Suffolk

Introduction

The Suffolk coast has some cliffed sectors about 10–20 m high, cut in Pliocene Crag formations overlain by glacial drift, but is otherwise generally low lying. It is interrupted by the estuaries of the Orwell, the Deben and the Alde, the latter deflected southward by the longshore shingle spit of Orford Ness.

Mean spring tide ranges decrease northward along the coast from 3.3 m at Felixstowe Pier and 3.2 m at Bawdsey to 2.3 m at Orford Ness and Aldeburgh, 2.1 m at Southwold and 1.9 m at Lowestoft and Gorleston.

The Suffolk Coast

The large estuaries of the Stour and the Orwell are submerged valleys that meet in Harwich Harbour. The Stour is tidal upstream to Flatford Mill and the Orwell to Ipswich. The persistence of these estuaries is due to continuing land subsidence, as well as meagre sediment yield from the rivers. They are bordered by bluffs, some cliffs, salt marshes and minor beaches, with muddy slopes exposed as the tide falls.

The estuary ends at Languard Point,...