Monument record TQ 77 NE 1391 - Post medieval oyster beds

The earthwork remains of a line of possible post medieval oyster beds are visible on aerial photographs taken in 1947. These beds are situated on the landward side of the delph running behind the sea wall between Egypt Bay and St. Mary's Bay. The majority of the rectilinear pits connect to the delph and a group of these was centred on TQ 7781 7925. The delph runs for over 1km between the two bays and its irregular southern side suggest that the oyster beds continued along much of this line. These features have since been levelled by the construction of a new sea wall and delph after the 1953 floods. The beds are a series of rectilinear pits and were mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (1-2)

<1> RAF, 1947, RAF CPE/UK/1923 3010 16-JAN-1947 (Photograph). SKE58894.

<2> EARTH.GOOGLE.COM, 2007, EARTH.GOOGLE.COM 2-MAY-2007 ACCESSED 25-MAR-2011 (Photograph). SKE58893.