That sign, painted on an 8 by 4 sheet of plywood, has a little story attached to it.

When Canadian Margaret Gates visited Dover in the early 80s, she saw the sign and took a photograph of it. A year or so later I met her sister Frances in Northumberland, and we became lovers. Margaret sent the photograph over on discovering that I'd dug in Dover.

I had painted the sign (not a particularly good example of sign-writing I have to admit) in 1972, so that it would draw attention to the plight of Dover's Painted House, then under threat from a major road scheme.

It then stood on top of the bastion of the Roman Fort of the Saxon Shore that had been smashed though the earlier naval fortress. Eventually the Painted House was saved for posterity (you can visit it in its subterranean shelter) and the sign was moved onto a piece of derelict land.

Perhaps it is still kicking around Dover somewhere?

The quotation, by the way, is from Sir Mortimer Wheeler.

ARCHAEOLOGY HOME PAGE