In the Summer of 1946 the Canterbury Excavation Committee excavated a number of sites close to Rose Lane. These were at 16 The Parade, 2 Rose Lane, North end of Rose Lane, 2 St George's Street, coded CVII H, I, J, K and L respectively.
CVII H and I were cellars on the north west side of Rose lane occupying the site of the Rose Hotel. CVII J, K and l were cellars occupying the south east side of the lane, whilst K2 was a small area undisturbed by cellars at the street corner.
The first purpose of the excavations was to discover whether the Butchery Lane Roman building extendes as far as the south side of The parade; but there was also the general policy of testing all available areas. In the event it was found that the cellars had usually been dug too deep, and little remained below their floors except in the shallower rear part of cellar H. It was clear, however, that the Butchery Lane building did not extend as far as trenches H 1 or K 2.
The principal discoveries were:
1) a pre-Roman Belgic ditch running NE-SW in cellar L with a contemporary occupation to the east;
2) a Roman drain running obliquely under Rose Lane. This was first found in cellar H and was picked up east of Rose Lane in a trench cut from the surface (K 2). Here the structure was better preserved and the seating for its vault could be seen. In both sections the drain overlay an early ditch which could not be completely explored. It was probably Belgic in origin, of larger size than the ditch found in cellar L; its filling contained Belgic pottery and a few Claudian sherds, implying that it had been closed early in the Claudian period, doubtless as part of the tidying up of the site after the conquest. The drain itself appears to date from the mid-second century. In Section K2 the latest material beneath it was dated c. 100-120 AD but layer 5 above this contained no finds. In H 1 the latest pottery below the drain ran down rather later than this, and a date 150-60 AD seems likely for its construction;
3) a number of Roman and Medieval pits, a group in cellar I being of especial interest;
4) a large Medieval foundation under the rear west wall of cellar H. This seems to have been part of a 13th century cellar.

Frere, S., 1955, Canterbury Excavations, Summer 1946. The Rose Lane Sites (Article in serial). SKE30139.

Bennett, P. & Parfitt, K., 1991, Whitefriars Assessment Report (Unpublished document). SKE30140.