NHER 27019 (Cropmark and Earthwork record) - 19th century shellfish pits

February 2001. Norfolk NMP.
A group of rectilinear pits cut into a sandy outcrop in Overy Creek can be seen as earthworks around TF 845 443 on 1946 aerial photography (S1-2).
The pits vary in size from 3-10m long. They can barely be seen on a 1974 aerial photograph (S3), with traces of only 2 to 3 pits being visible. However there are pits depicted on a 1906 map (S4) and they are labeled as 'mussel pits' and pools. They are thus part of the shellfish industry which exists in this area (see NHER 26761 and 26868).
They are modern in date, but may also have been used in the post medieval period. By 1974, however, these pits appear to have gone out of use.
A. Hunt (Suffolk CC NMP), 2 February 2001.

May-November 2004. Norfolk Rapid Coastal Zone Archaeological Survey.
Inter-tidal survey (Environmental Zone 8), Context 1093:
Five distinct groups of upright timbers and horizontal planks were found embedded in or buried by hard [context 1092]. They were located between TF 84479 44411 and TF 84531 44436. They lay within an area of shellfish pits identified on aerial photographs and (S5) but not shown on a map of Burnham Overy dating to 1825 (S6), in (S7)). They were probably the remains of these 19th-century shellfish pits.
See assessment report (S8) for further details.
The associated archive has been deposited with the Norwich Castle Museum (NWHCM : 2017.421).
J. Allen (NLA), 18 April 2005. Amended by P. Watkins (HES), 21 July 2019.