ROMANO-BRITISH INDUSTRIES1 Now
that some account has been given of the distribution and the nature of the
civilization of Kent during the Roman occupation, it is of interest to
carry the survey a step further and to enquire into the industries that
the region supported.
Perhaps chief among the industries of Romano-British Kent was
agriculture; something has already been said about the villa system, and
it is probable that the Roman occupation led to the development of
agriculture on an intensive scale. The Celtic folk of south-east Britain
grew corn extensively, even before the Claudian invasion; Pytheas, for
instance, who, in the course of his expedition, visited Britain in 325
B.C., noted that the natives grew large quantities of corn2
which they used not only for food, but also in the brewing of beer. Caesar
himself, writing in the middle of the 1st century B.C.,3 speaks
of the abundant cattle, the large population, and the crowded settlements
to be found in Kent. During his first campaign he was able to provision
his army for a fortnight on corn reaped from the fields near Deal and
Walmer. Pliny, the Latin naturalist, mentions that the heavy land was
given a dressing of chalk obtained from mines, and it may be that certain
of the shafts known as deneholes originated as chalk mines in this way.
The growth of agriculture was much accelerated during the occupation, and
in the middle of the 4th century A.D., encouraged by the Emperor Julian,
Britain was exporting grain to the ravaged areas in the Rhine valley;
doubtless Kent contributed largely to the quota.4 But
apart from the Latin historians, and the occasional discovery of
agricultural tools on villa sites, we know next to nothing about the
methods used by the farmers of Kent, and so far no certain traces of
fields have been recognized.5
There is evidence that British wool was exported to the
mainland of Europe, and we find that it is mentioned in the eastern Edict
of Diocletian, promulgated in A.D. 301. Signs of a woollen industry,
mainly in the shape of loom-weights, bobbins, and bone combs have been
noted on several of the Kentish villa sites. A series of cisterns,
provided with elaborate gutters and drain-pipes, together with unusually
large heating arrangements in the Darenth buildings (p.111) is thought to
have been part of a plant for ‘fulling’ or milling cloth.
An important group of industries is connected with building.
We may suppose that there was a large demand for timber, both rough and
finished, the forested Wealden region and the less densely wooded areas
along the northern tertiary belt providing valuable supplies. Ragstone was
used extensively, not only in the construction of the shore-forts and in
the walls of London, Canterbury, and Rochester, but also in the less
pretentious buildings in rural
1 This section has been contributed
by Mr. Ronald F. Jessup.
2 Strabo, iv, v. 5
3 De Bello Gallico, v, 12, 14.
4 For the 3rd-century prosperity of Kent see
Haverfield and Macdonald, The Roman Occupation of Britain, 264.
5 Air photographs taken in 1928 near Capston
and Hempsted (6-in, map, sheet xix, S.E.) show certain linear markings
suggestive of ancient fields. (Information from Mr. O. G. S. Crawford.)
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