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 12.8m length of the southern wall which was located during the excavation of a small car park on the north side of Queens Street (Car Park Site). (location accurate to the nearest 2m based on available information)

Monument Types

• WALL (southern wall of the shore fort, Roman - 240 AD to 330 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 12.8m length of the southern wall which was located during the excavation of a small car park on the north side of Queens Street (Car Park Site).

Here the wall was 2.42m in width and had been built following the east west slope of the ground, it had been situated upon a variety of features relating to the earlier CLBR fort, including walls and roads, which had been used as the shore forts walls foundations. The wall survived to a maximum height of 1.5m (six courses) and had an external face of tufa blocks and, unusually, two courses of flat red brick at its base. The external face and core of the wall was the same as the walls at other locations, chalk blocks for the face and rubble for the core, set in a hard white mortar. (1)

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

Sources and further reading

Related records