Excavations took place on the street frontage of 77-79 Castle Street during 1976 and in the back gardens of the properties in 1978 (Cakebread Robey Sites I & II) by CAT.

In the 1976 excavations, a series of medieval and post-medieval buildings and their associated pits were examined. The earliest buildings date to the 12th to 14th centuries. These fronted the road and comprised a small square structure with a cellar and a larger building with a hall parallel to the street. The buildings were gradually extended and adapted in the later medieval and post-medieval periods, with outbuildings constructed and clay floors covering areas formerly used for rubbish pits and wells.

In the 1978 excavations the Saxon layers were found to have been sealed by a thick deposit of black loam, probably agricultural soil. A large number of 12th to 14th century rubbish pits cut through the earlier Roman and Saxon levels. The remains of a probably timber-framed structure, dating to around the 14th century was excacavted; possibly associated with the later phases of this structure were a number of 15th to 18th century rubbish pits.

Bennett, P., 1979, 77-79 Castle Street (Article in serial). SKE30574.

Andrews, G., 1985, The Archaeology of Canterbury: An Assessment (Unpublished document). SKE30429.