The area now known as Minsmere was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Menesmara or Milsemere citing that it had six households headed by freemen with one plough team. The settlement was based around the estuary to the Minsmere River and there is even a 1237 description of Minsmere being a port. To the south of the estuary was the setting for Leiston Abbey which was constructed in the early 1180's on an island that was connected to the mainland of Leiston by a causeway. However, constant flooding caused by the sea surges forced the premonstratensian canons to move the Abbey inland closer to Leiston. Even so, the Chapel of St Mary was retained and used up until the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century. The ruins of this chapel still remain although there is no public access to them.
The original course of the Minsmere river followed a natural winding route to the north of the present New Cut with its outfall to the sea near Coney Hill, just south of the Minsmere Cliffs and Dunwich Heath. This outage was controlled with a wooden sluice. It is interesting to note that the Minsmere river takes its name from this area rather than the name of one of its tributaries such as the Yox or Gull. The river rises in Ubbeston near Peasenhall where it is known as the Yox. It then passes through Yoxford at which point it becomes known as the Minsmere River.
There is evidence that peat cutting was performed at Minsmere as early as the 12th century. By the 14th century the hamlet had grown to 20 homesteads but it is said that these were all lost to the sea by the 16th century. Even so, there is evidence that a settlement remained here right up until the second world war. Writing in 1870 in his travelogue of the Norfolk and Suffolk coast, William Alfred Dutt made a mention of the Minsmere River at the haven:
On its banks there was probably a small fishing hamlet; for there is an isolated cluster of old dilapidated cottages near the sluice, some of which are still inhabited.
Certainly there are local memories and stories of the people who lived in these cottages by the sea at Minsmere which is backed up by the brick and stone remains that lay hidden in brambles along the dunes. These seafront dunes used to be known as the Minsmere Benthills, though there is also a reference to these being locally known as the Pentlands.
I have been told by a local resident in Leiston that his mother used to live in one of the cottages when she was a girl in the early 1900's. She had to walk to school in Theberton which involved a traipse across the marshes up to Eastbridge. The path along side the New Cut still exists and is a lovely walk but to do this in the worst of weather during winter and in the dark must have been some undertaking. Records show that two of the cottages were destroyed by fire on 4th August 1942 though there is no record as to whether they were inhabited at the time. The residents may well have been evacuated in 1940 when the area was closed off to the public as security against the threat of invasion.
During the 17th century the Minsmere estuary became blocked by a shingle spit which resulted in a poorly drained fen fed by the Minsmere River and an unnamed watercourse from Leiston. This swampy and marshy ground that was formed from this blocked access became the haven for smugglers during the 18th century. Sizewell Gap was a popular landing place for the illicit cargo which was then whisked away into hiding, a lot of it finding its way to secreted locations on the Minsmere Levels. The smugglers tracks were then obliterated by local shepherds who would drive their flocks across the routes to disguise the locations of the booty. Only the local population would know the way across this marshland and it was said the only method of passage was to jump from tussock to tussock.
In 1808 Anthony Bower, a Lincoln surveyor and engineer reported on the potential drainage of Minsmere Level which he presented to Parliament the following year. The report recommended replacing the wooden sluice which was in a very bad state of upkeep and putting in a new cut for the river that would straighten its course all the way from Reckford Bridge to the sluice. This resulted in the passing of an Act of Parliament entitled 'The Act for Embanking and Draining' which was given Royal Assent 18th May 1810. This set out the authority:
to drain level of Marshes and Fen Lands called or known by the name of the Minsmere level within the several Parishes of Leiston, with the Hamlet of Sizewell, Theberton, Dunwich, Westleton and Middleton cum Fordley, in the County of Suffolk.
The report also recommended using the spoil from the new cut to build up the shoreline defences which were regularly breached. Despite this undertaking, in the winter of 1828 a storm breached the defence and flooded the level to a depth of 2-4 foot. The breach was shored up but the Level has been regularly breached by tidal surges and continues to be inundated during winter storms to this very day.
Following the drainage act was the passing of 'The Leiston and Theberton Enclosure Act' which divided the level into three distinct areas, Minsmere Level East, Minsmere Level West and Leiston. The eastern area had already been enclosed by 1786 and had dykes and sea walls and included a small broad just north of the Chapel ruins which survived until 1813. During the years of 1812/3 a Main Drain was constructed together with embankments and a sluice to connect the rivers to the sea, the iron outfall pipe being provided by Garrets of Leiston.
In 1846 Garrets of Leiston were contracted to build machinery powered by three powerful steam engines to provide better drainage of the Minsmere Level. Drainage was assisted by four windmills, one of which was eventually rescued and restored by the Suffolk Mills Group in 1977 and is now part of the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket. The drainage enabled the land to be used for agricultural purposes which lasted up until the second world war when the decision was taken in June 1940 to flood the area as a defence against the possibility of invading tanks. In addition, the New Cut bank was wired and mined and a pillbox built into the ruins of the old chapel. Along the beach were set numerous concrete cubes which would also act as anti tank defences, many of which remain in position to this day. Part of marshes was also designated as the Leiston battle training Area in 1943.
The flooding at the start of the war resulted in reed beds becoming firmly established. In 1947 the bird reserve was established and the RSPB leased around 1500 acres from the Ogilvie family who then owned the land. Eventually the land was purchased outright in 1977 with further land being purchased in subsequent years.
Today Minsmere reserve is made up of 0.69 square miles of reed habitat as well as areas of open water, lowland hearth, grassland, scrub, woodland, dune and shingle. The area has become an important breeding, roosting and feeding site for many bird species with over 100 resident species and around a further 240 migratory visitor species. The site is managed with controlled water levels to prevent drought and a seven year rotation of reed cutting. Grazing animals are employed to prevent expansion of scrubland
3 comments:
Hey Griff,
My name is Martyn Addison and I represent The Great Outdoors Superstore Website Marketing at Visualsoft UK.
Really love your work here, you have an impressive collection of Great British walks which you have built up and continue to grow. If you would ever consider working with TGOS online then please feel free to email me at:
martyn [dot] addison [@] visualsoft [dot] co [dot] uk
Kind Regards,
Martyn
This is a fantastic walk - one of the best on the Suffolk Coast – and highly recommended at any time of year. However do be aware that the path from the beach through the RSPB reserve, along the North Seawall via the visitor centre to the Island Mere, is not a public footpath. We called in at the centre and had a very welcome cuppa (before heading for the Eel's Foot at Eastbridge - great pub!) and a browse round their shop, which is really good. The RSPB staff were very welcoming and pointed out the path (they didnt know your online walk, Griff) but it's fair to know that the reserve makes a small charge to non-members to use the paths if you're not a RSPB member. As it happens we are...our friends wern't (but joined!) They siad you can make a donation if you;re jsut walking through but it is actually worth joing up if you want to do something more for nature, wildlife and the countryside - and you can go through anytime then and to other reserves, so all good. Good idea to put this on the direcdtions, Griff, for other folk.
Thanks for pointing this out Tom. I will add this into the walk details.
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