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Monument details
| HER Number: | TR 34 SW 1338 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Early Medieval pits and deposits to the west of Bench Street, Dover. |
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Summary
Work carried out in association with the A20 road and sewer works in Dover between 1991-1993, revealed a series early Medieval cess pits cutting through thin late Saxon occupation levels into the underlying natural sands (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information).
| Grid Reference: | TR 31966 41266 |
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| Map Sheet: | TR34SW |
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| Parish: | DOVER, DOVER, KENT |
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Monument Types
- CESS PIT (Medieval - 1066 AD? to 1150 AD?)
Full description
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Work carried out in association with the A20 road and sewer works in Dover between 1991-1993, revealed a series early Medieval levels.
The excavations consisted of a single curved trench following the proposed line of the sewer, running from the old Snargate Street frontage across the site of the demolished Crypt Restaurant building (destroyed by fire in 1977 and formerly the Shakespeare Hotel) and into Bench Street. The trench was some 2.50 m. in width and 40.00 m. in length. Where there were no later cellars, a well-stratified sequence of earlier Medieval deposits in was revealed this area. Towards the base of the sequence a series of Norman cess pits cutting through thin late Saxon occupation levels into the underlying natural sands was revealed. These were sealed by a series of chalk consolidation layers interleaved with occupation deposits rich in finds. In the light of the subsequent work at the Townwall Street filling station site, it seems fairly certain that these remains represent the floors of simple wooden houses, the full extent of which were not revealed within the limited confines of the excavated trench. (1-2)
<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2001, Dover Sewers/A20 Project 1991–3, Assessment Report and Updated Project Design (Unpublished document). SKE31815.
<2> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1991-1992, Canterbury's Archaeology, Sites Outside Canterbury 1991-1992 (Article in serial). SKE31645.
Sources and further reading
| Cross-ref.
| Source description | | <1> | Unpublished document: Canterbury Archaeological Trust. 2001. Dover Sewers/A20 Project 1991–3, Assessment Report and Updated Project Design. |
| <2> | Article in serial: Canterbury Archaeological Trust. 1991-1992. Canterbury's Archaeology, Sites Outside Canterbury 1991-1992. 1991-1992, pp. 11-16. |
