NHER 11484 (Find Spot record) - Unprovenanced ?Palaeolithic worked flints, Kenninghall Pit (Kenninghall, poorly located)

Potentially Palaeolithic objects are known to have been recovered at Kenninghall during the 20th century, but with little additional information regarding provenance. It appears that most, if not all, of these object are probably somewhat dubious.

REPORTED DISCOVERIES

July 1914. Stray Find.
In July 1914 Rev. H. G. O. Kendall and a Dr Blackmore recovered a number of what they believed to be worked flints in a "small pit" at Kenninghall (S1). This pit is described as being "…situate at the edge of a small, dry side valley, originally draining off the plateau into the southern branch of the River Wittle. The height above O.D. is 129 feet [40m]. A number of Kendall's flints were seen by Reid Moir and identified as most belonging to the "Middle Glacial Sands series" with one being of "pre-Crag Age". A "Rostro-carinate" implement is figured in (S1). Dr Blackmore's flints are described in (S1) as "…chiefly small and rude specimens of eagle-beak implements…of the middle glacial period".
As with most of the supposedly early implements identified around this time it is likely that these flints from Kenninghall would now be regarded as extremely dubious artefacts.

FINDS IN MUSEUM COLLECTIONS

The British Museum holds 2 supposedly Palaeolithic objects that are recorded as being "from the pit" at Kenninghall. Information from (S2).
These flints are in the Wellcome Collection (1982,1004.10-11) and are listed in the museum's records as 1 core and 1 natural object. The latter is listed on (S2) as a scraper.
It seems reasonably likely that they are examples of the so-called "Middle Glacial" objects that had been recovered at Kenninghall during the early 20th century (see above).
These flints were examined by Wymer and are described on (S3) as ?natural flaked pieces. They were not included in (S4).

P. Watkins (HES), 28 March 2013.