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Possible Henge monuments of Thanet
Link -
Unexcavated sites
Summary
Bethlehem Farm
Brooksend
Woodchurch
Seamark Hill I
Seamark Hill II
Seamark Hill III
Millmead
Link - Unexcavated sites
Aerial photograph of the cropmark of an apparently Causewayed ring-ditch monument in a Thanet field
(photographer unknown)
Some of the Causewayed
and larger ring-ditch sites recognised through aerial photography and which have the potential to be Henges have been listed below.
However examples of Causewayed ring-ditch monuments excavated on Thanet have been found to date from the Late Neolithic through to the Middle Bronze Age and by no means can all of them (or even the majority) be thought to represent (or be a later adaption of) a Henge.
The study of excavated Causewayed ring-ditch monuments on Thanet has shown that several have had their causeways cut down and 'slighted', probably as an act of closure at the end of a particular phase of use at these (often multi-phase) sites.
The largest Causewayed single ring-ditch monument discovered recently at Bradstow School (2006) had a causeway that was cut away to a depth below the surface of the chalk natural and its existence was initially hidden below the soil infill. This demonstrates that the cropmark of a causewayed Henge monument that may have been adapted as a barrow in later life might no longer show any evidence of its former causeway and just appear as a single ring-ditch cropmark.
However examples of Causewayed ring-ditch monuments excavated on Thanet have been found to date from the Late Neolithic through to the Middle Bronze Age and by no means can all of them (or even the majority) be thought to represent (or be a later adaption of) a Henge.
The study of excavated Causewayed ring-ditch monuments on Thanet has shown that several have had their causeways cut down and 'slighted', probably as an act of closure at the end of a particular phase of use at these (often multi-phase) sites.
The largest Causewayed single ring-ditch monument discovered recently at Bradstow School (2006) had a causeway that was cut away to a depth below the surface of the chalk natural and its existence was initially hidden below the soil infill. This demonstrates that the cropmark of a causewayed Henge monument that may have been adapted as a barrow in later life might no longer show any evidence of its former causeway and just appear as a single ring-ditch cropmark.
In the field north of the farm and south
of the railway cutting a cropmark of a large
circular enclosure may indicate the presence of a Henge or Iron Age
farmstead. Roundbarrows and field ditches can also be seen near by.
Neolithic flints have also be found after ploughing.
NGR TR 347 646.
TSMR 171.
Cropmarks indicate the
presence of at least two or possibly three large ring-ditches circa 30m in diameter.
These may be Henges or large Bronze Age
roundbarrows (or a combination of the two).
A Late Neolithic pit and ditch was discovered nearby at Brooksend Hill (NGR TR 2955 6813; TSMR 315).
A Late Neolithic pit and ditch was discovered nearby at Brooksend Hill (NGR TR 2955 6813; TSMR 315).
NGR TR 292 677
TSMR 287.
A cropmark of a circular
ditch interrupted by a number of causeways can be seen.
TSMR 116.
On open farmland west
of Seamark Hill lies a cropmark of a circular ditched enclosure circa 35m in diameter with a
causewayed entrance and four internal features. The features comprise a
central pit, a small circular ditch with internal feature cut within
the causeway and a rectangular feature on the opposite side of the
enclosure from the causeway. Close to this latter feature a large pit
can be seen cutting the causewayed ditch.
This cropmark may represent a Henge or a
complex site based upon an
Early Iron Age farmstead.
NGR TR 285 658.
TSMR 217.
A cropmark 200m east
of the Thanet Way and 70m north of Seamark Hill shows a circular ditched enclosure circa 25m in diameter with an
entrance causeway.
NGR TR 285 657.
TSMR 219.
10m north of Seamark Hill and 200m north
of the Monkton Roundabout lies the cropmark of a Double-ditched
circular enclosure circa 30m
in diameter with a causewayed entrance. An internal central feature is
visible. As in the case of (IV) above (TSMR 217) a large pit can be
seen to cut the ditches opposite the causeway.
This cropmark may represent a Henge, perhaps one re-used/modified as a barrow in the Bronze Age.
This cropmark may represent a Henge, perhaps one re-used/modified as a barrow in the Bronze Age.
NGR TR 287 658.
TSMR 220.
The cropmark of a triple ring-ditch
monument has been noted here. This is only the second such monument
known to exist on Thanet, the other being Lord of the Manor I which was
excavated by the Thanet Archaeological Unit in 1976. These excavations
showed that those ditches had been dug in several different phases and
that the largest, outer ditch may have been of Late Neolithic origin,
comprising a 'ceremonial enclosure' or Henge.
Version 1 - Posted 26.09.06
Version 2 - Posted 16.12.06
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