The Case for Continuity in Fifth‐century Canterbury Re‐examined

Abstract

Brooks (1986) concluded that there was no compelling evidence for continuity between the late Roman and early Anglo-Saxon periods in any of the major towns of Roman Britain. Important new evidence, especially from the Marlowe I-N and Marlowe Theatre sites, necessitates a reexamination of the position in Canterbury. The conclusions reached are that (a) the gap in occupation in Canterbury is much shorter than previously thought, and perhaps as little as 20 years; (b) nevertheless, because there is no evidence of cultural mingling between the Romano-British and the AngloSaxons, or of agricultural use of the dark soil, there still is a gap, and continuity in Canterbury therefore still remains to be proved.

Models of Continuity

“…In her recent article on continuity in Canterbury (Brooks 1988) Mrs Brooks, with the help of the Canterbury archaeologists has looked hard, and in detail, at the possibility or likelihood of continuity between the Roman city and the Saxon town. She has shown that there are at present no cases of buildings which continue from one period to the other, and finds it unlikely that any site so far excavated shows a close enough succession of buildings to justify the suggestion of what we might call continuity by replacement.…”