Continuing the coastal theme, The 'salting mounds' of Essex by H Stopes details one
of the earliest serious investigations of our now-famous red hills. Now known to be
the sites of prehistoric salt manufacture, al the time their origin was the subject of
some controversy. Stopes himself considered then to be refuges from high tides, a
secondary role which undoubtedly they did fulfil:
...I venture to suggest the hope that these mounds may he able to throw some
light on the past of our race. They may have taken the place, in aflat country
entirely free of caves, of the natural shelters of rocky districts, and as
Colchester may claim the honour, with the flat and despised Essex marshes,
of being the cradle, though not the birthplace, of the race which has helped
so largely to make England what she is, there may be some hidden and
unsuspected revelation concerning that early time, which, when brought to
light, may prove of the deepest interest to all the world-wide English-
speaking family.
Whatever you may think of the tortuous English, or the sentiments expressed, one
thing I would take serious issue with is flie description of the Essex marshes as
'despised'. No wonder wc have spent the last few years highlighting and bemoaning
their demise.
Snippets of natural history interest are scattered through the volume, and a selection of
these is presented below:
palmate newt was recorded from Chingford as new to Essex, and an alga
Vaucheria sphoerospora from Maldon as new to Britain
in January, an osprey was reported from Northey Island; surprisingly, it was
not shot and so was reported as a 'supposed occurrence'; the date is rather
unusual, and wc might suppose that it was actually a white-tailed eagle!
the last Essex ravens were nesting on Osea Island, having recently deserted
their traditional site on Northey Island and ceased breeding in Norfolk and
Suffolk: The time is probably very near when ravens will become extinct...
on the islands of the Essex coast
and on the topic of extinction, concern was already being expressed about the
rarity of the Essex emerald moth; in this case it managed to hold on until the
1980s
an explanation was forthcoming for the discovery of the rare British native
Spanish Catchfly on Colchester Castle: it was planted by lepidopterists as
food for the viper's bugloss moth
 5
Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 33, September 2000