Monument record TQ 86 SE 350 - First World War fire trenches and an anti-artillery shelter, Rook Lane, Keycol Hill

First World War fire trenches and an anti-artillery shelter were identified during an evaluation carried out at Rook Lane, Keycol Hill by Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company in 2022. The walls of some of the trenches were supported by small timbers and planks. Several narrow linear trenches were also identified at the site which would have been constructed to be utilised alongside the fire and support line trenches during the First World War.

The anti-artillery shelter was located to the north east of the site. This feature measured 6.5 metres in width and 0.7 metres in depth. "The excavated section through deliberated backfill of the cut revealed a packing material supporting the revetment of the structure’s sides however there was no evidence for vertical posts supporting the construction and it was assumed that revetment here was build using flat-laid larger timbers, planks and sand bags" (from the original report, 1).

A possible drove way to the south and a hollow way identified to the north are probably contemporary with the trenches and may have been created for movement of troops across the site. An excavated section of the hollow way revealed a piece of steel angled beam which was interpreted (1) either as a fence post or barbed wire overhang.

These features would have formed defensive features of the Chatham Land Front, alongside machine gun positions and barbed wire entanglements, which were designed to prevent enemy forces from crossing the valley. (1)

<1> Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company, 2021, Archaeological Evaluation On Land At Hill Farm, Rook Lane, Keycol Hill, Bobbing, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE56544.