A new review of Thanet's ring-ditch cropmarks was recently instigated by Ges Moody using the sites which had originally been identified in Perkins' 1999 study in an effort to create an accurate digital map of Thanet's roundbarrow landscape.

A review of the Perkins data revealed the following statistics for the ring-ditch monuments:


Single ring-ditches: 295*

Possible/probable single ring-ditches: 82

Double ring-ditches: 17

Possible double ring-ditches: 1

Triple ring-ditches: 2

Single ring-ditches <10m diameter: 16**


Total: 413

*Lord of the Manor VIII is included in this list as a large single ring-ditch monument, but on excavation was found to have a second small, shallow, inner ring-ditch (a later addition, which produced a possible sherd of Beaker pottery) which surrounded a shallow burial.

**The single ring-ditches of less than 10m diameter were originally thought more likely to be of Jutish (Anglo-Saxon) origin. However recent excavations at Bon Secours Ramsgate and Bradstow School Broadstairs have revealed very small single ring-ditch monuments (of 4m and 5.5m diameter respectively) dating to the Bronze Age.

Since the 1999 survey another 10 ring-ditch monuments are known to have been found during excavations in urban areas. At least 8 of these can be considered certain roundbarrows; the possible exceptions being numbers v and xii (below).

Some new information has also been learned about a site excavated at Mill Lane Margate in 1975 (J.Villette pers comm.); this featured a ring-ditch monument (probably a Henge) which was unknown to the authors of the recent studies (and thus can be considered an additional urban site).

No published information is currently available on this important but un-financed Rescue Excavation, though intentions exist and it is hoped that some form of official publication could be forthcoming.

Another additional site which does not feature on the Perkins plan was discovered at Ebbsfleet (by Wessex Archaeology) in 1994. This comprised a small ring-ditch monument (4m in diameter) which was explored by one section before being unexpectedly covered over. A polished flint axe was recovered from the base of the ditch, while the top fill contained a small sherd of probable Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age pottery (Hearne, Perkins and Andrew 1995).

(i) Mill Lane Margate (J. Villette, KARU 1975).*
(ii) Ebbsfleet (WA 1994).*
(iii) Ramsgate Greyhound Stadium (KARU 2000).
(iv) Anne Close I, Birchington (TTA 2001).
(v) Anne Close II, Birchington (TTA 2001).
(vi) Bon Secours, Ramsgate (TTA 2002).
(vii) North Foreland Av, Broadstairs (TTA 2004).*
(viii) Cliffs End Farm I, Cliffsend (WA 2004).*
(ix) Cliffs End Farm II, Cliffsend (WA 2004).*
(x) Cliffs End Farm III, Cliffsend (WA 2004).*
(xi) Bradstow School IV, Broadstairs (TTA 2006).*
(xii) Bradstow School V, Broadstairs (ASE 2006).*

Total: 12

* Not included in or 'Post-Fisk' (2003) sites.

NB. The large ring-ditch Bradstow School IV may have been recognised previously in aerial photographs, though as plotted is close to but not exactly at the same spot as discovered through excavation.

It has been estimated (Perkins 1987) that Thanet's northern, eastern and southern coasts have been eroding at around 30m each century. This means that over the last 4000 years up to 1.2 km of coast may have been lost - an area of approximately 25.2 square km (9.27 sq miles).

This comprises about 20% of the land area of the original island and will no doubt have destroyed a large number of roundbarrows and other monuments.

Top

Throughout this work I have been keen to present the results of all the individual surveys (RCHME 1989, Perkins  1999 and Fisk 2003) prior to the 'new review' in order to show the evolution of the research and to allow other researchers access to data that they may prefer to use for comparative purposes.

The results of the new review (which is ongoing) are presented further below.

Oliver Gardner (of the Trust for Thanet Archaeology) has now completed (as of 06.10.06) the project of compiling a digitised map and database which contains the location of (and information on) all of the known ring-ditch and roundbarrow monuments on the Isle of Thanet.

It contains data compiled from the surveys undertaken by the RCHME and Dr. David Perkins (including the possible/probable ring-ditch and roundbarrow monuments), as well as P.M. Fisk's gazetteer. The results of the latest research into the excavated ring-ditch and roundbarrow monuments of Thanet has also been added.

It is important to note however that the Thanet database actually lists a total of 56 excavated sites, with the monument known as Monkton-Minster VIII A + B having two separate entries, but I have included it here as a single, though multi-phase monument for now (as is the triple ring-ditch Lord of the Manor I, for example).

The number of excavated sites also includes one barrow which KARU is known to have excavated at Millmead, Margate, but it is possible that they may also have uncovered others. This is offset somewhat by the inclusion of Lord of the Manor VII in the same list, as it has now become uncertain as to whether this monument has actually been investigated through excavation. *

Also included in the excavated class are monuments that have been exposed or only partly exposed through excavation but have not necessarily been explored. This is particularly in respect of Bradstow School III, which was a short section of curving ditch (likely to represent a ring-ditch monument) exposed during a British Museum excavation centered upon Hurd's original barrow find at Valetta House (Bradstow School I). It is not known whether this ditch was actually sampled though.

Work by Oliver Gardner (using a digitised map of Thanet) has estimated that today the remnant of the Isle which lies within its ancient coast-line comprises an area of around 86.31 square kilometres (sq km).  He has also estimated that Thanet's urban and village areas (calculated using a map from 1970s and therefore now a minimum estimate) cover a total of 33.641 sq km; (this figure includes the developed areas of Manston Airport, estimated at 2.719 sq km).

It should be noted however that this figure does also take in two small urban areas which had previously been surveyed through aerial photography (the Sunley Estate at Cliftonville and around Newington, Ramsgate) and thus have given us cropmark data.

We are now in a position to provide the best ever estimate of ring-ditch/barrow monument density on the Isle of Thanet - an impressive 9.11 per sq km.

One must not forget of course that this is a broad figure which gives the density of such monuments as they appear across the landscape of the Isle as a whole. The next step is to explore where these monuments occur with regards to favoured geographical or geological locations. This will give us a better idea of their density in areas where they were purposely sited and permit more accurate predictions of locations where others may be expected to be found and the numbers in which they might be found there. It will also allow an estimate of those which now lie buried under areas of development. (This work is in progress - check back for further updates soon).

The figure of 480 is only the visible part of the story of course. There is also more to consider, for Thanet may have lost approximately 25.2 sq km of its coastline since the Bronze Age (Perkins 1987). This suggests that 229 (actually 229.572) ring-ditch monuments could have been lost to coastal erosion. This makes a potential total of 709 monuments which might have originally existed on the Isle.

Combining the figures of Thanet's known total (480) and those potentially destroyed by agricultural processes etc (Cunliffe estimates 25% -  therefore 120 Thanet monuments) gives a figure of 600. This gives a 'Sites per sq km' figure of 11.39, which would alter the estimate of those lost to coastal erosion to 287 (actually 287.028).

Top

Here I would like to acknowledge the efforts of all of those people who have contributed to the study of the ring-ditch and roundbarrow monuments of the Isle of Thanet.

In particular sincere thanks go to Susan Deacon (for digitising the plan of Perkin's 1999 work and also for her work on the digital mapping of Thanet sites in general, including all the RCHME maps and for her work in rectifying aerial photographs); Pip Fisk (for her gazetteer of excavated ring-ditch and roundbarrow sites on Thanet); Oliver Gardner (for the compilation, review and refinement of all the data on ring-ditch and roundbarrow monuments on Thanet, plus the establishment of the individual maps and the database); Ges Moody (for the inception of the digital review and the ideas of what can be achieved with it), Nigel Macpherson Grant and Dr. Dave Perkins (for their excavations and analysese of many of the ring-ditch sites).

Thanks go to John Smythe who provided the Trust for Thanet Archaeology with a new copy of the list of the RCHME  ring-ditch data for Thanet. Thanks also go to the photographers and personnel of the RCHME who established the initial survey which formed the base for this ongoing study.

Top