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Monument details
| HER Number: | MWX43117 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Boundary earthworks and possible floodbank at Wickhambreaux Valley |
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Summary
Shallow earthworks of boundary features and a possible floodbank are visible on 1940s aerial photographs. They appear to derive from field systems created from land reclaimed from the Wantsum Channel between the 11th and 18th centuries.
| Grid Reference: | TR 22819 62348 |
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| Map Sheet: | TR26SW |
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| Parish: | WICKHAMBREAUX, CANTERBURY, KENT |
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Monument Types
- DITCH (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
- FLOOD DEFENCES (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
Full description
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Shallow earthworks are visible on 1940s RAF vertical aerial photographs [1]. They consist of a bank and a system of ditches. The ditch system is comprised of two ditches forming a T-shape plan, one aligned NW-SE and visible for 120m before petering out, the other is 70m long aligned SW-NE and runs perpendicularly between the midpoint of the first ditch and the edge of the current field. The bank is 360m long and follows a sinuous, curving course around the margins of the present field. It is similar to the flood banks, shown on historic Ordnance Survey mapping, on the opposite side of river and is interpreted as a flood bank. Examination of modern aerial photographs suggests that these features still exist as earthworks [2].
The features appear to derive from field systems developed following land reclamation from the Wantsum Channel and surrounding marshes between the 11th and 18th centuries.
A transcription of the features recorded from aerial photography exists within a GIS layer held by this HER [3].
<2> Google Earth (Graphic material). SWX15704.
<3> Wessex Archaeology, 2009-10, South-East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - Aerial Photographic Transcriptions (Digital archive). SWX15705.
<3> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - (SE RCZAS) Phase 1: National Mapping Programme Report (Unpublished document). SKE25955.
<3> 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
| Cross-ref.
| Source description | | <2> | Graphic material: Google Earth. |
| <3> | Unpublished document: 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. |
| <3> | Unpublished document: Wessex Archaeology. 2011. South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - (SE RCZAS) Phase 1: National Mapping Programme Report. |
| <3> | Digital archive: Wessex Archaeology. 2009-10. South-East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - Aerial Photographic Transcriptions. |
