Teynham building site uncovers Britain's first known statue of Roman god

KentOnline / KMTV

Developers uncovered several roman artefacts and a one of a kind statue of the Sea god Triton when carrying out an investigation into a housing development.

Transcript

00:00 This just looks like your average building site.

00:02 You wouldn't think that Roman artifacts were discovered here

00:06 in Tenham earlier this year.

00:08 This was the moment they uncovered a one-of-a-kind statue

00:11 of the Roman sea god, Triton.

00:13 It was a true wow moment.

00:15 When we actually lifted it and we could see the detail

00:18 and the sort of condition of the statue,

00:21 it was absolutely amazing.

00:22 The sculpture was formed of hassock stone,

00:26 which is locally available along the Medway Valley,

00:29 particularly in the area around Maidstone.

00:32 For now, Triton is being taken care of elsewhere

00:35 and is undergoing preservation works.

00:38 They also discovered what was once a mausoleum.

00:40 A demolition material was made of various types of stone.

00:44 So we have stone from the Medway Valley.

00:47 We've got basically Kentish ragstone, it's called.

00:50 Usually that sort of size structure is a mausoleum

00:54 or a temple mausoleum,

00:56 so some sort of burial place for a wealthy Roman resident.

01:00 All this was found during a site evaluation

01:02 before a development was due to take place

01:05 to build a roundabout and 300 homes along the A2.

01:09 We're working very closely with our stakeholders

01:11 to come up with a preservation in situ plan

01:14 so that a lot of the artifacts that are below the ground

01:16 can be effectively preserved in situ, recorded,

01:20 and then we carry on with building the infrastructure

01:23 and artifacts that come out of the ground,

01:25 things like our Triton statue of Key.

01:28 Significance can then be displayed in a local

01:32 or national museum to really allow the public

01:36 to see it for the future generation.

01:39 But now all the team have been working away

01:41 to find out more about these ancient discoveries

01:44 dating back centuries.

01:46 Kent is sort of the entry point to Roman Britain.

01:49 You've got the entry ports at Dover, Richborough,

01:53 and Port of St. Marnes, which we now call Portland,

01:56 are all major ports of entry.

01:59 They had roads converging onto Canterbury,

02:01 which was sort of the area capital,

02:04 and then we have the Roman road,

02:05 Watling Street that heads through,

02:06 and you can see behind me is the main road,

02:09 the A2 corridor that goes all the way

02:11 into London and beyond.

02:13 So that's a real, we're on the artery of the,

02:15 it's a communication artery for Roman Britain.

02:19 So therefore, yeah, we are finding a lot of sites

02:23 alongside the Roman roads.

02:24 Well, there you have it.

02:25 It's not every day that you find history unveiled

02:28 on just your average building site,

02:29 and this was the very spot where the titan was found.

02:32 Its body was over here, its head over here.

02:34 Bit gory, but it was actually symbolic

02:36 of disembodying the power from the god.

02:39 Now, this has been its home for a number of years,

02:41 but the question now is where's it going to end up next?

02:43 We'll definitely be keeping our eyes peeled.

02:45 Sophia Raikin for KMTV.

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