Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Excavations in advance of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in 2002-3 identified a number of Romano-British property boundaries west of the Ebbsfleet. This is Property 4. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• BOUNDARY (Roman - 75 AD? to 200 AD?)
• BUILDING (Roman - 75 AD? to 250 AD?)
• FENCE (Roman - 75 AD? to 150 AD?)
• GATE? (Roman - 75 AD? to 150 AD?)
• HEARTH (Roman - 75 AD? to 150 AD?)
• PIT (Roman - 75 AD? to 150 AD?)
• POST HOLE (Roman - 75 AD? to 150 AD?)
• STORAGE TANK (Roman - 75 AD? to 150 AD?)
• WELL (Roman - 75 AD? to 200 AD?)
• YARD (Roman - 75 AD? to 150 AD?)
• PATH (Roman - 100 AD? to 225 AD?)
• BUILDING (Roman - 150 AD? to 250 AD?)
• SHELTER (Roman - 150 AD? to 250 AD?)
• STORAGE TANK (Roman - 150 AD? to 250 AD?)

Associated Finds

• AUCISSA BROOCH (Late Iron Age to Roman - 100 BC? to 409 AD?)
• TWO-PIECE COLCHESTER BROOCH (Roman - 43 AD? to 409 AD?)
• POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE (Roman - 75 AD? to 250 AD?)
• COIN (Roman - 200 AD? to 400 AD?)

Full description

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Excavations in advance of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in 2002-3 identified a number of property boundaries west of the Ebbsfleet. This is Property 4. The property was aligned on Watling Street and stretched east to a bay on the River Ebbsfleet. It was defined to the north by the north wall of a building adjacent to Watling Street and an irregular ditch towards the river, and to the south by a shallow ditch and subsequently a path that ran between properties 3 and 4 and led to the river.

As with other properties the earliest feature was the road-side ditch which was v-shaped, up to 1m deep and up to 3.5m wide. The road-side ditch had already silted up by the time the first southern boundary ditch was dug in the second half of the 1st century. By the end of the 1st century the ditch had filled in and been replaced by a gravelled path which remained in use into the 3rd century.

There were two phases of activity at this property.

In the early Roman period a structure was built, probably rectangular in shape and c. 10m x 6m in size. Flint, chalk and clay foundations supported a timber superstructure. It may have been open to the south. Two burnt areas may represent hearths. South of the structure was a yard represented by a series of cobbled surfaces. There may have been a fence to the south-east and possibly a gate. Pits contained domestic rubbish and a chalk-lined well was excavated that had filled in by the beginning of the 3rd century. A clay-and-timber-lined tank was built (2.4m x 2m). Along the river edge were a series of post hole alignments that may represent revetting.

The structure in the north-west corner of the property may have continued in use through the middle Roman period, as did the waterfront. A new structure was built in the south of the compound. It was c. 7.5m x 3.5m and survived as shallow wall footings of chalk and flint bonded with clay. Within was a chalk floor and there were signs of partitioning. The excavators suggest it was used for storage. The clay-lined tank was replaced by another, larger clay-lined tank measuring 3.5m x 2.5m. A shelter may also have been built.

There were no features that could be ascribed to the late Roman period and the evidence suggests that the property was largely abandoned by the mid-3rd century at the latest. There was, however, a notable concentration of 3rd and 4th century coins from deposits in the waterfront area.(1)

A leaded copper alloy Colchester derivative brooch and a brass Aucissa brooch were found. (2)

Location accurate to 2m based on available information.

<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.

<2> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2011, Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley. CTRL Excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent. Volume 2: Late Iron Age to Roman Finds Reports (Monograph). SKE32435.

Sources and further reading

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