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 flight of concrete steps connecting the rear of the Staff Sergeants Quarters of the Barracks. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• STEPS (Post Medieval to Modern - 1805 AD? to 1945 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 flight of five concrete steps connecting the rear of the Staff Sergeants Quarters of the Barracks. These steps occupied most of the trench in this area and led to a roughly pebbled path around 1.50m wide that ran some 18 metres uphill to connect with a terraced roadway running along the slope below Drop Redoubt Road. Probably at a later date, improvements to this pathway were made by the incorporation, at intervals, of a dozen rough steps, formed from re-used pieces of granite, York stone, concrete and other oddments. The gravel path and steps ran across an area of unoccupied, open ground shown on a 1925 site plan as a ‘drying ground’. The soils in this area, adjacent to the pathway produced a number of finds. A thin layer of redeposited brown clay lying directly on the chalk surface, yielded five small pot-sherds, three of medieval date and two Belgic−Roman. The overlying topsoil deposit, no more than 0.25m thick, produced a piece of modern chinaware, two small buttons, two metal cartridge cases and a complete iron meat cleaver. (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 Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2018, Grand Shaft Barracks, Western Heights, Dover, Evaluation Report (Unpublished document).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