Boarley Lane, Maidstone, Kent

The OAU was commissioned by Union Railways Ltd to conduct a field evaluation of land situated to the south of Boarley Farm and west of Boarley Lane, Maidstone, Kent (NGR TQ 7610 5925). The work was conducted between 13th and 17th December 1998. Five evaluation trenches were excavated in an area of c 0.6 hectares. A ditch, tree throw hole and possible erosion gully were revealed in trench 3509TT to the south-west of the site. All of these features contained late Neolithic-Bronze Age struck flints; the possible erosion gully also contained a single small, abraded sherd of prehistoric pottery, possibly Beaker. A very large feature at south of the site could not be positively identified due to persistent flooding but it is likely to have been caused by erosion, close to the present stream course. A small, undated pit was found in trench 310TT, and a large quarry pit, probably dating to the medieval period, was found in trench 3508TT.