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     Archaeologia Cantiana -  Vol. 93  1977  page 34

Excavations on the Site of Leeds Priory.  Part  I  - THE CHURCH  By P. J. Tester, F.S.A.  continued

plans as work proceeded which were of great help in tracing the layout. Most unfortunately, he did not live to draw the final plan, and I alone am responsible for any shortcomings in that reproduced here as Fig. 1. Mr. A. C. Hart and Mr. H. Lange have provided drawings of some architectural details and samples of building stone have been identified by Dr. H. Owen. A grant by the Department of the Environment to cover the cost of back-filling the excavations is gratefully acknowledged.
   So many have taken part for longer or shorter periods in the excavation that it is not possible to mention them all individually. The considerable contribution made by some of our Members calls, however, for special acknowledgement. Above all, I would express my gratitude to our Honorary General Secretary, Mr. A. C. Harrison, who throughout the whole undertaking has relieved me of many responsibilities in the management as well as participating in the actual labour. Members of the Archaeological Society of Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School, the Sittingbourne and Swale Archaeological Research Group and the Thameside Archaeological Group have given valuable help, and we are also grateful to the following: Mesdames N. V. Caiger, P. Connell, R. Coulson, E. Gledhill, M. Knight, H. Lowson, V. Legg and A. Payne; Misses L. Abraham, M. H. Bell, V. L. Bowlzer, R. Payne and A. Thomas; Messrs R. J. Ansell, S. Caiger, E. P. Connell, B. D. Copland, R. J. Cruse,

  A. Daniels, E. I. Gledhill, 0. K. Hales, R. Harman, J. P. Hayes, N. and S. Isles, T. Ithell, R. Knight, R. Knight (in), J. Lange, R. Lowson, E. P. Mount, P. H. Pearce, S. Perks, S. Thomas and W. Tomsett.

THE SITE
The site of the Priory is situated about 3½ miles east of Maidstone, in a valley just south of Leeds village (N.G.R. TQ 823530). 1 A small stream, rising from springs south of the Priory, skirts its west side, flowing to join the River Len over half a mile to the north. Leeds Castle, the medieval owners of which were patrons of the Priory, lies less than a mile to the east.
   At the time of our excavation, the site was covered by obstructions which necessarily limited the scope of our investigation. The church was found to lie within a plantation of young conifers and the cloister area was covered by a heavily cobbled yard and ruined farm buildings. In these circumstances it was only possible to trace the remains in

   1 Mr. J. Caiger calculated that the centre of the cloister garth is at N.G.R: TQ 8235152999. On the current O.S. 1.2500 sheet the antiquities symbol marking the site of the Priory is now seen to be over the position of the north transept.

Page 34  (This page prepared for the Website by Ted Connell)                    

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