Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Excavations at Springhead uncovered a short length of early Roman road that led directly into what is interpreted as a ritual pool. The bed of the pool was artificially cobbled. Pottery associated with the road suggest that it went out of use in the late 1st century. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• DITCH (Roman - 43 AD? to 100 AD?)
• FLOOR (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
• ROAD (Roman - 43 AD? to 100 AD?)

Associated Finds

• POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE (Roman - 75 AD? to 125 AD?)

Full description

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Excavation in 2000-2002 found a short length of early Roman road that led directly into what is interpreted as a ritual pool. The bed of the pool was artificially cobbled with hard-packed layers of gravel. The road ran for c. 50m and extended c. 8m into the shallow water of the pool. The road was constructed within a shallow linear hollow which had been cut through a sequence of colluvial deposits of Bronze Age date. It was metalled and c. 4m wide, there is no evidence for later phases of metalling except for where the road extended into the Ebbsfleet and there is no evidence for any repairs having been made to the road, which appeared to be in good condition with only slight traces of wear. After 50m the road turned to the south west though its' route after this is unknown. Two ditches ran alongside the road. Both contained late 1st / early 2nd century pottery in their upper fills suggesting that the road went out of use in the late 1st century. Only a small quantity of undiagnostic pottery was recovered from the road surface. The road is thought to be the earliest Roman feature at Springhead. (1,2,3)

<1> Wessex Archaeology, 2004, Springhead Quarter Ebbsfleet, Kent: Archaeological Evaluation Report (Unpublished document). SKE12271.

<2> Wessex Archaeology, 2008, Archaeological Investigations at Springhead Quarter (Phase II), Northfleet, Kent: Archaeological Assessment Report and Updated Project design (Unpublished document). SKE17943.

<3> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2010, Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley. CTRL Excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent. The Late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Medieval Landscape (Unpublished document). SKE31245.

Sources and further reading

Related records