A watching brief was undertaken by Archaeology South-East in 2015 on an area of land north of Fingringhoe Wick nature reserve. The works were part of a scheme to extend the nature reserve and provide a new intertidal habitat (CBC planning application 131186). A previous desk top scoping document had noted the presence of a ring-shaped cropmark and soil discolouration towards the north end of the site. An archaeological evaluation (ECC3681 and ECC3682) had also established the presence of a Roman saltern on the higher ground to the west of the site.<1><2><3> A number of operations on the site required archaeological monitoring (the entire area measured 33 ha. in size, but the groundworks and therefore the areas of the watching brief was confined to ten areas). These included the excavation of two borrow ponds to provide clay for new embankments, the creation of a pond and reed bed to the southwest, the stripping of topsoil around the existing embankments in preparation for enlarging them, the excavation of new ditches and the breaching of the sea wall to allow tidal ingress. One of the borrow ponds was situated in the location of the cropmark and soil discolouration. In the event little of archaeological value was recorded during the works. A bank was partially removed revealing a previous land surface which may have dated to the 19th century. A deposit of oyster shells was found to the south and a row of stakes was observed in the sea wall breach. No features were found in the location of the cropmark. No artefacts or environmental samples were retained.<1>