Monument record TQ 77 NE 1359 - ?Medieval saltern mound, Cliffe

The earthwork remains of a possible medieval saltern mounds can be seen on aerial photographs taken in 1953 but have since been levelled. This mound is centred on TQ 7526 7794 and situated on Cliffe Marsh near the parish boundary with Cooling. The mound represent the discarded waste material from salt manufacture, a process - known as sleeching - in which brine was extracted from salt-rich sands and sediments, concentrated and evaporated. Sites such as this could no longer operate once sea walls were constructed resulting in the conversion of an area from salt to fresh marsh. This site was mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project.(1-2)

<1> RAF, 1953, RAF 82/713 360-361 6-FEB-1953 (Photograph). SKE56088.

<2> EARTH.GOOGLE.COM, 2003, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 31-DEC-2003 ACCESSED 11-FEB-2011 (Photograph). SKE58843.