The site of a former 19th century sheepfold recorded at approximately TQ 7262 7863 on historic (1st, 2nd and 3rd edition) Ordnance Survey maps. This site was presumably removed in the 19th century when the Curtis and Harvey Explosives works were established on this part of the Cliffe Marshes. This site was recorded during the course of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (1-3)

This feature is located within an area of Cliffe Marshes that became an extensive chemical explosives factory established by Curtis’s & Harvey Ltd in 1900, operational until 1921-2 and now largely dismantled (TQ 77 NW 121 uid 1075508 / TQ 77 NW 154 uid 1517194). The remnant structures and earthworks of the explosives works were subject to a detailed survey and investigation by English Heritage in 2011-13; as a result the brick sheep wash and associated platform were surveyed at 1:1000 as an earlier feature recorded amongst the wider factory remains. The small sheep wash is a keyhole-shaped, brick-lined structure sunk into the ground so that the top row of bricks is flush with the ground surface. The circular chamber at the north end has an internal diameter of 1.7m and an external diameter of 2.3m. A narrow opening about 0.3m wide on the southern side creates an exit from the wash chamber into a 4.5m long brick-lined passage with a sloped base leading back up to ground level. In association with the sheep wash, a slight rectangular earthwork platform sits approximately 12m to the north-east. (5,6)

Comparison with the 1897 OS map clearly shows a structure accompanying the sheep wash in the same position as the platform. Russell’s 1695 map of Cliffe Level illustrates a wick or small barn in this location within an area of marsh then known as ‘Mole Wick’, occupied by tenant Jonathan Ware. Although the brick sheep wash is clearly later than the wick drawn by Russell, the site may have been used for stock management for at least two centuries (7).

<1> Ordinance Survey, 1896, Ordnance Survey: Kent Epoch 2, 1:2500 1896 (Map). SKE55862.

<2> Ordinance Survey, 1879, Ordnance Survey: Kent Epoch 1, 1:2500 1879 (Map). SKE55861.

<3> Ordinance Survey, 1908, Ordnance Survey: Kent Epoch 3, 1:2500 1908 (Map). SKE55863.

<4> Historic England, 2016, Archive Material (Archive). SKE57167.

<5> English Heritage, 2013, Curtis's and Harvey Ltd Explosives Factory, Cliffe and Cliffe Woods, Medway. Archaeological Survey and Analysis of the Factory Remains Volume 1 of 2. (Bibliographic reference). SKE31730.

<6> English Heritage, 2013, Curtis's and Harvey Ltd Explosives Factory, Cliffe and Cliffe Woods, Medway. Archaeological Survey and Analysis of the Factory Remains Volume 2 of 2. (Bibliographic reference). SKE31442.

<7> George Russell, 1695, Map of Cliffe Level by George Russell, 1695. (Map). SKE57195.