Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Medieval Garderobe consisting of a pair of parallel barrel-vaulted chambers connected by twin arches supported on a central column was discovered in 1945 during clearance work on a blitzed World War II site. (location accurate to the nearest 10m based on available information).

Monument Types

• PRIVY HOUSE (LATRINE, Medieval - 1200 AD? to 1299 AD?)

Associated Finds

• ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENT (Undated)
• WHETSTONE (Undated)
• ANIMAL REMAINS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• OYSTER SHELL (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• ROOF SLATE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• TEXTILE (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• WINDOW GLASS (Medieval - 1066 AD to 1539 AD)
• DISH (Medieval - 1201 AD? to 1299 AD?)

Full description

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A Medieval garderobe was discovered in February 1945 during clearance work on a blitzed World War II site. Excavation commenced in March 1945 on the site of the garderobe which had been terraced into the hillside between Snargate Street and Adrian Street. The garderobe had been inserted into an earlier Roman building. The structure consisted of a pair of parallel barrel-vaulted chambers connected by twin arches supported on a central column. The walls were mostly built of Kentish Rag. At the north end of each chamber was a hole in the ceiling above a shallow chute built into the stone wall. The structure measured 8ft long by 8 ft 6 ins wide by 7 ft 6 in deep from the floor to the keystone of the vaulting. Two cavities were found in the west wall. Finds included pottery, bone, shell, fabric, slate, metal, glass and decorated stonework. The pottery indicates considerable trade in wine between Dover and Gascony between the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The garderobe was used during the thirteenth century. The finds are in Dover museum. (1)

Further work was carried out on the site in 1955 (2)

A ceramique onctuese vessel of Breton origins was found in a Medieval garderobe on Snargate Street, Dover. It is the first vessel of this type to have been recognised outside Brittany. 'It might have been taken by an English or Gascon wine merchant while his ship was docked at Penmarc'h, the nearest large settlement and port to the likely pottery centres […] It was, then, probably as an oddity, perhaps even a souvenir, that this dish was brought to Dover, for ceramique onctueuse has a texture quite unlike any other medieval pottery, and is aptly named' (taken from source). (3)

Much of the Medieval pottery discovered during these works was donated to Dover Museum where it is located still alongside sketches that were drawn of the sherds at the time. (4)

<1> M. M. Rix and G. C. Dunning, 1955, Archaeologia Cantiana; excavation of a Medieval Gardrobe in Snargate Street, Dover 1945, Vol. 69 (Article in serial). SKE31704.

<2> L. Murray Threipland, 1957, Archaeologia Cantiana, Excavations in Dover Vol. 71 (Article in serial). SKE31703.

<3> RICHARD HODGES, 1978, Medieval Archaeology: A Ceramique Onctueuse Vessle from Dover: a Breton Souvenir? Vol. 22 (Article in serial). SKE31822.

<4> Dover Museum, 2017, Dover Museum Accession Books (Collection). SKE32383.

Sources and further reading

Related records