Sturry is situated at approximately 22 m above Ordnance Datum (aOD) (72ft) on the north bank of the River Stour valley in Kent, about 3 miles northeast of Canterbury and a mile north of Fordwich. Ten terraces of the Stour have been recognised, rising from the modern river to the Blean. Coleman (1952, 1954) identified six ancient terraces on the Blean Plateau, each formed as the Stour migrated eastwards, following which the river incised into the Chalk (at the 100ft level), becoming entrenched in the modern valley and leaving a series of lower terraces. Sturry falls within Coleman’s Upper Reculver Stage, the first terrace below the 100ft level.

The Sturry gravels were quarried from several pits, including Homersham’s West and East, Ashenden’s West and East, Dadd’s and Copper’s Pits. These pits formed an approximate linear alignment along the northern valley slope, north of the Sturry railway line, where the surface rises to about 30 m aOD (Dewey & Smith 1925). Homersham’s West Pit received the most attention and was subject to controlled excavations by local enthusiast Dr. A.G. Ince in 1922–23, who kept detailed stratigraphic records and section drawings. His findings were later summarised by Dewey and Smith (1925; Dewey et al. 1925) who described over 10m of fluvial sands, gravels and interbedded clays stacked above Thanet sand (Figure 1). Notably, the gravels contain rafts of laminated Thanet sand, likely transported during frozen conditions and indicating permafrost at the time of deposition (Dewey & Smith 1925). Further excavations at Homersham’s West Pit for the 1998 Quaternary Research Association Field Meeting revealed that loose, open-framework gravels dominate the sequence, with large-scale cross-bedded gravel units with foresets dipping eastwards suggesting bar fronts or dunes (Bridgland et al. 1998).

Palaeolithic artefacts were recovered from several contexts at Homersham’s West Pit. The basal red gravel, termed the “St Acheul zone” by Smith and Dewey produced numerous well-made handaxes—predominantly refined points and ovates—considered more sophisticated than those from Fordwich (Dewey & Smith 1925). Handaxes from the “Le Moustier zone” exhibit similar forms of handaxes, although there have been claims of Levallois technology from this and other pits (Dewey & Smith 1925; Wymer 1992–93). The sands near the top of the sequence have produced rolled and patinated Fordwich-type handaxes, which appear to have been derived from older, higher terraces. Such artefacts occur throughout the sequence—rolled in the basal and upper sands, yet remarkably fresh within unconsolidated gravel blocks, likely rafted from higher terraces during frozen conditions (Dewey & Smith 1925). Recent work on the Stour Valley by Peter Knowles has suggested a later MIS 11 age for the Sturry gravels.

Bridgland, D.R., Keen, D.H., Schreve, D.C., & 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: Quaternary Research Association, 53–54.

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.

Dewey, H. & Smith, R.A. 1925. Flints from the Sturry Gravels, Kent. Archaeologia 74: 117–136.

Dewey, H., Wooldridge, S.W., Cornes, H.W. & 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.

Wymer, J.J. 1992–93. Region 4 (South of the Thames) and Region 1 (South West England): Southern Rivers Palaeolithic Project Report. Salisbury: Wessex Archaeology.