Maplin Sands

The Maplin Sands are mudflats on the northern bank of the Thames estuary, off Foulness Island, near Southend-on-Sea in Essex, England, though they actually lie within the neighbouring borough of Rochford. They are valuable as a wildlife reserve, with a large colony of dwarf eelgrass (Zostera noltei) and associated animal communities.

Maplin Screw Pile Lighthouse

A screw-pile lighthouse was built on the sands in 1838 [1] by Messrs. Mitchel and Sons by the recommendation of James Walker of Trinity House, which was possibly the world's first.

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.[2] The shallow waters resulted in a flow of water that could add up to a knot to the ship's speed.[2] When the Admiralty found out they required that all future trials be carried out in deep water.[2]

Following the report of the 1968 Roskill Commission, in 1973 plans were proposed and approved for a third airport for London, 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.[3]

The Maplin Sands were at that time, and remain, a military testing ground belonging to the Ministry of Defence, as does Foulness Island.

References

  1. ↑ "Messrs. Mitchell and Sons Screw-pile Battery, and Light-House", Belfast News Letter, p. 1, Jan 30, 1844, That the first of such foundations was fixed on the Maplin Sands by these engineers (Messrs. Mitchel and Son), in the summer of 1838 by order of the corporation of Trinity House, at the recommendation of their engineer, James Walker, Esq. F.R.S., &c. Who has since erected on it the Maplin lighthouse
  2. 1 2 3 Preston, Antony (2002). The World's Worst Warships. Conway Maritime Press. p. 14. ISBN 0-85177-754-6.
  3. ↑ Needham, Duncan (27 October 2014). "Maplin: the Treasury and London's third airport in the 1970s". History & Policy. History & Policy. Retrieved 27 July 2016.

External links

Coordinates: 51°33′44″N 0°53′49″E / 51.56228°N 0.89703°E / 51.56228; 0.89703


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