In 2002 Compass Archaeology carried out an evaluation and excavation on a site at the northern end of Hawthorn Road. A prehistoric ditch and a large number of worked flints were located. From the short section excavated, a total of 260 worked flints were recovered. Much of this was of Mesolithic date, and possibly from early in that period. Later material was also present, i.e. Neolithic to Bronze Age worked flints. Further flints were found in the subsoil elsewhere in the excavated area. It is thought that these represent a working site in the immediate area disturbed by the later ditch. (1)

<1> Compass Archaeology, 2004, Land at the northern end of Hawthorn Road, Sittingbourne ME10, Borough of Swale, Kent: An archaeological post-excavation assessment (Unpublished document). SKE17621.