Category Archives: Places

VM_365 Day 319 Dent-de-Lion Gatehouse

Archaeology, Garlinge, Medieval, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 319The image for Day 319 of the VM_365 project shows Dent-de-Lion gatehouse, Garlinge. The Gatehouse was constructed in the early 15th century  forming the main entrance into the courtyard of a now demolished fortified house which stood to the north.

Fortified houses were constructed mainly in the 15th and 16th centuries and belonged to individuals or families of wealth and high status. Dent-de-Lion was constructed for the Daundelyon family after whom it is named, although it later passed into the Pettit family by marriage.

The Gatehouse was used to approach the main house from the south, the same direction as the image  above. The gatehouse is east west aligned, rectangular in shape and constructed of flint and yellow and red brick with ashlar dressings with a tall arched carriage entrance in the centre and on the western side a smaller archway for pedestrian access. There are four square corner towers each having gunloops,  arrow slits and staircases with access to the roof.  There is also a carved stone shield over the carriage arch with the Daundelyon family coat of arms.

As there are fewer than 200 identified examples of medieval fortified houses in the country,  Dent-de-Lion Gatehouse is considered to be of national importance and is both a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II* Listed Building.

Further reading/references

Woodruff, C. E. 1902. Dent-de-Lion Gatehouse, Margate with a pedigree of the family of Pettit. Archaeologia Cantiana 5, 57-63.

Historic England Scheduled Monument entry: http://list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1018875

Historic England Listed Building entry: http://list.historicengland.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1341531

VM_365 Day 318 Jug from Medieval Farmer’s Table

Archaeology, Birchington, Bronze Age, Medieval, St Nicholas, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 318The image for Day 318 of the VM365 project shows sherd fragments from a medieval tableware jug found in 1979 in an excavation at Netherhale Farm, Birchington.

The late David Perkins conducted a trial excavation  to test the cropmarks of a double ditched enclosure on land between Birchington and St.Nicholas-at-Wade. The excavation revealed a Mid-Late Bronze Age farmstead enclosure (c.1350-1150 BC) underlying a medieval farmstead  enclosed with a ditch. This site could possibly be the medieval forerunner of the modern Netherhale Farm which stands  just to the north of the site.

The cropmarks lie on a very slight knoll and presumably was chosen in both periods of settlement for its well-drained position. Apart from some deeply cut ditches and pits, the ditches and the settlement they enclose have been heavily plough-reduced.

The Medieval phase of occupation produced the fragments from the tableware jug shown above which are from a fairly tall ovoid-bodied jug.  The rim is shown in the upper part of the image, with a horizontally incised neck below and the upper shoulder and body has been painted in white slip with vertical and diagonal stripes under a clear orange (iron) glaze over.

The jug was made at the Tyler Hill potteries near Canterbury and the form, type of decoration and the firing qualities date its manufacture to between c.1250-1325 AD,  a period known in art-historical terms as the ‘High Medieval’ .

Although this vessel is perhaps not as constructively creative as the Scarborough Ware ‘knight’ Jug or the south-west French polychrome-painted jug which were contemporary with this example,  its striking colours and design would have made a handsome addition to the farmstead’s dinner table.

VM_365 Day 317 Church of St Mary Magdalene, Monkton

Archaeology, Medieval, Monkton, Post Medieval, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 317

Today’s image for Day 317 of the VM_365 project shows the parish church of St Mary Magdalene, Monkton which is located at the western end of Monkton just off Monkton Street. The church is mainly built from flint and Thanet Beds sandstone with Caen and Ragstone used for the quoins.

The church of St Mary Magdalene was located within the Manor of Monkton which was given to Christ Church Priory, Canterbury in the late Anglo Saxon period. Two churches were documented in the Domesday Book of 1086 as being part of the Manor of Monkton, one of these probably stood on the site of the present church, which was constructed in the late 11th to early 12th century; the other is probably its dependent church located at Woodchurch, Acol. The church remained in the possessions of the monks of Christchurch until the dissolution.

The tower was constructed in the late 12th or early 13th century, around the same time that the church nave was increased in size by constructing a new northern aisle along the entire length of the north side.

In the late 14th or early 15th century major alterations were carried out to the church reducing it in size and adding new windows and roofs. These alterations may have been undertaken as a result of the reduction in population of the inhabitants of the area because of the Black Death. You can see an example of these alterations in the image above as a series of three of the five blocked arches along the northern side of the church, evidence of the demolition of the late 12th century extension to the nave.

The church was restored in the mid 19th century by C. A. Beazley; the chancel floor was raised, a new vestry constructed under the tower and the north porch was rebuilt and outer doors were inserted. Most of the interior fittings of the church date to this time.

References/Further Reading

Hasted, E. 1800.  The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent: Volume 10. Bristow: Canterbury pp. 253-264.

Tatton-Brown, T, 1993. St Magdalene Church, Monkton. Canterbury Diocese: Historical and Archaeological Survey. Kent  Archaeological Society.

 

 

VM_365 Day 316 Roman pot lids. One size fits all?

Archaeology, Minster, Roman, Roman pottery, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 316

The image for Day 316 of the VM_365 project continues from yesterday’s post with our lid theme and shows part of an early Roman lid seated vessel from the Roman Villa at Minster.

 The post for  Day 315 of the VM_365 project showed a rare Mid Iron Age lid used for slow cooking. Deliberately-made lids became much more common during the Late Iron Age (c.50 BC-50 AD) – and from thereon were a common item in Roman kitchens. However, the deliberate provision of rim top or inner-rim lid-seating, so that the lid rested snugly in place over what was cooking, mostly only occurs during the Roman period and from Medieval and Late Medieval times onward.

The example shown above is Early Roman and of a Canterbury grey sandy ware cooking-bowl made between c.100-150 AD. Although the rim is flat it has been provided with a series of grooves in order to receive a lid. This feature occurs regularly on contemporary cooking-bowls.

The interesting issue is – why provide the rim with two grooves when one would do just as well? Is this to accomodate unavoidable productional irregularities in lid sizes or as a ‘help-meet’ to distracted or over-busy Roman cooks – when one lid will do as well as another?

The images and information above were kindly provided by Nigel Macpherson-Grant.

 

VM_365 Day 315 Middle Iron Age Pottery lid used in slow cooking, Tivoli, Margate

Archaeology, Iron Age, Margate, Prehistoric pottery, Thanet's Heritage Pioneers, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 315

Today’s image for Day 315 of the VM_365 project  shows part of a Middle Iron Age flat and perforated handled lid for a cooking vessel  which came from a small excavation at Tivoli Park Avenue, Margate carried out by the Isle of Thanet Archaeological Society.

A series of small test pit excavations by the Isle of Thanet Archaeological Society were carried out in the mid-late 2000’s and were designed to find further traces of the Tivoli Roman ‘villa’  which featured  on Day 77 of the VM_365 project  and was previously recorded by Dr. Arthur Rowe.  Little material associated with the villa was recovered but instead the investigations produced a rare sequence of earlier Iron Age activity.

In the uppermost levels of the sequence, in descending order, there was a thin scatter of material confirming Anglo-Saxon, Early-Mid Roman and Late Iron Age activity. Beneath this were increasing quantities of Mid-Late iron Age material (c.200-50 BC), and then beneath that a chalk and cobble floor of, broadly Mid Iron Age date (c.350-200 BC) and, beneath that again, postholes and occupation soil datable to the Early-Mid Iron Age (c.600-350 BC).

One of the features associated with the Middle Iron Age floor produced the lid shown above in the picture on the left. It is part of a handled lid – with the rim at the bottom, and handle at top. The handle is flat and perforated (picture right) which means that the lid was used during the slow-cooking of vegetables or meat, over a relatively low heat.

Roughly made pot lids, using re-worked lower bodies of broken jars are not unknown from Iron Age sites – but a deliberately-made lid, with a ‘steamer-knob’, is rare and tends to confirm that at least in the Middle Iron Age more sophisticated cooking techniques were being employed than the simple roasting of a pig or other animal on a turned spit.

The information and images for this post were kindly provided by Nigel Macpherson-Grant.

VM_365 Day 314 Mid Saxon pottery fabrics from Westgate

Anglo Saxon, Archaeology, Places, Thanet archaeology, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project, Westgate

VM 314

The image for Day 314 of the VM_365 project is  of examples of pottery fabrics dating from the Mid Saxon period, spanning the mid 8th to the mid 9th century.

Pottery in Kent and elsewhere in this period was mostly handmade, with small bag-shaped vessels with everted rims most common. Some had their rims more neatly and evenly finished by turning the pot on a tournette, a stick or hand-turned wheel.

In East Kent two main fabric types were employed; sandy ware and shelly ware, the latter sometimes with some additional sand added.
Most of the the Mid Saxon sandy ware products were made at sites near Canterbury, beginning a nearly 900-year long period of continuous pottery manufacture in these workshops.

The two left hand rim fragments in the image are from cooking jars in Canterbury sandy ware fabrics. A small everted rim cup in a similar dark grey sandy ware fabric featured in the post for Day146 of the VM_365 project.

The larger rim at the right-hand end of the picture is from a larger vessel in shelly ware. The small plates of deliberately crushed shell are just visible on the surface of the sherd.

All of the sherds shown can be dated to a period between c.750-850 AD  which is currently rarely represented in Thanet’s archaeological record. The relative scarcity of pottery of this period is partly due to the fortunes of archaeological recovery. Few sites have been found in Thanet’s rural and coastal landscape and all the sherds shown as well as the cup in the earlier post were from a single site near Westgate. Much of the occupation in this period will have been masked by later medieval settlement and dwellings will have been mainly wooden structures which can be hard to detect. The rather low-fired pottery is vulnerable to damage from modern agricultural or building activity.

The information and images for this post were kindly provided by Nigel Macpherson Grant.

VM_365 Day 313 Colour coated dish from Minnis Bay, Birchington

Archaeology, Birchington, From the Archives, Roman, Roman pottery, Thanet's Heritage Pioneers, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project
VM 313
After P. H. G. Powell-Cotton and G. F. Pinfold, 1939, Plate IV.

Today’s image for Day 313 of the VM_365 shows half of a Roman pottery bowl found in one of the pits excavated and recorded by James Beck and Antoinette Powell-Cotton at Minnis Bay, Birchington in 1938.

The bowl, described as a half of a red ware colour coated dish, was found in the same pit as the double handled wine jug featured in yesterday’s post for Day 312 of the VM_365 project. Half of a 4th century black pottery vessel, fragments of millstones and part of an upper quern stone were also found in the pit.

VM_365 Day 312 Roman pottery from pits on foreshore at Minnis Bay

Archaeology, Birchington, From the Archives, Roman, Roman pottery, Thanet's Heritage Pioneers, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project
VM 312
After P. H. G. Powell-Cotton and G. F. Pinfold, 1939, Plate III.

Today’s image for Day 312 of the VM_365 project shows three Roman pottery vessels found and excavated by James Beck and Antoinette Powell-Cotton in pits on the foreshore of Minnis Bay, Birchington in 1938.

The vessel on the left hand side of the image was found in a square shaped pit and is described as a ‘grey Belgic vase’ by Major Powell-Cotton and G. F. Pinfold in their report and catalogue of the site in 1939. This late Iron Age/Early Roman vessel was found along with the base of a 1st century rough cast pottery beaker and a fragment of Quern stone.

The vessel shown in the centre of the picture is described  as a two handled wine jar of New Forest type.  A wide range of wheel thrown fine wares were produced in the New Forest  in the 3rd and 4th century,  sometimes decorated as is the case with this vessel, and are generally found distributed across southern Britain. The vessel was found complete, in a pit along with some other pottery and a fragment of the upper part of a quernstone.

The vessel on the right was found in a pit beneath the millstone that featured in yesterday’s, Day 311 post for VM_365. The vessel was described as a fine red ware pot with the remains of decoration with white slip.

Some of the pits may be the remains of the bottoms of well as three contained springs. The pottery found in the pits dates from the early 1st century to the 3rd or 4th century indicating that this area had been a focus of activity by the Romans for at least 300 years.

VM_ 365 Day 311 Roman millstone from a pit at Minnis Bay.

Archaeology, Birchington, Bronze Hoards, From the Archives, Roman, Thanet's Heritage Pioneers, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project
VM 311
After P.H.G Powell-Cotton and G. F. Pinfold, 1939.

Today’s image for Day 311 of the VM_365 project shows a large Roman Millstone found on the foreshore at Minnis Bay in 1938 by a 14 year old schoolboy named James Beck. The picture of the millstone was taken at the Powell-Cotton Museum where the millstone now resides.

James Beck identified and excavated a group of eight pits of Roman date assisted by Antoinette Powell-Cotton. The millstone, measuring nearly a metre in diameter and almost 12 centimetres thick, was found covering one of the pits, an irregular shaped cut which measured about 73 centimetres deep. A fragment of millstone of a similar date found at Broadstairs previously featured on Day 59 of the VM_365 project. Below the millstone, the pit also contained a fine red ware vessel, two fragments of samian pottery, horses teeth and fragments of wood.

James Beck also identified a Bronze Age site in the same area as the group of Roman pits and excavated and recorded a Bronze Age hoard that was previously featured on Day 202 of the VM_365 project.

 

VM_365 Day 310 Early Medieval foundations at St Mildred’s Priory, Minster

Archaeology, Medieval, Minster, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM 310

Today’s image for Day 310 of the VM_365 project continues  our theme of keyhole excavations and the important archaeological information that can be gleaned from them. The image shows two views of the remains of a rammed chalk foundation that was recorded during the work in 2010 to re-lay drains at St Mildred’s Priory, Minster. The Priory is located on the the eastern edge of the village of Minster, on low lying lands overlooking the marshland in the former Wantsum Channel.

The standing buildings at St Mildred’s Priory, which has also been known as Minster Abbey and St Mildred’s Abbey, date from the  11th and 12th centuries and were constructed as a monastic grange by the Benedictine Monks of St Augustine’s Abbey Canterbury after the land was granted to them by King Canute.

The site of the monastic grange had previously been occupied by a nunnery, established at Minster by Domneva, a niece of  King Egbert of Kent in the 7th century. Domneva’s daughter later became known as St Mildred, after whom the Abbey was later named. The early nunnery was reported to have been destroyed during the Viking incursions in the 9th century after which the land became a farm, or grange, for St. Augustine’s Abbey.

The buildings of the monastic grange were renewed and altered in the early 15th century and the standing remains include herringbone walling, Norman doorways and windows and a medieval brewhouse. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid 16th century, the grange passed into private hands and the former monastic grange has been used as a Benedictine nunnery since 1937.

In 2010 work was carried out to re-lay the 19th or early 20th century drainage pipes located on the western side of the northwestern range of buildings known as the Saxon Wing. This involved digging out the backfill of the old pipe trenches, exposing the existing pipes and then relaying them with modern pipes.

In one of the trenches a demolished wall or wall foundation of rammed chalk was exposed, forming a corner of a structure with a different orientation to the standing buildings of the former monastic grange.  In the picture on the left the foundations are visible below the original pipes and in the image on the right the foundations can be seen after the original pipes have been removed.  The interior of the wall appeared to have originally been faced with pieces of sandstone. Crushed fragments of sandstone found in the demolition deposit above the chalk foundation suggest that the upper part of structure may have been formed of sandstone blocks.

Two fresh sherds of North Kent shell filled sandy ware pottery from a sagging base cooking pot, dating to 1150-1225 AD, were found in a deposit built up against the outer face of the wall suggesting the structure dated from this period or earlier. The building materials associated with this wall foundation are similar to those of the west wing, part of which was constructed before 1085. In the 12th century the grange was enlarged and the west block was converted into kitchens and living quarters.

It is not clear whether the structure exposed in the pipe trenches relates to a new structure, built when the west block was converted, or whether it was a structure demolished to make way for the 12th century rebuilding. However this small keyhole excavation has indicated the location of the footprint of an early structure associated with this important medieval building and may provide a guide to future investigations when a more extensive investigation of the structure  may be possible.