Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A prehistoric site originally identified during work to lay a gas main in 1974. The work revealed a single grave, a ditch and three pits. The grave contained skeletal remains, but the ditch yielded no small finds despite its large size (3.2m wide and at least 1.3m deep) A single sherd of flint-gritted pottery, probably of Iron Age date, was found in the very uppermost deposit of sealing the ditch. Finds from the three pits included fragments of animal bone, Iron Age pottery and pot-boilers. (This site may be related to TR 36 SW 33 and 35.)

Cropmarks of the area show barrows and enclosures including a large circular enclosure (possibly a henge or Iron Age farmstead), individual round barrows and a system of field ditches. Neolithic flakes and worked flints have been found after ploughing. A Thames pick was also discovered during field walking.

Monument Types

• DITCH (Later Prehistoric - 4000 BC? to 42 AD?)
• FIELD SYSTEM (Later Prehistoric - 4000 BC? to 42 AD?)
• INHUMATION (Later Prehistoric - 4000 BC? to 42 AD?)
• HENGE? (Late Neolithic - 3000 BC? to 2351 BC?)
• BARROW (Bronze Age - 2350 BC? to 701 BC?)
• ENCLOSURE (Bronze Age - 2350 BC? to 701 BC?)
• FARMSTEAD? (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)
• PIT (Iron Age - 800 BC? to 42 AD?)

Associated Finds

• FLAKE (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• HUMAN REMAINS (Later Prehistoric - 4000 BC? to 42 AD?)
• WORKED OBJECT (Neolithic - 4000 BC to 2351 BC)
• POTTERY ASSEMBLAGE (Iron Age - 800 BC to 42 AD)

Full description

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[TR 347 646] A possible prehistoric site was found in July 1974 when a gas main was being laid near Cliffsend. The site lies in the parish of Ramsgate, to the north of Cliffsend and occupies the north margin of an open field approximately 230 metres north of Bethlehem Farm, bounded by Foads Lane to the west and the Canterbury/Ramsgate railway to the north. Five features were revealed in the pipe trench; a single grave, a ditch and three pits. The grave was roughly ovoid in plan, set on a north-west to south-east axis. It contained fragmented leg and pelvic bones of an adult human, crushed chalk and a fill of light brown loam. The north-west end had been destroyed by the pipe trench. The ditch was 3.20 metres wide and had a minimum depth of 1.30 metres. It contained no finds. A single sherd of flint-gritted pottery, probably of iron age date, was found in the very uppermost deposit of brown loam sealing the ditch. Of the three pits uncovered, pit 2 contained four fragments of animal bone and thirty sherds of pottery of iron age date, and pit 3 contained pot-boilers and nineteen sherds of iron age pottery. [This site may be related to TR 36 SW 33 and 35.] (1)

(TR) 347646. Cropmarks reveal a large, possibly multi-phased site which appears to include a large circular enclosure (henge or iron age farmstead), individual round barrows and a system of field ditches found in a field north of Bethlehem Farm and south of the railway cutting at Cliffs End. Neolithic flakes and worked flints can be found after ploughing. A Thames pick was found during field walking. Plough attrition is evident annually. (2)

<1> KAR 78 1984 181-5 illus (J Willson) (OS Card Reference). SKE45430.

<2> Trust for Thanet Archaeology, 1987, Isle of Thanet Archaeological Unit Sites and Monuments Archive, Thanet Sites and Mons Record 2 1988 site 171 (Collection). SKE11846.

Sources and further reading