Monument record TQ 55 NW 71 - Ditches at Sevenoaks Quarry

Ditches observed in Trench 18, located at Sevenoaks Quarry, south of Kemsing. Two, number 1 and 12, were commented upon and ran on a NW-SE alignment but no datable finds were observed. Both of these were noticed on the geophysical survey as indistinct linear features. Another possible ditch may have been excavated, but there is ambiguty over weather it is a wide shallow ditch or simply a pit. However a flint flake and three sherds of Bronze Age pottery were found in the deposit. One other ditch in Trench 24 was noticed, it appears this ditch is a parish boundary between Seal and Sevenoaks. Late 19th century pottery was found in the ditch along with brick and tile. (3)

Linear feature, indistinct. (1)The feature may represent the eastern side of an enclosure.

An assessment by Roger Palmer of Air Photo Services concluded that the circular cropmark to the west of that in (1) derived from a topographic hollow. A pair of linear cropmarks may be derived from a field bank and track. Cliff Ward of the Otford and District Archaeological Society indicated that there may have been a short-lived racetrack on the site which may account for the cropmarks.

A magnetometry survey in 2006 confirmed the existence of the feature (F). It consists of a 21 m x 21 m square enclosure with a trackway leading into it from the south-east. Within the enclosure are 2 distinct circular anomalies. The north-western has a diameter of c. 6m and is smaller than the other which has a diameter of c. 6.5 m.The entrance to the enclosure is to the south-east. Adjacent to the enclosure is a circular anomaly of diameter c. 8.5 m.There is also a group of indistinct features to the north of the enclosure.(2)

<1> AP(NMR TQ 5457/7; 27 7 79) (OS Card Reference). SKE34191.

<2> Archaeology South-East, 2006, Geophysical Survey Of Proposed Development Area Sevenoaks Quarry, Greatness (Unpublished document). SKE13593.

<3> Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 2006, Extension to Sevenoaks Quarry, Greatness, Kent: An Archaeological Evaluation (Unpublished document). SKE17063.