Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

This feature is recorded in the English Heritage Historic Area Assessment of St Mary Hoo Parish. This feature comprises a Sea wall constructed after 1530 along the river Thames as part of the High Halstow and St Mary Hoo Level section. Built by the North Kent Sewer Commission. Further upkeep works were necessitated to the walls and ditches to present sea water incursion. In the 1740s chalk was used to strengthen the walls and the St Mary's Bay inlet was formed.

Monument Types

• SEA DEFENCES (Medieval to Post Medieval - 1530 AD? to 1900 AD)

Full description

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This feature is recorded in the English Heritage Historic Area Assessment for the St Mary Hoo Parish. The report states: "After 1530 the North Kent Sewer Commission constructed and maintained a sea wall along the river frontage; this formed part of a sub section known as the High Halstow and St Mary Level. Rising sea levels and periods of stormy weather in the 17th and 18th century necessitated regular upkeep of the walls and drainage ditches to prevent sea water incursion and in the 1740s 2280 tons of chalk were required to strengthen in the walls at High Halstow and St Mary. One consequence of the commission's activites was formation of an inlet known as St Mary's Bay". (1)

<1> historic england, 2014, Hoo Peninsula Outline Historic Area Assessment: St Mary Hoo Parish. Research Report 2014-52 (Bibliographic reference). SKE31593.

Sources and further reading