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Dartford & District
Archaeological Group (DDAG) - Rediscovering Dartford -
Page 30
12 St Saviour's
Avenue
The excavations featured in this chapter relate to
the narrow strip of land located between the Holy Trinity Church wall to
the west and the River Darent to the east. This was the avenue that led
to the terrace of houses established by the Wardens of St Saviour’s in
Southwark. A further terrace was situated in Home Gardens.
Working backward in time the terrace of houses overlooking
the Darent was built c1901 (demolished 1978). They replaced a large
house demolished in 1899 which was the home of James Snowden, who worked
in the drawing office of John Hall. He was also a friend of Richard
Trevithick, the well known Cornish inventor. Snowdens’s house was
approached by a carriageway which ran along the Darent riverbank from
the High Street to the south side of his property.
Our excavations first revealed this carriageway, made of
compacted chalk with gravel spread over it. Below this, and
nearer to the High Street, we found evidence of a small industrial
site. A portion of an oven or hearth was
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uncovered, constructed of roofing
tiles. 17th century documents show the land was owned by a series of
people, all of whom were glovers by trade. Near to this tiled feature
was found a large quantity of skeletal remains, the majority of which
were sheep or goat’s leg bones, confirming the leather-craft
connection.
In 1817, the same area of land was used as a cooper’s
yard (barrel maker). From our excavations it would also appear that the
churchyard wall which runs along the West side of the site has long been
a boundary. No evidence of any human burials was found during our
excavations. The grid dug against the churchyard wall proved that there
was as much wall below ground as above.
We had hoped that our excavations might reveal evidence of
the course of the Roman road, and although a fair amount of Roman
pottery was found, no evidence of any Roman structures were noted. The
oldest object found on site turned out to be a flint implement of the
Acheulian type c.250,000 years old. The Group was surprised by the
amount of evidence gathered and the variety of uses to which this narrow
strip of land had been put. |
13. The Mill House, Hawley
This listed building was
demolished during the early part of February 1978. It was situated next
to the Hawley Road on the left side of the entrance to Louis G. Ford (of
the Graham Group). The building was described by the Department of the
Environment as being 18th century in date, which was based purely on an
external examination. A photographic survey was carried out by the Group
on the 3rd February, 1978 just as the demolition had begun. During this
survey it was noted on entering the roof space that the remains of an
earlier timber-framed house existed which had been entirely built
around, sometime during the 18th century. As the demolition proceeded,
further evidence was uncovered as to the real age of the house. It now
seems that the original building was a single storey timber-framed
construction dating back to the second half of the 16th century. It then
had a two storey extension built at its western end. The original house
was later heightened by constructing a second storey. Finally the
building was ‘modernised’ in the 18th century covering the whole of
the earlier structure. Up until fairly recent times, the house formed
part of a large mill structure, which extended eastwards over the Darent
and was equipped with water wheels. The mill has been used for |
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various processes including the manufacture of paper, the
extraction of oil from seed and dyeing and finishing of leather
products. The early history of the Mill House is at present sketchy
although Edward Hasted, a local historian and antiquary, mentions the
house being rebuilt by Samuel Percival, although he does not give a
date. Rear Admiral Robert Robinson of Eltham later owned the property
following his marriage to Percival’s surviving daughter and heir. It
then passed to Thomas Frazer and was occupied by Hussey Fleet, a local
brewer.
Shortly after demolition was completed, the Group carried
out a limited excavation on the site in an effort to find further dating
evidence which would assist us in following the evolution of the Mill
House. Whilst following the foundations of the house, a filled-in cellar
was located. This proved too large to excavate totally, so by means of a
trial trench, details of its size, its date of disuse and final
backfilling were obtained. Dating was confirmed by means of clay tobacco
pipes and Chinese blue and white porcelain. It was unfortunately not
possible to trace the foundations of the early building up to the mill
race as they had been destroyed by more recent foundations and a large
underground storage tank. |
The Mill House, Hawley
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