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Monument details

HER Number:TR 34 SW 1191
Type of record:Monument
Name:Extra Mural Structure associated with the Classis Britannica fort II, Dover

Summary

Excavation in trench 1 during an evaluation undertaken by Oxford Archaeological Unit in Dover town centre in 1988-91 revealed an extra-mural structure, north of the Classis Britannica Fort, 35m east of the fort's east gate. A short 1.2m north-south length of chalk block wall set in mortar was revealed (location accurate to the nearest 5m based on available information).


Grid Reference:TR 31934 41371
Map Sheet:TR34SW
Parish:DOVER, DOVER, KENT

Monument Types

  • EXTRA MURAL SUBURB (Roman - 117 AD? to 270 AD?)

Associated Finds

  • WALL PLASTER (Roman - 100 AD? to 150 AD?)

Full description

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Excavation in trench 1 revealed an extra-mural structure north of the Cl. Br. II Fort, 35m east of the forts east gate. A short 1.2m north-south length of chalk block wall set in mortar was revealed. The footing of the wall was off-set to the south by 0.2m, giving a total width of at least 0.58m. Two courses of walling survived. The footing was covered by a metalled surface formed of water worn pebbles, in turn covered by a layer of silt which had formed against the south side of the wall and a layer of rubble, probably wall collapse. Both of the latter two deposits contained many small fragments of painted plaster. The few larger fragments preserved showed a background of reddish-pink onto which was imposed some small areas of dark reddish black and some of dark red. This pattern suggests that at least some of the plaster was painted as imitation marble, a technique used commonly for both the dado and the middle zone of Roman painted walls.

The structure cannot be independently dated but the use of chalk block construction recalls structures within the Cl. Br. Fort, and the metalled surface to that used for roads and other external areas within the fort. More compellingly, the building almost certainly precedes the construction of the Saxon Shore fort and the accumulating silts with fragments of plaster suggest at least considerable dilapidation, if not abandonment, well before this date. On balance then, while no construction date can be established, the building should have been in use during the final phase of the Cl. Br. Fort and for at least part of the intervening period, prior to the construction of the shore fort.

The context in which the plaster fragments were found, in a silt layer accumulated overlying a metalled surface, strongly suggests that they had fallen from the external face of the wall, as metalled surfaces seem, at least on the evidence of the Cl. Br. Fort , to be used for outside surfaces. It is of course possible that the wall was fronted by a portico which protected it from weathering to some extent. The building discussed here may be the same as that found in 1982 by the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, and the painted wall could have faced out onto the main approach road to the east gate of the fort. (Summarised from source) (1)


<1> Wilkinson, D. R. P., 1995, Archaeologia Cantiana, Excavations on the White Cliffs Experience site, Dover, 1988-91. Vol. 114 (Article in serial). SKE31729.

Sources and further reading

Cross-ref. Source description
<1>Article in serial: Wilkinson, D. R. P.. 1995. Archaeologia Cantiana, Excavations on the White Cliffs Experience site, Dover, 1988-91. Vol. 114. Vol. 114 pp. 51-148.

Related records

TR 34 SW 2Part of: Classis Britannica Fort I and II, Roman 2nd century Fort, Dover (Monument)