Monument record TQ 87 SW 1081 - D-shaped moat, Kingsnorth, Hoo St. Werburgh

Rectangular enclosure identified on the 2nd ed. OS map (1).

The earthworks of a D-shaped moat can be seen on aerial photographs taken in 1952. This enclosure was defined by a broad shallow ditch circa 10m wide which enclosed an area circa 200m by 160m. The enclosure was situated on Hoo Marshes, south of Kingsnorth at TQ 8149 7207. It is depicted on the 1867 Ordnance Survey map and a square enclosure at approximately the same location is depicted on the 1813 Ordnance Survey map. Some of the marshland on which the enclosure sits appears to have been levelled-off and contained fewer water channels than the surrounding marshland. The function of this moat-like feature is uncertain but it may have been associated Teapot Hall to the south west. The site is now beneath the coal plant and oil storage tanks of Kingsnorth power station. It was mapped from aerial photos as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project.(2-4)

<1> Ordnance Survey, 1893-7, Ordnance Survey 1:2500 2nd edition : 1893-1898 (Map). SWX11832.

<2> RAF, 1952, RAF 58/856 3053 24-APR-1952 (Photograph). SKE58930.

<3> Ordinance Survey, 1867, Kent 1:2500 1867 (Map). SKE56017.

<4> 1813, Kent 1813 (Map). SKE58931.