Monument record TQ 77 NW 1107 - ?Post-medieval stock refuge mound, Cliffe Marshes

Many similar in area. 7428775, 74047770 (1). Site photographs (2,3).

The earthwork remains of an oval mound measuring 13m x 24m, centred at TQ 7403 7770 thought probably to be a 19th century or earlier stock refuge mound, many of which were constructed on low-lying pasture within the marshlands of the Hoo Peninsula and the margins of the Thames Estuary. These mounds have been referred to and identified in contemporary writings (Spurrell, 1885).
Though smaller than other local examples, there is a possibility that this mound could have its origins in the medieval as a saltern mound - these 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. Many of these mounds were 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 was mapped from aerial photographs as part of the English Heritage: Hoo Peninsula Landscape Project. (4-5)

<1> RAF CPE/UK 1923 F4030 (10-01-47) (OS Card Reference). SKE48954.

<2> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9443.

<3> 1946, Photograph (Photograph (Print)). SWX9633.

<4> RAF, 1953, NMR RAF/82/713 0504 06-FEB-1953 (Photograph). SKE57183.

<5> Spurrell, F. C. J., 1885, Early sites and embankments on the margins of the Thames estuary. (Article in serial). SWX7560.