Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A substantial ditch is visible as an earthwork on 1940s aerial photography. It is c.10m wide and runs through multiple fields for a total of c.290m following a sinuous, generally E-W alignment. The ditch follows a markedly different alignment to the field systems, of probable late post-medieval date, shown on historic Ordnance Survey mapping and is also cut by an element of this system. The ditch is, therefore, likely to be of medieval or earlier post-medieval date and may relate to the reclamation of land from the Wantsum Channel during these periods.

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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A substantial ditch is visible as an earthwork on 1940s RAF vertical aerial photography [1]. The ditch is c.10m wide and visible running through multiple fields for a total of c.290m. It follows a sinuous, generally E-W alignment and is dissected by a modern field drain close to its eastern end. The ditch follows a markedly different alignment to the largely rectilinear field systems shown in this area on historic Ordnance Survey mapping [2]. As the ditch is also cut by an element of this system, it is likely to predate the current field layout, itself of probable late post-medieval date. The ditch is, therefore, likely to be of medieval or earlier post-medieval date and may relate to the reclamation of land from the Wantsum Channel during these periods.

A transcription of the features recorded from aerial photography exists within a GIS layer held by this HER [3].

<2> Ordnance Survey, 1858-73, Ordnance Survey 1:2500 1st Edition : 1872-1897 (Map). SWX11831.

<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2011, South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - (SE RCZAS) Phase 1: National Mapping Programme Report (Unpublished document).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South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey National Mapping Programme Components 1&2: Results of NMP Mapping (Unpublished document).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