Google earth images reveal crop marks of a large rectangular enclosure north west of Ebbsfleet. It measures 140m across. Photograph was taken on the 2nd of May 2007. (1)

An enclosure of uncertain date was visible as a cropmark in Next Perspectives APGB Imagery 21-APR-2007. The west, north and east ditches of the sub-square feature are visible in the young arable crop. It may have a fourth side to the south, but the field has been cultivated in an east-west direction and tractor 'tramlines' interrupt crop patterns in this area. Furthermore, drainage ditches of the medieval/post-medieval drainage system may have affected any possible southern side to the enclosure.

The maximum width of the enclosure is about 141m east-west. What may be an original opening of about 20m interrupts the outer eastern ditch. Two short lengths of ditch parallel with the east and west sides in the interior suggest that it was double-ditched. In plan form, the enclosure is similar to other features on the Isle of Thanet of probable medieval date, including the rectilinear enclosure at Thorne Hill about 850m to the north (MKE16051). Neverthless, it is also similar to enclosures of probable Iron Age/Roman date such as the settlement sites MKE7829 (north-west of Woodchurch), MKE7807 (south of Westgate-on-Sea) and MKE6372 (near Birchington). In this context, it is interesting to note the proximity of the site to the findspot of an Iron Age coin of the Atrebates tribe (MKE74453) and the Iron Age and early Roman settlement area and possible 1st-century BC enclosure at Ebbsfleet Hill.

The enclosure stands on the modern 5m contour above Ordnance Datum, at the edge of the possible late Iron Age/Roman period shoreline. It was mapped as part of the Historic England Isle of Thanet project in 2024. (2)

<1> Google, 2007, Google Earth Aerial Photograph, 2007 (Photograph). SKE57133.

<2> Next Perspectives, 2003-2021, Next Perspectives APGB orthophotography, Next Perspectives APGB Imagery 21-APR-2007 (Archive). SKE57110.