Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The site of a possible Roman villa was uncovered in 1852 at Hogsbrook Spring. Masonry walls and tessellated pavements were found. Two coins of Constantine I, minted in London, were among the early 3rd to early 4th century finds from the site.

Monument Types

• VILLA (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Finds

• COIN (Roman - 200 AD to 399 AD)

Full description

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In 1852, in a field described as (i) west of Hog Brook (a)(ii) close to the old Nicholl farmhouse (b) the remains of a Roman villa with masonry walls and tessellated pavement were found. Two coins of Constantine I, minted in London, were among the early 3rd to early 4th century coins from the site. Although there is a possible duplication of sites in the area (see TQ SE 23 and 1019), Wheeler (c) treats them separately. (1,3)

No local information on this site was gained nor any knowledge of subsequent finds. The area is part orchard, part arable (2)

Field reports/OS entries [4-7].

Roman Villa article [8].

Swale survey work [9,11].

Excavation work in the area (10,12).

Fieldwalking finds and uneven growth of fruit trees in an orchard indicated a possible archaeological feature of Roman date. Subsequent extensive excavation revealed the site of a large Roman building, probably a villa. There are indications of other Roman buildings nearby.

Fieldwalking has discovered other Roman buildings in the vicinity and it seems there was a large village or settlement focused around the main Roman building complex, of which this monument may be a part, rather than the villa itself. (9-12)

Trial excavations at Deerton Street carried out during August 1999. Described as a villa structure, internal features were identified bounded by substantial stone Roman walling, on the west bank of the spring. Features within the villa included hypocaust heating, painted plaster, imported pottery, window glass, tesellated floors, a coin series dating up to the the reign of Arcadius (395-402) and some possible evidence from saxon pottery that the structure was used/reused in the early medieval period. (12)

Further excavations took place in 2000 and perhaps in subsequent years. A full plan of the villa appears in the interim report for the Roman building found east of the Hog Brook. (13)

TQ 96 SE 23 refers to another possible villa south of this complex near Buckland farm, although antiquarian records are confused.

Field systems surrounding the villa were briefly and informally measured and assessed by Kent Archaeological Field School during a course. The report gives a summary of work as follows:

"This April the Field School held a course on ‘Identifying Field Systems’ and we spent two days with a large number of students measuring the fields in the vicinity of Deerton Street Roman villa with replica Roman survey chains (ours were in rope!). It came as no surprise that the fields did indeed measure up in the actus, but the greater surprise was to find that the field — now modern housing plots — to the south of the Roman villa was divided into North German perches of 15 German feet (16.5 imperial feet, 5.03 metres). Cartographic research found that the field (incidently its boundaries to the north and west are 7th-century parish boundaries) had been divided this way among many owners from at least the mid-17th century. This could suggest that the land around the Roman villa had been partitioned with early German measurements into home plots for incoming 5th-century Germans. Such a scenario is not unknown in France or Belgium, and 5th-century Frankish and Anglo-Saxon pottery has been excavated from Deerton Street Roman villa site." (14)

<1> The Reliquary, 1872-73, Article by George Bedo on archaeology in the parish of Luddenham, in the periodical the Reliquary (Article in serial). SKE12626.

<2> Teynham Manor 1935 45 107 (E Selby) (OS Card Reference). SKE49841.

<3> VCH Kent 3 1932 94 (R E M Wheeler) (OS Card Reference). SKE51145.

<4> F1 CFW 25-JUN-63 (OS Card Reference). SKE42761.

<5> F2 CFW 23-JUL-63 (OS Card Reference). SKE43273.

<6> Field report for monument TQ 96 SE 22 - June, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4909.

<7> Field report for monument TQ 96 SE 22 - July, 1963 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4910.

<8> Philp, B. J., 1998, Roman Villas in the Swale Area (Article in serial). SWX7651.

<9> Southern Ocean Survey Company, 1996, Interim Report- Roman Buildings at Luddenham and Deerton Street, Near Faversham, Kent. July 1996 (Unpublished document). SKE12625.

<10> Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company, 1997, Interim report on the investigation of the Roman Villa complex at Deerton Street, Teynham, Kent (Unpublished document). SWX7060.

<11> Wilkinson, Paul, 2000, The Swale District. An Archaeological Survey commisioned by Swale Borough Council (Unpublished document). SWX9332.

<12> Practical Archaeologist, 2000, The Roman Villa at Deerton Street, article in Practical Archaeologist (Article in serial). SKE12627.

<13> Kent Archaeological Field School, 2009, An archaeological investigation of the Roman aisled stone building at Hog Brook, Deerton Street, Faversham, Kent 2004-5 (Unpublished document). SKE24762.

<14> Kent Archaeological Field School, 2002, Practical Archaeology Issue 6. Kent Archaeological Field School Report 2002 (Website). SKE31272.

Sources and further reading