Trust for Thanet Archaeology
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent
NGR TR 30447 64662
Archaeological Desk Based Assessment
E. J. Boast and G. A. Moody
November 2014
Issue 3
CONTENTS 1 Introduction 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Methodology 1.3 Scope of the Report 1.4 Structure of the Report
2 Planning Context 2.1 Background 2.2 National Planning Policy Relating to Heritage 2.3 Local Planning Framework 2.4 Statutory Legislation
3 Designated Heritage Assets in the Study Area 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Scheduled Ancient Monuments 3.3 Listed Buildings 3.4 Summary
4 Historical Resources 4.1 Historical Background of the Study Area and Wider region
5 Archaeological Resources and Potential 5.1 Geology and Topography 5.2 Non Designated Heritage Assets 5.3 Non Designated Heritage Assets within the Study Area 5.4 Non Designated Heritage Assets within the site 5.5 General Summary of the Archaeology in its Landscape Context
6 Land Development 6.1 Cartographic Evidence for the Development of the Site 6.2 Cartographic Summary
7. The Site Inspection 7.1 The Site Inspection 7.2 The Site Inspection Summary
8 Impact Assessment 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Definitions of Level of Impact 8.3 Impacts Defined by the Study 8.4 Potential Impact of the Development of the site 8.5 Potential Effects of Construction on the Archaeological Resource
9 Summary and Discussion
10 Acknowledgements
11 Sources consulted
Appendices
1 Listed Building Descriptions 2 Gazetteer of Archaeological Sites Figures
1. Site Location. Scale 1:25000 2. Designated Heritage Assets within the Study Area. 1:12500 3. Non Designated Heritage Assets within the Study Area. Scale 1:12500 4. Historic and Ordnance Survey maps showing the site. Not to Scale. 4.1 Extract from Andrews, Dury and Herbert Map of Kent. East Kent Section 1769. Not to scale. 4.2 Extract from Ordnance Survey First Edition Old Series One Inch 1819, Sheet 3. Not to scale. 4.3 Extract from Plan of the Parish of Minster, Isle of Thanet 1842. Not to scale. 4.4 Extract from First Edition Ordnance Survey 1:2500 map 1873. Not to scale. 4.5 Extract from Ordnance Survey 1938 Revision 1:2500. Not to Scale 4.6 Ordnance Survey Digital map of site supplied by Hobbs Parker. Not to Scale.
Plates
1. No 66 Monkton Road viewed from Monkton Road. View facing south. 2. No 66 Monkton Road viewed from the rear. View facing north. 3. No 68 Monkton Road viewed from the rear. View facing north. 4. Paddocks along western side of site facing toward Minster Marshes to the south. View facing south. 5. Western boundary of site showing Hawthorn hedging and post and rail fence. View facing north. 6. Eastern boundary of the site showing water supply and hardstandings. Eden Hall is visible beyond the site boundary. View facing north east. 7. Eastern paddock with stable block at north west corner and Cherry Tree Cottage beyond. View facing north east. 8. Manure heap in south east corner of the site. View facing south east. 9. Southern boundary of site showing hawthorn hedge, drainage ditch and tree boundary. View facing north west.
1. Introduction
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 The Trust for Thanet Archaeology (TfTA) has been commissioned by Jane Scott of Hobbs Parker Property Consultants LLP, on behalf of their client Mr. Mathew Britton, to carry out an Archaeological Desk Based Assessment (DBA) on Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent (Figure 1, TR 30447 64662).
1.1.2 The purpose of the DBA is to provide information on the suitability of the site for inclusion as land allocated for residential development in the Strategic Housing Land Allocation Assessment being developed for the Thanet District Council Local Plan. The DBA is a preliminary stage in setting out the archaeological potential of the site. The presence of archaeological deposits on the site may have a bearing on the suitability and feasibility of developing the site for residential development.
1.1.3 In the DBA the boundary of the site has been defined by the western boundary of 68 Monkton Road and the eastern boundary of farmland to the west, a trackway to the south and a path between the site and a new housing development that extends along the eastern side of the site. The north eastern boundary follows the southern boundary of the limits of Walnut Tree and Cherry Tree Cottage and the western boundaries of 59 Monkton Road, (Eden Hall) and 64 Monkton Road. The northern boundary of the site is marked by Monkton Road. The area within this boundary is referred to as ‘the site’ in this study.
1.1.4 The site is located on the western edge of the village of Minster, to the south of Monkton Road. The site is a mixture of open land, residential property and gardens.
1.1.5 To assess the wider archaeological context the DBA considers the archaeological data available for a Study Area of 1km radius from the centre of the site (Figure 3).
1.1.6 All maps within this report have been produced from the Ordnance Survey with permission of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationary Office, Crown Copyright. Licence number AL100031917.
1.2 Methodology
1.2.1 The site is not subject to a planning application at this stage, although the information may be relevant to inform any future application. The DBA is intended to support an assessment of whether the archaeological potential of the site is a factor in the decision to include the site within Thanet District Council’s allocation of sites for development.
1.2.2 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), which came into force in March 2012 requires that 'where a site on which development is proposed includes or has the potential to include heritage assets with archaeological interest, local planning authorities should require developers to submit an appropriate desk-based assessment and, where necessary, a field evaluation' (NPPF Paragraph 128).
1.2.3 In accordance with the NPPF, and other local Planning Guidance detailed in Section 2, the aim of this Desk Based Assessment is to characterise the historic landscape setting of the site and identify any potential for Heritage Assets in the form of buried archaeological deposits to be located within the site which could be affected by any development proposal.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 1.3 Scope of the Report
1.3.1 The aims of the Archaeological Desk Based Assessment will be achieved through the following actions
1. Examine the setting of the site in its historic landscape. 2. Carry out a map regression analysis to characterise the development of the site 3. Carry out a search of the relevant HER and other sources within a 1km study area around the site. 4. Examine the setting of the site in relation to any statutory heritage designations such as Scheduled Ancient Monument, Listed Buildings etc. 5. Summarise the archaeological potential of the site. 6. Produce an impact assessment, to include a brief site inspection, showing the extent of previous disturbance to the site and the potential for undisturbed archaeological remains to survive.
1.4 Structure of the Report
1.4.1 Section 1 (this section) defines the scope, the aims and the structure of the report.
1.4.2 Section 2 summarises the planning policies and statutory legislation relevant to heritage assets on the site.
1.4.3 Section 3 identifies and describes any formal Designated Heritage Assets within the Study Area and the site.
1.4.4 Section 4 summarises the wider historical background of the Study Area.
1.4.5 Section 5 examines the non designated Heritage Assets recorded in the Study Area and on the site within a 500m boundary around the site to determine its archaeological potential. It also provides a general summary of the archaeology in its landscape context.
1.4.6 Section 6 describes the sequence of changes in land use within the Study Area and on the site using cartographic sources.
1.4.7 Section 7 describes the layout and condition of the site as result of a brief site inspection
1.4.8 Section 8 assesses the impacts that previous land use has had on the site and discusses the potential effects that the development of the site may have on the archaeological resource in general terms.
1.4.9 Section 9 is a general summary and discussion of the results of the Desk Based Assessment.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 2 Planning Context
2.1 Background
2.1.1 The site is not currently subject to a planning application for development. Should the site be deemed suitable for allocation for development in the future, the following paragraphs describe the national and local planning policies and national legislation relating to heritage that currently apply to the study area, or may have been adopted once an application is made.
2.2 National Planning Policy Relating to Heritage
2.2.1 In March 2012 a new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) was adopted. Section 12 of the NPPF; Conserving and Enhancing the Historic Environment, replaces previous proscriptive planning policies on archaeology and the historic built environment (PPG 15 and PPG 16) with a more general principle of evaluating any Heritage Assets that may be present on a proposed development site and developing an appropriate response. This generally requires a search of the regional Heritage Environment Record; the Kent HER, and in this case documents and primary archive not available in the KER, to be considered in detail.
2.2.2 Heritage Assets are given a broad definition in the NPPF and include both the physical remains and the historic character of a site. NPPF requires an evaluation of Heritage Assets present on a development site. The NPF goes on to discuss development of strategies for mitigation of any impacts on those assets as part of the development process on the principle that mitigation should enhance, preserve or record the Heritage Assets and make the results available to the public.
2.3 Local Planning Framework
Local planning policies relating to heritage
2.3.1 The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) contains a set of planning principles intended to shape the development and adoption of the Local Plans which all local planning authorities are required to put in place. The Local Plans will replace Local Development Frameworks envisaged by earlier planning policies. Until a local planning authority completes a Local Plan, policies of the existing adopted Local Plans have been retained.
2.3.2 Thanet District Council is currently in the process of preparing a new Local Plan which will cover the District up to 2031 including among other policies a Strategic Housing Land Availability Assessment (SHLAA) to identify potential sites for residential development. In June 2014 Thanet District Council announced that with the closure of Manston Airport it was necessary to consider the impact the closure would have on the Local Plan and the timetable for its production and was seeking advice on the programme to progress with the next stages of the local plan. To date, a preferred option draft Local Plan has not been officially issued.
2.3.3 Thanet District Council’s planning policy towards heritage is retained from the Thanet Local Plan 2006. The two policies relating to archaeology are policy HE11 and HE12.
2.3.4 Policy HE11 - Archaeological Assessment In order to determine planning applications, the district council may require the developer/applicant to provide additional information, in the form of an assessment of
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 the archaeological or historic importance of the site in question and the likely impact of development. In certain cases such assessment may involve fieldwork or an evaluation excavation. Where the developer/applicant is not prepared to arrange such an assessment voluntarily, the district council will use its powers to direct that such information be supplied. Planning permission will be refused without adequate assessment of the archaeological implications.
2.3.5 Policy HE12 - Archaeological Sites and Preservation Archaeological sites will be preserved and protected. On those archaeological sites where permanent preservation is not warranted, planning permission will only be granted if arrangements have been made by the developer to ensure that time and resources are available to allow satisfactory archaeological investigation and recording by an approved archaeological body to take place, in advance of and during development. No work shall take place until the specification and programme of work for archaeological investigation, including its relationship to the programme of development, has been submitted and approved.
2.4 Statutory Legislation
Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979
2.4.1 The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as amended affords protection to sites considered to be of national importance, and are included on a schedule compiled by the Secretary of State for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
2.4.2 These sites are known as Scheduled Ancient Monuments (SAMs). The Secretary of State is responsible for maintaining a schedule of sites and monuments of national importance, and ensuring that their management and maintenance is compatible with their preservation.
2.4.3 Scheduled Monument Consent must be obtained from the Secretary of State by anyone wishing to undertake works which would have an effect on a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It is an offence to carry out or cause such works to be carried out that would damage or affect a SAM unless consent has first been obtained.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 3 Designated Heritage Assets in the Study Area 3.1 Introduction 3.1.1 There are 40 statutory Designated Heritage Assets in the study area; none are located on the site although one, a listed building is located 15 metres east of the site boundary. One Conservation Area, one Scheduled Ancient Monument and 38 Listed Building Designations are located within the Study Area (Figure 2). 3.1.2 There are no Historic Parks and Gardens or Protected Military Remains located within the Study Area. 3.1.3 Only the listed buildings nearest to the site, both located within 360m, have been labelled on Figure 2 for ease of use. 3.2 Conservation Areas 3.2.1 The Minster in Thanet Conservation Area, first designated in 1972, is located approximately 520 metres to the south east of the site. The Conservation Area incorporates the early historic core of Minster including the Parish Church of St Mary, Minster Abbey and fishponds and the former agricultural museum. It includes properties along both sides of the southern end of the High Street, Church Street and parts of Station Road, Conyngham Road, Durlock and Bedlam Court Lane. 3.2.2 The Conservation area will not be affected by any potential development on the site due to its distance and separation from the site. 3.3 Scheduled Ancient Monuments 3.3.1 The Monastic Grange and Pre-Conquest Nunnery at Minster Abbey, located between 660 and 730 metres east of the site boundary, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM no 1016850). The Scheduled Area, which was first designated in February 1999, is divided into two separate parts, one incorporating the Benedictine monastic Grange and an earlier pre conquest Nunnery and the other encompassing a group of three linked rectangular fishponds, which supplied the medieval grange with fresh fish. 3.3.2 The Scheduled Ancient Monument will remain unaffected by any potential development due to its distance from the site. 3.4 Listed Buildings 3.4.1 There are a total of 38 listed buildings within the study area; none are located on the site. One Listed Building, Eden Hall (TR 36 SW 172), which is located within 100 metres of the site boundary is described below. The remainder of the buildings, which are listed in Appendix 1, are located between 360 and 900 metres from the site boundary and are unlikely to be affected by any proposed development due to their distance and division from the site. 3.4.2 All of the Listed Buildings within the Study Area are Grade II listed, with the exception of the Church of St Mary’s, Minster (TR 36 SW 147) and Minster Abbey (TR 36 SW 161) which are both Grade I listed and are located approximately 660 and 700 metres respectively to the south west of the site. 3.4.3 The listed buildings form into two broad clusters; those located to the east of the site at Minster largely falling within the Conservation Area and those located to the west of the site on the outskirts of Monkton. One outlier, Watchester Farmhouse which is early 19th century in date (TR 36 SW 181) does not fall within either of the groups and is isolated from the main settlement areas in Minster, 360 metres to the south east of the site. 3.4.4 The listed building designations at Minster cluster around the Historic Core of the
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 village around Minster Abbey and the Church of St Mary’s and located along Durlock, Church Street, High Street and extends along Tothill Street. The earliest buildings within this group are Minster Abbey (TR 36 SW 161) with 11th century and earlier origins, a 12th century brewhouse (TR 36 SW 166) within the Abbey grounds and the Church of St Mary (TR 36 SW 147) with early 12th century origins. 3.4.5 The buildings at Minster range in date from the 16th century or earlier and include a timber framed tithe barn located next to the Abbey (TR 36 SW 160); a house, Old Oak Cottage Restaurant (TR 36 SW 163) and a public House, The Bell Inn (TR 36 SW 150). The majority of the buildings are of 17th to 19th century date and include cottages, houses, public houses, the Old Vicarage (TR 36 SW 173), Jezard’s Bakery (TR 36 SW 167), The Old School (TR 36 SW 155) and the Public Library, Walsingham House (TR 36 SW 148). The listed buildings also include a number of chest tombs, railed tombs and memorials in the churchyard dating from the 18th and 19th centuries (TR 36 SW 156 and 169) and some cast iron lamp standards of late 19th century date that are located along Church Street and High Street (TR 36 SW 176, 177 and 143). 3.4.6 To the west of the site, listed buildings are located in a cluster on the outskirts of Monkton and are mainly associated with two farmsteads; Sheriffs Court (TR 26 SE 70), which is of late 18th century date and Hoo Farmhouse (TR 26 SE 69 and 74), of early 19th century date. 126 Monkton Road is a house of early 19th century date. Listed Buildings within 100m of the Site boundary 3.4.7 The nearest Listed Building to the site is Eden Hall which is located 15 metres east of the site boundary. Eden Hall is a Grade II listed timber framed hall house, built in the 15th century of three framed bays with later wings to the rear. The house has a plain tiled, hipped roof with three unmoulded crown posts braced to a tie beam and collar purlin. The rear wings, of two storeys of painted brick, are of late 18th century date. Inside the building has an inglenook fireplace and a beehive vaulted bread oven. The listing description states that it is ‘probably one of the earliest surviving domestic buildings in Thanet.’ 3.4.8 Eden Hall is divided from the site by no 64 Monkton Road and its setting is unlikely to be affected by the development of the site. 3.5 Summary 3.5.1 The Minster Conservation area is located 520 metres to the south east of the site and will not be affected by the proposed development of the site due to its distance and separation from it by other development. 3.5.2 The Scheduled Ancient Monument of the Monastic Grange and Pre Conquest Nunnery at Minster Abbey is located between 660 and 730 metres east of the site. The setting of the Scheduled Ancient Monument will remain unaffected by the development due to its distance from the site and its separation from it by other development. 3.5.3 There are 38 Listed Building Designations within the Study Area dating between the 11th century or earlier to the 19th century. Most are located within the Minster Conservation Area. The nearest is Eden Hall an early 15th century house located 15 metres east of the site boundary and outside of the Conservation Area. The remainder are located between 360 and 900 metres away from the site boundary; none are located on site. 3.5.4 Eden Hall is separated from the site by No. 64 Monkton Road and the gardens of both properties and is unlikely to be affected by the development of the site.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 4 Historical Resources 4.1 Historical Background of the Study Area and Wider Region 4.1.1 The following summary of the history of the Study Area is summarised from the following sources; Lewis, Hasted 1800, Moody 2008 and Brookes et al 2010. 4.1.2 The study area is located within the parish of Minster within the ancient Hundred of Ringslow, which encompasses Thanet. The site is located on the western side of the village of Minster. 4.1.3 To the north of Minster is the location of the A253, which follows the course of the ancient prehistoric trackway of Dunstrete along the chalk ridge that runs from east to west across the southern half of the Isle of Thanet, overlooking the lower marshy areas of the Minster marshes and the former Wantsum Channel. Prehistoric funerary monuments in the form of ring ditches and barrows are located along this ridge and although prehistoric settlement is less well attested, evidence of cultivation between the chalk ridge and the edges of the Wantsum have been recorded in recent years. 4.1.4 The study area is located to the north east of Richborough Roman Fort and town, which was located at the eastern entrance to the Wantsum Channel and was established as a major port of entry into Britain from the time of the Roman conquest. The site was later used for the construction of one of the network of Saxon shore Forts. 4.1.5 A small Roman road side settlement of post built timber buildings, incorporating cellared elements, is recorded to the north of the study area along the A253, as well as enclosures and burials of this date, lining the route of Dunstrete. The location of the substantial 1st to 4th century date Roman villa at Abbey Farm suggests that Minster became the focus of an estate centre during the Roman period. 4.1.6 Cemeteries of the early Anglo Saxon period, dating from the 6th to 7th century have been recorded along the higher chalk promontories to the north, north east and north west of the study area following the route of Dunstrete. The cemeteries are probably associated with the early settlement that was established at Minster itself. Reports of the discovery of the remains of docks or piers of Roman or Saxon date along the edges of the Wantsum seem to suggest that Minster was already a trading settlement at this time. 4.1.7 Around AD 670 Egbert, King of Kent, granted a large estate, located mainly in eastern Thanet, to his niece, Ermenburg, for the foundation of a nunnery at Minster. A minster church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin was founded at the same time. Common rights of the Abbey including meadowland at Ruckinge and other lands. Rights of pannage in the forests of Blean and Cuckholt, Headcorn, Lossenham, High Halden and Tenterden were granted by King Whitred in 724. The Abbey became known as St Mildred’s Abbey after Abbess Mildred who died in the early 8th century. 4.1.8 The settlement that grew up around the nunnery and the port appears to have been quite prosperous, the Abbey owned ships and received tolls from visiting vessels and also those using the crossing point over the Wantsum at Sarre to the north west. Writing in 1736 John Lewis described a small creek which lead up to the church and was anciently called Mynstre-fleet through which small vessels destined for Minster entered. 4.1.9 The Abbey at Minster was attacked in Viking raids of the mid 8th century and again in the early 9th century, when the Abbey was burnt to the ground and many of the nuns massacred. Although the Abbey appears to have been rebuilt, the 9th century was an unsettling time for Minster. Danish invaders are recorded on Thanet on three further occasions up to 865 and their attacks continued in later centuries until the Abbey and the settlement were completely destroyed in 1011 and the Abbess was
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 captured. Following the Abbey’s destruction, the lands reverted to the crown and in 1027 were granted to the Monastery of St Augustine at Canterbury. 4.1.10 Minster is recorded in the Domesday survey of 1086 as a large manor, containing arable land, one salt pan, two fisheries, a mill, a church, a priest, 150 villagers and 50 smallholders and as being held by St Augustine’s Abbey. It was valued at £40 in 1027 when it was granted to the monastery, £60 before 1066 and £100 in 1086. 4.1.11 The placename of Minster originally appeared as Sudmynster c. 696 derived from the old English ‘sud’ and ‘mynster’ meaning south monastery, the ‘sud’ element distinguished it from the monastery at Minster in Sheppey. It later became shortened to Mynster in 1610 (Glover 82, 129). 4.1.12 Minster Court was built on the site of the Abbey as the administrative centre for the estate of St Augustine’s Abbey. Alterations and additions were carried out to Minster Court and the Abbey over the years including the construction of a tithe barn in the early 15th century. It was one of the most prosperous estates for the Abbey, valued in the late 14th century at £232 4s. 3d. a year. 4.1.13 Markets were held in Minster from the 12th century and in 1225 the Abbot of St Augustine’s acquired an official charter from Henry III from a market to be held here. 4.1.14 The settlement and port at Minster continued in use during the medieval period although the Wantsum Channel had begun to gradually silt up through natural processes but also as a result of efforts to reclaim land along the edges of the Wantsum by monks of both St Augustine’s and Christ Church, Canterbury. By the 16th century the channel was no longer navigable by larger vessels. 4.1.15 The parish church of St Mary’s was granted to the Archbishop and Dean and Chapter of Canterbury in 1547. Following the Dissolution the estate reverted to the Crown and the church remained in the hands of the Archbishop and Dean and Chapter. The chapel and other buildings of the Abbey were demolished or left to go to ruin, with only the north and west wings remaining intact. Minster lost its importance as an estate centre and the manor remained with the Crown until it was sold 1602. The Manor was held by the Williams family and its descendants the Conyngham family until 1928 when in 1937 it was sold to a group of Benedictine Nuns from Bavaria and became a religious house once again as St. Mildred’s Abbey. 4.1.16 Watchester or Waschester was a small estate, formerly part of the demesnes of the Manor of Minster. Watchester was sold in 1620 to Jeffry Sandwell of Monkton who sold it on in 1658, along with other lands purchased in Monkton and Birchington.. The estate, including Watchester Farm and part of another farm in Acol, was owned by a Dr Peters soon after and passed through his various descendants before being sold in the late 18th century to Mr Ambrose Maud. 4.1.17 Sheriffs Court is located in the west side of the parish of Minster, within the hamlet of Hoo. It is thought to have taken its name from one of its owners Reginal De Cornhill who, in the early 13th century, was sheriff for so long that he lost his surname in favour of his office and became known as Le Sheriff. It then passed to the Corbie family and through various descendants to Lady Stanhope who sold the estate to the Paramour family in the 17th century. Various sales took place and in the late 18th century it was in the possession of a Mrs Terry. 4.1.18 Hasted (1800, 265) repeats an observation made by Lewis in 1736, that the west part of the parish is divided by a lynch or baulk which extended across to Westgate dividing the bounds of the manor of Minster from that of Monkton. The lynch had formerly been much broader but had been dug up in recent years by many farmers on the adjacent lands to spread on their lands as it was so fertile and in some cases had already ploughed across it.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 4.1.19 Hasted stated ‘Too many instances of this kind are practiced in other places, not only of this island, but of the county in general, so that there is scarce a remembrance left where those baulks or lynches have been; such has the greedy avarice of the occupiers been, and this is one instance of the ill consequences of the neglect of the courts leet and baron.’ 4.1.20 In the present day Minster is a small town which appears to be focussed around a historic core of mid-Saxon origin, which encompasses the Nunnery, Parish Church and Monastic Grange.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 5 Archaeological Resources and Potential
5.1 Geology and Topography
5.1.1 According to maps of the British Geological Society (BGS), the bedrock geology of the site is sand, silts and clay of the Thanet formation, formerly known as Thanet Beds. The bedrock geology is overlain by a superficial deposit of Head 1 clay and silts formed by solifluction and/or hillwash and soil creep. 5.1.2 The site is located at an elevation of between approximately 5 and 9 metres aOD on the south facing slope along the lower reaches of the ground that slopes down to the edge of the marshland to the south. 5.1.3 The Minster and Monkton Marshes are a broad expanse of low lying marsh land which mark the area of the former the Wantsum Channel, a broad, partially tidal creek surrounded by mudflats and marshes, which until the late medieval period separated Thanet from mainland east Kent. Beyond the marshes to the south the edge of the mainland of Kent is marked by rising ground near Ash. 5.1.4 To the north of the site the ground rises to an elevation of approximately 45m aOD at Mount Pleasant, along the edges of the chalk ridge which forms the Isle of Thanet. To the east and west of the site, the land follows the east west aligned contours of the south facing dip slope of the Wanstsum Syncline which forms the southern side of the Isle of Thanet.
5.2 Non designated Heritage Assets (Figure 3). Bronze Age 5.2.1 Approximately 90 metres to the east of the site boundary, an early Bronze Age field system was encountered during evaluations and excavations by Archaeology South East and Wessex Archaeology between 2007 and 2009, prior to the construction of a new housing development (1 TR 36 SW 131). 5.2.2 The ditches formed a field system of six or more fields, the most complete of which measured 35 metres by 15 metres. A number of pits of the same date were also found. Charred grains of barley, emmer and spelt, the product of crop processing, were found in both the pits and ditches and carbon dated to the Early Bronze Age, indicating the possibility of settlement of this date in the area. Some of the ditches were larger than others, suggesting that they may be stock or domestic enclosures. The field system either remained open or may have been reused as Late Bronze Age pottery was found in some of the ditch fills. 5.2.3 Part of a ‘V’ shaped curved ditch forming part of a rectangular enclosure containing struck flints of prehistoric date was found during a Watching Brief carried out in 2001 by the Trust for Thanet Archaeology at Minster County Primary School approximately 340 metres to the east of the site (2 TR 36 SW 118). The enclosure may form part of a field system or stock enclosure as a possible early Bronze Age ditch or gully aligned east west and a posthole was found slightly to the north of the prehistoric ditch on the same site. 5.2.4 A Bronze Age crouched burial was found in the rear garden of 100 Monkton Road, Minster during the excavation of foundations, approximately 240 metres west of the site (3 TR 36 SW 73). The skeleton was lying on and was surrounded by a number of flint nodules with some worked flints. Fragments of burnt tabular flint and pot sherds of possible Beaker date were found under the pelvis.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 5.2.5 Fragments of a Bronze sword of the Ewart Park tradition were found during evaluation of the site of a Roman villa approximately 830 metres to the east of the site in 1991 (4 TR 36 SW 92). A scatter of mid Bronze Age bronzes, artefacts and fragments was found by a metal detectorist near Abbey Farm, thought to be the remains of a Bronze Age hoard disturbed by ploughing (5 TR 36 SW 288). 5.2.6 A Bronze Age looped and socketed axe is reported to have been found on the site of Minster Railway Station prior to 1878 (6 TR 36 SW 13). 5.2.7 An octagonal socketed axe was found at Minster around 1819 and is now in the Liverpool Museum as part of the Rolfe Collection (7). A second axe, a three ribbed example from the same collection was found at Minster prior to 1847 (8). The circumstances and exact location of the discoveries are unknown. Iron Age PAS Scheme finds 5.2.8 An early 1st century copper alloy unit of Cunobelin, a Bronze unit of Eppilus and an early 1st century unit were found during a controlled metal detector survey at Abbey Farm Roman Villa, Minster in 2003 (9, 10, 11). 5.2.9 A copper alloy unit and a Potin are recorded as being found at Minster (12 and 13). An uninscribed coin thought to be a gold Stater of possible Gaulish origin is recorded as being found at Minster in 1881 (14). The circumstances and exact location of the discoveries are unknown. Prehistoric 5.2.10 A silted Palaeochannel was discovered approximately 5 metres from the eastern boundary of the site during excavations by Wessex Archaeology in 2009 (15). The channel, possibly a tributary of the Wantsum, contained prehistoric pottery, worked flints and animal bones within it silts. Only one edge of the channel was identified and its full extent is unknown and could extend into the eastern edge of the site. Romano-British 5.2.11 A Romano British Villa complex dating from the third quarter of the 1st century to the 4th century, originally identified from cropmarks, is located approximately 850 metres east of the site (16). Excavations carried out at the Villa site between 1996 and 2004 exposed seven separate structures. The main villa building and a separate bath house were enclosed within a boundary wall. Additional structures were found at each of the corners of the southern end of the boundary wall; a two roomed structure with hypocaust was found on the south east corner and a three phase bath house building on the south west corner. A further structure of tile was located on the north western side of the boundary wall. A later Roman structure dating to the 4th century, consisting of a malting kiln within a post built barn, was located south of the main villa building. Finds from the site included painted plaster, mosaic fragments, pottery, tile, animal bone and personal items. 5.2.12 The remains of an ancient dock of Roman or Medieval date, reportedly sighted during the laying of pipes and cables to the south of the church yard wall and also at Durlock have been recorded on a number of occasions over the years (17 TR 36 SW 72). The dock remains are reported to consist of heavy stone slabs set with mooring rings and may represent piers of quays. The accuracy of the observations contained in these reports, and the HER records derived from them is unknown. 5.2.13 Six sherds of pottery and a piece of tile dating to the Roman period were found as residual artefacts within a soil layer at Watchester Lane in 2008 by Wessex Archaeology (18 TR 36 SW 239). 5.2.14 A statuette of the goddess Diana was reportedly dug up at Minster in 1844. The statue, a 1st century terracotta example, was on display in Margate Public Library as
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 part of the Rowe Bequest, given to the people of Margate by Doctor Arthur Rowe, and is now held in Margate Museum. The circumstances of the discovery of the statuette are unknown (19). A lead sling bullet inscribed ‘Feri-Roma’ was also found at Minster and is part of the Rowe Bequest (20). Romano British PAS Scheme finds 5.2.15 A copper alloy nummus of the house of Constantine minted in Trier between 332-333 AD (21), a copper alloy nummus of Decentius dating 351-353 AD (22) and a worn copper alloy Sestertius (23) were found in fields 660 metres to the north east of the site along with other metal detecting finds prior to 2009. Anglo Saxon 5.2.16 An early Anglo Saxon Sunken Featured Building (SFB) was found approximately 150 metres to the east of the site during excavations carried out by Wessex Archaeology in 2009 (24). The SFB measured 3.5 metres long by 2.8 metres wide and approximately 0.25 metres deep with four postholes positioned in the middle of each side. The backfill of the building contained animal bone, shell, pottery, iron nails, a small knife, a possible latchlifter, pieces of bone comb, a fragment of glass and part of a loomweight. 5.2.17 Approximately 310 metres to the east of the site, two ditches were found during evaluations by the TfTA at King George’s Field in advance of the construction of a wheels park in 2003 (25). One of the ditches dated from the early Saxon and the other from the mid to Late Saxon period, along with a pit of mid – late Saxon date. All the features were dated by the pottery contained in their fills. A few residual artefacts of Roman date, including the rim of a glass vessel were also found suggesting activity of this date nearby. A subsequent Watching Brief carried out on the construction of the Wheels Park did not expose any of the features further as the construction did not penetrate further than the topsoil and subsoils. 5.2.18 A possible Anglo Saxon cemetery, visible as cropmarks, was identified on the Google Earth image of the 2nd May 2007 (26). The cropmarks are located approximately 410 metres north west of the site in farmland north of Monkton Road and apparently includes over 200 graves in an area measuring 50 metres by 40 metres. 5.2.19 An Anglo Saxon burial was found in Minster Churchyard around 1876, at a depth of approximately 7 feet or 2.1 metres (27). The burial, located approximately 650 metres to the east of the site, included a human skeleton accompanied by a glass bell shaped cup with vertical ribs. The cup was apparently found on the skull of the skeleton with its rim facing downwards. 5.2.20 Approximately 660 metres to the south east of the site is the site of the pre-conquest nunnery at Minster Abbey (28). The nunnery is represented by below ground traces of buildings and associated remains below the ground of the monastic grange. The Nunnery was founded by Domneva, niece of Egbert, King of Kent and her daughter St Mildred in AD 670. The original site of the Nunnery is now occupied by Minster Parish church, the religious house having been moved in AD 741 by the third Abbess, St Edburga when the original site, which housed around 70 nuns at the time, became overcrowded. The nunnery is reported to have been burnt to the ground, with many of the nuns being massacred, during Viking raids in 840. In 1027 the deserted nunnery and its lands were granted to the Benedictine monks of St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury. 5.2.21 Anglo Saxon beads were reportedly found at Minster prior to 1905 (29; not illustrated). The location and circumstances of the discovery are unknown.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 Anglo Saxon PAS Scheme finds 5.2.22 Four large sherds of a stamp decorated globular pottery vessel of Ipswich ware dating between 720-850 AD was found in the rear garden of 2 Singleton Close in 2006 during excavation of foundations for a house (30). Thirty seven sherds of pottery from a single vessel dating between 450-600 AD were also found at the same spot, located approximately 470 metres east of the site. 5.2.23 A fragment of a 5th to 6th century copper alloy small long brooch comprising the head plate and portion of the bow (31) and a fragment of a copper alloy small long brooch or cruciform brooch of 5th/6th century date was found (32) along with other metal detecting finds approximately 660 metres to the north east of the site. 5.2.24 An Anglo Saxon copper ‘styca’ minted in York and dated between AD 840-844 ( 33), a late 7th to early 8th century silver sceat (34 ), two early Denarial silver sceat minted between 700-715 AD (35) two silver sceats minted 700-710 AD, 705-715 (36) and a late silver penny of Edward the Confessor minted in London between 1042-1044 (37) are reported to have been found at Minster. A possible imitation silver penny of unknown class minted 695-750 AD (38), and two silver pennies minted in Winchester, one dating 1017-1023 and one dating 1048-1050 (39) area also reported to have been found at Minster although the exact circumstances of their discoveries are unknown. Medieval 5.2.25 The monastic Grange at Minster was constructed in the 11th century by the Monks of St Augustine’s Canterbury (40). The Grange operated as an administrative centre for their large arable estates covering most of Thanet and the buildings, fishponds and below ground remains survive on the site. The standing buildings are Grade I listed and the below ground remains are protected as a Scheduled Ancient Monument. The standing buildings date from the 12th to the 15th centuries, with phases of alterations dating to the 17th, 19th and 20th centuries. The site has been in use as a Benedictine Nunnery since 1937. 5.2.26 Evidence of a Norman Church was found in investigations carried out in 1929-30 and a 12th century Brewhouse, also a listed building is located within the grange complex. Medieval wall footings were discovered during the construction of a new detached chapel in 1993 to the east of the main northern range. In 2010 during works to replace drainage on the western side of the main building, evidence of an earlier demolished building was recorded consisting of a rammed chalk foundation on which had been built walls of sandstone with a shelly mortar thought to date between 1150 and 1225 and be associated with the enlargement of the Manor house at that time. 5.2.27 A ditch of possible 13th century medieval date was found at St Mildreds Priory 815 metres south east of the site in 2002 during evaluation work by the Trust for Thanet Archaeology (41). 5.2.28 A hearth or fired clay surface was recorded during a Watching Brief at 33 High Street, Minster in 2011, 660 metres east of the site (42). No dating material was retrieved but it the surface was thought to date to the Anglo Saxon or Medieval period. 5.2.29 A Medieval ditch, probably part of a field boundary was also recorded during an evaluation by TfTA at King George’s Field in 2003 approximately 300 metres to the south east of the site (43). The ditch contained a fragment of spindle whorl or loom weight made of chalk. 5.2.30 The site of the 15th century Durlock Grange is located approximately 900 metres to the south east of the site (44). The Wealden house was timber framed and constructed in the 15th century with an open hall partly screened from the passage in the lower
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 end bay. An upper floor and chimney were inserted in the late 16th century. Nothing of the house now remains. 5.2.31 Eden Hall is located 15 metres east of the site boundary, it is a Grade II listed timber framed hall house constructed in the 15th century with later 18th century wings to the rear (45). Inside, the building has an inglenook fireplace and a beehive vaulted bread oven. 5.2.32 Sheriffs Court, located approximately 920 metres south west of the site is recorded as a possible medieval moated site (46). Medieval PAS records 5.2.33 An early medieval cast copper alloy harness link or strap distributor of 11th century date is recorded as being found to the north of the site although the PAS record entry records it as being located at Great Mongeham, Dover (47). 5.2.34 A medieval copper alloy thimble dating from 1350-1450 was found 950 metres west of the site near Hoo (48). 5.2.35 A medieval Iron spear was found near Sheriffs Court, 940 metres south west of the site (49). The rim fragment of a medieval vessel of 13th century date was found on the surface of the same field by a metal detectorist (50). 5.2.36 A cast medieval copper alloy buckle dating between 1200-1500 AD (51), a second copper alloy buckle dating between 1350-1400 AD (52) and a late medieval copper alloy purse bar with swivelling suspension loops site (53) were found along with other metal detecting finds approximately 660 metres to the north east of the site. Post medieval Farmsteads 5.2.37 50 metres to the east of the site, is Eden Farm, a loose courtyard plan farmstead located within the village, established sometime around 1540 (54). The farmstead had working buildings to three sides of the yard with a detached farmhouse in a central position. Only the Farmhouse – Eden Hall, an early 15th century hall house and also a listed building now survives. 5.2.38 The regular multiyard farmstead at Minster Abbey was established at a similar date and has suffered less than 50% loss of its original layout (55). The Farmhouse was located in a detached central position. 5.2.39 Sheriff’s Court is located to the south west of the site (56). It was established around 1700 as a regular courtyard farmstead with buildings to four sides of the yard. 5.2.40 330 metres to the south east of the site is the location of Watchester Farm, a regular courtyard farmstead located in an isolated position originally constructed around 1800 (57). The Farmhouse is located in a detached central position and is also a listed building. The original layout of the farmstead has been significantly altered losing more than 50% of its original layout. 5.2.41 A field barn dating around 1800 with no associated yard was located approximately 165 metres south of the site (58). It has since been completely demolished. A second similar field barn of the same date, now demolished, was located 130 metres south of the site boundary north west of Watchester Farm (59). 5.2.42 An Outfarm north of Watchester Farm consisting of a field barn group located 175 metres east of the site was established around 1800 (60). The farmstead has since been completely demolished. 5.2.43 An Outfarm located approximately 400 metres east of the site within the village of Minster was also established around 1800 (61). The outfarm, which still survives with no apparent alteration, consisted of a loose courtyard plan with a building on one side of the yard.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 5.2.44 Durlock Farm is located on the eastern side of the study area and was established around 1800 (62). It consisted of a regular multiyard farmstead with a farmhouse in a central detached position. The farmstead has been completely demolished. 5.2.45 A regular courtyard farmstead with buildings to three sides of the yard is located approximately 900 metres to the west of the site at 126 Monkton Road (63). The farmstead was established c. 1800 and survives, located within the village, with no apparent alteration. The farmhouse is also a listed building. An outfarm with a loose courtyard plan and buildings to three sides of the yard is located west of 126 Monkton Road (64). It has suffered more than 50% loss of its original form and may be associated with the 126 Monkton Road farmstead. 5.2.46 Hoo Farm, established c. 1800AD, located to the east of the site is a regular mulityard farmstead located within a village with a detached centrally position farmstead (65). The farmstead has suffered a significant alteration from its original layout estimated to be more than 50%. 5.2.47 The location of late 19th century to early 20th century hop pickers huts are recorded approximately 560 metres south west of the site boundary to the east of Sheriffs Court (66). The huts were shown on the 2nd and 3rd edition Ordnance survey maps of the area. Post medieval 5.2.48 The site of a 16th century beacon is recorded in Lambarde’s Carde, approximately 760 metres to the south east of the site (67). 5.2.49 A small circular enclosure visible as an earthwork from 1940’s aerial photography is located 925 metres south west of the site (68). The enclosure, appears to have been levelled by ploughing by the 1960’s and may be an agricultural feature related to post medieval field systems shown on historic Ordnance Survey mapping. 5.2.50 Approximately 400 metres to the south of the site is the route of the Ashford and Margate Railway originally constructed by South Eastern Railway in 1846 via Canterbury, Minster and Ramsgate (69). The track from Ashford measured a total length of 34 miles. 5.2.51 Minster Railway Station was built sometime before 1861 approximately 850 metres south east of the site on the Ashford and Margate Line and is still in use today (70) 5.2.52 The Deal and Minster Branch Line, located on the edge of the study area to the south east of the site, was opened in 1847 running from Minster via Sandwich to Deal. It was linked to Dover via Deal in 1881 (71). 5.2.53 A freehold chalk pit was formerly situated to the north of Minster and is located on the first edition Ordnance Survey map dated between 1861-72 (72). 5.2.54 A sand pit was also recorded near the Elms at Abbey Green, north of Minster and marked on the 1861-1898 maps (73). 5.2.55 19th century outbuildings were identified during an archaeological evaluation carried out at St Mildred’s Priory (Minster Abbey) in 2002 (74), 810 metres south east of the site. The buildings appear to have been demolished in the early 20th century. 5.2.56 A large Victorian rubbish pit was found approximately 100 metres to the east of the site during excavations prior to the construction of a housing development in 2009 (75). Post Medieval PAS Scheme finds 5.2.57 A silver thimble dated between 1650-1750 was found at Sheriffs Court 950 metres to the south east of the site (76).
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 5.2.58 A 17th century copper alloy buckle was found along with a post medieval copper alloy handle from a possible scale-tang knife dating to the 16th-17th centuries(77) and other metal detecting finds 660 metres north east of the site. Unknown Date 5.2.59 An undated inhumation burial was found during work to construct a garage in the 1970’s approximately 80 metres north west of the site (78). A number of fragmentary iron artefacts were also found within the grave. 5.2.60 Several human burials were found adjacent to the churchyard wall during excavation of foundations for a house at Conyngham Road to the south east of the site in 1993 (79), although undated these are probably of medieval or later date. A ditch was also found although no date was determined for it. 5.2.61 Five undated inhumation burials were found approximately 830 metres to the north of the site in the 1960’s (80). No further information about this discovery is known. Cropmarks 5.2.62 Cropmarks of a square enclosure measuring approximately 66 metres across are visible on an aerial photograph taken in 1990 (81). The cropmarks are of unknown date. 5.2.63 A rectilinear enclosure has been identified approximately 900 metres north west of the site as a cropmark on aerial photos (82). It is associated with a linear feature running from its entrance to the north west, nearby are cropmarks of three ring ditches of unknown date and an oval shaped pit (83). 5.2.64 The cropmarks of three or four ring ditches are recorded 860 metres north of the site (84). A further ring ditch cropmark was identified 585 metres north east of the site (85). Cropmarks of a trackway have been identified nearby approximately 855 metres north east of the site (86). 5.3 General Summary of the Archaeology in its Landscape Context 5.3.1 The site is located in an area of generally high archaeological potential on the lower slopes of the land along the edges of the former Wantsum Channel. 5.3.2 No records of Palaeolithic, Mesolithic or Neolithic finds have been made in the Study Area and therefore there is a low potential for encountering archaeological remains of this date on the site. 5.3.3 The Bronze Age is well represented within the Study Area and there is a high potential for encountering features of this date on the site. It is most likely that archaeological features representing Bronze Age field systems and enclosures are to be found on the site. Field systems and enclosures of this date were recorded to the east of the site during excavations prior to the construction of a new housing development in 2009 and further evidence of this type was found in 2001 at Minster Primary School further east. Bronze Age funerary remains are less likely to be found on the site as only one example of a crouched burial has been found at a similar elevation to the west of the site, although cropmarks of ring ditches, possibly barrows are located along the chalk ridge north of the site. Finds of Bronze Age artefacts at Abbey Farm 830 metres east of the site probably represent a discrete hoard in the process of being plough eroded, although chance finds of similar artefacts have been made in the general Minster area during the 18th and 19th centuries. 5.3.4 There are no specific sites of Iron Age date located within the study area, with only metal detecting and chance finds of coins representing this period. An Iron Age site is known on the higher ground along the chalk ridge further to the north, outside the study area adjacent to the service station on Tothill Street. Coins of late Iron Age date found at the Abbey Farm Villa site over 800 metres to the east may indicate further
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 archaeology of this date in that area however there are no finds of this date located near the site and there is a low potential for encountering finds of Iron Age date on the site. 5.3.5 A prehistoric silted Palaeochannel of some considerable size was encountered 5 metres from the eastern boundary of the site. Only one edge of the channel was identified and its full extent is unknown but it could extend into the eastern edge of the site. There is a high potential for encountering archaeological features of this type on the site. 5.3.6 Roman remains are well represented in the eastern part of the study area at the site of the Abbey Farm Roman Villa approximately 800 metres to the east. Occasional residual finds of Roman pottery and tile have been made closer to the site and a few coins of Roman date have been recorded during metal detecting to the northeast. It is unlikely that a similar structure to the Abbey Farm Villa would be encountered on the site and given the general distribution of Roman finds in the Study Area there is likely to be a low potential for encountering finds of this date on the site. 5.3.7 Anglo Saxon archaeology is well represented in the Study Area. The historic core of Minster developed from the Anglo Saxon Nunnery and late Anglo Saxon Benedictine monastic Grange. Remains of early Anglo Saxon settlement is recorded 150 metres to the east of the site where a sunken featured building was found during excavations prior to the construction of a housing development in 2009 and ditches of early to late Saxon date have been recorded 300 metres to the east of the site at King George’s Field as well as pottery of mid Saxon date at Singleton Close over 400 metres east of the site. Chance finds of coins have been made in the general Minster area and metal detecting 600 metres to the north east of the site has identified fragments from two early Anglo Saxon brooches. It is possible that settlement features of Anglo Saxon could be present on the site however as the focus of activity appears to be located further to the east of the site there is a low to medium potential for encountering settlement features of this date on the site. 5.3.8 Cropmarks of a possible Anglo Saxon cemetery are located approximately 400 metres north west of the site and an Anglo Saxon burial was found within the churchyard at Minster. These burials are located in specific focussed areas and there is a low potential for encountering funerary remains of this date on the site. 5.3.9 Archaeological remains of medieval date are well represented in the study area. The historic core of Minster developed significantly during the medieval period growing up around the church of St Mary and the Monastic Grange. Field boundary ditches of medieval date have been exposed to the east of the site at King George’s Field and at St Mildred’s Priory (Minster Abbey). Sheriffs court over 900 metres south west is suggested to be a possible medieval moated site. Eden Hall, a listed timber framed hall house of 15th century date is located 15 metres to the east of the site and is probably one of the earliest domestic buildings surviving in Thanet. A number of artefacts located by metal detector have been found in the fields to the north east, west and south west of the site. The focus of medieval activity is generally focussed on the historic core of the village although the proximity of Eden Hall to the site suggests features of medieval date associated with it as well as possible field boundaries could be located on the site. There is predicted to be a medium potential for encountering features of this date on the site. 5.3.10 The Post Medieval period is very well represented in the Study Area. Eden Hall was established as a farmstead sometime around 1540 and its close proximity to the site suggests that there is a high potential for encountering features such as field boundary ditches associated with the farmstead from the early post medieval period onwards to be located on the site.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 5.3.11 The post medieval period generally saw an expansion of the village outwards from its medieval core particularly from the 16th century which is reflected in the establishments of farmsteads throughout the study area and the date of the listed buildings within the main village. The establishment of a railway network and a station at Minster in the mid 19th century opened up the town and enabled it to expand. The local geology was exploited probably both for agricultural and construction use for the extraction of sand and chalk and public amenities in Minster were established with the construction of a Public Library and village school on Church Street. 5.3.12 In summary there is a high potential for encountering Bronze Age field systems and enclosures, prehistoric palaeochannels and post medieval activity associated with Eden Hall Farmstead. There is a medium potential for encountering features of medieval date associated with Eden Hall and a low to medium potential for encountering settlement evidence of Anglo Saxon date. There is a low potential for encountering features of Palaeolithic, Mesolithic Neolithic, Iron Age, and Roman date however it is possible that archaeological features of any of the periods represented in the study area may be present.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 6. Land Development
6.1 Cartographic Evidence for the Development of the Site
6.1.1 Examination of available maps of the site and the study area has provided an indication of the condition of the site from the 18th to 20th centuries. 6.1.2 Andrews, Dury & Herbert Map East Kent Section 1769 2 inches to 1 mile. (Figure 4.1) This map, published in 1769, shows the site located between Monkton Street and Minster. Sheriffs Hope is labelled to the south west of the site, How Hop to the north west and Watchester to the south east. Tattle Street, Pinks Corner and Dorlock are also labelled. To the north of the site a trackway extends down from the chalk ridge to intersect with the Monkton to Minster Road. To the south of this road, it curves to the south east toward the main village at Minster. The area of the site is clearly visible on the map next to Iden or Edging, a rectangular enclosure showing a block of two buildings within it. 6.1.3 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Old Series 1 inch 1819. Sheet 3 (Figure 4.2) The First Edition of the 1 inch Ordnance Survey is the earliest accurately surveyed map available for the area. This map contains some detail of the topography of the area, conveyed by the use of hachuring and shading. Mount Pleasant is shown to the northeast and Monkton Street to the west. The main settlement is shown north of the church. The site is shown on or near an enclosure with three areas of buildings shown within it. 6.1.4 Tithe Map: The Parish of Minster, Isle of Thanet, Kent in two parts dated 1842 (Figure 4.3). The tithe maps contain detailed and accurate surveys of land boundaries and the locations, if not the accurate depiction, of major buildings. The tithe map shows the majority of the area around the site as agricultural farmland or cottages and gardens. To the south of the site a footpath runs in an east west direction from Minster to Hoo. To the north is the Minster to Monkton Road. The north south aligned trackway from the chalk ridge to the Minster to Monkton Road is still shown, as is the curving trackway that leads toward Minster to the south east. Watchester Farm is shown to the south, although it is labelled ‘Wadchester’ and is owned by Stephen Collard. The land to the south west of the site is a mixture of marsh, pasture, plantation, wood and gorse as well as orchard, south of Wadchester Farm it is a mixture of marsh and pasture. The blocks to east of the site form the homestead for Iden Farm which appear to include the farmhouse, gardens and barns and yards. The site is labelled Iden Farm and given apportionment 431, and 432. It may include part of apportionment 428 and 427, and also incorporate part of apportionment 433 as the boundary is irregular. All five apportionments form part of Iden Farm owned by William Harnett with 431, which forms the bulk of the site possibly being in use as an orchard, apportionment 432 being a pond which seems to be fed from a drain along the eastern edge of the site fed from a natural spring and drained along the eastern and southern border of the site, and 433 is in use as arable. Apportionments 428 and 427 are part of the homestead for the farm although no features are shown on the parts covered by the site.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014
Apportionment Owner Occupier Field Name Use Size (A.R.P) 427 William Harnett Himself Homestead 0.2.24 428 ditto ditto ditto 0.0.32 429 ditto ditto ditto Garden 0.0.18 430 ditto ditto -- Arable 12.3.27 431 ditto ditto -- ?Orchard 3.2.18 432 ditto ditto -- pond 0.0.33 433 ditto ditto -- Arable 12.3.27 127 ditto ditto Brook Field Arable 1.2.6 128 ditto ditto Cottages& Gardens - 0.0.39
424 - - - - - 426 John Birch Himself and Cottages etc - 0.0.17 Others
Table 1. Detail of Tithe Apportionments Minster Parish. Those in bold refer to the site.
6.1.5 First Edition Ordnance Survey County Series, 1873 Sheet 1:2500 (25 inch). (Figure 4.4) This map is a reprint of the First Edition Ordnance Survey map published in 1873 reprinted in 1891 and has also been annotated with new numbers given for some land parcels, bordered with a thick dashed line. This map shows the site located on the western edge of Minster along Monkton Road. To the north east of the site Prospect Road, Freemans Road, Augustine Road and Egbert Road have been laid out in an area labelled The Freehold with a mixture of large spacious plots and long narrow plots ready for construction of houses. Most of the plots have trees lining their borders or are laid out regularly as orchards. A few of the plots have been built on with a mixture of large villa style buildings and short rows of small terraces. A Gas Works is located further to the north east along Augustine Road. To the east and south east of the site are orchards and arable land. Napier Lodge is labelled to the east of the site fronting Monkton Road. Further east a few larger properties front the high street along with a few smaller properties although the general character is of sparsely distributed properties surrounded by orchards and open fields. The Abbey, St Mary’s Church, Durlock House and the Fish ponds are all shown on the map. To the south of the site is a farm track leading from Eden Farm to an area labelled The Hopes, beyond which is the Ashford to Margate Railway Line. Beyond the railway line, on the marshes of the former tidal reaches of the Wanstum, the fields become smaller and are divided by drainage ditches. The majority of the land surrounding the site to the south, west and north west is divided into large fields or orchards. To the south west of the site near The Hopes is a label ‘Site of Ancient Harbour (Portions of Vessels found here)’. A second label on the eastern edge of The Hope notes ‘Very large oyster shells found here’. Immediately to the east of the site is Eden Farm, shown as a T shaped building with a series of paths marked out leading from it, the edge the paths are located within the site. Two smaller buildings are located to the south east and a larger rectangular building fronting Monkton Road is shown within the farm complex. A track way leads south east from the farm toward St Mary’s Church. The site is labelled Eden Farm, formerly Iden Farm on the tithe map. The pond/drainage ditch which is chained to Eden Farm is still located on the north eastern side of the site. The western boundary of the site is now shown as straight
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 dotted line, beyond which are open fields. The site itself is shown as covered almost entirely by Orchard and labelled land parcel number 70. A second drain runs along the eastern boundary curving along part of the southern boundary and is chained to the site. A small rectangular area of land is shown dotted on the southern side of the site. A small ‘P’ shaped feature, previously identified on the tithe map as a pond, although it has changed shape, is shown on the eastern side of the site and labelled land parcel 69. The trackway that runs along the eastern side of the drainage ditch is chained to the fields to the east. 6.1.6 Second Edition Ordnance Survey County Series 1896 1:2500 Sheet. (Not illustrated) The landscape around the site remains largely the same. A few more properties have been constructed along the new roads to the north east of the site at The Freehold. A number of properties now occupy both sides of Monkton Road at the junction with the High Street and further properties have begun to infill along the High Street. The only changes to the site are that the ‘P’ shaped pond is now chained to the site and not shown as a separate land parcel and the rectangular subdivision at the southern end is no longer shown. The site is still orchard and is now labelled land parcel 276. 6.1.7 Third Edition Ordnance Survey County Series 1907 1:2500. (Not illustrated). Only minor changes are shown in the landscape around the site. A new school has been constructed to the south east of the site and properties continue to infill along the roads in The Freehold and the High Street. There are no changes shown to the site 6.1.8 Ordnance Survey 1938 Revision County Series 1:2500 (Figure 4.5). There have been some major changes to the landscape around the site and on the site itself. New rows of semi detaches houses are shown lining most of the north side of Monkton Road to the north and north west. A few detached properties are shown sparsely laid out on the southern side of Monkton Road, to the west of the site. On property has been constructed immediately adjacent to the western side of the site fronting Monkton Road. The layout of Eden Farm to the east remains largely unchanged, while a new property has been constructed to the south east of the site within the orchards. The site remains as Orchard with a pond although four new buildings have been constructed on the north eastern part of the site comprising an ‘L’ shaped house with two small square buildings, one located to the north west and one to the rear at the south east. To the south west of the main house is another rectangular building.
6.1.9 Ordnance Survey National Grid 1:2500 1969 (Not illustrated) Development of The Freehold and either side of Monkton Road has increased in density and new housing has in filled fields to the east of The Orchards. There have been further changes to the site. The pond on the eastern side of the site is no longer shown instead a drain extends from its approximate location to the drain along the eastern side of the site. The north western part of the site has been subdivided into a second house plot on which a new detached building, no.68, is shown. The buildings shown on the previous map, no. 66, still remain although a new narrow rectangular building has been constructed on the eastern side of the original building plot. The land to the rear of the buildings fronting Monkton Road has been subdivided into two and show one area of open land labelled parcel 4868 and an area of orchard in the southern part of the site labelled parcel 4461.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 6.1.10 Ordnance Survey Digital Data, Promap plan of the site supplied by Hobbs Parker (Figure 4.6) A new house has been constructed between the site and Eden Hall fronting Monkton Road. A new housing development has been constructed immediately to the east of the site on the orchards. Walnut Tree and Cherry Tree Cottage and South View are also new constructions to the east of the site. This map shows No.s 66 and 68 Monkton Road laid out largely the same as that shown on the previous map. The building to the rear of both properties has been demolished. Two new buildings are shown on the eastern side of the site. A narrow rectangular building is a new construction along the eastern side of the site located to the west of the site of the former pond and a smaller building has been constructed along the eastern boundary with Eden Hall/Walnut Tree Cottage. The fields to the rear of 66 and 68 are divided into three fairly even land parcels.
6.2 Cartographic Summary 6.2.1 The map regression has identified the possible site of an Ancient Harbour to the west of the site that has not previously been noted within the Kent HER. The siting of the ‘Ancient Harbour’ does not appear on later maps and the location is worth noting for future reference. 6.2.2 The map regression has established that the site occupies an area of agricultural land that was in use predominantly as orchard, up to and including the publication of the Ordnance Survey1938 revision map when no 66 Monkton Road is shown constructed within the orchard along with another building to the south. By the publication of the 1969 map the site has been subdivided further to incorporate a second house plot fronting Monkton Road, No. 68, with the remaining land to the rear of the two properties subdivided into two, the northern part being open fields and the southern part shown still in use as orchard. 6.2.3 Ponds and dykes or drains are shown on the north eastern, eastern and southern sides of the site from the publication of the 1842 tithe map onward. The elongated pond along the eastern side of the site appears to have been infilled by the time of publication of the 1938 map and may have been culverted. The pond, shown as a curvilinear feature on the tithe map and a ‘P’ shaped feature on the later maps, remains intact until publication of the 1968 map when it appears to have been infilled and a drain is shown bordering the eastern and southern edges of the site. A narrow rectangular building cottage shown constructed to the west of the approximate area of the infilled pond on the present map of the site.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 7 The Site Inspection 7.1 The Site Inspection 7.1.1 A site inspection was made by Trust staff on the 25th November 2014 to examine its present condition and to supplement the identification of features made through cartographic and documentary sources. The weather conditions during the inspection were bright and sunny and the majority of the site was easily visible and could be inspected. 7.1.2 The Monkton Road site is roughly L shaped and consists of the house and gardens of no 66 and 68 Monkton Road and a small holding divided into four broad areas incorporating poultry pens, paddocks and stables attached to No. 66, located in the fields to the south of the two properties (Figure 4.6). 7.1.3 Numbers 66 and 68 Monkton Road are both detached chalet style bungalows set within well kept spacious gardens (Plates 1-3). Both properties incorporate driveways and hard standings at the front and timber and brick or breeze block sheds within the gardens to the sides and/or rear of the bungalows. 7.1.4 The three larger paddocks along the western side of the site are subdivided into three open areas with post and string fences, the top rail of which, in some places, is electrified for the control of livestock (Plate 4). The western boundary of the site, along the edges of the paddocks, is formed by Hawthorn hedging with a wooden post and rail fence in front, dividing the edge of the site from the farm land beyond (Plate 5). The southern and middle paddocks were not occupied at the time of the site visit and were open pasture. The northern paddock incorporated a poultry pen in the north western corner, occupied by chickens and geese. 7.1.5 The eastern side of the site, between Walnut Tree Cottage and Eden Hall and the large paddocks to the west incorporate further sheds and hard standing areas for the storage of animal feed and equestrian equipment, there is also a stand pipe for a water supply for the stables (Plate 6). The eastern corner, adjacent to Walnut Tree and Cherry Tree Cottage is an open paddock with a narrow rectangular timber stable block at its north west corner (Plate 7). The area within the eastern paddock is very moist and the ground is uneven, probably reflecting the location of the in-filled pond that has been identified on the historic Ordnance Survey maps. The south eastern corner of the site is currently occupied by a manure heap (Plate 8). 7.1.6 The southern and eastern boundaries of the site are formed by a drainage ditch. Externally the ditch on the southern side is lined with mature and outgrown hawthorn hedging, while the internal boundary of the ditch on both the southern and eastern sides is lined with mature trees forming a screen from the exposed low lying fields to the south and the new properties recently constructed to the east (Plate 9). 7.2 Summary 7.2.1 The inspection has demonstrated that the site is contained within well-defined boundaries, the majority of the area currently being in use as a small holding incorporating three large paddocks, housing a pony and a variety of poultry as well as stables and other storage sheds along the eastern side of the site. 7.2.2 The northern part of the site is occupied by No.s 66 and 68 Monkton Road, two chalet style bungalows, also surrounded by well kept gardens containing additional sheds and outbuildings that are not identified on the historic maps. 7.2.3 The overall impression from the site inspection is that the area to the south of 66 and 68 Monkton Road has remained as open land, in use for agriculture and pasture and generally undeveloped. Previous development within the confines of the site is localised within the boundaries of No.s 66 and 68 Monkton Road where two chalet
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 style bungalow properties have been constructed, surrounded well kept gardens interspersed with brick or breeze block sheds.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 8 Impact Assessment
8.1 Introduction
8.1.1 Evidence of the previous and present use of the site has been gathered from analysis of historic mapping and topographical analysis.
8.1.2 A brief inspection of the site has been made to assess its current condition and to identify any major impacts on the archaeological potential that were not possible to determine from the analysis of documentary and cartographic sources.
8.2 Impact Assessment 8.2.1 The impact of previous land use on potential archaeological remains has been assessed using two analytical categories: definitions of level of impact and impacts defined by the study area.
8.3 Definitions of Level of Impact
8.3.1 Areas of a site where any surviving archaeological remains can be assumed to have been destroyed through the construction of buildings and reduction of ground levels below the surface of geological deposits are assessed to have had a high impact on the archaeological resource.
8.3.2 Areas of a site where there have been irregular patterns of disturbance from previous land use, for example from the excavation of services, the location of temporary structures or the use of the site as an orchard, where undisturbed archaeological deposits may survive in places, are assessed as having had a medium impact on the archaeological resource.
8.3.3 Areas of a site that appear to have been untouched by construction or where minimal landscaping, or agricultural cultivation has taken place are deemed to have had a low impact on the archaeological resource.
8.4 Impacts Defined by the Study
8.4.1 Analysis of the tithe map of 1842 and subsequent Ordnance Survey maps has established that the majority of the site has been either under cultivation or in use as an orchard at least until 1938. From that date the site was gradually subdivided into smaller plots for additional housing and land cultivation. The use of the site as an orchard and the subsequent grubbing out of the trees to return it to agricultural land and gardens as well as its continued use will have had a medium impact on the archaeological potential of the site.
8.4.2 Ponds and drains located along the north eastern, eastern and southern boundaries of the site have been shown on the cartographic maps from the 1842 tithe map to the present day. The pond and drain in the north eastern and eastern part of the site appear to have been infilled from the early to middle part of the century. Infilling the drains and the pond is likely to have had a low impact in these areas of the site.
8.4.3 The construction of No’s 66 and 68 Monkton Road, along with their associated garages and outbuildings and landscaping of the gardens is likely to have had a high impact within localised areas of the construction of foundations and a low to medium impact where landscaping of gardens has taken place.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 8.4.4 The construction of concrete based stables and sheds along with associated services such as water supply along the eastern edge of the site is likely to have had a low to medium impact in the areas of the site where these have taken place.
8.5 Potential Impact of Development of the site
8.5.1 As this study is designed to provide information to support an application to allocate the site for residential housing there are no specific development plans for the site.
8.5.2 Generally development of a site for housing will have a high impact in areas where construction is to take place through the excavation of foundations, construction of access and movement of plant over exposed surfaces.
8.6 Potential Effects of Construction on the Archaeological Resource.
8.6.1 Taking the previous considerations into account, the potential effects of construction on the areas of development can be generally predicted. The highest potential for disturbance or loss of archaeological material would be during any reduction of the ground levels required in the development area. Damaging effects of the development are likely to involve:
General The most likely impact is predicted to come from plant manoeuvring on exposed subsoil or archaeological surfaces following ground reduction. Continual tracking over exposed surfaces could cause extensive damage to underlying archaeological deposits particularly in damp or wet conditions and have a high impact on the archaeological resource.
Excavation of foundations for new buildings will have a high impact on any archaeological remains that may survive in these areas.
Excavation of new roads, access, services and drainage across the site will have a high impact on archaeological remains that may survive in these areas through operations such as reduction of ground surfaces to the level of archaeology and manoeuvring of plant across exposed subsoil or archaeological surfaces.
General landscaping. This may involve reduction of ground levels. The most likely impact is predicted to come from the manoeuvring of plant on exposed subsoil or archaeological surfaces. Continual tracking over exposed surfaces could cause extensive damage to underlying archaeological deposits particularly in damp or wet conditions.
Long term attrition of the site through gardening, tree planting and localised improvements to residential properties will have a medium to high impact on any surviving archaeological remains on the site.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 9 Summary and Discussion
9.1 The DBA has identified that the site is located within a mixture of residential property and cultivated land on the western side of Minster, fronting Monkton Road. The area to the north and west is a mix of residential property and cultivated farmland. To the south is cultivated farmland and to the west is residential development of recent date. 9.2 Forty statutory Designated Heritage Assets have been identified in the Study Area; 38 listed buildings, one Conservation Area and one Scheduled Ancient Monument. There are no Historic or Registered Parks and Gardens or Protected Military Remains in the Study Area. None of the Designated Heritage Assets are located on the site. 9.3 The Minster Conservation Area, encompassing the historic core of the town, is located 520 metres to the south east of the site and will not be affected by any proposed development of the site. The Scheduled Ancient Monument of the Monastic Grange and Pre Conquest Nunnery at Minster Abbey is located within the Minster Conservation area between 660 and 730 metres east of the site and will also remain unaffected by any proposed development of the site. 9.4 The nearest listed building, Eden Hall, a 15th century timber hall house, is located approximately 15 metres from the site boundary. The remaining Listed Buildings are located between 360 and 900 metres from the site boundary, mainly within the Minster Conservation Area. None of the listed buildings are likely to be affected by development of the site due to their distance and separation from it. Eden Hall, the closest Listed Building is separated from the site by the relatively recently constructed 64 Monkton Road and its gardens, and the setting of the listed Building is unlikely to be compromised any further by development of the site. 9.5 The DBA has established that the site was located on the western side of the parish and town of Minster, the historic origins of which date from the mid to late 7th century with the establishment of a Nunnery, Church and later a Monastic Grange. It also included a port where the Abbey received tolls from visiting vessels. The site is located within the lands that were formerly owned by the Abbey. Following the destruction of the Abbey at the hands of the Danes in the early 11th century, the lands within the parish of Minster, including the site, were passed by the crown to the Monks of St Augustine’s Abbey, Canterbury. Minster was recorded as a large prosperous manor in the Domesday Survey of 1086 and continued in that state throughout the medieval period, reflected in the construction of Minster Court at the Abbey as an administrative centre for the estates belonging to St Augustine’s Abbey. The Wantsum gradually began to silt up during this time, through the process of natural silting and the efforts of the Monks to reclaim the marsh land by constructing the sea defences known as the Monks and Abbot’s Walls. 9.6 Following the Dissolution, the estate reverted to the crown and the parish church of St Mary remained in the hands of the Archbishop and Dean and Chapter of Canterbury. The Abbey buildings were ruined and Minster lost its importance as an estate centre, eventually being sold into private hands in the early 17th century. 9.7 The landscape around the site was one of predominantly open agricultural land and reclaimed marshland, bisected only in the mid 19th century by the construction of a railway line. The site is located at an elevation of between 5 and 9 metres above Ordnance Datum on the south facing lower reaches of the slope along the edges of the former Wantsum Channel. The underlying bedrock geology of the site is recorded by the maps of the British Geological Survey as being sands and silts and clay of Thanet formation, overlain by a superficial deposit of Head clay and silts formed by solifluction and/or hillwash and soil creep.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 9.8 The site is located within a significant landscape of non designated and designated Heritage Assets dating from the Bronze Age to the Post Medieval Period. No non Designated Heritage Assets have been identified on the site, although archaeological excavations carried out on the adjacent site to the east in 2009 and other discoveries made in the Study Area has established the potential for further remains to exist on the site. 9.9 The Bronze Age is well represented within the Study Area, field systems and enclosures of this date were recorded to the east of the site during excavations prior to the construction of a new housing development in 2009 and further evidence of this type was found in 2001 at Minster Primary School further east. Only one example of a crouched burial has been found to the west of the site, although cropmarks of ring ditches, possibly Bronze Age barrows are located along the chalk ridge north of the site. 9.10 There are no specific sites of Iron Age date located within the study area, with only metal detecting and chance finds of coins representing this period, although an Iron Age site is known on the higher ground along the chalk ridge outside the study area further to the north, adjacent to the service station on Tothill Street. 9.11 A silted palaeochannel of possible late prehistoric date of some considerable size was encountered 5 metres from the eastern boundary of the site. Only one edge of the channel was identified and its full extent is unknown but it could extend into the eastern edge of the site. 9.12 Roman remains are well represented 800 metres to the east of the site where an extensive Roman Villa has been excavated in recent years. Occasional residual finds of Roman pottery and tile have been made closer to the site and a few coins of Roman date have been recorded during metal detecting to the northeast. 9.13 Anglo Saxon archaeology is well represented in the Study Area. The historic core of Minster developed from the Anglo Saxon Nunnery and late Anglo Saxon Benedictine monastic grange. Remains of early Anglo Saxon settlement is recorded 150 metres to the east of the site where a Sunken Featured Building was found during excavations in 2009. Ditches of early to late Saxon date have been recorded 300 metres to the east of the site at King George’s Field, as well as pottery of mid Saxon date at Singleton Close over 400 metres east of the site. Chance finds of coins have been made in the general Minster area and metal detecting 600 metres to the north east of the site has identified fragments from two early Anglo Saxon brooches. Cropmarks of a possible Anglo Saxon cemetery are located in fields north west of the site. 9.14 Archaeology of medieval date is also well represented in the study area. The focus of medieval activity is located around the historic core of Minster developing outwards from the church of St Mary and the Monastic Grange. Field boundary ditches of medieval date have been exposed to the east of the site at King George’s Field and at St Mildred’s Priory (Minster Abbey). Sheriffs Court over 900 metres south west is suggested to be a possible medieval moated site. Eden Hall, a listed timber framed hall house of 15th century date is located 15 metres to the east of the site and is probably one of the earliest domestic buildings surviving in Thanet. A number of artefacts located by metal detector have been found in the fields to the north east, west and south west of the site. 9.15 The Post Medieval period is very well represented in the Study Area. Eden Hall was established as a farmstead sometime around 1540 and the Post Medieval period generally saw an expansion of the village out from its medieval core, particularly from the 16th century, which is reflected in the establishments of farmsteads throughout the study area and the date of the listed buildings within the main village. The establishment of a railway network and a station at Minster in the mid 19th
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 century opened up the town and enabled it to expand. The local geology was exploited probably both for agricultural and construction use for the extraction of sand and chalk and public amenities in Minster were established with the construction of a Public Library and village school on Church Street. 9.16 If archaeological remains are present on the site, they are more likely to be of prehistoric or Post Medieval date, possibly Bronze Age field systems and enclosures, prehistoric palaeochannels and Post Medieval activity associated with Eden Hall Farmstead. There is a medium potential for encountering features of medieval date associated with Eden Hall and a low to medium potential for encountering settlement evidence of Anglo Saxon date. There is a low potential for encountering features of Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Iron Age, and Roman date on the site however it is possible that archaeological features of any of the periods represented in the study area may be present. 9.17 Cartographic and historic evidence shows that the landscape around the site has remained relatively unchanged since at least the late 18th century. The map regression has established that the site occupied an area of agricultural land that was in use predominantly as orchard, up to and including the publication of 1938 revision of the Ordnance Survey map, when No. 66 Monkton Road was constructed within the orchard. By the publication of the 1969 map the site had been subdivided further to incorporate a second house plot No. 68 Monkton Road and the remaining land to the rear of the two properties divided into two fields, the northern being open fields and the southern, still in use as orchard. 9.18 Ponds and dykes or drains are shown on the north eastern, eastern and southern sides of the site from the publication of the 1842 tithe map onward. The elongated pond along the eastern side of the site appears to have been infilled by the publication of the 1938 map. The pond, shown as a curvilinear feature on the tithe map and a ‘P’ shaped feature on the later maps, remains intact until publication of the 1968 map when it appears to have been infilled and a drain is shown bordering the eastern and southern edges of the site. A building identified as a stable block during the site inspection is shown constructed to the west of the approximate area of the infilled pond on the present map of the site. 9.19 Residential development has gradually crept out from the historic core of Minster town from the late 19th century, extending along Monkton Road and reaching the site by the mid 20th century. The most significant change to take place in the last five years has been the infilling of farmland with residential development to east of the site, which has placed the site on the very edge of suburban Minster. 9.20 This DBA has established that previous uses of the site will have affected the archaeological potential of the site. The use of the site as an orchard and the subsequent grubbing out of the trees to return it to agricultural land and gardens, as well as its continued use as paddocks and a small holding would have had a cumulative medium impact on the archaeological potential of the site. The pond and drain in the north eastern and eastern part of the site appear to have been infilled from the early to middle part of the century. It is possible that these features were culverted to continue drainage and the potential construction of a drain as well as infilling the ponds is likely to have had a low to medium impact in these areas of the site. The construction of No.s 66 and 68 Monkton Road along with their associated garages and outbuildings and landscaping of the gardens is likely to have had a high impact within localised areas of the construction of foundations and a low to medium impact where landscaping of gardens has taken place. 9.21 The Desk Based Assessment has shown that the survey of existing archaeological data within the study area has provided a medium to high level of information on which to base an assessment of the archaeological potential of the site. The degree of
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 impact that the previous predominantly intensive agricultural use of the site has caused to the medium to high archaeological potential that has been established, could only be tested further by field evaluation methods. Field evaluation could establish with certainty the presence or absence of archaeological remains and the degree of truncation that they may have suffered from the previous pattern of land use.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 10 Acknowledgements
The Trust for Thanet Archaeology would like to thank Jane Scott of Hobbs Parker Ltd for commissioning the Desk Based Assessment on behalf of her client Mr Matthew Britton. The Trust would also like to thank Mrs Diana Hillman for her kind assistance during the site inspection and Andrew Mayfield, KHER officer, KCC for his assistance with obtaining archaeological reports.
Research for the DBA was undertaken by Emma Boast and Ges Moody. The site inspection was carried out by Emma Boast. Illustrations were produced by Emma Boast.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 11. Sources Consulted
Databases Consulted British Geological Survey https://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/geologyOfBritain/viewer.html Kent Historic and Environment Resource, Kent County Council. – KHER Trust for Thanet Archaeology Archives Trust for Thanet Archaeology Sites and Monuments Register (TSMR) Kent Archaeological Society: Minster in Thanet Maps and Tithe award schedule. Last accessed 14th November 2014. URL http://www.kentarchaeology.org.uk/Research/Maps/MIT/02.htm Documents Brookes, S. and Harrington, H. 2010. The Kingdom and People of Kent AD 400-1066. The History Press. Gloucester Glover, J. 1982. The Place Names of Kent. 2nd Edition. Meresborough Books: Rainham. Hasted, E. 1800. The History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent. Volume X. Second edition. W. Bristow: Canterbury. Lewis, J. 1773. The History and Antiquities, Ecclesiastical and Civil of the Isle of Thanet in Kent. London Martin, J., Schuster, J. and Barclay, A. J. 2012. Evidence of an Early Bronze Age Field System, and Spelt Wheat Growing, together with an Anglos Saxon Sunken Featured Building, at Monkton Road, Minster in Thanet. Archaeologia Cantiana CXXXII 43-52. Moody, G. A. 2013. St Augustine’s First Footfall. Trust for Thanet Archaeology: Birchington Moody, G. 2008. The Archaeology of the Isle of Thanet from Prehistory to the Norman Conquest. The History Press, Gloucester. Riccoboni, P. 2007. An Archaeological Evaluation on Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeology South-East unpublished Client Report. Wallenberg, J. K. 1934. The Place-names of Kent. Uppsala Maps Andrews, Drury & Herbert. 1769. East Kent Section 2 inches to 1 mile. 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Old Series 1 inch 1819. Sheet 3. Huntley, W. 1842. The Parish of Minster, Isle of Thanet, Kent in two parts numbered 1 and 2. Tithe Map Ordnance Survey First Edition County Series 1873 1:2500. Sheet XXXVII.2 Ordnance Survey Second Edition County Series 1896 1:2500. Sheet XXXVII.2 Ordnance Survey Third Edition County Series 1907 1:2500. Sheet XXXVII.2 Ordnance Survey 1938 Revision County Series 1:2500. Sheet XXXVII.2 Ordnance Survey National Grid 1969 1:2500. Ordnance Survey Digital Data Promap plan of the site supplied by Hobbs Parker
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 Appendix 1
Listed Building Descriptions
The following Listing Descriptions are extracted from the information contained in the Kent HER.
Listed Buildings within 100 metres of the Site Boundary
TR 36 SW 172 Eden Hall Grade II House. Early C15 and late C18. Timber framed and refronted with brown brick. Plain tiled roof. Hall house of 3 framed bays with later wings to rear. Two storeys on plinth with parapet to hipped roof with 1 hipped dormer and stacks to left and projecting at end right. Four glazing bar sashes on each floor with gauged heads. Door of 6 panels to right, the top 2 glazed, with semi-circular fanlight in arched surround. Single storey hipped extension to right. Rear wings of 2 storeys, painted brick. Interior: main range with roof of 3 unmoulded crown posts of square section, braced to tie beam and collar purlin. Inglenook fireplace, moulded and carved brackets and consoles to lower floor ceilings, moulded door panels all early C19; ramped stair rail on balusters. Good beehive-vaulted bread oven. Probably one of the earliest surviving domestic buildings in Thanet.
Listed Buildings over 100 metres from the Site Boundary
TR 36 SW 181 Watchester Farmhouse Grade II Farmhouse. Early C19. Brown brick and slate roof. Two storeys on plinths with plat band and wide eaves to hipped roof with stacks to left and rear right. Regular fenestration of 3 glazing bar sashes on first floor and 2 on ground floor all with gauged heads. Central door of 6 panels in projecting corniced porch, with 2 steps.
Listed Buildings within Historic Core of Minster
TR 36 SW 147 CHURCH OF SAINT MARY Grade I Parish church. Tower and nave C11 and C12, chancel and transepts C13. Refenestration in partC15. Restored 1863 by Ewan Christian. Flint, rubble, some re-used Roman brick and Caen stone dressings. Plain tiled roofs. Chancel with C19 vestry, transepts, nave and aisles, western tower. Three stage tower with offset pilaster buttresses, string courses, battlements and shingled spire. Square south-eastern stair turret, truncated and capped with spirelet. C19 Romanesque style west doorway. Round headed tower and belfry lights. Aisles with 3 offset buttresses, plinth, string course and battlements. Renewed C15 and C19 Perpendicular style tracery. Moulded hoods to south and north doors. Chancel and transepts all of one design and build, with offset clasping buttresses, moulded string course (raised around transepts), and lancet windows, a group of 3 in chancel east wall, with round headed gable light over. Flying buttresses to chancel and single storey vestry (to south of chancel) added by Ewan Christian 1860's. Exterior walls with several monumental plaques, most late C18,attached. (1 on south side, 4 on south transept, 3 to north transept, and on tower). Interior: tower with Romanesque window reveals on ground floor. Tower arch semi-circular on large half-round responds with scalloped capitals, that to south with double thickness masonry. Also double thickness with blocked Norman windows are the westermost bays of the nave arcades-signs of late C12 rebuilding of the original church. Arcades of 5 bays. Three easternmost of south arcade c1190 with round piers, abaci, scalloped capitals with zig-zag and billet moulding to arches. Two eastern bays and north arcade C 1180. Round capitals and bases to south, square abaci and waterholding bases with spurs to north and some crocketting and
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 dogtooth. Nave roof of 6 crown posts, with round-headed lights to tower and 2 in nave east gable.Crossing arches to nave and aisles, all of same pattern, with double chamfered arch on round attached columns with moulded capitals. Transepts, crossing and chancel all of 1 build. Two bay transepts, with roll moulded stringcourse, attached shafts based on stringcourse supporting vault, added in 1863though on original springing. Original vaulting in crossing, springing from below arch capitals,quadripartite rib-vaults without ridge rib. Chancel arch chamfered with hollow chamfered surround and attached and keeled columns and mouldings. Four bay chancel, each bay narrower to east, with string course and attached wallshafts, the abaci extended to form a continuous frieze with circles and quatrefoil and trefoil enrichment. Quadripartite rib vault springs from those attached shafts, with keeled ribs. Triple lancet east window with deeply moulded and beaded surrounds and paired attached shafts. Fittings: chamfered arched aumbry with linenfold pattern door in north chancel wall. Choir stalls, dateable 1401-19 (the name of John Curteys, rector at those dates appears on one stall). Carved misericords and arm rests, 2 rows of 4 to the south, 10 to the north. Font and cover: C15, octagonal on moulded base. Cover, restored, with open work panels, pinnacled,displaying shields, with scrolled iron pulley bracket, one chain attached to the cover by a gadrooned globe finial. Glass: East window by Willement, 1861, good quality work. Monuments: C13 tomb chest in north transept with trelobed arcading and incised cross, set in wall recess with roll and beaded hood mould. Thomas Paramour d.1621. Hanging wall monument in north aisle of alabaster with black marble plaque and figures. Thomas and his wife Mary kneeling opposite each other with arcaded background. Frieze cornice and pediment on Corinthian columns on strapwork brackets. The Mother Church of Thanet and an Anglo-Saxon Minster Church.
TR 36 SW 159 Gates and Walls to Minster Abbey Grade II Wall and gates. C17 and early C19. Brown brick, the base in English bond, and flint. Cast iron gates. Wall about 6 1/2 feet high, extending about 65 yards (and then returned north) to left, and 35 yards (and returned north) to right of gate. Paired gates with spiked uprights and swept top rail, with pierced iron piers with large spear head finials. Railings 5 yards to left and right of gate on low brick base.
TR 36 SW 158 Church Cottage, Church Street Grade II House. Early C19. Brown brick and plain tiled roof. Two storeys with boxed eaves and kneelered gables. Stacks to end left and end right. Regular fenestration of 3 sashes on first floor and 2 on ground floor with gauged segmental heads. Central door of 6 raised and fielded panels, the top 2 glazed in moulded pilaster surround with frieze and flat hood. Return and rear elevations with flint plinth and walls, and single storey extension, possibly a disused forge building.
TR 36 SW 157 5 and 7 Church Street Grade II Cottage pair. Mid C19. Brown brick, in part painted, with plain tiled roof. Two storeys with box eaves to hipped roof with stack to centre left. Three sashes on first floor and 4 on ground floor with painted heads. Door of 6 panels to right with rendered surround. Half-glazed door on left return with flat hood on brackets. Weather boarded garage outshot to left. Included for group value.
TR 36 SW 156 Group of Chest Tombs North of Church of Saint Mary Grade II Group of chest tombs. Anne Clipman, d.1819, about 1 metre north of north transept. Fluted corner piers. Margaret Collet, d.1838, about 10 metres north of church, large base area, with railings missing. Unusual splayed and reeded corner piers with folded side panels. Late C18 chest tomb, illegible inscription, about 20 metres north-west of the church. Corner piers with symbols of death and burial. Raised and moulded side panels. Elizabeth Wootton, d.1784. About 23 metres north west of the church. Fluted baluster piers in recessed corners, and raised side panels of curving outline.
TR 36 SW 155
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 The Old School, Church Street Grade II School, now church hall. 1847 and extended 1854. Coursed rubble and slated roof. One storey and attic with kneelered gables and 3 small blocked gable dormers. Stacks projecting at end right, and corbelled out at end left. Five stone mullioned and transomed windows with labels, and projecting and gabled doorways at end left and to right, with four centred arched surrounds, and boarded doors with crescent and strap hinges. Scrolls over doors, to left: Girls; to right: Boys. Interior: altered to accommodate hall.
TR 36 SW 154 Gate and Railings adjoining and West of White Horse Grade II Gates and rails. C18. Cast iron. Rail about 3 feet high, on rendered base for about 3 feet in length, these with free standing section to gate pier. Gate piers with 3 spiked principals to left, 2 to right hand pier. Spiked uprights to fence and double gates, with sweeping top rail and secondary rail curving up to meet at gate latch.
TR 36 SW 142 Garden Cottage and Garden Wall, Church Street Grade II House. c1700. Brown brick and thatched roof. Two storeys and attic. The brickwork bonded with courses of stretchers alternating with courses of headers and stretchers, the mortar courses galleted. Plinth, plat band and kneelered paprapet gables. Dormer window and stacks to left and end right. Regular fenestration of 2 wooden casements on first floor and 2 glazing bar sashes on ground floor with central half-glazed door and flat hood on brackets. Interior altered. Garden wall attached to left return of house, in brown brick, about 8 feet high and extending about 10 yards west of house to change in direction.
TR 36 SW 152 Durlock Lodge, Durlock Grade II House. Cl8 extended C19. Red brick and plain tiled roof. Irregular plan. Entrance front: 2 storeys, with projecting wings to left and right, with single storey extension left. Modillion eaves cornice to hipped roofs, with stacks to left, centre and right. Irregular fenestration of glazing bar sashes. Central door of 2 panels in moulded surround in recessed area. Return and rear elevations: with modillion eaves cornice, hipped roofs and dormers and glazing bar sashes throughout.
TR 36 SW 163 Old Oak Cottage Restaurant, High Street Grade II House, now house and restaurant. C16 and late C17 and restored mid C20. Timber framed and clad with beaded weather boarding and applied timber with plaster infill on front elevation, and weather boarding to left return. Plain tiled roof. L-shaped plan, the present entrance front of 2 framed bays probably originally a return wing. Two storeys on plinth with bresummer fascia and moulded cornice to roof hipped to left (with return wing). Hipped dormer and stacks to rear left and right in front of ridge. Two 3 lightleaded mullioned casements with central single light on first floor and two 3 light mullioned casements on ground floor, that to left with sidelights. Half-glazed central door in moulded surround with enriched cornice and console brackets supporting segmental pediment enriched with strapwork and central cartouche with lion head. Interior: clasped purlin roof, leaded mullioned lights with some coloured glass. Full frame visible. The supposed hauntings at the house investigated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (and the B.B.C.)!
TR 36 SW 150 The Bell Inn, High Street, Minster Grade II Public House. C16, reclad mid C19 and extended. Timber framed and rendered on ground floor with ornamental tile hanging on first floor with plain tiled roof. Extended with yellow stock brick and slate
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 roof. Timber framed range: 2 storeys with moulded eaves cornice to hipped roof with 4 hipped dormers and stacks to end left and rear left. Four glazing bar sashes on first floor and 2 to right and 2 tripartite glazing bar sashes to left on ground floor. Central half-glazed door. Extension to left (the Tea Gardens): 2 storeys curved in double curve around road corner. Brick corbelled eaves cornice to irregularly hipped roof, with stack to left and 2 lead capped ventilators. One glazing bar sash on each floor, and blank window space to left on first floor, all with painted heads. Half-glazed door to right. Interior: altered, but frame still partly visible.
TR 36 SW 160 Barn about 30 metres North East of Minsted Abbey Grade II Barn. C16 or earlier in origin. Flint and rubble, part rebuilt with brick and weather boarded in eastern elevation. Corrugated iron roof. Rounded buttresses on right return. Central boarded cart doors. Interior: 3 bays with aisles, passing shores to arcade posts, renewed above tie beam level. The structure was originally a great deal larger, and reputedly re-erected at Sevenscore Farm after lightning damage (see Barns at Sevenscore, items4/40 and 4/41) Included for group value.
TR 36 SW 149 42 High Street Grade II House. Early C18, refronted and extended in early C19. Brown brick and asbestos tiled roof. Two storeys and attic with plinth and box eaves to hipped roof with 2 flat roofed dormers, and stacks to rear left and rear right. Left and right return walls with plinth, plat band and moulded eaves cornice. Three glazing bar sashes on first floor, 2 on ground floor with half glazed and panelled double door in central half- timbered and gabled porch. Recessed 2 storey wing to left with hipped roof and stack at end left, and 2 glazing bar sashes on each floor. Rear elevations with irregular English bond brickwork and early moulded glazing bar sashes. Interior: early C18 staircase with fine turned balusters, with moulded handrail; dogleg plan. Moulded cornices to main rooms.
TR 36 SW 148 The Public Library, Walsingham House, Church Street. Grade II Shop and house, now library and house. Mid C19. Red brick front with yellow stock return elevations. Plain tiled roof. Unarchaeological Gothic Revival style. Three storeys, gable end to street. Ground floor shop front with red and purple glazed tiles, 2 plate glass sashes and plate glass door to right. Canopy with balcony to first floor, supported on cast iron piers with valancing. Large meat hooks suspended from canopy (originally a pork butcher's shop). Light cast iron balcony. First and second floors with pilaster quoin strips, plat band carried as capitals over pilasters, supporting quadruple rebated arch in kneelered gable enclos- ing arched plate glass window with small balcony on second floor, and larger arched window with pierced quatrefoil head on first floor. The right return with segmental sashes, plinth, plat bands and cornices and gabled dormers. Included for group value.
TR 36 SW 145 Hawthorne Lodge, High Street Grade II House. Early C19 facade to earlier building. Brown brick and plain tiled roof. Two parallel ranges. Two storeys and box eaves to hipped roof with stacks to rear left and rear right. Regular fenestration of 3 glazing bar sashes on first floor and 2 on ground floor with segmental heads. Central door of 6 raised and fielded panels, the top 2 glazed, and open pediment on pilasters. Rear ranges earlier, with hipped and gabled roof and outshot.
TR 36 SW 144 14, 16 and 18 High Street Grade II Terrace, now shop and houses. Circa 1800. Yellow stock brick with slate roof. Two storeys and parapet to hipped roof with stacks to rear left, centre right and end right. Two storey canted bay window at end right, with 5 glazing bar sashes on first floor, and 1 at centre on ground floor. Plate glass shop window
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 with boarded door and fascia to centre left, and 3 doors to left, centre and right, all of 4 panels with traceried semi-circular fanlights and gauged and rebated semi-circular surrounds on imposts. Included for group value.
TR 36 SW 173 The Old Vicarage, St Mildred’s Road Grade I. Vicarage. Built c.1709 for John Lewis, vicar from 1708 and historian of Thanet. Brick, now roughcast, with plain tiled roof. Two storeys and attic on plinth with boxed eaves to hipped roof with 3 hipped dormers and stacks at rear left, end left and end right. Regular fenestration of 5 cross windows on first floor and 4 segmental headed glazing bar sashes on first floor. Glazed door in central C19 Doric porch.
TR 36 SW 161 Minster Abbey Grade I Monastic grange, now abbey,Cll and C12, altered c.1413. Rubble, flint and dressed stone details. Plain tiled roof. Originally built around 3 sides of a courtyard, a chapel on the south side, domestic and office ranges on west and north sides. Entrance front: the north front of the north wing. C12 in origin. Two storeys on irregular plinth with string course and boxed eaves to hipped roof with stone stack at end left, and brick stacks to left and to right. Left end bay projects, with 2 tier C15 cinquefoiled window. The left end of the main range was probably rebuilt at the same time, a C15 window interrupting the string course at this point. Two C12 windows on first floor, and 1 blocked to right. Three C17 segmental headed 3 light mullioned and transomed wooden casements on first floor, and irregular fenestration on ground floor of C20 trecusped 2 light window and C17 segmental headed mullioned and transomed windows. C15 door to centre right, 3 panelled door in four centred arched doorway, chamfered with moulded surround, with arms of Thomas Hunden in spandrels, Abbot of St. Augustine's, Canterbury, 1405-1420. The door interrupts earlier pilaster strips. Derelict and partly ruinous C19 extension and wall to left, of flint. Double projecting block with large cart doors to right, with round headed window over, and boarded door and sidelight to left with pointed arched heads. Wall about 8 feet high extending about 20 yards. Left return: C12 round-arched shafted window in upper wall above C19 extension. Right return; the rear of the late Cll west range, the main feature a central gabled 3 storey projection. Originally 2 storeyed and battlemented. Seven C20 gabled dormers, and 4 C15 2 tier trecusped and cinquecusped windows. Rear elevation: to the inner courtyard. Main range with ground floor of greater thickness, defined by string course, the upper course with much finer masonry work. Pilaster strips. Two C12 windows on first floor to left, and 1 blocked to right. Three 2 tier cinquefoiled windows with double quatrefoiled mid-panels, all heavily restored, recessed in lower floor. Chamfered doorway and panelled door to left. West range 2 storeys with single dormer and central stack. Three C15 windows on first floor separated by small slit windows with blocked C12 light to right, and 2 C15 windows on ground floor, with round arched doorway with small sidelight, the semi-circular head made from a single block. The fabric shows much alteration. The door and sidelight are set within a small area rebuilt in ashlar. Lower ground floor otherwise shows masonry set herringbone fashion, with levelling courses of flint, also carried across onto the tower to left. Originally west tower of chapel (demolished), only the north wall adjacent with west range remains. Now 2 storeys, with shafted recess with pierced light on first floor to east, and similar arcading to north west corner. Remains of arcading on eastern ground floor, and sculpture of Christ in Mandorla on west ground floor probably C19 reconstructions. Newel stair in ashlared well in north-west corner. Interior: refashioned c.1413 by Abbot Hunden. West range may have a parallel rafter or scissor- braced roof, but is obscured by C20 alterations. North range with crown post roof, moulded octagonal posts, those at either end only attached shafts to frame. Smoke blackened. Early c18 dogleg stair with turned balusters. Slype between chapel tower and west wing now small chapel, groin-vaulted of 2½ bays. An abbey for Benedictine Nuns since the 1930's, built on the site of Abbey of St. Peter and St. Paul, refounded here c.750, destroyed by the Danes 840, transferred to St. Augustine's in 1027, and from then the central Grange of the Abbey's large holdings on Thanet. Already leased into private hands by the Dissolution, it remained a farmhouse until 1937. (See Archaeological Journal vol.86; also B.O.E. Kent,II, 1983, 395).
TR 36 SW 153 Thanet House, Station Road
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 Grade II House. Early C19. Yellow stock brick and plain tiled roof. T-shaped plan. Two storeys and parapet to hipped roof with stack to rear left. Regular fenestration of 3 glazing bar sashes on first floor and 2 on ground floor all with painted heads, and central half glazed door with moulded panels and semi- circular fanlight in double rebated surround on imposts.
TR 36 SW 182 Psalm Cottage, Tothill Street Grade II Cottage pair. Early C19. Painted brick and plain tiled roof, with flint on rear elevations. Two storeys with brick dentil eaves cornice to hipped roof with stack to rear. Regular fenestration of 4 glazing bar sashes on each floor and boarded doors to left and to right. Included for group value.
TR 36 SW 171 Rose Cottage, Tothill Street Grade II House. C17 or earlier. Timber framed and roughcast. Plain tiled roof. One storey and attic, with end jetty to right (fronting onto road). Hipped roof with 2 hipped semi-dormers and stacks to centre right and end left. Two leaded wooden casements high under eaves, and 3 leaded wooden casements on ground floor. Half-glazed door to centre right with open pedimented hood on brackets.
TR 36 SW 179 Bay Tree Cottage, Tothill Street Grade II House. Dated 1765. Brown brick and plain tiled roof. Two storeys and basement on plinth with hipped roof and stacks to end left and rear right. Regular fenestration of 2 glazing bar sashes and small central wooden casement on first floor, and 2 glazing bar sashes on ground floor. Central half glazed and panelled door in fine moulded surround with flat hood. Basement openings to left and right. Plaque below central window inscribed: C R J 1765
TR 36 SW 177 Cast Iron Lamp standard opposite entrance to Car Park, High Street Grade II Lamp standard. Late C19. Cast iron with fluted base surmounted by bulbous moulding with pattern of anthemion leaves, tall cylindrical column with moulding to top and junction box and curved lamp bracket. Late C20 lamp. One of three remaining late C19 lamp brackets in the historic centre of Minster.
TR 36 SW 176 Cast Iron Lamp Standard, Station Road Grade II Cast iron lamp standard, STAION ROAD, MINSTER Lamp standard. Late C19. Cast iron with fluted base surmounted by bulbous moulding with pattern of anthemion leaves, tall cylindrical solumn with moulding to top, juntion box and curved lamp bracket. Late C20 lamp. One of three remaining late C19 lamp brackets in the historic centre of Minster.
TR 36 SW 143 Cast Iron Lamp Standard outside No. 7 Church Street Grade II Lamp standard. Late C19. Cast iron with fluted base surmounted by bulbous moulding with pattern of anthemion leaves, tall cylindrical column with moulding to top and junction box and curved lamp bracket. Late C20 lamp. One of three remaining late C19 lamp brackets in the historic centre of Minster.
TR 36 SW 170 Number 2, The White Horse, including Lamp Bracket and Hand Pump
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 Grade II Public house, now house and shop. Circa 1700, altered early C19 and extended mid C19. Painted brick and plain tiled roofs. Main range: 2 storeys on plinth with irregular bonding, boxed eaves and Dutch gable to right return. Stacks to rear left and end right. Three sashes on first floor and 3 canted bay windows on ground floor, with evidence of earlier blocked window spaces. Two margin-light glazed and panelled doors to centre left in moulded surround with pilasters and cornice. Identical single door and surround at end right. The date 1960 in the pedimented gable top on the right return records restoration. C19 addition: to left, 2 storeys, curved frontage to left, road corner. Regular fenestration of 3 segmental headed sashes on the first floor and 2 on ground floor with central half-glazed door with flat hood gauged roundel on left return with White Horse symbol within. Attached to corner is a late C19 cast iron lamp bracket with scrolled decoration and original finial but late C20 electric lamp. Cast iron hand pump in front court, with open pumphead and swept handle.
TR 36 SW 169 Railed Tomb Chests and Memorial Cross about 5 metres south of Nave of St Mary’s Church Grade II Group of railed tomb chests and memorial cross. Tomb chest and railings: Early C19. Stone with cast iron railings. Moulded plinth, chest with moulded base, baluster corner posts, four-lobed panels and fluted frieze. Inscription illegible, spear-head rails. Tomb Chest: John Swinford, d.1846. Moulded base, projecting raised panels with moulded slab. Leaf- finials to rails. Memorial Cross: to Swinford family, mid C19. Floriate cross set on shaft with pinnacled base on square plinth with 2 steps. Low rails with cross-shaped finials.
TR 36 SW 167 No 11 and The Old Jezard’s Bakery Grade II House and shop. Early C19 front. Yellow stock brick and plain tiled roof. Two storeys and parapet to hipped roof with stacks to rear left and rear right. Four glazing bar sashes on first floor and 1 to left on ground floor all with gauged heads. Plate glass shop front with recessed glazed door with fascia over to right. Boarded door to centre left with semi-circular fanlight in double rebated surround. Included for group value.
TR 36 SW 166 Laundry about 15 metres west of Minster Abbey Grade II Brewhouse, now laundry. Possibly C12 in origin. Flint with plain tiled roof. Square plan. One storey and hipped roof with large gablets. Stack at end right. Segmental headed doorway of re-used tooled stone, with boarded door. Blocked round arched window on left return, and C19 tripartite glazing bar sash to rear. Interior: C17 clasped purlin roof, and large crossbeams for suspension of equipment.
TR 36 SW 165 1 and 3 Church Street Grade II Cottage pair. Dated 1710. Brown brick, painted on No. 3, with plain tiled roof. Two storeys and attic on plinth with plat band and hipped roof with central stack cluster and 2 flat roofed dormers. Four segmental headed glazing bar sashes in moulded frames on first floor (of different sizes on each cottage), and 2 segmental headed paired glazing bar sashes to left with central door of 6 panels and flat hood. Two glazing bar sashes to right and central door of 6 raised and fielded panels. Small central plaque inscribed M:E over segmental headed wooden casement breaking plat band. 1710 No. 1 (Wallside Cottage) was the home of Sir Adrian Boult for some time.
TR 36 SW 175 Inglewood Grade II House. C16, reclad and extended C18. Timber framed and clad with brown bricks with some applied timber, part with flint and ashlar chequer, and exposed on right return with brick infill. Plain tiled
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 roof. Two storeys on uneven and discontinuous plinth, with plat band over central ground floor section of chequerwork - the ashlar re-used medieval tooled stone. Roof hipped to right and with kneelered gable to left; stacks to end left and centre right. Three glazing bar sashes on first floor, and 4 on ground floor, the central one (in the chequerswork section) segmental headed and much larger. The end left bay is a later (ie C18) addition. Entry in left return by rib and stud door with cornice on pilaster surround.
TR 36 SW 168 Wall and Gate Lodge East of Minster Abbey Grade II Wall and Gate Lodge. Early C19. Gate Lodge with knapped and squared flints and plain tiled roof. Wall of flint. Lodge 1 storey entrance front, with string course and box eaves to half-hipped roof with gablets. Diamond latticed Gothick windows either side of central Gothick panelled door. Left return [to road): 2 storeys with string course and 2 wooden casements on first floor, 2 arched sashes on ground floor. Irregular 2 storey extension left. Wall, about 8 to 10 feet in height, extends approximately 70 yards along roadside to south and west.
Listed Buildings at Monkton TR 26 S 69 Hoo Farm, Monkton Road Grade II House. Early C19. Brown brick and plain tiled roof. Two storeys with projecting centre. Plinth, plat band, cornice and parapet, with a raised panel over the central projection. Regular fenestration of 5 glazing bar sashes with moulded surrounds and blind hoods on first floor, and 4 glazing bar sashes on ground floor set in gauged segmental headed recesses. Central glazed and panelled door in moulded cornice surround and at head of flight of 4 steps. Recessed hipped wing to right.
TR 26 SE 74 Wall and Gates about 10 metres south of Hoo Farmhouse Grade II Walls and gates. Early C19. Red brick walls in irregular bond about 5 feet high, and extending about 30 yards east and west of taller gatepiers. Between the gatepiers a section of wall topped by cast iron spearheaded rails in 2 tiers, the rails swept down to double iron gates, about 4 feet high.
TR 26 SE 78 126 Monkton Road Grade II House. Early C19. Brown brick with flint to return and rear elevations. Plain tiled roof. Three storeys and parapet to roof with kneelered parapet gables and stacks to left and to right. Regular fenestration of 3 glazing bar sashes with gauged heads, the top central window space a blank panel. Central door of 6 raised and fielded panels, the top 2 glazed, and semi-circular fan. Gauged surround on imposts.
TR 26 SE 70 Sheriff’s court Farmhouse Grade II Farmhouse in moated site. Late C18, possibly incorporating earlier structure. Brown brick and plain tiled roof. Orginally L-shaped plan with projecting end wing, extended C19-C20. Two storeys and attic with projecting porch to centre and wing to centre right. Hipped roof with flat roofed dormers and central skylights and stacks to end left, rear centre right and end right. Irregular fenestration of tripartite glazing bar sashes, some replaced by C20 metal casements, with French doors to centre right and end right, 4 bays in all, and half-glazed door in 2 storey porch to centre left. Hipped rear wings with glazing bar sashes. Interior: changes in floor level and room size may indicate earlier structure. Site of historical manor and sea inlet when Thanet was still an island.
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 Appendix 2 Gazetteer of Archaeological Sites
Site No. KHER Number and other Period Description references
1 KHER TR 36 SW 131; Bronze Age Early Bronze Age field system of six or more fields and evidence of crop Martin et al 2012; Riccoboni processing excavated by Wessex Archaeology in 2009. 2007. 2 KHER TR 36 SW 118, TR Bronze Age Curving v shaped enclosure ditch, prehistoric flints, ditch or gully and 36 SW 119; TSMR 738. posthole found at Minster Primary School 3 KHER TR 36 SW 73; TSMR Bronze Age Crouched burial found under the rear garden of 100 Monkton Road, 205. Minster. 4 KHER TR 36 SW 92 Bronze Age Fragments of a bronze sword of Ewart Park tradition found during evaluation. 5 KHER TR 36 SW 288; Bronze Age Scatter of mid Bronze Age artefacts and fragments found by metal TSMR 599. detecting, possibly remains of a bronze hoard scattered by ploughing. 6 KHER TR 36 SW 13; Hicks Bronze Age Bronze looped and socketed axe found on the site of Minster Railway 1878, 18. TSMR 377. Station before 1878. 7 KHER TR 36 SW 59 Bronze Age Octagonal socketed axe found at Minster c. 1819. 8 KHER TR 36 SW 60 Bronze Age Three ribbed socketed axe found at Minster c. 1847 9 KHER MKE74058 Iron Age Copper alloy unit of Cunobelin found at Abbey Farm 10 KHER MKE 74059 Iron Age Bronze unit of Eppillus found at Abbey Farm 11 KHER MKE 74084 Iron Age Early first century copper alloy unit found at Abbey Farm 12 KHER MKE74455 Iron Age Copper alloy unit found at Minster 13 KHER MKE74456 Iron Age Copper alloy potin found at Minster 14 KHER TR 36 SW 4 Iron Age Uninscribed coin, possibly a gold stater found at Minster 15 KHER TR 36 SW 285; Prehistoric Silted palaeochannel discovered during excavations by Wessex Martin 2009; Riccoboni archaeology in 2009. 2007. 16 KHER TR 36 SW 67; TSMR Roman Abbey Farm Roman Villa Complex excavated 1996 -2004. Winged 316 courtyard villa and bathhouse within boundary wall. Separate bath house on the southern western corner of boundary wall, two roomed building on south east corner. 4th century malt kiln within timber framed barn in the centre. 17 KHER TR 36 SW 72; TSMR Roman or Medieval Dock or quay of heavy stone slabs with iron rings located near Church 128 and/or Durlock 18 KHER TR 36 SW 239 Roman Six sherds of pottery and tile found as residual artefacts within soil layer. 19 KHER TR 36 SW 25 Roman 1st century statuette of Diana found at Minster 20 KHER TR 36 SW 26 Roman Lead sling bullet inscribed Feri-Roma found at Minster 21 KHER MKE74243 Roman A copper alloy nummus of the house of Constantine minted in Trier between 332-333 AD found by metal detector 22 KHER MKE74244 Roman a copper alloy nummus of Decentius dating 351-353 AD found by metal detector 23 KHER MKE74245 Roman A worn copper alloy Sestertius found by metal detector 24 KHER TR 36 SW 286; Anglo Saxon Sunken featured building found in 2009 by Wessex Archaeology Martin 2009; Riccoboni 2007. 25 KHER TR 36 SW 222; Anglo Saxon Two ditches, one early Saxon, one mid to late Saxon and a mid – late TSMR 727. Saxon pit found at King George’s Field in 2003. 26 KHER TR 36 NW 436 Anglo Saxon Cropmarks of a possible Anglo Saxon cemetery of over 200 graves. 27 KHER TR 36 SW 1; Meaney Anglo Saxon A burial with a glass bell shaped cup was found in St Mary’s churchyard 1964, 130; TSMR 302 in the 19th century 28 KHER TR 36 SW 115 Anglo Saxon Location of Pre conquest nunnery at Minster Abbey 29 KHER TR 36 SW 31 Anglo Saxon Anglo Saxon beads found at Minster 30 KHER MKE74162, KHER Anglo Saxon Four large sherds Ipswich ware and 37 sherds of pottery from a second MKE74163 vessel found at 2 Singleton Close in 2006. 31 KHER MKE74249 Anglo Saxon A fragment of a 5th to 6th century copper alloy small long brooch comprising the head plate and portion of the bow found by metal detector 32 KHER MKE74250 Anglo Saxon a fragment of a copper alloy small long brooch or cruciform brooch of 5th/6th century date found by metal detector 33 KHER TR 36 SW 242 Anglo Saxon An Anglo Saxon copper ‘styca’ minted in York and dated between AD 840-844 found at Minster 34 KHER TR 36 SW 245 Anglo Saxon A late 7th to early 8th century silver sceat found at Minster 35 KHER TR 36 SW 246 and Anglo Saxon Two early Denarial silver sceats minted between 700-715 AD found at
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 248 Minster 36 KHER TR 36 SW 247, 249 Anglo Saxon Two silver sceats minted 700-710 AD, 705-715 found at Minster 37 KHER TR 36 SW 250 Anglo Saxon A late silver penny of Edward the Confessor minted in London between 1042-1044 found at Minster 38 KHER TR 36 SW 251 Anglo Saxon A possible imitation silver penny of unknown class minted 695-750 AD found at Minster 39 KHER TR 36 SW 252, Anglo Saxon Two silver pennies minted in Winchester, one dating 1017-1023 and one KHER TR 36 SW 253 dating 1048-1050 found at Minster 40 KHER TR 36 SW 115; Medieval Medieval Monastic Grange at Minster Abbey TSMR 296 41 KHER TR 36 SW 120; Medieval A ditch of possible 13th century medieval date was found at St Mildreds TSMR 687 Priory 42 KHER TR 36 SW 283 Medieval A hearth or fired clay surface was recorded during a Watching Brief at 33 High Street, Minster in 2011 43 KHER TR 36 SW 223; Medieval A Medieval ditch, probably part of a field boundary was also recorded TSMR 727 during an evaluation by TfTA at King George’s Field in 2003 44 KHER TR 36 SW 38; TSMR Medieval Site of Durlock Grange Wealden Hall House 956 45 KHER TR 36 SW 172 Medieval Eden Hall timber framed hall house constructed in the 15th century with later 18th century wings to the rear 46 KHER TR 26 SE 205 Medieval Sheriffs Court is recorded as a possible medieval moated site 47 KHER MKE 65448 Medieval An early medieval cast copper alloy harness link or strap distributor of 11th century date found by metal detector 48 KHER MKE73873 Medieval A medieval copper alloy thimble dating from 1350-1450 found by metal detector 49 KHER MKE73995 Medieval A medieval Iron spear was found near Sheriffs Court found by metal detector 50 KHER MKE73996 Medieval Rim fragment of a medieval vessel of 13th century date was found on the surface of a field by a metal detectorist 51 KHER MKE74246 Medieval A cast medieval copper alloy buckle dating between 1200-1500 AD found by metal detector 52 KHER MKE74248 Medieval Copper alloy buckle dating between 1350-1400 AD 53 KHER MKE74258 Medieval Late medieval copper alloy purse bar with swivelling suspension loops site found by metal detector 54 KHER MKE86900 Post Medieval Eden Farm established c. 1540. 55 KHER MKE86920 Post Medieval Minster Abbey farmstead established c. 1540. 56 KHER MKE86835 Post Medieval Sheriff’s Court farmstead established c. 1700 57 KHER MKE86896 Post Medieval Watchester Farm established c. 1800 58 KHER MKE86897 Post Medieval Outfarm NW of Watchester Farm established c. 1800 59 KHER MKE 86898 Post Medieval Outfarm NW of Watchester Farm established c. 1800 60 KHER MKE88970 Post Medieval Outfarm N of Watchester Farm established c. 1800223 61 KHER MKE 86899 Post Medieval Outfarm Minster established c. 1800 62 KHER MKE 86921 Post Medieval Durlock Farm established c. 1800 63 KHER MKE 86832 Post Medieval 126 Monkton Road Farmstead established c. 1800 64 KHER MKE 86833 Post Medieval Outfarm west of 126 Monkton Road established c. 1800 65 KHER MKE86834 Post Medieval Hoo Farm established c. 1800 66 KHER TR 26 SE 141 Post Medieval 19th and 20th century Hop pickers huts 67 KHER TR 36 SW 28 Post Medieval The site of a 16th century beacon is recorded in Lambarde’s Carde approximately 760 metres to the south east of the site 68 KHER MWX43254 Post Medieval A small circular enclosure visible as an earthwork from 1940’s aerial photographs is located 925 metres south west of the site 69 KHER TR 15 NE 1063 Post Medieval Approximately 400 metres to the south of the site is the route of the Ashford and Margate Railway originally constructed by South Eastern Railway in 1846 via Canterbury, Minster and Ramsgate 70 KHER TR 36 SW 89 Post Medieval Minster Railway Station was built sometime before 1861 approximately 850 metres south east of the site on the Ashford and Margate Line and is still in use today 71 KHER TR 35 NW 800 Post Medieval The Deal and Minster Branch Line, located on the edge of the study area to the south east of the site, was opened in 1847 running from Minster via Sandwich to Deal. It was linked to Dover via Deal in 1881 72 KHER TR 36 NW 327 Post Medieval A freehold chalk pit was formerly situated to the north of Minster and is located on the first edition ordnance survey map dated between 1861-72 73 KHER TR 36 SW 112 Post Medieval A sand pit was also recorded near the Elms at Abbey Green, north of Minster and marked on the 1861-1898 maps 74 KHER TR 36 SW 121 Post Medieval 19th century outbuildings were identified during an archaeological evaluation carried out at St Mildred’s Priory (Minster Abbey) in 2002
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014 75 Martin et al 2012 Post Medieval A large Victorian rubbish pit was found approximately 100 metres to the east of the site during excavations prior to the construction of a housing development in 2009 76 KHER MKE73874 Post Medieval A silver thimble dated between 1650-1750 was found at Sheriffs Court 950 metres to the south east of the site 77 KHER MKE74247, KHER Post Medieval A 17th century copper alloy buckle and a post medieval copper alloy MKE74251 handle from a possible scale-tang knife dating to the 16th-17th centuries was found by metal detector. 78 KHER TR 36 SW 102; Unknown date An undated inhumation burial was found during work to construct a TSMR 591 garage in the 1970’s approximately 80 metres north west of the site 79 KHER TR 36 SW 96; Unknown date Several human burials were found adjacent to the churchyard wall during Perkins 1993; TSMR 755 excavation of foundations for a house at Conyngham Road in 1993 although undated these are probably of medieval or later date. A ditch was also found although no date was determined for it. 80 KHER TR 36 NW 218 Unknown date Five undated inhumation burials were found in the 1960’s 81 KHER TR 26 NE 245 Unknown date Cropmarks of a square enclosure measuring approximately 66 metres across are visible on an aerial photograph taken in 1990 82 KHER TR 26 Ne 55 Unknown date A rectilinear enclosure has been identified as a cropmark on aerial photos 83 KHER TR 26 NE 56 Unknown date Cropmarks of three ring ditches of unknown date and an oval shaped pit 84 KHER TR 36 NW 172 Unknown date The cropmarks of three or four ring ditches are recorded. 85 KHER TR 36 NW 174 Unknown date A ring ditch is recorded as a cropmark 86 KHER TR 36 NW 173 Unknown date Cropmarks of a trackway
Land at Monkton Road, Minster, Thanet, Kent. Archaeological Desk Based Assessment. Trust for Thanet Archaeology 2014