At Dymchurch, groynes or breakwaters formed of large rocks and stones laid on a brushwood raft and held in place by timber piles, also helped to dissipate the force of storm waves. A number of what have been interpreted as groynes survive as earthworks in front of the old seabank at Leverington and Newton in the Fens, although they may rather be elongated saltern mounds. Only one outfall work has so far been recorded archaeologically, again at Newton. This was found to consist of three conjoined, hollowed-out tree trunks, capped by planking, passing through the base of the bank; it was radiocarbon dated to the mid 13th century. The sluice gate did not survive, but would presumably have been either hand-operated or a self-closing hinged flap-valve.
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 05:16:19 +0000
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