Lullingstone Roman Villa and the Darent Valley
An aerial view of Dartford Spital Street, showing roads, buildings and small green spaces.

Dartford Spital Street Roadside Settlement

This settlement was a small roadside community. Archaeologists found an early road here that was used during the 1st century AD. This might have been an early course of Roman Watling Street. It was covered over by a new cobbled surface in the 2nd century AD. This surface, and possible metal-working products found nearby, suggests that people here may have been involved in industrial activity.

Back to the Map

What is a roadside settlement?

Roadside settlements often grew next to major roads in Roman times. Sometimes whole towns would grow along a road, only one house deep. Although they are usually considered ‘rural’, it’s sometimes difficult for archaeologists to tell a ‘roadside settlement’ from a small town or even a village. The people who lived in these settlements could easily travel and trade with each other because of their convenient location. Settlements next to busy roads with lots of traffic did well from passing trade, while less busy areas struggled.

Archaeologists think that lots of roadside settlements in Kent began in the 1st century AD. Not all of these settlements grew along just one road. Many grew from where two, or more, roads met at a junction. Others were located at river crossings. It’s possible that the Romans used roads and rivers to move people, goods, and maybe even animals. Settlements may have also charged tolls (crossing fees) at river crossings to make money.

An illustration of a bearded man standing side on over a large anvil. He holds a metal bar in one hand and a hammer in the other.
The Romans used a wide range of metal objects in their daily lives: from kitchenware to horse harnesses and more decorative objects like jewellery.

What was life like at the settlement?

Roadside settlements were important because they were places where goods were bought and sold. They connected people who grew or made goods (like crops and textiles) and people who wanted to buy them. Agricultural products like crops and meat were brought to these settlements to be processed and sold. Other industries like metalworking, pottery production and tanning also operated at roadside settlements.

Archaeologists have found evidence of side lanes, buildings with hearths and wells, shrines and areas for processing goods at roadside settlements in southern England. Unlike towns, these settlements didn’t have large buildings like a forum or basilica.

 

Evidence from the Settlement

Click on the images below to find out more about objects and features found at this roadside settlement.

A black and white line drawing diagram of different layers of soil found at Spital Street. Most of the centre section of the diagram is made up of dark grey brown clay. There is a small section of orange clay to the right and a rectangular section of dark brown clay to the left. There is evidence of a metalled surface in the centre and to the bottom right of the diagram.

Earth Build-Up

Earth Build-Up

This plan was made by archaeologists to record what they found at Spital Street during their excavation. They found the remains of a metalled road built in the 1st century AD which might have been laid shortly after the Roman Conquest of Britain. A large fragment of quernstone (hand mill) had been used to repair the road surface and there was a road ditch to the north of the road.  They also found metalworking debris which suggests that the area might have been used for industry. 

Earth built up over the road and ditch when it was not used over a long period of time. Archaeologists think that this shows that the course of the road was changed at some point and a larger road built nearby.

 

© Canterbury Archaeological Trust

 



A black and white line drawing of a metal brooch. It has a horizontal bar at the top, a circular middle section and a vertical rectangular section below.

Brooch

Brooch

This brooch dates from the mid to late 1st century and was found underneath the Roman road. On the back of the brooch there is a maker’s mark which reads ‘DRIMELIO’.

 

© Canterbury Archaeological Trust



A square black and white line drawing diagram. There is a small outline of a baby's skeleton in the top right hand corner.

Infant Burial

Infant Burial

When small children and babies died in Roman times they were often buried in shallow graves or in refilling holes and ditches, like the one in this archaeologist’s diagram. This small baby's grave included parts of a ceramic flagon.

 

© Canterbury Archaeological Trust



A black and white map dating from 1885-1900. It shows the settlements of Wilmington, Darenth and Horton Kirby which sit below Watling Street.
© CC-BY, Reproduced with the permission of the National Library of Scotland

Activity Idea

GEOGRAPHY

Use your knowledge of Roman roadside settlements to create a map for your own settlement. Consider the layout of your settlement and how close it sits to roads and rivers. Think also about the kinds of industries that your settlement will need (this could include a kiln, metal-working space and more).