Listed Building record TR 15 NW 1401 - 9 AND 10 BEST LANE

Description from record TR 15 NW 493:
(TR 14845794) sited from HHR map. Numbers 9 and 10 Best Lane. Grade II. Dated 1704 (for full description see list). (1) Number 10 Best Lane retains much of its medieval fabric with a street frontage timber-framed structure of the 17th century. (2)

During renovation work timbers from the 17thC butt-side-purlin roof were revealed and recorded, together with the upper most courses of the south-west chalk-block and flint wall of the medieval building. The med peg-tile hearth discovered during the earlier CAT excavation was lifted. During the cutting of the new tank, a compact surface of clay and pebbles was revealed beneath dumped deposits similar to those seen elsewhere. This metalling may ahve formed paer of a courtyard or working surface for a building pre-dating the first mansory structure. (3)

The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 944 BEST LANE (North West Side)
Nos 9 & l0 TR 1457 NE 4/278
II GV
2. Dated 1704. 2 storeys painted brick, Old tiled roof with 3 hipped dormers. 5 sashes set in moulded architraves. Part stringcourse. Plinth. Left side early C19 shopfront with panelled risers,
Nos 3 to 12 (consec) form a group.
Listing NGR: TR1483357950 (4)

Two trenches excavated in advance of proposed development in 2001 recorded medieval and post-medieval features (TR 15 NW 2628) - only the post-medieval features are discussed with this record as they relate directly to the current structures at the site.
The OS map of 1874 shows a "small rectangular building…to the rear of a property fronting Best Lane" (from the original report, 5). Brick walls excavated in one of the trenches are likely to have related this structure. These walls measured 0.25-0.3m wide with a current height of 0.1-0.7m and were aligned E-W.A cess tank (with a wall measuring 0.3m in width, and standing to a current height of 0.55m), a cobbled surface, and a mortar surface identified through the excavation dating to the post-medieval period have been interpreted as being associated with post-medieval occupation of buildings fronting Best Lane. (5)

<1> DOE (HHR) City of Canterbury Kent Sept 1973 10 (OS Card Reference). SKE39979.

<2> Canterbury's Archaeology 1987-88 11-14 plans (M Houliston P Bennett) 35-36 plans (R W Austin) (OS Card Reference). SKE38576.

<3> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1990, Canterbury's Archaeology 1988-1989, Page 7 (Monograph). SKE6722.

<4> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<5> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2001, Archaeological evaluation at 9a Best Lane, Canterbury (Unpublished document). SKE54922.