Fordwich is located at 45–40m above Ordnance Datum (aOD) on the north bank of the River Stour Valley in Kent; the most easterly south-bank tributary of the Thames, currently exiting into the English Channel to the south of the Isle of Thanet (Bridgland et al. 1998). Early gravels in the Stour have been identified capping the Blean, a ridge of London Clay that separates the Thames estuary from the Stour valley (Dewey et al. 1925; Coleman 1952, 1954). Coleman (1952, 1954) recognised a series of six ancient terraces on the Blean, the river migrating eastwards with each rejuvenation until it cut down into the Chalk at the 100ft stage and became entrenched into the modern valley, leaving a series of lower terraces. Coleman included the site at Fordwich in her 125ft (~40m) stage, the fourth terrace from the modern flood plain.

Dewey and Smith (1925) were the first to report on flint implements from gravel at 160ft (49m) aOD at Fordwich; extensive workings were described by Smith (1933), who noted that the gravel varied in depth from 2m to 6.5 m from east to west, where its base was at about 130ft (40m) aOD. Smith (1933) described a variable series of sands and gravels resting on Eocene sands, not well bedded, but clearly waterlain. In the lower parts the gravel was interstratified with lenses of sand, but the main body of gravel above was almost structureless. This was overlain by an upper current-bedded sand and a further thin layer of gravel. The sequence was capped by trail. With inevitable lateral variation similar sequences have been revealed in more recent investigations.

During the operational lifetime of the pit, large collections were amassed by local collectors, Bowes and Willock, from workmen and local dealers (see Canterbury West). They were quickly recognised as being crude and unrefined in character—believed by contemporary workers to show greater antiquity—with a smaller component of better made artefacts considered to be of younger age. Recent excavations and historical research (Key et al. 2023, 2025; Knowles in prep.; see also Ashmore 1980) suggest that more than one assemblage may present, with Key et al. 2025 proposing that that the crude artefacts may have come from the lower gravel and the better made handaxes from the upper gravel, although this had not yet been demonstrated in situ.

Based on terrace lithostratigraphy and uplift rates, Bridgland et al. (1998) tentatively estimated the age of the Fordwich terrace at ~650ka, i.e. Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 15. Recent excavations by Key (Key et al. 2023) yielded infrared-radiofluorescence (IR-RF) dates from the middle sand bed at Fordwich of 532±30 ka BP, suggesting correlation with MIS 14; due to the abraded nature of the historical collections, they were suggested to have originated from eroded MIS 15 sediments. More recent estimates on the lower gravels would push this date back to between 780±87 and 639±38 ka, implying MIS 17/16 occupation. The Fordwich artefacts can be safely attributed to a pre-MIS 13 interglacial, but whether this is MIS 15 or MIS 17 remains unclear at present.

Ashmore, A.M. 1980. The typology and age of the Fordwich handaxes. Archaeologia Cantiana 96: 83–117.

Bridgland, D.R., Keen, D.H., Schreve, D.C. and White, M.J. 1998. Summary dating and correlation of the Stour sequence. In: Murton, J.B. et al. (eds) The Quaternary of Kent & Sussex: Field Guide. London: QRA, 53–54.

Dewey, H., Wooldridge, S.W., Cornes, H.W. and Brown, E.E.S., 1925. The geology of the Canterbury district and report of excursion to Canterbury. Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association 36: 257–290.

Coleman, A. 1952. Some aspects of the development of the Lower Stour, Kent. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 63: 63–86.

Coleman, A. 1954. The relief and drainage evolution of the Blean. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 65: 52–63.

Key, A., Lauer, T., Skinner, M.M., Pope, M., Bridgland, D.R., Noble, L. and Proffitt, T., 2022. On the earliest Acheulean in Britain: first dates and in-situ artefacts from the MIS 15 site of Fordwich (Kent, UK). Royal Society Open Science 9: 211904. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.211904

Key, A., Clark, J., Lauer, T., Bates, J., Sier, M.J., Nichols, C., Martín-Ramos, C., Cebeiro, A., Williams, E., Kim, S. and Stileman, F., Mika, A., Pope, M., Bridgland, D., Redhouse, D., Leonardi, M., Smith, G., & Proffitt, T. 2025. Hominin glacial-stage occupation 712,000 to 424,000 years ago at Fordwich Pit, Old Park (Canterbury, UK). Nature Ecology & Evolution 9: 1781–1790.

Smith, R.A. 1933. Implements From High-Level Gravel Near Canterbury. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society of East Anglia 7: 165–170.