Archaeology at West Hythe: excavations in October 1996

The existence of a middle to late Saxon settlement at West Hythe at the north eastern end of Romney Marsh has long been known to archaeologists and historians, and is recognised as being of national importance for the study of the development of settlement and trade between the 8th and 12th centuries A.D. The settlement named as Sandtun in an original 8th century charter dated 732 was located on an extensive sand dune which now extends from the foot of the Greensand escarpment at Lympne Hill south-west to Sandy Ridge and the re aligned course of the Willop Sewer. This coastal feature originated as a shingle bar or storm beach upon which thick layers of wind-blown sands accumulated between the early lst century and the 7th century. The charter of 732 also described the bounds of the settlement, and refers to the presence of salt pans in the locality. The settlement appears to have been occupied through to the 11th century, perhaps as late as the mid late 12th or early 13th century. By that date changes in the coastline meant that the sand dune was inaccessible from the sea, and the settlement had shifted first to West Hythe at the foot of the escarpment and then to Hythe.

Since the 1950s a considerable area of the former dunes has been occupied by piecemeal residential developments, and prior to this the southern part, close to the site of the former isolation hospital, was subject to quarrying. Excavations which took place between July and September 1947 and again in 1948 within the latter area exposed part of the settlement of Sandtun and showed that the sand dune was occupied first between the mid 7th century and the mid 9th century. Finds of imported pottery demonstrated that trade with Merovingian and Carolingian Gaul was carried on from this coastal settlement. Other finds indicated clearly that sea-fishing was important in the economy of the local community. Recent finds include early 8th century scaeattas (representatives of the earliest Anglo-Saxon coinage) an issue of Pepin the Short, as well as pennies of the later 8thlearly 9th century of Coenwulf and Eadberht Praen, all of which appear support the importance of the settlement as a trading centre.

The results of the 1947-8 excavations were never published, but luckily the material was stored in the British Museum. A project is now underway to bring the results of those excavations to publication. This is to be combined with a new programme of field survey and research directed by Dr Mark Gardiner of The Queen's University, Belfast in 1997. At the same time the redevelopment for residential housing of ground immedi ately to the south of the area explored in 194 7-48 and now occupied by the redundant Dykeside Farm buildings has provided the opportunity to carry out a series of archaeo logical excavations.

The first such excavation was carried out in October 1996 by the Canterbury Archaeo logjcal Trust, to discharge a condition placed on a planning approval by Shepway District Council for the development of a plot immediately south of Dykeside Farm on the western edge of the sand dunes. The earliest deposits recorded probably formed part of a substantial sand bank containing water-rolled Roman tile and pottery. This had developed in the post-Roman period and was bounded on the west by a lagoon and on the south and east by the sea. Water-lain and wind-blown sand then capped the earlier horizons. Two east-west trenches were hand-excavated across the northern and southern margins of the development site. Whilst the broad stratigraphic sequence has been worked out, soil micro-morphological analysis is as yet incomplete, so that at this stage the evolution of the sand dunes is unclear in the northern trench. Across the southernmost trench, however, a sequence of late post-13th century humic soils overlay a ditch, the fill of which contained 10th-12th century pottery, including sherds of North French/Flemish wares. This ditch feature was traced in the subsequent foundation trenches for the new building following a north-south alignment across the site, and probably was a field boundary laid out along the westernmost edge of the dunes in the medieval period, when the area may have been put down to cultivation.

Much of the central area of the site had been subject to extensive machine clearance prior to the commencement of the excavations, but within this area an isolated linear midden-type feature located on the upper edges of the dune cut through a distinctive deposit of yellow sand. The fill contained pottery of later 8th-10th century date, fish hooks, animal bone, an iron nail and fragments of silt-stone worked for the manufacture of spindle-whorls, as well as considerable quantities of cockle shell and fish bone, an assemblage similar to that found in 1947-48. No evidence was found for structural features, but the presence of this midden, together with the recovery of unstratified finds of an 8th-10th century key and an early 8th century sceat suggests nearby occupation. Moreover, this feature is located some 150m south of the 1947-48 excavations, which suggests that the mid-late Saxon settlement originally extended over a consider able area.

Too little evidence was recovered from this excavation to provide a clear picture of site type, form or associated land use. Further development along the eastern edge of the dunes abutting the west side of West Hythe Road are, however, to proceed during 1997 and further archaeological work is planned based on open area excavation.

Richard Cross
Canterbury Archaeological Trust