Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Possible site of late Iron Age (1st century AD) quernstone production from which over 100 quernstones, largely unfinished, have been recovered. The site has been washed away due to coastal erosion, but excavations on the cliff edge suggests that a quernstone production site existed before the nearby villa (TR 23 NW 11), stretching out further seaward. This site may have been related to the Iron Age cemetery (TR 23 NW 109) found beneath the villa.

Monument Types

• INDUSTRIAL SITE (Late Iron Age to Roman - 10 AD? to 80 AD? (at some time))
• SETTLEMENT? (Late Iron Age to Roman - 10 AD? to 80 AD? (at some time))
• STONE QUARRY (Late Iron Age to Roman - 10 AD? to 80 AD? (between))

Associated Finds

• POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE (Late Iron Age to Roman - 10 AD? to 80 AD?)
• QUERN (Late Iron Age to Roman - 10 AD? to 80 AD?)

Full description

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Source point of locally produced Greensand querns. A number of unfinished querns have been found on the beach and in stratified deposits in the cliff face. Work will continue in 1991 (1)

Over 130 late iron age and early Romano-British quernstones have been collected from the foreshore at East Wear Bay, immediately below the site of a villa (TR 23 NW 11). The querns are formed of greensand from the Folkestone Beds, the particular hard sandstone is confined to an area extending between Copt Point and about 5 miles to the north-west. The most readily available source within this area is only 400m to the south of the East Wear Bay foreshore.

The majority of the querns appear to be unfinished, and several are only roughouts. Three different forms of upper stones and two forms of lower stones have so far been recognised. The precise dating of the quernstones is uncertain, but excavations by the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit (KARU) in 1974 on the cliff edge found layers containing pottery and quernstones. The pottery was of local manufacture dating to between AD 10 - 80, prior to the construction of the villa. These finds, and a layer found by KARU containing just greenstand dust, suggests that a quernstone production site exisited before the villa, stretching out further to sea. This site may have been related to the iron age cemetery found beneath the villa (TR 23 NW 109).

The querns are of the semi-rotary or "oscillatory", domestic hand type and include both upper and lower stones. Although a few recovered from the beach appear to be finished products, the majority appear to be unfinished. In many cases the querns appear to have fractured during shaping, or the hole-boring stage and rejected.(2 - 3)

<1> Dover Archaeological Group, 1991, Dover Archaeological Group Annual Report for 1990, Page 5 (Unpublished document). SKE6750.

<2> Keller, P. T., 1989, The Folkestone Quernstones (Article in serial). SKE12096.

<3> Keller, P. T., 1989, Quern Production at Folkestone, South-East Kent: An Interim Note (Article in serial). SKE12095.

Sources and further reading

Related records