Monument record TQ 77 NE 1396 - ?Medieval saltern mound

The earthworks of a possible medieval saltern mound can be seen on aerial photographs taken in 1947. This mound was situated near the southern end of St. Mary's Marshes and was centred on TQ 7987 7810. These mounds 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 converting this area to fresh marsh. Sites such as this sometimes became the focus for later building, although no evidence of this has been discovered here. The mound has since been levelled. This site was 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.