Between 1st and 3rd February 2016 an archaeological evaluation was carried out involving the excavation of 5 trenches. Trench 3 contained a number of archaeological features (including two ditches, a possible quarry and a pit). The ditch contained a Late Iron Age/Early Roman pottery sherd. The full extent of the ditch runs outside the trench boundaries. The dimensions of the ditch were noted as >2m long, 1.4m wide, 0.6m deep.

Alongside the pottery sherd, the ditch also contained undiagnostic worked flint and fire cracked flint. The pottery sherd lacked any definitive Roman sandy fabrics, and could be earlier (pre-conquest) in date. Grog-with-flint fabrics are less typical with Early/Middle Iron Age thus these sherds may represent Late Iron Age pre-conquest sherds.

The ditch appears perpendicular to the probable path of an Iron Age/Roman coaxial field system identified during the same archaeological evaluation. (1)

<1> Archaeology South-East, 2016, Archaeological Evaluation Report: St Margaret’s Holiday Park, St Margaret’s-at-Cliffe, Near Dover, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE31554.