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Monument details
| HER Number: | MWX43120 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Shallow boundary earthworks, Wickhambreaux Valley |
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Summary
Shallow earthworks of boundary features, demarking a series of fragmentary enclosures, are visible on 1940s aerial photographs. They appear to predate the current field layout as they have a significantly different alignment.
| Grid Reference: | TR 23626 62281 |
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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)
- FIELD SYSTEM (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
Full description
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Shallow earthworks of a system of earthwork boundary features are visible on 1940s RAF vertical aerial photographs [1].
The earthworks consist of a series of interlinked ditches and flanking banks, covering an area of 260m (NE-SW) x 120m (NW-SE), demarking parts of at least 5 enclosures. The earthworks are dissected by a major field drain belonging to the current field layout. Examination of modern aerial photographs does not show conclusively whether these features remain as earthworks [2].
The features appear to derive from field systems created from land reclaimed from the Wantsum Channel between the 11th and 18th centuries. Although their exact date is unclear, they probably predate the current field layout, itself of probable late post-medieval date, as they are cut by it and have a significantly different alignment.
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2011, South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - (SE RCZAS) Phase 1: National Mapping Programme Report (Unpublished document).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. |
