Between April and June 1993 The Canterbury Archaeological Trust excavated on three separate sites within the grounds of Christ Church Collge, within the precincts of St Augustine's Abbey and following from an earlier evaluation. The three areas were labelled A, B and C and the sitecode was CCC93, the work was funded by the college. The trenches were machine stripped down to the top of the uppermost surviving archaeology.

Site A, situated to the south of the north wing of the Education building, provided evidence for the earliest features which were a number of Anglo-Saxon and early Medieval pits.

Site B, situated to the NE of the Education building, exposed gravel metallings for the Outer Court together with a small number of earlier features, mostly pits.

Site C, situated to the SE of the library, exposed disturbed ground thought to be associated with construction undertaken in 1960s. However also found was a substantial Medieval building thought to be monastic bakehouse/brewhouse block. The clearance of a number of modern intrusive features also suggested the presence of a complex sequence of earlier features beneath the Monastic courtyards and buildings. The earliest of these were of mid to late Anglo-Saxon date and were mostly pits, some of which were associated with metal working. No buildings of this period were revealed.

Metal working debris found in pit fills:

Roman 12 items (probably middle Saxon but with residual Roman pottery)
Saxon 380 items
Early medieval 203 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." (3)

"Anglo - Saxon occupation in the area appears to have had its origins in the early seventh century, though it may predate the arrival of Augustine and his mission. Material dating to the seventh century has been produced, but it is not until the period A.D. 750 to 850 that substantial, and wide spread, occupation is revealed. Evidence is spread across most of the campus area, having been found on all seventeen sites; to date at least one hundred and fifty waste pits of the period have been identified. The pits contain the evidence for large scale iron working and other craft activities, but also for domestic occupation, an indication that habitation accompanied the industrial activities undertaken at the site. The settlement appears similar to those at Barking (Webster and Bakehouse 1991:88-94), Brandon (Suffolk) (Carr et al. 1988), and Jarrow (Cramp 1969), where monastic involvement in production and trade has been identified. At St Augustine’s this involvement is reinforced by evidence from one of the early charters associated with the Abbey (Kelly 1995, no. 8)." (2)

"The evidence suggests that the settlement expanded throughout the eighth century to reach its zenith in ninth century. The college campus may lie on the perimeter of a large Anglo-Saxon settlement site called Nordholm, first referred to in 1283 and still represented by the modern North Holmes Road which forms the northern boundary to the college complex." (3)

382 sherds of Anglo-Saxon pottery were found, mainly mid to late Saxon and including Ipswich ware and some imported sherds. (3). 91 sherds of early medieval pottery (AD 1050-1250) but no further information available.

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

<2> Hicks, Martin and Houliston, Mark, 1999, Archaeological Excavations at Canterbury Christ Church College. Assessment report on excavations conducted between 1983-1996 (Unpublished document). SKE31574.

<3> Hicks, Martin, 1996, Archaeological Excavations at Canterbury Christ Church College. Assessment Report on Excavations conducted between 1983-1995 (Unpublished document). SKE31570.