Due to study of aerial photography by Chris Blair-Myers, crop mark traces resembling Roman buildings were identified in parkland near Bishopsbourne. The crop marks warranted further investigation and this led to a major area survey using geophysical equipment under the direction of Dr Lacey Wallace and Dr Alex Mullen revealing indications of a major building complex. This year the team are back to undertake excavation work teaming up with students from the University of Kent. The main objective is to identify with certainty that the building is a Roman villa, as there is a lack of Roman buildings in the area that belonged to the ruling elite despite Canterbury being an important Roman town. We hope that the fieldwork will provide an insight into social structures of the civitas within the Canterbury area. We are able to undertake the study at the kind invitation of the land owners.
On day one we have set up fencing around our area of work to keep out the sheep. Then we began removing the turf at our first trench, which we are calling A.
