
Archaeological Work along the A2: 1966-1974
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The Lowy of Tonbridge and the Lands of the Clare Family in Kent, 1066-1217
A three-week Holiday in Ramsgate during July and August 1829
ARCHAEOLOGICAL WORK ALONG THE A2:
1966 - 1974*
INTRODUCTION
PART 1: THE LATE BRONZE AND
EARLY IRON AGE SITES
NIGEL MACPHERSON-GRANT
The Bridge by-pass survey overlaps and complements, both in
terms of area and content, findings made in advance of widening the
A2 between 1966 and 1973. In particular, the material from Site 8
only comes into perspective when compared with other Iron Age
pottery from the Barham and Kingston Downs ridgeway. Therefore,
this earlier, mostly unpublished, material has been included here.
As a result the emphasis is on pottery. Publication of detailed site
information has been withheld, since the nature of the pre-1974
excavations and the paucity of available site records would make the
present report unwieldy. Most site evidence is therefore confined to
a brief description accompanying the excavation plans.
The pottery itself is described and illustrated in a continuous
number sequence throughout. The individual pot descriptions are
taken as far as possible using the eye alone. This detail is considered
necessary due to the lack of a comprehensive study of east Kent Iron
Age pottery. A preferred synthesis into simplified form/fabric
descriptions can only be employed after study of a wider range of
material than is presented here.
Fig. 1 shows the by-pass route and the relevant section of the A2,
together with the sites excavated during the period concerned. Since
research is still in progress on finds from the later Roman and
• This report is published with the aid of a grant from the Department of the
Environment.
133
NIGEL MACPHERSON-GRANT
Anglo-Saxon cemeteries (Sites 6 and 7, respectively) the full report
has been divided. Part 2, forthcoming, will cover the later archaeological
periods and include a section on settlement and land-use
synthesizing the evidence pi:esented in Parts 1 and 2. This report
does not include the results of fieldwork by the Dover Archaeological
Group or the evidence of chance finds made adjacent to the route.
Detailed context-related catalogues have been placed with the
various site archives in the Royal Museum, Canterbury, where the
finds are held.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The excavation of sites 1, 5-7, and those on the Bridge by-pass
were funded by grants from the Department of the Environment,
which also provided a proton-magnetometer survey of the by-pass
route. Throughout, the work was carried out on behalf of the
Canterbury Archaeological Society by members from the Ashford,
Canterbury and Chatham House (Thanet) Archaeological Societies,
and directed by Mr. A.C. Hogarth or myself. Much fieldwork was
undertaken by members of the Ashford Archaeological Society,
particularly by Messrs. Jim Bradshaw and Alan Bruce during the
initial stages of the by-pass section. We are grateful to the owner of
Highland Court Farm, Mr. C. Wigham, and to the various farm
managers; to the personnel of Messrs. Mears Construction Ltd., and
their agent Mr. P. Barrett; to the staff of their sub-contractors,
Messrs. Blackwells, whose co-operation and assistance was
invaluable.
Finally, I particularly wish to thank the contributors whose
reports are published below, and Mr. Tim Tatton-Brown for reading
and discussing the report in general.
I. THE SITES
Site 1: Barham Downs 1971. (A.C. Hogarth - BD 71).
(Figs. 2-3).
The site (Fig. 2 and N.G.R. TR 21804970 epicentre) lies just
south of the junction of the B2046 with the A2 and was excavated
in. advace of roadworks for the second A2 carriageway. The excavatlIIIIJ. OIR.•IRfflJlfV: ll