More information : (TQ 97553225) Earthworks (NR) (1)
"Below the hill on which Kenardington Church stands and adjoining to it south-east, are the remains of some ancient fortifications, of earth with a breastwork thrown up, and a small circular mound; and in the adjoining marsh below it is another, of larger size, with a narrow ridge or causeway seemingly backing from one to the other". (Plan AO/62/41/7) (2)
Kenardington, Kent, is listed as the presumed site of a shell keep, the evidence for which is imperfect. The remains of Kenardington camp are poor (see plan); of its eastern side there remain 600 ft but it evidently extended southward into the adjoining arable fields, where it has been ploughed out, while the piece still visible is no more than an eight foot scarp on the slope towards the valley. Hasted's mounds and 'causeway' are thought to be later than the stronghold, and possibly part of a dam used in "inning" the marshland. The northern arm, about 550 ft in length, is better preserved, but it is not evident how much further it extended towards the west, as the scarping on that side may be comparatively recent work, and the opening in the rampart on the north, though it appears an original entrance, may have been made for farm purposes. Perhaps this camp was never completed, and it may possibly be the Saxon work which the chronicle says was stormed in AD 893 by the Danes, who found only a half-constructed fastness in which a few countrymen were stationed.
(3-5)
The surviving earthworks are as shown on the OS 25". They are simple scarps, three on the north more pronounced than those on the east, and appear to be no more than old field boundaries. (6)
Listed by Cathcart King. (7) |