Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Small scale excavation at Officers Row, Ospringe Street, revealed a large domed brick water storage tank, 1.5 metres in diameter and three metres deep. It was dated to the same building date as the Officers Row houses i.e around AD 1790.

Monument Types

• WATER TANK (Post Medieval to Modern - 1790 AD to 2009 AD)
• ARTEFACT SCATTER (Post Medieval to Modern - 1870 AD to 1955 AD)

Associated Finds

• BOTTLE (Post Medieval to Modern - 1880 AD to 1940 AD)

Full description

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A small scale excavation, K48, was carried out in the raised back garden of an Officers Row house, built as part of a terrace around 1890 to house officers from a Napoleonic era barracks alongside Watling Street. The excavation was part of a research project being carried out in the Ospringe area by the Faversham Society Archaeological Research Group into prehistoric and early medieval human activity. A large domed structure, mostly still hollow and three metres deep with one metre of silt deposits, was revealed, starting with the topmost outlet pipe. It had been repaired in the post World War 2 period by digging out perimeter trench, cementing in a concrete slab and fitting a new vertical outlet pipe. The trench was then backfilled with ‘roughstuff,’ probably from the adjacent brickworks. The interior of the dome was viewed by photographing at arms length down the outlet pipe. This showed one other inlet/ outlet pipe, diameter around 15 centimetres. This does seem to be a very well-built water tank, contemporary with the original property but the exact uses of the stored water are uncertain - perhaps rainwater for laundry or other household uses. (1)

<1> Faversham Society Archaeological Research Group, 2012, Understanding Ospringe Project 2008-9 and 2011 (Unpublished document). SKE17255.

Sources and further reading