Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Union Railways (South) Ltd (URS) to carry out an archaeological evaluation of a site on Sandway Road, between the villages of Harrietsham to the north-west and Sandway to the south-east (centered on NGR TQ 88000 51500). (see also TQ 85 SE 132, 140 & 141)

The evaluation revealed a stratigraphic sequence comprising ploughsoil, colluvium and in situ natural sands. The colluvium included occasional worked flint, charcoal flecks and very occasional sherds of Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery. Four archaeological features were recorded, comprising a probable tree-throw that may be dated to the middle neolithic, a ditch and pit of probable middle/late Bronze Age and an undated possible hearth. The features were concentrated in two adjacent trenches to the north-east of Sanday Road, and may therefore indicate a focus for prehistoric activity. A geophysical anomaly previously identified could not be associated with archaeological remains during the evaluation. (1)

(See TQ 85 SE 132)

Subsequent excavtion found ditches which may have been part of a field system. (2-7)

<1> Wessex Archaeology, 1999, Archaeological Evaluation at Sandway Road, Harrietsham ARC SWR98 Final Evaluation Report (Unpublished document). SKE6990.

<2> Wessex Archaeology, 1999, Excavation at Sandway Road Method Statement for the Investigation of Mesolithic Remains (Unpublished document). SKE6991.

<3> Wessex Archaeology, 1999, Channel Tunnel Rail Link Archaeological Excavation at Sandway Road Interim Excavation Report. (Unpublished document). SKE6994.

<4> Wessex Archaeology, 2001, Sandway Road Detailed Archaeological Works Assessment Report Final (Unpublished document). SKE16535.

<5> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2006, The Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic Landscape at Sandway Road, Lenham, Kent: CTRL Integrated Site Report Series (Unpublished document). SKE16536.

<6> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2006, The Later Prehistoric Pottery from Excavations Along Section 1 of the CTRL (Unpublished document). SKE16486.

<7> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2006, Radiocarbon dates from Section 1 of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE16490.