Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A small group of early to middle Anglo Saxon features were discovered in Zones 9, 10 and 11 of the excavations associated with the construction of the East Kent Acces route in Thanet. The features included sunken feature buildings, pits, a possible well and a ditch. The southernmost of the buildings was associated with a large quantity of Oyster shell and may have been used for processing shellfish. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• DITCH (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• GRUBENHAUS (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• PIT (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• WELL? (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)

Associated Finds

• BEAD (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• KNIFE (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• OYSTER SHELL (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)
• TONGS (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)

Full description

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Close to the base of sevenscore slope, in the southern part of Zone 10 was a sunken featured building orientated roughly east-west and extending in part to the west beyond the limit of excavation. It measured 3.16m by 2.93m and was 0.23m deep. A significant number of oyster shells were present in the fills of the feature, including one pierced example. Two partial iron knife blades, 78 sherds of pottery (dated AD575-750) and a glass bead were also discovered in the fills. Close to SFB, around 20m to the south, was a ditch, this again contained large quantities of oyster shell in its fills as well as a pair of smiths tongs and more Anglo Saxon pottery. The combination of the buildings with the shellfish may suggest that the area may have been used for processing shellfish. Two or three further SFBs within Zone 11 may represent parts of a separate dispersed settlement approximately 500m to the north east of the features in Zone 9 and 10. The largest example was located in the northern arm of Zone 11 and measured over 7m long by 4m wide, which is unusually large for a SFB (its interpretation as one is therefore only possible). The two smaller examples were located in the eastern arm of Zone 11, the first was 4.52m by 2.88m with a dpeth of 0.26m. Post holes were located roughly at the centre of each end. Shallow scoops may have represented beam slots for internal subdivision. The second was 3.25 by 4.52m and 100m to the east (ref 196013) was slightly smaller and less rectangular. It may have been accompanied by a wind-break. A large pit/possible well was located 50m to the east of this feature. (information summarised from source) (1-2)

<1> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2011, East Kent Access (Phase II), Thanet, Kent: Post-Excavation Assessment Volume 1 (Unpublished document). SKE29279.

<2> Andrews et al, 2015, Digging The Gateway: Archaeological Landscapes of South Thanet. The Archaeology of East Kent Access (Phase III) Vol 1: The sites (Monograph). SKE55517.

Sources and further reading