Page:VCH Kent 1.djvu/498

 A HISTORY OF KENT not only the mediaeval structure, but, below and on the inner side thereof, the earthen rampart, while without is the deep and wide fosse, the ballast from which formed the rampart, Crayford : Camp. — Mr. Spurrell states : — On the spread of gravel 30 or 40 ft. above the creek on its west side, and a quarter of a mile or less due south of Howbury, is the barest outline of an oval camp ; its bank may be feebly traced on the north, and the ditch also here and there.^ Dartford : Joyden's Wood Camp, — About three miles south- west of Dartford, on ground rising high above the Thames valley flats, are the remains of this interesting earthwork on a spot which has evidently been occupied in successive ages, some long antedating the period of the rectangular earthwork which is our subject. The low banking and slightness of the protective work are akin to those we associate with ancient village settlements, but the careful examinations made by Col. O. E, Ruck, F. S.A.Scot., corroborate the evidence afforded by the discovery of Roman pottery within the area, and lead to the conclusion that the fortress was a Roman redoubt at the junction of two important British roads. The slight banks and fosses dividing the main body of the camp may be parts of the older British work. The most interesting feature of the camp is the clever adaptation of the sunken British road on the south-east to the requirements of the defence. Elsewhere in its course this road displays the usual characteristics of early trackways, being sunken to a broad, shallow trough ; but here, where it abuts upon the camp, it has been converted into a deep, double-banked, V-shaped fosse, as shown by section G-H. The other road referred to runs north-west from the point of junction (marked J on plan) in the direction of Cavey Wood and a probable ford over the river Cray. On the north-west of the earthworks, after a suitable glacis has been left, a steep natural ravine is encountered running north-east towards the tumulus shown on the plan. Mr. F. C. J. Spurrell, writing on Dartford antiquities, gives much attention to this early camp and its surroundings, especially referring to the ancient British road." Deneholes so abound in the neighbourhood that it is tempting to associate them with the earthworks of the camp, but definite link is missing. It is certain that there was an earlier settlement on the site, as traces of trenches remain which have been crossed and overlapped by the banks and fosse of the rectangular camp, and the surrounding wood- land shows many such early traces which carry the mind back to a far- away Celtic period, ' 'Early sites and embankments on the margins of the Thames estuary.' Arch. Journ. (1885) xlii. ' Arch. Cant, xviii. It is evidence of the antiquity and importance of the ' road ' that it became the boundary of the parishes of Dartford and Wilmington. 404