Rolling Ground appears on the 1686 Greenvile Collins Chart although Pitching Ground does not: possibly the area was sheltered by a sand bar at that time. The original location of the Rolling Ground was further west than today’s buoy and just south of the fort and so sufficiently sheltered and deep to ride at anchor.
The Rolling Ground, it is surely named due to the combined effect of wind and tide when at anchor. In Rolling Ground, the tide flows in line with the river Orwell, favouring a rolling motion in the prevailing wind. On the other hand, Pitching Ground has a tide that runs along the coast and favours a pitching motion. Of course, neither place is a sensible anchorage now.
There was an interesting occasion in 1629 when wind-bound Captain Richard Plumleigh after a multi-day stand-off with Landguard Fort over who should salute who had his wind-bound ship kedged out to sea by the windlass, but this was an extreme measure. In 1801 Nelson’s Flagship HMS Medusa anchored here and had difficulty getting to sea.
