Sandwich before the Cinque Port: Initial findings of The Sandwich Project

Initial findings of The Sandwich Project

Since October 2004, English Heritage has been supporting the Sandwich Project, a multi-disciplinary approach to the development of Sandwich from its origins to 1600. The idea for the project was taken by Sarah Pearson, a building historian and specialist in Kentish medieval buildings, based on surveys of some of the over 150 domestic buildings which survive in Sandwich from before 1600 and which make it arguably the ‘most complete medieval town in England’. She soon realised that although the buildings formed a unique historical record, very limited research was being undertaken, usage and social status were not in the research, their significance would be greatly enhanced if such studies as had been done were collated.

Thus, archaeologists, documentary historians, geologists and many others have been brought in to supplement the skills of the building historian with their own particular specialisms. All will collaborate in the three-year project, the first fully integrated study of any historic small town in England, and will publish their results in a popular book designed for general readers, with a more detailed scholarly report being submitted to English Heritage. The Sandwich Project has been designed to include research into the hinterland of the town and its port as well as its historic core, as it is the land occupied from the 11th century when Sandwich was designated a Cinque Port. Virtually all the surviving medieval buildings stand cheek by jowl in an area no more than 1km from east to west and 500m from north to south and divided by three medieval streets, from east to west: Harnet Street, Strand Street, Market Street and King Street, and from north to south: Delf Street, New Street and Church Street. Within this area, buildings formed a unique historical record, which is still largely intact.

Although there are gaps, buildings formed a unique historical record, and survive from before 1500. They include those in Strand Street which have already been dated by dendrochronology to before 1338 (Nottingham University Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory report, commissioned by English Heritage, Centre for Archaeology, 2001). Within the town, there is a complex interrelationship of buildings, status, usage and social class, all of which contribute to the town's story and are of interest to the Sandwich Project.

The project aims to use dendrochronology to date the remaining buildings and test the hypothesis that Sandwich is the ‘most complete medieval town in England’. The town was probably divided into areas of housing for the richer and poorer townsfolk, as identified in later tax returns and there is no reason to think that this was not the case in the early period. The group is also keen to investigate the possibility of finding evidence of an earlier Saxon settlement in Sandwich and perhaps evidence of an 8th century Roman occupation. Although this is less likely, the project will investigate the historic record which hints at an early Roman presence.

ABOVE: House in Strand Street tree-ring dated to 1338 (Nottingham University Tree-Ring Dating Laboratory, report to English Heritage, Centre for Archaeology, 2001).