Features associated with a late Iron Age and early Roman settlement were identified during an evaluation at Hoplands Farm, Hersden in 2016 and 2017. The settlement was predominantly located to the west of the evaluation site, and comprised a large boundary ditch containing internal pits and shallow ditches. Some possible structures were identified by the presence of post-holes within the bounds of the ditch, and a Roman cremation burial was excavated to the west of the site. The settlement is thought to date from around 50 BC to 200 AD. Early Roman pottery has been recovered from the fills of some features at the site.

A number of undated features were also excavated during the evaluation. Some of these may relate to Iron Age and Roman occupation at the site, and others may be medieval in origin, as there appears to have been medieval activity (TR 26 SW 265) at the site in the form of ditches and pits. Some of the Roman and medieval features have been interpreted as the remains of a possible field system.

Iron Age enclosures (TR 26 SW 205) were identified in the same area as other features during an excavation in 2004. It is likely that these features formed part of the wider settlement. (1)

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2017, Hoplands Farm Hersden Kent CT3 4HY, Summary report (Unpublished document). SKE57738.