" It has still
standing close to the shore its quaint picturesque town hall, erected
in the fifteenth century. Southwold is now practically an island,
bounded on the east by the sea, on the south-west by the Blyth River,
on the north-west by Buss Creek. It is only joined to the mainland by
a narrow neck of shingle that divides Buss Creek from the sea. I think
that I should prefer to hold property in a more secure region. You
invest your savings in stock, and dividends decrease and your capital
grows smaller, but you usually have something left. But when your land
and houses vanish entirely beneath the waves, the chapter is ended and
you have no further remedy except to sue Father Neptune, who has
rather a wide beat and may be difficult to find when he is wanted to
be served with a summons.
[Illustration: Norden's Chart of the River Ore and Suffolk Coast]
But the Suffolk coast does not show all loss. In the north much land
has been gained in the region of Beccles, which was at one time close
to the sea, and one of the finest spreads of shingle in England
extends from Aideburgh to Bawdry. This shingle has silted up many a
Suffolk port, but it has proved a very effectual barrier against the
inroads of the sea. Norden's map of the coast made in 1601[2] shows
this wonderful mass of shingle, which has greatly increased since
Norden's day.
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