Archaeological watching brief carried out during conversion of The Barn, a Post Medieval L-shaped timber barn to residential use in Feb 1999. Many of the internal works had taken place before the watching brief commenced but the wb was carried out on external works and on the removal of the floors inside the building. The external ground was sterile sand and nothing was discovered which suggested the barn contained any elements earlier than the Post Medieval period. A saw pit was discovered beneath the barn but was infilled without further destruction.

The L shaped barn appeared to have been constructed in two phases with the eastern range built first and the southern range afterwards. The eastern range was a timber framed three and a half bay building with access by two double doors in the central bay on the western side. The present building was open to the roof and lit by three or four light windows though these were not the original windows. The original thatch roof survived beneath modern corrugated iron. The south or main range was constructed against the southern side of the east range. This building was also timber-framed with a first floor. It is four bays long with the eastern bays slightly longer and narrower than the two western bays making a first floor jetty over the ground floor on the two eastern bays. Four original windows were spaced along the eastern facade. (1)

<1> Andrew Linklater, 1999, Archaeological watching brief on land to the rear of 59-63 Town Hill, West Malling, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE6567.