John Cotter
Canterbury's Archaeology 1993-1994, Canterbury Archaeological Trust
Throughout July and August 1993, an archaeological watching brief was maintained along the length of a replacement sewer pipeline (rising main) laid between the pumping station at Tyler Hill and the municipal boundary on St Stephen's Hill, opposite the University of Kent, in all a distance of c. 595m. The pipeline runs parallel to and approximately 4-5m east of the Hackington Road and approximately 1m west of the old pipeline.
At the northern (Tyler Hill) end, the pipeline ran through an area of known archaeological importance where kilns of the medieval Tyler Hill pottery and tile industry are known to have been located. Here the laying of the new pipeline led to a number of interesting new observations relating to this important local industry, whose products are known from numerous finds in south-east England and on the Continent. Most importantly, the remaining 500m of pipeline was cut through an area not previously available for archaeological inspection and whose archaeological potential has until now, remained unknown.
For the purposes of the watching brief records, the new pipeline route was annotated by fields A-D.
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No archaeological features were observed in Field A. Medieval pottery and a Scandinavian schist hone (sharpening stone) were found on the northern bank of the stream. Schist hones were imported between the 10th and 15th centuries but a 13th to 14th century date for this example appeared likely in view of the pottery found nearby.
The west end of Field B has long been known to be the site of possible medieval tile and pottery kilns. A tile kiln was excavated near the southern field boundary in 1967 and fragments of medieval pottery, roof tile and decorated floor tiles litter the present ground surface. In addition to quantities of pottery recovered from the pipeline trench, workmen recovered large pieces of 13th century jug and bowl from the stream bed. The latter finds almost certainly derive from a large pit of pottery wasters currently visible in the south bank of the stream.
Field B also saw the exposure of a dense deposit of peg tile traced for 5m before disappearing eastwards into the field. This was tentatively interpreted as a (plough-damaged) peg tile-lined drainage gully runny from a tile kiln located further to the east under the field and emptying into a now-vanished roadside ditch. Similar kiln drains were excavated in 1969-70 further down the road at Darwin College, University of Kent. Pottery and fragments of decorated floor tile recovered from the peg tile layer indicate a similar 13th- to 14th-century date for this discovery. Parts of the tile spread comprised clay-bonded peg tile, a typical construction technique of medieval tile kilns. Beneath the tile spread were thick ashy patches, evidence again of the proximity of kilns. Below the tile and ash layers was a thick deposit of sandy brown soil which produced numerous large fragments of underfired medieval pottery, mostly cooking pots, jugs, bowls and a complete pot, perhaps a measure or drinking jug.
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A short way south of the previous discovery was a second drain at least 2.5m long located at a depth of 1m beneath existing. This was constructed of at least four long overlapping V-shaped ridge tiles of medieval date, and again may have originally been connected to a kiln or kilns located further to the east. South of the second drain a tiller's clay extraction pit or storage tank was exposed in the sides of the pipe trench.
Field C was surprisingly devoid of archaeological features even though a medieval tile kiln was excavated in 1971 at the top of the hill, 60m east of the pipeline.
About a third of the way along Field D there gradually commenced a thick layer containing medieval tile and pottery and sometimes black ash. This layer sometimes rested on brown cultivation soil, but more often overlay natural gravel or clay, usually at a depth of around 1 m below the present ground surface. From Field D the layer appeared to continue into Field E and perhaps to the southern terminus of the pipeline. The presence of this layer suggests extensive medieval clay extraction over a very large area of St Stephen's Hill.
Additional finds from this field included a flint-bladed tool of Mesolithic date (c. 9000-5000 BC) and a sherd of Roman pottery of the early to mid-1st century AD.
A new concrete head main, constructed in Field D exposed extensive deposits of ash, charcoal and fired daub yielding early 13th-century pottery and tile, and more importantly late 12th-century pottery. The presence of these layers strongly suggests successive episodes of pottery manufacture in the immediate vicinity. This discovery represents only the second time that evidence for 12th-century pottery production has come to light in the Tyler Hill area; the other site at Brittoncourt farm lies over a mile further north.
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Some 40m south of the latter find-spot, a large, deep clay-lined pit was exposed in section. This pit was backfilled with tile kiln waste including ash, peg tiles both plain and glazed, ridge tiles, lumps of kiln wall (bonded peg tiles) and distinctive bricks from the arches of a tile kiln. Clearly a kiln once stood nearby and this, like the kilns excavated across the road at Darwin College, probably date from the early 14th century.
At the boundary of Fields D and E, the construction of a new man-hole exposed a large feature containing tile and fired daub. The feature, extending down to a depth of at least 2m may have been a ditch marking a more ancient boundary or may have formed part of a very deep clay extraction pit.
Within Field E, two intercutting pits were exposed. The pits were packed full of medieval decorated floor tiles, plain glazed floor tiles, some peg tiles and a few sherds of medieval pottery. In all, these amounted to several hundred fragments. Many tiles were clearly rejects having been overfired, warped or split in the kiln and some blocks of plain glazed tiles were fused together.
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Two-colour decorated floor tiles of the sort found here date to around 1280-1350. Tyler Hill floor tiles may be found in parish churches all over Kent and as far as London and Essex. Most of the more common Tyler Hill designs are represented in the pits e.g. the fleur-de-lys, daisies, heraldic birds and beasts, roundels of foliage and others. More importantly some more rare designs, previously thought to be products of the central Kent floor tile industry, are also common in the pits. These include some of the more interesting designs such as a curious design representing either stylized oak leaves or a scorpion, lions and a variety of geometric designs, some previously thought to be of different date, but now shown to be contemporary with the more common designs.
A short way south of the previous discovery, an extensive working surface of broken medieval ridge and peg tiles was recorded. This surface extended to the southern limits of the pipeline.
The archaeological watching brief carried out along the pipeline was surprisingly productive. Evidence for the Tyler Hill ceramics industry was particularly abundant and it was in relation to this that a whole host of new observations and important new finds were made. These, once properly catalogued and studied, will undoubtedly constitute a significant addition to our knowledge of Kent's most important medieval ceramics industry.
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