Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Ring ditches/enclosure visible as a cropmark 400yds(360m) NE of Mill House School.

Monument Types

• RING DITCH (RING DITCH, Unknown date)
• ENCLOSURE (Iron Age - 800 BC? to 42 AD?)
• SETTLEMENT? (Iron Age - 800 BC? to 42 AD?)

Full description

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Three curvilinear enclosures, at least two phases, centres at NGR and TR 32945272 and TR 32935266. Marked 'IA or RB farmstead' (31), ring ditches at TR 32805245, TR 33005376, TR 33075267. Possibly two others to north. (1,2)

Additional Reference (3)

From the Register of Scheduled Monuments:

These two enclosures, the furthest away of which has a substantial internal feature, would seem to be very possibly Iron Age or RB farmsteads of a type well known in the S.

No surface indications.

The scheduled area is in the 41 acre parcel known as Court Field. Brian Philip excavated northern edge of the field 1976 and found burial of AD300.(4)

List entry Description
Summary of Monument
Iron Age settlement remains 586m north-west of the Church of St Augustine.



Reasons for Designation
The Iron Age settlement remains are likely to be an enclosed farmstead. The size and form of Iron Age enclosed settlements vary considerably from single farmsteads up to large semi-urban oppida. Farmsteads are generally represented by curvilinear enclosures containing evidence of a small group of circular domestic buildings and associated agricultural structures. Where excavated, these sites are also found to contain pits or rectangular post-built structures for the storage of grain and other produce, evidence of an organised and efficient farming system. The surrounding enclosures would have provided protection against cattle rustling and tribal raiding. In central and southern England, most enclosed Iron Age farmsteads are situated in areas which are now under intensive arable cultivation. As a result, although some examples survive with upstanding earthworks, the majority have been recorded as crop- and soil-marks appearing on aerial photographs.

Despite some disturbance in the past, the Iron Age settlement survives well and is clearly visible as crop marks on aerial photographs. It will contain archaeological and environmental information relating to the use, occupation and history of the site.

History
See Details.

Details
This record was the subject of a minor enhancement on 3 September 2014. The record has been generated from an "old county number" (OCN) scheduling record. These are monuments that were not reviewed under the Monuments Protection Programme and are some of our oldest designation records.

The monument includes an Iron Age settlement surviving as buried remains. It is situated on the crest of a low chalk ridge in a field just to the south of the ‘Mount’ crossroads, north-west of Northbourne.

The settlement site includes two curvilinear ditched enclosures, orientated broadly WNW to ESE, visible as cropmarks. The northern enclosure includes two possible entrances in the WNW and ESE sides. The southern enclosure has a possible entrance in the ESE side, as well as a substantial internal feature, possibly a round house. These two enclosures are likely to be the buried remains of Iron Age farmsteads. A possible third curvilinear enclosure appears to overlie the other two enclosures, indicating a further phase of occupation. Partial excavation has recorded Iron Age occupation remains including, postholes, pits and ditches, dating from the fourth to the second century BC.

The site was recorded as part of the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England (RCHME) Kent Mapping Project carried out in 1986-7. This produced 1:10,000 scale depictions of crop marks identified on oblique and vertical aerial photographs taken across Kent.

Further archaeological remains survive within the vicinity of this monument, such as a Romano-British cemetery, but are not included because they have not been formally assessed. (5)

<1> AP (NMR TR3252/15-17; 17 6 76) (OS Card Reference). SKE33988.

<2> AP (NMR TR 3252/6; 3 6 76) (OS Card Reference). SKE33734.

<3> Chris Blandford Associates, 2002, Betteshanger Colliery & Spoil Tip Environmental Impact Assessment: Volume 2 Environmental Statement (Unpublished document). SKE8361.

<4> English Heritage, Register of Scheduled Monuments (Scheduling record). SKE16191.

<5> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

Sources and further reading