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 area between the two granaries (B16 and B17) lay beneath the line of Princes Street and remained unexcavated, it is likely that this area would have been occupied by a courtyard. (location accurate to the nearest 10m based on available information)

Monument Types

• COURTYARD (B18 courtyard?, Roman - 125 AD to 210 AD)

Full description

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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 area between the two granaries (B16 and B17) lay beneath the line of Princes Street and remained unexcavated; it is likely that this area would have been occupied by a courtyard.

There is a space of about 6m between the two structures; this is paralleled in the forts at Caerhun and Ambleside where the space in between the granaries is occupied by a walled courtyard. Very slight traces of a wall foundation was located 75cm from the corner of the south wall of the west granary, but whether or not this relates to a walled courtyard remains uncertain. (1)

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

Sources and further reading

Related records