A SUMMARY OF
ARCHAEOLOGICAL
EXCAVATIONS
Land at St Martin’s Plain
Shorncliffe Garrison
Folkestone
Kent
March 2016
A Summary of Archaeological Excavations at St Martin’s Plain, Shorncliffe Garrison,
Folkestone, Kent.
Site Code: KSGF15
Written by: Guy Seddon, 1st March 2016
Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd
1
Introduction
1.1
Following an archaeological evaluation of the land at St Martin’s Plain, Pre-Construct
Archaeology Ltd was commissioned by CgMs Consulting on behalf of Taylor Wimpey
to undertake an archaeological strip, map and sample investigation, between May
and October 2015.
1.2
Features related to a number of different time periods were identified, potentially
ranging from the Mesolithic to the First World War.
1.3
This is an interim summary of the site, and the features that were identified during the
exercise have been placed into three broad phases, allowing for further refinement in
the future, pending the specialist reports.
1.4
The phases used in this summary are: Phase 1 – Prehistoric, Phase 2 – Saxon and
medieval and Phase 3 – Post-Medieval to modern.
2
Phase 1: Prehistoric
2.1
The earliest archaeological evidence encountered on site was layer [1736], which
was a firmly compacted silty sand that contained petrified wood and bone, located in
the south-western corner of the study area. Specialist reports are needed in order to
refine the date of the deposit along with species analysis of the preserved flora and
fauna.
2.2
The next period represented is probably the Mesolithic. This took the form of pits and
gullies that, whilst being present right across the site, seemed to be concentrated in
the north-eastern corner. The fills of these features were very distinctive, being very
pale and many contained worked flints, the exact dating of which is reliant on
specialist analysis.
2.3
The next activity on site was dated to the Late Iron Age.
This period was
characterised by a cremation cemetery with associated boundary ditch in the northeast of the site. Nine cremations were found within the ditch. A large defensive ditch,
with a partially preserved bank, was located towards the south of the study area,
apparently enclosing an area equivalent to the current day St Martin’s Church and
taking advantage of the naturally strategic topography of the area, placed as it is on a
bluff, overlooking the route up from the sea.
2.4
Iron Age features were also recorded in the north-east of the site. These took the
form of rubbish pits and ditches and possibly represent the edge of settlement
activity. A sherd of possible Bronze Age pot was also recovered from one of the
ditches [1727], though this is possibly residual in nature.
3
Phase 2: Saxon and Medieval.
3.1
The vast majority of features in this phase date to the early Saxon period. This is
represented in the main by seventeen Sunken Feature Buildings (SFB).
The
buildings ranged in size, from around 2–3m in width by to 3–6m in length, with the
depths varying from c.0.10m to c.50m. This variation could signify different functions
for different structures, some may have been dwellings whilst others may have been
for storage or industry, i.e. weaving. It is also possible that the buildings were multifunctional.
3.2
The SFBs contained various finds, including slag, spindle whorls and loom weights,
possibly supporting the theory of multi-functionality. There is an ongoing national
research objective of trying to identify whether or not the backfills of SFBs have a
more purposeful, ritual context as many across the country seem to conform to
similar patterns of deposition including the “curating” of Roman artefacts. Many of
the SFBs at St Martin’s Plain did contain fragments of Roman pottery and one SFB
[654] produced a pair of Roman tweezers.
3.3
There was limited activity in the medieval period on the site, which consisted of a
series of small, dispersed ditches, probably utilised as field boundaries.
4
Phase 3: Post-Medieval and Modern.
4.1
It seems that there was very limited activity on the study site during the post-medieval
period, with no features relating to this phase. A subsoil layer accumulated across
the earlier features to a thickness of c. 0.40m.
4.2
The land became part of the Shorncliffe Garrison in 1794 and small finds were
recovered that suggest military exercises were taking place across the study area. In
the main these took the form of early military badges and buttons dating to the late
18th to 19th century, indicative of casual loss.
4.3
With the onset of the First World War in 1914 activity on the south-western part of the
site intensified. Services and layers of hard standing were laid across the western
half of the site. Postholes were dug through these layers in order to construct the
foundations of barrack blocks and cook houses. Along the north of the site concrete
slabs were laid for the more permanent structures, which, if the layout corresponds to
other WWI camps, would have been buildings like the HQ, cinema and YMCA.
4.4
A wealth of finds relating to the day to day life in the camp were recovered, including
tea pots, meat paste jars, bottles of hair product and pocket watches. Military badges
and buttons relating to the Royal Artillery Corps, the Royal Marines and Canadian
troops were also found in great numbers.
4.5
Shortly after the First World War the barracks went out of use, and an ex-soldier used
the land to create a trench warfare experience, excavating trenches to show people
what life had been like on the Western Front. A couple of these trenches were
identified during the excavation, but they were full of asbestos and full excavation and
recording was not possible.
4.6
By the time of the Second World War, the study area was being used to store fuel
tanks for aeroplanes, which left no trace in the archaeological record.
4.7
Since the end of WW2 the site was left empty until being rented out to tenant farmers
who grazed horses on it until the commencement of the current re-development
project.
G:\Project Graphics\Active Jobs\15000-15999\15512 - Shorncliffe Garrison, Folkestone\Figures\Mapping\CAD\02.03.16\Figures 1-4.dwg
KP / 02.03.16
C O N S U L T I N G
Planning
Heritage
www.cgms.co.uk
Limit of Excavation
N
Not to Scale:
Illustrative Only
Figure 1:
Phase 1: Prehistoric/Roman
G:\Project Graphics\Active Jobs\15000-15999\15512 - Shorncliffe Garrison, Folkestone\Figures\Mapping\CAD\02.03.16\Figures 1-4.dwg
KP / 02.03.16
C O N S U L T I N G
Planning
Heritage
www.cgms.co.uk
Limit of Excavation
N
Not to Scale:
Illustrative Only
Figure 2:
Phase 2: Saxon/Medieval
G:\Project Graphics\Active Jobs\15000-15999\15512 - Shorncliffe Garrison, Folkestone\Figures\Mapping\CAD\02.03.16\Figures 1-4.dwg
KP / 02.03.16
C O N S U L T I N G
Planning
Heritage
www.cgms.co.uk
Limit of Excavation
N
Not to Scale:
Illustrative Only
Figure 3:
Phase 3: Post
Medieval/Modern
G:\Project Graphics\Active Jobs\15000-15999\15512 - Shorncliffe Garrison, Folkestone\Figures\Mapping\CAD\02.03.16\Figures 1-4.dwg
KP / 02.03.16
C O N S U L T I N G
Planning
Heritage
www.cgms.co.uk
Limit of Excavation
N
Not to Scale:
Illustrative Only
Figure 4:
Combined Phase Plan