In 2005 a watching brief was maintained on groundworks for a new dining hall. A Late Iron Age/Roman farmstead was found. The earliest phase of activity was evidenced by two dark soil filled hollows. These both produced pottery from the first half of the 1st century AD. The exact nature of these features could not be determined due to the means of investigation coupled with probable impacts of later development of the site. They may represent a soil layer that once existed across the site. A series of enclosures were subsequently laid out across the site. The centre of the investigated area appears to represent the corner of two enclosures of at least three phases with the majority of each extending beyond the limits of the site. The south-east enclosure dated to 50-60/70 AD. The curved north-east enclosure dated to 50-70 AD and so was roughly contemporary with the previous enclosure. These were apparently both replaced by a rectilinear system crossing the entire site and again extending beyond it. This appears to have been of late 1st century date. Two groups of post holes were also found. The first marked out an oval enclosure perhaps 21m by 16m, perhaps a coral. This was set out across the rectilinear enclosure system and so dated to perhaps the early 2nd century. The second group of post holes did not form a recognisable pattern but appeared to also date to the early 2nd century. Three pits were found, all dating to the early Roman period. A ditch was found on the western part of the site, again extending beyond the limits of investigation. This dated to the early to mid 2nd century, perhaps going out of use in the late 2nd century. The final phase of Roman activity was evidenced by a ditch dug across the site on an east-west alignment, again extending beyond the limits of the site. This could date to the 3rd century. Taken together, these features indicate an intensively occupied area, probably on the edge of a rural settlement. (1)

<1> Canterbury Archaeological Trust, 2008, An Archaeological Watching Brief during groundwork’s associated with the construction of a new dining hall building at the Harvey Grammar School, Cheriton Road, Folkestone, Kent - 2005 (Unpublished document). SKE17848.