Category Archives: Broadstairs

VM_365 Day 42 Early Bronze Age Miniature Collared Urn

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Bronze Age, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

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An unusual Early Bronze Age miniature collared urn discovered in the North Foreland area of Broadstairs  is shown in our image for VM_365 today.

While building a house on a plot in North Foreland Avenue in 1979, workmen rescued the tiny vessel from a pit after they had uncovered the ring ditch of a round barrow. Rescue excavations on the site traced part of the ring ditch as well as human remains from a later period within the same site, representing at least five Iron Age burials.

The Collared Urn, which has an estimated date range of 2000 – 1500 BC, is one of a few examples of tiny versions of these vessels that have been found in Britain.  The urn may have been placed in the central burial of the barrow, which had already been built over when archaeologists investigated the site.

Miniature vessels like this may be token representations of their full size counterparts, used as a substitute in certain cultural conditions, or they may represent the smaller end of a range of functional vessels, collared cups rather than urns.

 

 

VM_365 Day 41 Dumpton Gap

Archaeology, Broadstairs, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

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Yesterday we introduced you to Howard Hurd, Thanet’s first scientific archaeologist. Today we show you some of the archaeological work carried out by Hurd at Dumpton Gap and South Cliff Parade, Broadstairs.

The image above, taken c. 1907  for a land auction catalogue, shows what Dumpton Gap looked like as the new estate was being laid out along the cliff top between Dumpton Gap and Broadstairs. The view is taken from South Cliff Parade, near where the entrance to Seacroft Road is now.

In the background the buildings that were already constructed are marked; Buckmaster Memorial Home, along the Western Esplanade and Yarrow House (now East Kent College) on the edge of the picture. The beginning of Waldron Road and Dumpton Park Drive are visible in the background. At the top of the cutting leading down to Dumpton Bay you can see the buildings associated with the entrance to a submarine telegraph.

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In his capacity as Town Surveyor and Engineer, Hurd recorded the archaeological features that were exposed during the work and published reports on them. You can see from the meticulous plans that he published in 1913, that  many archaeological features were revealed when the roadway was stripped. The features include a small prehistoric round barrow, pits, ditches and the settlement enclosures which he referred to as a Late Celtic Village.

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Excavations carried out at Seacroft Road by the Trust for Thanet Archaeology in 2006 allowed us to revisit a small part of the area that Hurd recorded. Our plans of the site overlaid almost perfectly with his and our excavations were able to establish that occupation on the Late Iron Age site, which Hurd referred to as ‘Late Celtic’,  continued into the Roman period. Roof tiles, stone and pottery of Roman date suggest that a building was located in the area, perhaps the one described by the Reverend John Lewis in his History of the Isle of Thanet, written in 1736, as being present in this area.

Further reading:

Hurd, H. 1909.  On a Late-Celtic Village near Dumpton Gap, Broadstairs. Archaeologia (Second Series) Volume 61 Issue 02, pp 427-438

Moody, G. A. 2008. The Isle of Thanet from Prehistory to the Norman Conquest. The History Press: Gloucester.

 

VM_365 Day 40 Howard Hurd: Thanet’s First Scientific Archaeologist

Archaeology, Broadstairs, From the Archives, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

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Howard Hurd was Thanet’s first scientific archaeologist. In 1897, at the age of 32, he was  appointed Surveyor and Water Engineer to the Urban District Council of Broadstairs and St Peters in charge of the water supply and other services. His work on the new estates being constructed as the town expanded brought him into contact with many archaeological discoveries. The local construction workers were aware of his interest and brought things they had found to his attention.

Hurd produced comprehensive reports of his discoveries with accurate plans, illustrations and photographs. He recorded archaeological discoveries of Bronze Age Barrows at King Edward Avenue, Valletta House and Dumpton Gap; Roman cremation urns at Rumfields Road and the Anglo Saxon cemetery at  Valletta House, now Bradstow School. In 1911 he was one of the founder members of the Broadstairs and St Peter’s Archaeological Society along with Miss Bartrum, the owner of Valletta House.

His work was the first accurate, scientific archaeological recording carried out on Thanet that still stands the test of time today.

Find out more by reading:

Moody, G. 2008. The Isle of Thanet from Prehistory to the Norman Conquest. The History Press: Gloucester. 19-20.

Hurd, H. 1913. Some notes on recent Archaeological Discoveries at Broadstairs. Broadstairs and St Peter’s Archaeological Society

 

VM_365 Day 23 Roman Spoon

Archaeology, Broadstairs, In the Store, Roman, Uncategorised, VM_365 Project

VM_23Just how old are spoons? A spoon (apart from a knife) is probably the oldest utensil known to man, being used to scoop up food to eat and for mixing and measuring. The oldest spoons were probably just scoops made from shells, later developing into purpose made scoops with handles and made from wood and bone. Some of the earliest known spoons with handles dating from around 1300 BC have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs and are carved from ebony and ivory.

Our copper alloy spoon bowl, found in a Roman building at Broadstairs in 2004, is much younger, dating to the late second century AD and is without its handle. It was found associated with an oven on the floor of the cellar in a thick sooty deposit that also contained pottery, iron nails, rings and fittings as well as a Roman military belt buckle suggesting that old timber and even clothing was being used to fuel the fire.

You can read more about the site in Moody, G. 2007. Iron Age and Roman British Settlement at Bishop’s Avenue, North Foreland, Broadstairs. Archaeologia Cantiana CXXVII