A programme of archaeological excavations and evaluations in the grounds of the former St. Stephen’s College in the North Foreland Area of Broadstairs between 1999 and 2003 revealed multi period remains. The majority of the features identified relate to the Middle to Late Iron age occupation of the site where number of apparently associated features, a rectangular enclosure, linear ditch and a post line that are indicative of a more permanent settlement and intensive management of the landscape.

The ditches of an enclosure were first exposed during the excavations in 1999 when three sections were excavated. A further section was excavated during the evaluation carried out in 2001. In 2003 the ditch was exposed and cleaned in order that its location could be fixed and ,then preserved in situ under a car parking and green space within the site. The enclosure was broadly rectangular with rounded corners, enclosing an area of 0.1ha within a ditch that averages 2.61m wide and 1.06m deep. The longest axis was orientated northwest to southeast and an entrance 3.81m wide was located in the centre of the south eastern side. Pottery was recovered from all four sections excavated through the enclosure ditch dating the final filling of the enclosure to the Late Iron Age c.150-50 BC.

There are a number of possible interpretations of the rectangular enclosure. It is clear that the control of space is an essential part of Iron Age settlement patterns. The ditch and perhaps an associated bank would allow the space within to be divided from the surrounding area. Access to the enclosed space could be controlled from the narrow entrance. The enclosure may have served as a defended enclave within a wider settlement. There is no evidence for any associated earthworks or post built rampart, however any bank that may have been built could have been lost to ploughing. The small size of this enclosure suggests it would have been unsuitable as a defended site for anything other than for a very short time. An interpretation is that the enclosures are used as cattle kraals; in this instance a bank and post built gateway would serve as an effective barrier to contain livestock.

One of the complex of linear ditches visible in aerial photographs of the site rising up the valley slope from Joss Bay extended into the area of the excavations running roughly north to south across the site for 115.91m. At both the southern and northern end the ditch extended beyond the limit of the excavation Five segments were excavated through the ditch that measured an average of 2.05m wide. At the southern end, the bases of the ditch segments were flat with steep sides but at the northern end the segments were shallower and although the base was still flat the sides were not as steep. It is possible that the ditch was more truncated at the northern end and that it originally was as deep in the northern part as it was further to the south. Pottery was recovered from three of the ditch sections suggesting the final infilling of the ditch dated to the Late Iron Age c.150-100/50 BC

A distinct line of post holes ran north to south across the western side of the site. Fifty post holes have been included in this group on the basis of their position within the linear sequence but only sixteen of these were excavated, the majority at the northern end. For much of its length the post line ran parallel to the linear ditch, possibly creating a narrow corridor for controlling stock. Pottery recovered from the excavated post holes give a range of dates from the Early Iron Age to the Early Roman Period. The line of posts appears to respect not only the north-south running ditch but also the rectangular enclosure ditch, this would date the construction of the post line to between 400-150/50 BC with the pottery recovered being residual and associated with the removal of the posts.

Interpretations of the function of the enclosure must also consider the large number of storage pits located to the southeast and east of the entrance. These pits occupy the area directly in front of the entrance to the enclosure and are divided by a clear space from the enclosure. The dating evidence shows that the first of the pits to be dug were contemporary with the establishment of the enclosure and were dug around c.550-400 BC There is continuity from the Phase 1 grain storage pits and the sequence probably represents an intensification of the Phase 1 activity within constraints established by the division of the space by the enclosure and post line. Pits continued to be dug throughout the Iron Age with the last being filled around the same time that the enclosure ditch was allowed to fill between c.150-50 BC. The pits are all generally circular in plan and cut into the chalk geology and can be divided into three types based on their shape in section. The smallest group Type A (10%) are those pits that have been heavily truncated and are very shallow at less than 0.2m deep three of these pits may have originally been much deeper. The largest number of pits rep[resented, Type B (53%), are bowl or U shaped in section, these pits have flat or slightly rounded bases and slightly concave sloping sides, they average 2.03m in diameter and 0.54m deep. The final group of pits, Type C (37%), have straight vertical sides and flat bases, a total of eleven pits of this type were excavated, several of the pits in this group are heavily eroded at the top that may indicate that the mouth to the pit was narrower when they were first dug. The pits in this group average 2.19m diameter and 1.1m deep, the three deepest pits are all of this type. There appears to be no pattern to the arrangement of the pits by type, size or date. The pits were generally filled with sandy silts and midden material containing animal bone, marine shell, daub, flint, burnt and charred seeds, grain, chaff and wood as well as large amounts of pottery and fragments of quern stone. An iron brooch was found in pit 2201. The tip lines and silting patterns suggest that the pits were deliberately filled with waste rather than left to fill gradually over a long period of time.

One interpretation of the large chalk cut pits found in Iron Age settlements is that they were grain stores. Studies have shown that as long as there is an airtight seal grain can be stored for many months with only a small amount of wastage. However for a pit to be effective as a grain stores it is necessary that they are wider at the base than at the mouth so they can be easily sealed, at Danebury pits of this type are referred to a ‘beehive pits’ by Cunliffe. None of the excavated pits in this area have this profile although it is possible that the Type C pits that have heavily eroded tops may have originally had narrow mouths, another possibility is that the pits were lined with a wattle and daub structure that could allow a tightly fitting lid to be attached around the mouth. The final possibility is that these pits, as well as those of Type B, were used to store other less perishable goods or served another function within the settlement such as latrines or flint quarries.

Eight four post groups and two six-post groups were identified, probably representing post built timber structures. Of the four post structures only the post holes of two, four post Groups 7 and 8, were excavated. The six unexcavated four post groups are all within the rectangular enclosure and for this reason have been included in Phase 2. If these four post structures are granaries or stores then the ditch may have served to further protect the stored goods from wild animals, to control access to what must be a substantial food store or possibly to define a location where the exchange, trade and redistribution of food and other goods within the wider community could take place. Both of the excavated four post groups are outside the enclosure; four post Group 7 is close to the eastern corner of the enclosure and four post Group 8 is located 30m to the north. The post holes of group 8 are much larger than the other post holes and were originally interpreted as pits as they contained large amount of domestic waste and midden material such as shell, pottery, flint and daub; however as they form a clear four post group. The average diameter of the post holes of Groups 1-7 is 0.61m and the rectangles formed by the four post groups average 2.63m x 2.49m, the average depth of the post holes that have been excavated is 0.42m. The average diameter of the post holes of Group 8 is 0.97m, the average depth 0.47m and the rectangle formed by the post holes measures 2.59m x 2.54m. Two of the post holes from four post Group 7 produced pottery, cut 394 is dated to the Belgic/Early Roman Period c.50 BC-25-75 AD and cut 2280 to the Early Iron Age c.550-350 BC. There is no evidence for a post pipe or packing in any of the post-holes that indicates that the posts had been removed. Of the large post holes from four post Group 8 one is dated to the Early Iron Age c. 550-50 BC and two to the Middle-Late Iron Age c.350-50 BC. The four post structures excavated at the St. Stephens site are typical of other Iron Age settlement sites. A number of different interpretations for their possible use such as granaries, houses, barracks, watchtowers and excarnation platforms have been suggested. There appears to be an association between the enclosure and a cluster of four post structures although there is no stratigraphic evidence to prove their relationship. One possibility is that the enclosure surrounded a small settlement; there may have been a number of round houses within the enclosure with the pits used for grain storage and waste disposal located conveniently outside the entrance. The use of a ditch to enclose a small area within a larger settlement is known from Beckford (Warwickshire), Twyell, Blackthorne, Draughton and Brigstock (Northamptonshire). The special treatment given to the houses enclosed in this way has even been interpreted as a display of the exceptional status of the owner. The most common interpretation for the arrangements of four post structures is as granaries; these would be built on a platform suspended above the ground. This has the benefit of keeping the grain away from rodents while allowing the free flow of air underneath. Access would be via a small ladder with the grain stored in bins constructed on either side of a central passage. The point is also made by Cunliffe that these structures may have served as stores for other types of goods and it is a possibility that those within the enclosure could be fodder racks for feeding stock kept within it.

A group of five post holes located between the two large grain pits have been interpreted as part of a six post structure; the sixth post would have been cut into the top fill of grain pit. The average diameter of the post holes is 0.42m and the depth 0.28m; they form a rectangle measuring 3.32m x 1.92m. Middle to Late Iron Age pottery was recovered from three of the post holes suggesting the group date to 200-100 BC This possible relationship suggests the six post structures are associated with the expansion of the site in Phase 2. In the middle of the post line, in the centre of the site, are a group of six post holes forming another possible six post structure. As with many of the structural post holes on the site these features were not excavated. The average diameter of the post hole is 0.86m, and they form a rectangle measuring 3.23m x 3.45m. While it is possible that this structure was also a granary or store similar to the four post structure within the enclosure, its location close to the post line and in particular an apparent break in the post line suggests it may have been a structure associated with the fenced enclosure and may have had a different function.

The middle to late Iron Age features reflect a greater investment of time and effort in the management of the resources represented by the hilltop at North Foreland with its access both to coastal and land trade and transport. Although it is unlikely that a formal hillfort type settlement was established here, the increasing intensity of economic and social activity has parallels with the establishment of centralised hillfort type settlements without the specific defensive capacity. While it would be unwise to offer speculation on significance of two sets of horse fittings from a single Late Iron Age pit these finds are often considered to be indicators of high status individuals, as the ability to own and use horses was limited to those with wealth and power (Cunliffe 1993, 45 and 51). If these finds are taken to indicate high status it is possible that the site was at least visited by, if not occupied by people of local significance in the later Iron Age. The deposit of coins and the Iron Objects reflect an increase in cultural sophistication in trade and assets that culminated in the demand for exchange goods with the continent, which were increasingly influenced by the economic power of the Roman Empire. The evidence from this site suggests that this particular settlement did not survive the early years of increased trade with, and military incursions by, the Romans in the very late Iron Age nor did it receive the influx of ‘Belgic’ material characterised by sites that continued during this transitional period. It is likely that this site was part of a localised network of agriculture, trade and exchange which was subsumed into the growing regionalised economies of the tribal kingdoms with a wider spread of sources of imports and the control and distribution of agricultural produce. (1-2) (information summarised from source)


An enclosure of Iron Age date was visible as a cropmark in EARTH.GOOGLE.COM XX-XXX-1990 (ACCESSED 14-NOV-2023). This feature was mapped as part of the Historic England Isle of Thanet project in 2024. (2)

<1> Trust for Thanet Archaeology, 1999, An Archaeological Evaluation at the St. Stephens College Site, North Foreland, Broadstairs (Unpublished document). SKE17206.

<2> Trust for Thanet Archaeology, 2006, Excavation at St Stephen's College, North Foreland, Broadstairs, Kent, Archaeological Excavation Report (Unpublished document). SKE53141.

<3> Google.Com, 1960-2023, Earth.Google.Com orthophotography, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM XX-XXX-1990 (Archive). SKE57111.