The remains of earthworks to the east of the parish church at Kenardington, on the edge of Romney Marsh near Appledore, have attracted the attention of nearly every historian of Kent since Hasted who wrote his 'History of Kent' - published 1778.
However, all references to this site seem to repeat the same theory that the scant traces represent a fort or camp, hastily thrown up by King Alfred as protection from the expected raids by the Danes in the 9th Century.
Hasted included a plan in his account but this is somewhat difficult to relate to the features that are visible today.
Several earlier writers seem to have associated a large embankment on the lower slope of the hillside with the features adjacent to the churchyard. This lower bank is most probably part of 'inning' or marsh reclamation work, maybe medieval in date.
This leaves the upper features which consist of a fairly substantial bank, running North/South across the slope of the hill for about 600 feet (180 meters), with a somewhat shorter length at the North/East side of the 'Church Field'. A resistivity survey was conducted across various sections of the main earthwork to try to locate any buried ditches.
Apart from a possible buried feature along the Southern boundary of the field, which is most probably a fairly recent farm ditch, no definite features were identified. A search of the ploughed fields surrounding the site (itself under pasture) revealed no pottery or other small finds of any great age, although a scatter of Mesolithic flints was found centered on N.G.R. TQ 978323, which may confirm the location here of a much earlier prehistoric shoreline.
The suggestion has been made that these earthworks might be the remains of the 'lost' Anglo-Saxon 'burgh' of 'Eorpeburnan'. A document known as the 'Burghal Hidage', drawn up between 911 and 919 A.D., lists fortified towns or 'burghs' in the South of England. 'Eorpeburnan' was located somewhere to the east of Hastings. However, even allowing for the great changes that have occurred to the geography of this part of Kent over the last 1,000 (plus) years, this site does not really seem to fit into the pattern of a strategic site chosen to protect the surrounding country in time of war, in Anglo- Saxon times.
It was suggested that Appledore is a more likely location to look for an Anglo-Saxon fortification, sited as it presumably was, near to the River Limen or Rother and with access to the sea.
N.R. Aldridge
