Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment Strawberry Wood Culvert Archaeology Report (Download the full report)

He found that “the culvert comprises a series of sandstone slabs set upon drystone retaining walls, and is situated at the point where a metalled track way crosses the stream”. Importantly the desk-based study also stated that “no evidence to date the structure, and no certain evidence of its function or origin, had been found". However, a study of the historic landscape context suggested that the structure may be associated with the iron industry, which flourished in the area between the 16th and mid 18th centuries.

Following recommendations made in the desk-based assessment, Archaeology South-East (a division of the University College London Centre for Applied Archaeology) was commissioned by the Kent High Weald Partnership to carry out an archaeological survey of Strawberry Wood Culvert. The report was made by Richard James BA, MIFA & Lesley Davidson, and was published in April 2009.

Full ASE Survey Report (available for download once copyright has been approved)

The desk-based assessment phase of the project utilised the wider landscape context of the culvert to postulate that it was associated with the local iron-working industry, probably dated from the early 16th – mid 18th centuries and was designed to accommodate large and heavily laden wagons. The ASE survey has been unable to shed further light on the history or function of the culvert, being largely a recording exercise. However, analysis of the surviving accessible fabric of the monument has identified two possible aspects that suggest the culvert may be a more complex and interesting structure than first thought:

1. The presence of a possible straight joint in the north revetment wall coinciding with the junction between two capstones and the area of collapse could indicate that the culvert has been widened along its east-west axis and was originally narrower; and

2. The presence of the large sloping stone resembling a displaced capstone could indicate that the culvert is actually longer on its north-south axis. If so, was there a second channel to the south and was the southern wall actually freestanding rather than a revetment? Alternatively, has it just been moved from an original position over the existing channel, which therefore had no flanking twin?

The size and structure of the culvert, coupled with the presence of the metalled road, suggests it was built to support heavy cartloads, making an association with the Wealdon iron industry a tempting possibility. Cindery slag has been found on the surface nearby, and a pond bay is known a little further downstream. No date has yet been ascribed to the culvert although early maps suggest that the road that crosses it had likely fallen out of use by the late eighteenth century. Depressions in the surrounding woodland may attest to ironstone quarrying and a nearby outcrop of Ashdown Beds sandstone could be the source of the building material for the culvert.