Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

During an archaeological watching brief undertaken by Canterbury Archaeological Trust at The Grand Shaft Barracks in 2017 a number of wall foundations were uncovered representing a complete section through the Soldiers Quarters Range B. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• WALL (Post Medieval to Modern - 1805 AD? to 1960 AD?)

Full description

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During an archaeological watching brief undertaken by Canterbury Archaeological Trust at The Grand Shaft Barracks in 2017 a number of wall foundations were uncovered representing a complete section through the Soldiers Quarters Range B. From what survived of Soldiers’ Quarters Range B, it was readily apparent that there were three separate phases of building work represented here.

Earliest were wall foundations relating to the ground floor rooms, preserved within the rear half of the main block. Shallowly buried, these were all contemporary and cut into an earlier undisturbed clay deposit which is probably considerably older in date than the construction of the barracks complex. All these walls were of similar construction, being built almost entirely from dense orangered bricks, only sometimes showing very shallow frogs, set in a light grey gritty mortar containing frequent charcoal and chalk/lime specks. There were also a few odd yellow bricks included in one of the walls. One of the earlier wall foundations formed the rear, north-western wall of the range. The wall foundation itself was 0.57m wide at the top, with a double offset on the southeastern side increasing it to at least 0.67m. It extended to a total depth of 0.72m (9 courses), with the basal foundation course of bricks laid on edge. At the surviving top of the wall on the south-east side (internal), the remains of a cement rendered air vent were noted. This presumably allowed air to circulate under a suspended wooden floor that lay at a higher level. Another of the earlier wall foundations constituted the base of an internal cross-wall running north-west by south-east through the building. At the north-western end it was carefully bonded into outer Wall at a right angle. At the south-eastern end, it was similarly bonded into another early Wall, giving it a total length of 5.40m. The foundation itself was about 0.45m wide. Reflecting the natural slope, it had been stepped down the hillside (2−5 courses), extending to a maximum depth of 0.35m into the underlying clay. A third Wall foundation was a short, contemporary internal spur wall running south-westwards from the south-west. It was 0.48m wide and appeared to be complete in its surviving length. It was traced for a distance of just 0.40m from its junction with the main wall. It was 0.23m deep (3 courses). Together, these may be equated with the primary barracks construction of 1805.

Set in a 1.40m deep terrace, at a lower (basement) level, dour walls appeared to be of later date, although not necessarily all precisely contemporary. Collectively, they would seem to imply that sometime after Phase 1, the front (south-eastern) half of the range had been rebuilt from the foundations up. This is most likely to have occurred sometime during the 1850s. Two walls formed part of the retaining wall for a terrace which marked the change in floor level that was incorporated into the range. One of these walls survived to a height of at least 0.60m and was 0.48m wide above offset level, increasing to 0.53m at the offset (8 courses min.). The wall was composed of frogged yellow stock bricks set in a pale yellow sandy mortar with moderate amounts of chalk grit. The other was poorly bonded into the first was apparently contemporary with it. It was 0.34m wide above offset level and 0.58m below. It survived to a height of at least 0.50m (6 courses) and was constructed from a mixture of red and yellow bricks (60% yellow), set in a cream sandy mortar with occasional chalk grits and black sand grits. A third wall consisted of the base of an internal cross-wall running north-west by south-east through the building. It was traced for a distance of 5.20m and was bonded into two others at either end, apparently being contemporary with them, despite the different mortar types used. This foundation was about 0.46m wide above offset level and 0.60m below. It was at least 0.25m deep (3 courses) and was constructed from red and yellow bricks (50% − 50% mix), set in a dark brown sandy mortar. Along its northeastern side the foundation was abutted by a cement base that had once held a parallel wooden beam or floor joist. The fourth wall foundation constituted the front, south-eastern wall of the range. As recorded, it was 0.56m wide above offset level and 0.90m wide below a double offset. It extended to a minimum depth of 0.50m (7 courses), cut into an earlier clay deposit below. It was constructed from a mixture of red and yellow bricks set in a cream-grey sandy mortar with occasional chalk grits and black sand grits. On its north-eastern side the foundation had been cut through by a later drain which connected with a 7-inch diameter ceramic drain pipe set in a shallow trench running along the outside of the wall. A gap of about 3.70m separated the front face of the wall from the edge of the main access road. (summarised from report) (1).

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

Sources and further reading

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