Mersham (East of), ARC EMM 98

The area under investigation was located to the north of the existing London to Folkestone railway. It was bounded to the east by open farmland, to the north by private housing, and immediately to the west by fields recently the subject of an archaeological excavation by CAT on behalf of URS and interpreted as a medieval metalworking site (ARC MSH 98). A total of ten trenches was excavated, archaeological features being identified in two of these. The features were interpreted as a series of pits, and a large ditch. The ditch is believed to be the continuation of a ditch observed in the area previously excavated, and thought to represent the southern boundary to the site. The density of features encountered was low, and no direct evidence for metalworking was evident. Despite this the presence of the identified features tentatively suggests that the original limits of the medieval metalworking site continued eastwards into the study area.