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Monument details

HER Number:TR 35 NW 3
Type of record:Monument
Name:Roman building (site of); possible ritual pits

Summary

The remains of a Roman building, "suggestive of a dwelling house or baths", were destroyed when the Ramsgate-Deal railway was built in 1846; possibly the site of a villa. Ritual pits/shafts were also uncovered

Grid Reference:TR 321 596
Map Sheet:TR35NW
Parish:ASH, DOVER, KENT

Monument Types

  • BATH HOUSE? (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • BUILDING (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • PIT (PIT, Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)
  • VILLA? (Roman - 43 AD to 409 AD)

Full description

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[Area TR 321596] S of the Roman temples. (1) [TR 35 NW 2] and about 600 yds from Richborough Castle, the remains of a Roman building, "suggestive of a dwelling house or baths", were destroyed when the Ramsgate-Deal railway was built in 1846. (2) There is no trace of this building. The site lies on a piece of ground which has been levelled for railway sidings (now disused) and under grass. (3) Several pits (included in a list of shafts, pits and wells of clear ritual importance) were found when the railway was being built (in 1846) on the hill a short distance S of the Roman fort. They were filled with dark rich mould impregnated with animal and vegetable matter, in which were portions of antlers, bones of boar, goat and sheep, potsherds and other objects. (Pits were also found at the nearby temple site TR 35 NW 2). (4) Magnetometer, resistivity and magnetic susceptibitilty surveys undertaken over a 18.7ha area, at Richborough, Kent. The magnetometer survey revealed a complex pattern of settlement activity, roadways and enclosures. Ribbon development along Watling Street accounted for a greater density of readings in that area, whereas weaker responses seem to be associated with an outlying field system. The limit of the settlement was not defined, so further survey work is recommended(6).


<1> Ants of Richborough etc 1850 54 plan (CR Smith) (OS Card Reference). SKE33311.

<2> VCH Kent 3 1932 34 (FJ Haverfield and REM Wheeler) (OS Card Reference). SKE51122.

<3> F1 FGA 10-JUN-64 (OS Card Reference). SKE42910.

<4> Studies in Ancient Europe ed Coles and Simpsson 1968 257 271 (A Ross) (OS Card Reference). SKE49703.

<5> Field report for monument TR 35 NW 3 - June, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE6026.

<6> English Heritage, 2001, Richborough, Kent: Report on Geophysical Surveys, September 2001 (Unpublished document). SKE13689.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref. Source description
<1>OS Card Reference: Ants of Richborough etc 1850 54 plan (CR Smith).
<2>OS Card Reference: VCH Kent 3 1932 34 (FJ Haverfield and REM Wheeler).
<3>OS Card Reference: F1 FGA 10-JUN-64.
<4>OS Card Reference: Studies in Ancient Europe ed Coles and Simpsson 1968 257 271 (A Ross).
<5>Bibliographic reference: Field report for monument TR 35 NW 3 - June, 1964.
<6>XYUnpublished document: English Heritage. 2001. Richborough, Kent: Report on Geophysical Surveys, September 2001. [Mapped feature: #56877 building, ]