Monument record TQ 77 NE 1311 - The earthworks of a Post Medieval mound (circa 19m by 16m) can be seen on aerial photographs taken in 1947

The earthworks of a Post Medieval mound (circa 19m by 16m) can be seen on aerial photographs taken in 1947. This since levelled mound was centred on TQ 7922 7831 on St Mary's Marshes, south west of St Mary's Bay. The 1947 aerial photographs show the remains of a drainage ditch to the south east of the mound and this originally connected with the then surviving ditches creating an enclosure within which the mound was situated. This south eastern ditch had gone out of use by 1885 as it is not depicted on the Ordnance Survey map of that year. The mound may be a post medieval livestock refuge mound or the remains of a saltern although it doesn't exactly fit the pattern of either of these two types of mound seen on the Hoo Peninsula. It is larger than the other refuge mounds which were constructed to provide an area of high ground for livestock to occupy in the event of a flood. It is also unusual in being set within an enclosure formed by drainage ditches. This arrangement of ditches has more in common with saltern mounds but the mound is smaller and more regular than other saltern mounds. A third interpretation is that this mound and the surrounding ditches mark the location of a house or farm building. The 1947 air photo shows three footpaths converging on this site. This site was mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project.(1-3)

<1> Royal Air Force, 1947, RAF CPE/UK/1923 3007 16-JAN-1947 (Photograph). SKE58578.

<2> Historic England, Historic England Archive (Archive). SKE58567.

<3> Ordnance Survey, 1885, Kent 1:2500 1885 (Map). SKE58579.