Portable Antiquities Scheme / Kent County Council

Archaeological Excavation Report

Stile Farm, Chilham, Kent

TR078531

David Villanueva & Jessica Bryan

May 2011
 Summary

In summer 2010 the Finds Liaison Officer Jennifer Jackson and the Finds Liaison
Assistant Jessica Bryan were approached by David Villanueva for help with a
project. David had been metal detecting at Stile Farm, Chilham, Kent, owned by
Carol and James Smith, for many years. He had also been a volunteer on a
pipeline excavation that went through the farm in 2008/2009. The excavation
was carried out by Kent Archaeological Projects. David provided an outline of
what had been found, both by metal detecting and during the excavation. As the
pipeline excavation only covered a small area, the landowners and David were
keen to discover what other archaeological remains were present beyond the
easement. They were particularly interested in the activity in what is known as
the ‘Middle field’ as this had contained the largest number of metal detecting
finds. Also during the excavation a number of medieval buildings were
discovered.

As such a small excavation project was designed. With information from Julie
Martin and Tim Allen of Kent Archaeological Projects it was decided to investigate
two parallel linears that ran towards a Medieval building which were previously
excavated in 2008/2009. Two trenches were opened, and a linear was identified
in both trenches. Pottery found within the fill of the linear dated it to the Early
Medieval period. The trenches were excavated by hand.

Before the excavation, and during, an extensive metal detecting survey was
carried out in the field. A large number of objects were recovered, dating from
the Iron Age through to the Post Medieval period. This supported previous metal
detecting finds that had been recovered by David in previous years. These finds
are recorded on the Portable Antiquities Scheme database.

This report has jointly been produced by Jessica Bryan and David Villanueva.
David has provided all of the discussion, and background information for the
history of the area. The methodology, results, finds analysis and technical
drawings have been prepared by Jessica.

This project has been added to OASIS. OASIS ID number - portable1-101057

There is further work that could be carried out at this farm. The Middle Field
would benefit from a geophysical survey to identify any further remains.
Additionally there are a number of crop marks in a large field to the east that
would benefit from geophysical survey and field walking.

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 Contents

1. Introduction
2. Site Description
3. Archaeological and Historical Background
4. Methodology
5. Results
6. Discussion
7. Acknowledgements
8. References

Appendix

A. Finds
Pottery
Metal work
Other finds
Table 1: Table of quantity / weight
Table 2: Table of metal detecting finds with PAS record numbers

B. Figures
1. Map of site location
2. Photo of trench1
3. Photo of linear [004]
4. Photo of trench 2
5. Photo of linear [006]
6. Plan of trench 1
7. Plan of trench 2
8. Section of trench 1
9. Section of trench 2

C. Locations of trenches and features in the ‘Middle Field’

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 1. Introduction

The site has been surveyed seasonally by metal detectors since 1995, principally
by David Villanueva and occasionally by Carol Smith, both of whom provided
some of the metal detecting support at the 2008/2009 excavations. A
considerable quantity of small metal finds had been recovered, prior to the
recent field excavation, ranging from the Iron Age to modern periods. The
excavation in 2008/2009 was undertaken by Tim Allen (Kent Archaeological
Projects). “The 2008/2009 excavation uncovered a small complex of medieval
features near to the track way, such as an oven and granary, tentatively dated to
the 12th century and appearing to be associated with the baking of bread” (David
Villanueva pers. comm.)

Between the 19th November 2010 and the 23rd November 2010 a small
excavation and metal detecting survey was carried out on Stile Farm, in the
vicinity of the 2008/2009 excavation. The aim was to uncover further
archaeology that had not been considered due to the limits of the easement.
The excavation was carried out by the Finds Liaison Assistant Jessica Bryan and
Finds Liaison Officer Jennifer Jackson, with help from various metal detectorists
from Kent.

It is known from the previous excavations that the topsoil on the site is no more
than 0.30m in depth. It is known that archaeological remains survive below the
plough soil. The distribution of finds and the presence of flint on the surface
suggest the deposits are being disturbed by ploughing.

2. Site Description
The site is located near Stile Farm, Chilham, Kent. The centre of the site lies at
National Grid reference TR078531 (see Figure 1). The site is currently arable
land divided by hedgerow.

The site is located on raised ground, with patches of woodland and a track way
to the south and a valley with the Great Stour river to the north. The geology of
the site consists of chalk.

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 3. Archaeological and Historical Background
The site lies in an area which has revealed several important discoveries of late
Iron Age, Romano British and Medieval occupation and settlement.
Archaeological excavations at Stile Farm in 2008/2009 by Kent Archaeological
Projects revealed a number of features on the site, mainly an Iron Age ditch,
Roman features, and three Early Medieval structures. Two of which were sunken
floor buildings, and one was interpreted as a granary. The buildings consist of
features and upstanding flint and chalk walls. There were also the remains of an
oven or hearth (Julie Martin pers. comm.).

A geophysical survey carried out after the excavation revealed a series of

features surrounding those that were already known, including a large sub
rectangular enclosure and a number of linear features on various alignments.
Those that appeared in the excavation area in 2008/2009 were investigated.

Near to the site are a number of archaeological remains. There is the scheduled
monument of Julieberries Grave (TR 05 SE 5), a Neolithic long barrow which lies
to the North West.

A Historic Environment Records search of 500m around the site reveals three
further sites. The first is a number of Roman cremations just to the west, on the
opposite side of Ashford Road. These were excavated in 1962 (TR 05 SE 8) and
date to the 2nd century. The second is a rectangular crop mark, just to the south
west of the site (TR 05 SE 38). It consists of two linear features truncated on its
north east corner. The third is a probable 18th century earthwork (TR 05 SE 6).

Inspection of aerial photographs shows a series of crop marks in a field to the

east of the site. There are two sets of linear features, orientated north east to
south west. There also is a circular feature, measuring about 30m in diameter.
There is a small sub rectangular feature, which could be interpreted as a
building. Finally there is a large rectangular enclosure, which is about 100m x
70m, and appears to have a number of rectangular features, possibly buildings,
inside.

Finds in the area recorded by the Portable Antiquities Scheme also provides
evidence for activity in the Iron Age, Roman and Medieval periods.

4. Methodology
The location of the excavation was guided by the findings of the previous
excavation (information provided per. comm. David Villanueva and Julie Martin).
It was also guided by a geophysical survey that was kindly provided to us by Tim

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Allen. The trenches were located using handheld GPS devices with an accuracy
of 10meters. We hoped to locate 2 parallel N-S linears that ran towards the
Medieval buildings. It was hoped we could characterise and date the features.

Trench 1 measured approximately 10m x 3m and was excavated by hand (see

Figure 2). The topsoil was initially removed. It was believed that from previous
excavations there would be no subsoil, however subsoil was encountered and
removed by hand. The subsoil was not removed across the entirety of the trench
as this was too large a task for the time allotted. A strip along the southern edge
of the trench was removed, and 2 large areas in the centre of the trench were
also excavated down to natural (see Figure 6). The features encountered were
fully excavated.

Trench 2 was opened further north, closer to the location of the previous
excavation (see Figure 4). This measured approximately 3m x 1.5m and was
again excavated by hand. This trench contained no subsoil so was excavated
directly down to the natural chalk. A 1m section of the linear feature was
excavated (see Figure 7).

The trenches and the spoil were searched periodically by metal detectors to
maximise the recovery of finds.

A theodolite was used to take levels, using a temporary bench mark set up in the
southern hedgerow. The trench locations and OD height were recorded after
excavation by a total station, provided by Canterbury Archaeology Trust. A
number of points were also taken around the field so they can be used to locate
future work. These can be found in Appendix C.

The trenches were recorded according to techniques outlined in the

Archaeological Manual (MoLAS, 1994).

Before and during the excavation a metal detecting survey took place. The field
was comprehensively searched and finds that were recovered were located using
a handheld GPS. They have been recorded onto the PAS database, and a list can
be found in Appendix A, Table 2.

5. Results
Trench 1
The location of the initial trench had hoped to find both linears that had been
identified by the geophysical survey. They were orientated NW – SE, and were
possibly associated with the Medieval bakery buildings that had been identified in
the 2008/2009 excavation. The main aim was to date the linear, but also to see

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if a function could be assigned. Unfortunately, due to the inaccuracy of the GPS
used to locate the trench, only one linear appeared in the NE end of the trench,
and was not fully exposed.

The topsoil (001) in the trench was 0.20m thick and was mid brownish grey silty
clay with frequent pieces of chalk and flint. This lay directly above a sub soil
(002) which was 0.0m – 0.15m thick (see Figure 8). The subsoil consisted of mid
greyish orange silty clay with frequent chalk pieces. There was a small horizon
between the subsoil and bedrock of weathered chalk bedrock. Finds from the
topsoil consisted of small amounts of Medieval and Post Medieval pottery, and
iron nails. The subsoil contained the majority of the pottery sherds, dating from
the Iron Age through to Post Medieval (see Appendix A). The wide range in
dates for the pottery can be accounted for by the farming activity that had taken
place in the field. The topsoil is not thick enough to protect any underlying
archaeology and so is disturbed each year by ploughing. This has resulted in
objects being moved through all soil horizons and this is evident from the large
amounts of metal work found through metal detecting every year.

The linear [004] ran along the very NE edge of the trench, and unfortunately
was not fully exposed (see Figure 6). It was a shallow gully feature, and the fill
(003) was mid orangey brown silty clay, very similar to the subsoil. The linear
was not identified until the subsoil was removed. It was unclear as to whether
the feature was cut through the subsoil or the subsoil covered the feature. This
was due to the fact that the subsoil and fill were so similar. The linear had a
depth of 0.20m and a width of 0.20m. It contained degraded chalk, oyster shell,
2 iron nails and 2 pieces of early Medieval pottery (see Appendix A).

Trench 2
This trench was excavated in order to locate the linear feature and to ascertain
its orientation. This trench was somewhat more successful. There was no subsoil
present in this trench, and the topsoil (001) was directly above the natural chalk.
A feature [006] was identified in the centre of this trench. It was identified as the
same linear as [004]. The full extent of the linear was uncovered (see Figure 7)
and at this point the linear had a width of 1m and a depth of 0.20m. It had
shallow sides with a gradual concave base. The fill (005) was the same as (003)
and again contained Early Medieval pottery and a piece of Medieval pottery (see
Appendix A).

Metal detecting survey

The detecting survey produced some excellent finds, consistent with those that
had been found in the field previously. They ranged in date from Iron Age
through to Post Medieval. This supports the known evidence that the area was
occupied through much of history. The finds are generally spread across the

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field, although there is a larger concentration of Iron Age and Roman coins in the
south western corner.

Confidence is high that all archaeological remains present in the trenches have
been identified during the excavation.

6. Discussion (David Villanueva)

The site has been surveyed seasonally by metal detectors since 1995, principally
by David Villanueva and occasionally by Carol Smith, both of whom provided
some of the metal detecting support at the 2008/2009 excavations. A
considerable quantity of small metal finds had been recovered, prior to the
recent field excavation, ranging from the Iron Age to modern periods.

Iron Age finds have been few but of high fairly status: An Ambiani type E gold
stater c. 60 - 50 BC; an enamelled copper-alloy toggle fastener; a copper-alloy
terret ring and a possible fragment of La Téne brooch from the 2008/2009
excavation. Two Thurruck type Potin coins were also found during the metal
detecting survey associated with this excavation. All the find spots have been
close to the western field boundary and mostly at the southern end near the
track way.

Over 100 Roman coins represent the majority of metal finds from the site, nearly
all of which are 4th century bronze nummii. The small number of earlier coins
have included late 3rd century silver-washed, notably one of Carausius and a few
1st-2nd century asses and Sestertii. Only one Roman silver coin has been found:
an Antoninianus of Valerian I (253-260). Unusually only three Roman artefacts
have been recovered, two small copper-alloy dolphin brooches and a finger ring.
Find spots are mainly along the southern boundary with a large proportion
towards the western end.

Early medieval metal work has been entirely absent.

Medieval finds have been recovered in significant numbers, again mainly coins
from King John to Edward III, with the majority being 12th -13th century. Most of
the coins have been cut fractions, mainly farthings and none of greater value
than one penny. This would suggest trading was taking place for low value
products or services. A relatively small number of personal artefacts such as
buckles and one finger ring have been recovered together with one horse
harness pendent. Find spots are mainly on the higher ground in the centre of
the site.

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While there has been a number of Post Medieval and Modern finds such as coins,
jettons, buckles and buttons from all-over the site, such finds are only typical of
most Kent farmland.

The track way running along the southern boundary of the site would seem to be
a very significant feature associated with the site. Margary, in Roman Ways in
the Weald, says that this was an ancient track way, later employed by the
Romans as part of the route from the Iron working district of Sussex to
Canterbury and beyond. Most of the Iron Age and Roman finds being recovered
adjacent to this track way may support the claim. There also exists an estate
map dated 1695 (CKS ref: Ch31/p3) which records the track way as ‘The
Roadway from Wye to Canterbury’ and may indicate the track way had remained
in use since Roman times and through the medieval period. The lack of early
medieval finds may just indicate that people in this period preferred the Stour
waterway as their main route through the valley and this is supported by metal
detecting finds made along the river bank.

The 2008/2009 excavation uncovered a small complex of medieval features near

to the track way, such as an oven and granary, tentatively dated to the 12th
century and appearing to be associated with the baking of bread. Although the
river Stour is within relatively easy reach, considerable effort has been expended
to sink a well at the northern end of the site for the closer supply of water. The
brickwork at the top of the well appears to be post medieval, however it is quite
feasible that the well has earlier origins. It is recorded in the Doomsday Book
that Chilham had five and a half mills all of which would have been within fairly
easy reach of the site in medieval times, again lending support to the supposed
bakery complex. Such a site would have needed a transport infrastructure for
bringing raw materials in and taking finished product out. Considering that the
medieval linear feature uncovered in this latest excavation runs in a straight line
between the oven and the ancient track way, there is a high probability that the
feature is part of the site’s medieval transport system.

7. Acknowledgements
Thank you to the landowners, James & Carol Smith, for making the site available
for us. Thank you to Wendy Thompson, Peter Harris, Gus Theobold, Christina
Mowl, Mick Feekings, John & Frances Locke, Tim Hare, Geoff Henne, John Park
and all the other volunteers for their hard work, especially in the backfilling.
Many thanks to Tim Allen and Julie Martin for their help and advice in the
planning of the project, and for providing the geophysics survey results. Thanks
to the KCC Heritage Team, particularly Simon Mason, for advice. And finally
special thanks to David Villanueva for bringing the project to our attention, for

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providing much of the background information, and for writing a lot of this
report!

8. References
Ainslie, R&S. 2009 Chilham, Kent. Survey using Magnetometry. Abingdon
Archaeological Geophysics

Kent Historic Environment Record

Marary, I. 1948. Roman Ways in the Weald. Littlehampton Book Service:

Littlehampton

Museum of London, 1994 Archaeological Site Manual 3rd edition

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Appendix A - Finds
Finds were recovered from both of the trenches and from the metal detecting
survey. All of the metalwork found within the trenches was located using a metal
detector. The metal work found outside the limits of the trenches will also be
commented on here. Both of the trenches produced relatively small amounts of
material, the majority coming from the topsoil and subsoil of trench 1. The
majority of the material is pottery, dating from Iron Age to Post Medieval.

All of the finds have been catalogued by material and context, and are
summarised in Table 1 below. The metal detecting finds are listed in Table 2.

The finds have subsequently been catalogued further using a basic visual
examination. The types and dates have been noted.

Pottery

This material provides the main dating evidence for the site. Although pottery
was the most common material found in both trenches 1 and 2, the quantity is
still of a minimal amount. The majority of the material is early Medieval occurring
mainly within the topsoil and subsoil of trench 1. There were 3 sherds found
within the archaeological context. Overall the condition of the sherds is fair, with
only one Romano British sandy wear showing signs of abrasion. This is generally
because all of the other wears are fairly hard-fired. There were in total 27 sherds
found with a total weight of 172.93g.

Iron Age
There were 2 sherds that originated from the subsoil (002) in trench 1. Both
were of a late Iron Age course flint tempered wear, and from the same vessel.
Neither if the sherds are diagnostic.

Romano – British
There were 6 sherds of a fine Romano-British sandy wear. All were from the
subsoil of trench 1 (002). 4 were of a bright orange, soft, sandy fabric type that
had significantly eroded. There was a buff slip present on all of these sherds.
The remaining 2 are of a similar sandy fabric, however it is pinker in colour.
These are diagnostic sherds from the neck of a beaker or flagon.

Early Medieval & Medieval

The majority of the sherds were from the late Saxon period or early Medieval
period. 13 sherds from the subsoil in trench 1 (002) were of a shell tempered
hard fabric, varying in colour from reddish brown through to grey. All are hard
and contained varying amounts of shell. There also is variation in firing, most
sherds displaying evidence of both oxidising and reducing atmospheres in the

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kiln. It is likely that these date to the 11th or 12th century. There were also 3 of
these type found within the archaeological context, 2 from (003) and 1 from
(005). There were comparatively very few sherds of mid or late Medieval pottery
from the site. 1 came from the topsoil (001) of trench 1. The other was from in
the context (005). Both have a grey – orange sandy fabric with a reduced core
and oxidised surfaces. On both is a patchy yellow-green glaze on the outside.
This is Tyler Hill ware, which is very common in East Kent in the 13th and 14th
centuries. Neither of the pieces is diagnostic.

Post Medieval
Represented by 1 sherd of a red / buff sandy fabric with a dark green mottled
glaze. This is likely to be a red ware dating to the 16th century. This came from
the topsoil of trench 1 (001).

Metal work

There was little metal work found in the trenches, and all of this was located by
metal detector in context. A total of 15 pieces of iron were recovered, weighing a
total of 131.68g. All of the objects could not be ascribed a specific date.

From the topsoil of trench 1 and 2 (001), 5 square headed nails and 2 fragments
of Post Medieval horse shoe were recovered. From the subsoil of trench 1 (002),
5 small tacks or nails were recovered all with sub rectangular heads and shanks
with sub rectangular cross sections. These could have been associated with
some of the structures located by the 2008/2009 excavations. Additionally in the
subsoil (002) one hobnail, with a globular head was recovered.

From the fill of the small gulley (003) 2 further small square headed nails were
recovered. These nails were not greatly corroded.

Other finds

From the topsoil of trench 1 (001) one small piece of Post Medieval clay pipe and
7 pieces of modern brick/tile were also noted on site and then discarded.

2 pieces of oyster shell were found within the fill of the gulley (003).

The metal detecting finds are consistent with those previously found in the area.
In total during the project 10 Roman coins, dating to the 4th century AD were
located. These were spread across the field, although a concentration can be
found in the south west corner of the field. 2 Iron Age coins were also found in a
similar location. The remainder of the finds, again spread across the field, were
of a Medieval or Post Medieval date. These consisted of buckles, a bell, coins, a

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knife guard and mount. There were also a number of pieces of iron slag and
copper alloy casting waste.

Discussion

The majority of finds were located in the topsoil and subsoil, as such cannot give
us a great deal of help in dating the archaeological remains. The date ranges for
the pottery are consistent with the known activity in the area, and with the metal
detecting finds.

The finds located within context (003) and (005) date the small gulley to the
later Early Medieval and Medieval period. The presence of oyster shells suggests
that refuse collected in the gulley during the period it was open.

Table 1: Table of quantity / weight

Material Context 001 Context 002 Context 003 Context 005 Total

Num Weight Num Weight Num Weight Num Weight Num Weight

Pottery 2 10.17g 21 153.26g 2 3.77 2 5.73 27 172.93g

CBM 7 150.6g 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 150.6g

Clay 1 0.78 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.78

Pipe

Shell 0 0 0 0 2 13.76g 0 0 2 13.76

Iron 7 110.05g 6 17.76g 2 3.87g 0 0 15 131.68g

Copper 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Alloy

Lead 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

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Table 2: Metal detecting finds and PAS record numbers

1 Musket ball kent80d287 26 nail kentae0ef5

2 mount kentc13521 27 slag kentae1934
3 knife guard kent82c1b1 28 horse shoe kent97d063
4 clasp kentc14c60 29 coin kent5cddc5
5 buckle kentc15524 30 coin kent974241
6 buckle kent819d71 31 coin kent973b15
7 buckle kentc160c1 32 cu strip kent98c773
8 buckle kent81cef2 33 horse shoe kent97dc41
9 coin kentc17991 34 button kent94b1c0
10 button kent8117f6 35 cu frag kent948d74
11 coin kent81c314 36 coin kent5c5a64
12 weight kent80c920 37 coin kent573995
13 slag kentada0f4 38 coin kent56fd36
14 cu waste kentadb135 39 roman coin kent5cce81
15 roman coin kent16e0c3 40 roman coin kent5cb1f5
16 roman coin kent16d481 41 horse shoe kent97c322
17 potin kent167a11 42 roman coin kent974a55
18 potin kent168984 43 button kent9762b3
19 roman coin kent171331 44 nail kent963d21
20 roman coin kent176933 45 nail kent965672
21 roman coin kent17adf8 46 horse shoe kent94c342
22 roman coin kent17c057 47 horse shoe kent956a20
23 roman coin kent169684 48 horse shoe kent957982
24 roman coin kent16a723 49 bell kent96dfe7
25 nail kentae0682

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Appendix B - Figures
Figure 1: Site Location (Ordinance Survey, Crown Copyright)

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Figure 2: Photo of trench1

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Figure 3: Photo of linear [004]

17
Figure 4: Photo of trench 2

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Figure 5: Photo of linear [006]

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Figure 6: Plan of trench 1

20
Figure 7: Plan of trench 2

21
Figure 8: Section of trench 1

Figure 9: Section of trench 2

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Appendix C – Locations of trenches & features
Easting Northing Height OD Point
607873.045 153122.573 54.075 TR1
607867.867 153114.509 54.462 TR1
607865.775 153115.532 54.320 TR1
607870.405 153124.333 53.758 TR1
607861.560 153130.234 52.945 TR2
607859.542 153127.599 53.100 TR2
607858.281 153128.474 52.964 TR2
607860.390 153131.397 52.783 TR2
607874.183 153123.790 54.492 Grid Peg 1 in southern tree line
Grid Peg 2 /TBM in southern tree
607878.827 153115.105 55.088 line
607869.929 153110.334 55.277 Grid Peg 3 in southern tree line
607791.708 153135.212 50.888 Water pipe (South West)
607788.251 153289.977 35.218 WELL (North east corner of field)
607989.780 153172.112 48.881 Water Pipe (North East)

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