Monument record ORF 087 - Post Medieval shellfish production pits in the saltmarsh of Stony Ditch, Orford parish

A number of probable shellfish production pits of Post Medieval date are visible on aerial photographs of the 1940s onwards, as earthworks cut into the saltmarsh on the northern bank of Stony Ditch, Orford parish, centred on circa TM44154917. The pits vary in shape and size from large irregular or sub-rectangular pits about 10-15m along each side, to smaller rectangular pits of circa 5 x 2m. The larger pits are connected by long channels to Stony Ditch, while the smaller pits are either connected to a nearby drainage channel, or are not provided with any visible means of irrigation. They are not marked on either the first or second edition Ordnance Survey maps of circa 1884 or 1904, but their location close to the sea wall, and somewhat eroded condition in the 1940s suggests a Post Medieval date for their creation. By the 1970s a number of small square pits are visible cut into the saltmarsh amongst the oyster beds, probably as a result of quarrying material to carry out repairs to the sea wall, and have therefore not been mapped (S4).