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Planned changes to River Orwell 1804

Plotting the course of the changes to the River Orwell both visually and in terms of activity hasn't been an easy process owing to the long drawn-out affair of planning the liberation of the river from mud back in the 19th Century.

During the depression, after the wool trade dried up in Suffolk in the 17th and 18th Century, the River Orwell was neglected and the results made accessing Ipswich difficult. The tide going out made matters worse, leaving ships high and dry on the quay.

There wasn't a railway at that time so businesses relied almost entirely on the sea and waterways to deliver their goods around England, especially London. The River Commission was established in 1800 and plans were drawn up to clean, deepen and straighten the Orwell.

Highlighted changes in 1843 plan

The Commission purchased a dredger by borrowing money in the hope of increasing their income when the river improved its capacity to bring in trade. Bob Malster and Bob Jones wrote in the book A Victorian Vision published by the Ipswich Port Authority in 1992: "In 1820 they made a cut through the Round Ooze, making it unnecessary for vessels to use the circuitous and difficult channels by John's Ness.

"The following year they had begun a further cut to take ships straight across the bank between Hog Island Reach and Limekiln Reach."

They sold sand and other substances for ballast or for building, raising money to pay off the loan.

1842 Wet Dock and New Cut

听"By 1830 the River Commissioners had paid off the original loan of 拢8000 and had accumulated a surplus of 拢25,000, which went towards financing the building of the wet dock."

The River Commission continued to update their dredgers to deal with the job of keeping the narrow channel free for ships to pass.

The wet dock was made from a meander that ran along what is now the Orwell and Neptune quays. The New Cut was dug out by Mud Men, a nick-name given to those who had the unpleasant job of dredging by hand, before a steam dredger could excavate the new path, which would change the course of the River Orwell forever.

The lock gate in the first Ipswich Wet Dock that opened in 1842 was placed in a difficult position for larger ships to access when coming down the New Cut from Stowmarket. The lock gate was placed in the New Cut to avoid bad weather and possible tidal surge from the estuary.

Income for the River Commissioners and their businesses increased after the wet dock opened. Malster and Jones wrote: "The average navigation dues received by the River Commissioners had been 拢2360 per annum.

Map of the Ipswich Wet Dock 1881-2008

"In 1844, one year after the opening of the dock, they doubled, while by 1855 the dues had increased to 拢10,000 a year."

The final cost of the Ipswich Wet Dock had escalated from the original plan: "In 1860 George Hurwood told the Institution of Civil Engineers that the total cost had been 拢130,000; Joseph Chamberlain, President of the Board of Trade, said the figure was 拢110,000. Whatever the final sum, it had been a highly expensive exercise."

Butterman's Bay plan 1914

By 1870 a new wet dock plan had been drawn up not only because of the position of the lock gates but because of the advent of the steam ship. It promised even greater revenues for the River Commissioners, although they were concerned that the bigger ships would take trade from their own small ships that could easily manoeuvre into the lock.

They planned to put the new lock at the south end of the wet dock directly into the estuary rather than the narrow river channel of the New Cut and increase the length of the dock from 140ft to 300ft. It was opened in 1881.

River Orwell 1930, APB

The use of this lock by the large ships was again short lived because the ships kept getting bigger and they still found the Orwell difficult to navigate. In 1898 the Commission planned a deepwater berth at West Bank Terminal just south of the wet dock.

Other meanders on the river were cut through and by 1900 the berths at Butterman's Bay were deepened and enlarged so that the ships could unload their cargo onto barges without entering the wet dock.

A swing bridge was installed over the lock in 1903 to allow the railway to circuit the docks. By 1915 the river was straighter and wider and the meanders had broken down into inlets.

"The first full length of the river was excavated between 1947 and 1951, and more improvements were made on some of the bends and the width became 300ft at the narrowest part with a depth of 19ft. A volume of 2,500,000 cubic yards (1,912,500 cubic metres) of material was removed," wrote Malster and Jones.

Outward facing lock gates were fitted to the lock of the wet dock in 1976 as part of a flood prevention scheme.

The Port of Felixstowe has also done its fair share of straightening the river. As ships continued to increase in size it became realistic to dock at the bottom of the Orwell in Felixstowe rather than navigate the still difficult River Orwell.

During the 1960's the Port Authority and then Hutchison Ports began developing the Port of Felixstowe. They have extended the quay up the river towards Ipswich, so that more and straighter berths are available which increases the amount of ships the port can dock there. Rather than raw materials for industry they import and export goods for the High Streets across the UK.

In 2008 Port of Felixstowe is starting its reconfiguration plans and by 2014 it will have converted another 1285 metres of quay into four more ships berths for the new generation of ships, whilst building 80 metres out into the Orwell by filling rather than cutting.

You can read more about the operations of the Port of Felixstowe by clicking on the links to the right > >

If you want to learn more about the history of the Ipswich port, the book A Victorian Vision written by Bob Malster and Bob Jones, published by the Ipswich Port Authority in 1992 is the one referred to in this article. There are other books and societies that can shed even more light on the subject.