A Roman Clay Floor is shown on an unpublished map of Roman Topography.

In July 1912 excavations were undertaken in the garden on the east side of A. J. Mason's house, 13 The Precincts. It is not known if the intention of the excavation was archaeological. A small bronze coin of Valentium I, c. 365-70 AD was found.
A coin of Constantius was found in the same location in 1921.

An evaluation was commissioned proposed development within the precincts of the South Close, Canterbury Cathedral. The evaluation was undertaken in July and August 1995 and the site code was CSC95. The site included the front, rear and side gardens of No 12, The Precincts, and three trenches in or adjoining the roadway.

In total five 0.15m diameter boreholes were sunk (BH A to E) whilst ten 1m wide slot trenches (TR 1 to 10) were also dug. An eleventh trench was subsequently excavated (TR 11, 1.5m x 1.80m) under the patio of No 12 with the intent of locating an early Medieval precinct wall. A general depth of 1.2m was observed in all trenches except TR 11, which was shored and continued down to approximately 1.6m along its centre line. The evaluation also examined the multiple phase north garden wall of No. 12 in order to assist in the establishment of a chronology of events.

The overall results of the bore holes suggest that rich organic deposits are present over almost all the site. In BH C however, the natural gravel appears to be overlain by a bank of clay and the archaeology is correspondingly shallow, suggesting that there may originally have been a rise in ground level at the NW area of the site. Flecks of soft red, apparently Roman, brick and tile were present in all the lower depths and, though it is possible that individual bore holes may have gone down into early Medieval pits, Roman occupation may be taken as proven. There is a dissapointing paucity of datable material and the relative uniformity of the grey and brown loams which dominate the middle and upper levels render any detailed interpretation of dubious value. Given the known history of the site, the earlier loams probably represent Medieval garden soils in the southern part of the site and, perhaps, a late Saxon or early Medieval graveyard in the northern. The upper loams, also encountered in the evaluation trenches, are post-Medieval garden soils. Well preserved organic remains were recovered from the lower deposits.


Numerous fragments of human remains were uncovered , largely in the northern trenches indicating a late Saxon/ early medieval burial ground at this location.

It should be noted that the interpretation of trench 10 was significantly altered during further work in 1999.

Unknown, Unpublished map of Roman Canterbury (Cartographic materials). SKE30650.

Friends of Canterbury Cathedral, 1931, Catalogue of the Exhibition of Treasures in the Cathedral Library (Index). SKE30207.

Pratt, S., 1995, 12 The Precincts Canterbury Evaluation (Excavation archive). SKE30266.

Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1999, An Archaeological Evaluation at 1-6 South Close, The Precincts, Canterbury (Unpublished document). SKE30265.