Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

During the excavation by the land owner for the extraction of clay to make bricks, in a field to the rear of Dover College, in 1883, a number of Roman vessels were revealed, some of which containing burnt human remains. This has led to the supposition that a Roman cemetery was located in this area, approximately 500m to the north-west of the extra mural settlement of Roman Dover. (Location accurate to the nearest 100m based on available information)

Monument Types

• CREMATION (CREMATION, Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Associated Finds

• ANIMAL REMAINS (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• ARMLET (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
• JUG (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• MORTARIUM (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• PATERA (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• URN (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• VESSEL (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Full description

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During the excavation by the land owner for the extraction of clay to make bricks, in a field to the rear of Dover College, in 1883, a number of Roman vessels were revealed, some of which containing burnt human remains. This has led to the supposition that a Roman cemetery was located in this area, approximately 500m to the north-west of the extra mural settlement of Roman Dover. The pottery assemblage includes 10 urns of a variety of shapes, sizes and materials including black, red and brown wares, a mortarium, four patera, two of which were of Samian ware (one stamped OSIN and the other C.IN.T. VSS.A.) and the other two were of a black ware (one stamped with IVINOF) and three jugs, two of a red ware and the other was cream. Alongside this pottery assemblage, two glass vessels with globular bodies were revealed, a large limpet shell and 6 bronze armlets. Three of these armlets were flat with fluted edges, two were round and one was twisted. A note is made within the ‘Victoria County History Of Kent’ that more (an unknown number) of Roman urns were uncovered at the Priory station during works undertaken there in 1861, it is likely that these would have formed part of the same cemetery. (1-3) The finds could not be identified at the museum and may have been destroyed during the last war.

<1> Page, W. (ed), 1932, The Victoria History of the Counties of England: Kent Volume III, VCH Kent 3 1932 46-51 (REM Wheeler) (Monograph). SKE7810.

<2> George Payne, 1889, Archaeologia Cantiana: On a Roman Statue and other remains in the Dover Museum Vol. 18, Arch Cant 18 1889 203 (G Payne) (Article in serial). SKE31795.

<3> Philp, B. J., 1981, The Excavation of the Roman Forts of the Classis Britannica at Dover 1970-1977, Ex of the Roman Forts of the Classis Britannica at Dover 1970-77 11 (B (Philp) (Monograph). SKE7863.

Sources and further reading