Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Romano-British cemetery. The cemetery has produced more than 100 cremation burials. A possible northern boundary of the cemetery has been identified and excavation to the south found no trace of the cemetery which allows a tentative boundary to be identified in that direction. No definite limit has been found to the cemetery to east or west. Pottery mostly dates to the C2nd. Accompanying burial goods such as food vesels, platters, brooches, spoons, etc. were also found, as were 25 coins ranging from the C1st to C4th.

Monument Types

• BURIED SOIL HORIZON (Late Iron Age to Roman - 100 BC? to 409 AD?)
• BOUNDARY DITCH (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• CEMETERY (CEMETERY, Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• MAUSOLEUM (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Finds

• COIN (Late Iron Age to Roman - 1 AD to 399 AD)
• BEAKER (Roman - 43 AD to 200 AD)
• BROOCH (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• BURIAL URN (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
• FLAGON (Roman - 43 AD? to 200 AD?)
• PLATTER (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
• SPOON (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Full description

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[TQ 5185 5924] A large Romano-British cemetery at Twitton which so far has yielded some 50 grave groups, containing about 125 vessels, all provisionally dated within the 2nd century A.D., is being excavated by Mr A. C. Young. (1-2) The 2nd century A.D. cemetery at Frog Farm, in the process of excavation by the Otford Historical Society Archaeological Group, has produced 74 cremation burial-groups, and building foundations have been uncovered. An occupation site lies a third of a mile to the north-west (TQ 55 NW 9). (3) The farmer, Mr Booker, indicated the exact site of this cemetery at TQ 5188 5924. (4) Various investigations took place in this area between 1927 and 1937 (5-7) however no satisfactory conclusion was reached as to the nature of the site, beyond suggesting the existence of a "settlement" of first to third centuries A.D. (see TQ 55 NW 9). During the 1966 investigations the cemetery was discovered some 400 yards from the site. (5-8) The following excavations on the cemetery revealed 34 graves, varying considerably in condition, and a total of 84 [74?] vessels of which 17 were Patch Grove cinerary urns present in graves dating up to 200 A.D. (For example of pottery found see Illustration Card.) (9) Excavations of the cemetery continued in 1967 revealing the foundations of a regular octagonal structure, possibly a mausoleum or monument. Indications over the whole cemetery indicated that the Roman ground-level was about one foot higher than present. Within the walls a floor level was uncovered a foot below the modern surface. In the centre was a 20 inch square pit, 16 inches deep, which retained the remains of a lining of white cement containing chalk lumps. On the bottom were two pieces of half-inch thick lead sheeting. The cist was filled with broken roof tiles. An entrance or flue was found in the south wall. Beneath the flue was the remains of a burial in a Patch Grove urn and one other burial at the side opposite the entrance. The cemetery has now produced a total of 74 cremation burial-groups usually consisting of coarse cooking pots used as burial urns, containing calcined bone fragments, accompandied by food vessels, platters etc. No definite limit has been found to the cemetery in any direction. (For related settlement see TQ 55 NW 9.) 25 Coins were also found ranging from the C1st to the C4th including a bronze "Cunobelin" and Belgic speculum coin.Two spoons and more than a dozen brooches were also found. (10-12)

In 2005 an archaeological evaluation was carried out by Pre-Construct Archaeology. Four trenches were excavated to the north of Frog Farm and found 43 more cremation burials dating to the 1st/2nd century AD (although one was dated to AD 240-370) together with a large ditch that was interpreted as representing the northern boundary of the cemetery. The burials consisted of cremation urns and some were accompanied by vessels including a flagon, beaker and dish. Underlying the cemetery was a buried prehistoric / early Roman subsoil.(13)

<1> Arch Cant 81 1966 lxi (G W Meates) (OS Card Reference). SKE35732.

<2> KARG NL 6 1966 8-13 (A Young) (OS Card Reference). SKE45469.

<3> KAR 13 1968 4-5 (C P Ward) (OS Card Reference). SKE45238.

<4> F1 CFW 04-NOV-69 (OS Card Reference). SKE42422.

<5> Arch Cant 42 1930 230-1 illus (OS Card Reference). SKE35110.

<6> Arch Cant 46 1934 198 (F Godwin) (OS Card Reference). SKE35180.

<7> Arch Cant 49 1937 286 (F Godwin) (OS Card Reference). SKE35242.

<8> Young, A., 1966, Romano-British Farmstead at Twitton, Nr Otford, KAR 4 1966 7 (A Young) (Article in serial). SKE8127.

<9> KAR 6 1966 8-13 illus (A Young) (OS Card Reference). SKE45377.

<10> KAR 13 1968 4-6 illus (C P Ward) (OS Card Reference). SKE45239.

<11> Field report for monument TQ 55 NW 36 - November, 1969 (Bibliographic reference). SKE2826.

<12> Clifford P. Ward, 1990, The Romano-British Cemetery at Otford, Kent, in the context of contemporary funerary practices in the south east (Unpublished document). SKE6723.

<13> Pre-Construct Archaeology, 2005, Frog Farm, Pilgrim's Way, Otford, Kent: archaeological evaluation (Unpublished document). SKE51838.

<14> Caroline Farquhar, 2017, An examination of the religious and ritual practices of the communities at the head of the Darent valley, Kent, in the Roman period (Unpublished document). SKE52885.

<15> Caroline Farquhar, 2017, An examination of the religious and ritual practices of the communities at the head of the Darent valley, Kent, in the Roman period (Unpublished document). SKE52885.

Sources and further reading