Suffolk circular walk: Felixstowe Ferry and the River Deben

The valley is broad and beautiful here, rising gently away from the river, which flows quietly to the North Sea.

This is the southern tip of what we were once pleased to call the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It’s now rather more prosaically named the Suffolk and Essex Coast National Landscape, stretching from Kessingland in the north of the county, to the River Stour Estuary in north Essex.

The little part of it that I’m exploring is just north of Felixstowe. It’s a remote spot; a favourite place for locals to walk and cycle, but otherwise wonderfully undiscovered.

This circular walk starts at the hamlet of Felixstowe Ferry at the mouth of the Deben, a pleasing jumble of boatyards, fishing boats, no-nonsense cafes, modest (and not so modest) homes - some of them no more than a wooden cabin - and houseboats. There’s also a car park and public toilets.

A shortish distance along the riverbank, the walk heads inland to Falkenham, where you can stand above the valley and look across to Ramsholt and Bawdsey.

Beyond the salt marshes at the fringes of the river, the land is farmed as far as you can see, with only an occasional building in view. One of them is a farmstead, Goseford Hall.

According to Historic England, it dates from the 18th century and was formerly known as the Red House. Its current name, however, is a clue to the much older medieval history of this location, when a port called Goseford at the mouth of the River Deben was one of the most important centres of trade and shipbuilding on the east coast, if not the entire country.

In recent years, extensive research by local historian Peter Wain, and professor of late medieval history at UEA Mark Bailey, as well as by professor David Sear, a scientist at Southampton University, has shed light on Goseford’s existence - and its mysterious disappearance.

Local records from the time are almost non-existent, but Peter and Mark have pieced together other fragments of information to build up a picture of what Goseford might have been like.

They cite the number of boats trading out of east coast ports identified as ‘of Goseford’; the large number requisitioned for military service, particularly during the Hundred Years War; and the fact that Goseford was one of the main suppliers to the English garrison at Calais between 1347 and 1400.

What has emerged is not one single location, but a port made up of a string of settlements north and south of the River Deben, that occupied an area from Bawdsey at the mouth of the river to Kirton Creek, a few miles upstream.

Its heyday was the 14th and 15th centuries, when scores of ships from Goseford carried goods up and down the coast, as well as to continental ports. Goseford, it seems, was a thriving maritime community of mariners, carpenters, pilots, ropers, anchor-smiths and the other trades. It had a serious boat-building industry and was wealthy enough to lend money to the Crown.

So, why isn’t Goseford there today? And what became of it? Part of the answer probably lies in piracy. Between 1400 and 1403 there was a pirate war in The Channel, despite the fact that England and France had declared a truce at the time, and legitimate trade between France and England and their allies practically ground to a halt.

Goseford went into rapid decline, just as Woodbridge further up the Deben was in its ascendancy. By about 1500 the town dominated trade out of the river.

It’s also thought climate change played its part. David Sear explains how the medieval era was a time of fluctuating solar activity, which affected sea temperatures and led to frequent, severe storms.

The east coast, which is always vulnerable to erosion, experienced tidal events that swept away settlements such as Dunwich, created spits and silted up rivers. Goseford’s havens and creeks became shallower and little was done to reclaim them until the 16th century.

The work done by Peter, Mark and David is fascinating (find out more at ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/82721/1/Accepted_Manuscript.pdf) but they’ve suggested that there’s more research that could be done. One area of investigation, they say, as yet unexplored, is archaeological.

The timber stumps that were once jetties, landing stages and quays where ships loaded and unloaded are strung out all along the Deben and clearly visible at low tide. What else is to be found beneath the mudflats and the riverbank that could tell us more about the lost port of Goseford?

Tranquil Felixstowe Ferry. Photo: Jayne Lindill THE WALK

S. Start at Felixstowe Ferry, where there is a pay and display car park (coins only) next to the Ferry Cafe. Take the cinder path that heads inland between the car park and Millennium Green. Follow this path past the golf course on your left, with houseboats on your left, turning right through a style and winding your way around the inlet until you’re on the river bank and heading north, up river.

The Deben’s impressive levee was originally built between the 14th and 16th centuries. In earlier times the river spilled over into marshland so the river was gradually walled to create a deeper channel.

I love walking along the river wall, with the wide expanse of the estuary all around me, but, I must admit, it’s best done on a day when there’s nothing more than a slight, salty sea breeze to hinder your progress.

Kingsfleet, a former anchorage for Edward III's fleet. Photo: Jayne Lindill 1. About 1km/0.6miles from the start you reach Kingsfleet, a tributary of the Deben thought to have been used as an anchorage and by Edward III to assemble his fleet for the Hundred Years War. It’s now a drainage channel and home to a magnificent colony of swans. Take the track that leads inland away from the river, alongside Kingsfleet for about 1.5km/0.75mile.

The track then bends to the right; follow it for another 500metres, heading slightly uphill, passing Deben Lodge Farm and emerging onto a lane.

A further 400metres along take the turning to the right (Lower Road) towards Falkenham. This is a quiet lane; you’ll pass Russell’s Farm (left) and see the turning to Goseford Hall (right), Sheepgate Lane. If you want a shorter walk, this takes you back to the river where you can return to Felixstowe Ferry. Otherwise, carry on for another 500 metres, around a very sharp bend (watch for traffic!) until you arrive at a signed footpath (right) opposite Dog Cottage.

2. Head through the gate and along the footpath. A little way along the track, Falkenham’s church dedicated to St Ethelbert nestles among trees. It’s a small church with a flint tower dating from the 15th century. St Ethelbert’s soon fell into disrepair though, only to be rescued in the 19th century.

Inside it’s rather sweetly unadorned and still has its original hammer beam roof and 15th century font.

3. Turn right after about 250metres when you reach a rather dilapidated footpath sign. Enjoy the views across the valley, making a gradual descent to the river. The path turns sharp right, then bends round to the right, through fields, eventually meeting the river wall at Falkenham Creek.

Looking across the Deben to Ramsholt Church. Photo: Jayne Lindill 4. On the other side of the river you’ll see the Ramsholt Arms pub and, on the rise behind it, Ramsholt church with its round tower. Turn right and head along the river wall all the way back to Felixstowe Ferry.

One of the things I love about walking along the Deben estuary is the rich variety of birds that make it their home. On this occasion I was lucky enough to see redshanks, avocets, a couple of herons, a little egret, knot and a curlew, all busy on the mudflats and salt marsh. In a field next to the river wall a pair of buzzards were hunting their lunch.

You don’t have to hunt for your lunch. Once back at the Ferry you can enjoy a cuppa and good food at one of the cafes (check opening hours), or even buy some fish to take home.

The salt marshes at the Deben estuary. Photo: Jayne Lindill This walk first appeared in Suffolk magazine. For more great local walks, subscribe at https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/subscribe/suffolk/

COMPASS POINTS

Distance: approx 8km/5miles

Time: 2.5 - 3 hours

Start: Felixstowe Ferry IP11 9RZ

Parking: Pay and Display (no app, coins only)

Access: cinder paths, grassy paths, minor roads, gate, steep banks to river wall.

Map: OS Explorer 197 Ipswich, Felixstowe and Harwich

Facilities: Cafes and public toilets at Felixstowe Ferry