Without human intervention during this time salt water flooded parts of the island making it unsuitable for agricultural use. Havergate Island was formerly an extra-parochial area, in 1868 it became a civil parish and by 1961 the parish was unpopulated.
The passage describes how salt water flooding rendered Havergate Island unusable for agriculture due to human intervention being absent during this period. The island transitioned from an extra-parochial area to a civil parish, but it became deserted by 1961.