Monument record TR 26 SW 269 - ?Bronze Age round barrow, Hoplands Farm, near Canterbury

A possible Bronze Age round barrow was identified during a 2018 strip, map, and sample excavation at Hoplands Farm, near Canterbury. The feature was represented by a deeply cut ring ditch with an outer diameter of 10.5m and an original cut measuring 1.25m in width and 0.7m in depth. Fills of the ditch included a primary layer of gravel and a secondary layer of sandy clay-silt, thought to have originated from a gravel bank which was overlain by a layer of sandy clay silt and located adjacent to the inner edge of the ditch. The third layer within the fill of the ditch contained four sherds of pottery dating to 500-350 BC; this may have been a levelling layer associated with the construction of the early-mid Iron Age settlement features at the site.

The date and character of the feature are uncertain; a number of other ring ditches were identified during the excavation and have been characterised as representing elements associated with Iron Age roundhouses. The feature predated Iron Age occupation but may have been associated with an earlier roundhouse. However, the depth of the cut and the scale of the ring ditch in this case have led to the feature’s tentative interpretation as part of a probable Bronze Age or possibly Neolithic barrow. (1)

<1> Swale and Thames Archaeological Survey Company, 2019, An archaeological assessment report following an archaeological topsoil strip, map and sample excavation on the site of Hoplands Farm, Hersden, near Canterbury (Unpublished document). SKE57737.