At one time each path crossing was marked by four tall conifers but few of these remain today. Before the war Kings Wood was a particularly valuable piece of woodland but during the war most of the best trees were removed by the army. The woodland was also disturbed by a flying bomb which landed amongst the trees; its shell remained there for many years.
There is the site of a Romano‐British settlement on the northern boundary, a small farmstead undisturbed for 2000 years. Partial excavations were carried out by Mr. R.I Little during 1955 and 1959.
The site, which lay on the edge of a small valley in the wood was enclosed by a small semi‐circular earthwork. During the dig of 1959 a chance strike by a pick axe hit a large Roman burial‐urn. This led to the discovery of a small first century cemetery a few feet beyond the gateway to the settlement and alongside a short stretch of metalled road. In all five internments were excavated and thoroughly examined and it was found that all five burials were of babies and young children, representing the only children’s cemetery of this period hitherto found in Surrey.
The archaeologists also surveyed the complex of ancient roads and trackways connecting the site to ancient trade routes. Both to the east and to the west of the farmstead run established Iron Age trackways and the Kings Wood site was directly connected to both.
A detailed article describing the findings is available for download from the Archaeological Data Services website.
Over forty Dean Holes were also found in Kings Wood, all of them silted up through the course of centuries. Excavation of one of the holes revealed a shaft sunk into the clay with flint to a depth of at least 10 feet 6 inches. Such shafts, when sunk in clay with flints areas are commonly regarded as smarling pits i.e. shafts or pits sunk to obtain chalk to spread on the fields.
Kings Wood was closely linked with an area of land now occupied by Atwood Primary School on the Limpsfield Road. In 1960 during building operations, some 20 holes were discovered and the contents, mainly pottery dating from 250‐150 B.C., indicated that they had been used mainly as rubbish pits. One may have been the floor of a hut and others may have held timber uprights. All this indicated Iron Age occupation and this settlement was linked to the Kings Wood community by road.
