The origins of Lower Stoke are obscure. In 959 AD, Lower Stoke was then called "Osterland", which has been taken to refer to oysters, as evidence of oyster beds had reputedly been found in the saltings in the marshes, and it also appears to have at one time formed the Manor of Cliffe.

It was granted by Queen Eadgifu to Christ Church, Canterbury. In the Domesday Book it is called "Estoches" and "Stoches".

The dates that the settlement began are unclear, but the reasons for the emergence are clearer, as it straddles the route to the Isle of Grain.

This ran from the ridgeway across Stoke marshes via a causeway edged by draining ditches, to a crossing over the Yantlet Creek Grain Bridge.

Two other routes also met at Osterland, a road north to Allhalllows and one to the south to Middle Stoke and beyond. The latter had to bridge a roadside drain, sections of which remained until the 20th century.

The ridgeway route had been eclipsed by the 19th century by a southern road that passed through Middle Stoke, eventually forming part of the A228. Nonetheless, Lower Stoke was the most thriving settlement in the parish in the 19th century, possessing a windmill and, by the century’s end, a number of shops. In addition to that, it was here a non-conformist chapel was established.

The "Nag's Head" was visited by the artist Hogarth and friends in 1732 whilst on a documented journey across North Kent where he described that they had three beds between the five of them and suffered being bitten by gnats/mosquito's throughout the night.

Ind Coope & Co Ltd purchased the pub from Budden & Biggs Brewery Ltd by conveyance and assignment dated 23 March 1931. The pub held a full license. At the same time they also purchased an unlicensed shop adjoining.

Built in 1889, at a cost of £614, the building is today known as the Methodist Chapel and operates as part of the Medway Methodist Circuit.

On the outside of the building are ‘foundation stones’ that list the names of people who contributed to the cost of its construction. These local family names include Ayers, Plewis, Mugeridge, Coopper and Smith.

By the 19th century, corn milling was taking place at Lower Stoke. Of the five mills present on the Hoo Peninsula in the early 19th century, two seem to have been located in Lower Stoke.

One was a polygonal timber windmill on a brick base, located on the east side of the Allhallows Road owned by a Mr Cooper in 1878. Although disused by the early 20th century, the building remained standing until the 1920s (and is perhaps commemorated in the name of a local authority estate built around this time on Allhallows Road). The mill house, on the west side of the road, survives. A forge or smithy stood on Grain Road until the late-20th century, when the workshop and nearby house were redeveloped.

By the late-19th century, Lower Stoke had developed a degree of commercial importance, serving not only the parish but possibly the wider area. The miller operated a carrier service taking goods to and from Rochester and by 1881 the settlement possessed two grocer’s shops, a post office, a public house and two general stores; only Hoo St Werburgh and perhaps Cliff were as well supplied.

By 1920, this had increased to at least 9 shops. The village also has a community centre, which hosts a variety of events throughout the year, including a popular annual summer fete.

Malmaynes or Malmains Hall is recorded in the Historic Area Assessment by English Heritage for Stoke Parish, part of the wider Hoo Peninsula study. The Hall is described as located to the north-west of Upper Stoke. The Hall was in existence by the 11th century and occupied in 1300 by Sir Nicholas Malmaynes. By the 18th century, the property was being leased by the Duppa Family whose principal seat was Hollingbourne, Kent. The house, rebuilt in brick in the 18th century, was replaced in the 20th century.

Archaeology Report

The sites discussed were in very close proximity to Malmaynes Hall Farm, and provide a brief summary of the archaeological activity of the surrounding area.

The site is located on was located on the southern edge of multi-period landscape extending south of the low flat ridge overlooking the River Medway. A combination of previous archaeological investigations and aerial photographs to the immediate north, have identified an area of at least 6 hectares containing Bronze Age and Iron Age activity.

Bronze Age

Evidence for Bronze Age salt-working has been identified to the North of Malmaynes Farm. The site was under arable crops during the Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age before a new enclosure was established on the ridge in the Middle - Late Iron Age. There was no clear evidence of the function of this enclosure but it may also have been related to salt-working activities.

Iron Age

An Iron Age enclosure was identified on the low ridge to the north of the site, along with a scattering of associated small pits and a gully.

Roman
A small cremation cemetery (CC1) was located on the ridge overlooking the River Medway in the late first half of the 2nd century AD. Evidence of Roman buildings with associated water holes was identified, along with pottery dating to AD 150 – 300. A water hole containing a pottery beaker provides some evidence for votive deposition in the Roman period

Anglo-Saxon
Evidence of early Anglo-Saxon settlement on the Hoo Peninsula is rare: the only other early Anglo-Saxon settlements attested by excavation are at Four Elms, near Wainscott and at Hoo St. Werburgh, an estate centre also known from documentary sources

Estate centres acted as important central places for a host of surrounding smaller settlements of farms and hamlets.

On 14th May 1932, the Southern Railway (SR) opened a 1¾-mile-long single-track branch line to Allhallows-on-Sea, on the Hoo Peninsula in North West Kent. The branch had been authorised in June 1929, construction started in August 1931 (ref: The Railway Magazine, March 1933), and it joined the 1882 Hoo Junction to Port Victoria line 9¾-miles east of the former. The point of divergence of Port Victoria and Allhallows-on-Sea routes was named "Stoke Junction", which had until that time been the location of a level crossing, gate box, crossing keeper’s cottage, and a siding on the southern side of the line.

A station by the name of "Stoke Junction Halt" came into passenger use two months later than the branch line to Allhallows-on-Sea, on 17th July 1932, at the start of the SR’s summer timetable.

A single platform constructed from standard prefabricated concrete components, 120-feet-long, was erected on the northern side of the single-track line, west of the level crossing and junction, and on this was situated a small timber waiting shelter. The SR replaced the existing gate box with a then new signal box that was equipped with tablet instruments (ref: The Railway Magazine, March 1933); a passing loop was provided beyond the junction on the Allhallows-on-Sea branch, and the existing siding — which, based on period maps, dated from the earliest years — was retained. Two trains daily in either direction were maintained to Grain Crossing Halt and Port Victoria after the opening of the Allhallows-on-Sea branch.

The section of line between Stoke Junction and Port Victoria was worked on the key token signalling system. Effective from Sunday, 2nd September 1951, this section was cut back to a then new station at Grain, opened that day and situated 400-yards east of Grain Crossing Halt, the latter of which it replaced. Between Grain station and Port Victoria, the existing single-track line was converted into a siding (ref: British Railways, Southern Operating Area, Signal Instruction No. 1, 1951). Port Victoria had officially closed to passenger traffic as and from 11th June of the same year (ref: Clinker's Register, 1980).

By May 1960, the local press was reporting on proposals by the Transport Commission to withdraw passenger services between Gravesend (Central), Allhallows-on-Sea, and Grain. In November of the following year, formal adverts were placed by British Railways’ Southern Region in local newspapers, stating that the last passenger trains between those stations would run on 3rd December 1961.

Closure to passengers was effective from the following day, and ten passenger stations went out of use: Grain, Allhallows-On-Sea, Stoke Junction Halt, Middle Stoke Halt, Beluncle Halt, Sharnal Street, High Halstow Halt, Cliffe, Uralite Halt, and Denton Halt. The last of those stations named had the distinction of being located upon the electrified North Kent Line and only being served by steam-hauled trains.

The Signalling Record Society’s Signal Box Register (Volume 4, Southern Railway Register Section A14: Hoo Junction to Port Victoria) indicates that the signal box at the former Stoke Junction closed on 4th December 1966. The same source suggests that this was the original cabin from 1882 although, as earlier mentioned, The Railway Magazine of March 1933 indicates that the SR provided a new signal box in 1932. The level crossing was eventually bypassed by the road after completion of a bridge over the railway in 2011.

20th November 1961

An eastward view of Stoke Siding, which dated from the line’s earliest years. In the left background is the roof of the crossing keeper’s cottage and in the left and centre, the prefabricated concrete platform of Stoke Junction Halt.

Unlike the other halts along the branch from Hoo Junction that were rebuilt wholly in prefabrication concrete, Stoke Junction retained a timber waiting shelter for its entire career. © David Glasspool Collection

As Church Warden my family links with the Parish of St Peter and St Paul’s go back through my father Philip who was Church Warden in the 1980’s and 90’s and through my uncle Robert who was also Church Warden here in 1920’s. The history of the church itself goes back much further than this…

It is difficult to date accurately the first church building in Stoke, but we know from Edwards Hasteds ‘History of Kent’ published in 1798 the early history of the church: Stoke itself was given to the See of Rochester by Eadberht, King of Kent, sometime between 664 and 673 AD “for the good of his soul and for the remission of his sins.” This makes it one of the first donations of land to the church.

It is likely that there were some settlements here in Roman times and that there were some salt workings on the marshes even in those days. In Saxon times Stoke was an important place, as we know by its name. In those days it was called Andschohesham, a “ham on the stockaded land.” In early Saxon days a place protected by a stockade would attract people needing a refuge for their cattle. It would become more important than a settlement ending with a “ton” or “ham.” Later the name was shortened to Estoches and it is recorded under this name in the Domesday Book of 1086.

The entry for Stoches or Stoke states that there was a church with four servants and four acres of meadows. This and all the other land and villeins (a feudal tenant entirely subject to a lord or manor to whom he paid dues and services in return for land) were held by the Bishop of Rochester, (Picture left Rena Pitsilli-Graham).

The earliest parts of the church, possibly the Nave, Chancel and aisles, date from the late 12th century. A report by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) (Linklater 2010) gives a broad outline of the history of the building and indicates that the Naves arcades are also of this date with the north arcade perhaps being slightly later but “only by 20 years or so”

Stoke church was dedicated only to St. Peter until at least 1524, with St Paul added some time after that. The Edward Hasted history still refers to it as St Peter only in 1789. The position of the church is due to the people of the village settling on the high ground above the Saltings. The village developed as scattered housing on the margins of the firm ground above the reaches of the highest tides, although the lower land was probably farmed as it would be very fertile.

The oldest part of the present church dates from about 1175. However from earlier historical records of the building, it is difficult to establish whether the south or the north aisle is thought to be the earlier. Historians have written that “the pillars of the south arcade are Norman, Octagonal and carry the massive quality so usual in Norman Work.” However, you will see the octagonal pillars are actually on the north side of the church and the south arcade has rounder squatter pillars, with arches of similar style. Another historian claims that it is this aisle which is the oldest, with Norman transition pillars, capitals and arches. It would certainly appear to be uncertain.

The Font at the rear of the south aisle is a circular tub shape, which has been claimed to be Norman, although others believe it to be Saxon; it is dated as 13th century by the listing description. Its simple shape and workmanship certainly incline to an earlier Saxon time, but at this stage it is unlikely to be established one way or the other.

In the South Aisle is a piscine with a fox and a lion head, the lion putting it’s tongue out (see picture right, J. Plumb). This is fourteenth century work, which supports the view that the south aisle was once the chantry for Malmaynes Hall, granted to the manor of Malmaynes Hall around 1380, and below the aisle was the family vault.

Many centuries later when the roof was being repaired the vault become flooded, and this is popularly supposed to have caused the pillar closest to the east window to have tilted out of true.

The fifteenth century was a busy time for the fabric of the church, with two windows in the north aisle being added, and the window above the font. The glass in these has been replaced at later dates. Most of the roof timbers date from this time, as do the north and south door. The present door in the south wall is a modern addition, donated by the Royal Engineers, based in the Medway towns.

The main door in the north aisle is ancient with massive oak timbers.

The Canterbury Archaeological Trust (CAT) (Linklater 2010) report states that the Tower may be as early as the 14th century, (there were bequests for the building work from 1479 onwards) and it may have been repaired or extended in the early part of the 16th century. The tower itself stands, but the steeple was never built, despite many donations from the people of Stoke and benefactors from further afield. The reason has never been fully explained.

The tower seems to have been built or rebuilt from 1470 to 1550, and it may be that all the monies donated were used to build the tower. Some believe that the Reformation intervened and that the work was abandoned. Others believe that the siting of a steeple so close to the estuary would have been too dangerous, acting as a beacon to invaders.

Whatever the reason, no steeple has ever been added to the tower, which at least gives us the opportunity to climb the 53 steps to enjoy the panoramic views from the top.

W ithin the tower is the belfry, with three bells. These have were restored in 1980’s along with parts of the bell frame at a cost of many thousands of pounds. One bell is relatively modern and the others are 16th and 17th century. (Photos: J.Plumb and Rena Pitsilli-Graham).

The vault discovered in the vault centre of the South Aisle in 2009 has been shown to be an unusual double chamber, at 4.2 metres long, occupying the centre of the Aisle. This is thought to date from the 17-18th century. Substantial burials have been found to the East of the Aisle externally.

Over the last four centuries little new work has been added to the church, but various repairs have been carried out, including a major restoration programme in 1898 of the roofs and floors as described in a newspaper article of the time (see right).

The architect was FC Lees of Victoria Street, Westminster. It appears that a North Porch was in existence and was either rebuilt or remodeled after 1898 according to the article.

Over the years the glass in the windows has been replaced and there appears little or no documentation about the original or subsequent glass. In the lancet window in the north aisle there is a beautiful glass showing three pomegranates in tones of blue, turquoise and gold, (See picture right, Rena Pitsilli-Graham).

Nearby is a window designed and donated by Mrs Marjorie Crofts, depicting St. Francis of Assisi with rushes, poppies, and white dove and a kingfisher. This was made by Maile Studios of Canterbury and presented in 1995.

The window above the font is of stained glass, dedicated “to the memory of those baptised here” and is of exceptionally good quality for a later window.

The main east window in the chancel is dedicated to the Goord family and dates from 1938. It was made by Celtic Studios of Swansea, a small studio founded in 1933 by Howard Martin and his cousin Hubert Thomas.

The window shows St. Peter and St. Paul with Christ in the centre panel.

St Peter is holding two keys and St Paul is holding a sword.

No other examples of stained glass exist in the church.

The wooden rood screen between the chancel and the nave was presented by the church wardens to commemorate those villages who died in the Great War of 1914 to 1918.

Above the pulpit is a simple plaque recording those who gave their lives in the Second World War.

At the back of the church is a list of vicars and incumbents of Stoke from Adam de Hanele in 1244 to the present day. Also recorded in a brief history of the church found near the altar is a list of chantry priests from 1390 to 1530.

Outside the church is a pretty lych gate in the boundary wall surrounding the churchyard. The wooden gates were given by the Bett family in 1995 in memory of Phillip Bett, a long standing and devoted church warden and servant of the church,

On the outside wall by the south door is a holy water stoup, dating back some centuries. The church walls are constructed mostly of random rubble Kentish Ragstone. The church was listed Grade 1 in 1966. National Heritage defines this as ‘of exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important; only 2.5% of listed buildings are Grade I.’

RNAS Kingsnorth was a First World War Royal Navy air station for airships, initially operating as an experimental and training station, it later moved on to large scale production of airships. It also provided anti-submarine patrols. A number of experimental and prototype blimps were designed and tested there and until 1916, it was the lead airship training establishment in the Royal Naval Air Service.

It was located at the south-eastern coast of the Hoo Peninsula in Kent.

Beginnings

In 1912, an airship station was procured by the Admiralty to test and evaluate airships with Kingsnorth farm (later RNAS Kingsnorth) chosen as the location in 1913. Miskin, the landowner agreed to surrender his lease on Kingsnorth Farm so that an airship test hangar could be built.

A further 81 and a half acres were later purchased from Miskin (Barton Farm) to allow the unrestricted manoeuvring of airships in the test phase.

The air station initially received a German built Parseval PL-18 airship and undertook evaluations, where it received the service designation Naval Airship No. 4 (NA4). Kingsnorth also received an Astra Torres airship. Experiments were carried out including an unsuccessful attempt to launch a fighter aircraft from a non-rigid balloon.

Royal Naval Air Service (1914-1918)

RNAS Kingsnorth was commissioned in April 1914 under the control of the Admiralty, first through the Naval Airship Branch, then through the Royal Naval Air Service when the Royal Navy reformed its air branch in July 1914. The RNAS took over the base's two huge airship sheds and its development and training functions.

Flying Units

RNAS Kingsnorth initially used the first two airships: Astra Torres No. 3 and Parseval No.4, to escort troopships carrying the British Expeditionary Force to France in the summer of 1914.

RNAS Kingsnorth was involved in the development and flight testing of non-rigid airships, with the SS-class airship (Submarine Scout) being the first type to operate from there, providing anti-submarine defences to the Thames Estuary and southeast coast. The C-Class airship (Coastal Class) type followed, with aircrews trained at the site until the then-named RNAS Cranwell took over this role mid-war.

By the start of 1915, there were less than 100 British airmen who could actually fly an airship. It was then decided that RNAS Kingsnorth would be used as a flying training station. Students, who had completed the free ballooning courses and ground instruction at RNAS Wormwood Scrubs, would then be passed on to RNAS Kingsnorth for instruction at an operational airship station.

Intensive training was given to the pupils, and due to the operational requirements for qualified pilots, the initial stage was omitted and student aircrew found themselves on the immediate instruction course on an operational airship. Training was given in both theory and practice, with students completing courses in aeronautics, navigation, metrology, engineering, and practical flying. Instruction was given in Submarine Scout ships which were perfectly suited as they had a two-seater configured fuselage.

Testing of the NS-class airship (North Sea) also took place at RNAS Kingsnorth, with successful flight trials first completed in February 1917.

Aviation Support Units

By 1914, RNAS Kingsnorth was also home to a newly formed Naval Met Service, which provided weather information to airships operating locally over the North Sea.

Royal Air Force (1918-1921)

On 1 April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps and the RNAS combined to form the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the station became known as RAF Kingsnorth before decommissioning in 1921.

The technical buildings were linked to the airship sheds and to a pier on the Medway by a narrow gauge railway, and a standard gauge linked the station to the South-Eastern and Chatham Railway near Sharnal Street Station. By 1920 the station had been abandoned with some of the buildings later used for wood pulping and the site also used for a small oil and petrol refinery in the 1930’s. It is around this time that the airship sheds were demolished. Some of the remaining buildings were incorporated into an industrial estate and at least one building may still survive.

The extraction of foundations in the area of the former sheds prior to documentary survey may have left potentially significant features unrecorded. Structural remains recorded during survey appeared to be those of the southern shed, but little of what remained was comprehensible. Features were apparently seen and recorded by Archaeology South-East, date and details not known. Exact location unclear: source records subsequent absorption into an industrial estate.

Regarding the number of staff catered for on the site, on the 4th August 1914 the Station Commander, N F. Usborne, sent in a report on personnel listing 200 men, not including the 30 building the block house. Meanwhile, a panoramic photograph taken in December 1918 has just over 900 people on it, including civilian workers. Although not all of them will have lived on site, the 618 uniformed men probably did.

The site was occupied by Kingsnorth Power Station until it was decommissioned in 2012. A new development, called Medway One, is planned to include storage, a data centre, lorry park, and manufacturing space.

Richard James

In July 1995, South Eastern Archaeological Services (a division of the Field Archaeology Unit, University College London) were commissioned by Kent County Council Highways to undertake an archaeological evaluation along the route of the proposed A228 Realignment in Middle Stoke

The purpose was to remove a dangerous bend and involved the construction of 1km of new road . The evaluation revealed a number of prehistoric and later features (Greatorex 1995), which it was felt merited further investigation by area excavation. Consequently, Archaeology South-East (formerly known as SEAS) was commissioned in February 1998 to carry out this second stage of the work (James 1998).

The site is located on the south-eastern edge of the shallow ridge which forms the spine of the Hoo Peninsula, at an altitude of 10 metres.

The 1995 evaluation involved the machine excavation of nine 20m long trenches, three of which contained archaeological features. Trench C contained a linear ditch feature and a small pit which produced small abraded sherds of probable Bronze-Age pottery. The ditch was cut by a small Romano-British pit, while a heavily disturbed circular feature produced medieval pottery (1150-1300). Trench F revealed another four Bronze-Age pits, and two inter-cutting features of medieval date (1150-1300 and 1400-1600) were recorded in Trench E.

The Prehistoric Features

Two features of prehistoric date were observed cut into the subsoil. Two sherds of later Bronze-Age pottery and a flint flake confirmed its identification as a feature. The feature may be associated with an east-west running ditch observed in Evaluation Trench C which also contained pottery of prehistoric date and unclear edges.

Further west was a small, shallow oval feature, similar in appearance to the other oval features scattered around the site. However, excavation produced a large assemblage of later Bronze-Age pottery (weighing 7.65kg in total). Four similar features were located in Evaluation Trench F, although none produced pottery on anything like the same scale.

The Medieval Features

Fourteen features of medieval date were identified. Seven were linear in form, the remainder comprising five discrete features and two horizontal spreads. Pottery evidence suggested five phases between the late twelfth and mid sixteenth centuries, with a degree of overlap between the phases.

Thirteenth century – the earliest medieval features were linear cuts both forming fairly substantial boundary features. The latter, appeared to be two lengths of ditch running along the same alignment, perhaps dug by separate work-gangs. The southernmost stretch produced a late twelfth-century coin (see coin report below for details) and a large quantity of oyster shells (see oyster report below), as well as 500g of animal bone.

Fourteenth century – eight features produced pottery of this date. A much larger ditch feature was recorded in the west of the trench, from which a simple copper alloy ring was recovered in addition to pottery and oyster shells.

Fifteenth century –One large animal bone was recovered. The depth of the feature (>700mm) resulted in water ingress after the water table was penetrated. This precluded a final depth being reached. Pottery of this period was also recovered from two spreads of material near the western end of the trench. The natural was seen to dive down here, forming a shallow valley, and had been partially filled by two sheets of hillwash material. Context 3 was the earliest, containing pottery dating from the mid fourteenth to early fifteenth centuries. This was overlain in the base of the ‘valley’ by a stony deposit producing fifteenth- and early sixteenth-century pottery, oyster shell, animal bone and a residual flint scraper. A further butt-ended ditch contained early sixteenth-century pottery, but could not be fully excavated due to water ingress.

Finds

Prehistoric Pottery by Nigel Macpherson-Grant

Two features produced prehistoric pottery: ditch fill (14) and pit fill (29); both contained later Bronze-Age Deverel-Rimbury style coarsely flint-tempered pottery:

Fill 14 produced two coarseware sherds (88gms), one from a large probable bucket-shaped jar; this sherd has unifacial wear suggesting a degree of exposure in semi-static ground conditions before final burial.

Fill 29 contained the bulk of the pottery (268 sherds + small scraps: 7.65kgs), and includes some large-moderate sized sherds and plentiful worn scraps. Two-three large bucket-shaped storage jars are present. A small quantity of sherds in a less profusely flint-tempered fabric represent a jar with a shallow applied and horizontal (probable) shoulder cordon decorated with continuous finger-tip impressions.

The majority of the sherds come from one or two large, fairly profusely tempered jars; rim scraps from one are decorated with deep continuous thumb/fingernail impressions across the rim top, body sherds from the same, or another, vessel are decorated at shoulder or mid-girth position with a single horizontal row of continuous, fairly neatly applied, vertical fingertip impressions. Part of the base of this vessel is present, and there are some obviously conjoining lower body sherds. Large sherds from the latter vessel have a mixed wear pattern, some with internal unifacial wear, some with external wear; this point, together with the large number of scraps, suggests that the pit’s contents represent domestic rubbish that was allowed to weather to some degree before final burial, either before final deposition in Pit 44 or before the latter was finally infilled.

The available formal and decorational data indicates that the vessels represented are typical of regional later Bronze-Age coarsewares. The decorated rim scraps are from a vessel with simple upright rim and no obvious internal thickening, and are similar to a bucket-shaped cremation jar from Bridge (Macpherson-Grant 1980, fig. 26, 147 – but without the under-rim holes); the applied cordon from another vessel is similar to the same reference which has been given a revised dating of c.1246-1066 Cal bc (Macpherson-Grant 1992, 62).

The relatively low regional quota of assemblages for this period inhibits definition of the likely chronological or social differences represented by these traits; for the time being a broad c.1500/1400-1000 BC date can be safely applied to the present material.

Medieval Pottery by Luke Barber

The assemblage of medieval pottery from the site is small (89 sherds, 1.102kg), and there are no large groups present from individual contexts. The material spans the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries and consists of local wares in sand, sand and shell, and highly-fired transitional sandy earthenware fabrics. With the exception of the more durable transitional wares, the sherds are generally small and show signs of moderate to heavy abrasion. The largest individual group consists of a mere 10 sherds (context 26). Most of the sherds from the site are from cooking pots, although a few glazed jug sherds are also present. These include white-slipped, green-glazed sherds of Mill Green type ware. (Fuller details are included in the Archive Report.)

Worked Flint by Greg Priestley-Bell

A total of 14 pieces of worked flint were recovered from eight contexts. The single waste flake from Context 14 was associated with later Bronze-Age pottery. The remainder of the assemblage however is likely to be residual. The raw material is very varied and ranges from a light grey chert with many inclusions to a very dark grey fine-grained flint with few inclusions. The presence of pebble cortex and thermal fracture surfaces within the assemblage suggests that the raw material was probably collected from the surface.

A total of 10 smallish waste flakes (<40mm maximum dimension) of widely varying thickness and outline were recorded from seven contexts. The three largest globular waste flakes were heavily burnt and may represent worked out cores that had subsequently been used as ‘pot-boilers’.

A broken cortical flake from Context 27 showed a short section of direct retouch on the right lateral edge. A flake from Context 67 showed distal direct right short retouch and distal inverse left long retouch, thereby forming a point that may have served as a borer. An elongate (65 x 23mm) borer from Context 6 showed continuous direct abrupt retouch (blunting) along the entire length of its left edge with a slight notch at the distal end and a short section of inverse right abrupt retouch. Direct abrupt retouch was angled across the distal end to form a borer point above the notch. A small patinated apparently pressure flake scar on the ventral surface of the distal tip suggests that the point of the borer had perhaps broken in antiquity during use. Possible plough damage along the right edge may have obscured a further area of retouch. A borer from Context 39 showed two sections of distal direct retouch, abrupt right distal and semi-abrupt left distal, converging to form a tapered borer point.

With the exception of the borer from Context 6, very little attempt seems to have been made to control the form of the flakes produced, while the platforms, where present, were all cortical or flat. There is no evidence for the use of a soft-hammer percussor and only two hard-hammer flakes could be positively identified. The very high degree of use or sediment polish uniquely present on the Context 6 borer, together with its atypical character within the assemblage, perhaps suggests that it was a curated tool brought onto the site and discarded after breakage. Although the range of artefacts is too narrow to be diagnostic, the remainder of the assemblage seems to represent certain stages of a flaking industry producing blanks for tools. The general nature of the material suggests a Neolithic or Bronze-Age date.

Animal Bone by Lucy Sibun

The animal bone totalled 67 fragments, all from medieval contexts date from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries. The assemblage consists primarily of cattle and sheep, but a few fragments of pig are also present. Most skeletal elements are represented, including both meat-yielding joints and the skeletal extremities, usually discarded during the butchery process. However, only two fragments displayed evidence for butchery. Also of note is the occurrence of juvenile individuals, both sheep and cattle, further suggesting their possible use as a meat resource.

Marine Molluscs by David Dunkin

The excavation produced three contexts in which marine molluscs were present. Only one species was represented – Ostrea edulis, Common Oyster.

The oyster remains summarised in Table 1 were retrieved from contexts of medieval date. The complete valves were reasonably well preserved with evidence of some erosion around the shell margin of most of the individuals collected. Sometimes notches may be seen as part of the procedure for opening the bivalve for food purposes, but the eroded margins here would have precluded this observation. Their general state of preservation, however, suggests that the contexts in which they were found have remained relatively undisturbed and stable since their deposition.

Oysters usually live to an age of ten to twelve years, and reach maturity at four years, which is the minimum age they are usually collected for consumption. Of the entire assemblage, only three complete valves represented individuals less than 4 years old (2 x left; 1 x right valves from context 22). In context 26, for example, 27% of the left or lower valves were of ages in excess of 10 years. Therefore, the vast majority (96%) of the complete oyster valves recovered from the three contexts could all have been utilised as a food resource.

It is worth mentioning, however, that oyster shell was used during the medieval period for other purposes, such as filler for mortar.

The shells displayed minimal distortion, suggesting they were collected from beds in which overcrowding was not especially prevalent. Also, very little infestation of the shells was apparent, with evidence of polychaete worm attack in just one individual (Polydora ciliata in the upper valve of a mature specimen from context 26). Furthermore, the presence of boreholes, caused by gastropods, in only three shells in the assemblage suggests that the molluscs were collected from a healthy colony in an area of high salinity. The overall quantities retrieved suggest that these oysters were not obtained from a farmed context. It is probable that the oysters derive locally from the Medway/Thames estuaries.

The Coin by David Rudling

Henry II or Richard I. Short-Cross Coinage: cut quarter silver penny (i.e. farthing). Class 1b-2, issued 1180-c.1190.

Obverse: HEN[RICVS REX]

Reverse: ]VL.O[

The moneyer could be RANDVL of London, Exeter or Northampton (Wren 1992, 27-32).

Environmental Samples by Luke Barber

Six contexts were sampled. They did not produce large quantities of animal or plant remains. Charcoal was present in very small quantities in all the samples, with the exception of Sample 3 (Context 19 – late medieval/early post-medieval) which contained a larger quantity. Carbonised seeds were recovered from three samples. All were of cereals and were poorly preserved, exhibiting evidence of heavy abrasion and fragmentation.

Discussion

The Bronze-Age features found during the excavation are interesting, if minimal. They, together with the results of work carried out by Archaeology South-East elsewhere on the peninsula (at Allhallows and Kingsnorth Power Station), provide the first real evidence for the survival of later Bronze-Age landscape elements on the Hoo Peninsula, a pattern hitherto only found in the western and eastern coastal areas. The linear feature appears to be the terminal of a boundary ditch of some sort, and may be compared with a series of superimposed ditches of similar date recently observed at Malmaynes Hall Farm 1.2 km to the west (James 1999).

These features hint at the possibility that a more extensive arrangement of field systems and settlements may survive around the Medway estuary. Yates has suggested recently that such a spread of farming and settlement evidence fits into a larger pattern emerging around the Thames Estuary (Yates 2001). The second feature is a small, probably truncated pit, and, together with the contemporary pits recorded during the evaluation, suggests that further domestic evidence may be present.

The location is ideal for prehistoric agriculture, with highly fertile soil and good access to estuarine resources. The extent to which marshland was available for exploitation is debatable, given that the present marshes, so extensively utilised in the medieval period (Everitt 1986, 34-8), are thought to have only developed since the Roman period (Devoy 1980).

The medieval linear features represent several centuries’ worth of agricultural activity. The Hoo Peninsula forms a very fertile area for arable farming, with rich marsh pastures on the coastal periphery. The various ditches and pits relate to such a system, with a smaller network of fields being worked compared with the large modern fields visible today.