For further information of the site go to: Newsletter 15
Pre-AD 1300 human bones at Dover Market Square
We maintained a watching brief while groundworks were carried out. A few new fragments of walling revealed further elements of the lost c .17 guildhall. Before the marketplace with its guildhall was established, antiquarian tradition asserts that the area had been part of the graveyard of the great Norman church of St Martin-le- Grand, ruins of which are still exposed a short distance to the west. Excavations in early December 2021 revealed an important stone- built medieval tomb. It falls on the axis of St Martin-le Grand church, some 8 metres outside its east end. This burial was of someone quite
important – but not so important that they were buried inside the church. We were able to rapidly record this structure before it was reburied for protection. The structure thus still survives for someone in the future to fully excavate. The tomb was not on its own and had, itself, been cut into a series of earlier burials. Some articulated skeletons began to show in the base of the excavation. We left these untouched, but we have salvaged a considerable amount of loose bone. The precise date of these bones is not certain but current thinking suggests that they could all be pre- AD 1300.
February
Rare opportunity at Dover Mason Dieu The closure of the Dover Mason Dieu, town hall complex allowed a rare opportunity to undertake archaeological investigations inside the working building. The building with a very long and complicated history, is designation as both a Grade 1 Listed Building and a Scheduled Monument. Three community excavations were planned outside the area of the main building in the hope of discovering more about ancillary structures associated with the complex.
For further information of the site go to: Newsletter 16
Twenty Centuries at Canterbury
Evidence of Romano-British roadside activity next to Watling Street, was revealed during an excavation (2m by 2m test pit) which runs through West Gate Gardens, Canterbury. The site of significant historical importance for the city’s development, supports Canterbury Archaeological Trust’s ‘Twenty Centuries at Canterbury’ project. The base of the trench revealed typical river
lain deposits of silty clay as seen in previous excavations nearby. A sherd of late Iron Age imported fineware was retrieved from this material, which is in keeping with the current understanding of the late prehistoric occupation of the floodplain. The earliest cut feature was a late Iron Age/Romano-British ditch, on the same alignment as many of the field boundaries that underpin the topography of early Durovernum.
You can find out more about the project and Canterbury Archaeological Trust’s excavations at: www.canterburytrust.co.uk/20-centuries. Or you can purchase ‘An Historic Map of Canterbury’ for only £9.99 from bookshops and online and support the next phase of the project.
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