Buried under earth built up over hundreds of years could lie the key to finding the lost history of a Medway village and the community is digging in to help find it.

Historians and archeologists have been working to uncover the past of Cliffe on the Hoo Peninsula.

The Cliffe at Hoo Historical Society found about 30kg of items during the latest dig on the Buttway Field next to The Six Bells.

Helped by villagers of all ages, they found oyster shells, various animal bones and teeth, Roman and medieval tiles, bone buttons and beads, an array of building materials and lots of worked flint.

Chairman Daniel Wilmer-Brown said: “We have the third largest parish church in Kent but nothing could really explain that.

“We think Cliffe used to be a big medieval village, but in the 16th century an outbreak of malaria killed a lot of the people.

“We have a very important story out in Cliffe and we’re really excited about it but it’s never going to be a complete story from just one dig.”

The finds still need to be cleaned and processed, and the society will be hiring a specialist to date them.

Mr Wilmer-Brown, 39, has been conducting research on the peninsula for 15 years.

During the last six years he has been working with local historians and archeologists to bring the findings together. The team have pulled together about 2,000 years of village history.

Between 716 and 825 AD, Anglo-Saxon bishops are recorded as holding their synodal councils at Acleah, Caelhythe and Cloveshoh, the last of which is thought to be in Cliffe parish. The Hoo Peninsula lay at the intersection between the kingdoms of Mercia, Wessex and East Anglia.

Following the Roman conquest, it is thought that a pottery industry developed in Cliffe and large quantities of Roman pottery have been recovered from the marshes.