(TR 14965745) The defences 27.4m south of Riding gate were excavated in 1948 by the Canterbury Excavation Committee in a site coded CXIIICW. No structures pre-dating the erection of the defences were found but several occupation layers produced pottery dating from the mid to late 1st century onwards. Levels immediately beneath the defences contained pottery which can be assigned to the mid to late 3rd century, which corroborates other evidence for a late 3rd century date for the defences. The Roman wall still stood to a height of 2.44m and the bank was contemporary with it. A deposit post-dating the bank yielded a coin of Constantius II (3240361). By the 13th century the Roman defences were in a state of decay, and late in that century or early in the 14th a building was constructed on top of the gravel surface of the Roman bank. After the demolition of the building probably in the late 14th century the city defences were refurbished, the bank being heaped over the rubble debris of the house behind the new city wall. In the late 18th century a further bank was constructed above the medieval refortification. (1-2)

<1> The Arch of Cant 2 1982 40-43 (S Frere S Stow and P Bennett) (OS Card Reference). SKE49960.

<2> The Arch of Cant; An Assessment 1985 71 154 (G Andrews) (OS Card Reference). SKE50029.