‘Managed Landscape’- ‘Britain is a landscape altered by man. There is very little, if anything, that remains untouched and primitive within it, and its sense of place has been generated as much by the hand of man as by the way in which nature has responded to the management of the land.’ (Pearson, Dan. Spirit. UK: Murray & Sorrell FUEL, 2009. p23)

The complex relationship between man and nature is evident in almost all natural landscapes. Throughout history man has intervened with the land in order to live, farm and travel.

The conflict between man and nature is evident at the point where the landscape is most exposed to the elements. A coastal region can be seen as a fragile and restless landscape, constantly in flux. For centuries man has tried to control the natural process of erosion, attempting to preserve the landscape. The process of erosion along with the threat of a rising sea level leaves many coastal regions under threat.

The flat landscape of the Essex coastline offers a variety of edge conditions including coastal towns. Since being developed in the early 1900’s these towns have been protected from the sea through miles of concrete sea wall and breakwaters. This coastline also offers stretches of less protected landscape where it is possible to engage with nature and the processes that impact the land. The backwaters north of Walton-on-Naze is an area of tidal creeks, mud flats and salt marshes; protected by a spit of land they form a delicate boundary between the land and the North Sea. Constantly changing, this labyrinth of channels and islands can be submerged by the tide as much as twice a day or as little as once a year, depending on the alignment of the moon and the sun. 

“The sea has come down again at low tide to be able to go up again in time. A new time has opened up, a phase, a given period, a relay.”  Corbusier (find reference)

The earliest sign of human intervention evident in the Walton backwaters are sea defenses built by the Dutch in the 1500’s. Systems of dykes and banks protected the newly claimed agricultural land from the tide; these along with palisades of stakes still survive today and demonstrate mans understanding of the landscape and how to control it.