Monument record TR 36 NW 1433 - Possible Roman trackway and small number of other roman features - Shottendane Road

During investigations at Shottendane road near Margate two trackways were recorded, These were initially assigned a late Medieval or post medieval date but it seems likely that they were established in the Roman period due to the presence of Roman pottery and the proximity of four groups of Roman period burials. The north-northeast to south-southwest aligned trackway which extended across Area A (6053) and the Watching Brief Area (6754) and was also revealed in Area D (7191). In Area A it was joined by a second trackway (6027) which extended eastwards beyond the limit of excavation. Very few finds were recovered from the features making up the trackway, with closely dateable material limited to 15 sherds of Roman pottery (316g) and a single sherd of 14th century pottery (from one of the trackway ditches in Area D). The latter, and its relation to other features on the site, suggest the final stages of the use of the trackway was in the late medieval to postmedieval period. Aside form the burials, evidence for other Roman activity was limited to a single L shaped ditch which was located in excavation area A on a north-east to south-west alignment, turning 90 degrees to the south and exiting the area on a north-west to south-east alignment. A single posthole (6301) and one pit (6631) close to the northern edge of excavation also produced Roman pottery. (information summarised from source)(1)

This feature had been identified previously - Fragmented cropmarks of Iron Age or Roman rectilinear enclosures and ditches visible as a cropmark on aerial photographs: HEA 35363_007 24-JUN-2024. The site appears as the west and southern sides of at least two incomplete rectilinear enclosure with traces of pits and further ditches to the south and cut through E-W by a double-ditched feature, possibly a boundary or trackway. This site was mapped as part of the Historic England Thanet Landscape Mapping Project 2024.(2)

<1> Oxford Archaeology, 2026, Shottendane Road, Margate, Kent - Post Excavation Assessment and Updated Project Design (Unpublished document). SKE58858.

<2> Historic England Archive, 1920-2024, Historic England Archive Specialist oblique aerial photographs (Archive). SKE57106.