DDAG Goes back to School

The Dartford District Archaeological Group has been carrying out an exploratory excavation on the site of the former C. of E. School, West Hill, Dartford.

An E/W trial trench was dug across a grassed area formerly used by school children for recreation.

Natural chalk was reached at varying depths as our work proceeded down the hill to the school buildings. An amount of roofing tile fragments of possible medieval date were found, as well as pottery sherds dating back to Roman times.

At the eastern end of the trench, just as our work was about to finish, a feature was revealed which turned out to be an inhumation burial. An examination of the skeletal material showed it to be a male in his 40s; there was a slight fracture to the skull, but other than that, there were no other clues as to the reason for death.

One possible reason for the burial here was that it related to a medieval leper hospital which stood on West Hill, just below the school buildings. It was established before 1330 and dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene and St. Laudus. It was later used as almshouses, finally being demolished and replaced by a new set of almshouses in 1704. This building known as the Twisleton Almshouses still remains today. Unfortunately, as the skeleton was incomplete due to the foot of the grave being lost by erosion of the hillside, it was not possible to say whether this individual suffered from leprosy.

A second trench was dug lower down the hillside on the southern end of the school site. This has so far shown that the hillside was terraced away when the school was established there from 1826, leaving little in the way of stratigraphy.

Recently, a new area of excavation has commenced close to the findspot of the inhumation burial. This work may hopefully reveal whether it was a solitary burial or part of a larger cemetery.

Our excavation at West Hill has been made possible by the kind permission of the Diocese of Rochester with financial support from Dartford Arts Council.

Chris Baker,
Director, Dartford District Archaeological Group.