Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A series of 40 circular pits, probably post medieval sand pits, some of which have been excavated and found to contain Neolithic implements, a polished axe and a Bronze Age cup

Monument Types

• PIT (PIT, Post Medieval - 1540 AD to 1900 AD)

Associated Finds

• ARROWHEAD (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• AXE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• BLADE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• CORE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• SCRAPER (TOOL) (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• CUP (Bronze Age - 2350 BC to 701 BC)

Full description

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[Area TQ 586 459] Nine pits in Rose Wood near Ivy Hatch were excavated in 1933 and found to contain a few sherds of Romano-British pottery, a few flakes and no evidence of habitation. B. Harrison and others assumed this to be a neolithic settlement on the evidence of numerous neolithic implements found but the 1933 excavators thought them early 19th century sandpits. A polished stone axe and a Late Bronze Age cup, found together on the site, are in Maidstone Museum. Other finds from Rose Wood include 3 small conical cores of flint, 3 leaf-shaped arrowheads, a finely worked scraper, 1 or 2 blades with delicate retouching and a clumsy flint axe. All are in the British Museum. (1-3) Only a few examples of these pits still survive, the remainder having been destroyed in the development of Rosewood for housing. No further discoveries have been reported but in addition to the items held by Maidstone Museum, Sevenoaks Public Library and Museum has a leaf-shaped arrowhead, a core and a discoidal scraper. (4) In Rose Wood there is a series of about forty circular, basin-like pits. Each pit is about 15ft. in diameter. The soil is sandy and there is no chalk or flint within two and half or three miles, yet the area teems with flint flakes and flint implements. Mr Harrison has found here five different types of flint arrowheads, now in the possession of Sir John Lubbock; two clets or chisels and portions of others; and four hammer heads. (5) [TQ 590 560] Three mesolithic cores and one scraper found in the pitsin Rose Wood are now in the British Museum, ex Burchell. Information from J. J. Wymer. (6) Additional references, but not consulted. (7-8)

<1> Arch Cant 45 1933 162-7 (N Cook and R F Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE35151.

<2> Arch Cant 27 1905 lxxvii-lxxviii (J H Allchin) (OS Card Reference). SKE34920.

<3> Arch of Kent 1930 49 258 (R F Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE36915.

<4> F1 ASP 20-AUG-64 (OS Card Reference). SKE42203.

<5> Arch Cant 9 1874 liv-lv (W A Scott-Robertson) (OS Card Reference). SKE36008.

<6> CBA Res Rep 20 1977 Gaz of Me and Upper Pa Sites in England and Wales 152 (J J Wymer) (OS Card Reference). SKE38861.

<7> Coll Cantiana 1893 177 (G Payne) (OS Card Reference). SKE39172.

<8> Ightham the Story of a Kentish Village 1907 43 (F J Bennett) (OS Card Reference). SKE44204.

<9> Field report for monument TQ 55 SE 14 - August, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE2840.

Sources and further reading

Related records