More information : [TR 31125481] Eastry Court on site of Palace [NR] (1)
Eastry is referred to by Simon of Durham as "villa regalis" and
Egbert, King of Kent, is reputed to have murdered two of his nephews
in his palace there c690. The manor came into the possession of the
Archbishops of Canterbury before the C9 and after 811 it was held by
Christ Church Convent. (2)
Trial excavations were carried out by the Department of Archaeology of the University of Leeds during July 1980 within Eastry Court Farm. TR 312548. Two areas were examined immediately to the N of Eastry Court. The first produced a naturally silted, post-medieval ditch whose fill contained a sherd of Belgic pottery. The second area revealed a complex of pre-C13 ditches, which had completely removed the original chalk surface. A corner of the pre-C13 timber-framed building was examined. No earlier finds were recovered except small quantities of C10-C11 'Saxo-Norman' pottery. It is hoped that excavations will continue in 1981. (3)
Two areas were excavated (see illustration cards 1,2 and 3). Area A
contained a U-section ditch cut 80 cms into the chalk bedrock. (It was post-medieval in date and contained a residual body sherd of Gallo-Belgic pottery). Area B contained a variety of features (see illustration cards 3, 4). The intensity of activity in this area had
been such that little of the original chalk surface remained (see
illustration card 3, coloured), and what little remained had been
scarred by ploughing or had suffered a variety of post-medieval
intrusions. Phase 1: The earliest activity in the area consisted of a
short discontinuous trench, 7 cms deep and filled with a dark brown
clay and two blocks of rammed chalk, possibly to support timbers,
which would have measured a maximum of 17 x 10 cms. This was cut into
a shallow terrace cut into the chalk bedrock. No dating evidence was
directly associated with this feature, but it must predate the C13.
Phase 2: Structures on the chalk platform of Phase 1 were replaced
with another of which one corner was excavated. The structure was
represented by a 20 cms wide band of orange clay (no 26 illustration
card no 3) containing large quantities of clay daub. Within this was a 15 cms wide band of rammed chalk rubble (no 25 illustration card no 3), whose combined L-shaped plan is interpreted as representing
footings of the corner of the building, whose interior consisted of a
grey clay containing charcoal flecks. The consistently compact nature
of the chalk rubble suggests it was not packing for, nor secondary
filling, of a void caused by the removal of timber. It is more
probable that it formed a footing. This structure, and its
predecessors of Phase 1, are on the same alignment. A terminus ante
quem for the termination of use of this structure is provided by the
C13 pottery which sealed it. Phase 1/2: A flat-bottomed ditch, aligned N-S, was cut into the chalk bedrock on the NW side of the structures belonging to Phases 1 and 2. Its infill consisted of material, including daub, from the collapsed or demolished building of Phase 2, which it also sealed. The precise phase at which this ditch was cut could not be determined, except that it was prior to the termination of use of the building belonging to Phase 2. It may antedate Phase 1.
The infilling of this ditch contained pottery of the period 1250-1300
(see illustration card no 5). Phase 3: A V-sectioned ditch (see
illustration card 3, 31) was cut after the collapse and infilling of
all previous features, aligned NW-SE and turning at right angles at
the south-eastern extent of the excavation. The north-western extent
of this ditch was truncated by later features. The infilling of this
ditch consisted of a compact deposit of dark brown clay and chalk
rubble, evenly mixed. It seems probable that the infilling of the
ditch also took place at a similar time to the demolition of a nearby
structure as large quantities of daub, burnt black on one face and
with a white limewash on the other, were contained within it. The
latest pottery within the ditch is also dated to the C13. Phase 4 (seeillustration card no 5). This phase was represented by the corner of a V-sectioned ditch (35 on illustration card no 3) at the north-western extent of the excavation, which had been formed by re-cutting the ditch of Phase 3, before turning to the NE. The ditch was filled with red-brown clay with large quantities of chalk and rubble and flint distributed evenly through it. The infill contained C13 and earlier, pottery (see illustration card no 6). Phase 5: The remaining structures on the site consisted of C19 brick farm buildings and a
cellar, with a wide variety of dumped post-medieval debris, including
chalk, slag, slate and building rubble. The sequence of development of the structures and ditches in area B can be reliably established (see illustration card no 5) in a succession of two structures and a ditch whose infilling is contemporary with the demolition of the later structure; a sequence of two ditches followed. Dateable artefacts of medieval date were found only in the ditch fills, and while the proportions of types of fabric vary, the most relevant is that the latest material in all of them is of similar date. The pottery ranges from the C11-C13, of which the earliest is certainly residual and the latest types only provide termini post quos. It may also be residual. The ditch examined in area A is at right angles to the ditch of Phase 1/2 in area B, and while this is certainly not evidence of contemporaneity, the former contained C18 material. The absence of significant quantities of material earlier than the C11 may be significant as an indication of periods of ocupation on the site.
There is certainly nothing to support the view that the site was the
location of an Anglo-Saxon royal palace. The ditches may best be
interpreted as property boundaries, although their date of excavation
could not be established. (4)
Description of the excavations in 1981. (5)
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