Monument record TR 26 NE 2 - Late Bronze Age - Early Iron Age settlement site, Minnis Bay, Birchington

Following the discovery of a Bronze Age hoard at the Foreshore at Minnis Bay in Birchington, an excavation of the area revealed the remains of late Bronze Age and early Iron Age activity, possibly settlement. This was excavated between 1938 and 1957 and was two phases; the first comprising a roughly rectangular hollow and 17 storage pits (excavated in chalk), and the second (divided from the first by flood silt), comprised the remains of about 20 circular huts grouped (pile dwellings) protected by an artificial gravel bank alongside the eastern bank of a former creek around a central quadrangle (1-2). Woodwork, wattle, bronze and bone work found and pottery of Late Bronze Age-Iron Age transition, some of it comparable with examples from Plumpton Plain, a few flints, domestic animal bones, plant remains indicative of agriculture ('representing the residue from threshing') were all recorded. Remains of ox, horse, sheep or goat, also found (3) The Minnis Bay founder's hoard of 73 pieces is in the British Museum; the other items are in the Powell-Cotton Museum, Quex Park. Some of the pits were only shallow depressions being at the most 1ft 0in in depth, with one pit being 4ft 0in deep. The size of the pits ranged from 42ft x 24ft across to 2ft 6in. x 3ft 0in. The shallow nature of some of the pits probably meant that they had been eroded over the years, in 1939 Pit BA 11 measured 12ft 0in. in diameter but it had been reduced to 9ft 0in. by 1966. Several of the pits had a common profile. The sides were vertical and the base was level over part of the pit with a section sloping up to the top edge. As the excavation progressed the team was surprised by a freshwater spring appearing just over 1ft below Ordnance Datum in the upper edge of the gravel adjacent to the Beck Hoard site. On the low-lying west bank of the creek is EIA Pit U. Its dimensions were 2.13m x 2.45m, depth 60-73cm, and it yielded 256 sherds. All traces have now been destroyed by the sea. The assemblage contained fairly large quantities of elements from briquetage evaporation vessels, including body sherds, knife trimmed tops and ends and base angles. A remarkable find in this pit was part of a wooden ladder (Gibbons 2017, 273). The ladder was leaning upright against the wall of the pit. The two uprights of the ladder are about 36cm apart at the level of the one remaining rung, which was mounted at a slight angle and wedged in place. There are three other rung positions, spaced at varying intervals ranging from 15cm to 24cm. (4-7)


Additional references (8-13), for further details and context of the site in the region's inter-tidal archaeology see (14) and for references on Neoloithic, Bronze Age and inter-tidal zone contexts in Birchington see (15-18). Photographs of finds located within the site in Birchington (19-28).

Full summary of all of the features and finds recorded of late Bronze Age and early Iron Age date (29)

Archive material associated with site (30)

<1> OS 6" 1961 (OS Card Reference). SKE48369.

<2> PPS IX 1943 28-47 plans illlust (F H Worsfold) (OS Card Reference). SKE48611.

<3> MS plan in possession of Miss Powell-Cotton Quex Park (OS Card Reference). SKE47464.

<4> Arch cant LI 1939 191-203 illus (P H G Powell-Cotton and F Pinfold) (OS Card Reference). SKE36364.

<5> F1 CFW 29-NOV-63 (OS Card Reference). SKE42819.

<6> PPS 5 1939 252 (notes on excavations) (OS Card Reference). SKE48607.

<7> Arch Cant 71 1957 237 (M Blumstein) (OS Card Reference). SKE35494.

<8> PPS XX 1954 24 (C A Raleigh-Radford) (OS Card Reference). SKE48613.

<9> Arch of Kent 1930 100 252 illus (R F Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE36863.

<10> SE England 1970 130-1 illus (R F Jessup) (OS Card Reference). SKE49425.

<11> Ant J 4 1924 220-226 illus (O G S Crawford and P Powell-Cotton) (OS Card Reference). SKE33178.

<12> Arch Cant 84 1969 249-50 illus (N Macpherson-Grant) (OS Card Reference). SKE35787.

<13> Field report for monument TR 26 NE 2 - November, 1963, p 14-15 (Bibliographic reference). SKE5801.

<14> Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, 1994, Inter-tidal archaeology in Kent (Unpublished document). SWX9353.

<15> Macpherson-grant, N., 1969, Two Neolithic bowls from Birchington, Thanet (Article in serial). SWX7501.

<16> Worsfold, F.H., 1943, A report on the Late Bronze Age site excavated at Minnis Bay, Birchingon, Kent 1938-40 (Article in serial). SWX7782.

<17> Powell-Cotton, P. H. G. and Crawford, O. G. H., 1924, The Birchington hoard (Article in serial). SWX7274.

<18> Trust For Thanet Archaeology, 1991, Intertidal Zone Minnis Bay-Reculver (Unpublished document). SWX7082.

<19> WATTLE FLOORING OR WALLING (Photograph). SKE1371.

<20> VIEW OF WORKINGS RUNNING PARALLEL WITH PLAYSTOL MEADOW MARKED MARKED 193A ON PLAN (Photograph). SKE1370.

<21> EXCAVATORS AT WORK ON THE SITE. (Photograph). SKE1369.

<22> SECTION OF TRENCH FROM WEST TO EAST ACCROSS THE SITE, ONE YARD NORTH OF DATUM LINE. (Photograph). SKE1368.

<23> PLAN OF PIT SITE , NO: 10. (Photograph). SKE1367.

<24> VIEW OF WORKINGS RUNNING PARALLEL WITH PLAYSTOL MEADOW MARKED 193A ON PLAN (Photograph). SKE1374.

<26> CROSS-SECTION LATE BRONZE AGE SITE, MINNIS BAY (Photograph). SKE1376.

<26> WATTLE FLOORING SHOWING SUPPORTING TIMBERS. (Photograph). SKE1372.

<27> PLAN OF THE LATE BRONZE AGE SETTLEMENT Types: X (Photograph). SKE1375.

<28> PART OF BICHINGTON FROM THE AIR AT HIGH TIDE. (Photograph). SKE1373.

<29> Trevor and Vera Gibbons, 2018, The Archaeological Pits of Minnis Bay, Birchington, Kent 2000 - 600BC Bronze age and Early Iron Age (Unpublished document). SKE58996.

<30> Historic England, Archive material associated with Minnis Bay (Archive). SKE55184.