Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Earthwork bank and ditch, probable 13th century woodland boundary in Darenth Wood. This encloses a wood around 35.5ha, managed during the medieval period and later as coppice with oak standards.

Monument Types

• WOOD BANK (WOOD BANK, Medieval - 1200 AD to 1250 AD)

Full description

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[TQ 57757255] Ancient Earthworks [TI]. (1) "Darenth Wood - Both on the south-east and south-west sides of the wood are traces of scarping and banking, which appear to indicate the former presence of some sort of defensive work, but the remains are obscure". (2) Almost certainly part of it Roman. The small northern enclosure was aligned on the Roman road. See Man-gravet Wood, Maidstone [Similarly aligned.]. (3) Within Darenth Wood is a large, irregular-shaped enclosure some 2000.0m. in circumference, centred at TQ 579727, and occupying the top and sides of a gravel-capped chalk ridge. It is bounded by an earthen bank up to 5.0m. wide and 1.0m. high, with an outer ditch, up to 3.0m. wide and 0.3m. deep. A parish boundary follows the whole of the eastern side. At the southern end is an extension to the work similarly enclosed by bank and outer ditch. A former extension towards the line of the Watling Street at the northern end has been destroyed by modern road-widening operations. No documentary evidence has been found concerning the date of this work but it is almost certainly a Medieval coppice enclosure bank. Published 1/2500 survey revised. (4) Excavated c.1964 by J.Caiger for the Ministry of Works, and considered to have been constructed A.D. 1200-50. (5)

Additional Reference: (6)

from the National Heritage List for England:
The monument, which falls into four areas, includes a medieval woodland boundary in Darenth Wood, situated on the south eastern side of the modern town of Dartford. The irregularly-shaped, sinuous boundary survives in earthwork form and encloses a wood of around 35.5ha, managed during the medieval period and later as coppice with oak standards. The boundary has a total width of up to 12m, with a rounded bank surviving to a height of up to
0.5m, flanked along most of its length by an outer ditch up to 0.5m deep. The coppice has a smaller annexe to the south east shown by part excavation to have been constructed at a slightly later date than the main enclosure. To the
north, slight traces indicate the former existence of a further annexe, destroyed by the construction of the A296 road in 1921. Several small gaps in the enclosure earthworks have been interpreted as representing original entrances into the wood, although the boundary has also been partly damaged in places by the construction of a modern road, by footpaths, vandalism and tipping.

The woodland boundary was partly excavated in 1964 when its age was indicated by pottery sherds discovered within the bank dating to the period AD 1200- 1250. At this time the manor of Darenth was held by the See of Canterbury.

ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE
Woodland has been managed since at least the fourth millennium BC in order to produce timber and smaller wood for fencing, wattlework and fuel, including charcoal. However, it is only for more recent periods that evidence for woodland management survives in the woods themselves, generally in the form of wood boundaries and features relating to woodland crafts.

Woods which are more than 100 years old often have some form of earthwork boundary: ancient wood boundaries (pre AD 1700) are either sinuous or zigzagged; straight edged woods with slighter earthworks usually indicate a wood
boundary of later than AD 1700. Such boundary earthworks are usually in the form of a wood bank with an outer ditch. This was traditionally set with a hedge (to keep out livestock) and pollarded trees (to define the legal boundary). The total width of the earthwork is usually between 6m and 12m.

Within the wood may be dividing banks and features relating to woodland crafts, such as charcoal burners' huts and hearths, saw-pits for cutting timber and roads and trackways providing access. The easy availability of wood-based fuel often resulted in fuel-hungry industries such as ironworks, limekilns, potteries, tileries and brickworks being sited within woods. Quarries are often also located in woodland in order to minimise the loss of more productive agricultural land elsewhere.

Varying in area from only a few hectares to several hundreds of hectares, medieval woodlands were usually managed by the control of young trees (underwood), which were periodically cut at ground level (coppiced) and allowed to regrow from the bole or by suckering to produce poles. Standing amongst the underwood were larger trees (standards), often oaks, which were allowed to grow to maturity. Contemporary documentary sources such as
charters, maps, land surveys and estate accounts can confirm the age and past management of some woodland.

During the post medieval period forestry plantations were introduced with an increasing tendency to plant high forest using one or two species, and by the end of the 19th century coppicing had fallen into decline with the loss of its
ancient markets, especially after the widespread introduction of coal for household use and manufacturing. Since 1945 there has been a dramatic increase in the destruction of old woodlands due to increased competition for land. Although they are distributed throughout England, the highest densities of old coppiced woodland survive in the south east, in Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent.

Although sections have been partly destroyed by modern road building, the medieval woodland boundary in Darenth Wood is of an early date and survives well. Its earthworks are comparatively large for this type of monument, and have been positively dated by part excavation. The monument will also contain environmental evidence relating to the way in which the wood was exploited during its period of use.

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

<1> OS 6" 1909 (OS Card Reference). SKE48324.

<2> VCH Kent Vol. 1 1908 p.394 (OS Card Reference). SKE51232.

<3> R.F. Jessup 1949 Rec. 6". (OS Card Reference). SKE48916.

<4> F1 ASP 19-JAN-65 (OS Card Reference). SKE42183.

<5> Arch.Cant.,79,1964,77-94, plan, (J.Caiger). (OS Card Reference). SKE37188.

<6> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1994 Jan, A2/A282 Dartford - Historic Environmental Assessment (Unpublished document). SWX6767.

<7> Field report for monument TQ 57 SE 38 - January, 1965 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3076.

Sources and further reading