In 1956 4 trenches were dug in the garden of No. 38 St Margaret's Street (now 39-40).

About 32.5m behind the northern frontage of the street a wall and a thick foundation of gravel were discovered. The remains were very much disturbed by later pits. At a depth of 1.68m an opus signinum floor 10cm thick was seen, resting on 30cm of large flints set in mortar. Below this was a foundation c. 70cm thick of dirty gravel: below this was c. 20cm of grey loam resting on natural brickearth. The gravel was not tightly rammed like a street nor was it clean. In trench 3 the SW face of a short length of wall was encountered. The opus signinum, here sealing rubble, ran up to this wall over an offset. The wall ended of raggedly and the SE part of our trench appeared to cut a robber trench running at right angles o the wall: it contained Kentish rag blocks and pieces of tile c. 5cm thick. Too little survived for a firm conclusion about what was found. The floor with its thick gravel foundation is quite unlike, for example, the floor of the encircling corridor of the Theatre. It suggests a podium and raises the question wheher this is not part of a temple associated with the Theatre. It is however rather too close to the Theatre for this to be likely, and a better solution would be to regard it as part of the stage or stage-building.

Frere, S., 1970, The Roman Theatre at Canterbury (Article in serial). SKE29760.