The pleasure grounds are areas of land close to a principal house which provide opportunity for casual walks through ornamental woodland, often planted with exotic species. The pleasure grounds were often intimate spaces and enclosed by fences or, to prevent obstruction of views to the wider landscape, sunken features such as ha-has and ditches.
The linear earthwork at Benenden is a component of the 19th Century designed pleasure grounds and was created to form a physical boundary with the wider parkland. The earthwork is described in the English Heritage List Entry Summary for the registered park and garden as being a ha-ha.
The earthwork at Benenden is more ditch-like in character and is of simple construction and formed of gradually sloping sides covered in grass or scrub and occasionally planted with trees.
The gradient of the slopes to the earthwork makes it unlikely that it would have prevented grazing animals for entering the pleasure grounds so it is likely estate rail was erected along the base of the ditch. A fence can still be seen within the earthwork although this now a post and wire fence.
The earthwork is therefore not considered to be a traditional ha-ha.

<1> Land Use Consultants, 2014, Supplementary heritage assessment of earthwork associated with the pleasure grounds at Benenden School (Unpublished document). SKE31510.