A stone wall of Medieval date was uncovered during a watching brief undertaken during the excavation for a surface water drainage system at Ladywell Carpark, Dover. It is possibly part of one of the (now lost) buildings associated with the Medieval Maison Dieu Hospital which is situated a small distance to the south.

The wall was located in the interceptor tank pit dug adjacent to the river, lay on a slightly different axis than the other post medieval walls located at this site and may well be unrelated to the post medieval structures they represent. The mortar used in its construction is typical of Medieval Dover and a broad date between the 13th and 15th centuries may be inferred. The wall was traced for a minimum distance of two meters; its south western end had the appearance of being original, although there was no sign of any return. The top of the wall was at 0.75m below ground level; it survived to a total height of 0.6m and a foundation offset occurred at the north-west side. Above this offset the wall had a width of 0.65m wide and was constructed of chalk with flint lumps with occasional pieces of Caen stone set in a cream gritty mortar. The wall rested on a water-logged grey river silt containing a few fragments of Medieval peg tile. It clearly forms part of a substantial Medieval building; the original Medieval hospital apparently had its own corn mill on the river and this may have stood within the limits of this excavation. (1-2)

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1995, Archaeological Observations at the Ladywell Car-Park, Dover, Arch. observations at the Ladywell car-park, Dover. C.A.T. 1995. (Unpublished document). SKE16760.

<2> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1994-1995, Canterbury’s Archaeology 1994–1995, Fieldwork III Kent sites (Article in serial). SKE32046.