Monument record TQ 77 NW 132 - Site of Parker's wick?, Cliffe Marshes

Poss site of wick (marshland sheepfarm of poss EM origin) generally identified by (1). Fragments of the characteristic radial drainage pattern may be seen at TQ 734 787. An alternative site could be at TQ 739 787. Site photographs (2,3).. Wick not apparent from ground level and area is quite overgrown, record updated from some distance away as closer access is difficult. (4)

The earthwork of a large an irregular mound measuring c.55m x 80m, recorded on 19th and 20th century maps as a sheepfold or sheepwick known as Parker's Wick. The mound is located at TQ 7342 7871, surrounded on all sides by water-filled ditches and has a depression in the middle. The first and second edition Ordnance Survey maps record a sheepfold on the site, whilst the 3rd edition and recent 1:10,000 scale maps record the site as a sheep wash. All maps show a small building and small fenced area in the eastern portion of the ditched, raised area of the mound.

It is possible that the large mound surrounded by water-filled ditches is the remains of a medieval saltern mound which has been re-used in the post medieval period.

Saltern mounds are the result of large-scale salt manufacturing where brine was extracted from salt-rich sands and sediments, concentrated and evaporated using process known as sleeching. The discarded waste material from the process built up around the production area into a sizeable mound, often with a hollow in the centred where a hut stood. These medieval saltern mounds are typically described as `floriate' in form because of their irregular lobed formation of dumped waste. They often occur in clusters around former and surviving tidal water-courses within the marsh. There has been considerable reclamation and subsequent sea wall construction since the medieval period which has isolated these sites from the sea.

First edition maps record this as the location of a former sheepfold. Many of these mounds are known to have been subsequently utilised as sheepfolds, sheep washes and stock refuges in the post medieval period because of their slightly elevated position in the readily flooded marshes.

This site was mapped from Environment Agency lidar imagery as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (5-8)

<1> Not applicable, SMR Kent uncatalogued index entry, Milward and Robinson 1971 Hoo Peninsular and Mid Kent Scarplands (MacMillan) (Miscellaneous Material). SKE6440.

<2> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9633.

<3> 1947, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9779.

<4> Wessex Archaeology, 2005, North Kent Coast Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey: Phase ll: Field Assessment Year Two Report (Unpublished document). SWX12323.

<5> RAF, 1953, NMR/RAF/82/713 0196 16-FEB-1953 (Photograph). SKE58849.

<6> Ordinance Survey, 1879, Ordnance Survey: Kent Epoch 1, 1:2500 1879 (Map). SKE55861.

<7> Ordinance Survey, 1896, Ordnance Survey: Kent Epoch 2, 1:2500 1896 (Map). SKE55862.

<8> Ordinance Survey, 1908, Ordnance Survey: Kent Epoch 3, 1:2500 1908 (Map). SKE55863.