The East Anglia Region - Southern England - page 274

warrior King Raedwald was buried in about AD 625, along with a ship and one of the
most remarkable treasures so far found in Britain. The site and visitor centre have been
developed by the National Trust.
FIG 258. Looking southeastwards from Woodbridge (Fig. 247, d4 ) down the River Deben
to Felixstowe Ferry and the sea. (Copyright Aerofilms)
FIG 259. Northeastward view from the settlement of Shingle Street, along Orford Beach
to Orford Ness, the outward bulge some 10 km away from the end of the spit, in the far
distance (Fig. 247, d5 ). (Copyright Aerofilms)
Further north along the coast, the long, finger-like spit of Orford Beach (Fig. 259)
has been constructed by storm waves and has grown several kilometres from Orford
Ness ( d5 ). At the southern end of the spit, a complicated pattern of linear ridges re-
cords former outlines of the spit as it has changed its position and shape with time.
Orford Beach and Orford Ness together form one of the largest coastal accumula-
tions of gravel on the east coast. Although the exact timing of the growth episodes of
the Orford Beach spit is not known, it is clearly the result of powerful waves from the
northeast driving sand and gravel southwards along the coast (Fig. 260). The growth of
the gravel and sand barrier has created a back-barrier of salt marshes and flats, which
have accumulated muds in waters that are still strongly tidal, but sheltered from storm
waves. Valleys entering this sheltered back-barrier have been topped up with fine mud-
flat sediments, as is the case in the Norfolk Broads (Area 16) or the Fens (Area 15).