Monument record SUE 091 - Shellfish production pits of probable Post Medieval date on Lantern marshes, Sudbourne parish

Oyster beds of probable Post Medieval date are visible on aerial photographs as earthwork features cut into the reclaimed salt marsh on Lantern marshes, centred on circa TM45005209. The beds are cut into the land adjacent to a drainage ditch and vary in size from individual pits of about 3 x 5m to circa 9 x 9m, to large agglomerated features that are up to 15m wide and over 30m in length. They run parallel to the sea bank SUE 087 for about 1300m, from circa TM45425260 to TM44525180. Many of the pits are visible as simple cut features on the first edition Ordnance Survey map of circa 1884, and are portrayed in more detail on the 1904 edition, where many of them are irregular in shape, suggesting they may already be of some age and suffering from erosion (S1, S2). They are visible on aerial photographs from 1943 onwards, but by 1972 modern drainage enhancement has destroyed or obscured them (S3-6).