Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

During a watching brief undertaken by Canterbury Archaeological Trust at the Grand Shaft Barracks in 2017, the below floor remains of a double, back to back, row of latrines of the Soldiers privies were located in trench 1. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• LATRINE PIT (Demolished, Post Medieval to Unknown - 1858 AD?)

Full description

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During a watching brief undertaken by Canterbury Archaeological Trust at the Grand Shaft Barracks in 2017, the below floor remains of a double, back to back, row of latrines of the Soldiers privies were located in trench 1. Two phases of development were apparent here. In its earliest form the structure appears to have consisted of a sloping sided trench or trough, set in a broad construction trench and lined with rendered yellow brick. This trench was at least 0.40m deep. A line of vertical slabs of Welsh slate divided the trough longitudinally and presumably marked off the two sides of the arrangement. It is not clear if the associated seating at this stage took the form of a continuous row of seats or individual cubicles. It was readily apparent that at a later date the central trough had been partially in-filled and used to house two parallel 6-inch diameter ceramic drain pipes encased in concrete. Each pipe run had an integral upright branch pipes set at intervals. It seems clear that each of these must have originally connected to an individual lavatory pan set at a higher level, of 18 which no traces had survived. These lavatories had been positioned within narrow individual cubicles. Placed bricks and odd scars in the cement floor probably mark the positions of the cubicle walls, which may not have been wholly of mortared brick but were perhaps wooden. The change from the trough system to drainage pipes represents the increased attention paid to hygiene in the late nineteenth- and early twentieth centuries and is recorded on the site plan of 1867. (summarised from report)(1).

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2018, Grand Shaft Barracks, Western Heights, Dover, Evaluation Report (Unpublished document). SKE51431.

Sources and further reading

Related records