Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A series of early to middle Iron Age trackways, ditches and enclosures was identified during excavations associated with the construction of the East Kent Access route in Thanet (Zone 6). The complex included a large metalled track which appeared to continue in use into the later Iron age and roman periods. Some of the ditches and trackways appeared to define large enclosures. (location accurate to the nearest 1m based on available information)

Monument Types

• DITCH (Early Iron Age to Middle Iron Age - 800 BC to 101 BC)
• ENCLOSURE (Early Iron Age to Middle Iron Age - 800 BC to 101 BC)
• TRACKWAY (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)

Full description

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A series of early to middle Iron Age trackways, ditches and enclosures was identified during excavations associated with the construction of the East Kent Access route in Thanet (Zone 6). The complex included a large metalled track which appeared to continue in use into the later Iron age and roman periods. Some of the ditches and trackways appeared to define large enclosures.

In the earlier part of the Iron Age there is no evidence for occupation in Zone 6, instead the area was crossed by a sequence of tracks and droveways which were generally aligned NW-SE. One metalled trackway appears to have lasted through the Iron Age and beyond, whilst other tracks defined by pairs of parallel ditches went out of use more rapidly, and were replaced. The ditches that defined the trackways did not produce a large assemblage of finds (perhaps indicative of their distance from contemporary settlement). A major junction between tracks is likely to have been present a few metres to the west of the Zone, and another junction was present to the south of the zone. The metalled trackway dominated this zone, it was orientated NE-SW and ran over an earlier hollow way. It was formed by a densely packed layer of small rounded pebbles forming a robust surface about 5.5m in width. Towards the centre of the length which was uncovered, the trackway was as wide as 11.8m (this may represent a working area). a continuation of the trackway has been seen in earlier excavations to the north east, where it may have led to a small inlet in the Wantsum Channel.

Towards the northern end of the zone a ditch (largely truncated) ran in a NNW-SSE direction, and formed what was a sinuous and fairly short lived boundary. To the west, this ditch ran in an east-west direction as did another ditch to the east, following an alignment originally laid out in the Late Bronze Age, but also reflecting the local topography and probably marking the boundaries of related enclosures. To the north, a third ditch appeared to form a small enclosure with the first ditch enclosing an area of c.10m across. This enclosure appears to have been redefined in a second phase of use. The enclosure was open to the south but of unclear form to the north being cut by later ditches. Further north another ditch, which ran NW-SE from the eastern limit of excavation prior to terminating (and the alignment of which continued into the southern end of Zone 7) represented a further boundary, possibly related to the first. This was also recut in a later phase (likely still early to Middle Iron Age) and situated a little further north

Towards the centre of the zone a wide trackway or droveway was defined by a ditch and two ditch segments would have intersected with the large metalled trackway a few metres beyond the limit of excavation to the west. The route was aligned NNW-SSE and the eastern most ditch appeared to turn sharply to the north-east at its southern end. As well as delineating a droveway roughly 11m across the ditches might have formed boundaries of large open fields. This trackway was redefined in a later phase on the same alignment but narrower (c.2.5m apart). A second short stretch of track was defined by two ditches that ran in a west east direction beyond the excavation area to the east and were around 4m apart.

The southern limit of the system of fields and trackways within this phase was represented by a NE-SW aligned ditch traced for 46m (though its southern end was truncated). At the northern end of the Zone a major boundary ditch aligned NNW-SSE cut the ditches of an earlier trackway, the southern end of the curving sharply to the south west, where it turned to run parallel with the northern edge of the metalled trackway. (information summarised from source) (1)

<1> Andrews et al, 2015, Digging The Gateway: Archaeological Landscapes of South Thanet. The Archaeology of East Kent Access (Phase III) Vol 1: The sites (Monograph). SKE55517.

Sources and further reading

Related records