A dene hole discovered in 1879 at Greenhithe by workmen of the Greenhithe Chalk Company was 35 feet in depth and "pear-shaped" in profile, broadest at floor level where it measured 23 feet in width, narrowing to a dome-shaped roof from which a perpendicular shaft led to the surface of the ground. Both the shaft and cavity were completely filled with a mass of sand and gravel, and an enormous quantity of animal bones, including those of horse, ox, pig, dog and deer. Fragments of coarse Roman pottery were also found, one or two pieces of samian ware, objects of iron, two carved bone sockets and two worked stones. Beneath the debris on the floor of the pit were three human skeletons placed side by side. Unfortunately the ones were scattered and lost by the workmen. The cave was obviously pre-Roman in date, but all the pottery belonged to the Roman period, and it appears that the mouth of the pit may have been situated near a settlement or villa, for which it served as a repository for household refuse. It was also put to "baser uses, since there were evident marks of the passage of excrementitous matter down the well". (1) (TQ 58957477) Denehole. (2) Ritual shaft. (3)

<1> Arch J 37 1880 193-5 108 (J M Gatrill) (OS Card Reference). SKE36621.

<2> Arch Cant 18 1889 307 No 51 map opp page 307 (F J C Spurrell) (OS Card Reference). SKE34773.

<3> Studies in Ancient Europe (ed Coles & Simpson) 1968 265 (A Ross) (OS Card Reference). SKE49699.