Conningbrook Manor pit is the only locale in the Wealden region of south east England where datable Pleistocene fauna and palaeoenvironmental evidence, including rhinoceros and mammoth, are preserved alongside human artefact assemblages comprising both Late Middle Palaeolithic of apparent Neanderthal origin, and technology of Early Upper Palaeolithic character are preserved together in a datable sequence. The Early Upper Palaeolithic material may derive from the earliest modern humans in the British Isles.

The site was subjected to extensive aggregate extraction, beginning in the early 20th century and intensifying in scale and depth during the 1980s. Collections which took place at the site during gravel extraction in the 1980s highlight the sites potential for faunal remains and artefacts. Large areas of the site are now open, flooded gravel pits.

Of particular interest in the large mammals are spotted hyena, lion, bear, mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, bison, giant Irish elk. The collection also features numerous specimens of small mammals with the arctic lemming (Dicrostonyx torquatus) being especially abundant. (1)

The quarry began working in 1979 (planning permission having been gained in 1976) expanding in the 1980s. (2)

<1> Archaeology South-East, 2012, Conningbrook Manor Pit, Kennington: Statement of Potential for Palaeolithic Archaeology and Palaeoenvironmental Potential (Unpublished document). SKE18100.

<2> WSP Environmental, Conningbrook Lakes: Archaeological Assessment (Unpublished document). SKE18132.