Monument record TR 26 NE 1348 - Group of 39 Medieval pits/wells along the foreshore at Minnis Bay in Birchington

A group of 39 Medieval pits/wells along the foreshore at Minnis Bay in Birchington. These are distributed on the chalk foreshore in two main groups on either side of the old creek bed, which was probably a shallow tidal inlet during the medieval period. There are two more wells further west at the beginning of the seawall to Reculver. The fairly frequent occurrence of little worn thirteenth-century sherds in this area suggests the likelihood of other wells. All wells are of late thirteenth/early fourteenth century, except for well 14 which is late fourteenth/early fifteenth. Two others, wells 3 and 11 containing shell-tempered pottery, are early/mid thirteenth, both occurring on the east bank. As a result of fairly rapid erosion – the chalk cliffs through which the wells were originally sunk retreated at a rather unlikely rate of 2-3ft a year – till the present sea wall was built in 1966. A chalk wave cut platform has been left and it is on this that the well bases have been found. Only the bottom few feet remain, the average depth being 1-2ft and at least 6 are under 1ft deep. Bearing in mind the height of the cliffs today the original well shafts cannot have been more than 20ft deep, and considerably less among those of the west bank group – probably no more than 10ft. Most wells average 3ft 6in.-2ft 6in. in diameter – only 4 wells are larger: Wells 14 and 15 at c.4ft., Well 20 at 5ft and Well 3 slightly over the latter. Some of the measurements are necessarily approximate since in many cases the wells have been dug into soft mushy chalk and true edges are difficult to define. The majority have been cut round, four are oval – Wells 8, 9, 25 and 36. The latter had narrow slot in the side. Well 21 appeared to be two wells together, although this may be a deliberate enlargement. Well 35 was 5-sided though not necessarily for its full depth. Most had rough sides and bases, in particular Well 11 with soft broken chalk surround. Well 6 was the only extant example with large well-cut chalk bricks lining the sides (2 courses remaining). Quite possibly other wells were similarly lined, any trace of which has now gone. Such a lining however depends partially on the hardness of the chalk through which the wells were initially sunk, and since none of the Belgic or Romano-British wells, also present in Minnis Bay, show any traces of having been lined either with wood or chalk blocks, there is no reason why the same should not apply to those of medieval date. The siting of the wells is important, in that it suggests that when dug, fresh water was available, still uncontaminated by any salt water percolation, either from the coast or the creek. The majority of wells have some pottery contents, even if only represented by one sherd. Nine have no dateable artefacts, but their grouping with others makes their inclusion as Medieval beyond doubt. Wells 1, 4, 26 and 39 have 14 vessels each and 21 and 30 have 10 and 12 respectively but these are extremes and the rest have far fewer. Of the other artefact types present, bone is the most frequently represented after pottery and occurs in 16 wells, a number of which contain small rodents such as mice and vole. Wood is next in frequency; in this only definitely recognizable objects are counted as opposed to the numerous amorphous fragments of twigs and sticks. Well 19 contained 15 individual articles. Of the 9 wells containing leather, on average there is one piece per well, though there are 3 from Well 18 and the same from the recently excavated Well 39. Metal, as iron, occurs definitely in only 3 wells and is the least represented artefact. Stone again not common, is present in only 7, of which 2 may be modern intrusions. In summary, then, pottery is undeniably the most frequently recurring artefact type.

<1> Kent County Council, 1987-, Kent County Council: holding record (Miscellaneous Material). SKE59004.