Settling the Ebbsfleet Valley. High Speed I Excavations at Springhead and Northfleet, Kent. The Late Iron Age, Roman, Saxon, and Medieval Landscape: Volume 1: The Sites
Phil Andrews, Edward Biddulph, Alan Hardy & Richard Brown
Description
The volume, the first of four, describes the results of excavations at Springhead and Northfleet in the Ebbsfleet Valley, Kent, undertaken in advance of construction of High Speed I (formally the Channel Tunnel Rail Link).
The Roman 'small town' or roadside settlement at Springhead (Vagniacis) developed from modest Late Iron Age origins into a religious centre almost unique within Roman Britain, probably attracting pilgrims from a wide area. In addition to the previously known and excavated temples, a major mid-2nd century AD sanctuary complex including a temple, ancillary buildings and a ritual shaft, has been discovered, focused on springs and pools (reconstructed above) at the head of the valley where Ebbsfleet rises.
Another temple, along with a range of timber buildings, were also recorded; these included an aisled barn, a blacksmith's forge, a bakery, and a possible brewing complex within individual properties lining Watling Street and the riverside branch road leading to Northfleet villa. As well as the major Pepper Hill cemetery to the south of the town (and reported under Section I of High Speed I), three smaller cemeteries were also identified on the periphery of Springhead.
Downstream at Northfleet, a large part of a Roman villa complex, including the Ebbsfleet waterfront, a detached bath-house, and much of the agricultural surroundings, was investigated. Saxon remains throughout the Ebbsfleet Valley included sunken-featured buildings belonging to possibly three separate settlements, two inhumation cemeteries, and most significantly, at Northfleet the preserved remains of the earliest recorded horizontal-wheeled tidal water mill in Britain, its construction tree-ring dated to the end of the 7th century AD.
Details
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| Jan. 1, 2011 | Oxford Wessex Archaeology | 388 | 978-0-9545970-3-0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| This book is the first of a series of monographs by Oxford Wessex Archaeology (OWA). Copyright © Oxford Wessex Archaeology, a joint venture partnership between Oxford Archaeology and Wessex Archaeology. This work is openly licensed via CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||