A continuation of the early and middle Roman activity was seen in the late Roman period across Zone 6 of the excavations associated with the construction of the east Kent Access routeway in Thanet. This activity was, it appears, on a much smaller scale in the later Roman period than in the preceding periods.

The southern settlement boundary may have gone out of use, to be replaced by a smaller but similarly aligned ditch to the north, perhaps indicating that the settlement contracted. A NE-SW aligned ditch towards the north of the Zone delineated the extent of other features of this phase with the exception of an isolated well which was located around 35m to the north and a cluster of four inhumation burials which were generally poorly dated, although one contained pottery with a late 3rd-4th century date. The burials all shared a similar alignment and were located in an area measuring around 14m by 12m. The well was circular and had a diameter of 3.1m and originally lined with chalk blocks. The upper fills contained material of a late Roman date. The large enclosed areas of the previous phases virtually disappeared, although the sunken featured buildings continued to be used. The northern most of these was situated to the western limit of the zone and was of an irregular ovoid from measuring 7.9m by 5.6m. a series of post holes were associated with it and a sub circular oven. The deposits infilling the building contained a copper alloy bracelet, brooch pin and rod, and an iron socketed projectile point. The second sunken featured building was located around 40m to the east. This was sub rectangular measuring 5.7m by 4.48m with a depth of 0.43m again it was associated with a clay lined oven. The fills of the building contained a moderate quantity of domestic refuse including animal bone, pottery and tile. To the south of this a small penannular enclosure was uncovered, likely an animal corral, which was associated with a large rubbish pit that contained large amounts of late Roman pottery. It is possible that some parts of the earlier enclosures were re-used/enhanced and altered in this period as is evidenced by an L shaped ditch that respected and earlier layout. To the west of this area was a very large pit, possibly representing a quarry. (information summarised from source) (1)

<1> Andrews et al, 2015, Digging The Gateway: Archaeological Landscapes of South Thanet. The Archaeology of East Kent Access (Phase III) Vol 1: The sites (Monograph). SKE55517.