Foulness Island passing of the Ministry of Defence Act 1946 and the subsequent rationalisation of five agencies in 1971, ownership of the island passed from the War Office to the Ministry of Defence. In 2003, a contract to manage the testing of munitions was awarded to the defence contractors QinetiQ, and they also control access to the island. In the 1850s, the South Essex Estuary and Reclamation Company proposed a grand scheme to reclaim around of land on the Essex coast, which would have included most of Foulness Sands and Maplin Sands. The civil engineer Sir John Rennie produced the plans, and
Foulness Island of the salting, after which rain washes the salt downwards. The alluvium which forms the soil is highly fertile once freshwater plants start to grow. The inning of New Wick Marsh added , and Arundel March covered . No new innings took place in the 1500s, as there were several exceptional tides, and activity was centred on maintaining the existing defences, but another was added between 1620 and 1662, and there was further activity between 1687 and 1688, in 1801, and finally in 1833. In total, were added to the island. The Broomway provided the main access to Foulness for