Exploring Kent's Past

It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

Summary

A continuation of the early Roman activity was seen in the middle Roman period across Zone 6 of the excavations associated with the construction of the east Kent Access routeway in Thanet. The features overlay an area of earlier activity and many may have continued in use. These features included ditched enclosures, sunken featured buildings, pits and wells. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• DITCH (Roman - 100 AD? to 299 AD?)
• ENCLOSURE (Roman - 100 AD? to 299 AD?)
• GRUBENHAUS (Roman - 100 AD? to 299 AD?)
• INHUMATION (Roman - 100 AD? to 299 AD?)
• POST BUILT STRUCTURE (Roman - 100 AD? to 299 AD?)
• POST HOLE (Roman - 100 AD? to 299 AD?)
• TRACKWAY (Roman - 100 AD? to 299 AD)
• WELL (Roman - 100 AD to 299 AD)

Associated Finds

• BRACELET (Roman - 43 AD to 199 AD)
• BRACELET (Roman - 43 AD to 199 AD)
• FIGURINE (Roman - 43 AD? to 199 AD?)
• HAIR PIN (Roman - 43 AD? to 199 AD?)
• SPINDLE WHORL (Roman - 43 AD to 199 AD)

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

Zone 6 saw activity of varying levels of intensity throughout the Roman period. During the middle Roman period, the northern trackway of late Iron Age inception was re established by the re digging of flanking ditches in this period. The trackway ditches also formed boundaries of enclosures, some of these enclosures contained sunken featured buildings and two wells were also present between the trackway branches. In total 8 enclosures have been assigned to the middle Roman period in this area.

In detail, enclosure 11 was located at the northern end of the site, immediately north of the earlier defensive ditch, an L shaped ditch appears to have formed a sub square with two further ditches at the southern end of zone 7 together enclosing an area of approximately 25m square. Enclosure 12 was located to the south of enclosure 11, again at the northern end of Zone 6. Was 34m by 24m. The southern boundary also marked the edge of a narrow trackway. The only feature which appeared to contemporary with the enclosure ditches was a rubbish pit containing pottery, animal bone and oyster shell. Enclosure 13 located south of enclosure 12, its northern boundary also marked the edge of a narrow trackway. It enclosed an area of approximately 43m along its NE-SW axis and it extended beyond the limit of excavation to the west. Within the angle of the north eastern corner of the enclosure a large pit or possibly a well with a diameter of 2.5m was excavated to a depth of just over a metre. It contained moderate quantities of domestic waste which included a clay figurine. There was a gap of 3m in the eastern boundary of the enclosure possibly representing an entrance. the southern ditch contained the disturbed remains of an inhumation. A post built structure was present near the southeastern corner. Enclosure 14 lay opposite enclosure 13 following a similar alignment. The north western boundary formed the south eastern edge of a major trackway up to 9.3m wide and cutting through earlier Iron age deposits. A gap of 7.8m in the trackways flanking ditch formed an entrance to enclosure 14, this ditch then continued to toe south west before turning sharply to the south east, at its south west end. a series of small pits containing domestic refuse was located within this postulated enclosure. The southern trackway dominated the central part of zone 6 and measured just over 4m in the north, widening to over 11.5m at which point the track splits, mirroring the division seen in the earlier Roman period. Parts of the metalling were revealed, this comprised densely packed pebbles, animal bone fragments, pieces of tile and pottery sherds with a date that suggests the track was still being used towards the end of the 2nd century. East of the trackway a potential sunken featured building or working hollow was located in an otherwise open area, approximately 3m from the trackway and aligned with it. This was 6.4m long and 2.2m wide and 0.24m deep. Fragments of a copper alloy bracelet were located in the fills of the feature. Enclosure 15 which was located towards the south, on the eastern side of the trackway near where it splits, this also contained a possible sunken featured building. This enclosure was fairly small and triangular measuring approximately 20m by 20m and was formed byb the west -east return of the eastern trackway ditch. The SFB measured around 3.5m long by 2.5m wide with a depth of 0.3m. the lower fill contained carbon and finds which included fragments of tile an iron hinge and a socketed cutting tool. A further sunken featured building lay to the west, apparently set within or associated with a small fenced enclosure. This was 5.4m long and 4.6m wide with a depth of 0.45m, the associated finds included a large quantity of pottery. A well was located to the west of this building. Enclosure 16 to the south of enclosure 15 was defined by an L shaped ditch and enclosed an area containing a large feature interpreted as a quarry pit and an isolated inhumation burial. Enclosure 17 was located on the west side of the south-west branch of the trackway, immediately to the south of where they split. It was represented by a near continuous rectangular ditched enclosure with a 7.3m wide entrance on the northern side. It appears to have had two phases, in the first it measured 24m by 17.7m, then the ditch was re cut and the area enclosed was slightly smaller. There were no features in the interior of the enclosure but to another sunken featured building was located to the south of it. This example measured 4.95m by 4.4m and had a maximum depth of 0.58m with a sub rectangular plan and a flat base. Finds recovered from within it included a fired clay spindle whorl, pottery animal bone and a small fragment of a shale bracelet. Enclosure 18 comprised the U shaped ditch which defined the southern edges of the two branches of the trackway, within this were two wells both containing finds of a middle Roman date.

Overall, the settlement in this area can be broadly characterised as a minor nucleated settlement, with a series of domestic settlement units mostly located within enclosures of irregular plan and defined by ditches of varying size based around minor trackways. It is likely that some enclosures did not contain domestic structures and were just yards, paddocks or animal enclosures. The maximum north south extent of the settlement may have been as much as 400m in the in the phases of most intensive period of occupation. (Information summarised from source) (1)

<1> Andrews et al, 2015, Digging The Gateway: Archaeological Landscapes of South Thanet. The Archaeology of East Kent Access (Phase III) Vol 1: The sites (Monograph). SKE55517.

Sources and further reading