See The Archaeology of the Suffolk Coast Report
From: ENGLISH HERITAGE-Suffolk Coastal NMP Project SUFFOLK COUNTY COUNCIL
A number of fishtraps, of a type known as ‘kiddles’ (Strachan 1995) are situated off Stonner Point in the inter-tidal zone of the River Deben. The fish traps consist of groups of posts arranged in lines to create roughly v-shaped and possibly interconnected structures which point out into the channel (see Figure 53).
A large Anglo-Saxon or medieval v-shaped fish trap has been identified at Holbrook Bay on the River Stour, and is discussed above in section 10 (TM 170336, STU 067). The kiddles would have worked on a similar tidal basis, but probably using nets strung between the posts, and operated on a seasonal basis (Crump and Wallis 1992). The kiddles in the Deben also appear to have operated on a more extensive scale than the Holbrook Bay trap. If all visible kiddles were in use simultaneously, they would have covered at least 1.5km of the estuary.
The dating of the kiddles is problematical and can only be based on their morphology and examples known from elsewhere. Such kiddles are known to have operated in Essex from the medieval period to the 20th century (Strachan 1995), and examples at Mersea Island in Essex show evidence for a number of phases of adaptation and extension, suggesting they were in use over considerable length of time (Crump and Wallis 1992). The inter-connected form of the Deben kiddles also supports the interpretation that they were in use for a considerable period of time, and may represent the development of an important local industry from the medieval into the post-medieval period.
However, the fish traps are only visible on one run of aerial photographs from 1945, and they appear to have been abandoned by this date. It is likely that the development of a large mud bank in the centre of the channel may have impeded their operation, and consequent changes in tidal patterns has possibly obscured them under accumulation of silts or has caused their destruction from erosion. The location of the kiddles on the river mud-flats makes it difficult to carry out investigative ground survey, and indeed they were not located by the Suffolk County Council Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey, but future monitoring by aerial survey may reveal whether the features have survived.
