An evaluation by the Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit (KARU) in September 1993 in advance of mineral extraction on site between Blackdale Farm and the M2 found two kilns/ovens with a pair of pits or stoke-holes between them. Roman pottery of 1st-2nd century AD date was found in one stoke-hole. The absence of related structures or debris was thought to suggest a short-lived use of the site. A shallow pit of indeterminate date was also found. (1)

In 1996 a watching brief revealed two small ditches. Later in 1998 work close to where a number of ovens had been found in 1993, uncovered a further 14 ovens and 9 stoke-holes. All were circular, or oval, in plan. Seven of the ovens lay along the south side of a large ditch on an east-west axis and seven on the southern side of a smaller secondary ditch. The bases and sides of the ovens had been baked hard through intense heat. No trace of how the ovens were roofed was found. The ovens contained, along with intrusive flints, 29 potsherds of distinctive character and dating from the second half of the first century. Some of the stoke-holes also contained potsherds and one a small circular disc, made of bronze, with traces of external silvering. Originally this had four circular perforations, three faint grooves around the circumference and a central rivet. It seems to have been a decorative mount for a belt or wooden object.

Finally a watching brief in 1999 - 2000 found a scattering of pits and the continuation of ditches found earlier which formed an enclosure. (2)

<1> Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, 1993 Sep, Blackdale Farm, Darenth: An Outline Report on an Archaeological Evaluation Excavation, KARU 1993. Evaluation at Blackdale Farm (Darenth Park). B Philp (Unpublished document). SWX6868.

<2> Kent Archaeological Rescue Unit, 2001, Excavations on a Prehistoric and Roman Site at Blackdale Farm, Darenth (Serial). SKE12223.