Researches and Discoveries in Kent

421 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT multi-period features: spratling street, manston In December 2003, the Trust for Thanet Archaeology undertook an evaluation on agricultural land adjacent to Preston Park Caravan Site, Spratling Street, Manston in advance of the extension of the Caravan Park site (TR 3512 6651). A total of twenty-six trenches were excavated during the evaluation exposing archaeological remains in twelve. The earliest deposits on the site dated to the earlier Neolithic with minor features of Bronze Age, Roman and Medieval periods also represented. Earlier Neolithic (3600 - 3000 bc) A curvilinear enclosure ditch was encountered. The finds from the excavated segments consisted entirely of worked flint, including waste flakes and some tools. No ceramics were present within the ditch. A pair of parallel gullies was exposed. One of the gullies appeared to have been re-cut in the early Bronze Age. An isolated irregular pit and a closely associated pair of small pits produced a significant assemblage of earlier Neolithic pottery and contemporary worked flint suggesting a significant settlement presence in the area. A total of 85 sherds of earlier Neolithic pottery all from bowl-form vessels with simple upright, closed or slightly thickened rims and one or two on slightly flaring everted necks were excavated from these features. Also included within the assemblage was a number of coarseware sherds decorated with roughly horizontal rows of spaced finger tip impressions and a rim with traces of fine across-rim diagonal incisions that may be decorative. Other isolated features also apparently dating to the Neolithic period were sectioned suggesting a more complex pattern of settlement features or enclosures on the site than was revealed by the evaluation. Romano-British A residual background presence of Romano-British ceramic material suggests that there may have been a tile-roofed building and a settlement using imported wares in the vicinity of the site. RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 422 Medieval 1150-1500 Two broad but shallow linear gullies or shallow ditches, similar in form but not in alignment, represent the only other substantial evidence of a distinct phase of occupation in the Medieval period. Sherds from a single medieval Canterbury sandy ware jug decorated with two to three broad horizontal bands of incised wavy lines suggests that settlement was close by and the ceramics were derived from domestic waste rather than field manuring. Post-Medieval Post-Medieval material was found throughout the field surface in the plough soil. This indicates that the area has been in constant use from c.1625 to the nineteenth century. No further work took place on the site. emma boast RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 423 bronze age ring-ditch: bradstow school, broadstairs In January 2006, the Trust for Thanet Archaeology undertook an archaeological evaluation in advance of the consideration of a planning application for the construction of a residential accommodation block at Bradstow School (formerly Valletta House), Dumpton Park Drive, Broadstairs (TR 397400 67050). The evaluation was commissioned by Wilby and Burnett on behalf of their client Wandsworth Borough Council Education Department. The site is located at the eastern end of a former playing field to the south-east of Bradstow School. The playing field occupies a plateau of an east facing promontory close to chalk cliffs at the coast between Dumpton point and south cliff near Broadstairs. The south-eastern corner of the site falls sharply marking the upper limit of a shallow valley falling toward the coast – confirmed by a topographic survey of the proposed development site and the full area of the playing field. The southern and eastern edges of the site are marked by housing developments fronted on Dumpton Park Drive. The western limit of the playing field is marked by a boundary with the open playing fields of Hereson School and the northern edge borders on a small garden and car park associated with the Bradstow School. Initially eight trenches were excavated across the proposed develop-ment site in order to establish the presence, character and quality of archaeological features on the site. A further five trenches were excavated to further define and trace features identified during the evaluation. Postholes cut into the Chalk were encountered within four of the trenches, only one of which contained a number of pieces of Iron Age pottery. RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 424 The full circuit of a circular ring-ditch was exposed initially in Trench 5 and further traced in trenches 11-15. The internal dimensions of the ring-ditch measured approximately 24.7m n-s and 24.2m e-w. At the time of the evaluation it was not known whether the ring-ditch contained a central burial. The siting of the ring-ditch in this location afforded a clear view of the sea and surrounding chalk hillsides overlooking Dumpton Gap. The ring-ditch and its probable mound would have represented a significant feature in the landscape. The location of Bronze Age barrows on the ridges of chalk promontories has been demonstrated at Dumpton Gap, North Foreland and other topographically similar sites on Thanet and it is most likely that further ring-ditches and barrows may be located on this promontory. A topographic survey of the playing field revealed that the ring-ditch was located in the terminal at the upper limit of a small valley. Examination of the contours relating to the earlier excavations at Valetta House/Bradstow School where the remains of up to three further barrows were found suggest that a similar micro-topographic feature could exist (Hurd 1913). The barrow group north of the site was the focus of the rich Saxon cemetery excavated by Howard Hurd in 1910-1911. It does not appear from the evaluation that the barrow revealed by these excavations was itself the focus of burials in the Saxon period. Subsequent excavations carried out on the site by Archaeology South-East established that the ring-ditch included a causeway and may once have contained a central burial. A smaller Bronze Age barrow a few metres to the north containing at least five burials, a group of pits and postholes and a single Anglo-Saxon burial were also found during excavation on the site (Hart 2006). Hart, D., 2006, ‘Excavations at Bradstow School, Broadstairs’, KAS Newsletter, no. 69, Summer 2006, 14-15. Hurd, H., 1913, Some Notes on Recent Archaeological Discoveries at Broadstairs, Broadstairs and St Peter’s Archaeological Society Report. gerald moody RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 424 clay lane wood, cobham: a bronze-age cult site? In 1825, the men clearing a part of Clay Lane Wood [TQ 665 705], on the northern side of Watling Street, about a mile north-west of Cobham, came upon an enclosure seemingly surrounding a massive deposit of bones and bronzes (Ashbee 2005, 146). An account by Alfred John Dunkin (1812-1879), founder member of the Kent Archaeological Society, appeared in the Gentleman’s Magazine of 1846: RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 425 In 1825 some labourers while grubbing up a piece of Clay Lane Wood came upon an entrenchment, in the centre of which they discovered at the very least three wagon loads of human bones, mingled with leather, many metal celts, spear-heads and armour, the latter in such preservation that a suit was actually put on by one of the labourers. The bones were collected and thrown into the fosse; the earth which formed the vallum was thrown over them and the soil levelled. Some of the celts, several portions of the armour, and pieces of the weapons are preserved in a museum at Gravesend. The armour was taken to Cobham Hall by the finders, who expected a noble reward for their pains, but the then noble owner, being no archaeologist, ordered the men some refreshment and told them to take their rubbish away. After this rebuff, and knowing no collectors of antiquities, they sorted out the metal, and after breaking it into pieces sold above a bushel of it to Mr Troughton, late a Mayor of Gravesend. So bright was the metal that one of the celts was actually tested by fire to see if it were not gold, and it still bears the mark of this ill usage. In his memoranda of Springhead and its Neighbourhood during the Primaeval Period (1848), A.J. Dunkin included an amplified version of the story: In 1825 some labourers whilst grubbing up a piece of Clay Lane came upon an intrenchment, in the centre of which they despleated [sic] three wagon loads of human bones, mingled with leather, many metal ‘celts’, spear-heads and armour, the latter in such preservation that a suit was actually put on by one of the labourers, who is now (1847)living. The bones were collected and thrown into the surrounding fosse; the earth which composed the vallum was then thrown over them and the soil levelled. Some celts, several portions of the armour and pieces of the weapons are preserved in the museum of William Crafter, Esq, of Gravesend. The armour was taken to Cobham Hall by the finders, who expected a handsome reward for their pains, but they were told to take it away. After this, and knowing no collector of antiquities, they sorted out the metal, and breaking it into pieces sold it to Mr Troughton of Gravesend, ironmonger, who consigned it to the melting pot. So bright was the metal that one of the celts was actually tested by fire to see if it was not gold, and it still bears the mark of this ill usage. The discovery of these relics, Roman and British mingled together, clearly demonstrates that an engagement took place, and it was in Caesar’s line of march, because we know that the Romans, under Aulus Plautius, occupied this part of the country. The mass of osseous fragments and British weapons with Roman armour incontestably prove that after the battle the slain on both sides were indiscriminately interred. George Payne (1893, 150) cited Dunkin’s initial Gentleman’s Magazine version of the story and said that Charles Roach Smith’s notebook for 1842 recorded that some of the celts were in the possession of Mr (William) Crafter of Gravesend. William Coles Finch (1927, 310) reproduces his RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 426 later notice in full. However, despite the mention of celts and spearheads, neither John Evans (1881) nor Ronald Jessup (1930) record the site, the last despite having grown up at Gravesend. Whether or not the deposit was in a pit is unclear. However, the human bones, mingled with leather, were with celts, spearheads and what was thought to be armour. Some of the celts were so bright that one seemed to be of gold, this was presumably uncorroded bronze. Most of the metal went for scrap but various pieces may have found their way into private collections. The bones were dumped into the enclosure’s ditch and the bank thrown in upon them. There they might still remain unless the site has been eradicated and built upon. Bronze celts (celt the term for axe or adze) and spearheads have been recognised forms since the seventeenth century (Piggott 1976, 56). Armour is, however, rare and known only from the European mainland (Coles and Harding 1979, 375, fig.135: Harding 2000, 285-91); and broken buckets or cauldrons (Leeds 1930) are a possibility. Despite manifest deficiencies, the tantalising details of this earthwork enclosure, and the bronzes and bones from there, could depict a ritual enclosure which has no direct counterpart in the English series. Two Kentish sites, at Worth (Klein 1928: Jessup 1930, 213) and on Blue Bell Hill (Charles 1844, 536: Detsicas 1987, 145) have provided evidence of Iron-Age cult activity, preceding Roman temples, but there is seemingly nothing earlier, although the installation on Blue Bell Hill might have been prompted by the proximity of the stone-built long barrows (Ashbee 1993, 63). In this general context it should be observed that Kent’s considerable later Bronze-Age hoards (Champion 1982, 37, fig.14) are concentrated in Thanet, the northern coastal lowlands, the Hoo peninsula and Thames-side (Ashbee 2005, 144). Since the inception of Bronze-Age studies it has been assumed, largely because of their contents, that these were utilitarian, but it must be stressed, we know little or nothing of their contexts and the circumstances of their discovery. Many hoards and bronzes may have been deposited in compliance with ritual procedures (Bradley 1990, passim). Counterparts, albeit Iron-Age, to the Cobham enclosure are to be found across the Dover Straits, in the general Pas-de-Calais area. Here, sanctuary sites have yielded evidence of activities which culminated in the deposition of broken weapons together with great quantities of human and animal bones (Webster 1995, 455, 458 fig.24.2). At Gournay-sur-Aronde, for example, a cult site of the Bellovaci, some 2,000 broken weapons and 3,000 animal bones were found in a ditch (Brunaux 1988, 15). Within this general area similar sites have been encountered in recent years. Posidonius, who saw sanctuaries in Gaul, emphasised their open nature (Tierney 1960), while Caesar (DBG, V1, 17) said that considerable piles of war-spoils and the remains of sacrificed animals were displayed RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 427 in various hallowed places. Such shrines as those of the Pas-de-Calais may have left indelible impressions upon Roman minds. These European mainland sites are mostly elements of larger installations, but, nonetheless, the similarity is marked, although Clay Lane Wood’s weaponry was, as far as can be seen, of bronze. We have, however, no knowledge of the entities of which this apparently modest enclosure might have been a part, although there is an enigmatic earthwork in Cobham Park (Jessup 1930, 158). Cult enclosures, for the account of the Clay Lane Wood discovery places it in this category, had their ministrants, the Druids (Piggott 1975). Kendrick (1927, 75) considered that they must have been long established to have been thought of as more than local sects. Indeed, these shadowy figures may have had varying functions dependent upon site and shrine. Caesar (DBG, VI, 13-18) encountered them in Gaul and observed that their beliefs and usages may have had their origins in Britain (‘…Disciplina in Britannia reperta atque in Galliam translata existimatur …’, DBG, VI, 13). Druids are regularly seen as figures of later prehistory but their chroniclers may have been regaled with details of usages long past. From early prehistory onwards, particular people must have been involved with the siting and size of barrows, the sinking of shafts, as well as the nature of ritual deposits (Ashbee et al. 1989, 135). Thus Clay Lane Wood’s enclosure, with its bronzes and bones, could have been a precursor of the principles developed across the Dover Straits, in the Pas-de-Calais and beyond. Long established contacts between Kent and Picardy were based upon trade and the supply of skilled warriors (Nash 1984, 104). Thus practises such as may have taken place in the Clay Lane Wood enclosure could have been an attendant factor. The principal source for the Clay Lane Wood story is Alfred John Dunkin’s account in the Gentleman’s Magazine, cited by George Payne (1893, 150). Several topographical writers, notably William Coles Finch (1927, 310) and Ralph Arnold (1949, 3), have also repeated versions of the basic accounts. A recent development is that the various sites and monuments records have, despite the details of the celts and spearheads, considered the site as Anglo-Saxon! It was listed, back in the 1930s, in Maidstone Museum’s index and Norman Cook, when asked about it, thought the Gentleman’s Magazine account a tall story. At that time it seemed extravagant and without counterpart but, within recent years, the excavations in the Pas-de-Calais have shown that the details set down more than a century age could illustrate an element in a developing pattern. Papers may yet come to light and there is also the possibility that bronzes without patination and possibly unprovenanced may survive in one of our museums, while, unless totally destroyed by development, something of the site might remain. The Dunkins, father, John Dunkin (1782-1846) and son (1812-1879), were both original members of the RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 428 British Archaeological Association and, primarily, concerned with the antiquities of Kent. The narrative of Clay Lane Wood was a record of what, in their age, would have been thought of as primaeval. Now, in the light of developing European research, it may have a place. paul ashbee Arnold, R., 1949, A Yeoman of Kent, London. Ashbee, P., 1993, ‘The Medway megaliths in perspective’, Archaeologia Cantiana, cxi, 57-111. Ashbee, P., 2005, Kent in Prehistoric Times, Stroud. Ashbee, P., Bell, M. and Proudfoot, E., 1989, Wilsford Shaft: Excavations 1960-62, Eng. Heritage Arch. Report, II, London. Bradley R., 1990, The Passage of Arms, Cambridge. Brunaux, J.L., 1988, The Celtic Gauls: Gods, Rites and Sanctuaries, London. Champion, T., 1982, ‘The Bronze Age in Kent’, Archaeology in Kent to AD 1500, P.E. Leach (ed.), CBA Res. Report, 48, London, 31-39. Charles, T., 1844, ‘Roman Antiquities found at and near, Maidstone in Kent’, Archaeologia, XXX, 535-37. Coles, J.M. and Harding, A.F., 1979, The Bronze Age in Europe, London. Coles Finch, W., 1927, In Kentish Pilgrimland, London. Detsicas, A., 1977, The Cantiaci, Gloucester. Dunkin, A.J., 1846, Gentleman’s Magazine, 26, 591. Dunkin, A.J., 1848, Memoranda of Springhead and its Neighbourhood during the Primaeval Period, London. Evans, J., 1881, The Ancient Bronze Implements of Great Britain, London. Harding, A.F., 2000, European Societies in the Bronze Age, Cambridge. Jessup, R.F., 1930, The Archaeology of Kent, London. Kendrick, T.D., 1927, The Druids, London. Klein, W.G., 1928, ‘Roman Temple at Worth, Kent’, Antiq. Journ., VIII, 76-86. Leeds, E.T., 1930, ‘A Bronze Cauldron from the River Cherwell, Oxfordshire, with notes on cauldrons and other bronze vessels of allied types’, Archaeologia, 80, 1-36. Nash, D., 1984, ‘The Basis of Contact between Britain and Gaul in the Late Pre-Roman Iron Age’, in Cross-Channel Trade between Gaul and Britain in the Pre-Roman Iron Age (eds S. Macready and F.H. Thompson), London, Society of Antiquaries, 92-107. Payne, G., 1893, Collectanea Cantiana, London. Piggott, S., 1975, The Druids, London. Piggott, S., 1976, Ruins in a Landscape, Edinburgh. Tierney, J.J., 1960, ‘The Celtic Ethnography of Posidonius’, Proc. Royal Irish Academy, LX, 189-275. Webster, J., 1995, ‘Sanctuaries and Sacred Places’, The Celtic World (ed. Miranda J. Green), London, 445-64. RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 429 bronze and iron age occupation: hartsdown road, margate An extensive programme of evaluation and excavation was carried out on this football ground site by the Trust for Thanet archaeology between May and October 2003 in advance of the construction of new stands and the re-siting and levelling of a new pitch. The site was initially evaluated by excavating two long trenches from opposing corners along the long axis of the existing pitch to establish the depth of the archaeological horizon. The site was then stripped and mapped in the areas of the site predicted to be affected by the levelling of the pitch, associated drainage and the first stage of construction of the new stands on the eastern side of the site. The strip and map process was followed by excavation which revealed extensive archaeological occupation on the site extending from the Late Bronze Age to the Roman Period. The earliest archaeological remains on the site included a possible Deverel Rimbury Middle Bronze Age period enclosure ditch which contained a disarticulated skull in the western area of the site. Other archaeological remains included a concentration of at least twenty Late Iron Age storage pits containing concentrations of pottery, animal bone and other finds, Late Iron Age quarry pits and thirteen inhumations of Late Iron Age to early Roman date. Also present on the site was evidence of a linear trackway with ditches either side dating to the Roman period. Unfortunately due to the collapse of the project no funds were made available to carry out post-excavation work on this important site. emma boast RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 429 late iron age/early roman period features: seacroft road, broadstairs In late August 2005 an archaeological evaluation and excavation were carried out by the Trust for Thanet Archaeology on land formerly part of the garden of 1 Seacroft Road, Broadstairs (TR 39462 66415) in advance of the construction of a detached building containing three flats with associated parking. The development was commissioned and funded by Squires Construction. The site occupies a small area within a large suburban housing estate overlooking the clifftop at Dumpton Gap. Much of the area was developed in the 1970s with minimal archaeological input; however, a small area of the estate which was developed in 1907-1908 had its archaeological features identified and recorded by Howard Hurd (1914). The site was located within the area partly recorded by Hurd. RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 430 The earliest evidence of settlement activity from the site was a series of large pits dating to the Late Iron Age, the largest probably a quarry. Another similar feature with material in the fill dating to the Early Roman period may have been cut during the Late Iron Age. One of the Late Iron Age features contained a considerable assemblage of residual Early Iron Age pottery. This feature was shaped like a typical grave cut although it contained no burial and it is possible that it was an Early Iron Age grave that was disturbed in the Late Iron Age. A second phase of activity dated to the Early Roman Period, and included a linear ditch aligned ne-sw across the site which correlates with a ditch identified by Hurd; a large pit, and postholes. The overlap in some of the dates suggests that there was continuous activity on the site from the Late Iron Age through to the Early Roman period. This site forms a small sample of more extensive settlement within the Dumpton Gap area. Hurd, H., 1914, ‘Late Celtic Discoveries at Broadstairs’, Archaeologia Cantiana, xxx, 309-312. emma boast RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 430 geoarchaeological results at knight road, strood An archaeological evaluation, (KRS 04) was conducted on the site at Knight Road, Strood, in October 2004, by AOC Archaeology Group, on behalf of SMC Gower Architects, representing Wm. Morrison Property & Development. The site was centred on NGR 573530 168930 (Fig. 1). Out of the 12 evaluation trenches proposed by Kent County Council only seven trenches were investigated due to significant disturbance caused by reclamation of the land during the Victorian period and more recently as a result of the construction and demolition of modern industrial premises and the activities of bottle diggers. No archaeological features were present on site but the trenches did reveal sequences of alluvial and peat deposits and monolith tins were used to sample the sequence of deposits revealed in the trenches. The site lies within the modern floodplain of the northern bank of the Medway River above Holocene alluvium. The alluvium has survived in an area of erosion as in this area the river meanders close to the edge of the floodplain, which abuts against Pleistocene deposits of Head Brickearth. The lithostratigraphic sequence consisted of clays overlain by peats that were overlain by further clay deposits. The site has produced a relatively good pollen and diatom sequence and has been radiocarbon-dated from c.ad 230 to c. 690, covering the mid Roman to the early Middle Saxon RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 431 Fig. 1. Site Location RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 432 periods. No direct evidence of human activity was found on the site but the presence of cereal pollen suggests that cereal production was taking place close to this site as this pollen distributes poorly. The diatom and pollen assessment clearly indicated variations in the nature of the environment of the site over time with the peat laid down in a largely freshwater environment and the clays in an estuarine environment. The initiation of the peat, however, could reflect a similar marine regression contact to that suggested through archaeological evidence from central London as well as the possible freshwater influence of a local tributary. Significantly however, this phase of marine regression has not been recorded in the Medway Valley before. Even in the Thames system the regressive contact has only been inferred from archaeological data, not from the sedimentary sequence and, as a result, is not supported through palaeoenvironmental evidence. This new evidence contributes to reconstructions of the past landscape, ecology and resources available to be exploited by the prehistoric and historic occupants of the area as well as the evolution of the local landscape. The evidence will also help to develop predictive models for the recovery of archaeological evidence on other sites in similar locations. aoc archaeology group RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 432 evidence for middle saxon occupation at otford An archaeological watching brief was carried out in summer 2004 during the building of a house at 18-20 Tudor Crescent, Otford (TQ 55308 159061), on behalf of Mr Michael Viney and funded by him. This was required because of the proximity of the site both to the well-known Roman ‘Progress’ villa1 to the east and the medieval and post-medieval Archbishop’s Palace and moat to the west.2 In the event, no medieval material was recovered and only one fragment of redeposited Roman building material was found. However, of much more interest, given that early and late Anglo-Saxon material have been identified in Otford but that only documentary reference exists for middle Saxon occupation, a small pit on the site provided convincing evidence for this period. The pit, 2.4m in width and 1.1m deep, contained a secondary layer rich in charcoal remains from which numerous animal bones, snail shells and a small iron knife blade were recovered. The charcoal has been dated to between ad 650 and 790 (95% probability, Beta-196257) and the knife is a typical Saxon angled-back design, the remaining part 75mm long and up to 15mm wide. Traces of mineralised wood from the handle adhere to the tang. Early Anglo-Saxon cremation burials have been found in Otford west of the river Darent, one in 1954 and another, in the same garden, in 2001.3 RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 433 Fig. 1. Location of Sites discussed. There is also some evidence for late Saxon work in the parish church, east of the river. Only documentary references relate to Otford in the eighth and ninth centuries: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records a battle at Otford in 776 and there are charters recording grants of land in the Otford area to Archbishop Wulfred (805-832).4 By excavation it has now been possible to confirm settlement in Otford in the middle Saxon period. Brian Philp, who excavated the large Anglo-Saxon burial ground at Polhill about one mile west of Otford,5 has dated its use from about 650-750 which fits well with the dates for the Tudor Crescent material: the iron knife blade found in the pit is very similar in style to the Bohner’s Class C-type blades found at Polhill. No large single settlement has been identified close to Polhill and the cemetery may have served Otford or perhaps a number of small dispersed settlements and farmsteads in the vicinity.6 It is perhaps unexpected that the Tudor Crescent pit is remote from the presumed centre of the settlement near the river. An early Saxon settlement site has not so far been located in Otford though Wickham Field, west of the river, close to the early cremation urns and where extensive finds of Roman pottery and building material have been made, is a possible contender. Margaret Gelling proposes that the use of the Old English wicham element in place-names provides evidence of continuity from Roman settlements to Anglo-Saxon sites.7 The late Saxon settlement was probably focused around the church, east of the river. However, at the Roman Progress villa or farmstead, close to Tudor Crescent, animal husbandry was practised and it seems likely that the steep slopes in this area, unsuitable for arable produce, continued to be used for grazing RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 434 stock. From the evidence of the animal bones in the pit, which include a higher than usual percentage of skull fragments and few large long bones, it might be suggested that these were produced during butchery of animals at an outlying farmstead in preparation for taking the meat either back to Otford or to other settlements nearby. A copy of the watching brief report is with Kent County Council and another has been deposited at the Otford Heritage Centre: the finds are retained by the householder. maureen bennell and daryl stump 1 The ‘Progress’ villa was originally excavated in 1927-8 by B.W. Pearce who considered that the first/second-century house burnt down and was abandoned and that the courtyard and cellar were used later as an ‘animal refuge’. However, it appears the house was rebuilt as fourth-century material was found with wall plaster painted in sophisticated designs. Trial trenching to confirm the location of the villa was carried out by Brian Philp in 1971. 2 The existing remains are of the palace (later appropriated by Henry VIII) built by Archbishop Warham (1503-33), traditionally over or near the manor house built by Becket. Parts of fourteenth-century walls and ditches have been revealed by excavation. 3 The globular urn found in 1954 was dated stylistically to the mid-sixth century and is stamp-decorated with three-line chevrons. The second urn, discovered in 2001, is similar but not identical. 4 Garmonsway, G.N., 1986, trans. and ed., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Dent. The entry reads, ‘in this year (AD 766) a red cross appeared in the sky after sunset. This same year the Mercians and the Kentishmen fought at Otford; and strange adders were seen in Sussex’. The ninth-century land grants were made by King Coelwulf. 5 Philp, B., 1973, Excavations in West Kent 1960-1970, KARU. 6 Ibid. Philp considers that the cemetery, on a ridge in full view of Otford, served that settlement. The suggestion that it served instead several small hamlets or farmsteads is made in Clarke, D. and Stoyel, A., 1975, Otford in Kent, a History, Otford and District Historical Society. 7 Gelling, M., 1967, ‘English Place-names derived from the compound wicham’, Medieval Archaeology, XI. RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 434 church of st mary the virgin, minster-in-thanet As part of a scheme to replace Victorian flooring and install new heating and lighting systems the Trust for Thanet Archaeology undertook observations, survey and limited excavations from August 2005 to April 2006 as work progressed. This work revealed evidence of two brick-built vaulted tombs (eighteenth-century) and details of the construction of the nave. A detailed report on the results of the work is in preparation. oliver gardner RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 435 an early gallery at chislehurst caves In 2006 during groundwork prior to building development at Woodclyffe Drive, Chislehurst, a number of boreholes were sunk to ascertain ground condition and to check for any unidentified caves or voids. This investigative action was necessary as the area of the development lies above part of the south-east portion of the ‘Inner Series’ of Chislehurst Caves. One such bore entered an unsuspected cavity at approximately 16m below ground level in an area of disturbed ground indicative of extensive subterranean failure. A CCTV camera was lowered down the borehole and the images obtained were recorded for civil engineering analysis to determine suitable remedial action. The writer was kindly given a copy of the recorded video footage by Mark Lett, the Acquisitions Manager of the developers, Urban Solution Ltd, in order to make an archaeological assessment of the cave space discovered. The bore entered the roof of a mined gallery and, having passed through a cavity estimated at 1-1.5m deep, continued down through chalk debris. As there is no reference-scale dimensions could only be estimated. The roof of the passage surrounding the site of the borehole entry showed signs of very recent falls. This almost certainly occurred when the drill broke through the horizontal bed of chalk (c.10-15cm thick) that forms the roof of the gallery. The views obtained from the camera showed a straight horizontal passage with possibly one short 90deg offshoot. Both ends of the tunnel were totally blocked by roof falls and the floor was covered with chalk and glauconitic Thanet Sand debris which shows evidence of flooding at some time in the distant past. It is known that Chislehurst Caves suffered severe flooding in the mid 1860s and again as recently as 1968. The Inner Series had already suffered a number of falls in its entrance galleries after mining had ceased which effectively sealed off access. The nineteenth-century floods caused further serious collapses in this region. The observed gallery is within the area of this major collapse zone. The Inner Series was the first of the three chalk mines which make up Chislehurst Caves to be worked, with documentary evidence suggesting a commencement date of 1706. Recent archaeological surveys in the accessible parts of the mine confirm its eighteenth-century origin. The newly recorded gallery would have been one of the earliest to have been dug with a probable date of 1707-10. rod legear RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 436 jane austen and the tokes of godinton The Tokes of Godinton House, near Ashford, formed a regular part of the social circle of the Knight family at Godmersham at the turn of the nineteenth century. Edward Knight was Jane Austen’s brother, and hence she met and came to know the Toke family over the 20 years when she was visiting her brother and his family. During Jane Austen’s time, the head of the Toke family was Mr John Toke (1738 to 1819) – virtually a contemporary of Jane Austen’s father, although in the end he outlived Jane Austen herself. He was a distinguished member of the local gentry, and served for a time as High Sheriff of Kent – a post which Jane Austen’s brother held later. In 1762, John Toke married Margaretta Roundell, who died early, in 1780. His eldest son, Nicholas, was born in 1764 and was thus about 10 years older than Jane Austen. He married in 1791. The second son, John, born in 1766, was in due course ordained and became vicar of Bekesbourne and rector of Harbledown. The daughter of the family, Mary, married Edward Scudamore in 1813 – a physician, surgeon and apothecary who makes an occasional appearance in Jane Austen’s letters attending on the Knights. The Tokes crop up from time to time in Jane Austen’s letters to her sister Cassandra between 1796 and 1813. They were at the same social functions in Canterbury and Nackington (the Canterbury home of the Milles family) and no doubt at Godmersham and Goodnestone (the home of the Bridges, the family of Edward Knight’s wife) as well. The Knights themselves would have visited Godinton, and it is very likely that Jane Austen accompanied them when she was staying in Kent, although there is no direct reference to this in her correspondence. Apparently for a time the Tokes would travel in a cart to Godmersham Church every Sunday, seemingly using it as their regular place of worship.1 Whilst the Knights and Tokes were thus clearly on social and neighbourly terms, it is not clear how close they were and how well they got on. Jane Austen’s references to them in her surviving letters were no doubt clear enough to Cassandra for whom they were intended, but, typically for Jane Austen, they read ambiguously to us. In 1796, when John Toke senior and his second son John were in a party at Nackington House, Jane Austen records2 that the young John Toke enquired after Cassandra, and says that she told him that neither he nor his father need longer keep themselves single for Cassandra. Since Cassandra had been engaged for some time, and in 1796 her fiancé was still alive – he died in 1797 – this could be banter enjoyable enough between friends, or a rather rude reponse from a 20-year old to a courteous enquiry from a man in his early thirties! Equally Jane Austen might never have said quite this, but be exaggerating or making a retrospective joke which Cassandra would understand. RESEARCHES AND DISCOVERIES IN KENT 437 Over the years the few other references equally strike an ambivalent note. In 1800, in a letter from Steventon to Cassandra in Kent, Jane Austen comments that ‘it was you that always disliked Mr N. Toke so much, not I – I do not like his wife … but as for Mr Toke, there are few people whom I like better’.3 This is clearly a response to some chat in an earlier letter from Cassandra that we do not possess. What the real meaning is, if anything, only Cassandra would know. Over 10 years later, in 1811, Jane Austen comments that Mrs Nicholas Toke’s sister ‘is a goodlooking woman, but not much like Mrs Toke, inasmuch as she is very brown and has scarcely any teeth; she seems to have some of Mrs Toke’s civility, but does not profess being so silly’.4 This sharp remark suggests a mild contempt for Mrs Toke, but maybe Jane Austen is exaggerating for Cassandra’s amusement. Finally, in 1813, Jane Austen records that the ‘original’ Mr Toke – then aged 75 – called in at Godmersham, and added ‘Mr Toke I am always very fond of’. She then records that Mr Toke enquired after Cassandra and her mother ‘which adds esteem to passion’.5 This sounds like a typical Jane Austen flourish, dressing up a routine exchange in words designed to amuse, but not necessarily intended to convey anything about Mr Toke or her feelings towards him. In sum, the references to the Tokes demonstrate a degree of familiarity, but do not confirm any real affection beyond the existence of polite and friendly social relations. As so often with Jane Austen’s correspondence, the tone can be sharp and the observation almost cruel unless the context and purpose of the letters is remembered – to provide a mix of gossip, information and amusement to a sister well capable of understanding what was underlying it. As Jane Austen made Edmund suggest to Fanny Price in Mansfield Park, when Fanny complained about some banter from Mary Crawford, a lively mind has a right to sieze ‘whatever may contribute to its own amusement or that of others; perfectly allowable, when untinctured by ill humour or roughness’.6 howard griffiths 1 See Jane Austen’s Letters, ed. �������������������������������������������������Deidre Le Faye, 3rd edition, p. 62. Letter No 27. 2 Ibid., p. 10. Letter no. 6. 3 Ibid., p. 62. Letter no. 27. 4 Ibid., p. 189. Letter no. 73. 5 Ibid., p. 239. Letter no. 92. 6 Mansfield Park, Oxford, 3rd Edition, p. 64.