Here is a selection of reference sources. Needs to be sub-divided.
General
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle text. There are other sources for different versions.
The Holinshed Project – a sixteenth century tour of Britain, good on description of rivers.
Poly-Olbion – a seventeenth century poetic tour of Britain.
1633 Historia mundi: or Mercator’s atlas: containing his cosmographicall description of the fabricke and figure of the world ; lately rectified in divers places, as also beautified and enlarged with new mappes and tables – seventeenth century atlas that covers our shores although no real detail. First mention found of “Deben” as a name. See pages 90-100
A Topographical Dictionary of England – nineteenth century but land oriented.
British History Online(East) – documents, searchable. (mostly paywall)
Calendar of State Papers, domestic series
Evelyn’s Diaries Volume 1, Volume 2, Volume 3
Timetraveller Index (timewisetraveller.co.uk)
Essex :: Survey of English Place-Names (nottingham.ac.uk)
Place names – Keith Briggs site
Selection of odd journals and almanacs*-
The Online Books Page (upenn.edu)
https://picryl.com/collectionsPicryl – The World’s Largest Public Domain Media Search Engine
Funk & Wagnalls standard dictionary of the English language
LOC’s Public Domain Archive Media
The Concise Oxford Dictionary Of English Place Names by Eilert Ekwall
ENGLISH RIVER-NAMES. By Eilert Ekwall
See also Skeat somewhere.
Early English Books Online (umich.edu)
Aerial Archaeology Mapping Explorer (arcgis.com)
Thames Estuary
See also Thames River
Thames Estuary Charts and Pilots
A Short History of the Thames Estuary Harold Muir Evans to get when found but available online here. Reference to Edward VI and floods in Lives of the bachelor kings of England
1883 Dickens Dictionary – details of buoys
The River Thames: A Guide – John Henry Salter 1881 Google Books about the river primarily.
A Pictorial History of the Thames – Alexis Sidney Krausse 1889 – ditto
River Thames and boaty things website with some info. (defunct?)
WHERE THAMES SMOOTH WATERS GLIDE – website with lots of Thames information and poetry. Also list of books.
Thames Estuary site worth a look
Naze to Ness
See Natural England Character assessment 81.
There is a selection of books (available as free pdfs) on Second World War fortifications from Heritage England as well as Suffolk WW2 archaeology guides available here. These deal with coastline defences, the Sea Forts are a fascinating topic which I’ll not cover here.
Essex & Harwich
The Essex Coastline then and now by M.P.B. Fautley and J.H. Garon has a lot of history on the Essex Rivers. it’s hard to get but available online. Also Time & Tide – The History of Harwich Haven Authority by Graham Stewart is a thorough history of the port available online although much better on paper.
1594 John Norden ‘The Description of Essex’ with manuscript map alo here on archive.org Speculi Britanniae Pars: an Historical and Chorographical Description of the County of Essex, by John Norden, 1594 : Camden Society (Great Britain) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Harwich Haven Charts and Pilots
Essex vol. XIII – Harwich and Dovercourt – various texts
Dale, S. ‘1703 Article on Harwich Cliff Fossils by S.Dale’, n.d.
1808 The Harwich Guide – also covers Felixstowe area
The history of yachting, 1600-1815 by Clark, Arthur Hamilton – Dutch Wars, Fanfan.
Harwich and Dovercourt Pictorial Postcard site – some maps
Harwicensis – very good on Deane
History of Harwich & Dovercourt
Benham, Hervey. Once Upon a Tide. New edition. London: George G.Harrap & Co Ltd, 1986.
Hussey, Frank. Suffolk Invasion: The Dutch Attack on Landguard Fort, 1667. Lavenham, Suffolk: T. Dalton, 1983.
The Harwich Guide, Containing an Account of the Ancient and Present State of the Borough: Likewise a Description of Dover-Court, Mistley Manningtree, Wickes, Etc., to Which Are Added Biographical and Historical Notices of Extra-Ordinary Characters. Raw, 1808.
Weaver, L.T. The Harwich Story, 1975.
Redman, John Baldry. ‘The East Coast between the Thames and Wash Estuaries’, 1864.
‘The History of Harwich Harbour, Particularly the Work of the Harwich H C Hughes’. Accessed 6 January 2022.
Harwich Haven Authority. ‘Time & Tide – The History of Harwich Haven Authority’. Accessed 19 August 2021. https://hha.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Time-Tide-The-History-of-Harwich-Haven-Authority.pdf.
‘A Contribution to the Geological History of Suffolk. Part 1 by Suffolk Naturalists’ Society – Issuu’. Accessed 27 January 2022. https://issuu.com/suffolknaturalistssociety/docs/tsns13_4_a. – cement stone
A History of the County of Essex
The Harwich Society – Harwich, Essex, UK (harwich-society.co.uk)
Harwich RDF Tower – The forgotten precursor to RADAR (harwichtower.co.uk)
Suffolk, Felixstowe and Woodbridge
EXTRACTS FROM THE DIARY OF SIR JAMES THORNHILL, MAY 16TH, 1711. (some on Harwich and Copperas)
Excursions in the county of Suffolk: comprising a brief historical and topographical delineation of every town and village; together with descriptions of the residences of the nobility and gentry, remains of antiquity, and every other interesting object of curiosity. Forming a complete guide for the traveller and tourist. Cromwell, Thomas, 1792-1870
by Cromwell, Thomas, 1792-1870
The Victoria history of the county of Suffolk, Vol. 1, (this site was restructured and useful links lost)
SIAH Suffolk Institute of Archaeology and History
- List of proceedings
- Volume XXXIX Part 4 (2000)_Drgs of Walton Castle and others in Walton J
- Volume XLI Part 4 (2008)_Bigods at Walton Hall and their successors J F
- Volume XLII Part 3 (2011)_Felixstowe Roman fort J Fairclough_253 to 276
- Volume XXIII Part 2 (1938)_Angulus Anglie A corner of Anglie V B Restone_155 to 164
- History of Felixstowe. Mention of Cole. Collimer?
- Volume XXXIII Part 2 (1974)_Excavation of Walton Priory S E West_131 to 138
The antiquities of England and Wales by Grose, Francis, 1731?-1791; some drawings of Walton Castle.Domesday book Colneis Hundred
Notable People From Woodbridge and Melt
Historical Directories of England & Wales – Special Collections
Roberts, Bob. A Slice of Suffolk. Lavenham [Eng.]: T. Dalton, 1978.
https://www.woodbridgeandmeltonsociety.org.uk/
English Heritage ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICE Assessment Report Rapid Field Survey of the Suffolk Coast