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Monument details
| HER Number: | TR 15 NW 2214 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Medieval Pits, 34a High Street (Fleur de Lis Yard) |
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Summary
In Trench I a series of Medieval Pits were seen cutting the ealier Roman depositsa, one contained pottery dated from the late 12th to 14th century as well as a residual late Saxon sherd.
| Grid Reference: | TR 1482 5784 |
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| Map Sheet: | TR15NW |
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| Parish: | CANTERBURY, CANTERBURY, KENT |
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Monument Types
- OCCUPATION SITE (Medieval to Unknown - 1101 AD)
- PIT (Medieval - 1101 AD to 1400 AD)
Full description
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Three trenches were dug in the yard of the former Fleur de Lis Yard in 1955 by The Canterbury Excavation Committee, they were coded CXXVIIIB. The trenches revealed much disturbance, but remains of walls and part of a substantially bedded, very worn tessellated pavement were found together with much Roman building debris which included wall-veneers of various marbles. This seemed to confirm the presence of a public building in this area.
The function of the Roman building is not clear; a hearth in Trench III may perhaps indicate a house or a shop, but this may belong to another building. The presence of many exotic marble fragments makes it certain that there was a public building somewhere here. The site lies over 122m NNW of the known area of the public baths in St Margaret's Street and is unlikely to have formed part of that establishment. Whether it formed part of the forum is impossible to decide in view of the small area examined and of the narrowness of the wall found. This wall, however, was only an internal one, and certainly the richness of the marble veneers suggests a public function.
Dating evidence for the building was sparse but a rebuild of the SE to NW wall dates to the second half of the fourth century or later. In Trench I a series of Medieval Pits were seen cutting the ealier Roman deposits mentioned above, one contained pottery dated from the late 12th to 14th century as well as a residual late Saxon sherd.
Andrews, G., 1985, The Archaeology of Canterbury: An Assessment (Unpublished document). SKE30429.
Frere, S., Bennett, P., Rady, J., Stow, S., 1987, Excavations Intra- and Extra-mural Sites 1949-55 and 1980-84 (Monograph). SKE29800.
Sources and further reading
| Cross-ref.
| Source description | | --- | Monograph: Frere, S., Bennett, P., Rady, J., Stow, S.. 1987. Excavations Intra- and Extra-mural Sites 1949-55 and 1980-84. |
| --- | Unpublished document: Andrews, G.. 1985. The Archaeology of Canterbury: An Assessment. |
