A watching brief was commissioned to assess any archaeological remains in advance of a proposed development on land used as garden to the rear of the House of Agnes [no 71, St Dunstan's Street] ). The watching brief was undertaken in July, 1991 and the sitecode was HOA91. A small evaluation pit was excavated mechanically, measuring 0.50m wide by 1.25m long and aligned north-south. This pit was monitored by staff from the Canterbury Archaeological Trust, and although small in size its sides in section could be archaeologically recorded.

The sequence of stratigraphic levels that were observed comprised of the following: rammed gravel metalling at a depth of 1.32m below the existing ground surface; this was overlain by a deposit of light brown sandy loam (0.90m in depth) and a layer of dark brown garden loam (0.40m in depth); this latter layer contained a lens of crushed brick rubble, which outcropped at the existing ground surface.

The lowest deposit of rammed gravel was interpreted as almost certainly the surface of a metalled Roman street: a single sherd of second-century coarse ware was recovered from deposits of pea-grit that overlay the street surface and the compact metalled surface itself was relatively smooth and even. It was also cambered from north to south (the section of street exposed may have been close to the northern verge).
Two other observations (near Linden Grove in 1987 and Starr Place in 1991 [see event record 102] ) also located the same Roman street's alignment, which indicated the presence of a street parallel to and south-west of Roman St Dunstan's.

The deposits sealing the Roman stratigraphic levels (the layers of sandy loam and garden loam) were interpreted as respectively a deposit that had developed possibly as a result of agricultural activity over a long period of time (evidenced by the depth of the deposit) and a deposit of modern topsoil and brick rubble associated with the recent use of the evaluation area as a garden.

Bennett, P., 1991, Land to the Rear of House of Agnes, St Dunstan's, Canterbury (Article in serial). SKE30797.