An elderly man in a hat and a woman in a bonnet sit outdoors surrounded by woven baskets and thick, heavy fishing nets.

Mr and Mrs Gotobed, Roslyn Pits, Ely, 1880s. (MoC44/70)

Roswell (Roslyn) Pits, Ely

History of Roswell Pits

Roswell Pits, originally Roswell or Roslyn Hills, were excavated for clay needed to embank rivers in the area.

Flat-bottomed boats moored by a small arched bridge, with a windmill in the distance beyond a field of tall grasses.

Gault barges by Cuckoo Bridge at the entrance to Roswell Pits in 1870. In the background is the Overfall Mill in Middle Fen.

See The Urgent Hour’ by John Beckett. On page 29 he describes how the gault clay was loaded at Roswell Pits and delivered.

A low-angle view of a watery landscape with marshy vegetation, a small boat, a tent in the foreground, and a distant windmill.

Roswell Pits c.1885

Cuckoo bridge carried the track which in medieval times went from the City to Turbutsey, the port of Ely. The body of St Withburga went this way when it was stolen from the church at Dereham by the monks of Ely. Over the bridge were a few cottages and The Pike and Eel pub until the Sugar Beet factory was opened in 1925.

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