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Monument details

HER Number:TQ 67 SW 1580
Type of record:Monument
Name:Early Roman structure close to Roman ritual springs, Springhead

Summary

In an area within 25 m or so of the springs at the head of the Ebbsfleet, and partially overlying the early Roman road towards the springs was a series of structures. The earliest measured approximately 6.5 m by at least 4 m, with a floor made largely of clay but partly of chalk and a hearth near the centre. This has been assigned to the last quarter of the 1st century AD. A later phase of construction assigned a construction date in the early 2nd century with its destruction occurring in the decades nearer the middle of the 2nd century. (location accuarte to the nearest 1m based on available information)


Grid Reference:TQ 6181 7257
Map Sheet:TQ67SW
Parish:GRAVESEND, GRAVESHAM, KENT

Monument Types

  • FLOOR (Roman - 75 AD? to 150 AD?)
  • HEARTH (Roman - 75 AD? to 150 AD?)

Full description

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In an area within 25 m or so of the springs at the head of the Ebbsfleet, and partially overlying the Early Roman road towards the springs was a series of structures. About half of the earliest of these was exposed the remainder laying to the south beyond the limit of excavation. Sufficient was revealed, however, to show that it was sub-square or sub-rectangular in plan, with slightly bowed sides and rounded corners. It measured approximately 6.5 m by at least 4 m, with a floor made largely of clay but partly of chalk and a hearth near the centre. There were no postholes or stake-holes around the edge, which was sharply defined by the extent of the floor. There were, however, a scatter of such features and a small pit inside, though no patterns could be discerned and it seems unlikely that these held posts supporting the roof. Close dating of individual elements of the structural sequence is difficult, but it seems likely that the structure should be assigned to the last quarter of the 1st century AD.

A later phase of this building occupied much the same area as the ealier phase and appeared to be broadly similar in layout. Its exact shape, however, was less clear and the south-east edge had suffered later damage, such that it is not certain whether the structure was originally sub-circular or sub-rectangular in plan. The surviving extent of the later structure was defined by a clay floor which measured at least 6.5 m by 4.5 m, but there were no associated structural features, either internal or external. In what may have been a near-central location was hearth, with another hearth to the south-east, though it is unclear if this was in contemporaneous use. should probably be assigned a
construction date in the early 2nd century on the basis of the dating suggested for the preceding structures in this sequence, and there is nothing in the pottery recovered which might indicate otherwise, with its destruction occurring in the decades nearer the middle of the 2nd century.

GIS polygon based on earlier layout of the structure. (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.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref. Source description
<1>XYUnpublished document: 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. [Mapped feature: #106203 Structure, ]
<2>Unpublished document: Wessex Archaeology. 2003. Channel Tunel Rail Link Archaeological works at Springhead Roman Town (ARC SPH00): interim fieldwork report.