Type: Loose courtyard with working agricultural buildings on four sides and with additional detached elements to the main plan
Farmhouse: Farmhouse detached in central position
Position: Isolated position
Survivial: Altered - partial loss of original form (less than 50%)
(1-2)

A two phase watching brief was carried out in the farmyard and the area around the farm in 2004, ahead of conversion work on the farm buildings. In phase one a section of drainage trench was excavated within the farmyard. This revealed an in-filled hollow which was perhaps an early pond. Ground reduction works on the eastern and southern sides of the farm ranges were also observed. The southern area exposed the 19th century brick foundations of the range; the eastern work revealed that the foundations for this range had been constructed with flint rubble and reused pieces of worked ashlar stone, probably from the former Manor chapel. The second phase of works involved the monitoring of the excavation of a continuous drainage trench from the grounds of the farm to the campsite to the east. Unstratified pegtile was noted occasionally in the topsoil and one piece was collected from the silts below. No stratified archaeological deposits containing artefacts were observed. (3)

Brief surveys were carried out of the standing buildings prior to renovation. They were mostly of mid to late 19th century date. (4)

<1> Forum Heritage Services, 2012, Kent Farmsteads & Landscape Project (Unpublished document). SKE18075.

<2> English Heritage, 2009, Historic Farmsteads: A Manual for Mapping (Unpublished document). SKE18076.

<3> Canterbury archaeological Trust, 2004, An Archaeological Watching Brief at Manston Court Farm, Manston, Thanet, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE12566.

<4> Holt & Wotton, 2004, Manston Court Farm Historic Building Report (Unpublished document). SKE18293.