Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

On the inside of the Defensive town wall a large earthen ramapart was added to provide instant access to the wall top, and to house and provide a defensive fighting platform, and to act as additional support to the wall itself (its not clear whether the rampart was extended to the whole of the walls circuit).

Monument Types

• RAMPART (Roman - 300 AD? to 300 AD?)

Full description

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The Roman City defensive wall, built in c. AD 279, enclosed an area of c. 130 acres, beyond which was a large and deep defensive ditch separated from the wall by a flat berm about 2.4m to 3.00m in width. The ditch, added by c. AD300, was about 25m wide by the Worth gate alough here its depth was not seen. Near to the Whitecross Tower the ditch was at least 18.20m in width and the ditch was recorded as being at least 5.40m in depth.

On the inside of the Defensive town wall a large earthen ramapart was added to provide instant access to the wall top, and to house and provide a defensive fighting platform, and to act as additional support to the wall itself (its not clear whether the rampart was extended to the whole of the walls circuit). The ramparts were surving have been partially investigated in several areas, for example south of the medieval castle keep: In 1953 a trench was excavated between the south wall of the Castle keep and the City Wall, this cut through surviving elements of the Roman defensive rampart bank. Initially the earliest levels of the bank were heaped up immediately prior to construction of the defensive wall. The main part of the bank was heaped up at various stages of the building of the wall, presumably the soils etc., being obtained from the excavations for the defensive ditch to the exterior. Post and stake-holes cut into the bank suggest some timber revetting took place, and possibly walkways and access ladders/stairs included in the scheme to provide access.

In 1955 a Roman internal masonry tower was discovered added to the inside face of the Roman city wall and then rampart deposits were heaped around it. A second Roman internal masory tower was found added to the inner face of the Roman city wall in 2000 it too had rampart deposits heaped around it. Both of the towers were built to support artillery equipment.

The Roman rampart was largely replaced during the medieval period although aspects of the Roman ramparts often survive beneath the Medieval.

Frere, SS, Stow, S, and Bennett, P, 1982, Excavations on the Roman and Medieval Defences of Canterbury. (Monograph). SKE28530.

Houliston, M., 2002, Pers Comm Mark Houliston (Unpublished document). SKE30156.

Hicks, A. & Houliston, M., 2003, Whitefriars (The Big Dig) (Monograph). SKE30418.

Sources and further reading