Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

During excavations undertaken in Dover town centre by Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, a Roman military bath house was excavated and recorded. A small room was located on the southern site of room three and was linked to it through its open north side. Two periods of development are apparent in the recovered evidence, the second representing a substantial re-build of the first. (location accurate to the nearest 2m based on available information)

Monument Types

• BATHS (Room 4 hot bath, Roman - 155 AD? to 390 AD)

Full description

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(summarised from publication)

During excavations undertaken in Dover town centre by Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, a Roman military bath house was excavated and recorded. A small room containing a hot bath was located on the southern site of room three and was linked to it through its open north side. Three periods of development are apparent in the recovered evidence, the second representing a substantial re-build of the first and the same for the third.

Evidence of the period one room is apparent in the south, east and west walls of this room, which contained traces of tufa block in a pebbly mortar. The period one room appears to have had internal dimensions of 2.74m (E-W) by 2.06m (N-S) with all walls being about 80cm wide and surviving to a height of about 1.55m. None of the internal period one features had survived but it is likely that the period one hypocaust evidenced in the adjacent room three would have continued under the floor of room four. The period two walls, which were constructed of chalk block masonry, were seen overlapping the period one walls, both of which were covered by a thick layer of opius signinum, as was the floor, in order to make the room water tight.

A major re-build appears to have taken place; this constitutes period three of the room and consisted of a reduction in the size of the bath to 1.7m (E-W) by 1m (N-S) and the infilling of the remaining space with tufa, chalk and tile rubble set in a creamy mortar. The floor, of which no trace was located, was supported on 9 large rectangular piers of varying sizes, these survived to a maximum height of 98cm.

Traces of some decoration on the external walls of this room were visible and consisted of opus signinum painted red with vertical and diagonal bands in black and dark blue. This was the only in-situ evidence of painted wall plater in the bath house complex. (1)

<1> Brian Philp, The Discovery and Excavation of the Roman Shore Fort at Dover, Kent (Monograph). SKE32061.

Sources and further reading

Related records