More information : [Name centred SZ 8833 9734] Archiepiscopal Palace [GT]
(Site of) [TI]
Moat [GT] (Twice) (1)
[SZ 8843 9734] Becket's Barn [GT] (2)
Becket's Barn .... long used as a barn, but clearly incorporating the
remains of the great hall of the mediaeval rectory, probably dating
from the 14th c. There are traces of a probable solar outside the
south wall.
To the south are the remains of a double-moated inclosure, the inner
moat probably once surrounding the building. (3)
Excavated and VCH confirmed, except that the moats are considered
to be fishponds.
[See AO/61/331/8 - plan] (4)
Becket's Barn situated at SZ 8842 9741 and as described by VCH(3),
is in a rather dilapidated condition and used as a store-cum-rubbish
dump.
GP AO/62/66/5: S. side.
The fishponds are in fair condition centred SZ 8845 9936.
Published Survey (25" 1935) to be amended by Field Surveyor. (5)
A layer of burnt material, containing charcoal and burnt flint was
found 3ft below the topsoil when a pipe trench was dug across the
earthworks on a rough N-S alignment in 1963. It commenced at the N
end of the dished feature and extended southwards for some 70ft.
Nothing datable was found but was thought by J K Knight, who was
watching the trench, to represent the debris of salt-working.
(See delineated Plan) (6)
Beckets Barn is now only a shell, but the wall still displays some
Medieval remains. There are no traces of antiquity in the field to
the south. (7)
Interim report of excavations at Becket's Barn in 1974. (8)
The excavations revealed three main phases of occupation with long gaps in between. The earliest is Roman, centred on the C2nd AD and represented by ditches which contained Samian sherds and RB coarse wares. There was then a gap until Saxon period re-occupation centred on the C8th AD, represented by a cobbled path overlain by a midden deposit, the latter subsequently cut by 3 ditches. Charcoal from one of the ditches produced a C14 date of 820+/-60ad. A collection of Saxon sherds from the midden deposits were mostly flint-tempered and generally represent round-based vessels. A date range of c.650-800 AD is suggested for them. There was then another gap before the site was re-occupied in the 13th century, since when occupation has been constant. Medieval occupation is represented by floors, foundation trenches, pits and the barn itself. There was little medieval pottery, and most of the shrds found belong to the 13th-14th centuries. It is suggested that the gaps in activity on the site were due to marine incursions. (9)
Summary of Saxon period occupation. (10)
Discussion of possible RB (or later) salt-working site in the area of Becket's Barn. (11)
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