Flooding Gallery

Coryton Refinery flood defences JLP01_08_020888

CORYTON OIL REFINERY, THURROCK, ESSEX. Workers constructing a protective wall of precast concrete blocks at Coryton Oil Refinery, as part of extensive flood prevention work at the site.

On the night of Saturday 31st January through to the morning of Sunday 1st February 1953, severe floods struck parts of the UK, Scotland, Belgium and the Netherlands. The natural disaster is often referred to as the North Sea Flood of 1953. Severe flooding occurred along the east coast of the UK. The site of Coryton Oil Refinery flooded as the river wall protecting the site was breached in 14 places. An article detailing the disaster and subsequent recovery operation was published in the March 1953 edition of Laing's monthly newsletter; Team Spirit. A programme of extensive sea and river defence works was carried out following the flooding

© Historic England Archive. John Laing Photographic Collection

East Lyng flooding 27897_016

East Lyng, Somerset. At the end of the 9th century AD King Alfred the Great established a burh, or fortified settlement, at the eastern end of the Lyng ridge. The town was linked to the nearby stronghold and monastery at Athelney, founded by Alfred a few years earlier, and all were surrounded by the marshes of the Somerset Levels. This image, taken at the height of the flooding in the winter of 2013/14, shows the logic behind the location of the settlement, now called East Lyng. Digital photograph taken in 2014

© Historic England