Monument record TQ 77 NE 1393 - ?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 take the form of rectilinear pits and were situated on the landward side of the delph running behind the sea wall that defines the eastern side of St. Mary's Bay. Some of the rectilinear pits centred on TQ 7963 7911 connect to the delph while further north a confusing group of water-filled features interconnecting with the delph may also be the remains of oyster beds centred on TQ 7962 7921. These features have since been levelled by the construction of a new sea wall and delph after the 1953 floods. The beds were mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (1-2)

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

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