Canterbury Archeological Trust

No. 41 St.George's Street
Paul Blockley


Hillside Systems

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41, St George's Index

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Work on the report of this excavation, which was conducted during the summer of 1985, has now been completed.

One of the most interesting aspects was the piecing together of a long sequence of post-Roman occupation on the site commencing with the construction of an Anglo-Saxon 'sunken-featured building' during the fifth or sixth century. After a short break, occupation recommenced with the construction of light industrial timber buildings containing oven bases. These structures were rebuilt several times until c. 1175 when a large casting furnace was established on the site.

Analysis of the metalworking waste and clay mould fragments by the H.B.M.C.Laboratory has confirmed that the furnace was part of a bell-casting process. Later buildings included a bakehouse with large bread ovens, constructed around 1500-25, presumably to the rear of a structure fronting onto St George's Street. The extended sequence of ovens and floors within the bakehouse shows that it had a long life, including at least one major phase of rebuilding and continued in use until at least the early seventeenth century. It is possible that this bakehouse lay behind the building depicted on the C.A.L.C. Map 123 of c. 1640. The topographical survey of the area will be complemented by a documentary study currently being undertaken by Mr Duncan Harrington. It is hoped that the report can be submitted for publication during 1988.

See this place today Click on the logo to see this place today.   The information on this page is Copyright © Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd. 1987 Reproduced with permission.
The text and pictures were taken from Canterbury's Archaeology 1986/1987, The 11th Annual Report of Canterbury Archaeological Trust Ltd.


Peter Collinson Last change: 18th November 2018