Iron Age Village in Lenham under Threat
By Lesley Feakes
From 2003 to 2014, the Lenham Archaeology Group had been carrying out archaeological investigations at the Iron Age village at Royton / Mount Castle on Chapel Farm (TQ 9062 5030). It lies toward the centre of the County and may have been how the nearby Mount Castle Farm got its name.
Evidence collected to date has been submitted to the Historic Environment Record (HER), but the site has recently been threatened by development in the immediate area. Therefore, excavation evidence has been
Top, left
Fig 1: IA pot showing black marks where hobnals were stuck
Top, right
Fig 2: Hobnails
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Fig 3: LIA sherds from post hole
Bottom
Fig 4: Reconstructed pit-fired LIA style pot
The site comprises an enclosure ditch, two gateways and a Roman road, all of which are visible on Google Earth (2013). Evidence suggests that the ditch maintained its profile in the Folkestone sands because the smectite clay (Fullers Earth) plastering its slope made it hold like concrete for c.2000 years. The Lenham Archaeology Group excavations revealed numerous archaeological features:
West Gate
Half of the West gate hollow had been filled in with iron slag for the Roman road. A large Late Iron Age pot was discovered with Roman hobnails found accreted to its surface. The sandy ware body was wheel-thrown, extremely thin (2-3mm) for its height of 30cm, with a round base, ideal for standing on a sand floor (or on a grass quoit) (Figs 1 and 2).
On the north side of the gateway, in the fills of a post hole (with stone packing) on were pieces of a small pot. The fabric is not unlike Upchurch ware but highly burnished with a rouletted design (Fig 3).
Both pots are thought to be unusual for Kent, possibly imported from Gaul but may also be manufactured by Gaulish potters living here in Kent. Malcolm Lyne commented, “They must be Roman, the rouletting is not found on Local IA pots.”
Enclosure Ditch
A sherd of handmade pottery found in a section of the enclosure ditch was one that exactly matched pieces from the Iron
Age site at Snarkhurst Wood site, Hollingborne. The author had previously made a mock- up of this pot using similar clay, tempering and firing (Fig 4).
Hundreds of sherds of typical Gallo-Belgic ‘grog ware’ have been found all over the site from surface finds and trenching plus many other types of Iron Age butt beakers and Romano-British pottery.
Imported items include early Samian, amphora and a basalt quern stone. “Oh, they have all come in after the Invasion,” people have said, but how can that be certain? The site is at the head
of the Great Stour, and the river was navigable up to Chapel Mill with sufficient width for barges. Metal detectorists have found Celtic staters at most of the staging points (mills) (Fig 5).
The Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) investigated similar nearby sites in 1999; one, in particular, the previously mentioned Snarkhurst Wood, suggested the presence of a Late Iron Age rural occupation. Members of Lenham Archaeology Group were invited to walk over and collect remaining bits and pieces from Snarkhurst once the professionals had finished. The main trench yielded Late Iron Age pots, upside down but containing potboilers. One such example is illustrated below: a grey sandy ware
The site at Royton – Mount Castle hints at being a remarkable site and needs a more considerable investigation to understand it fully; development threatens this. I wish to thank Andrew Barr senior, the most co-operative and interested owner of this site.
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Fig 5: Quarter stater circa 50BC found by Derick Butcher
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Fig 6: LIA pot from Snarkhurst
Bottom
Fig 7: IA linchpin from Chapel Farm found by Ted Godfrey
The last thing I handed to him was this linchpin (Fig 7), found on-site many years ago by Ted Godfrey. “Look after it,” I told him, “perhaps it is the linchpin to the whole site.”