The Big Dig Canterbury

Over the next few years , the WhiteFriars development will lay a large area within the town walls
open to archaeological investigation. The present stage of the excavation is taking place at
St.Georges Street.

Small scale excavations preceding the Big Dig have revealed the ditch boundary of Iron Age '
Durovernum' , a length of Watling Street from Roman 'Durovernum Cantiacorum' and part of the
Anglo Saxon St Georges Street of 'Cantwaraburh'.

Whitefriars was the final visit on our itinery. We strolled through the gift shop, which contained
souveniers that Caz found very interesting, and into the small site museum.
Small finds , mostly from the Roman and Medieval periods, were arranged in glass display
cabinets

Moving onto the walkways and gazing down at the site, we tried to make sense of what we were
looking at!

Exposed to view lay the clay floors of medieval houses , clustered along a narrow street. Pits
scattered around the site turned out to be rubbish dumps, some brick-lines and betraying their
origins as wells.
A masonry cesspit and the remains of walls marked the site of the original Whitefriars church,
adjacent to a Roman road.

Moving onto the walkways and gazing down at the site, we tried to make sense of what we were
looking at!

Exposed to view lay the clay floors of medieval houses , clustered along a narrow street. Pits
scattered around the site turned out to be rubbish dumps, some brick-lines and betraying their
origins as wells.

A masonry cesspit and the remains of walls marked the site of the original Whitefriars church,
adjacent to a Roman road.

report by Mark McManus

photos by Corinne