Prehistoric and Romano-British Activity and Saxon Settlement at Hoo Road, Wainscott, Kent
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Prehistoric and Romano-British Activity and Saxon Settlement at Hoo Road, Wainscott, Kent This report has been downloaded from www.kentarchaeology.org.uk the website of the Kent Archaeological Society (Registered Charity 223382), Maidstone Museum and Bentlif Art Gallery, St Faith's St, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1LH, England. The copyright owner has placed the report on the site for download for personal or academic use. Any other use must be cleared with the copyright owner. Wessex Archaeology, Portway House, Old Sarum Park, Salisbury SP4 6EB tel: 01722 326867 fax: 01722 337562 email: [email protected] www.wessexarch.co.uk Prehistoric and Romano-British Activity and Saxon Settlement at Hoo Road, Wainscott, Kent by Nicholas Cooke and Rachael Seager Smith with contributions by Phil Andrews, Alistair J. Barclay, Jessica M. Grimm, Kayt Marter Brown, P. A. Harding, Grace Perpetua Jones, Lorraine Mepham, Christopher Phillpotts†, Chris J. Stevens and Sarah F. Wyles and illustrations by S.E. James Summary Excavations undertaken by Wessex Archaeology in advance of the development of land off Hoo Road, Wainscott, Kent, revealed evidence for activity dating from the Late Neolithic to post- medieval periods. Earlier work immediately to the north of the site undertaken as part of the construction of the Wainscott Northern Bypass revealed evidence for a small amount of prehistoric activity (principally Late Neolithic and Bronze Age in date), two successive Romano-British enclosures, and two associated structures and a Mid/Late Saxon enclosed settlement (Clark et al. 2009). Following evaluation of the entire site, five targeted excavation areas were opened, revealing a palimpsest of archaeological features and deposits. The earliest evidence of human activity recovered comprises a small quantity of worked flint, likely to date to the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, whilst two Early Bronze Age pits were excavated, one containing a diagnostic assemblage of struck flint and the second sherds of pottery from at least four Beaker vessels and a broken saddle quern. Radiocarbon determinations obtained from cereal grains recovered from this pit returned dates of 2460–2200 cal. BC and 2400–2140 cal. BC respectively (3850±30 BP, SUERC-32989; 3810±30 BP, SUERC-33331). A small number of Middle Bronze Age features, comprising two gullies and several discrete features, were also excavated. These contained small quantities of Deverel-Rimbury pottery, animal bone and burnt and worked flint. Radiocarbon dates obtained from two of the pits confirmed a Middle Bronze Age date for this activity: 1530–1410 cal. BC (3205±30 BP, SUERC- 33332) and 1610–1420 cal. BC (3220±30 BP, SUERC-33333) respectively. A poorly dated metalled trackway crossing much of Area 2 on a broadly north-east to south-west alignment is likely to date to the Late Iron Age or Romano-British period. This comprised a broad metalled track laid in a hollow and flanked for most of its length by two ditches. Although this trackway was not recorded in the Four Elms site to the north, the larger of the two Roman enclosures was clearly laid out to respect its alignment. Finds from the deposits sealing the 2 metalling and from the fills of the flanking ditches included sherds of Iron Age and Romano-British pottery and metalwork. Coins recovered from the site suggest Romano-British activity continued well into the second half of the 4th century AD. Following this, there appears to have been a hiatus of activity, before the landscape was once again settled, in the Early/Mid-Saxon period. This activity is associated with organic-tempered pottery, and can probably be broadly dated to the late 6th and 7th centuries. A broad trackway aligned roughly north-west to south-east across Area 2 and into Area 1 was flanked by enclosures, one containing a rectangular structure, whilst two sunken-feature buildings were also excavated. Charcoal recovered from one of these sunken-feature buildings was submitted for radiocarbon dating, and returned a date of cal. AD 550–650 (1460±30 BP, SUERC 33334). A third sunken- feature building was excavated in Area 3, further to the south-east, possibly within a ditched enclosure. Finds recovered from these features comprise a largely domestic assemblage, with loomweights and ironworking slag pointing to smal- scale industry. A series of poorly dated large pits, closely paralleled on the Four Elms site, are thought likely to be contemporary, and may have been used as cess pits or rubbish pits. The dispersed settlement of the Early/Mid-Saxon period appears to have shifted to two main foci in the Mid–/Late Saxon period – the enclosed settlement with the large timber hall previously excavated on the Four Elms site and an enclosure only partially exposed in Area 3. Whilst no structures were identified within the enclosure itself, the finds recovered from the fills of the enclosure ditch point to a settlement of some status, with a number of silver sceattas, a bracteate die, vessel glass, lava querns and millstones and small quantities of possibly imported pottery hinting at a site exploiting a wide network of trade links. It seems likely that one or both of these sites were directly associated with the management of one of the large Late Saxon estates which later dominated the area. There is little evidence to extend the occupation of either of these Mid-/Late Saxon sites much beyond the ninth century, although a series of later linear features first identified on the Four Elms site and interpreted as selions or narrow strip fields, continue into Area 2. These are not well dated, although pottery recovered on the Four Elms excavations suggests a date of c. 1050–1150. The alignment of the ditches in Area 2, however, suggests that these ditches may flank a shifting trackway rather than narrow fields. The bulk of the post-medieval material recovered was derived from a systematic metal detector survey of the site, and includes 84 items of lead shot, probably for carbines, muskets and small field pieces. Although the origin of this assemblage is not clear, it is thought most likely to relate to field exercises undertaken by the garrison of nearby Upnor Castle. 3 572000 573000 574000 575000 576000 577000 578000 River Thames The Site A228 Chattenden Rochester Hoo St 172000 Chatham Werburgh ay Stour dw Railway er Me A228 Riv River The Site KENT Lower Upnor RIVER Hollywood Lane MEDWAY A289 A289 171000 UpnorUpnor CastleCastle St Mary's A289 Lsland A226 170000 Rochester Tunnel Digital Map © (2004) XYZ Digital Map Company Rochester The Reach Historic Watling Street Dockyard Chatham Chatham A2Reach A2 169000 CHATHAM Bridge Four Elms Roundabout excavations A289 Area 1 216 195 212 193 288 289 187 284 274 209 294 290 291 19 292 17 448 293 115 449 295 450 296 297 359 304 47 302 355 70 365 454 453 67 Area 2 75 299 451 387 303 455 346 338 154 171 143 305 306 311 312 308 121 156 310 124 166 316 313 137 321 318 315 97 395 103 314 Area 4 Hoo Road The Site Area 3 319 320 253 Holywood Lane 256 234 232 0 100 200m 171000 Wessex Archaeology excavation area Wessex Archaeology evaluation trench Area 5 Canterbury Archaeological Trust excavation 1992 -1997 © Crown copyright and/or database right 2011. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence No.100028190 575000 Figure 1: Site location plan Project background Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by CgMs Consulting to undertake a programme of archaeological work on land off Hoo Road, Wainscott, Kent (‘the site’, Figure 1). This work was required in order to meet an archaeological condition placed on outline planning consent for the residential redevelopment. An archaeological evaluation comprising 80 machine excavated trial trenches was undertaken in 2007 (Wessex Archaeology 2007). The site lay directly to the south of the Four Elms site excavated by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust (Clark et al. 2009) during the construction of the Wainscott Northern Bypass between 1992 and 1997. These excavations revealed evidence for prehistoric activity (characterised by quantities of prehistoric pottery and worked flint), a Roman enclosure and two associated structures (one of which was stone built, and interpreted as a corn-drier or malting oven) and a Mid- /Late Saxon settlement enclosure. The latter contained a substantial post-built ‘hall’ and numerous pits, whilst a second group of Saxon pits lay to the west. Traces of other structures were also identified, and the initial enclosure was subsequently modified. The finds recovered from the site suggest that this settlement dated to the Mid-Saxon period (c. 750–850), although small quantities of organic-tempered wares, generally dated to the Early Saxon period, were found residual in later contexts. Three parallel ditches, dug early in the medieval period, were interpreted as rare survivals of arable strip fields or ‘selions’. As a result of the archaeological evaluation, the Local Planning Authority (LPA) on the advice of Kent County Council’s Archaeology Officer, requested the targeted excavation of five areas of significant archaeological potential identified during the evaluation (shown on Figure 1). The results of these excavations are presented in this report. Location, geology and topography The site was centred on National Grid Reference (NGR) 574950 171200 and comprised two parcels of land, one (of 8 ha) to the north and one (3 ha) to the south of Hoo Road, on the eastern outskirts of Wainscott, a village on the north-eastern edge of Strood. Together, the two parcels formed a rough semi-circle bisected by the Hoo Road and bounded to the north and east by the Wainscott Bypass and to the west by the built-up area of Wainscott. Until recently, both areas had been used as agricultural land.