Maplin Sands on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Maplin Sands are mudflats on the northern bank of the Thames estuary, off Foulness Island, near 
To the northeast, the Maplin sands are contiguous with the Foulness sands, which are bordered to the north by the Whitaker Channel; the seaward continuation of the River Crouch. To the south runs the Swin Channel.
In the later part of the 19th century John I. Thornycroft & Company and Yarrow Shipbuilders used the sands for the measured mile speed trials of their destroyers. The shallow waters resulted in a flow of water that could add up to a knot to the ship's speed. When the Admiralty found out they required that all future trials be carried out in deep water.
Following the report of the 1968
Southend-on-Sea
Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in southeastern Essex, England. It lies on the north ...
in Essex
Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...
, England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, though they actually lie within the neighbouring borough of Rochford. They form a part of the Essex Estuaries Special Area of Conservation due to their value for nature conservation, with a large colony of dwarf eelgrass (''Zostera noltei
''Zostera noltii'' is a species of seagrass known by the common name dwarf eelgrass. It is found in shallow coastal waters in north western Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Aral Sea and on islands in the Atlantic off ...
'') and associated animal communities.
To the northeast, the Maplin sands are contiguous with the Foulness sands, which are bordered to the north by the Whitaker Channel; the seaward continuation of the River Crouch. To the south runs the Swin Channel.
History
Maplin Sands is crossed by the ancient trackway known asThe Broomway
The Broomway, also formerly called the "Broom Road", is a public right of way over the foreshore at Maplin Sands off the coast of Essex, England. Most of the route is classed as a byway open to all traffic, with a shorter section of bridleway ...
.
A screw-pile lighthouse was built on the sands in 1838 by Messrs. Mitchel and Sons (sic- more often Mitchell and Sons) on the recommendation of James Walker of Trinity House. It was the first screwpile lighthouse ever to be designed. Although construction of the Maplin Sands Light had started before, the Wyre Light (Fleetwood)
The Wyre Light was a tall iron screw-pile lighthouse marking the navigation channel to the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire, England.
History
The lighthouse was designed by Alexander Mitchell, an Irish engineer who developed the screwpile con ...
was completed first, as it was built in a much shorter period of time. Excessive scouring of the Thames by the strength and direction of the tidal streams caused the lighthouse to become undermined and it was completely swept away in 1932.
In the later part of the 19th century John I. Thornycroft & Company and Yarrow Shipbuilders used the sands for the measured mile speed trials of their destroyers. The shallow waters resulted in a flow of water that could add up to a knot to the ship's speed. When the Admiralty found out they required that all future trials be carried out in deep water.
Following the report of the 1968 Roskill Commission
The Roskill Commission (formally the Commission on the Third London Airport) was a UK Government Commission charged with looking into finding a site for a new airport for London. Chaired by High Court judge Eustace Roskill, it sat from 1968 to ...
, in 1973 plans were proposed and approved for a third airport for London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, the Thames Estuary Airport, but were abandoned in 1974 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis. The project would also have included a deep-water harbour suitable for the container ships then coming into use, a high-speed rail link to London, and a new town for the accommodation of the thousands of workers who would be required.
The Maplin Sands were at that time, and remain, a military testing ground belonging to the Ministry of Defence, as is Foulness Island.
See also
*Wyre Light (Fleetwood)
The Wyre Light was a tall iron screw-pile lighthouse marking the navigation channel to the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire, England.
History
The lighthouse was designed by Alexander Mitchell, an Irish engineer who developed the screwpile con ...
* Screw-pile lighthouse
* List of lighthouses in England
References
External links
* {{coord, 51.56228, N, 0.89703, E, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(TR009888), display=title Nature Conservation Review sites Coastal environment of Essex Sandbanks of the North Sea Landforms of England Shoals of the United Kingdom