NHER 27633 (Monument record) - Probable post medieval oyster beds

September 2005. Norfolk NMP.
A group of probable oyster beds is visible as earthworks on aerial photographs (S1 to S3), ranged along the southern edge of Breydon Water between TG 5056 0745 and TG 5034 0736. The sub rectangular pits are comparable to other examples in Norfolk, such as those at Heacham (NHER 1460; (S4)). Such pits were often used for the fattening of shellfish other than oysters, particularly mussels. The pits described here are likely to be post medieval or even modern in date, as it seems unlikely that older features would have survived for long as earthworks in such a location.

The beds are sited on a strip of saltmarsh (marked as ‘Saltings’ on the Ordnance Survey 2nd edition 25 inch map (S5)), where they would be periodically filled with salt water. Pits depicted at this location on the Ordnance Survey 1st edition 6 inch map (S6) may also be shellfish beds; these extend beyond the limits of the site described here, to TG 5025 0729. 1940s aerial photographs (for example (S1)) may show additional pits to those mapped here but these were not clear enough to map from. Pits lacking a regular shape or straight sides visible on the consulted aerial photographs have been interpreted as natural pools, and consequently not mapped, but these could also have been used as shellfish beds. Some of the pits are perhaps just visible on the most recent consulted aerial photographs of the site taken in 1989 (S7) but the remainder may have silted up or become obscured by vegetation.
S. Tremlett (NMP), 8 September 2005.