Behind the scenes in Roman Kent

On our first morning, we travel northeast to Reculver on the north Kent coast where Dr Elliott will give a tour of the Saxon shore fort site and St. Mary’s Church (built within the walls of the Saxon Shore fort with stone recycled from the earlier Roman structure). The tour will also take you to the site’s eastern perimeter where one can view the course of the former Wantsum Channel. We then travel to lovely Sandwich on the east Kent coast for lunch, before visiting paying a brief visit to St. Augustine’s cross, the landing place of the Saint in post-Roman Britain. On to Richborough in the afternoon. Here we will explore the Claudian invasion defensive ditch, the monumental foundations of the grand triumphal arch built by Domitian and finally the well-preserved Saxon Shore fort. Archaeological investigation continues to this day.  In the evening before dinner, Dr Elliott will give a lecture about the Roman and the Saxon Shore forts built after its demise in the 3^rd century AD.

Today we travel to Dover and first visit the famous Painted House, a mansio official hostel for those travelling on official business in the Roman period. This dates to the time of the Roman fort and naval base here. The site is also famous for the walls of the later Saxon Shore fort built straight through its living quarters. At the time an internal revetment of earth was built against the inner face of the later fort’s wall, preserving the remains of the Painted House visible today. While here we will be given an exclusive talk by those who investigated the site. Later in the morning, we visit Dover Museum, in particular its fine Roman collection, and the well-known Bronze Age Boat Exhibition. After lunch, we then travel to Canterbury where Dr Elliott will give a tour of the Roman remains in today’s city and time-permitting we’ll visit the Canterbury Roman Museum, before the tour concludes with a visit to a regional archaeological unit to view Roman remains not currently on display and a talk on the latest discoveries in the region.