Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Dover Castle is the possible location of a Saxon burgh settlement. The evidence for this is the church of St. Mary in Castro which was established in c.1000 A.D and the associated presence of coffined Late Saxon burials found in 1962 during excavations undertaken on the southern side of the church. (location acccurate to the neartest 100m based on available information)

Monument Types

• BURH (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD? to 1065 AD?)
• SETTLEMENT (Early Medieval or Anglo-Saxon - 410 AD to 1065 AD)

Full description

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From the National Heritage List for England:During the late 10th or early 11th century the Grade I Listed Church of St Mary in Castro was constructed adjacent to the lighthouse, and excavation has revealed an associated Saxon cemetery immediately to the south. Although the church and cemetery were almost certainly located within a Saxon settlement, its precise status is unclear. Documentary sources suggest that it was probably a burh or fortified town, which utilised the defences of the earlier hillfort. Whether it was a castle, or merely a burh, immediately following the Norman Conquest it is known that Duke William, a Norman, spent eight days adding to the defences. Excavation has produced evidence of a bank and ditch cutting through the Saxon cemetery which probably dates from this phase of Norman occupation. (1)

The section through the earthworks surrounding the church of St. Mary in Castro, begun in 1961 was continued throughout 1962 and completed in September, 1963, by M. Biddle for M.P.B.W. On the original hill-slope S. of the church a cemetery of coffined burials, probably pre-conquest, had been cut into the underlying iron-age levels. Subsequently a ditch, 27 ft. wide and 18 ft. deep, had been cut through this cemetery and a bank thrown up on its N. side, entirely filling the space between the S. wall of the S. transept of St. Mary's and the inner lip of the ditch. (2-3)

<1> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

<2> E. H. Bayly, 1962, KAS Annual Report 1962: Activities around Dover, Arch Cant 1962 page xlviii (Article in serial). SKE7873.

<3> M. Biddle, 1964, Medieval Archaeology: Medieval Britain in 1962 and 1963; Kent: Dover (Article in serial). SKE52161.

Sources and further reading

Related records