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Historic Seascapes Characterisation (HSC) project Print E-mail

two phases of groyns
Oxford Archaeology South has recently been commissioned by English Heritage to carry out a second large-scale Historic Seascapes Characterisation (HSC) project, following our work in 2006/7 on an area of the Essex and Suffolk coast.

The Newport to Clacton HSC is part of wider, English Heritage and ALSF funded, project which will ultimately lead to the creation of a GIS based Characterisation for the whole of England’s coasts, seas and adjacent UK controlled Waters. This will lead to the creation of a national database to be used as a tool to inform coastal and marine management and spatial planning. The HSC is hoped to complement the extensive programme of terrestrial Historic Landscape Characterisations (HLCs) which has been undertaken over recent years and currently extends across much of England.

Hulk at Waldringfield on the Deben Estuary in Suffolk
The aim of this stage of the programme is to implement the national methodology established in 2008 across four different areas. The new project will examine a larger area of the same coastline examined in OA’s pilot HSC project which was art of the development of a definitive national HSC methodology. The new study area extends from Newport Norfolk) to Clacton (Essex) and thus comprises a large and fascinating area of coastline and inland water-bodies including the Broads, Sutton Hoo and the Deben Estuary, the drowned town of Dunwich, picturesque seaside communities such as Aldeburgh and Southwold, popular seaside towns such as Clacton and large ports and maritime areas such as Felixstowe, Harwich and Ipswich. The seaward extent of the study area extends out to the limit of UK controlled waters, following the Median line with Belgium and Holland. Landward the project area will incorporate all land up to the OS-mapped line of Mean High Water (MHW). However, in order to ensure that the study takes into account all areas of maritime interest the study will also continue landward to include areas and key areas which distinctive maritime character or which may have a secondary maritime significance (ie key features such as church spires etc which may have acted as daymarkers or navigation aids ).

The project is due to be completed by the end of 2010.
 
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