Monument record TR 15 NE 1397 - St. Augustine's Abbey, Conduit House

Following a collapse of the structure, St Augustines Conduit House was excavated by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust in February 1988.
English Heritage funded the operation to excavate and record the structure so that repairs to the fabric could be undertaken.

The structure, situated on St. Martin's Hill to the north-east of the Abbey and north of St. Martin's Church lies in a field called Paveridge. In this field was situated an 'old sole' (the Kentish word for a pond), and nearby was the main conduit house. The Conduit House, built in the mid thirteenth century was of masonry build and constituted a rough octogon in shape. The foundations were of chalk block, with four tunnelled openings and three smaller ducts leading out from a central chamber. The excavation also uncovered a pipe run which appeared to feed fresh water through a system which eventually discharged into a fish pond in the middle of Christ Church College and continued onward to power a gravity fountain in the grounds of St Augustine's Abbey. The abbey house was repaired and refurbished at some point between the 18-19th centuries.

Bennett, P., 1989, St Augustine's Conduit House (Article in serial). SKE30439.

Bennett, P., 1990, St Augustine's Water Supply (Serial). SKE30440.

Gem, R., 1997, St. Augustine's Abbey Canterbury, English Heritage (Monograph). SKE30335.