Roman quern stone from East Farleigh

Excavations in a room adjacent to the oven found in building 5 at East Farleigh Roman Villa (see Newsletter no.83, page 5) uncovered a broken quern. The upper stone was broken into at least five pieces. It was 450mm in diameter by 160mm thick and if complete would have weighed at least 50 kg. Part of the 50mm thick base stone was located but not in situ. The upper stone, which still had well-cut grooves in the base, was made of the dark grey greensand which outcrops in the Sandgate/Folkestone area. The lower stone appears to be a reddish-brown millstone grit. It is hoped excavations will recommence on Buildings 3 and 5 and the area to the south on Sundays at the end of April.

Albert Daniels
Maidstone Area Archaeological Group

[fg]jpg|Roman quern stone from East Farleigh|Image[/fg]