Help! Explanantion for ground covered in rusted nails and fixings

[grace91]

Ive been exploring Canvey Island, in Essex, UK and came across a patch of ground covered in very old rusted nails and fixings, a hinge etc. The area is outside a Yacht Club, where there is shallow water and mad flats. The only explanation i can come up with is that a ship wreck used to be there and all thats left is the nails. The island is prone to flooding and a large concrete barge used to be in that area, and was there since WW1 but about 20m away. Please could someone help me, is this likely? Would the ship have decayed and everything except for the metal be left? Or is it more likely that they've been dumped there and left for many years. It just seems bizarre because they are quite evenly spread, no grass is growing on that area, only around edge of the circular patch of nails, they seem very old, with cracks forming.

Please help, im so interested to know, am doing a university project on the Island and i really want to focus on these nails.

 

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[grace91]

More photos of the area

 

[wrecker]

That hinge looks like it's from a modern piece of furniture, a cabinet or such. The nails look pretty modern too and as a shipbuilder I wouldn't use such nails, would prefer brass which doesn't rust. I maybe wrong but this doesn't look like the remains of a ship to me. My guess would be somebody burnt a pile of wood there, furniture and maybe timbers and boards from an old roof.

 

[wreckwriter]

I agree, something wooden was burned there.

 

[stevemc]

Yes, they wouldnt use steel nails, those are modern house building nails. The brass screw might be from a boat, but they still use those today. All looks modern.