Aggravation over Southend's oysters

During the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Southend had a prosperous oyster industry. But there was trouble in 1724 when Kentish fishermen claimed that the Southend oyster beds were common, not private, property, and 500 of them raided and pillaged the beds over a period of several days.

The invaders were eventually seen off from the beach by local constables and withdrew their boats. When the issue reached the courtroom the judiciary took a firm stance against the raids. The court ruled that the oyster beds were the private property of the people of Southend and imposed upon the raiders heavy fines which took numerous Kentish fishing villages many years to pay off.

Essex 1 Kent 0.