River Blackwater, Essex

The Viking-era Battle of Maldon possibly took place at the mouth of the river in 991. The Battle of Maldon, an early-11th-century fragmentary poem which describes the battle, mentions the Panta and describes a tidal causeway which could be the causeway leading to Northey Island. The Saxons were defeated and their leader, Byrhtnoth, was killed. The Blackwater was a source of fish and oysters for the town of Maldon during the Roman occupation. The remains of Saxon fish traps were discovered in the river in the 1990s. During the winter of 1776, the Blackwater froze from Maldon to Osea island, a distance of some four miles. The ice trapped fishing and cargo-carrying vessels and blocked any…