Monument record TR 36 NW 1434 - Anglo Saxon Hollow way discovered during the East Kent Access Route excavations (2009-2011)

During excavations associated wit the construction of the East Kent Access route in Thanet, evidence for early–mid-Saxon period activity was primarily evidenced by a hollow-way. This extended from the northern edge of excavation in Zone 19 on an ENE–WNW alignment and then turned to the west, continuing along the entire length of Zone 19a before turning to the south-west and extending beyond the limit of excavation in Zone 20a. In doing this, it followed a course in excess of 450m long just below the crest of the Chalk ridge in this area. It broadly corresponded with the line of a Roman boundary ditch which defined the southern edge of an earlier, Roman trackway. The east end of the hollow-way was on the same approximate alignment as the Roman trackways in Zone 19, suggesting that this route through the landscape, perhaps extending to Minster to the southwest, continued in use possibly from the Late Iron Age through to the Anglo-Saxon period and probably later. (information summarised from source) (1-2)

A trackway of Roman date was visible as a cropmark in NMR 26608/10 06-APR-2010. More of this feature was visible in the form of a cropmark beyond the excavated area than had been revealed by the strip process of the excavations described above. This feature was mapped as part of the Historic England Isle of Thanet project in 2024. (3)

<1> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2011, East Kent Access (Phase II), Thanet, Kent: Post-Excavation Assessment Volume 1 (Unpublished document). SKE29279.

<2> Andrews et al, 2015, Digging The Gateway: Archaeological Landscapes of South Thanet. The Archaeology of East Kent Access (Phase III) Vol 1: The sites (Monograph). SKE55517.

<3> Historic England Archive, 1920-2024, Historic England Archive Specialist oblique aerial photographs, NMR 26608/10 06-APR-2010 (Archive). SKE57106.