Sometime after the construction of the west boundary wall of the villa enclosure, a small structure had been butted onto its outside face some 6m south of the north-west corner. This has been designated Building 2. It was excavated in 1996, 1997 and again in 2001. The precise interpretation occasioned much debate on site and two alternative hypotheses, based on the presence of tile-lined channels, were considered – either a latrine or a corn-drying oven. That the structure actually represents a rectangular corn-drier of a type known from other Romano-British rural sites now seems certain.

The channels located are the heating ducts which originally must have run below a small square structure that had been built against the existing villa enclosure wall (Fig. 6). Few other traces of this structure had survived subsequent activity. There was no evidence that an adjacent gate through the enclosure wall had existed to provide access from inside the villa enclosure.

As surviving, Building 2 was defined by little more than the truncated remains of its tiled channels. These must have originally been set under the floor of a structure around 4m square, with its eastern side formed by the pre-existing villa enclosure. The south-east corner had been completely removed by subsequent ploughing. The main furnace flue was positioned at the north-west corner, with the stoke-pit adjoining. Extending from the furnace flue in the form of an inverted, reversed ‘F’ were two tile-lined channels, one continuing the line of the furnace flue southward before making a right-angled turn to the east, the other set at a right-angle to the east, extending as far as the enclosure wall. The channels were between 0.30 and 0.35m in width, their bases gently inclined at about 4 degrees to the horizontal, becoming shallower as they proceeded south and east. They had been built in individual trenches cut into the underlying subsoil.

The walls of the channels were constructed of tile including many broken fragments of tegulae, with some chalk blocks and flint nodules, all set in a coarse white mortar. The bases of the channels were formed by complete flat tiles, measuring 0.44 by 0.29m (corresponding with the Roman lydion brick). On the faces of the channels there were traces of opus signinum rendering. The deepest section of channel, near the furnace flue, was about 0.25m (4-5 courses).

The sub-rectangular stoke-pit associated with Building 2 lay on the north side of the structure, cut into the terminal of an earlier n-s ditch. The pit itself measured about 3.25m (n-s) by 1.60m (e-w) and was unlined. It was 0.50-0.70m deep with sloping sides and a flat base. At the southern end, adjoining the main flue, there was significant evidence of burning on the sides and base of the pit, with a thin layer of carbon lying over the base. This confirms that there had been a fire positioned in this area and that the mortared channel which led away from it had been for the passage of hot air, rather than waste-water.

After the stoke-pit had gone out of use it became filled by layers of silty clay loam containing some chalk, flint and tile fragments, together with a few pieces of painted plaster. Collectively, these fills produced 90 pot-sherds, including two pieces of samian ware, all of which fall within the period c.ad 120-250. The heating channels were filled with sandy soil which contained significant amounts of flint, tile and mortar rubble, much of which is likely to be derived from the structure above. There were also 128 pieces of pottery, datable to the second and third centuries, together with some animal bone. Overall, the pottery indicates that Building 2 had been abandoned and levelled by the end of the third century.

The identification of Building 2 as the remains of a corn-drying oven, positioned outside the main villa enclosure seems beyond doubt. Although such structures are known from many Romano-British rural sites, their precise function has been the subject of considerable debate. It was originally assumed that they were used for parching grain prior to threshing and storage but recent experiments have suggested that such kilns were not very efficient in drying corn. It now seems more likely that many were used as malting kilns, where grain was spread out across a heated floor in order to encourage germination for the production of malt used in brewing beer.

Corn-drying ovens are frequently found in the south and east of Britain and generally date to the late third or fourth century ad (Morris 1979, 20; Jones and Mattingly 1990, 230). For Building 2 at Minster, the available evidence suggests that it is earlier, contemporary with the main villa complex in use throughout the second and earlier third century. An example of a more typically late Roman corn-drier is provided by the structure recorded within Building 7 at Minster (information summarised from report) (1)

<1> K. Parfitt, E Boast and G Moody, 2009, The Roman villa at Minster in Thanet. Part 6 the villa enclosure buildings 2 and 5 (Article in serial). SKE51653.