KENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY  -- RESEARCH    Studying and sharing Kent's past      Homepage


Victoria County History of Kent Vol. 3  1932 - Romano-British Kent - Towns - Page 94

   Apart from the Roman foundations already noted at Faversham itself other Roman structural remains have been observed in this area. In a field near Elverton Lane, Luddenham, strong foundations of flint-rubble, inclosing and subdividing a space about 54 yds. square, are recorded, and with them was noted a part of a tessellated pavement and a hypocaust. The only coins mentioned appear to have been two of Constantine I .76  Near by, in a field west of Hog Brook, about two miles west-north-west of Faversham, other foundations were seen in 185277 ; whilst at Buckland Church the remains of ‘a small Roman villa’ (apparently distinct from the remains just noted) were uncovered a few years before 1874.78  Less certain remains in the Faversham district might be multiplied almost indefinitely. Here it will suffice to observe


Fig. 17.  Map showing sites of Roman remains in the vincinity of Ospringe and Faversham
(From Arch. Journ. lxxxvi, 299)
Based on the Ordnance Survey Map, with the sanction of the Controller of H.M. Stationery Office

that at Black Lands, in Ewell, a mile east of Faversham, is thought, somewhat vaguely and suspiciously, to be ‘the site of a Roman villa which was destroyed by fire.79  The ruined chapel of Stone has itself been regarded as partially of Roman date, but there is no good reason for believing that any of its walls are earlier than the Saxon period.
   One possible structural relic of the Roman period is still just recognizable above ground. On the top of Judd’s Hill, 900 yds. west of the Maison Dieu at Ospringe, the mutilated remains of a bank and ditch formerly inclosing an oblong area of about 400 ft. from north to south and 480 ft. from east to west (i.e. about 4⅓ acres) adjoins the Watling Street on its southern side. In the south-western quarter of the inclosure stands Syndale House, and generations of gardeners have played havoc with the earthwork.80  The main road here was diverted slightly to the northwards over half a century ago, and during the work ‘a great quantity’ of Roman coins, pottery, and debris, including heaps of oyster-shells, was found here, whilst coins of Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius,
   76  Reliquary, xiii, 143.            77  Ibid.                            78  Arch. Cant. ix, lxxi.  
   79  Ibid. ix, lxxi.                          80 Arch Cant. ix, lxxiii.

Previous Page          Page 94           Next Page

For details about the advantages of membership of the Kent Archaeological Society   click here

        Back to Towns page listings       Back to Contents Page        Back to Research    Back to Homepage

Kent Archaeological Society is a registered charity number 223382
© Kent Archaeological Society May 2006

This website is constructed by enthusiastic amateurs.  Any errors noticed by other researchers will be to gratefully received so
 that we can amend our pages to give as accurate a record as possible. Please send details to research@kentarchaeology.org.uk