660 Abstract Report of Agricultural Discussions. 



for the construction of tliese banks, no settlement liaving occurred in 

 the large one so formed, while the smaller one, entirely of clay, has 

 required additions to be made to maintain the original dimensions. 



The sluice is in this bank, towards the south end, and is built in the 

 clay ujion piles : it is a barrel-arch of 4 feet 6 inches diameter, with a 

 self-acting sea-door, and a second door upon the inside, raised or dropped 

 by a screw. Besides carrying off the water from the 580 acres of land 

 comprised in this inclosure, it is required to discharge the drainage 

 water of 1000 acres of grass-marshes and the supply from strong sj)rings 

 ujion them. It is found to be too small to do this in the short time 

 during which the tides will allow it to work, and besides has a settle- 

 ment in the centre ; it is therefore contemplated to replace it by an 

 arch of a larger size. The whole of this work was executed by 

 Messrs. Buxton, of Manchester, from the designs and under the super- 

 intendence of Mr. Arthur Saunders, of King's Lynn. 



This bank has not received any serious injmy since it was com- 

 pleted, except during the winter of 1862-63, from the water inside, 

 after the breach made in December, 1862 — in fact, no rejiairs have 

 been required beyond the occasional renewal of the flag and shingle 

 when washed away, and the necessity of maintaining the shingle, 

 which protects the foot of it to a higher level than was originally 

 contemplated. It should, however, be stated that it is but little 

 exposed to the action of the sea, its sea-face being towards the east 

 and adjoining the channel, on the opposite side of which are unin- 

 closed marshes but rarely covered by the sea, with the additional pro- 

 tection of high sand-hills in the distance. The highest tides (which 

 alone cover these uninclosed marshes) occur only with a west or north- 

 west wind ; in an easterly gale, therefore, there is no expanse of water 

 to break upon the bank, and in a gale from the west or north-west it 

 is to a great extent self-protecting. The extreme north of this bank is 

 connected by a high bank of shingle, with the sand-hills forming the 

 remainder of the northern boundary. 



It was through this bank that the breach was made by the very high 

 tide of December 22, 1862, which at the same time also broke over and 

 swept away the short bank at the west end of the inclosure. The latter 

 was sjoeedily rej)laced ; but the shingle bank, when once broken over, 

 wasted rapidly to an extreme dej)th of 28 feet in the breach and a width 

 at the uj)per part of 125 yards, and its repair was a work of greater 

 difficulty. The breach was successfully closed in the month of June 

 following, with shingle, conveyed to the spot by two lines of tramway, 

 from an average distance of about half a mile. The new bank thus 

 formed, having a slojDe of 12 to 1 on the sea-side and 5 to 1 towards 

 the land, has stood exceedingly well u\) to the present time, costing 

 but little for repairs. Marram is rapidly gTOwing upon it, and in a 

 very few years it will jwobably become a high sand-bank, livith a strong- 

 base and face towards the sea beneath the sand, and standing about 

 5 feet above the highest tides. 



Of the 580 acres inclosed, above 200 acres adjoining the old grass- 

 marshes were a strong clay loam, 80 acres mud land (originally skirting 

 the high clay lands), 170 strong blue clay, or clay-loam, buried beneath 



