Mysteries of Mega Drawings
Did you watch the intriguing programme which aired on BBC Four, August 20th 2025? It seems the deserts of Arabia and Jordan were once fertile plains supporting vast herds of antelope. The Neolithic people living there devised a system of walls and pitfall traps to catch them. These structures remain as enigmatic patterns in the desert, mega drawings, the so-called “Desert Kites”, only fully visible from the air. But intriguingly the people left sketches of the plans on small stones hinting that they were aware of the larger plan.
This ran a parallel in my mind to Lenham Heath, a mega drawing in the landscape that does not seem to be coincidence. The Neolithic and Bronze Age inhabitants of Kent did not need to venture far to hunt, for the wildlife came to them in abundance.
They had a migratory fish, the Rivers Len and Stour were likely salmon rivers and if true, the redding pools would have been at Ridding Farm and Royton.[fn1] Perhaps they drew a mega picture of the fish on the ground to announce and enhance that fact, for let me explain what is there.
[fg]jpg|Fig 1 – Lenham Heath map of roads and footpaths, based on OS Explorer map, 2025.|Image[/fg]
When Lenham Archaeological Society excavated the west gate of the Iron Age enclosure, just east of Royton manor (Fig 1), a lump of red ochre was found amongst the broken pots at the base of the ditch. I had never seen red ochre like that, was it for colouring pots? people? gate posts? to resemble the red spawn of the fish? Fairly early in the history of the Lenham Archaeological Society (around 2002) I had noticed the outline of the area of Lenham Heath with its roads and footpaths resembled a fish. I had toyed with the idea it was based on the constellation of Pisces but as nothing fitted, I gave up the idea as stupid. Much later about 2017 when trying to work out the reason for a deep ditch running N-S near the Chapel site, I speculated it could be aligning to a star. The only one of significance to the south was Fomalhaut, an important one for sailors.
[fg]jpg|Fig 2 – Lenham Heath as the shape of the fish, with stars to show where they would fall. Image illustrated by the author to indicate the position of the stars in relation to the landscape. 2024.|Image[/fg]
I considered that the ancients had been drawing on the landscape, their settlement was built to show the world their way of life, centred around the return each year of the salmon, a symbol of reincarnation. For when Fomalhaut rose above the horizon in September, the salmon would return to spawn. It is possible that priests used the ditch as a siting line to predict exactly when the salmon were due, perhaps lining with a post on the next ridge. Their mega picture was of Piscis the Southern Fish, known as the Great Fish.
Formalhaut is the main star of the Southern fish, a constellation that is mostly below the horizon at our latitude, but the outline appears to fit our fish. This implies several things. The settlers were knowledgeable of the sky further south, were probably sailors and based their design on the older variation of the constellation.[fn1] It differs from the modern given interpretation of Piscis because of the position of the tail star. This is borne out by the old Arabic name of “The star in the Tail” or simply “The Tail” and therefore not part of Grus, a constellation recorded in the 16th Century. This star, Al Dhanab appears to fall on Brockton Farm, a site obliterated during the Channel Tunnel Rail Link excavations.
It is difficult to find the earlier interpretation of Piscis online as Grus takes command. Ian Ridpath mentions it, and the extension of the Fishes tail.[fn2] In the older fish there is another clue suggesting that the mega drawing was originally of a salmon curving its tail around spawning, for there is another star, Al Nair, The Bright One from the Fish’s Tail in this older star sign. If one plots the stars (in the same scale) the extended tail curves around to fit the village of Egerton.[fn3] It may well be that there is a prehistoric settlement at Egerton, part of the older Neolithic/Bronze Age village in the area to the north of a known tumulus. It is an exceptional tumulus, very upstanding.
Ridpath wrote “the star that Ptolemy placed at the tip of the fishes’ tail was appropriated for use as the head of the new constellation Grus, the Crane. Bayer and others straightened out the tail of Piscis Austrinis so that it did not overlap with the head of Grus”.
In other words, Grus is a 17th century invention, and it is possible that ancient mariners could have continued the tail. It may be worth modern archaeologists investigating for clues that show prehistoric settlement right up to the Egerton tumulus.
[fg]jpg|Fig 3 – Authors plan of how Piscis Austrinus stars should be. The plan is tilted slightly to fit the image of Lenham Heath as shown in the aerial photograph (Fig.5). 2024.|Image[/fg]
[fg]jpg|Fig 4 – Authors plan of the “incorrect “Piscis Austrinis with the key star Al Dhanab missed out and the tail artificially straightened. 2024.|Image[/fg]
Sad indeed, the day the last salmon came up the river! It needs excavation to prove the salmon actually existed. I believe traces of their otoliths maybe found in the sand. I wish I had thought this out before and we had looked for them. Clues to the great age of the settlement surfaced as we were excavating. About 2004, one trial pit located Mesolithic flints lying on a surface only 1 m deep, the sand had eroded above. Thames Valley Archaeological Services discovered an intact Mesolithic layer too at “Liberty View” Old Ashford Road, Mesolithic pits and rare evidence of dwellings. Unfortunately, development has hindered any further archaeological investigation through excavation on the site.
The magnetometry potentially reveals striations of the water flow, as it lies over the main spring of the Stour, and whilst building houses they had no end of problems with underground water. An overburden from squashed barrows, a Roman shrine, a lost road, they could all be there. Thames Valley Archaeological Services found a levelled barrow with a Beaker burial plus a huge Saxon Longhouse.[fn4] Lenham may well be one of the most historically important places in Kent, perhaps even the place of the Celts last battle, and we are having a battle to protect it.
[fg]jpg|Fig 5 - An Iron Age enclosure has been marked in this Aerial photograph of Lenham Heath from 1960. Aerial image in public domain courtesy of Kent County Council.|Image[/fg]
Whether you accept my theory of the Fish star sign or not, it does not detract from the evidence that this area of the Stour valley was very important during the Bronze Age and Iron Age and may have been occupied by an extensive population. There is evidence from all the sand quarry sites and the Channel Tunnel Rail Link excavations. Romans superimposed their influence on the region, yet very little so far has been excavated. I predict that New Shelve Farm could reveal a military presence and there is the possibility of a town under Wheatgratten field with an amphitheatre for up to 6000 people on the Downs. A solidus of Nerva was found on that farm during the 19th Century. The defile, immediately north of Mount castle, seems a good fit for Tacitus’s description of Boudica’s final battle, and with a barrage of sling shot ammunition the native populations would have stood little chance.
The extensive archaeological landscape, from the palaeolithic through to at least the Saxon period, will need to be thoroughly investigated and understood before any plans for large housing developments should be considered.
One further thing. Should the theory of Boudica’s last stand be accurate, the field just west of Mount Castle Farm bears the older name of “High Crosses” now largely forgotten. Did the leaders of the Boudican revolt get strung up here on high crosses? If so, the Romans may be lying about Boudica’s grave. Another alternative is that she fled across the Downs, 7 miles to another Iron Age enclosure in the Highsted valley. Presumably this enclosure was a sacred one as it had a square end and an inner ditch.[fn5] Perhaps the Iron Age graves discovered here were some of her followers?
This enclosure too is under threat, as the council seeks to build a continuous swathe of modern housing right across to the Science Park. Following my supposition that Boudicca could have fled to the Highsted valley, George Payne excavated a barrow at Woodstock by order of Mr Twopenny, the owner. Apparently, it was mostly a cairn of flints but he “dug out the natural base to a depth of two feet to make sure of leaving nothing behind”.[fn6] Perhaps it was still missed, who knows?
You may be interested in further excavations and investigations in and around Lenham. Some details can be obtained at tedconnell.org.uk/AFW/LAS/000.htm
Our Magazine, “Discovering Ancient Lenham” Book 4, is available £5 from Lenham Library or Kent Loves, a shop in Lenham designed for people like me who still have a foot in the past and enjoy a hard copy.
Lesley Feakes is a former director of the Lenham Archaeological Society, a long standing member of the KAS and has written extensively on the archaeology of Kent, including multiple archaeological reports and titles such as Discovering Ancient Lenham and Woodstock: An Archaeological Mystery.
[fn]1|before one star was later incorporated into the nearby constellation of Grus.[/fn]
[fn]2|Ridpath, Ian: Star Tales (Lutterworth Press, 2012)[/fn]
[fn]3|Please note that the star positions could have moved since 2000 BCE. I have not made any allowance for this.[/fn]
[fn]4|Read about it in our magazine, the £5 goes back to the Hatch Fund who supported publication. For details see Lenham Archaeological Society (LAS)[/fn]
[fn]5|See my book “Woodstock , an Archaeological Mystery”, available to purchase online.[/fn]
[fn]6|Payne, George: Collectanea Cantiana: or, Archaeological Researches in the Neighbourhood of Sittingbourne, and Other Parts of Kent (London: Mitchell and Hughes, 1893) p9.[/fn]