Road dig reveals Iron Age remains

Archaeologists have discovered iron age remains under the route of a new bypass around the village of Leybourne.

In a dig before the construction work, ditches containing pottery, burnt daub, charcoal and animal bone were found.

Kent County Council archaeologist, John Williams, said the remains suggested there were Iron Age farming settlements in the area more than 2,000 years ago.

The finds, near the A20 and M20, also included an Anglo-Saxon cellar possibly dating back to the sixth century.

Digs at sites along the bypass route also revealed a medieval bakery structure, and the channels of the water management system that once fed Leybourne mill.

It helps us to understand the early landscape John Williams

The council said some of the remains would be preserved beneath the road as construction work gets under way.

Archaeologists will now analyse the findings from the dig by Wessex Archaeology, Archaeology South East and Canterbury Archaeological Trust.

"This work is important because it helps us to understand the early landscape around Leybourne and West Malling," Mr Williams said.

"We can now see that people were living here at least 2,000 years ago in an area where we previously had little evidence."