|
presence of buildings. It is said that in a dry season the lines of walls
show in the burnt grass, and it is hoped to obtain an air photograph at a
suitable time of year.
The Magdalen map made "not only by the assistance of the
Minister of New Romney, and many other auntient men of the several parishes
nere adjoiyning, well skilled in these parts, but alsoe by the direction of
all and singuler the said College Evidences ", shows a large building
standing in the middle of the field. It has a gable facing the road, a tower
in the centre, and beyond a two storied wing with three gables. The tower
and the gables at either extremity are surmounted by crosses. On the side
furthest from the main road is a smaller field labelled "the Spitle
Garden ".‘ In spite of the fact that the map is called "a
true and exacte description" it is much to be doubted whether a
building of this size was still standing in 1614, one hundred and thirty
years after it was supposed to be beyond repair. A map of 1683 in the Town
Hall at Romney marks only three stones in the field, and although Hasted
|
|
in
1790 reported that ruins were still standing, the statement may be questioned in view of the fact that he
describes them on the east instead of the west of the town.
Excavations were begun therefore without much prospect of
finding any very extensive remains, but in the hope that some traces of the
foundations might be uncovered by which the plan of the old building could
be reconstructed and the accuracy of the 1614 map tested. Only six days were
available for excavation, but the results were fairly encouraging.
A trench dug through a bank parallel with Spitalfield lane in
the south-west corner of the field proved barren: the bank did not, as was
hoped, conceal a line of masonry, but was only of clay, designed perhaps as
a protection against flooding, or as the margin of a pond, which surface
indications suggest lay there at one time. Several pieces of fifteenth
century pottery east of the bank in the top soil gave evidence of medieval
occupation.
|