Ham Hill - Iron Age embankments
I have long been fascinated by the low-lands between Deal and Sandwich, with marshes fed by streams which rise at Eastry, Northbourne and Great Mongeham. These chalk streams make their way to the Stour and thence to the sea, via a maze of dikes (correct local spelling), sewers and gutters through Ham Fen and Worth Marshes. Some of the water was drawn along Roaring Gutter, the Pinnock Wall and the Delf Stream to supply Sandwich (1).
If the sea level were to be say 3m higher than today, these streams would presumably have been navigable towards these villages which, with the good sources of food from the marshes, would have attracted a sizeable population. The map below illustrates this scenario, with thanks to Jim Dickson for his modelling (2). Archaeological finds in the area have indicated settlements in the Iron Age and before, on the higher ground around what are now the villages of Worth, Eastry, Ham and Sholden, as well as evidence of Anglo-Saxon occupation in later centuries. 
A strangely-shaped field edge on the map led us to an interesting rabbit hole, on the banks of the streams of Ham Fen. This seems to form part of an embankment system that lines the banks of the North and South Streams between Eastry and the outflow at Hacklinge, presumably protecting settlements on the higher ground; to the south is the hamlet of Ham with a (now damaged) church on a bluff, and to the north-west is the site of a Romano-British temple which seems to have been built over an earlier Celtic(?) shrine.
When the Eastry by-pass was being built, archaeological work was done at the points where the earthwork crossed the road and found a small number of late Iron Age artifacts (3).
It seems reasonable to think that the village of Eastry, an important power base in Anglo-Saxon times, would have held an Iron Age settlement as well, but there is little firm evidence of this (4). There are many instances of new locations being established in the Migration Period (5), and a move to Eastry from nearby Iron Age and Romano-British sites may be another example.
A report (6) on the archaeological implications of a planning application in 2024 provides a good summary of the history of Eastry and recommends that "Given the high archaeological potential in the area and that there are many questions
remaining to be answered regarding Eastry origins from the Prehistoric period onwards as well
as the importance of the PDS as part of a large manorial estate farmstead, it is recommend
that there be a programme of archaeological works devised in consultation with the statutory
authorities to mitigate any potential impact. Any further groundworks should be monitored."
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