Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

The cropmarks of two enclosures, a number of ring ditches and possible banjo enclosures have been identified in fields to the north east of Minster. A large sub rectangular feature is visible and this appears to be 3 ditched and also contain a sub rectangular interior feature. In one photograph there are indications that this fmay be outlined by post holes. Three ring ditches are also located to the north west of the enclosure and these may have post hole circles in the centre where a slight mound is visible. This complex of cropmarks is scheduled as an ancient monument.

Monument Types

• BUILDING (Unknown date)
• ENCLOSURE (Unknown date)
• RING DITCH (Unknown date)
• BANJO ENCLOSURE (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)

Full description

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(Centred TR 318654) Enclosure with three ditches 200 yds east north east of Minster Laundry. The sub rectangular enclosure would appear to have an interior feature, also sub rectangular. The three ring ditches are simple without causeways or internal features although the two tallest may have post hole circles in the centre as a slight mound is visible. Scheduled. (1)

Large irregularly shaped curvilinear enclosure with entrance at the south east. Much smaller enclosure within this at TR 31906543. Ring ditches at TR 31786558, TR 31836657, TR 31856553 and TR 31886553. (2-3)

Scheduled listing. (4) Centred on TR 318654. A large complex of cropmarks over the whole field (near Laundry Road). Site no 154. (5)

TR 318654. Aerial photographs reveal cropmarks over almost the whole field indicating round barrows, banjo enclosures and rectangular linear markings. In one photograph there are indications of a large building (hall?) outlined by post holes. (6)

From the Register of Scheduled Monuments:

The sub-rectangular enclosure would appear to have an interior feature also subrectangular. The 3 ring ditches are simple, without causeways or internal features although the 2 tallest may have stake or post hole circles in the centre as a slight mark is visible.(7)

From the National Heritage List for England:


Summary of Monument

Rectilinear enclosures and ring ditches 200m north-west of Wayborough House
Reasons for Designation

The rectilinear enclosures and ring ditches are considered to be the remains of round houses and an Iron Age and Romano-British enclosed farmstead. On modern arable sites, where cultivation has taken place, the earthworks of archaeological monuments are sometimes levelled or the ditches in-filled and can instead be identified as crop and soil marks. These occur due to differential crop growth (crop marks) or differences in soil colour (soil marks) as a result of buried archaeological features. Where these have been excavated, they are often shown to contain significant archaeological remains and deposits surviving below the modern ground level.

A round house is a circular building, usually of domestic function, and generally prehistoric or Roman in origin. It is normally indicated by one or more rings of post holes and/or a circular gulley and was usually of timber construction with a thatched roof.

Iron Age enclosed 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 majority of Iron Age enclosed farmsteads have been recorded as crop- and soil-marks appearing on aerial photographs.

Romano-British farmsteads show a marked continuity with later prehistoric settlements. They are small agricultural units comprising groups of up to four circular or rectangular houses along with associated structures which may include wells, storage pits, corn-drying ovens and granary stores. These were sometimes constructed within a yard surrounded by a rectangular or curvilinear enclosure, and associated field systems, trackways and cemeteries may be located nearby. Most Romano-British farmsteads in south east England have been discovered by the analysis of aerial photographs. They usually survive in the form of buried features visible as crop and soil marks and occasionally as low earthworks. Often situated on marginal agricultural land and found throughout the British Isles, they date to the period of Roman occupation (c.AD 43-450).

Despite cultivation on the site in the past, the rectilinear enclosures and ring ditches 200m north-west of Wayborough House survive well as crop marks. The site has not been excavated and retains potential for further archaeological investigation, which will provide information regarding the exact nature of the archaeological remains. It will contain archaeological evidence and environmental information relating to the round houses, farmstead and the landscape in which they were constructed .
History

See Details
Details

This 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 rectilinear enclosures and ring ditches surviving as buried remains. It is situated on a south-facing slope just below the brow of Telegraph Hill, east of Laundry Road Industrial Estate near Minster.

The features recorded as crop marks on aerial photographs represent the surviving ditches of a Romano-British and Iron Age settlement. A large rectilinear enclosure, the remains of a Romano-British farmstead, is orientated NNE to SSW and is up to about 134m long and 100m wide with curved corners. There are three possible entrances, evident by 4m to 5m breaks in the ditch, in the eastern side of the enclosure. Within the interior of the enclosure is another smaller rectilinear enclosure. It is orientated broadly north-east to south-west and is about 38m long by 26m wide, although the south-west corner is missing. To the north-west are three ring ditches, Iron Age round houses, varying from about 17m to 23m in diameter. They are seen to have pits or post holes in the centre. At the southern end of the site is a circular concentration of pits or post holes, which is also considered, be the remains of a round house.

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. In 1987, several east-west orientated inhumation burials were discovered and destroyed during building work on the western boundary of Laundry Road Industrial Estate. The date of the burials is unknown.

Further archaeological remains, including ring ditches, survive in the vicinity of this site but are not included because they have not been formally assessed.(8)

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

<1> DOE(IAM) Record Form plan 21.2.73 (OS Card Reference). SKE41449.

<2> AP (NMR TR 3164/1; 16.7.79) (OS Card Reference). SKE33708.

<3> AP (NMR TR 3165/11; 6.8.79) (OS Card Reference). SKE33709.

<4> DOE(IAM) AM Eng 1988 Kent 23 (OS Card Reference). SKE41408.

<5> Thanet Arch Heritage c1982 10 (Thanet Dist Council & Isle of Thanet Arch Unit) (OS Card Reference). SKE49855.

<6> Isle of Thanet Arch Unit Sites and Mons Archive 1988 Record no 154 (OS Card Reference). SKE44697.

<8> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

Sources and further reading