Red Hill (salt making)

A red hill is a small mound with a reddish colour found in the coastal areas of East Anglia and Essex. A red hill is formed as a result of generations of salt making. Salt water is boiled in a pottery container to concentrate the brine and eventually produce crystallised salt. The high temperature leads to oxidisation and reddening of the soil. [DR Wilson, "Air Photo Interpretation" (Tempus, 2000)] The discarded remnants of the process accumulate over time to produce characteristic red hills. [Lesley & Roy Adkins, "The Handbook of British Archeology"] Red hills can date from the Bronze Age through to the Anglo-Saxon. Red hills and salt making at Salthouse (Norfolk) were described by Hoskins. [WG Hoskins, "Fieldwork in Local History", (Faber & Faber Ltd. 1967, pp. 154-158)]