Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

During a series of extensive rescue excavations, ahead of development in Dover’s town centre undertaken by Kent Archaeological Rescue unit a series of features relating to the late Roman Saxon Shore Fort were excavated and recorded. Long lengths of both the south and western defensive walls of the Shore fort were located at various sites during these excavations. This includes a small section of walling and a 12m length of the associated foundations, which was uncovered during the excavation a large area covering most of the disused burial ground of St. Martin-Le-Grand's church (Burial Ground site). (location accurate to the nearest 2m based on available information)

Monument Types

• WALL (western wall of the shore fort, Roman - 240 AD to 330 AD)

Associated Finds

• BRACELET (Roman to Unknown - 240 AD?)

Full description

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(Summarised from publication)

During a series of extensive rescue excavations, ahead of development in Dover’s town centre undertaken by Kent Archaeological Rescue unit a series of features relating to the late Roman Saxon Shore Fort were excavated and recorded. Long lengths of both the south and western defensive walls of the Shore fort were located at various sites during these excavations. This includes a small section of walling and a 12m length of the associated foundation trench, which was uncovered during the excavation a large area covering most of the disused burial ground of St. Martin-Le-Grand's church (Burial Ground site).

Only two small isolated lumps of masonry represented the fort wall at this site, these consisted of two chalk blocks set in a hard white mortar, which would have formed part of the internal face. The rest of the wall in this trench was represented by the chalk rubble foundations over which the wall would have stood, the trench in which the foundations would have stood but which had been almost entirely robbed and back filled with soil. The surviving foundations consisted of three un-mortared courses of rubble and chalk, 2.6-3.1m in width and 0.6m in depth. (1)

<1> Brian Philp, The Discovery and Excavation of the Roman Shore Fort at Dover, Kent (Monograph). SKE32061.

Sources and further reading

Related records