Monument record LCS 311 - Dry Common, Leiston

Dry Common, visible on Hodskinson's Map 1783, (S1, S2)

1995: A study of the documentary and map sources for the area of the Sizewell Belts Site if Special Scientific Interest (S.S.S.I.) indicates the area has a complex landuse history. Up to the enclosure period in the mid 1820s the S.S.S.I. formed part of Leiston Wet Common which was intimately linked as a grazing resource with the adjacent Dry Common. However it is also apparent that a multitude of other resources were exploited on the Dry and Wet Commons as economic social conditions dictated and many of these uses may have left evidence in the area in the form of pits, banks and ditches. From the mid 1820s the Common as a whole underwent a major landscape change as it was enclosed and parts of the Dry Common were put under arable cultivation. In addition large scale tree planting in the form of coverts and belts was undertaen to create game areas in a landscape that was now largely enclosed and privatised. This study also highlights the smuggling era which exploited the remoteness of Sizewell as an illicit landing place. (S3)

For Wet Common see LCS 311