Monument record TR 36 NE 455 - Medieval activity - 11th 12th and possibly 13th century buildings and enclosures, Manston Road, Ramsgate

Archaeology South-East carried out an evaluation in 2007. Several features were investigated in trench 3, comprising of a probable pit or terminus of a linear feature, which produced a quantity of pottery dating to the 11th to 12th century and five small intercutting features, three of which also contained pottery dating to a similar period and a stakehole. (1)

In 2007/8 Archaeology South-East excavated the site via a strip map and sample investigation. Two sunken floor buildings were found. The first was 6m x 4m and had postholes at either end. Pottery of the mid 11th to late 12th century AD were found. The second building was 5m x 3m and had post holes in the corners. An oven was found immediately south of the structure. Pottery of the 12th to early 13th century was found in the primary fill of the building hollow with 11th to early 13th-century pottery in the upper fill.

The two sunken-featured buildings were probably established just after the Norman Conquest and these represent evidence of the precursory medieval development of the area. Although similarities in the form of these buildings exist, they were not in any way related to the preceding Anglo-Saxon settlement some 300 years earlier. The medieval settlement forms part of an isolated farmstead or the southern edge of a wider dispersed rural community but nothing archaeologically contemporary is known in the vicinity except for St Laurence church c. 1km to the south-east which is thought to have been founded in 1062. The first of the two buildings was clearly functionally distinct to the second and was essentially a covered stokehole for the oven. This type of structure is becoming increasingly well-known from other excavations and has been identified as a Kentish type of medieval sunken-featured bakery/kitchen which have been found across north Kent. Excavation of these ovens and other features at these sites has often yield large quantities of charred grain and has provided clues as to their function. In summary, corn-drying has been ruled out based on the form of the oven and concluded that food production, including baking bread, cooking and brewing was more likely.

Following the disuse of the two sunken featured buildings, an enclosure 35m x 30m was constructed. Two timber framed buildings were located within this enclosure. Pottery from the enclosure ditch was from the late 11th to late 12 century AD. An additional enclosure to the east may have been a field. The buildings were constructed on sill beams, one was partially excavated and the other was 15m x 10m. Later still, a third timber framed building was constructed, this was not contemporary with the buildings and perhaps not the enclosure. A series of pits were also found within the enclosure and to the west of it (information summarised from source) (2-3)

<1> Archaeology South-East, 2007, An Archaeological Evaluation at Former Allotments Site, Manston Road, Ramsgate, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE13053.

<2> Archaeology South-East, 2011, Archaeological Investigations at the former Allotments Site, Manston Road, Ramsgate, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE18206.

<3> Archaeology South-East, 2009, Archaeological Investigations at the Former Allotments Site, Manston Road, Ramsgate, Kent: Post-excavation Assessment and Project Design for Publication (Unpublished document). SKE17961.