EXCAVATION OF THE IRON AGE CAMP
AT SQUERRYES, WESTERHAM
By the late NANCY PIERCY Fox, B.A., F.S.A.
INTRODUCTION
IT was learnt in 1960 that a big tree-felling programme was in progress
at Squerryes, Westerham; and it was decided to excavate the Iron Age
Camp, following a, visit by myself and Mr. R. F. Jessup, F.S.A., in the
late autumn. Excavation commenced on 29th March, 1961, under the
auspices of the Kent Archreological Society. Permission for the work
was given by the landowner, Major J. B. O'B. Ward; the Forestry
Commission, who had leased the land; and by the Ministry of Works,
who made a grant towards the cost. The Kent Arch::eological Society
also made a grant. I was assisted by Dr. M. W. Thompson of the
Inspectorate of Ancient Monuments; Mr. P. J. Tester, F.S.A.; Dr. D. L.
Clarke; and Mr. D. B. Kelly, B.A., A.M.A.
THE SITE
Before the excavation commenced, the interior of the Camp, which
has an area of about 18 acres1 and which is sited on the Hythe Beds of
the Lower Greensand, had been cleared of trees and dense undergrowth
as part of a tree-felling programme on the Squerryes Estate. This was
a tremendous help to the excavation, and visitors were fortunate in
being able to see the Camp as a whole for the first time in many
centuries.
Squerryes Camp is sited on a hump-backed headland joined to the
main escarpment of the Hythe Beds by an isthmus or neck of flat
ground. The defences were planned to suit the topography-those across
the flat neck or isthmus being different in character from the defences
around the headland, but both used the sandstone and chert of the
Hythe Beds for defensive cresting and revetting. Two banks and one
ditch cross the flat isthmus to form a strategic defence of military value.
Around the headland a. steep scarped slope was cut and revetted. This
slope continued without intelTuption into a steep ditch with an outer
bank. The outer ba.nk. comma.nds the lower slopes of the headland.
Sections were out through both types of defence-the isthmus
section being supervised by Dr. D. L. Clarke, a.nd the headland section
by Mr. P. J. Tester and Mr. D. B. Kelly.
1 N. Piercy Fox, Arch. Oant., bod (1957), 243-5.
29
THE IRON AGE CAMP AT SQUERRYES, WESTERHAM
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SC:.ALI!. It.! l'-1:.E.T
Flo. 1. Plan of Camp.
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INN E. RAMPAT
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Al'Pl'\Oll'ENDIX
POLLEN ANALYSIS
By PROFESSOR J. W. DIMBLEBY, B.Sc., M.A., D.Phil.
The place chosen for sampling was in a section of the inner bank on
the south-east side of the Camp. There was an immature humus-iron
pod.zol preserved beneath about 20 in. of orange gravel. The surface of
the buried soil contained numerous flecks of charcoal.
A series of samples was taken at one-inch intervals, starting in the
base of the bank and extending through the buried surface down to the
C horizon of the buried soil. Samples were analysed as follows:
(a) The three lowermost samples in the base of the bank;
(b) The three uppermost samples in the buried soil;
(c) Thereafter alternate samples (i.e. at 2-in. intervals) down to a
depth of 15 in. below the buried surface.
Pollen was present only in low quantities, except for the buried
surface itself; even here there was a great preponderance of fern spores
which, being relatively resistant to decomposition, tend to be proportionately
over-represented in soils of high microbiological activity.
The pollen in the buried surface falls into two main categories:
(a) Cultivation pollen, viz. pollen of grasses (including a trace of
cereal pollen) and of weeds of cultivation (Plantain, Ligul,ijwrae
and others, including nettle);
(b) Pollen of scrub woodland, mainly hazel, but with some oak and
also bracken. The abundant spores of other forms, probably also
originate in this vegetation type, though their relative importance
is not to be gauged by their percentage.
The likely interpretation of such a pollen spectrum is that cultivation
had been taking place in clearings in woodland. This woodland
perhaps contained remnants of original high forest, but at this time
consisted mainly of hazel, as a result of removal of the overstorey
species by fire, grazing, felling, or a combination of all three. It is not
possible to estimate the size of the clearings, because the relative
proportions of woodland and herbaceous pollen would vary according
to the position of the point of sampling, whether it was central or
marginal in the clearing. This we cannot know.
32
l'holv: n,. E. I'. /1inr-y Fox
. \. itr• I. t"\(•tion or Hn1npnfti,..
/1/wto: Dr. 1-:. I'. Pi,rcv Po.t
B. :-il<' I. :-e<'t ion of Ditch .
A. Sito ll, Ditch l
l'hoto: Dr E
• 8 ,owing foll
· · V • />iercy Po
en. Rovotting.
x
B. Sito IJ, steep B
Photo: J)r. t.'. V
a.nk with Ro· vetting.
THE IRON AGE CAMP AT SQUERRYES, WESTERHAM
Throughout the analyses the trees represented in the pollen spectra
were oak and alder, with a little birch. There was no trace of lime or
elm, indicating a date later than Sub-boreal. Though beech was not
represented either, a Sub-Atlantic date seems certain, and the high
representation of hazel would point to an early stage of that period.
AcKNo,VLEDGEMENTS
To about thirty volunteers who did a great deal of hard workparticularly
the Sixth Form of Bromley High School for Girls; also
volunteers from Beckenham Grammar School for Girls, and Dulwich
College. To the Senior Scouts, under their District Commissioner,
Mr. Sully, who helped to clear the site prior to the excavation, and
erect a, marquee-kindly lent by Mr. Keith Coleborn. To the Royal
Geographical Society for the loan of a, Dumpy level. To Mr. Vickery,
Chief Forester, and the Forestry Commission for help, and for filling-in
after the excavation. To Professor Dimbleby, B.Sc., M.A., D.Phil., for
visiting the site and undertaking the pollen analysis.
33
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