Monument record TQ 96 SW 1301 - Late Iron Age to Roman enclosure, ditches, and quarries, Stones Farm, Sittingbourne

A Late Iron Age to Roman settlement, a double ditched enclosure, ditches, and clay extraction pits were identified during an evaluation carried out at Stones Farm, Sittingbourne in 2018.

The double ditched enclosure was associated with a number of artefactual assemblages which suggested that the feature had been in use from the Iron Age to the early Roman period. The enclosure was domestic in character, with associated evidence for domestic debris, alongside industry outside the bounds of the enclosure such as metal working and quarrying. The enclosure was located in the flood plain of a probable watercourse, alongside many of the earlier features, suggesting that the watercourse continued to be an important feature during later prehistoric and Roman occupation at the site. Artefacts associated with the enclosure included tap slag, Roman pottery, and building material.

Two probable brickearth extraction pits were excavated outside the enclosure and appear to have been broadly contemporary with it, due to discoveries of Late Iron Age and Roman pottery from the fill of one of the features.

A number of Roman ditches were located at the site, some of which were sited to the south west of the enclosure. Many ditches contained pottery and building material, and were interpreted by the authors of the report (1) as either relating to the domestic enclosure to the east or forming part of a wider agricultural use of the surrounding site.

Some features in the vicinity contained later prehistoric material, suggesting use of the same site over a long time frame and reuse of earlier features during the Roman period. Based on evidence from other Roman road side settlements, the site may have been a road-side settlement associated with Watling Street Roman road (TQ 86 SW 132). (1)

<1> Archaeology South-East, 2018, An archaeological evaluation on land at Stones Farm, Sittingbourne, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE53064.