Highlights from Archaeological Sites in East Canterbury, at Canterbury Christ Church University and the Former Canterbury Prison
Additional excavated evidence from development funded sites at Canterbury Christ Church University has added to our understanding of the archaeology of eastern Canterbury, from the prehistoric, Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods (a highly significant burial in this last category), through to the medieval development of the Outer Court of St Augustine’s Abbey.
This report presents new data in outline, in tandem noting contributions to the existing prehistoric, Romano-British, Anglo-Saxon, medieval and early post-medieval narratives of this place. The sites reported comprise excavations undertaken ahead of construction of an arts building in the north- west corner of the main university campus, along with excavations ahead of redevelopment of the Her Majesty’s Prison Canterbury site to the east, and related trenches next to the Old Sessions House building.
The following summary report gives an introductory account of some of the significant archaeological remains revealed by Canterbury Archaeological Trust as part of relatively recent developments of the Canterbury Christ Church University campus. The finds were made in two main site areas investigated ahead of development groundworks (Fig. 1): the building of the Daphne Oram Creative Arts Building in the north-west of the campus between January 2017 and December 2018 (Boden and Hicks 2019), and planned redevelopment of the former Prison site, and associated works near the Old Sessions House university buildings, to the east, between March 2016 and June 2019 (Boden et al forthcoming).
[fg]jpg|Fig. 1 Location of the new sites in relation to previous excavations at CCCU (inset shows location in relation to the City Walls).|Image[/fg]
The Arts Building (AB) site comprised excavations within discrete areas (Areas 1 and 2, Soakaway pits (S) 1 and 2, and the maintenance of a watching brief across various associated parts of the campus) whilst the Prison work (HMP) was formed of a main area to the north and east of the old prison, and linear trenching next to the Old Sessions House building. For brevity and clarity, the overall excavations are referred to as the Arts Building and the Prison sites, with qualifications where necessary, such as the ‘Old Sessions House’ trench. Archaeological Group numbers are initially prefixed by ‘AB’ or ‘HMP’ when shifting from one site to another in the descriptions, so as to avoid confusion in cross referencing.
All of the excavations reported herein add to an existing, and published, understanding of the long story of this eastern side of Canterbury, from prehistoric [pg273][pg274] background to Romano-British suburb to Anglo-Saxon and medieval Abbey. Some of the new evidence is of international significance and is only outlined below in view of more detailed accounts already in preparation.
Prehistoric
The earliest archaeological remains at the Arts Building site constitute a residual Mesolithic/Neolithic flint assemblage, whilst further evidence of sparse late Bronze Age/early Iron Age occupation in this area of the campus (not illustrated) (cf. Hicks 2015, 15–17) comprised four pits, nine post-holes, a metalled surface and a surface/occupation deposit in Area 1 (AB G50), a pit in Soakaway pit 1 (G88; see Figure 1, ‘AB S1’) and two pits in Trench 5 (G119; Fig. 1, ‘AB TR5’). Of these later remains, three post-holes in the south-west corner of Area 1 formed a slightly arcing alignment, with a span of about 3.50m. It is possible that these formed part of a roundhouse, lying mostly outside the excavated area or disturbed by later activity, projected to have had a diameter of about 9m. Also in Area 1 was a roughly circular, steep-sided pit and six surrounding post-holes, probably forming a group of related features; three further pits lay to the north of these, along with a small area of gravelly metalling/hard standing, overlain on its southern side by a possible occupation horizon or surface (G50). The few finds from these features included pottery sherds typical of a small settlement (McNee 2019, 2) and, conspicuously, burnt flint.
The latest prehistoric character of the area was suggested by features and soil layers seen at the far east end of the Prison site, near North Holmes Road (not illustrated). Two parallel ditches/gullies (HMP G60) and two layers of developed, probably agricultural soils (G66 and G70) were located. Iron Age pottery sherds were collected from one of the ditches, and further sherds came from a possible cultivated soil nearby. Another area of soil (G102) was identified in narrow trenching adjacent to the Old Sessions House. Such findings accord with a general understanding that the latest Iron Age forerunner of Romano-British Canterbury was largely restricted to a ditched enclosure considerably west of the project area, down slope on the eastern side of the river valley, on a slightly flatter piece of the rising ground above the flood plain, or in that general vicinity; in ground now occupied in part by the university campus lay a network of fields and ditches on the upper valley sides.
Romano-British
At the Prison site, further evidence of fields, as well as quarrying and some pits, was located within the main excavation area (not illustrated). A number of features had been noted at the evaluation phase of the works: a small pit, a pit/linear feature and a stake-hole, overlain by a soil horizon containing pieces of Romano-British pottery and tile, identified 10m east of the main excavation area and probably representative of open ground (Boden and Hicks 2016, 28).
A minor reorganisation of land use appears to have occurred during the Roman period, with deep and extensive clay quarry pits (HMP G11, G12 and G19) which lay at the general break in slope along the southern extent of the [pg275]main excavation area, along with a pit and other features lying closely adjacent (G14 and G25).
In the Old Sessions House trench (Fig. 2), and nearer the Roman road from Richborough, there were more signs of a somewhat enigmatic Romano-British presence seen in earlier adjacent excavations. There was a boundary ditch (HMP G87) and several cremation/placed deposit groups (HMP G88, G91 (not illustrated) and G99). The latter add new data to the first- to second-century AD Romano- British site that flanks Longport (Hicks 2015, 17–21). This had (understandably) been reported as a cremation cemetery typical of its time, in a roadside location and within a general cemetery area long known to have extended eastwards from the edge of the Romano-British town (see Weekes 2011), into what later became southern ground of the Abbey. Interesting questions are raised in this particular case however, by the lack of cremated bone in the Prison site groups.
[fg]jpg|Fig. 2 The Prison Site, coloured multiphase plan of Old Sessions House trench, showing Romano-British, early Anglo-Saxon and medieval features.|Image[/fg]
Group G88 was formed of two possible placed deposits (S1518 and S1527) within the northern extent of linear trenching, adjacent to the Old Sessions House. In an ovoid pit 1.44m long, 0.65m wide and 0.58m deep was a single fill (1517; c. AD 170–250/300) of dark greyish brown moderate silty clay, with fragmented sherds of a placed second- to third-century vessel (1519). Other finds from the fill included fragments of glass, magnetic residue, animal bone, Roman period brick, daub, a copper alloy pin and an iron nail. This feature had been cut by feature S1527, the fill of which produced a small fragment of Roman tile, animal bone and a residual sherd of late first- to second-century pottery (dated c. AD 80–175).
A similar feature (G91; not illustrated) was identified nearby, but only in the trench edge; another pair of intercutting features lay to the south (G99). Of these, S1559 contained a pottery vessel (1558) dated to c. AD 70–100, but again no cremated bone, just traces of magnetic residue from the contents of the vessel along with a grain of emmer wheat, the latter perhaps a culturally significant offering. The second feature (S1556) contained a small pottery vessel (1555), again dated to c. AD 70–100, which had been placed upside down. A tiny fragment of animal bone and traces of magnetic residue were recovered from the contents of the vessel. A small nutlet of mallow was identified from a soil sample. Mallow is commonly found in Roman deposits and could suggest the presence of a burnt offering. Other finds from the general fill of the feature included further first-century pottery sherds, some animal bone, slag, magnetic residue, daub, burnt flint and a fragment of amber bead.
These small pits and their contents are highly reminiscent of those found in the (adjacent) earlier dig. In that excavation, nine features were felt likely to be cremation burials, with two other possibles (ibid., 17–18). Many of the features, notably, cut through a metalled surface (not seen in the recent excavation, so presumably localised). More importantly, a number of the features were clearly intercutting, forming a linear group (see ibid., and fig. 7). Cremated bone to go with vessels, however, could not be found in the archive, and it was felt at the time of publication that the material might somehow have been misplaced. Actually, it is quite possible that there was no cremated bone there to be found in the features (the excavators on that occasion had assumed, again understandably, that any cremated bone present might be found on excavating the whole pots from the features under laboratory conditions).
[pg276] [pg277]In short, the nature of the intercutting pits, their focus on an area of hard standing next to the earliest Roman road to pass through Canterbury (and at the point where the eastern valley edge was reached), the lack of cremated bone and the inclusion of other items of interest, suggests that they might in fact have been placed, votive deposits per se, and not just cremation burials damaged by post- depositional processes (e.g. Weekes 2005, passim.; 2016, 439; 2017, 86; 106–9). A roadside ritual focus, either related directly to the known cemetery, or to road use, may be suspected, therefore, and some of the other items found in the pits from the earlier excavation perhaps take on a different potential in this light, with spreads of broken pottery including mortarium fragments (extremely rare pots to find in cremation burials), and fragments of unburnt animal bone including cattle, domestic fowl and dog.
Large quantities of Roman period brick and tile were collected from later features across the Prison development area, and particularly from investigations within linear trenching near Sessions House; this could mean further Romano-British roadside activity, but it should be noted that later occupants of the site continued to move, stockpile and build with this useful and readily available material.
Early Anglo-Saxon
The eastern part of the old Romano-British cemetery would become the sixth- and seventh-century monastery area, and it retained some of its funerary associations into the early Anglo-Saxon period. The new churches founded therein by Aethelbert, Aedbald and the newly formed monastery of St Peter and St Paul (later St Augustine’s) were, or could be, mausolea (certainly St Peter and St Paul and St Pancras: see Kelly 1997, 33–7; Gem 1997; Dark 2022). St Paul Without-the-Walls, aligned with the Richborough Road just before it entered the old walled defences via Burgate, might also be proposed as a pre-Saxon mausoleum and St Martin’s has long been suspected as one; this is where the Frankish Christian Bertha, Aethelbert’s queen, prayed, and the Augustinian mission also, at least initially (ibid, see Dark 2022 for most recent discussion). At this period, the old Roman road leaving Burgate still passed directly across what later became a southern extension of the Abbey precinct to the current Longport, aligning with the continuation of the road along the southern boundary of the Prison site (see Tatton-Brown 1997, 131). In such a context we come to the most significant find of the Prison excavations (Figs. 2 and 3), an important early Anglo-Saxon burial next to the Sessions House. This discovery will be presented in more detail and with more expert consideration elsewhere, but it can be introduced here with a little more detail than has already been advertised (e.g., Richardson 2020; Dark 2022, 6), and with some clarifications and alternative interpretations based on more detailed study of objects from the burial.
For one thing, the burial lay to the south-east of St Pancras Church (contra some earlier accounts), within the Old Sessions House trench, and therefore nearer the line of the old Roman road.
The grave cut (HMP G80; Figure 2) was almost rectangular and aligned roughly east/west, at least 1.9m long and 0.8m wide, surviving to a depth of approximately 0.4m. The poorly preserved remains of a young adult female lay within, with the [pg278]head to the west. The skeletal remains were heavily degraded by soil conditions, with just lower leg bones, a fragmented skull and some teeth surviving, but an extraordinary collection of objects accompanied the burial (Fig. 3). We should hesitate to call these ‘grave goods’, because the implications of that generic term place too much emphasis on the final context of the human remains and accompanying items; funerals obviously begin earlier than the grave.
[fg]jpg|Fig. 3 Dress accessories from the early Anglo-Saxon burial.|Image[/fg]
Two nails near the head and feet of the skeletal remains could suggest the body was buried in a coffin, or on a bier. All the objects within such a coffin, or in close proximity to the body, especially items of clothing, dress accessories and other attached personal items, are most likely to have been brought to the grave with the deceased, and therefore denote pre-burial funerary actions (see Weekes 2016, 428– 431; 2024, 657–663). What we call ‘laying out’ and display of the body (perhaps to an intimate, select group in a domestic setting) are therefore implicated (ibid.). A silver garnet-inlaid Kentish Disc Brooch (Fig. 3A), of the late sixth century, with the garnets from Sri Lanka, along with a necklace of amber and glass beads (including one of Romano-British date; Fig. 3B), which lay in the upper chest and neck area, were likely placed on the deceased prior to transit, and may even have been hidden from public view within a coffin or shroud. A copper alloy armlet seems also to have been part of the burial costume.
Mineralised woven textile fragments were recovered, perhaps from a shroud or clothing although at least some may have come from a small bag, worn or laid on the left side of the woman’s waist. Some of the items in the bag are especially interesting (Fig. 3), such as a late Romano-British latch-lifter (Fig. 3C) with a girdle hanger to which was attached a knife (Fig. 3D), and a wire bracelet with a Romano-British lock pin attached (Fig. 3E). There was also a small piece of Romano-British glass. A broken copper alloy suspension loop (Fig. 3F) lay nearby, and another small piece of Roman period glass. A belt buckle (without a pin: not illustrated) may also have been one of the contents of the bag or part of the burial clothing.
Some intriguing paradoxes are already apparent from the decoration of this individual for interment. For one thing, whilst the brooch may have been made around AD 590, it has been (microscopically) shown to be considerably worn on one side (Richard Best and Adelina Teoaca, pers. comm.), and therefore well-used by the time it was buried: so it could date into the first half of the seventh century. On the other hand, the type and location of beads in the burial denote a gendered representation that belongs earlier, to the sixth century (Richardson 2022b). This discrepancy, along with the potentially amuletic Romano-British overtones of the items worn and in the bag, are being further studied at the time of writing. It might already be suggested, however, that some form of deliberate combination of ‘old and new’, both material and spiritual, could have been a conscious structuring principle of the funerary ritual here, most interesting when we consider the funeral taking place in the earliest epicentre of the Anglo-Saxon conversion period.
A shallow ditch terminus (G75) was identified approximately 6m south-east of grave G80. The feature lay on a similar east/west alignment to G80, and was 1.6m long within the confines of the trench and 0.83m wide. An early boundary, associated either with the burial or with the early monastic grounds and aligned with the Roman road, is therefore suggested.[pg279][pg280]
Middle to late Anglo-Saxon
From this time on, the ground in the area of the excavations was beginning to be used, at least informally, as the outer grounds of the monastery of St Peter and St Paul. We know from earlier excavations that the north-west side of what would become the Outer Court was given over to industry at this time, and in particular metalworking (see Hicks 2015, 33–42 and 115ff).
Soil layers (AB G36; not illustrated) identified in Area 1 of the Arts Building site indicate new activity from at least the eighth century. These contained occasional residual pieces of Roman period brick and tile, fragments of charcoal, animal bone, calcined flint, burnt daub, quantities of metal slag and a single sherd of pottery dated c. AD 775–850.
Along the eastern side of Area 1, the soils were truncated by a large, roughly north/south aligned sunken feature (G35; Fig. 4), more than 11.5m long, 5m wide and extending beyond the southern, northern and eastern limits of the excavated area. The base of the hollow feature sloped down towards the north, where it was up to 1.50m deep, and was covered with flint metalling (S1181), with some silt build-up over the west side with water-lain characteristics (S1180). Pits (G34) cut these early layers, yielding only residual pot and tile, along with metal slag, before a layer containing much iron slag was deposited in the southern part of feature G35, and a further, extensive, gravel metalled surface was laid above. Silty clay layers built up all over this (G30-32 and G22) and above earlier layers in the north [pg281]of the hollow (G27–9 and G24–5), containing residual Roman period material and quantities of industrial and domestic waste: pottery, hearth lining, slag, burnt daub, animal bone and objects of copper alloy, iron and glass.
[fg]jpg|Fig. 4 Arts Building site Areas 1 and 2. A: c. 900.|Image[/fg]
A chronological pattern of deposition, of metalling (G21) followed by silty soil build-ups (G22, G19) followed by final metalling (G18), marked the latter use of G35, before it was eventually abandoned (see below).
The majority of pottery from the hollow, probably a water source associated with a spring, with hard standing laid for continuing ease of access, dated at the latest to AD 875. Eighteen sherds of securely ninth- to early tenth-century date from the middle of the sequence (G24), however, demonstrate that the feature was in use at the tail end of what had been a mainly middle Saxon industrial centre. This is in full accordance with the pattern seen in many earlier excavations on the campus (see Hicks 2015).
On the west side of Area 1, the earlier (G36) soils were cut by a partially seen north/south aligned linear cut and five post-holes, possibly the side of a sunken feature building (G37; Fig. 4). The structure, as excavated, lay to the south- west of the large feature (G35) but contemporaneity could not be established. The structure was relatively shallow (up to 0.20m), flat-based and infilled with a possible occupation deposit (S1228) which overlay the fills of the post-holes. A single fragment of pottery dated c. AD 750–875 was recovered from this feature.
Of key importance for the middle to late Anglo-Saxon sequence in Area 1 is the large assemblage of metalworking residues derived from these features (and found as residual material in later features), all of which adds to the large assemblage found in the earlier excavations (ibid.). Archaeological metals specialist David Dungworth (2022, 32) writes:
The assemblage of slag … consists of 255kg of material (mostly fayalitic slag) that complements the material recovered from previous excavations in ground north of the monastic church ... The bulk of the material examined (especially the smithing hearth cakes) can be confidently identified as the product of smithing, but a significant proportion of the material appears on morphological grounds to be the product of smelting (tap slag, furnace bottoms, etc). The assemblage of smelting slag includes material that was apparently tapped from the furnace (tap slag) as well as material that was left to collect inside the furnace (furnace bottoms and furnace slag).
Environmental and other cultural remains were also recovered within the middle to late Anglo-Saxon sequence. Cattle, sheep and pig (Smith 2022), poultry and wild bird (Allison 2022) and fish bones (Nicholson 2022) were present, with evidence that the cattle in particular were brought to the site ‘on the hoof’. The fish bones included at least one large cod specimen, likely brought in fresh; such marine or partly estuarine foods were beginning to be more available in the middle Saxon period but would not have been typical outside a monastic or other privileged setting. On the other hand, the pottery assemblage is of much more typical cooking pots and bowls, with sporadic finds of Ipswich Ware (Barber 2022a). To this picture of refuse finding its way into the area, through dumping as layers and deposition in pits, can be added a notable array of lost/discarded dress and other personal accessories, textile equipment and small tools, along with unidentifiable objects (Richardson 2022a), found also in nearby residual contexts.
[pg282]
Sporadic pits (AB G17 and G79; not illustrated) followed the final infill of the sunken feature (G35) in Area 1, some producing ninth- to tenth-century pottery. The edge of a new and large north/south aligned linear feature (G44; not illustrated) was also observed: an early iteration of a hollow way (see below, (G38/G78)). It was straight, steep-sided, concave in profile and more than 10m long, 2.42m wide and 0.91m deep within the excavated area, extending along the western side of Area 1. This feature axially aligned with the north-west side of the Outer Court, which is later known to have been marked by the Abbot’s Ditch, or fossam abbatis, and indeed accords with the wider grain of the landscape, including nearby (Anglo- Saxon) Old Ruttington Lane (see Hicks 2015, figure 56).
Silty clay (G16) built up over the pits on the eastern side of Area 1; three sherds of late Anglo-Saxon pottery came from this deposit, which was superseded by further pits and dump deposits containing residual material. It seems, perhaps, that activity within this area reduced during the tenth to early eleventh centuries, with the ground relatively sparsely utilised.
The medieval outer court boundary ditch Earlier excavations in the area of the CCCU campus had demonstrated that there was a new formalisation of the arrangement and extent of the Outer Court of the Abbey at the beginning of the Norman period (Hicks 2015, 127ff), with the creation of what became a series of ditched boundaries around the north and east edge of the enclosure, following North Holmes Road. At the north-westernmost excavation area included in the Canterbury Christ Church Excavations volume (Site 17; Hicks 2015), three phases of intercutting ditches were recorded, apparently increasing in size between the first and second iterations. Dating material came from occasional use of the ditch for rubbish dumping, which included pottery spanning the period c. AD 1050–1250 (see Hicks 2015, fig 62). A watching brief in 2013 (Wilson 2013), in difficult conditions of access, encountered the same ditch alignment, and was in this case interpreted as a single feature of some 3.4m width. Excavations at the limit of both the Prison and Arts Building sites described in this report further uncovered boundary ditches of the Outer Court, which seemed to have been completely re-cut at least twice before about AD 1300.
At the Prison site, near the north-eastern limit of the main excavation area, a large ditch sequence (HMP G57) was traced for approximately 45m on a roughly north-west to south-east alignment (not illustrated). Recorded as between 2.7 and 3.4m wide as a total feature, several phases of intercutting ditches of varying widths and depths are also suggested by the evidence. A scatter of fragmentary residual finds came from the fills, but medieval pottery sherds dating to c. AD 1050–1150, 1050–1200 and 1075–1200 were also present. The latest pot, eleven sherds (c.1200–1300), came from an upper fill. Other finds included medieval peg- tile fragments, one a glazed ridge tile, so perhaps also later in the sequence.
The boundary ditch sequence was again seen in the Arts Building excavation (not illustrated). Here, the boundary was clearly identified as made up of three phases of ditch cutting (AB G86, G84 and G83; 0.6m, 1.2m and 2.3 wide respectively, with a maximum depth of 1.65m). Potsherds, recovered from an admittedly small area of excavation (Arts Building Soakaway Pit 1; Figure 1, ‘AB S1’), dated to the eleventh [pg283]to twelfth century, and to the thirteenth to fourteenth century. Periodic recutting of this rather public boundary along the south side of North Holmes Road, over perhaps 250 years, would be an understandable necessity, although some variation in this maintenance along the boundary seems to be evidenced, too. A group of dog bones was recovered from a length of boundary ditch (G83), Ian Smith suggesting that the taphonomy of the dog bones in this period points to a situation where ‘…dead dogs were left where they died and whilst some of their bones found their way into ditches, others accumulated on the trackways’ (Smith 2022, 12).
Medieval occupation at the Prison site: c. 1050–1550
In the south-east quadrant of the Abbey grounds, in the Old Sessions House trench of the Prison Site, roadside occupation dating from around the eleventh to twelfth century was initially evidenced next to the Sandwich road (the old Roman period road to Richborough) (Fig. 2). A soil layer that had been reworked in the early medieval period at the latest (HMP G103) was cut by a large refuse pit (G92), ovoid and steep-sided, at least 2.18m long, 1.7m wide and 0.98m deep. The large amount of finds in the backfills included undoubtedly residual pottery sherds, tile, brick, daub and mortar, but also glass, iron slag and magnetic residue, along with several iron nails, a fragment of quernstone and an object of worked bone.
This feature was most likely cut and backfilled in fairly short order, and its upper fills were in turn truncated by a north/south aligned gully (G89), which was traced for 9.3m within the excavation and likely represents a small boundary within the monastic grounds. The gully, which had near vertical sides and a concave base, and was 0.74m wide and 0.6m deep, was notable for the large amount of animal bone distributed throughout its various backfills, showing that refuse disposal continued here. Fragments of deer and beaver bone were identified within this assemblage. Much residual material was also dumped in the gully but finds included occasional potsherds dated to c. AD 1050–1150 throughout the backfilling, suggesting this activity took place in the Norman period. Glass fragments and a large copper alloy needle were also found within these layers.
As well as repeated ditch cutting (see below), the sequence of features in this area was characterised by pit digging and refuse disposal, throughout much of the medieval period but especially from the late eleventh to early thirteenth centuries. The narrowness of the archaeological interventions here made it difficult to discern whether this dumping was from the Abbey side, or a peripheral ribbon development along the road, or indeed both.
A number of pits (G76) were dug in the immediate vicinity of ditch G89, each roughly rectangular, on average between 1.0 and 1.5m across, with steep or vertical sides; each produced an abundance of finds. Much was residual material from disturbance of earlier features, including five fragments of human bone from pit S1405, but pottery dated to between c. AD 1050–1200 shows they belonged to the same medieval pattern of refuse disposal; contemporary material included animal bone, ceramic building materials, worked stone, glass, slag, iron objects and a copper alloy pin fragment.
Further pits (G78) were located towards the north end of the Old Sessions House trenching, again roughly rectangular with steep or vertical sides, and again [pg284]with abundant finds. The range of finds from these strongly suggests dumping of domestic refuse and cess, including ceramic building material, oyster shell and animal bone fragments; pottery sherds dated at the latest to c. AD 1050–1200.
A small ditch (G83), apparently of the same approximate date, lay on a different alignment (north-west/south-east), nearer the east end of the Sessions House trench. This was 0.82m wide and up to 0.22m deep. The charcoal flecked silty clay fills produced some residual material and small fragments of glass and slag, along with four pottery sherds dated c. AD 1050–1200, and animal bone. More pits (G85) were clustered in this area, again ovoid or almost square, with steep or vertical sides, but slightly smaller on average. These yielded many finds, the range of which strongly suggests a domestic refuse and/or cess disposal function. Pit S1466 contained 56 pottery sherds dating to c. AD 1150–1225, while pit S1567 contained occasional oyster shell, animal bone, burnt daub and charcoal, and included two sherds dated c. AD 1050–1100; this profile of pit assemblages was typical, while relative quantities of components varied. Oblong pit S1565, over 2m across and nearly as deep, was notable for its upper fill, which yielded animal bone, residual pottery, ceramic building material and three early medieval pottery sherds (dated c. AD 1080–1150), along with some slag, a flint fossil and a fragment of hearth lining. A large ditch (G77), surely a monastic boundary feature and likely related to the ditch along the North Holmes Road alignment, was cut on the west side of the area in the early thirteenth century. Crossing the narrow trench on a roughly east/ west alignment, this ditch had steep sides and was up to 2.7m wide and about 1.4m deep. The feature had initially filled with erosion deposits, but soon began to be used for refuse disposal, the material including eight potsherds (c. 1225 to 1350).
The uppermost fill was a clay capping deposit, suggesting that contents needed to be sealed.
Yet further ditches followed, including another very substantial one which seemed to reiterate the earlier (G77) boundary but slightly to the north. Ditch G97 had sloping sides and a slightly concave base and was up to 3.1m wide and 1m deep. Finds included the usual residual pottery and ceramic building materials, as well as slag and some animal bone. To the north, ditches G94 and G96 were smaller, but on a similar alignment (suggesting reiteration of the new boundary), and with the same range of finds. The latest pit in the sequence here (S1516) was almost rectangular, 2m long and 1.07m wide, but survived to just 0.14m deep. Finds included ten pottery sherds (dated c. AD 1325–1400), animal bone, some copper alloy slag and a large amount of medieval ceramic building material.
The main area of the Prison excavation lay within what would have been the north-east area of the medieval Outer Court: the Cellarer’s Garden (see Hicks 2015, 133ff, and fig, 63). A number of ditches was encountered crossing this area (not illustrated), forming a loosely “fanned” alignment and apparently respecting the North Holmes boundary topographically; indeed, broadly matching the arrangement of large mid to late fourteenth-century buildings of this period already recorded in the north-west part of the Outer Court: the Brewhouse/Bakehouse Range, Cellarers Range and a barn, the latter fully aligned with the North Holmes ditch.
These postulated ‘Cellarer’s Garden’ ditches at the Prison site (not illustrated), interpreted on the basis of alignment rather than finds, included ditch G7, [pg285]identified towards the south-west corner of the main excavation area and traced for approximately 22m. This was truncated by later disturbance, and varied in width from 0.74m to 1.2m, but survived up to 0.58m deep. Ditch G8 was a re-cut of G7, traced for approximately 23m, and was of similar size, morphology and truncated condition. Scraps of Roman period pottery and an early–middle Saxon pottery sherd (dated c. AD 575–700), along with fragments of Roman period tile, and slag, were recovered from these features. Further similarly aligned ditches and gullies included G4, G9, G21, elements of G25 and G35 (late enough to cut the fully backfilled North Holmes Road boundary ditch). These linear features lay amidst a variety of small and large pits and indeterminate features, some likely related to medieval gardening, others to post-medieval quarrying.
Medieval occupation at the arts building site: c. 1050-1550
At the Arts Building site (Fig. 5), the hollow way (AB G44) that had begun to form in the tenth century continued to develop in the late Anglo-Saxon and early Norman periods (G38/G78). The eroded hollow was becoming more extensive. While only the base and the lower sides of the feature on its western side were observed, it clearly comprised a deep concave profile with a flattish base, traced for a length of 13m and observed to be up to 9m wide, with a maximum depth of about 1.5m. The formation of such a feature, mainly through erosion by feet and wheeled vehicles, is of course a long process: this was a significant marginal thoroughfare.
To the east of the hollow way, extensive deposits of clayey silt (G13, G15, G12; not illustrated) built up across Area 1, representing a period of cultivation. Pottery recovered from these deposits was mixed in date, the latest being sherds of c.1150–1225. A metalled area was formed towards the south-east (G11), perhaps a work surface or yard, and further west more soils containing twelfth- to thirteenth- century pottery.
The hollow way (G38/G78) was meanwhile undergoing consolidation, with hard standing and drainage, in an area that no doubt attracted water (running off the slope, as well as deriving from the local aquifer) and made for difficult conditions otherwise. A succession of flint metalling and associated deposits (G123) lay within the base of the feature in Area 2. Sherds of twelfth- to thirteenth-century pottery were recovered from this material. In addition (sample excavated in Area 2), a narrow, flat-based ditch (G75/G77; not illustrated) was cut along the western side of the track, evidently for drainage of the hollow way and requiring re-cuts (e.g. G76); this contained at latest twelfth- to thirteenth-century pottery. The ditch was sealed by silty clay (G70) and metalled surfaces (G74, G68), perhaps forming part of the consolidation of the hollow way into a metalled track (see below). A cluster of fifteen pits (G73) was cut immediately to the west of the hollow way, some truncating the metalling. These were backfilled with small quantities of structural debris and other material, including more twelfth- to thirteenth-century pottery. A change of activity in this area during the same broad period was marked by the formation of a wear hollow and ten post-holes with associated metalled surfaces (G72).
Sherds of typical Canterbury sandy ware cooking pots (and a few bowls) dominated the Norman-period assemblage, with a typical shift to Tyler Hill wares from the twelfth to early thirteenth century noted. Food remains were [pg286]again instructive, with very nearly all of the fish remains deriving from the High Middle Ages hollow way drainage ditch G77; a high proportion were of herring and haddock likely preserved for transportation, with some grey mullet, plaice, flounder/dab and rays probably supplied fresh by east Kent coastal fishermen (Nicholson 2022). Limb bones dominated the general cattle assemblage, as did those of sheep and pigs, most of which animals therefore ‘plausibly’ arrived at the site alive to be butchered fresh (Smith 2022). A red deer astragalus suggests deposition of waste from venison within the monastic grounds, perhaps.
[fg]jpg|Fig. 5 Arts Building site Areas 1 and 2: c. 1150–1225.|Image[/fg]
In the thirteenth century, the metalled surface in Area 1 was superseded by two wear hollows (G10 [not illustrated]; Fig. 6), along with the remnants of a timber building/structure (G7). Both wear hollows were formed at the same time and seem to have resulted from focussed working areas. These were shallow features; their parallel alignment with the hollow way (G38/G78) to the west and the possible structure (G7) to the east may suggest the presence of a passage adjacent to the timber building. The structure, on the eastern side of Area 1, was formed of beam slots, post-holes and other features that seemed to indicate a north/south aligned, rectangular timber frame, the majority of which would have extended beyond the excavation area.
In Area 2, surfaces and trample deposits continued to be formed, and it would seem that the hollow way was being developed more generally as a metalled track at this time (G63, G65, G67). Pottery of thirteenth- to fourteenth-century date was recovered from the latest trampled material (G67). The pottery of this period generally was more plentiful, and included a few sherds of London and Saintonge [pg287]wares, along with Flemish and Rouen wares, all representing imports for higher status consumption (Barber 2022a). This is also when roof-tile fragments began to appear in the sequence (Barber 2022b), among which (likely residual) was an interesting roof finial (or possibly an elaborate table water jug), derived originally from the residence of someone ‘clearly of some social standing’ (Barber 2022a, 8). Around 1320, documentary sources record that Abbot Ralph Bourne built a boundary wall to enclose the northern grounds (Hicks 2015, 154); the line of part of this wall, with a buttress to the west (Fig. 7), was revealed within the project area (G8, G61), whilst further lengths (G139) had been revealed during evaluation trenching in 2016 (Boden and Hicks 2016). Wall G8 was constructed within the eastern side of the old hollow way, perhaps deliberately enforcing a boundary in this respect. The wall foundation trench was steep-sided, and about 0.65m wide and 0.20m deep. The uppermost of the fills within contained much mortar and probably formed as a trample deposit during the wall construction. The foundation itself was of chalk footings, while the superstructure was formed with a chalk block and rubble core, faced on both sides with neatly laid knapped flint nodules, bonded with a light, yellowish brown, friable, sandy and slightly chalky mortar, and rendered on its east-facing side (i.e., as viewed from within the Outer Court). It was about 1m thick and survived to a height of up to 1.08m above the out-stepped foundations.
[fg]jpg|Fig. 6 Arts Building site Areas 1 and 2: c. 1225–1320.|Image[/fg]
The boundary now, monumentalised by the wall, ran as before along the southern side of what is now North Holmes Road, turning south well before reaching the fossam abbatis to form a north-western perimeter within the wider monastic area [pg288](G8, G61); wall G8 is known from early maps to have extended further southwards, before turning west (in ground west of the Brewhouse/Bakehouse range) and then south again to form the eastern side of the Almonry grounds (Hicks 2015, fig. 69). As such, therefore, wall G8 did not form the western edge of the original abbey grounds (which extended further west, to the rear of properties lying on the southern side of Old Ruttington Lane; ibid., 155), but rather marked a boundary between the main Outer Court grounds and abbey ground to the west containing, at its southern end, the Almonry (the place where alms were distributed to the poor). In Area 1 of the Arts Building site, an extensive spread of flint metalling (G6; not illustrated) laid down in the fourteenth century represents a new yard surface constructed within the newly bounded area, on which soils built up, containing fourteenth century pottery.
[fg]jpg|Fig. 7 Arts Building site Areas 1 and 2: c. 1320–1550.|Image[/fg]
Outside the boundary wall, on the west side of Area 2, features in the late medieval and early post-medieval periods represent a new zonation of activities, and even particular events of note (Fig. 7). Whilst the trackway flanking the western side of the boundary wall was resurfaced (G60/56), further west a work or yard area appears to have been established by the laying of metalled surfaces (G66) and a series of pits (G64) was cut, backfilled with a variety of domestic debris. A fourteenth-century pit here (S5143; semi-circular, steep-sided and concave based, c. 1.4m wide and 1.2m deep, in group G64) contained over 100 bones of cod, whiting, flatfish, herring, eel, grey mullet, dogfish/ray and conger eel (Nicholson 2022). The same pit produced an associated bone group from a piglet (Smith 2022), but it is noted more generally that cuts of cattle, sheep and pig bones from this time [pg289]are consistent with whole carcasses being brought to the site. There was some focus of this material on and in a resurfacing of the trackway (G55; not illustrated), formed of flint metalling c. 7.5m long and up to 2.5m wide, which ran along the western side of the abbey wall. Dog bones were also present in this context, and horse bones (from draught animals) were noted generally.
[fg]jpg|Fig. 7 Arts Building site Areas 1 and 2: c. 1320–1550.|Image[/fg]
Later in Area 2, a new ditch (G58) was dug in the latest medieval and early post-medieval period, respecting the angle of the new boundary wall and creating a narrower thoroughfare on the western side of the wall, or removing it altogether, while to the south it joined a re-cut on the old alignment (G57). Ditch G58 produced especially interesting finds relating to food. It was steep-sided and concave based, running parallel with and about 3.5m to the west of the wall; it was about 1.20m wide at its northern end and 1.90m wide to the south where it was c. 1m deep. Over 200 pottery sherds were recovered from the upper fill, the latest dated to 1450–1550 (Barber 2022a). There were also fallow deer bone from venison and remains of a guard or hunting dog (Smith 2022). This context was of more considerable note from the point of view of domesticates, however, with a large number of cattle, sheep and pig bones recovered. At least 28 cattle skulls (Fig. 8) were represented and an estimated 34 sheep, the remains indicating the earliest stages of butchery (therefore not the typical prepared carcasses brought to the site), and a minimum of two pigs. The bones of a pike, the only freshwater fish represented on the site, came from the same context (Nicholson 2022), along with a complete copper alloy pin and a possible animal bell (Richardson 2022b), perhaps worn by one of the beasts herded to the site to provide food for what must have been a major early sixteenth-century feast.
[fg]jpg|Fig. 8 Some of the cattle skull remains from ditch G58.|Image[/fg]
Conclusion
The excavated evidence from the Arts Building and Prison sites at Canterbury Christ Church University provided both a confirmation and development of an existing narrative of the area. The additional information was all the more significant for adding new detail to an ever-developing narrative, and some interpretations have been qualified, a situation archaeologists expect and welcome with all new data.
The Bronze Age and Iron Age features add to a still fragmentary picture, while the Romano-British, and in particular the early Anglo-Saxon findings add unexpected elements. The Roman period evidence may be a part of funerary commemoration at this time that we can seldom adduce from the archaeological record, and will require further work in comparison with other sites. The early Anglo-Saxon burial is an important find that will continue to contribute to our understanding of the so- called “conversion period” England, and the role of elite women within it, through the fascinating mixture of old and new things apparently deliberately embodied in the laying out ritual.
The account of the Outer Court of St Augustine’s Abbey, from a middle Anglo- Saxon industrial zone to a Norman ditched and later medieval walled enclosure, has been embellished and further ratified. To the east, even the Cellarer’s Garden may have crept more into view, whilst new questions are posed by reiterations of medieval ditches and refuse patterns at the Old Sessions House site.
Perhaps the most intriguing question that remains is: what occasioned the large [pg290] [pg291]early sixteenth-century feast represented by animal bone and other items discarded in the top of a ditch on the Arts Building site? It is not at all far-fetched to suggest that the occasion was in honour of the arrival of Anne of Cleves in Canterbury on the 27th of December 1539, whose new apartment was a recent (and apparently hurried) conversion of the Abbey buildings by Henry VIII.
Acknowledgement
Canterbury Archaeological Trust would like to thank Canterbury Christ Church University for funding the projects. We would also like to thank Hamilton Architects, who commissioned the Prison works, and Gilbert-Ash, the Principal Contractor. The work at the Daphne Oram Creative Arts Building site was greatly assisted by the groundworks operators, Charlier Construction and Chapel Groundworks.
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