Medieval pits were excavated on land North of Thanet Way, Whitstable during an evaluation in 2017. The majority of the features were provisionally dated to the medieval period by pottery (majority Canterbury Sandy Ware) located within their fills, however, some many actually originate from an earlier phase of activity dating to the Bronze Age - Iron Age period (TR 16 NW 1296), or may have been natural geological features. At least two of the pits were thought to be medieval in date, containing "pottery dated to c. AD1250-1350 along with a small assemblage of oyster and cockle shells. An environmental sample from [one of the pits] contained a small amount of charred wheat and barley grains" (from the original report, 1). Medieval pottery recovered from the site predominantly dated from the 13th-mid 14th century, with a smaller assemblage dating from the late 11th or early 12th century.
"The medieval features and finds demonstrate some level of activity outside the core of medieval Whitstable during the 13th-mid 14th century. Environmental evidence also suggests some background evidence for mixed arable farming and exploitation of surrounding woodland. Overall, the fairly low levels of features and dispersed distribution of the finds suggests that this area was probably some distance from areas of intensive settlement but the archaeological evidence does suggest that the area is likely to have been at least partly cleared of woodland by the 13th century" (from the original report, 1).

<1> Archaeology South-East, 2017, An Archaeological Evaluation at Land North of Thanet Way, Whitstable, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE53263.