(TQ 704723) In 1956 a piece of 14th cent. coffin slab was ploughed out of a field c.45' W. of the parish boundary. Excavation in 1956 & 1957 revealed the foundations of the church (St. Giles's) of the lost village of Merston. It was a simple apsidal building, 53' 9" long & 20' wide, divided by a cross wall (probably the step up to the higher level of the chancel) about the middle. At the western end there is a curious doubling of the foundations perhaps connected with a bell tower. It was probably an early Norman structure. The earliest mention of Merston appears to be the 'Merse tunes' of a charter of Offa, A.D.774, (a), and it was probably the Domesday 'Melestun'. The records suggest it was an ordinary village until the 14th cent. but in 1445 the Bishop of Rochester when appointing a Rector stated the parish had no inhabitants. The village appears to have been ravaged by the Black Death, for there were four Rectors between 1348 and 1350, and was probably finished off by the Smyths (London merchants) acquiring the manor and putting it down to grass as a sheepwalk. Some 25 yds. S. of the church a rectangular crop-mark in the corn indicated the site of a building and some 45' to the E. of the church 'a lush growth of wheat running north and south seemed to be the trace of the eastern side of a square earthwork. [see auth.(3) below.] whose south and west line could be traced': the northern side was outside the wheat. The church stood within the eastern part of the enclosed area.(a)(1) [Brief interim report.] (2) 'The place where the church stood is now a wood.... called Chapel Wood..... Within this wood is a deep ditch or intrenchment... It is a square containing about 3 acres. .... within it are many risings and inequalities, which might perhaps have been the foundations of buildings'.(b)(3) [Add. ref.] (4) [TQ 70537218] The site of the excavation of the church in 1956-7 was pointed out by Mr. F. Hollands, of Green Farm. Though the trenches remain, no part of the church foundations are now visible, though there is much scattered flint, limestone, and broken tile on the site. The coffin slab fragment stands opposite the farmhouse against a barn. Mr. Hollands stated that nothing more had been turned up since they excavation, but that when steam ploughs were in use some 20-30 years ago, masses of large flints, stonework and tiles were turned up every time this field was ploughed. He does not remember ever having seen remains of a ditch or entrenchment anywhere in the vicinity of the site of the church. A perambulation of the field, which is at present fallow, revealed no trace of an earthwork of any kind. The size, given by Auth.3 and the situation, upon a slope near the top of a ridge, suggest that this was not a moat. (5) The excavation trenches referred to by auth.5 have now been filled in but the site of the church is still apparent as a scatter of flint and tile. The part of the field in which the church stood is now under plough. The differences in growth of crop, referred to by auth.1 as marking part of the outline of an earthwork, could not therefore be discerned. The nature of the earthwork described by authority 3 could not be established. A square enclosure of 3 acres would have sides of 120 yards, very large for a moat. The fragment of grave slab referred to by authority 1 is 1.0m long and from 0.4m to 0.5m wide with concave moulded edges. Carved in low relief is the shaft and bottom segment of a wheel-headed cross. (6)

Additional bibliography. (7)

APs not obtainable (cover consisting of 541/591/4035-6 and 541/536/4156-8 listed by APCG Eshen but not held by them)

The site is located in an area of ciltivation with an unploughed field boundary approximately 1m wide running north-south across the site. The position of the excavated foundations of Merston Church are believed to lie beneath this boundary. There are no surface indications of the position of the church or any associated settlement other than a spread of chalk within the plough soil and a few large flint nodules removed to the side of the field at the approximate location of the church.
At the time of the excavation of the foundations of the church no surviving remains of a surrounding village were noted. The only evidence to indicate that a medieval village existed at this location is the position of the church. APs of the area were studied and no signs of a surrounding DMV were noted. (8)

The location of the lost village of Merston described above has been surveyed from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project, but no trace of the church or surrounding village have been detected.
Immediately to the north of the proposed location of the former church are the cropmark traces of a large sub-rectangualar enclosure and fragments of other ditches recorded separately in NME AMIE monument record 416912, but it is not clear if these have any association with the village of Merston. (9)

English Heritage, 2013, Hoo Peninsula, Kent: Hoo Peninsua Historic Landscape Project, NMP Data (Unpublished document). SKE29515.

<1> Cart Sax Vol I 1885 300 No 213 (W de G Birch) (OS Card Reference). SKE38598.

<2> Arch Cant Vol 71 1957 198-205 Plan (AF Allen) (OS Card Reference). SKE36434.

<3> Arch Cant Vol 70 1956 253 (AF Allen) (OS Card Reference). SKE36430.

<4> Late 17th cent survey of the parish by the Diocese of Rochester (OS Card Reference). SKE45998.

<5> `History of Kent' Vol I 1778 523-5 (E Hasted) (OS Card Reference). SKE32720.

<6> `Bygone Kent' 1892 72-3 (R Stead) (OS Card Reference). SKE32708.

<7> F1 ASP 29-JAN-59 (OS Card Reference). SKE42343.

<8> F2 EG 01-JUL-59 (OS Card Reference). SKE43299.

<9> Deserted Med Vill 1971 156 191 (M Beresford and JG Hurst) (OS Card Reference). SKE39719.

<10> Field report for monument TQ 77 SW 14 - January, 1959 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4297.

<11> Field report for monument TQ 77 SW 14 - July, 1959 (Bibliographic reference). SKE4298.