In 2011 Kent Archaeological Projects carried out a watching brief on a pipeline. Two areas of Late Iron Age smelting furnaces were found. The first group was badly truncated by ploughing. The second group were located in a sunken featured structure, containing three furnaces and a group of post holes. The furnaces had been used to smelt iron ore. Slag was found in situ in the base of the furnaces, suggesting that they were of a 'non-tapping' type. No datable material was found in the furnaces but nearby postholes and pits contained pottery of the first half of the 1st century AD. The second group was also located in a sunken featured structure, it contained two furnaces. These furnaces were much better preserved and retained evidence of possible repair, indicating multiple uses of the structure. Pottery found associated with the backfilling of the furnace after its final firing dated from the first half of the 1st century AD. One of these furnaces appears to have perhaps been a tapping type. A large pit was found nearby which may have been a quarry associated with this activity. A substantial ditch was found 50m from the smelting area. The ditch was probably a boundary ditch dating from the Late Iron Age. It remained open into the Roman period, gradually filling and being used for rubbish disposal, probably from a nearby Roman settlement. (1)

<1> Kent Archaeological Projects, 2013, A post-excavation assessment following an archaeological investigation on the route of the new water main at Stockbury, near Maidstone, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE25165.