Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Throughout the excavation of Eccles Roman Villa, medieval pottery was found in the backfilling of various robber trenches. When mechanical trenches were cut to the south east of the villa's perimeter wall in 1973, the medieval site was discovered.

The site consisted of a cobbled area, insubstantial foundations, three ditches, a shallow circular pit (1.275m in diameter) and 4 rectangular cesspits. Medieval pottery dating suggests the site was in use in the middle of the 13th century. It is possible that the building was a temporary structure connected with the stone-robbing of the site.

In 1975 an excavation of a ditch seemed to indicate that it was built to drain one of the cesspits.

Medieval occupation of the site has been disturbed by later ponds and the marshy make up of the area. In 1996 a geophysical survey found no evidence of the site extending to the north of the Eccles Villa.

Monument Types

• SETTLEMENT (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)

Full description

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TQ 722 605. Medieval occupation on the site of Eccles Roman villa (TQ 76 SW 10). Medieval pottery was found throughout the excavations of the Roman villa at Eccles, particularly in the back-filling of various robber trenches. The medieval site was found in 1973 as a result of mechanical trenches cut to the SE of the villa's perimeter wall. The site consisted of a cobbled area, insubstantial foundations, three ditches, a shallow circular pit 1.275m in diameter and four successive rectangular cess-pits (see illustration card). Medieval pottery found makes it clear that this occupation of the site began about the middle of the C13 when it would seem that some sort of impermanent building may have been erected to the S of the length of foundations at the extreme limit of the excavated area, probably connected with the stone robbing activity on the villa site. The function of the ditches remained unclear. In the 1975 excavations it was shown that one of the ditches terminated in one of the cesspits, suggesting that it was intended to drain it. The medieval occupation of the site is unlikely to be satisfactorily established owing to the existence of fairly recent ponds and the marshy nature of the ground where such settlement is likely to have been located. (1-3)

Geophysical survey of the northern area around Eccles Vila in 1996 found no evidence of the site extending in the survey area(4)

<1> Arch Cant 89 1974 132-3 fig 1 (AP Detsicas) (OS Card Reference). SKE35969.

<2> Arch Cant 91 1975 44-45 fig 4 (AP Detsicas) (OS Card Reference). SKE36061.

<3> Arch Cant 92 1976 162-63 fig 2 (AP Detsicas) (OS Card Reference). SKE36079.

<4> Stratascan, 1996, A Report for Lawson-Price Environmental on a Geophysical Survey carried out at Eccles Roman Villa (Unpublished document). SKE7142.

Sources and further reading