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. During these excavations a total of seven of the Shore Forts external bastions were located and excavated. This includes the third bastion along the west wall of the Saxon Shore Fort which was discovered during excavations at the ‘Painted House’ in the 1970’s. This bastion has been left exposed and is open for the public to view alongside the ‘Painted House’. (location accurate to the nearest 2m based on available information).

Monument Types

• BASTION (bastion (no. 4) 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. During these excavations a total of seven of the Shore Forts external bastions were located and excavated. This includes the third bastion along the west wall of the Saxon Shore Fort which was discovered during excavations at the ‘Painted House’ in the 1970’s. This bastion has been left exposed and is open for the public to view alongside the ‘Painted House’.

This bastion was found substantially complete and is one of the examples of a later add on rather than integral build bastion. It was D shaped in plan, about 5.9m in width and projected 3.4m from the fort wall. The masonry foundations were placed directly upon the remains of the western end of the earlier painted house and where no earlier remains were present deeper foundations were laid. The bastion itself consisted of a core of chalk blocks set in a hard, gritty white mortar and the external face was of large flints, tufa and ragstone blocks, surviving to a height of 1.15m. (1)

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

Sources and further reading

Related records