How Did You Know Where to Dig ?

The story begins back in 1951 when workmen building new houses off Napier Road and Hobart Crescent, above the present site, discovered human remains. This lead to an extensive archaeological excavation by Professor Vera Evison which lasted from 1951 to 1953. Some 170 graves of Anglo-Saxon date, c. A.D. 475–750, were recorded. Detailed research on the finds recovered took more than 30 years and saw the publication of a highly detailed report in 1987 (copy in Dover Reference Library).

The proposed development of a new housing estate on the old allotment site below Hobart Crescent in 1994 lead to renewed archaeological interest in the area – were there more graves on the lower part of the slope or did the 1950s work reveal the full cemetery? Some trial trenching on the site of the old allotments early in 1994 gave the answer – there were indeed a significant number of graves here too. A major new excavation was planned and the positions of well over 200 graves were revealed during the initial machine stripping of the site. A skilled team of excavators was assembled, including a site conservator and human bone expert; they have been busy on the site since early June.

How Old are the Graves?

Many of the graves being excavated contain objects of metal, glass and pottery, representing the various belongings of the person buried. From a careful study of these objects and by comparison with other finds of a similar type discovered elsewhere an estimate of the date of the graves can be achieved with some reasonable degree of accuracy. Those on the present site seem to fall within the Anglo-Saxon period, A.D. 475–625, (i.e. around 1400 years ago).

Who Were the Anglo-Saxons?

Just after A.D. 400 the last remnants of the Roman Imperial army and government was withdrawn from Britain. The large number of people who made up the native population were left to continue their daily lives as best they could, but the advanced Roman economic and social structure of the country slowly disintegrated. It was against this background that the first Anglo- Saxon settlers arrived in Britain from the Continent. The historian Bede, writing in the early 8th century states that Kent was settled by a particular group of Anglo-Saxons called the Jutes, apparently in the 5th century A.D.

Tradition has it that the war leaders Hengist and Horsa arrived here in A.D. 449 and founded a kingdom which, by the end of the 6th century had become the richest and most powerful of all those that then existed in Britain. The number of new settlers and how they interacted with the existing native population remains something of a mystery. As time went on, however, Anglo- Saxon settlements were established across southern Britain.

Who is Buried Here?

Several villages seem to have been established in the Dour valley by A.D. 500 and occupation evidence has been recorded in the area of the Painted House within the heart of the old Roman town and on the site of the Royal Victoria Hospital off London Road. Another, lost, village must be represented by the cemetery now being excavated. The precise location of this village is unknown. More than 200 graves have been revealed on the cemetery site. Discrete groupings within the layout of the cemetery may indicate the site of different family plots.

The people buried here were most probably farmers who would have cultivated the adjacent land. However, these were unsettled times and occasional skirmishes and minor battles probably occurred. Many of the men in the cemetery were buried with their weapons – spears, shields, sometimes a sword and in one instance an iron battle-axe. One man was found to have received a fatal blow to the head, probably from a sword.

What Were the People Like?

From a careful study of the human bones recovered from the graves we are beginning to build up a detailed picture of the people who were buried in the cemetery. A whole cross-section of the community is represented amongst the burials, men, women and children of all ages. Very rarely is it possible to tell what was the cause of death but one weapon injury and a case of bone cancer have been recorded and these would have proved fatal. There is no evidence for any broken bones or malnutrition.

Many people seem to have died in their thirties, most probably from natural causes; only a small proportion of the population appears to have survived to an old age. In general, the teeth in the skeletons have been in a very good state, underlining the damage that the high proportion of sugar in our modern diet can do. In height, the people seem to have been almost the same as the present-day population; they were not significantly shorter as is sometimes thought and several of male warriors were relatively tall.

How Big Was the Cemetery?

The full extent of the cemetery can now be gauged fairly accurately. Present day Hobart Crescent seems to mark the northern edge of the cemetery area. From here the graves continued down the hill-side at least as far as Mayfield Avenue and several graves in this area must have been destroyed during the most recent building work. It is also clear that a considerable number of graves were removed during the construction of the Dover-Deal railway line around 1880. No clear record of any burials being found during this work survives but it seems likely that as many as one hundred graves were destroyed then.

The overall cemetery, in use for perhaps nearly three centuries, probably contained around 500 individual graves. This would suggest that on average, people were buried in the cemetery at a rate of only about 1 or 2 a year, which would be consistent with its use as the traditional burial place of a peaceful, well established local community, rather than a war or plague cemetery.

What Objects Have been Found?

The people buried in the cemetery were generally buried fully clothed. Although all traces of fur, leather and fabric have long since rotted away the various metal fittings for belts and fastenings have in many cases still survived, together with beads, brooches, finger-rings, keys, tweezers and a variety of other personal equipment. The early Anglo-Saxons believed in some form of after-life and many people were also buried with items for use in the next world. These included pottery and glass vessels, weapons and small knives.

Some of the most important men were buried with their swords; these were only carried by males of a high social status. Rich women were accompanied by fine brooches and beads of coloured glass and amber. Poorer people were less well provided for in the grave, sometimes with just a small iron knife, and a considerable number of people were seemingly buried without anything.

Where Did They Live?

One of the great puzzles concerning the Buckland cemetery site is where the people represented in the grave-yard actually lived. The most likely spot is in the valley below, near the little River Dour and beside the old Roman road leading to Canterbury, perhaps near the site of the present St Andrew's church. The church itself was founded at a much later date and the people buried in our cemetery essentially belong to the pre-Christian era. No traces of any early settlement have ever been found in this area and most of the region is now completely built over.

From the few Anglo-Saxon settlements that have been excavated in other parts of the country it seems likely that the village would have consisted of a series of simple, timber-framed houses and out-buildings, most probably with earthen floors and thatched roofs. The houses would have been provided with a hearth and some simple furniture. Work-shops nearby probably produced tools, weapons and ornaments, similar to those found in our graves.

Have You Found Anything Else?

There is some evidence for pre-Anglo-Saxon activity on the site. A series of cultivation terraces seem to have been created on the hill-slope, perhaps in the pre-Roman period. In addition, a quantity of prehistoric flint chippings, representing the waste from stone tool manufacture have been found in the soil covering the site; these make it clear that prehistoric man was active in this area around 2500–1500 B.C.

What Happens Next?

Once the excavations at Buckland have been completed the builders will begin their construction programme. Meanwhile, off site, the real work for the archaeologists will start. All the finds recovered must be studied in detail. Everything will need to be drawn and much of the metal-work will require careful cleaning and stabilisation in order to stop it falling apart. Studying the finds will involve scientific investigations of the construction of metal items, careful inspections for preserved cloth and other organic material preserved amongst the corrosion products on metal-work and many hours background research amongst earlier published reports.

In the Bone Department long periods of time analysing all the skeletal remains will be required in order to reconstruct the details of the population represented by the cemetery.

Upon completion of their examinations, the various specialist's papers will be integrated to form a completed report which subsequently will be published.

Will the Finds go on Public Display?

The Anglo-Saxon material recovered from the excavations represents a splendid collection of material. Many hours of careful cleaning and restoration work, however, will be needed to bring the objects up to display standard. Once this work has been carried out, over a period of perhaps three or four years, the best of the finds can be put on public display. Some finds from the 1950s excavations are on display in Dover Museum but the bulk of the collection is held at the British Museum. In order that the collection is not split, the finds from the present excavations will also be deposited at the British Museum but some of the more interesting pieces will be displayed at Dover Museum on at least a temporary basis.