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Monument details

Summary

The first Bronze Age barrow was surrounded by a ditch but there was no trace of any internal features. A later ditch feature was found cutting through the barrow, and a number of post holes were found nears its end. These two features were thought to be contemporary and were dated on the basis of Iron Age pottery removed from the fill of the ditch. A second barrow was also found nearby and unlike the first contained ten cremation burials. Five of the burials were in pots and five in pits. Six further external cremations were found outside the boundary ditch to the north east of the barrow. A possible hearth of ash and burnt flint was found on the south eastern side of the ditch. Two geological phenomenas were also observed during excavation including a 61cm long flint.

Monument Types

• BARROW (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)
• CREMATION (Early Bronze Age to Late Iron Age - 2350 BC to 42 AD)
• RING DITCH (Middle Bronze Age - 1600 BC to 1200 BC)
• DITCH (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
• POST HOLE (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)

Associated Finds

• POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE (Early Bronze Age to Late Iron Age - 2350 BC to 42 AD)
• POT (Middle Bronze Age to Late Bronze Age - 1400 BC to 900 BC)
• POT (Middle Bronze Age to Late Bronze Age - 1400 BC to 900 BC)
• POT (Middle Bronze Age to Late Bronze Age - 1400 BC to 900 BC)
• POT (Middle Bronze Age to Late Bronze Age - 1400 BC to 900 BC)

Full description

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Two ring ditches plus other features were excavated in 1974 in advance of work to widen the A2 near Bridge. details as follows:

Barrow 1 (TR 19295324) - ring ditch 45ft in diameter. No internal features. The barrow was cut by a narrow, straight ditch which terminated a little to the E, just short of a group of postholes. The straight ditch belonged to a field system of probable Iron Age date, and the postholes are assumed to be contemporary. Iron Age pottery occured in the fills of both. The interior of the barrow/ring ditch was devoid of features. The ring ditch is effectively undated, though presumably belongs somewhere in the Bronze Age.

Barrow 2 (TR 19265331) - ring ditch 60ft in diameter. At one point the ditch fill contained a large deposit of burnt flints. Within the area contained by the ring ditch were a total of 10 cremation deposits arranged in an arc c6-7ft within the line of the ditch, suggesting that they may represent secondary interments. 5 cremations were in pots, the other 5 were in pits, though of course they may originally have been deposited in organic containers. All but one of the pots was inverted, and all fitted tightly into pits. A further group of 6 cremations was found outside the ring ditch, a short distance to the NE. All were badly plough damaged. Two C14 dates were obtained from cremations, one from each group, providing a mean date of 980 +/- 60 BC. Unfortunately, the original dates are not quoted in the excavation report. Calibrated, this mean date falls in the range 1320-970 BC (93.7% probability), ie the latter part of the Middle Bronze Age. The pottery associated with the cremations confirms a later 2nd millennium BC date, and conforms with the current pattern of later Bronze Age Deverel-Rimbury and post-Deverel Rimbury ceramics from East Kent. The excavation report appears to favour a similar date for the ring ditch itself, although as noted, the location and arrangement of the cremation deposits allows for the possibility that they are secondary, later than the cutting of the ring ditch itself. (1-2)

The site is situated on the gentle south facing slope of an east-west ridge in an area of chalk downland. There are no upstanding earthworks and the site was not visible as a soil mark. It is situated in a field which is under permanent arable cultivation and had recently had a cereal crop harvested. (3)

<1> Arch Cant 96 1980 166-173 (N Macpherson-Grant) (OS Card Reference). SKE36239.

<2> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1992, Canterbury's Archaeology 1991-1992 (Article in serial). SKE54740.

<3> English Heritage Alternative Action Report (Unspecified Type). SWX20583.

Sources and further reading

Related thematic articles

• Bronze Age Kent (Thematic Essay)