Site of Medieval to Post Medieval Manningtree Quay (EHER 18801)

Medieval and post medieval quay at Manningtree. The discovery in the 1960's that the seaward side of The Walls causeway and at least part of Quay Street is built on an eighteenth to nineteenth century dump of rubbish held in place by a wooden revetment (EHER 7434) raises the possibility that the original medieval quay was set further back from the current shore line.

The discovery in the 1960's that the seaward side of The Walls causeway and at least part of Quay Street is built on an eighteenth to nineteenth century dump of rubbish held in place by a wooden revetment (ESMR 7434) raises the possibility that the original medieval quay was set further back from the current shore line. This supposition is further supported by observations in the late 1970's on the northern side of North Street which found the present ground-level in that area consisted of post-medieval build-up. A row of timber posts were observed bordering the northern side of the junction of Station Road and North Street, which may have formed part of a revetment of the sea-wall at that point. The area immediately to the north of South Street formed the town dock in the post-medieval period and this may have been also the position of the medieval dock, as it was located at the point where Manningtree Channel comes closest to the shore. It is therefore suggested that North Street and Quay Street mark the original line of the Quay and that this structure has been buried beneath post-medieval make-up. <1> The grass verge on the seaward side of the causeway known as The Walls is made up with an extensive dump of eighteenth and nineteenth century rubbish held in position by a wooden revetment (EHER 7434). This dump appears to extend under Quay Street, suggesting that the current quay edge is eighteenth to nineteenth century in date. The Ordnance Survey First Edition map extract (1875, sheet 20.9) shows a crane, timber yards and two docks at the western end of Quay Street where the Manningtree Channel comes closest to the shore. Although these are no longer extant the area has not been developed and the potential for surviving archaeological deposits is high. <1>