Farringleys, Westerham Road, Bromley: A Desktop Study

Abstract

An archaeological desktop study has been commissioned by the owner of Farringleys, Bromley (TQ4236 6432) as part of a planning application to develop the site for residential purposes. The site lies immediately north of an important Iron Age hillfort, Caesar's Camp, Scheduled Ancient Monument GL101. A possible outlying bank of this complex lies within the Farringleys site and earlier work on the hillfort suggests that there may be an entrance on the northern ramparts at the point where the Farringleys boundary meets the Holwood Estate. Since much of this rampart was damaged during landscaping in the eighteenth century, it is not clear whether the banks extend within the Farringleys site, the probability is that they do. The nature of the proposed development for this area, however, is likely to have a minimal effect on any surviving archaeology. The other period of which archaeological remains are most likely to be encountered is the Mesolithic. Extensive flint working floors have been discovered within the hillfort and on the other side of the valley on Keston Common. Any groundworks may affect remains of this period. Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age material are far less likely to be encountered given the present understanding of their distribution in the area. Extensive Roman remains are known in the general area, though none very close to the Farringleys site. Saxon and later finds are sparse in the records but the site was part of a Saxon and medieval manor, so their presence cannot be ruled out. Groundworks may encounter remains of any of these periods, but this is far less likely than for the Mesolithic and Iron Age.