Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

During excavations undertaken ahead of works associated with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link at Springhead, near Gravesend, a probable Anglo Saxon crop dryer was located. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• STORAGE PIT (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 850 AD? to 900 AD?)

Associated Finds

• Charcoal (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• OYSTER SHELL (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• SEEDS (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 500 AD? to 900 AD?)
• CEREAL GRAIN (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 770 AD to 900 AD) + Sci.Date
• DAUB (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 770 AD to 900 AD)
• ANIMAL REMAINS (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 800 AD? to 900 AD?)

Full description

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During excavations undertaken ahead of works associated with the Channel Tunnel Rail Link at Springhead, near Gravesend, a probable Anglo Saxon crop dryer was uncovered. It was located on the slope above the springs and appears to post-date the two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries in the same area, and is one of only two features to be ascribed a late Anglo-Saxon date, the other was situated 140m to the north-west. This second feature has also been interpreted as a corn dryer though this interpretation is less secure. It is likely they both belonged to a small late Saxon settlement lying immediately to the east. This southern dryer featured a clay lining including flints, and contained burnt daub thought to be from a collapsed dome or superstructure. It also contained large quantities of burnt cereal grain and burnt weed seeds. One of which was radiocarbon dated to AD 770-900. (1-2)

<1> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2010, Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley. CTRL Excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent. The Late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Medieval Landscape (Unpublished document). SKE31245.

<2> Wessex Archaeology, 2003, Channel Tunel Rail Link Archaeological works at Springhead Roman Town (ARC SPH00): interim fieldwork report (Unpublished document). SKE31600.

<3> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2011, Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley. CTRL Excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent. Volume 4: Saxon and Later Finds and Environmental Reports (Monograph). SKE32437.

Sources and further reading