Excavations at Shrubsoles Hill, uncovered evidence of mid - late bronze age occupation in the form of rubbish pits, post-holes and a large ditch. The ditch was aligned north-south and although a single entity, its profile varied from a steep V shape, to gentler and broad, to near-vertical with a deep central slot. Width and depth also varied from 1.23m - 1.70 m wide and 0.30 m - 0.80 m deep. Pottery from its fill consisted of Bronze Age pottery, in particularly from the Deverel-Rimbury tradition. It seems to have been part of a land division system, but whether this was for farming or as part of a ritual landscape connected with the nearby barrow (TQ 97 SE 43) is unclear. It seems to have been dug in the Middle Bronze Age and gradually filled in over time during the Late Bronze Age when it was cut by a large rectangular enclosure.

The rectangular enclosure was made up of three ditches forming an enclosed area of over 110 m by 125 m. It seems to have been left open on the south-east side, although this line may have been marked by a line of trees and tree-holes are prominent in this area. A number of internal features were recorded and it was associated with a small cremation cemetery (TQ 97 SE 45). The site seems to have gone out of use at the end of the Bronze Age. Finds from the enclosure included pottery, part of a saddle quern and a bronze leaf-shaped spearhead with wood fragments still in place in the haft-socket. (1-3).

Evaluation trenches cut in 2004, further to the north, uncovered a further seven gullies and two pits dating to the Middle-Late Bronze Age. These most likely represent further field boundaries and enclosures. (4)

Extracts from the planning application and environmental statement for a northerly extension to Norwood Quarry and Landfill. (5).

<1> Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 2001, Shrubsoles Hill, Brambledown, Isle of Sheppey, Kent A Draft Publication Report (Unpublished document). SKE12294.

<2> Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 2000, Shrubsoles Hill, Brambledown, Isle of Sheppey, Kent: Post-Excavation Assessment (Unpublished document). SKE6565.

<3> Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 2003, Bronze Age, Roman and Saxon sites on Shrubsoles Hill, Sheppey and at Wises Lane, Borden, Kent: A Landscape of Ancestors and Agriculture by The Swale (Monograph). SKE12323.

<4> Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 2004, Norwood Landfill Phase 5, Shrubsoles Hill, Brambledown, Isle of Sheppey, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE12457.

<5> SLR Consulting Limited, 2004, Planning Application and Environmental Statement for a Northerly Extension to Norwood Quarry and Landfill, Shrubsoles Hill, Brambledown, Isle of Sheppey, Kent (Unpublished document). SKE12557.

<6> Thames Valley Archaeological Services, 2000, Cell 3, Shrubsoles Hill, Brambledown, Isle of Sheppey, Kent: Interim Report (Unpublished document). SKE12584.