92
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
estuary. If the culmination of the inrush coincides with
high water, an abnormally high tide will result, especially
if it is in the spring tide period. The sea surface level may
then be raised by as much as five to eight feet above the
predicted height.
Disastrous storm surges are not of frequent occurrence, for
the maximum of both surge and tide is seldom simultaneous.
The earliest record of the phenomena affecting the Essex
coast is contained in a letter written in January, 1552, by
the young Edward VI. (Brown, 1927.) "Of late there
has been such a tide as has overflown all meadows and
marshes. All the Isle of Bogges, all Plumstead Marsh, all
Sheppey, Foulness in Essex and all the sea coast was quite
drowned". The most disastrous surge occurred in November,
1897, when much of the East Anglian, Essex and North
Kent coasts suffered from its effects (Fig 8). Other surges
recorded on the Essex coast occurred in January, 1910,
December, 1921, January, 1928 (causing the Thames
floods), February, 1938, and more recently in March, 1919.
Nov. 28th 1897 08h Nov. 29th, 1897. 08h.
Fig. 8. Meteorological conditions associated with the storm surge of 1897.
The surges affect the various stretches of the Essex coast-
line in different ways. Along the cliff coast of the north,
the high tide enables the sea to override the foreshore and