Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A large bank is visible as an intermittent earthwork on 1940s aerial photography. Seven sections of bank are visible running for nearly 1.5km in total; one section is formed by double parallel bank. It follows a sinuous course, initially aligned WNW-ESE, then c.W-E over the central section with its final section adopting a NW-SE aligned course. The bank does not appear to be a part of the field system shown in this area on historic Ordnance Survey mapping. It is likely to be of medieval or earlier post-medieval date and may be a flood bank or related to the reclamation of land from the Wantsum Channel during these periods. It appears to have been plough-levelled by the 1960s as aerial photographs of this date show it as a cropmark.

Monument Types

• FLOOD DEFENCES (Unknown date)

Full description

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A large bank is visible as an intermittent earthwork on 1940s RAF vertical aerial photography [1]. The bank is c.10m wide and visible intermittently running for nearly 1.5km; seven sections of bank are visible in total. It follows a sinuous WNW-ESE course for the first 500m, then turns and runs c.W-E for the next 400m, then turns again and follows a NW-SE aligned course for the remainder of its length. At the eastern end of the WNW-ESE section, the feature is visible as a double parallel bank. The bank does not appear to be a part of the field system shown in this area on historic Ordnance Survey mapping [2]. It is likely to be of medieval or earlier post-medieval date and may be a flood bank or related to the reclamation of land from the Wantsum Channel during these periods. Another linear feature with a similar alignment lies 100m north of this bank and may be associated, see Related Monuments.

The bank appears to have been plough-levelled by the 1960s as Ordnance Survey vertical aerial photographs of this date show it as a cropmark [3].

A transcription of the features recorded from aerial photography exists within a GIS layer held by this HER [4].

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

<4> Wessex Archaeology, 2009-10, South-East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - Aerial Photographic Transcriptions (Digital archive). SWX15705.

<4> Wessex Archaeology, 2011, South East Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey - (SE RCZAS) Phase 1: National Mapping Programme Report (Unpublished document). SKE25955.

<4> 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