Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

A substantial ditch, flanked by banks on either side, is visible running roughly parallel to the River Stour on 1940s aerial photographs. The ditch runs for 600m on a sinuous E-W course and is flanked by banks on both sides over most of its course. These features do not appear to be part of the field system shown in this area on historic Ordnance Survey mapping. It is likely that they are of medieval or earlier post-medieval date and may represent water management features related to the reclamation of land from the Wantsum Channel during these periods.

The features appear to have been largely plough levelled by the 1960s as Ordnance Survey vertical aerial photographs of this date show them as cropmarks.

Monument Types

• FLOOD DEFENCES (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

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A substantial ditch, flanked by banks on either side, is visible running roughly parallel to the River Stour on 1940s RAF vertical aerial photographs [1]. The ditch is c.10m wide and runs for 600m on a sinuous E-W course; at its western end it appears to stop just short of joining the river channel and at its eastern end it appears to shallow out becoming imperceptible. The ditch is flanked on both sides over most of its course by banks which are c.3m wide. Part of the eastern half of the ditch is cut into by a field drain running on the same alignment. This appears to be narrower than the earlier ditch, part of which remains visible over this section.

These features do not appear to be part of the field system shown in this area on historic Ordnance Survey mapping [2]. It is likely that they are of medieval or earlier post-medieval date and may represent a former main drain or navigation channel related to the reclamation of land from the Wantsum Channel during these periods. Another linear feature with a similar alignment lies 100m south of this bank and may be associated, see Related Monuments.

The features appear to have been largely plough levelled by the 1960s as Ordnance Survey vertical aerial photographs of this date show them as cropmarks [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