Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A rubbish pit containing Belgic pottery of a probable cAD 10-80 date was found and excavated on Wear Bay Foreshore in 1974.

Monument Types

• FINDSPOT (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)

Associated Finds

• ANIMAL REMAINS (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
• SHERD (Late Iron Age to Roman - 10 AD to 80 AD)

Full description

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[TR 243 369] Folkestone. A probable pre-medieval rubbish pit was suggested by bone fragments and a few potsherds being found above the shore line by P. Keller. (1) Wearby Foreshore, Folkestone. Animal bones and pottery were found by a fossil hunter in 1973 at the foot of the cliff, some 48 metres belowthe East Wear Bay Roman Villa (TR 23 NW 11). The pottery, Belgic in character, c. A.D. 10-80, and the bones, were found to be confined to a small irregular pit. A large proportion of the cliff was washed away by violent storms in January 1974, and an oblique stratified section some six metres north of the small pit was revealed. This also contained pottery of the same date. Shepway District Council granted permission for a rescue excavation to establish the nature of the stratigraphy. This took place in February 1974 (site 2 - illustration card). The pit was oval with sloping sides and a rounded base. Its fill of grey-brown clay contained more Belgic pottery of c. A.D. 10-80. The pit was later destroyed by storm action. The section was cut back vertically, but it may not have been at the correct angle, as the layers set back steeply into the cliff and may represent a slumped ditch or a pit. At least two layers contained potsherds and quernstones and may represent occupation deposits, while a third, composed entirely of greensand dust, may represent a working level. The pottery from the pit and the section, and from the immediate vicinity, appears to be Belgic c. A.D. 10-80, thus overlapping the Conquest period. No obvious Roman material was found. The area of the finds is localised to one spot c. 10 metres wide. This is a cliff-top section now very far removed from its original position. Considering the rate of cliff erosion, it is likely that the cliff-edge extended c. 400-500 metres further out to sea in Roman times. The section and pit are remnants of an earlier Belgic settlement. (1)(2)

Southern Water Services, 1993, Dover & Folkestone Wastewater Treatment scheme Environmental Statement (Unpublished document). SKe6815.

<1> Arch Cant 88 221 (AH Gibson) (OS Card Reference). SKE35964.

<2> KAR 69 1982 209-211 (P Keller) (OS Card Reference). SKE45403.

<3> Southern Water Services, 1993, Dover & Folkestone Wastewater Treatment scheme Environmental Statement (Unpublished document). SKE6815.

Sources and further reading