Hawkhurst is a village on the Kent/East sussex border which lies to the south-east of Tunbridge Wells. Modern Hawkhurst is made of two villages, the older of the two, consisting mainly of cottages surrounding a large triangular green known as The Moor, the other to the north on the main road, called High Gate.
The village is known for many things, primarily the famous "Hawkhurst Gang", notorious 18thC smugglers. Also its part in the wealden iron industry.
Prior to the bronze age finds the earliest known habitation in Hawkhurst was a site in Conghurst Lane, a moated dwelling that legend says was burnt to the ground by the danes in A.d 892/3.
Though the discovery of bronze age tools does not prove habitation, it does at least prove that people were passing through. They also add nearly 2,500 years of previously unrecorded history to Hawkhurst.
--------------- The Bronze Axes ---------------
The axes are made from bronze which is a mixture of 90% copper & 10% tin. The axe would have been glued into a wooden handle using woodtar & bound with raw-hide. More information on how they were made here - http://1501bc.com/bronzes/nf_randbijl_met_stoprand_eng.html
They would have been a highly prized possesion to whoever owned one, and were probably lost during use, either breaking away from its handle or lost under leaves.
