Monument record TQ 77 SE 1524 - ?Later prehistoric ditch, south of Hoo St. Werburgh

The cropmark of a possible later prehistoric ditch, probably a field boundary, can be seen on aerial photographs taken in 2011to the south of Hoo St. Werburgh at TQ 7834 7168. The cropmark consists of two ditches of different widths and possibly two different dates. The majority of this cropmark describes an approximately 1-2m wide ditch that can be traced for 256m south west from vicarage lane before heading north. After 25m this appears to run into the cropmark of a ditch approximately 3-4m wide. This continues northwards for circa 49m although it is turning east at the southern end where it meets the thinner ditch. The course of the wider ditch was cut by a water pipeline and excavations there revealed an amorphous shallow-sided feature 6-9m wide dated to the Late Bronze Age. This cropmark was mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project.(1-2)

<1> 2011, NMR 26973/9 1-JUN-12011 (Photograph). SKE59169.

<2> Kent Archaeological Society, Archaeologia Cantiana, being contributions to the history and archaeology of Kent vol 1 (1858)- (Bibliographic reference). SKE6334.