Evaluation in 1999 followed by excavation in advance of proposed development recorded a late Bronze Age / early Iron Age settlement and cremation.

Features identified at the site consisted of a group of 6 post-holes associated with a floor, a linear slot containing charred wood, and a shallow pit (features thought to represent a prehistoric structure), another pit-like feature, a possible boundary ditch, a hearth, and an unurned cremation were also excavated at the site. The cremation and hearth were undated but considered to potentially be contemporary with the other features at the site.

The post-holes measured between 8-22cm in depth and were thought to have originated from a hut or roundhouse. The linear slot comprised a 15cm wide curvilinear gully which contained carbonised material. This has been interpreted as representing a possible beam slot containing the remains of a burnt timber ground beam, or "part of the superstructure of a hut or similar which collapsed during a fire" (from the original report, 1). The shallow pit may have represented an internal post-pit associated with a structure at the site.

Features associated with the structure were also associated with prehistoric flint tempered pottery and burnt or 'fire-crazed' flints (used as pot boilers), many of which were associated with a deposit sealing structural features at the site.

An oval hut was identified during the excavation in 1999 - it is unclear whether this is the same feature identified during the evaluation. Ditch cutting in the vicinity of the structure appeared to have performed a dual function of supplying the hut with water and draining away waste water. A hearth and floor surface associated with the hut were identified, and an amber bead was recovered from the floor surface.

The possible boundary ditch at the site was aligned N-S and was around 70cm in depth and had a U-shaped profile. The fill of this feature was associated with animal bone and 6 flint-tempered pot-sherds. A series of ditches were dug across the site, and to the north of the site appear to have formed a rectilinear enclosure. Hearths/hearth-like deposits at the site were located within another ditch at the site, suggesting that these may have been camp-fires.

A spread of carbonised material representing a potential hearth was located in another area of the site and was thought to potentially date from an earlier period of occupation at the site.
The cremation comprised a 20cm deep pit containing wood charcoal and small fragments of bone. The feature has also been interpreted as a possible hearth but this is unlikely due to the depth of the cut of the feature.

A series of undated features were also excavated at the site, including post-holes, ditches, and pits. (1)

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1999, An archaeological evaluation on land East of Churchwood Drive, Chestfield, near Whitstable, Kent. (Unpublished document). SKE54775.