Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

An enclosure and a boundary ditch are visible as earthworks on 1940s aerial photographs. Examination of recent aerial photographs suggests that they still remain as earthworks.

The enclosure is D-shaped in plan and defined by a ditch. A subrectangular platform lies within the enclosure and is abutted onto its northern side. The boundary ditch runs from the eastern corner of the enclosure; it is visible running for 260m aligned ESE-WN and stops at a stream. The features appear integrated with the field layout shown on historic Ordnance Survey mapping and probably represent previously unrecorded elements of this system. This field system is likely to be of medieval or post-medieval date and derive from land reclaimed from the Wantsum Channel.

Monument Types

• D SHAPED ENCLOSURE (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• DITCH (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)
• PLATFORM (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1066 AD to 1900 AD)

Full description

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An enclosure and a boundary ditch are visible as earthworks on 1940s RAF vertical aerial photographs [1]. Examination of modern aerial photographs suggests that the features still remain as earthworks [2].

The enclosure lies at the field edge and adjacent to a stream. It is D-shaped in plan and defined by a ditch which appears likely to run into the stream, however any such junction is obscured by debris associated with dredging. A platform lies within the enclosure and is abutted onto its northern (straight) side. The platform is subrectangular in plan and defined by a ditch that joins into the enclosure ditch. Ground level on the platform appears to be banked up above that in the surrounding parts of the enclosure. The boundary ditch runs off from the eastern corner of the enclosure and appears to be integrated with the enclosure ditch. It runs for 260m aligned ESE-WNW, stopping at a field boundary formed by a stream. This feature is roughly parallel to a field boundary shown on the first edition Ordnance Survey map [3], together both features appear to form the northern and southern limits of the ridge and furrow recorded as MWX43367 and are likely to be contemporary.

The features appear to be integrated with the field layout shown on historic Ordnance Survey mapping and probably represent previously unrecorded elements of this system. This field system is likely to be of medieval or post-medieval date and derive from land reclaimed from the Wantsum Channel. The exact purpose of the enclosure and platform is unclear but they are likely to be agricultural features.

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

<2> Google Earth, viewed on 02/06/2010 (Graphic material). SWX15704.

<3> 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