Monument record TQ 85 NE 112 - A cropmark of a probable henge, to the southwest of Bexon

A sub circular enclosure visible as cropmarks has been interpreted as a possible henge monument. Orientated northwest-southeast, the enclosure features opposed entrance gaps and measures circa 45 metres by 35 metres. The site lies north of Trundle Wood, and east of the Trundlewood Farm buildings. The name "Trundle" may of course refer to the survival of a circular earthwork, the obvious example of this being "The Trundle", a Neolithic causewayed enclosure and Iron Age hillfort on St Roches Hill near Chichester, West Sussex. Alternatively there need be no connection between the place name and this cropmark. (1)

Aerial photographs taken 16 July 2001 show the enclosure as a very clear cropmark, its maximum dimensions being circa 36 metres by 34 metres, and consequently morte circular than implied by the previous source. The opposed entrances or causeways are each circa 5 to 6 metres wide. The northwestern one may feature a small off-centre pit. Although superficially henge-like (or "hengiform"), the cropmark closely resembles sites which elsewhere have been shown to represent windmills, often post-mills of 13th century or later date. Inthis instance, no central cross-tree (or cross-base) is visible as a cropmark, suggesting that if one was originally present, it was set into a mound rather than the ground surface.

Intriguingly, immediately outside and to the northwest is the faint cropmark of another, smaller oval enclosure, its ditch passing within circa 3 metres of the henge/windmill ditch. Measuring a maximum of 29 metres by 24 metres, and sharing a similar northwest-southeast alignment, this example does feature a cross-tree at its approximate centre, measuring a maximum of 7 metres across. A slight curving feature just outside and to the southeast of the larger henge/mill may represent a thrid such feature. On balance, particularly given the absence of any other evidence (including cropmarks, though see TQ 85 NE 39) for prehistoric activity, interpretation of the cropmarks as two, and possibly a line of three, windmills (presumably successive rather than contemporary) seems most plausible. (2)

<1> Royal Commision on the Historical Monuments of England, 1989, The Classification of Cropmarks in Kent: A Report for the Monuments Protection Programme (Unpublished document). SKE16761.