Exploring Kent's Past

It should not be assumed that this site is publicly accessible and it may be on private property. Do not trespass.

Monument details

Summary

Earthworks of two probable haystack stances and boundary banks are visible as earthworks on 1940s aerial photographs. The banks may be a previously recorded part of the mapped field system, itself of probable post-medieval in date, as they share similar alignments to adjacent boundaries. Examination of recent aerial photography indicates that these features appear to have since been plough-levelled.

Monument Types

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

Full description

If you do not understand anything on this page please contact us.

Two shallow circular earthworks and a linear earthwork are visible on 1940s RAF vertical aerial photographs [1].

The mounds lie c.30m apart, located either side of a field drain, both measure c.8m in diameter. They are interpreted as hay stack stances, a mound for the drying and storage of hay in the damp environment of a riverside meadow. Similar features have been recorded across the floor of the Stour Valley. They appear to represent an integral part of the medieval or post-medieval farming landscape in this area. A linear bank is visible to the immediate east of the easternmost of the two mounds. It is c.3m wide and follows a sinuous, generally WSW-ENE, alignment roughly parallel to the field drain c.25m to the north, running for c.250m. A further very shallow bank appears to run off the eastern end of the bank at a right angle to its course. It is c.3m wide and runs for c.60m, aligned NNW-SSE, before stopping at a field boundary. Although these features are not shown on the historic Ordnance Survey mapping [2], they may be a previously recorded part of the mapped field system, itself of probable post-medieval in date, as they share similar alignments to adjacent boundaries.

Examination of recent aerial photography indicates that these features appear to have since been plough-levelled [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.

<3> Next Perspectives consortium via English Heritage, 2003, 2007, Next Perspective PGA georeferenced aerial photograph data, Tile Ref:PGA_TR3457_2007-04-22.jpg (Graphic material). SWX15711.

<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