Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

First World War practice trenches visible as cropmarks and as surviving earthworks.

Summary from record MWX43024:

Cropmarks of early 20th century military practice slit trenches mapped from aerial photographs.

Monument Types

• PRACTICE TRENCH (Modern - 1901 AD to 1941 AD)
• PRACTICE TRENCH (Modern - 1914 AD? to 1918 AD?)

Full description

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Cropmarks of two types of practice trench from the First World War can be seen on Canterbury Golf Club course in aerial photos including 1990 and modern Google Earth images. The trench systems cover an area of several hundred meters and are visible between the stands of trees on the fairways of the golf course. The western section visible consists of a firing line running north-south and facing east for 67m and branches of communication lines measuring 35m, 35m and 21m and running east-west. The eastern section visible is similar though more is visible, as it runs for a distance of over 100m. Aerial photographs of 2003 show the system extending much further to the south. It is likely that similar traces of military activity extend across the entire site and may be better preserved in the wooded areas.

A survey in 2012 recorded the trenches as visible earthworks on the golf course. (1)

Description from record MWX43024:
Fragments of practice slit trenches were identified from cropmarks seen on 1940s RAF vertical aerial photographs and 1980s RCHME oblique aerial photographs [1-5] in the area now occupied by Canterbury Golf Course. Much of the western side is covered by a legible trench system consisting of front and rear lines with fire-bays, and interlinking zigzag communication trenches. Over the remainder of the area trenches are only patchily visible and do not appear to form coherent systems, recorded features include zigzag elements and lines with fire-bays.

These have been interpreted as practice trenches from the early part of the 20th century due to their similarity to trench systems employed in WWI. It is likely that they represent training of soldiers based at the Royal East Kent Regiment barracks on the nearby eastern edge of Canterbury. 1940s photos show all trenches as infilled and largely plough-levelled [1-4]. The golf course itself was established in 1927, and the condition of the trenches may imply that the area was under cultivation for some time prior to this date.

A transcription of the features recorded from aerial photography exists within a GIS layer held by this HER [6].

<1> Des Mullaney, 2012, An Earthwork, Geophysical and Photographic Survey of First World War Practice Trenches, Canterbury Golf Club, Canterbury, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE17414.

<6> Wessex Archaeology, 2009-10, South-East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - Aerial Photographic Transcriptions (Digital archive). SWX15705.

<6> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - (SE RCZAS) Phase 1: National Mapping Programme Report (Unpublished document). SKE25955.

<6> Cornwall Council Historic Environment Projects and Gloucestershire County Council, 2011, South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Components 1&2: Results of NMP Mapping (Unpublished document). SKE25954.

Sources and further reading