Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Excavations in advance of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in 2002-3 identified a number of Romano-British property boundaries west of the Ebbsfleet. A number of post holes were identified within property 10 which represented the former site of fencelines surrounding and within the property. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• PIT (Roman - 75 AD? to 125 AD?)
• POST HOLE (Roman - 75 AD? to 125 AD?)

Full description

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Excavations in advance of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in 2002-3 identified a number of Romano-British property boundaries west of the Ebbsfleet. A number of post holes were identified within property 10 which represented the former site of fence lines surrounding and within the property. One these was located 6m to the north of the structure (interpreted as a black smith’s workshop), and consisted of two flint packed post holes which could have been either a wind break or a fence. At least five flint-packed post-holes marked two probable fence lines, represented by two post-holes immediately to the west of the structure and by at least three post-holes to the north-west.
A sequence of at least three fence lines lay around the northern edge of the property, separating it from Watling Street and extending from its junction with property 9 to the south-east. The size of several of the post-holes indicates that they held substantial posts, the largest being a late feature, 1.20 m in diameter, marking the junction between properties 10 and 9. A gap between a dene hole and one of the fence lines probably marks an entrance to the property, with several smaller post-holes in the gap perhaps representing a later blocking or a gate arrangement. (1)

<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 The Late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Medieval Landscape (Unpublished document).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> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2011, Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley. CTRL Excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent. Volume 2: Late Iron Age to Roman Finds Reports (Monograph). SKE32435.

Sources and further reading

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