The Cellarer's Range lies to the north of the Great Court and consisted of a long, narrow rectangular range set on a long east-west axis measuring in excess of 270 feet in length and possibly up to 40 feet wide. Built between 1283 and 1300 under the abbacy of Abbot Thomas Fyndon it replaced an earlier cellarer's Hall somewhere else or on the same spot that had been built by Abbot Hugh I of Fleury in c. 1100. It had bonded flint walls resting on massive gravel foundations, and consisted of a ground floor store house, probably supporting guest accommodation above. The ground floor was subdivided by internal walls into at least three separate store rooms, fronted to the north by a substantial cobbled courtyard. Evidence suggests that it had an engaged recessed staircase to the west allowing access to the upper floor, whilst a podium (possibly an arch support) lay in the centre to the east. Set against the north wall was a timber building, however it function and date remain as yet unknown. The Cellarer's Hall is where the food and vitals supplies for the Abbey were kept, the Cellarer an officer who was responsible for procuring food, ale and wine for the monks and Abbot's meals is believed to have had accommodation adjacent to the Abbot's lodging to the south.

196 sherds of Medival pottery from site 1 (Union Building), dating to AD 1250-1375. No further information on context.

13 sherds of Medival pottery from site 13 (education block and library extension), dating to AD 1250-1375. No further information on context. (8).

33 sherds of late Medieval pottery (AD 1375-1550), from site 1 (Union Building). No further information on context. (8)

12 sherds of late Medieval pottery (AD 1375-1550), from site 13 (education block and library extension). No further information on context. (8)

Assemblage of metal working debris found

Medieval 96 items
Late medieval 78 items

"A considerable volume of ironworking debris was retrieved from the excavations conducted between 1983 and 1995. Broadly catalogued as slag, this material actually consists of a variety of industrial elements, which include smelting and smithing slag, cinder, hearth bottom, hearth lining and fuel ash slag, as well as hammerscale." (9)

"An Iron Age coin of Cunobelin, probably dating to c. AD 40, came from the construction deposit of the Cellarer’s range" (8).

"Piece of sheet copper or alloy, roughly cut into an irregular octagon. Crudely scratched on both sides, one with a cross patee, and on the other apparently randomly". Purpose unknown. From Cellarer's range construction deposit. (10)

Also found in association with the Cellarer's range:
"Copper alloy key. LMMC Type A1." 60mm. From ?13th c dumping layer. (10)
Copper alloy ring brooch. From post 1300 construction layer. (10)
"Iron D-shaped buckle. Complete. 40 x 34mm." From mid-sixteenth century robber trench backfill. (10)
"Copper alloy gilded finger ring with a large bezel" (10)
3 sherds of Medieval window glass. Two from ?13th century dumping layer, one from the bcakfill of a robber trench. (10)

The building appears to have been in constant use until the Dissolution when it was systematically dismantled for its reusable stone. The eastern section was badly damaged during the late 1930's by the construction of an air raid tunnelling system.

Description from record TR 15 NE 305:
Substantial foundations of a major medieval building were located during salvage excavations in November 1983 by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust during the construction of a new students union building. This medieval building is possibly part of a cellarers range dating from c1300, which flanked the S side of the outer court of St Augustine's Abbey. It was probably demolished to its foundations soon after the Dissolution. (1) Additional reference - 1983 excavations. (2) Undercroft floors, parts of the S wall and through passage of the cellarer's range were examined in 1984 during extension work to the Students Union. (3) (TR 15435788 - see illustration card for plan). (4) All the foundations were subsequently destroyed. (5) Additional reference. A small timber-framed structure, possibly a workshop was located against the main N wall of the range. It was probably built after the principal walls of the Cellarer's Building had been constructed. (6) Excavations in advance of redevelopment at TR 1550 5795 revealed the continuation of the E. wing of the cellarers range, a substantial structure forming the E. end of the brew-house range and a building of unknown function attached to the brew-house range. Predating these LC13 buildings were several waste pits dating fron the C8 through to the EM period. The AS pits contained significant quantities of domestic refuse, in contrast to earlier findings of largely industrial waste. A large furnace pit was also located. (7)

"Between 1983 and 1996 seventeen excavations, evaluations and watching/recording briefs were undertaken by Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) within the grounds of Canterbury Christ Church University College… In 1996 CAT produced an interim assessment (Hicks 1996) [9] of the potential of the archive at that date. The remit of the document was to assess the quantity, quality and research potential of all the stratigraphic and finds data recovered by that time. It and included a costed recommendation for the post-excavation analysis and publication of the results of the work. Since then the stratigraphic report on the 1995 excavation has been completed (CCC95) and a major excavation (CCC96) undertaken. The aim of this report is to incorporate the results of the more recent work into the 1996 assessment, and to present the revised document to CCCUC and EH for their consideration." (8)

Additional bibliography (9-13)

<1> Arch Cant 99 1983 247-251 plan (P Bennett J Rady) (OS Card Reference). SKE36341.

<2> Md Arch 28 1984 224 (Youngs Clark Barry) (OS Card Reference). SKE46632.

<3> Arch Cant 101 1984 294-295 (P Bennett) (OS Card Reference). SKE34561.

<4> St Augustine's Abbey and the Royal Palace:CAT leaflet Dec 1984 plan (M Sparks T Tatton-Brown) (OS Card Reference). SKE49550.

<5> Archaeol of Canterbury:An Assessment 1985 125 143 (G Andrews) (OS Card Reference). SKE37293.

<6> Arch Cant 103 1986 79-117 plan (P Bennett) (OS Card Reference). SKE34640.

<7> Arch Cant. 1994, p.457. (OS Card Reference). SKE36464.

<8> Hicks, Martin and Houliston, Mark, 1999, Archaeological Excavations at Canterbury Christ Church College. Assessment report on excavations conducted between 1983-1996 (Unpublished document). SKE31574.

<9> Hicks, Martin, 1996, Archaeological Excavations at Canterbury Christ Church College. Assessment Report on Excavations conducted between 1983-1995 (Unpublished document). SKE31570.

<10> Archaeologia Cantiana, 1986, Archaeologia Cantiana: Rescue Exacavtions in the Outer Court of St. Augustine's Abbey, 1983-84. Vol. 103 (Article in serial). SKE32069.

<11> Hicks, M. & Bennett, P., 1995, Christ Church College (Article in serial). SKE30323.

<12> Bennett, P. & Rady, J., 1984, St Augustine's Abbey (Article in serial). SKE30324.

<13> Bennett, P. & Ward, A., 1993, Christ Church College, Canterbury. Archaeological Evaluation of Three Sites. (Excavation archive). SKE30325.