Since 2016, the Society has investigated a prehistoric multi-period landscape on the Lees Court Estate in Kent. Thanks to the drive and enthusiasm of the Society’s Patron, Lady Sondes, excavations to date have revealed a multi-period prehistoric landscape atop the North Downs overlooking Faversham Creek. Located in eastern Kent, one interpretation could be that a prehistoric community used the area as a designated space for gathering people, the treatment of the dead or a point where technological and cultural exchange took place over many thousands of years.
A THANK YOU FROM
THE COUNTESS SONDES
I am delighted to take this opportunity to thank the Kent Archaeological Society, University of Kent and all the volunteers for the ‘journey’ we have shared on the Lees Court Estate.
There was a constant ‘buzz’ during the six weeks of Excavations with special excitement with every significant ‘find’ (especially the numerous features that emerged) which would spread like ‘wildfire’ making its way to the Estate Office and beyond!
All the members of the Estate staff were involved – whether in a small or large capacity and embraced the Project as part of our Community. I would particularly like to thank Liz Roberts for heading the Lees Court effort working closely with Clive Drew, the outstanding Leader of the Project. We tried to make the work of those involved run as smoothly as possible.
I would encourage every potential volunteer to take advantage of the opportunity to join our adventure. It is a great chance to work with Keith Parfitt, one of Britain’s top archaeologists, on what will be the largest Archaeological Project in Britain.
We are all ready to welcome you to the Lees Court Estate.
Phyllis Sondes
EXCAVATIONS IN WOODS COURT FIELD, SEPTEMBER 2018
By Keith Parfitt
Fig 1: Aerial view of excavations in Woods Court Field, courtesy of Anthony Mak
Background
In September 2017 a metal detecting rally was held on the Lees Court estate, with fields across the historic parishes of Badlesmere, Selling and Sheldwich being searched. A team from the Kent Archaeological Society was invited to attend the event to record any artefacts of interest.
No less than four hoards of Late Bronze Age metalwork (perhaps with hints of a fifth) were found during the course of the rally. Three were discovered in the same field, Woods Court Field, at Badlesmere (Hoards I–III), with the fourth about
1.7km further to the north-east. Hoards I and II remained largely in situ and were archaeologically excavated at the time of their discovery (see Newsletter 107).
Hoard I was found to be contained within an inverted pottery vessel and yielded more than 16kg of metal – mostly plate scrap and sword chape fragments of the Wilburton Industry, broadly datable to 1150–1000
BC. Hoard II (fig 2) lay some 164 metres to the north-west of Hoard I and contained thirteen pieces of broken bun-ingot, tightly packed into a very small pit. A limited excavation was undertaken around this hoard located two further pits close-by (with no metalwork).
Hoard III, spread by the plough, lay 17.50m to the south-west of Hoard
II. It again consisted of fragments of bun-ingot, totalling 34 in number. The distance makes it unlikely that these pieces could be derived from Hoard II, so a third discrete hoard in the same area is implied.
KAS investigations 2018
Taken together, the Bronze Age metalwork discoveries made in Woods Court Field suggested that larger scale excavations would be informative. As part of the KAS’s long-term Lees Court Estate landscape study, an excavation was arranged for September 2018. This was focused on the area where Hoards II and III had been discovered.
A range of research questions needed to be addressed by the excavation:
Can any more loose material relating to Hoards II and III be recovered from the plough-soil?
Does any in situ material relating to Hoard III remain in the ground?
Are there any more hoards buried in the immediate area?
Were Hoards II and III buried in a contemporary settlement site or open country?
The excavation provided useful information concerning all these points. In particular, it would seem that Hoards II and III had been buried within a settlement area.
The Excavation
The excavation covered some 450 square metres and was conducted as a continuous, twenty-day operation, mostly under bright and breezy weather conditions (apart from the final weekend when there was persistent, steady rain!). The natural subsoil on the site consisted of Clay-with-flints, a notoriously difficult material to work, being quick to bake like concrete in the sun or turn to a sticky porridge in the wet (we experienced both forms in the excavation, especially the concrete version!).
Cutting into the natural clay below the plough soil, a scatter of 28 mostly shallow features, including the three previously recorded in 2017, was revealed (fig 3). These
features consisted of a series of variously sized pits, together with eight post-holes. There was no clear evidence to show that Hoard III had ever been contained within any of the features located, although two sizeable pits producing
Late Bronze Age pottery were found in its immediate vicinity.
Two adjacent pits located towards the centre of the cleared area were of substantial proportions (Fs 164 & 172), much larger than any of the other features discovered (fig 4).
Both pits extended into the undug area so that their full extent was not revealed. About three-quarters of
F. 172 was examined, but perhaps less than one-quarter of F. 164 was exposed. From what was seen of pit
F. 164, it is at least 5 metres across and more than one metre deep, containing significant amounts of pottery and large quantities of calcined flint (pot-boilers).
Conclusions
Although no more significant finds of Bronze Age metalwork were made, the 2018 excavation was highly successful. There now seems little doubt that Late Bronze Age hoards II and III had been deposited within a broadly contemporary settlement area, although more work is required before full details on the layout of this site can be set out.
Finds discovered during the excavation included significant amounts of prehistoric pottery, together with substantial quantities of struck flint and very large numbers of calcined flints. No animal bone or marine shell had survived, however, due to the acidic nature of the soil here. Some of the pottery recovered is decorated, and all of it has been provisionally dated to within the period c. 1150–600 BC; it is thus apparently broadly
Clockwise from top left Fig 2: Hoard II as it was excavated in 2017
Fig 3: Pit F.155
Fig 4: Feature F.164
Fig 5: Pottery c.1150–600 BC contemporary with the hoards previously recovered (fig 5).
We are now actively preparing for next year’s excavation, equipped with an additional series of research questions, answers to which should significantly enhance our understanding of Bronze Age Badlesmere:
What is the extent of the implied Late Bronze Age settlement?
Was it seasonally occupied or permanent?
Does the area investigated in 2018 represent the most intensively inhabited part of the site or was it denser in other areas? Are there any identifiable buildings?
Did a ditch or palisade enclose the settlement?
What was the source of water for the settlement?
How does this site fit in with other Bronze Age activity in the area?
Acknowledgements:
The excavation was undertaken with the enthusiastic encouragement and support of Lady Sondes and the Lees Court Estate. Through the Estate Administrator, Elizabeth Roberts, much practical support and assistance was provided on the ground, making the whole project thoroughly enjoyable and mostly hassle-free. Large numbers of KAS volunteers, some new to the Society and some new to fieldwork, joined in with the excavation, enduring some hard digging conditions without complaint. The writer extends his sincere thanks to everyone concerned. We are greatly looking forward to our return next year…
SITE ADMINISTRATION
By Mike Curtis
September 2018 saw the Society begin to undertake a significant archaeological project at Lees Court Estate. This year presented a challenge as the excavations were carried out over two sites: Woods Court Field and Stringmans Field (fig 1). While relatively close, the sites produced different archaeology with interesting findings from each.
With a project as large as Lees Court Estate it was essential to get the administration of the site up and running well before the actual excavations began.
Not knowing how many people would turn up made planning difficult but we hoped we had ordered enough water, toilets and tools… and first aid kits.
Although it was the intention to make the site as digital as possible, several documents had to be paper- based, this included the health and safety assessment which every visitor to the site was required to read and sign. Data protection and Finds and Treasure agreements had also to be read, understood and signed. The data protection form allowed visitors to opt-in to receive updates and information about the
Fig 1 site and the Society. For security purposes, these paper records were not computerised or kept on site.
Although many packs of these documents were prepared we very quickly ran out, Lees Court Estate quickly helped, printing another 50. Then another 50!
To try and keep track of the visitors to the site a signing in and out sheet for each day was used, although people remembered to sign in, signing out was often forgotten – or we have buried many archaeologists!
Context sheets and cut and deposit records were entered onto a database as soon as they were completed. A link to a photograph of each sheet, plan and sketch allows the original documents to be viewed from within the database. Eventually, all finds will also be photographed and linked to the database.
Our intention for season 2019 is to have all finds photographed and logged as soon as they are washed and identified; ideally, Keith Parfitt would use a tablet for all his paperwork so that would also be immediately available, but I don’t see that happening any time soon!
GEOPHYSICS AT LEES COURT ESTATE
By Fred Birkbeck
The excavations at Woods Court Field and Stringmans Field on the Lees Court Estate were a perfect opportunity to test out the new KAS surveying equipment. Richard Taylor, Fred Birkbeck and Andy Bates were tasked with finding out what archaeology lies hidden under the soil and how these hi-tech tools can aid project planning, recording and reporting by members of the society and its affiliated groups.
Remote sensing was conducted using a magnetometer to detect minute contrasts in the magnetic polarity of soil that has been disturbed from the soil in the natural geology. Richard Taylor conducted the first survey using the equipment in the west of Stringmans Field in the spring of 2018 where he revealed a circular anomaly which was crying out for further investigation. A small team of KAS volunteers subsequently excavated the potential feature in May which revealed an astonishing prehistoric monument cut into the landscape.
The implications were that there is some exciting and important archaeology in this previously overlooked part of the county.
Galvanised by success and looking for more hidden ‘treasures’, myself and Andy Bates were recruited onto the survey team and set about surveying the rest of Stringmans Field. Sure enough, another circular feature was identified just south of the previous monument and this became the target of the University of Kent dig which revealed another potential monumental feature.
Further potential features were also identified in the field giving the project team a ‘kid-in-a-candy- store’ choice of where to direct future investigations. Conveniently, the site of the Bronze Age hoards discovered in Woods Court Field, which lies directly across the modern road, had already been selected as the location of the subsequent excavation project.
Before the September excavation, the exact location of the hoards was established using a sub- centimetre accurate GPS system that established an exact location at which to conduct a pre-excavation magnetometer survey of the trench area (highlighted in yellow in fig 1).
The results could be used to inform the excavation strategy, and the excavation itself could be used to ‘ground-truth’ the results of the survey, a perfect complement. What the survey revealed was a heavily settled landscape to the west and south of the hoard site, evidence of pits and general occupation activity on the slope facing the valley is characterised in the survey results by contrasting black and white (high and low magnetism) readings. Intriguing linear anomalies were also detected which lay just outside the excavation area (marked in red on fig 1). All in all, it looked as though there was already some evidence to support Keith’s hypothesis of hoard burials close to settlement sites without a trowel making contact with the soil, and so it proved when several large features were excavated which precisely matched strong anomalies on the magnetometer survey.
The rest of Woods Court Field was surveyed over the course of the month by the team ably assisted by volunteers from SWAG and FRAG during which, several other potential features were revealed, including an interesting rectilinear feature (fig 2) which was test- pitted. Further investigation is warranted in these areas such as fieldwalking and targeted metal detecting. What is certain is that this landscape is proving to be the gift that keeps on giving and that geophysical survey will be an invaluable tool in identifying further excavation targets and answering more questions about the extent of the settlement history of the Lees Court Estate.
Anyone interested in learning more about geophysical survey and how they can take part can contact Richard Taylor at: Richard.taylor@kentarchaeology.org
Top
Fig 1: Excavation area results
Bottom
Rectilinear feature further north of excavation site
ESTATE AND FARMING VIEW OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIGS
By Liz Roberts, Estate Administrator, Lees Court Estate
Being asked to take a field out of farming operation for four weeks or more is an interesting dilemma. This is especially challenging when the Archaeologists have a fixed start date, and the weather can alter that start date with five minutes of rain.
The first excavation was in Stringmans Field, close to our Bronze Age Burial Mound. The site area was plotted partly over a Higher Level Scheme (HLS) field margin and a game plot. With our shooting calendar running from 1st October to 1st February and a new game plot of maize having to be drilled by June, a two-week dig was planned for May 2018.
Although this site created little disturbance to the general farming calendar, permission had to be granted by English Nature to disturb an HLS field margin. We also liaised with Kent County Council (KCC) Footpath Office to explain how close the site was to a footpath. KCC were happy for the Dig to continue without having to apply for a Footpath Diversion Order; had the footpath dissected the site completely, we would have had to have waited a further six weeks to obtain the necessary permission, a matter we will have to address for 2019.
The September excavation created more farming complexities due to both the size of the excavation site (20x30m) and the number of people expected each day. The dig site was in a productive arable field (Woods Court) as well as being a high habitat area for the gamebirds.
Working with our gamekeeper Shayne Dean, we planned the site layout, as well as the start and finish times of archaeological work; the aim is to cause as little disturbance to the gamebirds as possible. The planning paid off, as we had reports most mornings from those first on site that they had to evict the pheasants from the centre of the dig area!
In the lead up to the dig, daily communication with Clive Drew was vital to keep everything on time: status of the harvest; planning when the JCB could remove the topsoil; taking delivery of 1000 bottles of water, a portacabin and a shipping container. The portacabin and shipping container was stored temporarily in the field opposite until the harvest was completed and the site prepared. The Estate team later moved them on to the dig site.
Woods Court Field was planted with a Non-Food Crop called Echium, which is one of the last crops to be harvested. To enable this crop to be combined, the Echium is cut and laid in rows to allow the crop to dry, allowing it to be processed through the combine. This drying period takes typically three to five days. Having had a long run of dry, hot weather we were confident we would have the crop off in plenty of time but, as soon as the crop was cut it rained. This left the team (consisting of KAS members and Lees Court Estate staff) only two days in which to get the site marked out, topsoil removed and containers and portacabin moved to the site. Everyone pulled together, and all was completed in time for the Dig to start on time.
The second site, which we refer to as the University of Kent (UKC) dig site, is in Stringmans Field. This site causes little farming disruption, as it is on the HLS grassland margin. This site is actually of benefit to the management of the gamebirds, as having some human activity at the end of the game plot, meant that birds were discouraged from venturing out on to the road. The site will stay ‘open’ but covered throughout the winter and will be revisited by UKC students in early Spring 2019.
Once the dig was underway, we took day trips out from the Estate Office to see what was happening. Every day new gems emerged, and we started to be able to look at the differences in soil structure, learnt what a potboiler was, learnt about flint knapping and, most importantly, learnt how to use a trowel, hand shovel and hand brush.
And then it was all over. Once given the all clear by Keith Parfitt and Richard Taylor, the JCB returned to backfill the area. Next, it was the cultivator and drill. The 2019 crop of first wheat was drilled and is now several inches tall. This crop will be harvested in late July 2019, and we will return to the site to continue the excavation.
STRINGMANS FIELD EXCAVATIONS 2018
By Richard Taylor
Fig 1: Aerial view of excavations at Stringmans Field 2018, courtesy of Anthony Mak
The excavation at Stringmans Field was carried out from 12th–24th September 2018 as part of the KAS Lees Court Estate Archaeological Project. Under the site directorship of Dr David Walsh of the University of Kent, many volunteer students from the University of Kent assisted with excavating a 25m x 5m trench over a strong geophysical response, found in 2017, thought to be a ring ditch.
The work carried out at Stringmans Field suggests the most likely explanation for the geophysical anomaly is a Bronze Age barrow.
A combination of geophysical and excavation evidence suggests the barrow has a ring ditch c.15–20m in diameter, approximately 1.0 to
1.5m wide and c.1.0m in depth.
KAS Excavations 2018
Area 1 – Slot Trench
Excavations concentrated on three areas of the 25m trench. A slot cut at a right angle to a strong geophysical response soon yielded results as a ring ditch gradually appeared. The outer cut for the ring ditch 521 is clear (figs 2 & 3) in the slot trench.
The most likely purpose of the ring ditch was to surround a barrow.
In the slot trench section profile, the barrow structure appeared curvilinear and composed mostly of up-cast chalk from the excavated ring ditch, though the original profile of the barrow has been ploughed away. South of 521 can be seen the first indications of the barrow structure, which appears to be composed of large chalk pieces compacted in a thin brown silty clay matrix. This context is covered by a silty, chalk-flecked matrix that seems too delicate to be part of a structure, and thought instead to be an accumulated run-off from the barrow structure (fig 4).
Further examination of the section reveals that there appears to be a primary ditch fill 524. 532 is a later fill that suggests the ditch has undergone a series of re-cuts over time, indicating the structure was maintained.
No context numbers have been attributed to any re-cuts until further excavation reveals conclusive evidence for these potential events. Nevertheless, these re- cuts are hypothesised in fig 5.
No pottery was found in the slot trench, though a small quantity of lithic material was retrieved consisting of flakes and pieces of waste flint arising from the knapping process. No cores were found. The patination was uniformly white. All the flakes were small and thin, with one or two possible primary flakes.
Area 2 – West
A trench to the northwest reveals a continuation of the ring ditch, but this time cut through natural sandy clay. This discovery came as something of a surprise, given the ring ditch in slot trench is cut into the chalk bedrock. The chalk bedrock dives off to the northwest, which must have presented a problem for those constructing the barrow, though it appears they adapted the construction method to use the natural sandy clay deposit as part of the barrow make-up, though, again, much of the curvature has been lost to ploughing (fig 6).
The fill of the ring ditch in Area 2 had a different composition than that found in the slot trench, due mainly to the lack of chalk run-off (fig 7). However, small sherds of pottery from the fill in this area reveal possible dating evidence: upper fill contained one small, but fresh sherd of possible Middle Bronze Age pot (c.1500–1300 BC) and the lower fill contained two scraps of the same pot which may be late Beaker Potter (c.2000–1500 BC).
Area 3 – East
East of the slot trench, Area 3 presented some issues, not least because a shallow linear ditch 505 soon became apparent which, at the time, was thought to be responsible for the magnetic anomaly in the geophysics results (fig 8). Indeed, it was not until the slot trench was excavated to a depth that indicated the presence of a much broader and deeper ring ditch, that this notion was dismissed.
The relationship between ditch 505 and 521 remains unclear. 505 is partly cut into the natural chalk, but its fill was visible once the top and plough soils were machined off. Given its relatively shallow depth, it was suggested the 505 might be a Post-Medieval field boundary. However, subsequent results from the analysis of its fill 506 revealed a sherd of Later Prehistoric pottery (c.1500–600 BC).
Conclusions
Although no more significant finds beyond the potsherds were made, the 2018 excavation was highly successful. Current evidence suggests the presence of a Bronze Age barrow from c.2000 BC that appeared to be maintained and possibly used up until c. 600 BC.
We are now actively preparing for next year’s excavation, equipped with an additional series of research objectives, answers to which should significantly enhance our understanding of Bronze Age Badlesmere:
Excavate other slot trenches through 521 towards the centre of the barrow to gain further insight into re-cuts of ring ditch and increase the potential for locating stratified finds;
Deepen Area 2 to gain a better understanding of ring ditch cut into natural clays;
Discuss with LCE the possibility of cutting an evaluation trench on the south side of the fence to establish the diameter of the ring ditch;
Conduct all of the above with the University of Kent to enable students to develop their excavations skills.
Top, left
Fig 2: 521 cut into natural chalk
Top, right
Fig 3: 521 and north-facing section face
Acknowledgements:
The excavation was undertaken with the support of Lady Sondes and staff of the Lees Court Estate. Many thanks to the numerous and willing University of Kent students who laboured through the painstaking and delicate excavation, during hot and sunny weather for a scarcity of finds. Dr David Walsh, Lecturer in Archaeology at Kent, said: ‘To have found as much as we did is amazing and an exciting opportunity for further investigation of this in future. Ideally, in years ahead, we would dig more deeply in targeted areas to try to gain a better understanding of this barrow. This is an invaluable experience for our archaeology students.’ The work throughout the summer yielded significant reward, and we now have a much better understanding of the anomaly that first appeared on the geophysics in 2017.
Top left
Fig 4: North-facing section of slot trench showing what remains of barrow make-up Top right
Fig 5: Hypothesised re-cuts of ring ditch in slot trench
Middle left
Fig 6: Adapted construction method using natural sandy clay as part of barrow make-up
Middle right
Fig 7: Continuation of ditch fill (darker soils) to the west
Bottom
Fig 8: Linear ditch 505 cut into chalk in foreground
LEES COURT ESTATE 2018
By Clive Drew
As 2018 draws to a close, I thought I would give you a quick round-up on the Society’s activities on the Estate and a flavour on what we are planning for the 2019 Season.
Early 2018 was spent finalising the excavation timetable as we were going to open up three sites in the Stringmans Field – Woods Court Field area. The next task was to purchase the equipment needed, and I would like to thank Past Horizons, Opit- cal, Travis Perkins and Portable Space, all of whom granted the Society generous pricing.
In May an evaluation excavation was conducted over a 20m ring ditch in Stringmans Field. The initial interpretation that the ditch could be a Neolithic causewayed enclosure will be further tested in 2019 when it is proposed to excavate a 30m x 30m trench over the entire target.
September saw the excavation at Woods Court Field over the site that contained two of the Bronze Age Hoards found in 2017. A 30m x 20m trench was excavated, yielding numerous prehistoric features and a collection of pottery, spot dated to c.1150–1000 BC (Late Bronze Age plainware tradition), consistent with the dating of the hoards. The School of Classical & Archaeological Studies at the University of Kent at Canterbury had a dedicated trench located on the edge of Stringmans Field to the east of the Neolithic causewayed enclosure. The initial interpretation of the students’ work here is that they found a Bronze Age barrow.
Throughout 2018 both Stringmans Field and Woods Court were subject to a full magnetometry survey. The survey has thrown up more targets for further investigation at a future date. In 2019 additional survey work will commence in the hunt for “Badlesmere Castle” at Badlesmere Bottom. We will also be revisiting Woods Court Field in 2019 further excavate a large pit in the existing trench. Hoard 1 is located to the west of this field. The intention is to cut a c.150m trench between the current site and Hoard 1.
Throughout the September excavations at Woods Court and Stringmans Field, 253 volunteers took part in the project. I understand that over 30 of our guests have since joined the Society, and this is a considerable success.
On behalf of the Society, I would like to thank Lady Sondes for her drive and enthusiasm for this project, Liz Roberts and her team from the Estate for making us most welcome. From the Society’s side Keith Parfitt for his excellent leadership, Richard Taylor and Fred Birkbeck for the surveying and mapping, and Michael Curtis for his administering the site and the digitising of all the site paperwork.
However, above all I would like to thank all of you who travelled to Badlesmere and joined in this wonderful project – without you, there would be no project, and I look forward to welcoming you on site again in 2019.
