Kent Archaeological Society
Founded in 1857 to promote advances in knowledge of Kent’s past by fieldwork, documentary research and publication.
The Kent Archaeological Society is all set to resume its investigation into the Prehistoric landscape at Lees Court Estate in 2024. We can't wait to continue our exploration of this fascinating site.
KAS Curator Andy Ward shares an Anglo-Saxon knife with crisscrossed inlaid gold, silver and copper decoration.
Today is National Illustration Day and so for this week's #FindsFriday KAS Curator Andy Ward showcases a small sample of the wonderful illustrations of Benjamin Harrison.
Curator Andy Ward highlights another element of the temporary exhibition at Maidstone Museum The Story of the KAS due to finish at the beginning of December.
Its #MuseumMonday! As part of our ongoing highlight of objects in our temporary display at Maidstone Museums we are focusing on one of the society's first training excavations.
Curator Andy Ward shares an iron adze tool recovered during excavations at Lullingstone Park.
It's #MuseumMonday and this time Curator Andy Ward showcases a find from the very start of the Kent Archaeological Society!
The archive of monographs, irregulars and documents of the Romney Marsh Research Trust (RMRT) are now available on the Society website.
Useful web links for reading and research on the rich history of maritime Kent.
The extended and updated Maison Dieu website now includes much more detailed information about the history of the building, including its many maritime links.
Dave Batchelor and Paul Damon of the Sandwich Medieval Trust give an update on a fascinating project to build a replica of a medieval ship.
It's #MuseumMonday! Curator Andy Ward shares the Northfleet Francisca (throwing axe).
KAS Curator Andy Ward shares several examples of early medieval weapons featuring inscriptions and inlaid symbols.
KAS Curator Andy Ward shares a small blue glass bead recovered during excavations at Trosley Court.
A follow up post from Curator Andy Ward on the blue glass bead from the Trosley Court Heritage Project excavations.
Followers of our project at Trosley Court may remember that last week we lifted a partially intact Unguentarium or perfume bottle! It was quite exciting to help lift this from the soil for the first time in nearly 2000 years.
Excavations of the 19th and 20th-century defenses of Chatham Dockyard at The Lower Lines, Brompton feature in a new Canterbury Archaeological Trust report by James Holman and Peter Kendall.
An interview with an archaeologist on the recent dig at Lees Court Estate near Badlesmere where seasonal excavations since 2018 have revealed clues to a prehistoric burial landscape.
Starting in the 2023 project season, the Kent Archaeological Society has begun to record excavations and collections with 3D photogrammetry and laser scanning. Models are made available online via the Sketchfab platform and the Society website.
Excavations for the 2023 project season will commence on Tuesday 11th April 2023 and end on Saturday 27th May 2023.
A talk by Professor K.R. Dark of Kings College London on 7th February 2023 entitled 'Mission to England: reinvestigating the origins of St. Augustine’s Abbey'.
A report on the first meeting of the Maritime Kent Special Interest Group held on 5th January 2023 at Chatham Dockyard.
A visit to National Trust’s White Cliffs site at Dover to tour their Fan Bay and Wanstone Second World War gun battery sites in September 2022.
In June of this year, an important surviving World War 2 site was scheduled by Historic England after a successful application made by the KDRG (Entry list number 1479310).
Thanks to Gravesham Borough Council, crucial re-stabilisation of the nationally important remains of the Tudor Gravesend Blockhouse (1539/40) was completed in July 2022.
On Thursday the 1st of December, 2022 Professor Michael Wood OBE, FSA, entertained members of the Kent Archaeological Society at Maidstone Museum with a live talk.
An exciting and interesting role of the editorship of the Society's journal Archaeologia Cantiana.
Latest headlines
Upcoming events
The Kent Archaeological Society is all set to resume its investigation into the Prehistoric landscape at Lees Court Estate in 2024. We can't wait to continue our exploration of this fascinating site.
A full day conference organised by the KAS Maritime Kent Special Interest exploring the topic of Kent and shipbuilding will take place at Chatham Historic Dockyard in the autumn of 2024.
Latest Publications
Paul Tritton of the Kent Defence Research Group investigates how a Kent market town prepared to confront a Nazi invasion during Britain’s darkest Hour.
How can two hamlets, only one mile apart, vary so much? This became an intriguing question to the author who originally was researching just Upton and the family that owned and farmed the land around the hamlet of Upton in the parish of St Peter and between St Peter and Broadstairs in Thanet. Later, a second hamlet was discovered, Hollicondane in the parish of St Lawrence in Ramsgate, and the following is a report on both and their similarities and differences, mainly the latter.
Paul Ashbee’s study explores the history of the many stones, grouped and isolated, which were at one time to be seen on the lower land skirting Great Tottington.
F. H. Panton adds to the work already published in Archaeologia Cantiana examining some aspects of City life, together with the influence of the Cathedral, Parliamentary affairs and the Military on the City.
Discussions on Roman, Bronze Age, and medieval sites, living standards in fifteenth-century Canterbury, and Kentish cartographic heritage.
Prehistoric ring-ditches in Ringlemere, life as artisans and traders in Canterbury, Anglo-Saxon settlements in Faversham, and more.
Gavelkind practices, archaeological research at Bigbury Camp, studies on magnate service under Edward III, and investigations into Roman and medieval sites across Kent.
Seventh-century grave openings, medieval buildings, and England's earliest Royal Coat of Arms, cross-Channel influences, Roman and Iron Age finds, ecclesiastical history, and local cultural heritage.
The Roman Villa at Minster in Thanet, prehistoric finds at Woodnesborough, Elizabethan and early Stuart Thanet, and the military pontoon bridge between Gravesend and Tilbury during the Great War, among others.
Medieval collegiate churches and Palaeolithic findings to architectural surveys and the role of local volunteers in archaeology.
Saxon history, Roman villas, medieval economy, and archaeological investigations.
Topics include Roman villas, causes of death in Ramsgate, and more.
Topics including Magna Carta, excavations, migration, and more.
Including excavations, historical trials, and book reviews.
Social identity in Kent, including excavations, medieval misericords, and reviews.
Studies on Bronze Age trade routes, Civil War experiences of a Royalist family, Elizabethan and Jacobean deer parks, 20th-century military and civil defences, and Roman occupation evidence. It also features archaeological surveys of Old Castle Scotney and Wotton, and discoveries of medieval corn-driers and Roman bronze vessels.
Social structure of New Romney, Canterbury's Romano-British cemeteries, the medieval decorated tile pavement at St Mary's Church, and the Kentish origins of Sir George Brown. Excavations at the Romano-British Cemetery, East Hill, Dartford, and the medieval hospital of St Mary The Blessed Virgin, Ospringe. Kent's 20th-century military and civil defences, the development of Tonbridge, and the Roman Villa at Minster in Thanet.
Roman features in Kent, Anglo-Saxon artifacts, the history of Kent's political and literary life, and investigations of various archaeological sites. It also explores the demise of the Kent Broadcloth Industry and the settlement patterns in the Iron Age and Romano-British periods.
The career of Richard Hope, a medieval site in Dover, the coinage of William I in Kent, prehistoric activity in Broadstairs, archaeological investigations in Sittingbourne, and the Roman Villa at Minster-in-Thanet. It also features interim reports on work by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust and reviews of various archaeological publications.
Articles on local history, excavations at various sites, the abolition of the slave trade, the Great Revolt of 1381, and more.
The Tanners of Wrotham Manor, the Medieval site at Well Wood, Aylesford, the poor of Otham and nearby parishes, archaeological investigations at Middle Stoke on the Hoo Peninsula, Charing Clocks, the Roman Villa at Minster in Thanet, and more.
Studies on Selling, Canterbury Police Station, the Dens of Benenden, Kingsmead Park, Cobham, Tonbridge, Penenden Heath Meeting, Jubilee Corner, Charing Clocks, Minster in Thanet, River Stour, Little Stour valley, St Albans Court, Thomas Becket, Rochester, Edward Dering, Walmer, and Wansunt Pit.
Rope making in Chatham, the Roman Villa at Minster-in-Thanet, Romanesque Churches in Rochester, Iron Manufacture in Tonbridge, and the religion of Sir Roger Twysden. It also features excavations at various sites in Kent, and a study on Dover's town defences in the late Middle Ages.
The Warren Farm Chamber, female inmates in East Kent hospitals, a multi-period site at Princes Road, Dartford, debt in the Cranbrook region in the late 17th century, Kent's earliest known aisled hall house, a Belgic-Early Roman site at Great Mongeham, the development of the park and gardens at Knole, railways and the community, a new Roman site at Rochester, the church in Medieval Greenwich, prehistoric activity in the Cray Valley, the Herries family and the building of St Julians, Underriver, and Romanesque fonts in Kent.
Roman Greenwich, Cobham Hall, violence in Kent (1460-1560), a Roman site at Home Farm, Eynsford, the population of Sandwich, food and drink for final journeys, Patrixbourne Church, a forgotten Kentish rebellion, excavations at Biggin Street, Dover, Faversham's role in the Armada, stone supply to Saxon Shore Forts, management of Dering Wood, supporting Canterbury hospitals, late Bronze Age features at Hoo St Werburgh, immigrant population in Kent, the Kentish Copperas industry, St Margaret in Kent, and a prehistoric site off Green Lane, Whitfield.
Studies on Roman shrines, burial practices, and archaeology. It also includes research on Kentish historic buildings like Westenhanger Castle and St Leonard's Tower.
The building stones of Rochester Cathedral Crypt, the origins of the Swale, the construction of the Sevenoaks Railway Tunnel, and the emergence of Edward Hasted as a historian of Kent. It also includes archaeological investigations at Sandwich Castle and a Roman occupation site at Dickson’s Corner, Worth.
Elizabethan JPs, Anglo-Saxon Eastry, and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link.
Examinations of Tonbridge Castle, St. Gregory's Priory, and an early Romano-British salt-working site.
The Sandwich to Dover Turnpike, Canterbury Cathedral's Audit House Fire, and medieval market establishment.
Roof-tiling development, Romney Marsh, Tonbridge Castle, and 17th-century trade tokens.
Quakerism, witchcraft, and Romano-British Villa excavations.
Honoring past members, exploring Kent's archaeological sites, and showcasing heritage discoveries.
Tributes, archaeological updates, ancient customs, and society news, alongside regular columns and notices.
Gunther Plüschow's 1915 escape, Fagg legacy, Anglo-Saxon nuns, Kent's hidden airfields, SPAB, & more.
Historical sites, Cold War survival, significant discoveries, and the Queen’s Award presentation to HRGS.
Archaeology, local history, research updates, the New Romney Disaster, and an interview with Hugh Dennis.
Archaeology, history, conservation, society updates, and student engagement in Kent's rich heritage.
2019's archaeological digs, Roman villa studies, Anglo-Saxon burials research, and local history.
History and archaeology from medieval gardens to WWII symbols, plus regular updates and reviews.
Rocket excavation, local history funds, untapped literary heritage, and archaeological digs.
Explores archaeological finds, estate updates, surveys, policy discussions, and community insights.
Projects, grants, membership, events, historical insights, and an interview with Andrew Mayfield.
Scholarships, digital collections, society news, events, Hasted Prize, Gravesend Bunker, heraldry, grants, medieval tiles study.
Insightful updates on Kent's archaeology, heritage preservation, upcoming events, and latest research findings.
Excavations, historical insights, grants, events, and society updates enrich Kent's archaeological scene.
Unveiling Kent's past from Sevenoaks gardens to Northfleet's bear pit, plus research insights and volunteer calls.
Slough Fort, Owl Club tales, Hardman's Nonington research, and Kent's rich archaeological updates.
Caesar's incursions, Iron Age helmet, Anglo-Saxon collection, community archaeology, and local history insights.
Discoveries of a Norman Castle, Roman lead scroll, Dutch Gables, Mesolithic sites, society news, and events.
Dutch Gables in Kent, archaeological discoveries, historic buildings, and society updates.
AGM details, Iron Age at Folkestone Villa, medieval Kent insights, and major Bronze Age finds.
Davington Mysteries, Stockbury IA Furnaces, updates from the Churches Committee and more.
Medway Gap & Roman Thanet spotlight, Boxley Warren history, Kent's archaeological updates, events, and books.
Archaeological finds, local heritage projects, and events enriching our understanding of history.