Description

In May 2005 Videotext Communications Ltd. was commissioned by Channel 4 to carry out an archaeological evaluation, as part of the Time Team television series, at two neighbouring locations; Highborough Hill (centred on NGR 631313 155559), and Eastry Court and environs (centred on NGR 631311 155548), Eastry, Kent. Wessex Archaeology was commissioned to undertake the archaeological site recording, postexcavation processing and assessment of the archaeological evidence recovered.
The high archaeological profile of the area has long been recognised. The line of Eastry High Street follows the course of a major Roman road (Dover to Richborough), which remained an important routeway in the Anglo-Saxon period.
Eastry is known to have represented the centre of an Anglo-Saxon royal estate, the palace associated with which is believed to have been located in the vicinity of Eastry Court. Numerous Anglo-Saxon graves and cemeteries have been excavated within and to the south of the village. Over the past decade several fragments of high status Anglo-Saxon metalwork have been recovered during metal-detector surveys over Highborough Hill suggesting the presence of features of that date in the area.
The geophysical survey and subsequent excavation in the village failed to find any evidence for features or deposits that might be associated with the postulated Anglo-Saxon palace or settlement. Settlement evidence of this date is difficult to locate archaeologically and it is possible that the remains of Anglo-Saxon structures may lie below extant buildings.