wide across the width of the basement, until 300mm. depth was cleared and an apparently natural soil level shown. A line of flints forming a right angle was exposed near the party wall, which could indicate an earlier wall on this site of the Roman occupation period. No defined edge for the deposited material was observed, and therefore we could not establish whether the material was in a pit or had been laid on an earlier surface and built up, or even relaid during building operations in C17th. We were only given four hours notice to vacate the premises so that shopfitting work could be undertaken, and time only remained to replace the sifted soil and other basement debris in the cut.

Interpretation: In C.1st. a roadside kitchen serving passing trade on Watling Street dumped its rubbish in a convenient midden, or as the quality of the pottery is good the rubbish could have been dumped by the Roman garrison kitchen or from a nearby house of one of the civic officials. There were no indications of the level of the Roman road as we did not approach the assumed line of this road in the basement.

Post Roman: When the area of the building site was excavated in C17th. to a depth of 1.6 m. all the accumulated rubbish and any building debris of Saxon or early Medieval period had been removed. A sill of this height was then built and the wall plates for the house construction laid on this sub wall. The sill walls are of Kent ragstone blocks, with the occasional smaller block of local sandstone. The blocks are close set in lime mortar, and the whole sill laid on a thin bed of brickearth 25mm. thick, and 50mm. wider than the sill on its inside edge.

Notes on archaeological examination of Basement.

It is important that future refurbishment of the house does not damage the basement area, unless proper archaeological examination is completed, for a lot may be discovered on this site relating to:

1. The line of the Roman road and its surface level(s).

2. The land surface leading to the castle mound.

3. Indications of any Roman civic buildings.

4. More detailed examination of the artifacts and soil conditions of the time.

5. Possible pre-Roman material.

After initial construction the sill plates were removed and a few brick courses added to the ragstone wall to increase the height of the basement area to make it a usable storage space, perhaps for coal - and possibly also to account for the rising level of the High Street road surface - thus bringing the basement height to approximately 2.0m. All original sill timbers were removed at this time and a central chimney stack added, which meant that a supporting wall was built in the center of the basement to take the weight of the stack and fireplaces on the first floor above. Two sets of stairs were provided from the basement, one on each side of the chimney wall to the ground floor. The northwest stairs were blocked when a new shop floor was laid, while the other was provided with a flush-trap cover set in the ground floor.

The Ground Floor: Is approximately 180mm. above its original level (see Basement notes) consequently no original material exists in its original location, except perhaps the timbers of the adjacent wall to No. 22, which may represent some of the C17th. timbers of the kitchen, smoke bay or service area at the rear of the building. The chamfered ceiling beams are of the correct period but had been repositioned when the ceiling was moved upwards, and could therefore equally be reused timbers from another location.

The First Floor: The fine quality, shuttered 12 pane, hornless sash windows overlooking the High Street are in excellent condition, with what appears to be original painted surfaces, and freely mobile shutter hinges. These should be retained at all costs with the building facade. Access to the first floor at present is by way of the stairwell - as the staircase itself has been removed - which effectively divides the first floor in two (and makes access interesting!) with the living room or main room above the front of the shop and the day room, where family life would have been centered, to the rear.

Nothing remains of the earlier structure before the present level of the first floor was created, also all features on this floor date from the raising of the floor level.

Above the first floor, the splendid mast newel stair is a delight! It is solid, of ample proportions and very user-friendly. The stairway is of oak, with an oak newel post and provides us with positive dating evidence of a style from the turn of the C16th. to C17th.

Two three-quarter panels of oak wainscotting with well-cut linenfold moldings which terminate with cross incisions, were found in a horizontal position, forming rough paneling under the stairs. The method of insertion of the second-floor joists and used throughout this building is the fairly uncommon practice of chase morticing - in this case horizontally chased mortice jointing. The floor timbers are reasonably sound, as are the boards in all rooms on the first floor.

The Second Floor: Almost certainly housed the family's bedrooms and bathroom in the late C18th. this date being attributed to both the firegrates. Opposite the stairs is a small room which was the Victorian bathroom and in its southwestern or rear wall is a pretty sliding or York sash dating from the C18th. The two fine unshuttered hornless sashes are in excellent condition and the style dates, with the exterior of the building, to between the C18th. and mid C19th. Prior to its present construction, the northwest wall adjacent to No. 22 shows the flashing and roof lines of the earlier building only halfway up the wall behind the old frame. This indicates that the building had at least one gable projecting towards the High Street, and probably two, with the pitch of the roof being parallel to the road. At first floor level and upwards, the facade is of fine laid Georgian brick, with flat rubbed brick arches over 12 pane hornless sashes, two on the first floor and two on the second, with two six paned sashes to the third floor under a brown brick parapet with a string course. A hipped corrugated sheet iron roof caps the building.

Peter Dawson.
Lower Medway Archaeological Research Group.