Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Archaeological works revealed several fragments of the southern part of the medieval town and precinct wall in Rochester.

Monument Types

• TOWN WALL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD (at some time))
• WALL (Post Medieval - 1540 AD? to 1887 AD (at some time))

Full description

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1998 observations. Part of the boley hill repaving project:

At the junction of St. Margaret's Street and King's School Road (the Precinct), a 1.60m section of north-south running wall was observed (at 574178,168430), just north of the fragment recorded in 2003 (see below). A sandy yellow mortar bonded the chalk rubble of the wall. The wall had retained its facing on its western side, but was robbed away on its eastern face, although the facing may survive at a lower level. In total the wall was c 1.25m in width. The width recorded would be sufficient for a wall walk to be present. The report describes this stretch of wall as being part of the last phase of the medieval expansion of the precinct.

A further length of the Precinct/Town Wall was observed running across the entire width of Archdeaconry Road, the Precinct (at 574255,168415). It was of two distinct builds, set at different angles and presumed to represent two moments in time. The western portion was earlier and on the same alignment as the line of Priors Gate wall east; the eastern length kinked to the south. The report suggests that the eastern section may have formed part of the blocking of an opening in this stretch of the wall, once accessed by a causeway (?) across the King's Orchard Ditch. This Ditch seemed to run in parallel to Priors Gate Wall east, along the line of 'King's School Road'. The ditch cut and fill may have been observed in Archdeaconry road and King's School road.

Further stretches of wall were picked up to the north running along Boley Hill and College Yard, NW of the cathedral. Two sections were recorded on the west side of the later graveyard (sandwiched between Boley Hill and College Yard). They were separated by a gap, which may mark the position of a gate shown on a 1633 map. The section to the north of the gap is post medieval (centred on 574246,168589), the section to the south is probably medieval, based on an examination of the mortars used (centred on 574227,168569). On the east side of the graveyard a further stretch of post medieval eighteenth century (?) wall was observed (centred on 574244,168567), using a similar mortar to the wall on the west side. The plan with the reports suggests these walls were demolished in 1887 [1 and 2].

A watching brief in 2003 recorded a fragment of the foundations of the precinct wall (at 574176,168426), in a drain relief trench runnning from St. Margaret's Mews to the Prior's Gate (within the precinct of Rochester Cathedral). The foundation consisted of chalk rubble, bonded by a yellow sandy mortar, dug into the natural sand. The foundation fragment was only 0.70m wide. This fragment was just to the south of the section of wall recorded in 1998 (see above).
The report concludes that the remains of the wall recorded in the watching brief had been comprehensively robbed (and partly covered in redeposited sand), although the extent of the robber cut could not be seen in the drain relief trench. The report also discusses the likely position of a gate in this southern stretch of wall.

Evidence of probable Roman or Early Medieval pits (TQ 76 NW 356) and later post medieval levelling layers (TQ 76 NW 358), were also recorded during the 2003 watching brief [3].

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1999, DRAFT Archaeological Observations undertaken during the Boley Hill, Rochester Repaving Project 1998. Volume 1: Report (Unpublished document). SKE12475.

<2> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2001, Boley Hill repaving, Rochester (Article in serial). SKE12479.

<3> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2004, An Archaeological Watching Brief along the line of the Southern Water Relief Drain, St. Margaret's Street, Rochester (Unpublished document). SKE12420.

Sources and further reading