Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Excavation in 2000-2002 found a 1st century Roman trackway that ran to the south of the ritual pool. The trackway appears to have survived into at least the middle Roman period and may have been visible as late as the 6th or 7th century. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• TRACKWAY (Roman - 75 AD? to 409 AD)

Full description

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Excavation in 2000-2002 carried out as part of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link found an early Roman trackway that ran to the south of the ritual pool. The trackway appears to have been long-lived and its course was respected by a gap left in later (mid-Roman) enclosing ditch, so it survived into at least the middle Roman period and may have been visible as late as the 6th or 7th century as an early medieval sunken feature building was build adjacent to it. The track has two possible phases, both of which were hollow ways. The hollow-way on the lower south-west side was the earlier, up to 0.9 m deep with the lowest metalling almost 7 m wide. The hollowway on the higher, north-east side was approximately 1 m deep and there was a single metalling just over 4 m wide in the base. The location and longevity of the trackway coupled with the fact that its course was respected by rather than blocked by the mid-Roman enclosing ditch suggests that it was a route of some importance. It appears to have provided access to the rear of the mid- Roman Sanctuary complex from the higher ground to the south-east, perhaps from an as yet undiscovered settlement in this area, and may have continued to the south-west as far as Watling Street. (1)

<1> 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 The Late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Medieval Landscape (Unpublished document).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