Monument record TR 36 SW 529 - Late Iron Age/Roman field system discovered during pipeline trenching near Richborough Way

During excavations associated with the installation of a pipeline between Margate and Broadstairs, in excavation area 15, a series of ditches were recorded. These represent at least two phases of late prehistoric/Late Iron Age to Romano-British rectilinear field systems. It is possible that these followed an earlier field system of Late bronze Age date which is suggested by the presence of later Bronze Age pottery.

One was oriented approximately east–west, whilst a second included a possible road and mortuary enclosure, oriented north-west/south-east. These ditches varied in size from 0.7m – 1. 05 wide and 0.20m to 0.46m deep with steep concave sides and flat bases; some were much smaller gullies e.g. 0.26m wide x 0.15m deep. The northern terminus of one, which stops c. 3.5m south of cemetery enclosure ditch, suggests that elements of the N–S/E–W field system postdate the cemetery which is aligned obliquely to it. Two of the ditches appear to have been re-cut, and the earliest ditch contained material of a Middle to Late Bronze Age date. A large pit feature may be a waterhole, an interpretation which is supported by its location in the corner of a field enclosure. (1-3)

<1> Wessex Archaeology, 2005, Margate to Weatherlees Hill Wastewater Treatment Works Twin Pipeline: Interim Statement (Unpublished document). SKE13017.

<2> Wessex Archaeology, 2008, Thanet's Longest Excavation: Archaeological Investigations Along the Route of the Weatherless - Margate - Broadstairs Wastewater Pipeline (Monograph). SKE53449.

<3> Wessex Archaeology, 2006, Margate and Broadstairs Urban Wastewater Treatment Scheme (Unpublished document). SKE29263.