Little Stock Farm, Mersham, Kent - Integrated Site Report
Wessex Archaeology, 2009. (updated 2017) https://doi.org/10.5284/1044824. How to cite using this DOI
Data copyright © High Speed 1 unless otherwise stated
This work is licensed under the ADS Terms of Use and Access.
Primary contact
Stuart
Foreman
Senior Project Manager
Oxford Archaeology (South)
Janus House
Osney Mead
Oxford
OX2 0ES
UK
Tel: 01865 263800
Fax: 01865 793496
Resource identifiers
- ADS Collection: 2470
- DOI:https://doi.org/10.5284/1044824
- How to cite using this DOI
Introduction
Wessex Archaeology was commissioned by Union Railways (South) Limited (a subsidiary of London and Continental Railways) to undertake a 'Strip, Map and Sample' excavation at Little Stock Farm (OS NGR 606646 138531) and evaluation at Park Wood Cottage, located either side of the bridging point for Station Road across the Ashford to Folkestone railway, near the village of Mersham. This work formed part of an extensive programme of archaeological investigation carried out in advance of the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL) which included environmental assessment, geophysical survey, fieldwalking and two field evaluations using trial trenching.
The earliest activity was represented by isolated pits of middle Neolithic date and two pits of late Bronze Age-early Iron Age date were also found, one containing several pots in a placed deposit.
Most of the evidence was of Iron Age date; enclosures, droveways and a small enclosure containing a possible roundhouse were found, as well as two burials. With the exception of a later Iron Age four-post structure, other post-built buildings were difficult to identify from the array of post-holes. The enclosures were re-worked several times and it seems likely that ditches found in the evaluation of Park Wood Cottage immediately to the east represent further enclosures.
Activity seems to have continued at Park Wood Cottage into the early Roman period but an apparently isolated cremation burial of Romano-British date may be associated with the settlement at Bower Road 400 m to the west. A single probable Sunken Featured Building of Anglo-Saxon date was found, as was a medieval quarry and ditches.
The results from Little Stock Farm can be considered a significant discovery for the prehistoric archaeology of eastern Kent as prehistoric settlement remains are comparatively rare in the county.
The fieldwork events incorporated in this report are:
- Little Stock Farm (ARC LSF99) - Excavation
