(TR 14825754 (2) Roman street, pits, medieval pits were discovered during excavations undertaken by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust at Nos 2-3A Marlowe Avenue in 1981. A major Roman street was located running approximately north-east/south-west across the excavated area.This road ties in with the Roman street plan deduced from other excavations to the north and is important because it shows that the street grid extended south of Roman Watling Street into an area of the city which appears to have been generally unoccupied during the early Roman period at least. Six phases of metalling were recorded, and although little dateable material was recovered from the road surfaces themselves, the dating of associated deposits indicates that the road had a lifespan running from the early 2nd to the 4th (and possibly early 5th) centuries. The first street metalling was laid over a raft of redeposited brickearth which sealed the earliest deposits on the site. The area immediately adjacent to the road appears to have been open ground between the early 2nd and 4th centuries, during which time a number of pits were dug. Contemporary with the fourth or fifth century road metallings and probably 3rd century in date was a series of intercutting post-holes dug alongside the street frontage. It is more likely that they represent a series of fence lines along the street edge, rather than a building, since no other remains such as floors were found. The later Roman levels were badly disturbed by medieval activity. It is however likely that the latest road surface was contemporary with a courtyard of (at the earliest) very late 4th century date which was found on the south-east side of the site and probably fronted onto the road. It is likely that this courtyard belongs to a late Roman building which remains undiscovered to the south-west of the site. Sealing the courtyard was a 15cm thick deposit of black loam, which may represent an abandonment deposit, post-dating the Roman occupation and pre-dating the Saxon resettlement. No sign of any Saxon occupation was discovered on the site, but this may be due to extensive disturbance of the earlier deposits which occurred from the Saxon-Norman period onwards. These disturbances consisted of a number of rubbish pits containing large groups of pottery and a series of very wide shallow features dating to the medieval period. Some of the shallow features may have been gravel quarries. Although Marlowe Avenue (formerly St John's Lane) is known to have existed here from at least the 12th century, it appears that from this time up until the 19th century no buildings fronted on to it at this point.No signs of any buildings were encountered during the excavation, and the fact that pits were dug here continuously up until the 16th or 17th century suggests that the area was always open ground. There was evidence which suggested that the area was used for agricultural purposes. An horizon of scattered peg-tiles sealed these deposits and may represent the demolition of nearby buildings that might have occurred when this part of the city was abandoned as a result of the Black Death in the 14th century. Subsequently the area became a garden and a succession of late and post-medieval cess pits were dug. (1-2)

<1> CAT Ann Rep 6 1981-82 16-18 (J Rady) (OS Card Reference). SKE38682.

<2> Arch Cant 97 1981 284-87 plan (J Rady) (OS Card Reference). SKE36288.

<3> Brit 13 1982 393 (NB Rankov) (OS Card Reference). SKE38307.