Boarley Farm (East of), ARC BFE 99

Oxford Archaeological Unit (OAU) was commissioned by Union Railways (South) Limited (URS) to undertake detailed archaeological investigation at the site of East of Boarley Farm, north-west of Boxley, Kent. The work was conducted as part of an extensive programme of archaeological investigation carried out in advance of the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL). An area of late Iron Age/ early Romano-British activity, identified to the east of Boarley Farm during an evaluation of the CTRL corridor, has been designated for preservation in situ. The present trench, which was specified as detailed excavation, was located immediately to the south, within the trace of the rail link cutting. The site was 0.1 ha in extent (20 m x 50 m). A single ditch, dated to the late Iron Age/ early Romano-British period by a small pottery assemblage, and three undated postholes were the only definite archaeological features identified. Other features and deposits which produced small quantities of residual late Iron Age/ early Romano-British pottery and worked flint, are interpreted as resulting from colluvial erosion and deposition. A thick colluvial sequence, filling a large erosion gully, has been sampled for a range of environmental indicators and for pedological analysis. The potential of the material has yet to be assessed but it is hoped that it will provide material for comparison with the important dry valley sequence at the nearby White Horse Stone site.