Watching brief west of Leda Cottages, undertaken by OAU in 2001 as part of the CTRL works found evidence of activity from the Late Iron Age to the mid 3rd century AD.

The Late Iron Age to Early Roman period sees the construction of a rectilinear enclosure with at least two entrances. Inside this were two four-post structures located either side of one entrance (probably granaries), three pits, three postholes, and an iron-smelting hearth. Four short lengths of ditches are to the north of the enclosure. A second concentration of features close to the stream at the north of the site include three furnaces, a pit filled with slag and charcoal, and a shallow cut feature with in situ burning. (This second concentration has tentatively been assigned to the same phase though dating evidene is not certain.)

The late 1st to late 2nd centuries AD sees continued use in the area of the first enclosure though the ditches were probably infilled sometime during this period. A second enclosure was constucted to the NW of the first one, and on the same alignment with it. This contained a possible six-post structure, a flint-lined structure, pits, and two parallel ditch segments (themselves parallel to a ditch dug in the previous phase). A furnace was located at the same location as those of the previous phase, near to the stream.

The late 2nd to mid 3rd centuries sees continued use of the second enclosure, the construction of a clay and stone structure, several rubbish pits, a probable work area, and a large waterhole. Activity on the site ends c.AD270. (1-3)

<1> Oxford Archaeological Unit, 2003, Channel Tunnel Rail Link: West Leda Cottages Post Excavation Assessment Report (Unpublished document). SKE16491.

<2> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2006, The late Iron Age and Roman settlement at Leda Cottages, Westwell, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE16492.

<3> Oxford Wessex Archaeology Joint Venture, 2005, The Late Iron Age and Roman Pottery from Excavations Along Section 1 of the CTRL (Unpublished document). SKE16488.