Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Two post medieval wells were located during a watching brief undertaken by Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, off Limekiln Street Dover. They would have provided fresh water for the oil cake processing. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• ARCH (brick arches associated with the wells, Post Medieval to Modern - 1885 AD? to 1960 AD?)
• WELL (two wells, Post Medieval to Modern - 1885 AD? to 1960 AD?)

Full description

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(Taken from source)

An Archaeological watching brief was undertaken by Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit in 1999 ahead of the development of a site off Limekiln Street, into a workshop and welfare facility. The site is a triangular plot situated between the Dover-Folkestone-London railway line, to the north, the Dover south service station to the south and the high brick retaining wall (abutting the cliff face) to the west. Archaeological observations were made on all of the foundation trenches and numerous features were recorded. This included two post medieval wells which would have presumably provided abundant fresh water for the oil cake processing, the water probably being pumped out and distributed to the required areas via iron pipes. Well one was oval in plan, 1.8m N-S by 1.3m E-W and was cut a minimum of 1m into the natural chalk. The well was unlined, and pick marks could be seen in the chalk in the sides of the well. One clear foot-hole had been cut into the chalk in the sides of the wall. A short length of brick wall, a minimum of 13 courses high, and a substantial brick arch had been constructed over the full length of the wall on its west side, whilst a second lesser arch, or flying buttress to give lateral support, sprung at right angles from this at its north end. This was 0.7m wide and 0.3m thick. Both arches were constructed of red and orange bricks, in a soft grey/white mortar. The well had subsequently been backfilled with brick and concrete rubble. Well two was situated to the south of well one and was circular, approximately 0.9m in diameter with a minimum depth of 1m into the natural chalk. It was lined with a thin skim of brown decaying mortar. A substantial brick arch made entirely of hard yellow stock bricks was constructed over the well and partly through the arch of well one. This well had also been back filled with brick and concrete rubble. (1)

<1> Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, 1999, Limekiln Street, Dover - report on an archaeological watching brief (Unpublished document). SKE6615.

Sources and further reading

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