Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

During extensive rescue excavations undertaken across Dover’s Town centre by Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, extensive remains of the Classis Britannica Fort were uncovered and recorded, these included parts of all four of the walls, two gate houses, numerous drains and sewers and at least nine of the internal structures of the fort. From this evidence it is clear that the arrangements broadly reflect the standard layout of a Roman auxiliary fort and it is therefore possible to ascertain the locations of the structures and features which are commonly located within Roman forts but remained unexcavated at Dover. The first example of this is the Principia or headquarters which would have likely been situated on the west side of the north-south Via Principalis, the line of which is determined by the northern gatehouse (B13). (location accurate to the nearest 25m based on available information)

Monument Types

• MILITARY HEADQUARTERS (B15 Principia, Roman - 125 AD to 210 AD)

Full description

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(Summarised from publication)

During extensive rescue excavations undertaken across Dover’s Town centre by Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, extensive remains of the Classis Britannica Fort were uncovered and recorded, these included parts of all four of the walls, two gate houses, numerous drains and sewers and at least nine of the internal structures of the fort. From this evidence it is clear that the arrangements broadly reflect the standard layout of a Roman auxiliary fort and it is therefore possible to ascertain the locations of the structures and features which are commonly located within Roman forts but remained unexcavated at Dover. The first example of this is the Principia or headquarters which would have likely been situated on the west side of the north-south Via Principalis, the line of which is determined by the northern gatehouse (B13). (1)

If this proposed location is accurate the majority of any surviving remains would be located beneath the houses and gardens on the south side of Cowgate Hill. Excavations undertaken here in 2009 did reveal features of a Roman date: Short lengths of Roman walling were located in Trenches 1, 3, 4 and 5. All the walls were constructed from chalk blocks bonded in clay which is typical of the rest of the buildings located during the 1970’s rescue excavations. The wall do not appear to be of the same date, which is again typical and the remains revealed in 2008−9 could belong to any one of these periods identified in the earlier excavations. (2)

<1> Philp, B. J., 1981, The Excavation of the Roman Forts of the Classis Britannica at Dover 1970-1977 (Monograph). SKE7863.

<2> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2009, Report on Evaluation Trenching off Cowgate Hill, Dover (Unpublished document). SKE18028.

Sources and further reading

Related records