Approximately 80 per cent of the surface of East Anglia is composed of Quaternary deposits, and even where it is made up of pre-Quaternary deposits these are highly likely to have been modified by glacial and periglacial processes. The initial Quaternary deposits consist of pre-glacial marine, estuarine and freshwater gravels, sands, clays and peats. Widespread glacial tills and outwash sands and gravels form the middle part of the succession. Later fluvioglacial and fluvial and marine inter glacial sands and gravels occupy the major valleys and some coastal sites. Post-glacial deposits consist of extensive freshwater and marine alluvial peats and clays at lower elevations in the major valleys and in the coastal zone. This account briefly reviews some qualitative engineering characteristics of these East Anglian Quaternary deposits, and provides references to further sources of information on them.