Kingsborough Manor Phase 2 Stage 1 Eastchurch, Isle of Sheppey, Kent - Assessment of Archaeological Excavation Results

Wessex Archaeology

A Neolithic causewayed enclosure was identified in the eastern half of the Site. Consisting of three single circuit ditch segments, the causewayed enclosure extended south beyond the southern limit of excavation into a previously built up area of the Kingsborough Manor housing development. The third, northernmost segment marked the northern limit of the enclosure, which appears to have terminated just shortly in front of the natural break of slope. Though slight variations were evident in each of the excavated sections, a standard ditch profile and a common depositional sequence were recognisable throughout the feature. An excavated section cut through the southernmost segment revealed three phases of ditch in the form of a sequence of intercutting termini. Two posthole groups found within the south-eastern area of the enclosure are assumed to relate to the use of the monument during the Neolithic.

Two phases of a Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age field system were identified towards the south east of the Site, the latest of which truncated segment 1 of the Neolithic causewayed enclosure. Possible further Bronze Age evidence was discovered in the form of a heavily truncated cremation related deposit located in the centre of the Site and a shallow, truncated pit situated in the south west corner of the Site. Later activity on the Site was limited: A shallow medieval east-west orientated linear ditch was revealed in the north of the Site and may represent a truncated field boundary or track. A post-medieval east-west aligned field drain cut across the centre of the Site.