Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A ditch and two small circular mounds are visible as earthworks on 1940s aerial photographs. The ditch is visible running WNW-ESE on a generally straight alignment for c.520m and is cut through by a field drain 190m from its eastern end. The two circular mounds, interpreted as hay stack stances, lie to the south of the ditch either side of this break, both are c.6m in diameter. The ditch is likely to be related to the reclamation of land for fields from the Wantsum Channel between the 11th and 18th centuries. Examination of modern aerial photographs does not show conclusively whether these features still exists as earthworks.

Monument Types

• DITCH (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• STACK STAND (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

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A ditch and two small circular mounds are visible as earthworks on 1940s RAF vertical aerial photographs [1]. The ditch is visible running WNW-ESE on a generally straight alignment for c.520m through two fields immediately south of the Stour before shallowing and becoming imperceptible at the eastern end. It is cut through by a field drain belonging to the current field system 190m from its eastern end. The two circular mounds lie to the south of the ditch either side of this break, both are c.6m in diameter. They are interpreted as hay stack stances, mounds for the drying and storage of hay in the damp environment of a riverside meadow. Many such features have been recorded across the floor of the Stour Valley between Upstreet and the coast, and this part of the valley has a particularly dense concentration (see Related Monuments). They appear to represent an integral part of the medieval or post-medieval farming landscape in this area. The ditch is likely to be related to the reclamation of land for fields from the Wantsum Channel between the 11th and 18th centuries. Examination of modern aerial photographs does not show conclusively whether these features still exists as earthworks [2].

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

Related records