Pool at Orwell Park

An owner of Orwell Park was George Tomline who was a key figure in the development of Felixstowe Port and a major landowner on the peninsula (see Edward Fitzgerald).

An interesting feature of Orwell Park is the boat house with a concrete pool¹SCC Assessment Report Rapid Field Survey of the Suffolk Coast and Intertidal Zone 2003 with iron steps for access. Originally built by E. G. Pretyman, heir to George Tomline and onetime Civil Lord of the Admiralty, as a reservoir to enable him to reach his yacht ‘Pilgrim’ at low tide. He sat in a dinghy with two boat/oarsmen on the mud in front of the reservoir. On command, the reservoir gates were opened, and the two men rowed furiously on the wave of water to reach the river. The pool was converted into a swimming pool in about 1930 but not used after the floods of 1953²Pool – see Monument record NAC 063 – Modern concrete and iron steps. . How the footmen returned is unclear.

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  SCC Assessment Report Rapid Field Survey of the Suffolk Coast and Intertidal Zone 2003
• 2
  Pool – see Monument record NAC 063 – Modern concrete and iron steps.