In 1994 a watching brief was done on the pipeline for the Herne Bay Water Treatment. On site 8, 11 pits, 4 ditches, a gully and a post hole where noticed. Much of the pottery from the site is Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age, with one exception; a pot in one pit of early Neolithic date. (1)

In 1995 a report assessing the archaeology of the Herne Bay Waste Water Treatment plan was compiled. The ditches and gullies may be part of a more extensive rectlinear field system of Late Iron Age/Early Romano-British date. One pit produced Neolithic pottery but it appeared to be an isolated feature which pre-dated the others. With the expections of the Neolthic pottery, very little more was found but what was was dated to Later Bronze Age/Iron Age. (2)

Between 2021-2023 a series of evaluations and excavations were carried out at the site in advance of proposed development. Evidence for Bronze Age and Iron Age activity was identified in the form of pits, ditches, 3 possible Bronze Age cremation burials, post-holes, a Bronze Age hoard, and a range of artefacts.

Bronze Age features included a possible water hole which contained Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman pottery, suggesting it may have been in use for some time. Bronze Age ditches were identified across the site, measuring around 0.24-1.24m in width and 0.14-0.5m in depth.
Late Bronze Age isolated pits, alongside a sub-rectangular arrangement of pits and postholes associated with possibly cremated human remains, pottery, worked flint, and a fragment of wattle and daub were identified during the initial phases of the work.

Deposits of burnt crop processing material were identified dating to the late prehistoric/Roman periods. Environmental analysis suggested that emmer and spelt wheat chaff, barley, silicified glume wheat beaks, and wheat/rye/barley awn fragments were present within the assemblage. A small assemblage of animal remains was recovered from the fills of Bronze Age features at the site. The only identifiable element was a horse molar.

A Bronze Age hoard formed of four copper ingots of Group I of hoard typology was also identified during the work.

Early/Middle Iron Age archaeology comprised pits and ditches thought to be indicative of a wider field system extending beyond the limits of the excavation. Some Iron Age features appeared to have been created respecting the site of earlier features, including two early Iron Age ditches which curved around part of the Bronze Age water hole. Evidence for crop processing was identified in the fills of pits. Other finds associated with these features included pottery and a spindle whorl.

Other features at the site date from the Neolithic (TR 26 NW 1237), Roman (TR 26 NW 220), and medieval (TR 26 NW 1236) periods. Undated features such as pits and post-holes were also identified at the site. (3)

<1> Andrew Hutcheson, 1994, An Interim Report on the Archaeology of the Herne Bay Water Treatment Pipeline (Unpublished document). SKE17251.

<1> Andrew Hutcheson, 1994, An Interim Report on the Archaeology of the Herne Bay Water Treatment Pipeline (Unpublished document). SKE17453.

<2> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 1995, The Herne Bay Water Treatment Project: An Assessment of the Archaeological Discoveries
The Herne Bay Water Treatment Project: An Assessment of the Archaeological Discoveries (Unpublished document). SKE17345.

<3> Cotswold Archaeology, 2024, Land At Hillborough, Herne Bay, Phase 2 Archaeological Evaluation (Unpublished document). SKE56912.