Fougeres Way, Ashford, Kent

Oxford Archaeology was commissioned by JIL Developments Ltd to undertake
a trial-trench evaluation of the site of a proposed retail development. The
fieldwork was completed between 15th and 25th November 2021. Twentyseven
trenches were excavated, representing a 5% sample of the 3.45ha site.
No prior geophysical survey was undertaken, so the trenches were distributed
evenly across the site rather than targeted on specific features.
Trenches 1, 9, 10 and 12 contained archaeological features, including three
probable drainage ditches and one possible pit in Trench 12. All the features
were investigated by hand but none produced artefacts and they are therefore
undated. In the 19th century the site was part of a volunteer rifle range. No
range structures lay within the site boundary, but it was crossed by a footpath
which was re-routed at least once during the 19th century. The ditches found
in the trenches seem to take their alignment from Warren Lane, to the east of
the site, so are most likely to be medieval or post-medieval agricultural drains
that pre-date the rifle range. No evidence for the 19th-century rifle range
footpath was found in the trenches.
There was extensive evidence for recent landscaping and ground disturbance,
particularly along the north-western edge of the previously developed John
Lewis Home Store plot and the embankment of Fougeres Way. Associated
previous groundworks in the same area include an extant drainage pond and
a buried electrical cable. There was also evidence for ground disturbance
along the north edge of the site where a water pipe has been installed in
recent years.
Given the very sparse archaeological features encountered, limited range of
features/deposits and lack of any artefacts or other dating evidence, no
mitigation is recommended.