Crockery, Glass and Shingle Question

[[62]]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but yesterday I was walking along the shoreline of the Exe estuary at Exmouth and became aware that amongst the shingle were thousands and thousands of fragments of old plates, cups, glass bottles etc. Not just in one spot either - a whole area of them.

My guess was either that this is stuff that has been washed down the river for years and has now come to rest at a spot where it can go no further or (less likely) that there was some deliberate effort to bulk out the shingle with these fragments for some reason.

Anyone know?

 

[mojo pixy]

My guess was either that this is stuff that has been washed down the river for years and has now come to rest at a spot where it can go no further

This, I suspect. Teignmouth's back beach is covered in detritus too, and it certainly looks as if it's been washed down the river. (That is, it's not clear how else it got there given the shape of the estuary.)

Basically I don't know, but I grew up by the sea and I've lived by different seashores here and there. It's pretty common to find glass and china among the shingle or embedded the sand, especially near towns. I've always thought or at least assumed it washed down the shore from further along, or maybe came in from deeper water during storms, having been thrown from ships. Part of the general jetsam of the sea, at a guess.

When I was a kid I had a little collection of smoothed glass pieces of various colours from the beach, not that that has anything to do with the question

 

[[62]]

This, I suspect. Teignmouth's back beach is covered in detritus too, and it certainly looks as if it's been washed down the river. (That is, it's not clear how else it got there given the shape of the estuary.)

Basically I don't know, but I grew up by the sea and I've lived by different seashores here and there. It's pretty common to find glass and china among the shingle or embedded the sand, especially near towns. I've always thought or at least assumed it washed down the shore from further along, or maybe came in from deeper water during storms, having been thrown from ships. Part of the general jetsam of the sea, at a guess.

When I was a kid I had a little collection of smoothed glass pieces of various colours from the beach, not that that has anything to do with the question

Cheers for that.

Got this mental image yesterday of some angry chef up at a riverside pub in Dulverton or somewhere throwing plates into the Exe in the 70s and decades later the fragments coming to rest next to the railway line at Exmouth, although I expect most has just come from Exeter and the immediate surroundings. A few nostalgic designs in amongst the shards.

 

[izz]

Cheers for that.

Got this mental image yesterday of some angry chef up at a riverside pub in Dulverton or somewhere throwing plates into the Exe in the 70s and decades later the fragments coming to rest next to the railway line at Exmouth ...

And who's to say you're not correct ? Perfectly feasible explanation

Although nowhere near the sea I often find fragments of pottery which have risen to the surface of the garden during heavy rain and I love them. Keep meaning to hire a metal detector to see if I can find some buttons

 

[campanula]

sea brick is particularly tactile and rather lovely.

 

[StoneRoad]

Almost the other end of the country, but both of the beaches outside the harbour at Whitehaven have significant amounts of demolition rubble and other items mixed into the rocks and pebbles.

Several other areas around the UK's coast have bricks etc from either war-time or general [slum] clearance demolition.
Sometimes these materials were dumped as rudimentary coastal defences.

 

[WouldBe]

Almost the other end of the country, but both of the beaches outside the harbour at Whitehaven have significant amounts of demolition rubble and other items mixed into the rocks and pebbles.

Several other areas around the UK's coast have bricks etc from either war-time or general [slum] clearance demolition.
Sometimes these materials were dumped as rudimentary coastal defences.

Depending on the quantity it could be from houses lost to costal erosion.

 

[Artaxerxes]

A significant chunk of the Thames estuary was once landfill and I suspect what your seeing is the same

You can investigate using old OS maps

Explore georeferenced maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland

 

[StoneRoad]

Depending on the quantity it could be from houses lost to costal erosion.

Yes, that as well.
However, in one area I recall seeing bricks with markings indicating they had been made some distance away, and a more local person told me that some of the rubble was from the blitz.