Monument record TR 06 SW 75 - Roman aisled barn and bath house, Abbey Fields, Faversham

(TR02226172) Building foundation visible as a cropmark 120m east of Roman villa and St Savour's Abbey (TR 06 SW 9 & 41) (1) and site photographs (2-6).

In 1997 the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit apparently excavated 12 test pits somewhere in 'Square Field', c.200m east of the Roman villa and east of the stream. Some 15m of flint walling was found, one side of a large Roman building. (7)

The building was excavated between 2012 and 2019 by Kent Archaeological Field School. The building measured 52.4m in length and 14.3m in width, comprising an aisled hall or barn with an internal bath house measuring 13m in length and 9.5m in width. The main building was stone built with some evidence for internal buttressing, a tile roof, 18 internal rectangular column bases (7 of which were excavated), and cill beam slots dug for the wall foundations. It had a separate nave and two aisles. The form of the structure is described as a "basilica prototype" by the author of the report (8), and was compared with buildings from a forum or military context. Structures associated with the building included an external courtyard wall, Roman ovens, a flint wall in the shape of a semi-circular apse which formed a room within which a possible Christian altar was identified. The building is speculated (8) to have originally had another function and to have potentially been converted into a Christian church during the late 4th century.
The bath house itself was associated with a hypocaust (furnace and pilae columns), decorated wall plaster and an opus signinum floor.
Occupation at the site continued into the Anglo-Saxon (TR 06 SW 342) period, with evidence for structures and artefacts dating from the 6th-7th centuries identified during the excavation.
Artefacts recovered during the excavations included pottery, tile, and 50 coins. Other artefacts recovered included bone hair pins, bone stylus, pectoral cross, copper alloy brooches dating between the Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods. At the time of publication of the report (8) post-excavation work in artefactual analysis and dating was ongoing. (8)

<1> AP (CUC BZS 1-4;12 07 76) (OS Card Reference). SKE33472.

<2> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9546.

<3> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11420.

<4> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11421.

<5> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11422.

<6> 1998, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX11423.

<7> Philp, B, 2012, Another Roman building found at Faversham! (this time at Abbey Fields), Kent Archaeological Review 187 & 188: 190-191 (Article in serial). SKE25110.

<8> Kent Archaeological Field School, 2023, Excavation of a Roman Aisled Barn and Bath-house at Faversham in Kent by the Kent Archaeological Field School from 2012 to 2019 (Unpublished document). SKE58603.