LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Class THE SEA -COAST BY THE SAME AUTHOR Medium 8vo. 16s. net TIDAL RIVERS Their Hydraulics, Improvement, and Navigation Forming a Volume of LONGMANS' CIVIL ENGINEERING SERIES LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY THE SEA-COAST (1) DESTRUCTION (2) LITTORAL DRIFT (3) PROTECTION BY W. H. WHEELER, M.lNST.C.E. i AUTHOR OF THE DRAINAGE OF FENS AND LOW LANDS BY GRAVITATION AND STEAM POWER, AND "TIDAL RIVERS" WITH ILLUSTRATIONS LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1902 All rights reserved PREFACE AT frequent intervals attention is directed to the inroads made- by the sea on the cliffs which border the shores of this country, and to the injury done during gales and high tides to sea-walls and other works which have been constructed for the protection of lands adjacent to the coast. The means taken to prevent similar disasters, and generally for the protection of the coast, are as diverse as many of them are ineffectual. In no branch of engineering, perhaps, is there so little unanimity of opinion, or in which so much money is from time to time expended on works that are useless. Even in Holland, whose existence depends on the maintenance of its sea-walls and defences, the authorities are divided on most important questions both of principle and practice ; and con- sequently methods of protection which find favour in one part of the coast are condemned as costly and ineffectual by those having charge of the defence of adjoining parts. The author having directed his attention for several years past to the subject of coast erosion and littoral drift, and the various means pursued in protecting the coast, and having inspected the greater part of the coast of this country from Northumberland on the east to Cumberland on the west and also the shores of Holland, Belgium, and France, on the opposite side of the North Sea, has had opportunities afforded him of becoming acquainted with the various means that have been pursued to prevent the destruction of beaches and the protection of sea-walls and other defences. 101655 vi PREFACE. In the following chapters will be found recorded the results of the experience thus obtained, together with a description of the devastation that is taking place along the shores of this country and on the opposite Continent, and of the protective works that have been carried out on the coasts of England, Belgium, and Holland. Any principles stated or deductions drawn must only be considered as applying to these shores, or to tidal coasts having the same characteristics. Before determining the design of works for coast-protection, it is essential that due consideration should be given to the laws that govern the action of waves breaking on the shore, and the effect produced by them on the beach, and on sea-walls and groynes; and also of the conditions under which material is drifted along the coast. These subjects have therefore been fully dealt with in the earlier chapters. The examples afterwards given afford an opportunity of contrasting the results of the different systems of coast-protection that have been adopted, and will enable a more correct conclusion to be arrived at from the lessons taught by experience than by following only theoretical laws. The purpose of the book is not to advocate any special system of groyning or coast-protection, but to afford such information as to the varying geological and tidal conditions attaching to sea coasts, and the result of protective works carried out under different degrees of exposure, as may be of service to those having charge of protective works, or interested in the destruc- tion and preservation of land bordering on the sea. The question of littoral drift as affecting bars and harbours has already been dealt with by the author in papers read at the Institution of Civil Engineers ; l and that of the action of waves 1 " Bars at the Mouths of Tidal Estuaries," Minutes of Proceedings Institution of Civil Engineers, vol. c., 1889 ; " Littoral Drift in Kelation to Kiver Outfalls and Harbour Entrances," idem, vol. cxxv., 1896. PREFACE. vii and tides on the movement of material on the sea-coast, in papers read at the Bristol and Glasgow Meetings of the British Association, some part of which is embodied in this pamphlet. 1 The part relating to the protection of the sea-coast appeared in a series of articles in the Engineer in 1899, and is reprinted here with the permission of the editor of that journal, some additional information since obtained being added. 2 Descriptions also of some of the most remarkable shingle-banks and sand beaches, and an article on the settlement of solid matter in salt and fresh water, have at different times been contributed to Nature? and are here partly reproduced with the sanction of the editor. The author hopes that by collecting together the information scattered throughout these papers it may be of service to those interested in the protection of the sea-coast. As the terms " windward " and " leeward " have been generally used to denote respectively the direction from which the normal direction of the littoral drift takes place, and that to which it moves, these have been retained, although wind is not the cause of the regular and continuous drift. The word "shore" is used to denote the margin of the sea above high water ; and " beach," the space between this and low- water line. 1 " The Action of Winds and Tides on the Movement of Material on the Sea- Coast," British Association, Bristol, 1898; "The Source of Warp in the Humber," Glasgow, 1901. " " Sea-Coast Protection," the Engineer, April 7, 14, 21, 28, May 5, 12, 19, 1899. 3 " The Northam Pebble Ridge," Nature, Dec. 30, 1897 ; " The Wearing away of Sand Beaches," June 1, 1899 ; " The Colour of Flints," Nov. 30, 1899 ; " Sea- Coast Destruction and Littoral Drift," Aug. 23, 1900; "The Settlement of Solid Matter in Fresh and Salt Water," June 20, 1901. CONTENTS 1Al jOOOOoO OOo Q 6ao- ~oa 1 in 7% SA//jg/e FIG. 2. Section of Shingle Dank. arc carried there with a large volume of water, which, after their deposit, is dispersed partly by running further up the slope, and partly by filling in the interstices between the pebbles of the bank. The retreating water finds its way back due to the action of gravity, and while it lacks the energy due to the volume and momentum of the wave-action, retires at a more gradual rate than that at which it was driven up. The vibratory motion given by the waves to the pebbles also has a tendency to bring the larger stones to the surface, in the same way as when a box containing pebbles is shaken the largest work to the surface. The large stones also being on the surface are the first to be caught by the waves and pushed up the bank. The advancing waves have the greatest effect in drifting the material along the shore when they strike the bank obliquely, the maximum effect in the forward movement of the material being attained when the angle of impact is 45 degrees. 38 THE SEA- CO AST. Each successive wave acting in an oblique direction pushes the stones a certain distance forward along the face of the bank, one wave of each series, usually the tenth, rising higher, and act- ing with more force than the others. This process for ever acting is sufficient to account for the removal of an immense amount of material. The top of a pebble ridge is generally above the line of high water, this varying from a foot, in sheltered positions, to 4 or 5 feet in ordinary cases, and reaching to as much as 40 feet. This height depends on the length of the fetch of the sea to which the bank is exposed, and whether it faces the direction from which the winds blow that make the highest tides and heaviest seas, and also to some extent on the range of the tide. The stones of which a shingle bank is composed vary in size from pebbles hardly to be distinguished from sand, to boulders weighing from 50 to 100 Ibs. The size depends on the age of the beach and the amount of oscillation to which the stones have been subject, the material of which they are composed, and the amount of exposure. The harder the material of which a pebble is composed the greater the distance it will travel, since the rate of wear varies directly as the softness of the stone. The form of the pebbles is frequently a flat oval, showing that the motion to which they are subject is that of being pushed along, rather than rolled. Except in violent gales, the stones are not lifted bodily and hurled towards the shore to roll back with the receding tide, but are rather shoved along. Gravity tends to hold the rock fragments in one position, so that the wear is always greatest on the lower side, and this aids in giving them a flattened form. It is difficult to trace the rate at which rock fragments are moved along a beach, but instances are given where pieces of brick have been traced to have moved at the rate of about half a mile in a day. 1 The author has noted on a shingle beach on different occasions half bricks carried 25 to 30 yards in from 1 to 2 hours, the tide being half flood. Mr. De Kance records an instance of some encaustic tiles being drifted along the shore at Blackpool during a gale a distance of 1 mile in two tides. The weight of pebbles varies with the density of the material of which they are composed ; but approximately it may be taken that, for ovoid-shaped pebbles measured along the largest diameter, 1 Staler, ' Geol. History of Harbours." LITTORAL DRIFT. 39 60 measuring a quarter of an inch, 20 half an inch, and 2 an inch, will weigh an ounce ; and 1 J-inch pebbles, \\ ozs. ; 2-inch, 2J ozs. The most remarkable accumulations of shingle are the Chesil Bank, which is 10J miles long, and has a width of 500 feet at the base, the top ranging from 20 to 50 feet above high water ; the Hurst Bank in the Solent, which projects across the Channel for ! miles in a mound varying from 3 to 100 yards wide, the top being 12 feet above low water, and extending below low water a distance of 3 miles, having a steep incline in a depth of water of from 20 to 70 feet; 1 the Northam pebble ridge, which, com- mencing at the termination of the cliffs in Barnstaple Bay, extends as a bank 20 feet high for 2 miles, having a width of 180 feet at the base and 20 feet at the top, which is 6 feet above H.W.S.T. This bank is remarkable for the large size of the boulders of which it is composed, the largest of which exceed 12 inches in diameter, and weigh from 40 to 50 Ibs., some at the foot of the bank weighing upwards of 150 Ibs. 2 At Lancing, on the Sussex coast, there is a bank of shingle about a mile long and 150 yards wide, 3 and at Shoreham a bank 4 miles in length, and in places a quarter of a mile wide. 3 On the East Coast the Aldborough bank extends southward from Orford Ness for 9 miles, having a width of 70 to 80 yards. 4 On the Norfolk coast a bank extends from Weybourn in a westerly direction for 9 miles ; 4 and on the Yorkshire Coast a shingle-spit projects out into the mouth of the Humber for 3 miles, having a width of from 150 to 200 yards ; 4 and a somewhat similar spit projects into Harwich harbour. All these are banks standing out separate from the coast-line. On the west coast of France, in the Bay of Audierne, Finisterre, there is a bank of shingle of a curved form 8 miles long, which extends in a southerly direction from the rocks in the middle of the bay at Penhors to Penmarck, abutting on the rocks by which the coast is bounded. The top of this bank is 16 feet above the beach, and behind the bank is a salt-water lake and salt marshes. In storms the sea occasionally breaks through the bank, but the gap is gradually restored by the drift of the shingle. The shingle is composed of pebbles of granite, gneiss, mica schist, 1 See description of these banks in Chapter VII., " South Coast." 2 See description of this bank in Chapter VII., " West Coast." 3 See Chapter VII. , " South Coast." 4 Ibid., " East Coast." 40 THE SEA-COAST. and quartz, derived from the erosion of the adjacent cliffs. The drift is from north to south, the same as that of the flood' tide along the coast of the bay, the prevailing winds being from the south-west. The pebbles at the northern end are large, some being as much as 12 inches in diameter, but they diminish in size towards the southern end. 1 Sand. What is generally understood by the term sand is a material consisting of minute fragments of the harder rocks. On some beaches it is almost entirely composed of fragments of marine shells. Sand is termed " coarse " when 50 particles are equal to 1 linear inch. The specific gravity of sand composed of quartz or felspar is from 2*53 to 2'65. Shell sand of the same volume is rather heavier. The particles of sand, such as are generally found on the sea- shore, vary from 100 to 150 to the lineal inch. The grains of blown sand, of which dunes are composed, and which have been blown off the shore by on-shore gales, run about 100 to the inch. Sand consists almost entirely of grains of quartz, and even where flints abound in the cliffs, and in the shingle on the beach, silica, in the form of flint, is conspicuous by its absence in the sand on the shore. Felspar fragments, when subject to attrition in sea-water, do not result in sand, but are dissolved into mud. The Dune Sands of Holland are almost entirely quartz grains, a few specimens of augite and hornblende being found. After rock fragments have become worn down to grains of sand of the size ordinarily found on a sea-beach, their further diminution, as already shown, is a very slow process, especially when the particles are drifted about in a state of semi-suspension. Sand, if stirred up in water, settles again almost immediately, and does not cause it to become turbid. With a tidal current, say of 3 to 4 knots, sand of this descrip- tion will be moved along the bed from which it is displaced in a state of semi-suspension ; and there is always a certain quantity oscillating up and down a sandy beach with the ebb and flow of the tides. Grains of sand of a diameter of ^1- - inch will remain suspended in a slow current, or when the water is only feebly agitated. Smaller grains than this come under the class of alluvium or mud. 1 " Lemons de Geologic Pratique." L. Elie de Beaumont. Paris, 1845. LITTORAL DRIFT. 41 Low, flat coasts, where there are no cliffs to afford a supply of fresh material, are generally bordered by sand-beaches, and attain an inclination which represents an equilibrium of the wave forces : and, speaking generally, these sandy beaches retain their shape and position for long periods without material alteration. Where the sand is coarse, and some shingle mixed with it, the normal slope of the beach at the upper part is about 1 in 10 from below H.W.S.T. to mean tide level ; below this, to L.W.N.T., 1 in 30 ; from this to L.W.S.T., 1 in 50 ; and 1 in 100 below this. Sandy beaches lying at a general slope of 1 in 30 or more above L.AV. are more or less stable, and subject to very little alteration. Sand is not banked up or drifted along the coast like shingle. During on-shore gales the waves breaking on the beach towards the time of high tide, when the depth of water covering the surface is greatest, cut out the sand and form a gully, or low, running parallel with the coast, drifting the sand so cut out seawards. The depth of the low place so formed depends on the thickness of the sand covering the beach, and may vary from 1 foot to 4 feet or 5 feet. After the subsidence of the gale, the sand gradu- ally works its way back, due to the action of the flood tide, and the low becomes filled up again. When the gale has been severe, and the quantity removed great, the level surface of the beach remains disturbed for a considerable time, especially when there is a mixture of shingle with the sand. Thus in strong easterly gales the sand-beach at Yarmouth is occasionally cut out for a width of 30 yards, and to a depth of from 3 feet to 4 feet. As soon as the gale subsides, the sand, mixed with some shingle, begins to work back in a mound or ridge, slowly advancing up the beach until the low is levelled up. In the mean time, access to and from the low-water margin of the beach is considerably obstructed by the water in the low, which finds an entrance to it on the rising tide for some time before the beach is covered, and, on the ebb, this low place acts as a drain to collect the water oft' the adjacent sands. In some cases a low thus created becomes permanent, forming a shallow creek running parallel with the shore, along which there is a constant run of water on the early flood, and after the rest of the foreshore is left dry by the receding tide. At seaside resorts such lows are sources of danger. Visitors amusing them- selves at the margin of the sea, and gradually retreating landwards as the incoming tide rises, are unconscious of, or lose sight of, the 42 THE SEA-COAST. fact that the low is rapidly filling with water, and thus cutting off their retreat to the shore. The quicksands which are to be found on some beaches are caused by the presence of water contained between the grains reducing the sand to a state of semi- suspension. When water presses downward on sand it becomes firm and compact, but when the pressure is from below, the grains become separated and the sand quick. This may be caused by land-springs breaking up through the beach ; or, where the sand lies on an impervious substratum, in which are lows and hollows from which the water cannot escape, the contents become a mixture of sand and water. On a rising tide the sands near the water's edge become alive, owing to the upward pressure of the rising water, whereas, on the ebb, the sands become firmer as the water recedes. In a quicksand the velocity of the water passing through it is sufficient to balance the excess of weight of sand over that of the water, but not sufficient to carry the particles away. With sand such as is generally found on a sea-beach having 100 grains to the lineal inch, it has been ascertained, from experiment on filter-beds, that an upward velocity of only 3 inches a minute is sufficient for this purpose. Sand-beaches are not subject to much littoral drift, and, except to the extent already mentioned, little or no change takes place in their condition. From the south side of the river Humber to the Wash there extends for 25 miles a low tract of flat country, bordered by hills of blown sand. The beach consists of sand which extends out at a slope of about 1 in 30 to low water. On this beach there is no appreciable littoral drift or alteration in form. Sand does not accumulate against the piers 'or groynes which extend across the shore, and the general outline of the beach remains as it always has been, so far as any record exists. On the north coast of France the chalk cliffs which run along the coast terminate at Sangatte, a little beyond Cape Blanc Nez, beyond which, to the Texel, is a low sandy shore, sloping at an angle of from 1 in 50 to 1 in 100, bordered by sand-dunes, this being the distinguishing feature of the coast of this part of the French, Belgian, and Dutch coasts. At the southern end of this stretch of coast the supply of material from the waste of cliffs to the west results in a considerable amount of drift-sand, which, travelling eastward with the flood-tide, accumulates in large LITTORAL DRIFT. 43 masses wherever its course is obstructed by groynes or piers, as at Calais and Dunkirk. Beyond these places the drift gradually dies out, till at Nieuwport, Wendy ke, and Heyst there is no appreciable drift, and the beach is subject to very little change. Where piers have been constructed there is scarcely any accumu- lation. The groynes placed between Ostend and Heyst and beyond Wendyke show no indication of any accumulation of sand since they were constructed several years ago ; and a com- parison of surveys of the beach made in 1833 and 1870 shows that there has been no material alteration in the form of the beach. The Dutch coast is bordered by a sand-beach from 100 to 150 yards in width, sloping seaward at an angle of 1 in 70. Careful measurements have been made of this beach during the last half -century, which show that there has been a gradual wasting away, low-water line having advanced from 30 to 50 yards more inland, and the foot of the dunes driven 100 yards inland. There has, however, been an accumulation of sand against the jetties at the entrance to the Ymuiden harbour, which projects 1 mile from the shore, and also against those of the entrance to the Maas, which projects 2 miles from the shore. 1 The surface of a sandy beach frequently consists of a series of ridges and furrows, the lower side of the ridges having a steep, and the upper a flat slope, the flat slope being the direction from which the water is flowing off the beach. The furrows are frequently covered with a black deposit consisting of small fragments of carbonaceous matter derived from decayed sea- weed. 2 Sand-spits. On some sandy coasts, where there is a pre- dominant drift in one direction, the sand is formed into spits, consisting of long narrow banks, which, commencing at some salient point, run for a considerable distance in a direction parallel to the general coast-line, leaving a protected bay or harbour inside. These long narrow spits, forming natural break- waters, although existing in great depths of water and exposed to the storms and waves of the ocean, maintain their position in 1 Nature, June 1, 1899. 2 Professor Osborne Reynolds on the " Regime of Rivers," British Association Report, 1887, and Report of Committee on the Action of Waves on the Beds of Estuaries in 1889; and article by Dr. Vaughan Cornish in Nature, April 25, 1901, and in Geographical Journal, March, 1897, May and June, 1898, and August, 1901. 44 THE SEA-COAST. a remarkable manner, the waste due to storms being made up by fresh deposits of littoral drift. They sometimes extend from 5 up to 100 miles in length, and are situated in depths of from 20 to 30 feet of water. In some cases, owing to the strong current caused by the contraction of the space through which the Hood and ebb current runs to nil the embayment, the end of the spit is turned into the form of a hook. On the North German coast, in the Baltic, are several large NIEMEN FIG. 3. Sand Spit, Gulf of_Dantzig. salt-water bays or lakes protected by sand- spits, in which some of the principal ports of Germany are situated. The Curische Haff is a large salt-water bay into which the river Niemen discharges, and in which the Port of Memel is situated. This bay is separated from the Baltic by a narrow sand-spit 55 miles long, and having about 20 feet of water on the Baltic side. The entrance is by a deep narrow passage at the east end, having from 25 to 30 feet of water. A similar bay exists on the coast near Danzig, into which the LITTORAL DRIFT. 45 Vistula discharges. This spit is .15 miles long, having an entrance at Pillan, where there is a bar having 10 feet of water over it. Another spit 18 miles long extends out from the west horn of the Bay of Danzig to the point of Hela. On the east coast of America, and in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, are to be found some very remarkable examples of sand-spits. The best known of these is Sandy Hook, at the entrance to the bay of New York. The approach to the bay of New York from the Atlantic lies between two projecting sand-spits 6 miles apart. The flood tide coming from the south sets towards the Narrows in a north-westerly direction, while, on the north side, the flood current striking Long Island curls round and sets in a westerly direction towards the Narrows. The two spits, Sandy Hook on the one side of the entrance, and Coney Island on the other, have drifted in the same direction as the two currents of the flood tide. Sandy Hook is 6 miles long and three-quarters of a mile wide, the depth of water close to on both sides being from 25 to 30 feet, and the east side is exposed to the full range of the Atlantic Ocean. Coney Island projects 1J miles in a westerly direction, and is about half a mile wide. The way in which Coney Island projects across the channel, with Gravesend Bay behind it, bears a strong resemblance to Spurn Point on the II umber. Mr. Lewis M. Haupt, in describing these sand-spits in a paper before the American Society of Civil Engineers, 1 stated that, so far as his experience went, he found " that the unceasing action of the breakers upon a receding shore-line, as affected by the direction of the flood tide and littoral currents, is far more effective than the prevailing winds. . . . Taking the coast of New Jersey from Sandy Hook to Cape May, here, if the wind-wave theory be correct, and especially if the movement be due to the more violent gales from the north-east as asserted, the resultant travel of the beaches should be uniformly to the southward ; or from whatever quarter the maximum wind force may proceed, the sands should doubtless move to leeward, but always in the same direction for wind from the same quarter. It would seem anomalous, therefore, to find, as a matter of fact, that from a 1 "Littoral Movements on the New Jersey Coast, with Remarks on Beach Protection and Jetty Reaction," Transactions of the American Society of Civil Engineers, vol. 23, September, 1890. 4 6 THE SEA-COAST. certain point on the coast-line of Massachusetts and New Jersey the inlets and sand-beaches are travelling northward, and at other points southward and westward. But when it is noted that these directions correspond with those of the flood tide along this shore, it indicates more than accidental coincidence." North of New York harbour the coasts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire are bordered by cliffs of boulder clay and rock BOST MASSACHUSETTS BAY Cape Cod Figures denote depth in fathoms. FIG. 4. Sand Spit, Cape Cod. which yield a large supply of sand and boulders. Past Cape Cod the drift of the flood tide is north and then south-westerly into Massachusetts Bay, and the sand has been drifted in the same direction, forming a very remarkable hook-spit, behind which the harbour of Provincetown lies land-locked in complete shelter. South of New York harbour the coast-line is entirely devoid of cliffs, and the beach consists of sands bordered by dunes, the width being above 3 miles over a length of 80 miles. LITTORAL DRIFT. 47 From the waters of Chesapeake Bay to those of Biscay ne Bay, a distance of about 700 miles, this natural rampart of sand is so continuous, and the lagoons which it shelters so connected, that a small boat could traverse the distance all the way without being exposed to the open sea. 1 From the Delaware river the direction of the drift changes from north to south, and barrier beaches of sand extend in an almost unbroken line along the coasts of Virginia and Carolina to Cape Florida. These sand-beaches lie upon the seaward side of large lagoons, the water in some of which is sufficiently deep to provide good harbours. In the Gulf of Mexico there are several examples of harbours protected by sand-spits. St. Joseph's Bay, which carries a depth of from 24 to 36 feet, and has an entrance through which large vessels can enter, is protected by a long spit; and Mobile Bay is also protected by a similar spit, by which the entrance to the bay has been reduced from 20 miles to about 3 miles, the navigable waterway being only 1 mile wide. The entrance to Galveston Bay is through a narrow opening between two sand-spits. From Galveston to the mouth of the Kio Grande, the coast of Texas is formed by an almost continuous barrier beach of sand, enclosing a lagoon of an area of 1500 square miles. This sandbank is unbroken for a distance of 110 miles. On the east coast of Africa the tidal current sets along the shore from south to north. Durban harbour is situated in a large inlet or bay having an area of 7 J square miles. This bay is completely sheltered by a sand-spit 2 miles long which extends in a northerly direction across the harbour. These spits are proofs of the permanence of banks of sand in deep water ; and if taken in conjunction with similar submarine banks to be found in many parts of the coast in the open sea, show that channels dredged in sand, if properly designed with regard to the set of the tides, will remain permanent without the aid of any training walls. This has been also demonstrated by works recently carried out for the improvement of channels through sand-bars and in sandy estuaries. 2 A further lesson to be learnt is that a single pier, having a 1 " The Geological History of Harbours," U.S. Geological Survey, by N. S. Shaler. Washington, 1894. 2 " The use of Suction Dredgers for the Improvement of Tidal Channels," by W. H. Wheeler. Fourth International Navigation Congress, Brussels, 1898. 4 8 THE SEA-COAST. curved form carried in the direction of the prevailing current, is sufficient for the protection of a harbour. All sand-spits trend in this direction, and there is no instance of two spits running out at right angles to the shore in the way in which many artificial piers for the protection of harbours have been projected. Sand-dunes. Low, sandy, exposed shores are frequently bordered by mounds of sand blown off the beach by the winds, known as "dunes" or "denes," in Cornwall as "towans," on the south-west coast as "burrows," and in Lancashire, Cheshire, Lincolnshire, and Norfolk as " meals " or " meols," and on the north-east coast as "bents." Thus the sand-hills at Gibraltar Point, FIG. 5. on the Lincolnshire coast, are described in old maps as " meals." Taylor, in his " Geology of Norfolk," describes the ridges of sand by which the harbours of Cley, Blakeney, Wells, and Bran- caster are defended from the sea in north gales as " meals." The sand-banks at Southport are described as " meols," and there are villages in Lancashire and Cheshire having the same name. At Lowestoft they are known as " denes." These dunes afford protection to the low land lying behind them from high tides, and in some cases advance on the land, covering it with sand, and burying houses and churches, and in some cases whole villages. 1 1 As to the theory relating to the formation of sand-dunes, see paper by Dr. Vaughan Cornish in the Geographical Journal for March, 1897. LITTORAL DRIFT. 49 But for the protection of dunes on low coasts whole provinces would be covered by the sea, and but for the protection of its dunes there would be little left of Holland and the Netherlands. Kohl says that the people in Holland and Denmark "deal as carefully with their dunes as if dealing with eggs, and talk of their fringe of sand-hills as if it were a border set with pearls. They regard them as their best defence against the sea. These dunes are connected with their system of dykes, and sentries are posted all along their length to repair and guard them against wanton injury." The sand on dunes is held together by the roots of the grass known as " marram," " star-grass," or " sea-mat " (2'samma areuaria), the roots of which penetrate a long way into the sand for moisture, attaining sometimes a length of 36 feet, 1 and thus hold the sand together, while the grass checks the action of the wind on the surface. Taylor, in a paper in the Philosophical Mayazine, says that a single plant of mat-grass, whicli he designates Arundo arenaria, will have lateral shoots radiating from a single stem 10 to 12 yards long, forming a circle 20 yards in diameter, and that a plant of this grass in one year will multiply itself five hundred- fold. 2 These sandhills retain a considerable amount of moisture, fresh water being often found by sinking wells to a depth of a few yards. Andresen states that the amount of moisture at 1 yard below the surface amounts to 2 per cent, of the bulk, and after rain 4 per cent., and lower down to as much as 33 per cent, by measure. 3 Other plants that can live in sand also soon become established, such as the sea buckthorn (Hippoplise rkamnoides) ; the sea wheat-grass (Triticum junceum) ; sea rocket (CaJcile maritima) ; saltwort (Salsola kali) ; sea sowthistle (Sonchus maritimus) ; sand carex (Carex arenaria) ; sea lyme-grass (Elymus arenaria). The mat-grass is sometimes cut for thatching and similar purposes, but this practice is considered detrimental to the maintenance of the dunes. Its leaves are nutritious food for 1 Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. xxi. Paper on Sea-dykes at Hchleswig. 2 "Natural Embankments formed against the German Ocean on Norfolk and Suffolk Coast," Phil. Mag., Series 2, vol. 2, 1827. 3 Marsh, " Man aud Nature," quoting Audreseu'si " Oni Klitformationem." E 50 THE SEA-COAST. cattle, and it is also used abroad for making cordage and netting. , The protection of these sand-dunes from injury, as already stated in Chapter L, was considered of such importance as to be the subject of legislative enactment. The growth of the reed or grass can be promoted in bare places, or newly formed dunes, by removing tufts from the older dunes or the inland banks, and planting them in the sand. On the coast of Holland the dunes are extended and repaired by setting in the sand, in rows about 1 foot apart, tufts of marram- grass. The holes are dug with the hand, the tuft placed in, and the sand pressed round it. One or two rows of reeds are set in the sand, projecting about 4 feet from the surface. The sand drift- ing along the beach is caught by the reeds, almost burying the tufts of grass, which soon make their way through. As the sand grows up, fresh plantings of grass and reeds are made. By this means bare places in the dunes are extended seaward, and the toe of the slope made good when it has been cut out by storms. In heavy gales gullies are cut through the dunes, which rapidly increase in width and depth, and through which the water will be apt to run at high tides. These demand careful attention and repair, by making barriers of reeds and bushes, and replanting the marram-grass until the gap is restored. All knolls and vertical faces formed on the seaward face of dunes also should be from time to time levelled and trimmed to a gentle slope. The bulk of the sand of most dunes is composed of grains of quartz, but in places where shell sand predominates on the beach, the dunes are also composed of this. In Jutland the bulk of the sand consists of yellow quartzite grains mixed with black titanic iron ; in gales the dunes are furrowed with alternate ridges and depressions, the former composed of sand and the latter lined with the iron grains. In Prussia dunes are in places sprinkled with oxide of iron, which has given the sand a red colour. The size of the grains on English dunes varies from 7 l $ to ^QQ of an inch, the average size being T -J- - of an inch in diameter. The largest grains are to be found at the base of the dune, and the finest grains at the top. The slope and surface is greater and more regular on the lee than on the windward face of the latter, standing after a gale at an angle of from 5 to 10 degrees, the slope of the former being about 30 degrees with the horizon. LITTORAL DRIFT. 51 Sand-dunes are to be found on several parts of the English coast, but they do not rise so high, and are not so extensive, as on the opposite shores of Belgium and Holland. The Lincolnshire coast is protected by a range of sandhills 30 miles in length, and from 15 to 20 feet high. On the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts there are also long ranges of dunes, varying in height -from 10 to 50 feet, which form a pro- tection to the low land behind them. In Norfolk, churches and villages have been buried by the advancing sandhills. At Eccles, the church, at one time buried, became again uncovered owing to the sand drifting further inland. The dunes on the South Coast are, with a few exceptions, unimportant. In the Bristol Channel, near Braunton Burrows, the sandhills are lofty and nearly a mile wide. Port Talbot, which lies open to the channel, is protected by hillocks of blown sand, which rise 50 feet above the sea. Near Ogmoor, in Glamorgan- shire, the dunes reach 2 miles inland, and attain a height of 150 feet, the houses adjacent being rendered uninhabitable, and the channel of the river filled up for a length of 2 miles. In Cornwall, along the north-west coast, there are extensive dunes or "towans." In St. Ives and Perran Bays the dunes cover several square miles, composed of shell sand, chiefly mussels. On the east of Padstow the sandhills, which consist largely of shell sand, are 100 feet in height, and a church has been buried by the sand. These sands are used largely for manure. In several places farm buildings and houses have been buried by the blown sand. At Marazion the sandhills are 130 feet high, and at Penzance 193 feet. The former sands are chiefly granitic. The ancient church of Perranzabuloe, which was buried by the drifting sand, became recently uncovered by the further advance of the dunes. On the West Coast, the principal hills of blown sand extend between the Mersey and the Kibble, and between Lytham and Blackpool. These in places are upwards of 2 miles in width, and vary in height from 30 to 80 feet. Along the shores of the Moray Firth and Aberdeenshire several parishes have been wholly or in part buried by sand- dunes. Barrow, a town on the east coast of Ireland, near the mouth of the river Bann, was buried beneath the sand, for many years a single chimney from one of the houses showing above the surface. 52 THE SEA-COAST. On the island of Coll, in the Hebrides, the sandhills are pre- vented from encroaching on the land owing to the sand being held together by the sea bent-grass (Elymus arenaria). During gales in winter the wind plays havoc with these hills, scooping out in one place a hollow 50 feet deep, and, in another, levelling the wind- ward side to an almost vertical face ; but in calm weather the damage is made good, and the sea-grasses mat and bind the shifting soil with their long spreading roots. On the opposite side of the English Channel and North Sea the dunes extend in an almost unbroken line from Calais to the Texel, the dunes beginning soon after the chalk cliffs cease. On the French coast they vary from a quarter to nearly a mile in width, and are from 50 to 80 feet in height ; and along Belgium from 1500 to 2000 feet in width, and from 50 to 60 feet in height, the highest being over 130 feet above sea level. Holland depends almost entirely for its protection from the sea upon the sand-dunes, which are from 1 to 3 miles wide, and from 40 to 50 feet in height. Elie de Beaumont states that on the coast of Brittany the sand- dunes, which extend over a length of 12 miles, driven by the winds from the north-west, and advancing landward, rendered a canton uninhabitable by covering it with 20 feet of sand. The tower of the church and chimneys of the buried houses are now occasionally visible. The most striking examples of dunes are to be found on the shores of the Bay of Biscay, where the sandhills extend for 150 miles from the cliffs at Biarritz to the Point de Grave at the mouth of the Gironde, occupying an area of about 500 square miles. Along this space at one time there existed a vast bay, having an area of 1,700,000 square miles, which became covered with sand raised above sea-level, and as bare of vegetation as the desert of Sahara. The southern portion of this vast sandy area is known as the Landes. The dunes, which consist of a series of hills and valleys, vary in width from 300 yards to nearly 5 miles, or an average width of 3 J miles, and attain a height in some parts of over 300 feet. The greatest elevation is obtained at the centre of the line of dunes, the height near the Gironde decreasing to 20 or 30 feet. The size of the grains of sand varies with the height, the smallest grains being found at the top of the highest hills. LITTORAL DRIFT. 53 The sand has been derived from the destruction of the cliffs, and consists almost entirely of quartz. It was estimated by Bre- montier l that five million cubic yards of sand are annually blown from the sea-beach on to and over these hills. The sands of which the dunes consist have been described as having been thrown up from the sea, vomis par la mer. If this were so, the bed of the sea must have become deepened and low- water line advanced landward. To a certain extent this appears to have been the case, as the ruins of an ancient town, " Novio Magus," which was situated opposite Soulac, not far from the Point de Grave, was visible at low water in the sixteenth century. Between 1830 and 1842 the Point de Grave is said to have retreated 200 yards. All the buildings at the extremity of the peninsula have had to be taken down and removed further inland, and the lighthouse at the Point de Grave now occupies its third position. 2 The prevailing winds on this part of the coast of France are from north-west to south-west, the heaviest seas being produced during south-west gales. The set of the flood tide is from south to north, and the littoral drift of the beach material is in the same direction, the river Gironde having been diverted from its original outfall by a bank of sand on which dunes have now accumulated. 3 Until checked by the measures that were taken, the sands advanced landward at a rate estimated by Bremontier at about 35 yards a year, and by Lavalat at from 5 to 10 yards, burying in their progress, forests, farms, vineyards, villages, and churches. Some of these, after being buried for years, were again uncovered, owing to the sands moving inland. Thus the old village of Soulac, which stood half a mile from the shore, was at one time buried and then uncovered, and where it once stood there was only a sea of sand. A dune 20 yards wide was advancing towards the village of Mimizam in 1830 ; as it advanced, villages which had been buried became uncovered. The market town of Beas and the village of St. Julien, with its church and vineyards, were buried at the beginning of the nineteenth century by sand and 1 " Annales des Fonts et Chaussees, 1883." Memoire by M. Lefort, 1831, and by M. Bremontier, 1833, on the dunes of the Coast of the Gironde ; and the Landes of the Gulf of Gascony by M. Laval, 1847. "Lesons de Geologie Pratique," L. Elie de Beaumont. Paris, 1845. 2 "Man and Nature." Marsh. London, 1864. 3 "Etude sur les Rivieres a Maree, et sur les Estuaires," par H. L. Partlot. Paris, 1892. 54 THE SEA-COAST. water held up by the dunes. The old Koman road leading from Bordeaux to Bayonne was also engulfed ; and the church of Lege, taken down at the end of the seventeenth century and rebuilt 2^ miles inland, had again to be removed 1GO years after- wards, showing an advance of the sands at the rate of 27 yards a year. During heavy gales between north-west and south-west, the sands off the shore are drifted in such quantities landward as to obscure the atmosphere, and the breathing of men and animals is very painful, the fine grains of sand filling the ears and blinding any person who does not keep the eyes shut. If refuge be taken on the lee side, the risk is run of being buried alive in the sand. It is recorded that a pastor of one of the villages, overcome by fatigue, laid down to rest at the foot of the dune of Larreillet, and his dead body, buried in the sand, was not discovered until some time afterwards. The dunes running in a continuous line parallel with the shore have cut off the streams which drained the land and emptied into the sea. The consequence is that large inland lakes, or " etangs," have been formed, the surface of which is considerably above the sea-level. The largest of these lakes, that of Cazan, has a width of nearly 7 miles and a depth of 130 feet, the bottom being 80 feet below sea-level. Over a length of 100 miles between the mouth of the Gironde and Mimizan, in the Bay of Arcachon, there are only two places where the water draining from the land has an outlet to the sea. About the end of the eighteenth century steps were taken, under the direction of the French Government, to arrest the landward progress of the dunes by planting firs, and a sum of 5000, after- wards increased to 20,000, appropriated for the purpose. Two methods were adopted, one by covering the face of the dunes with branches of pines or broom, and the other by fixing palisades made of faggots of the same material in the form of a series of isosceles triangles, and making seed-beds of pines in the shelter afforded. The fir which has been found to thrive best, and to be most success- ful in confining the sand and yielding the largest pecuniary returns both as timber and from its resinous products, on the sands is the Pinus maritima. The sea lyme-grass (Ehjmus arenarius) was also planted. The seed pines acquired a height of 15 to 16 feet at the end of four or five years. About 200,000 acres of sand-dunes and sand-hills have been LITTORAL DRIFT. 55 planted and a large forest been called into existence, which not only has moderated the force of the wind and given solidity to the movable sand, but has also converted it into valuable ground. These pine forests have greatly improved the health of the district, and form one of the chief attractions for visitors to Arcachon. In Denmark the dunes cover an area of more than 260 square miles, which vary from a narrow row of hills to a width of 6 miles and a height of 20 feet. The average rate of advance landward is from 3 to 20 feet a year. As the sand advances the ruins of the buildings which in former times had became buried are exposed. Various laws were passed against stripping these dunes of the Arundo arenaria (Klittdag in Danish), and about the middle of the eighteenth century a regular system was adopted of preserving and planting this grass, and also of conifers and birches, which proved a valuable aid to the fixing of the sand and rendering it productive. 1 On the south shores of the Baltic the dunes extend in an almost unbroken chain from the North Point of Jutland to the Elbe, a distance of 300 miles. In Prussia they occupy an area of 100,000 acres. The same system of protection and planting has been pursued here as in Denmark, and between the mouth of the Vistula and West Prussia 14,000 acres have been planted and secured from drifting. The island of Heligoland depends on its sand-dunes for its defence from the sea. In the middle of the eighteenth century the dunes which pro- tected the island of Syet, on the west of Schleswig, began to move eastward, and the sea followed. The church of the village of Eantum was obliged to be taken down, and thirty years afterwards the sand-hills had passed the site, the waves had swallowed up its foundations, and the sea was gaining so rapidly that fifty years later the site where they were was nearly 300 yards from the shore. 2 Sand-dunes are to be found in several parts of the coast of America. Upon the Atlantic coast the prevalence of westerly winds blowing off shore is not favourable to their formation. Where, however, by the irregularity of the coast-line, the beach faces west, dunes are to be found. At Hatteras and Henlopen they attain a height of 70 feet, and have filled up a swamp and " Man and Nature." - Andresen, " Om KHt-formationem." 56 THE SEA-COAST. buried houses and land, and it is anticipated that in a few years the island lying north of Cape Hatteras will be rendered unin- habitable. The seaward extremity of Cape Cod is largely made up of wind-blown sands, which are covered with whortel-berry bushes ; and there are extensive dunes on the mainland in the Essex district. There are also ranges of dunes on the Pacific Coast and on the shores of San Francisco. On the south-eastern shores of Lake Michigan dunes rise to a height of from 100 to 200 feet, and have buried a considerable area of forest land, the tops of the trees in places being just visible above the sand. In the island of Bermuda, which is composed of coral and shell fragments, the shell sand blown from the beach in gales has accumulated in dunes, in some cases 250 feet high. At Elbow Bay the sand has filled up a valley, covering houses, gardens, and woodlands, leaving behind only the trunks of dead trees standing partially exposed in the midst of a sandy plain. 1 The removal of existing forests near the coast has in some places had a disastrous effect on the country behind them. In the last century the estate of Conbin, near Forres, Scotland, was overwhelmed with irruptions of blown sand caused by the cutting down of trees and grubbing up the star-grass which grew on the sand-hills. The cutting down of the timber in the forests on the west coast of Jutland, by removing the resistance to the lower currents of the westerly winds, led to the moving inland of the sand-dunes and the burying of i the cultivated land with sand, and as the sand was blown from the shore, the sea followed closely behind. Eemedial measures were taken about the end of the eighteenth century, and the replanting of the land has since stopped this advance. The formation of artificial dunes for the protection of the land from the inundation of the sea has been successfully practised in some places. On a tide-washed flat lying between the Zuider- zee and the North Sea, a sand-dyke was thrown up between 3 and 4 miles in length, enclosing 1600 acres of land, and against this the wind-blown sand has accumulated to the width of a mile ; and a similar result followed the construction of a bank called 1 " Rocks and Rock Weathering," by G. P. Merrill. Macmillan & Co. 1897. LITTORAL DRIFT. 57 the Zyperzeedyk. On the north coast of Holland, at Ameland, the sea was encroaching on the south side, and the sand was being stripped from a low flat connecting the two higher parts of the island, allowing the water to invade the island in storms. Between 1749 and 1809 the low hills were driven back lf>0 yards, or at the rate of 10 yards a year. The further progress of the sand was stopped by the construction of a sand-dyke and breakwater. The dunes were also regulated both as to slope and general direction, deep indents were filled in, and some grasses planted. In exposed places the foot of the dunes was protected by fascine -work weighted with stones and the face covered with faggots. The length of foreshore thus protected was 4 miles, and the result entirely satisfactory. 1 Alluvium consists of detritus eroded from the cliffs or brought down the rivers in suspension, and consists of the decomposition of material from rocks of many different kinds of which cliffs are composed, or through which the rivers and their tributaries have flowed. AVhile particles of sand of from L J )0 to .,,% of an inch in diameter rapidly settle in water and do not discolour it, the size of the particles of which alluvium is composed are so minute that they remain in suspension for a considerable time, and in pro- portion to the minuteness of the particles cause the water to remain turbid for a longer or shorter period. When sand is mixed with a sufficient amount of chalk or clay to give the particles a certain amount of adherence, the mixture is termed silt ; and mud consists of particles finer than those of which silt is composed. When the size of the particles suspended in the water is so small as to be from -.J- to }( ^ () of an inch down to sizes so minute as not to be counted except by the aid of a powerful microscope, they constitute the richest kind of alluvium, and when settled on the sea-bed this material is known as ooze. Clay consists of very fine grains of silica to the extent of from 70 to 90 per cent., the alumina giving it the peculiar sticky and tenacious character by which it is known. The particles of silica in clay vary from about ^J of an inch down to sizes too small to count. The specific gravity of alluvial soil may be as great as that of sand, but owing to the minute size of the individual particles these are kept longer in suspension by the viscosity of the water. 1 Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. Ixxxix., 1886. 58 THE SEA-COAST. Alluvium mixed with water makes it turbid, and a period varying from a few minutes to several hours elapses, when the water is undisturbed, before the action of gravity overcomes the frictional resistance and the particles of solid matter rest on the bottom. As the constituents of which the earth is composed are few in number, and as the varying kinds of rocks are dispersed generally over wide areas of the country, the ingredients of the alluvium, although influenced to a limited degree by the preponderance of some special element, are practically the same in all estuaries. The mean of twenty-one samples taken from places so far apart as the estuaries of the Humber, the warp from the river Trent, a polder in Holland, the Danube, the Mississippi, the Nile, the Ehine, the coast of North America, boulder clay in cliffs, brick and china clay, gives the following results : Silica 66-22 Alumina and oxide of iron 13-25 Lime 4-27 Potash, soda, or magnesia 2*70 Salt 1-23 Carbonic acid 5'70 Organic matter 4*60 Water loss, etc 2'03 9 100-00 The maximum quantity of silica in these samples was 92-22 ; of alumina and iron, 22-32 ; lime, 19*24 ; potash, etc., 7'78 ; salt, 3-87. Some rocks under the action of the sea rapidly decompose at once into a state of mud without passing through the form of sand. In the experiments conducted by Daubre, already referred to, he found that fragments of feldspar under attrition resulted in an impalpable mud of such tenuity as to remain for many days in suspension. Alluvium derived from the erosion of sea-cliffs is never drifted along the beach in the same way that shingle and sand are. Every wave that breaks on the beach carries away in sus- pension a certain amount of eroded soil. Oscillating backwards and forwards with the waves and tidal currents, it becomes diffused over an ever-increasing area, the particles gradually gravitating downwards at a rate proportionate to their size, and being drifted along the sloping bed of the sea until they attain a depth where there is no longer any agitation from the waves. LITTORAL DRIFT. 59 Beds of alluvial matter or marine ooze are to be found in the bed of the sea adjacent to the mouths of all great rivers. While the bed of the shallower part of the English Channel consists of sand, in the deeper part it is covered with ooze and broken shells. In the Bay of Biscay, off the mouths of the Loire and the Gironde, deep-water soundings show beds of soft mud 20 miles in breadth over a length of 150 miles. On the bed of the North Sea, off the outfall of the Rhine and the Scheldt, there exists a very large deposit of mud. As a rule, the water of the sea is clear and transparent even near the shore. Its appearance, however, especially when the sky is overcast with clouds, is deceiving. Water taken by the author from the estuary of the Mersey near the bar, which in bulk in the sea appeared turbid, when brought up in sample glasses, was per- fectly bright, and so clear that small print could be read when placed on the opposite side of the glass that contained the water. So also samples taken on the flood tide from the entrance to the liibble in Liverpool Bay, from the Humber off Spurn Point, the Colne near Brightlingsea, were all perfectly clear and contained no solid matter in suspension, except a few grains of fine sand. A very small amount of solid matter, if the particles are very minute, is sufficient to give water a turbid appearance. Close to the shores during on-shore gales, owing to the waves breaking on the beach, the water becomes charged with solid matter, rendering it turbid ; but this appearance does not extend far from the land, the particles gradually gravitating downwards and becoming diffused over such a wide area as no longer to affect the colour of the water. Captain Washington found in Dover Bay a tidal current of 2J knots held in suspension 47o grains of material in a cubic foot ; a half-knot current, oO grains ; and at slack-water calm, from 20 to 30 grains. The material was composed of 50 per cent, of fine sand, 25 per cent, chalk, and the remainder organic matter. The maximum quantity was found at high water spring tides during off-shore winds at 20 feet below the surface, and 16 feet from the bottom. 1 In shallow seas, water is sometimes rendered turbid by the stirring up of mud settled on the bottom by waves of unusual height, or by ground swells due to storms. Also where a strong tidal current runs and encounters a shoaling in the bottom, or an obstruction due to projecting rocks, the particles in the water are 1 Report, Tidal Harbour Commissioners. 60 THE SEA-COAST. thrown upwards and may bring to the surface niud or ooze cover- ing the bed of the sea. In the North Sea near the mouths of the Scheldt, in the pass of Wielingen, where there is a large deposit of alluvial matter, in heavy gales from the north-west the water is stated to become so turbid that vessels sailing through it become coated with mud, and require scrubbing and cleaning when in port. During heavy north-east gales, the author has known the water in the offing off the Lincolnshire coast, for a short distance from the shore, from the Humber to the Wash, to be rendered turbid. Deposits of alluvium and the growth of salt marshes only occur at the mouth of rivers and in sheltered estuaries protected from the action of the waves. The upper soil of which these salt marshes consist is deposited during the period of slack water at or about the time of H.W.S.T. IJp to the level of high water of neap tides sand and silt only are deposited, and the fine warp in which the marine grasses of the salt marshes grow is never deposited below the level of H.W.N.T. Large areas of marshes formed from the alluvial matter brought down in suspension are to be found in the estuaries of this country, and where they have been reclaimed from the sea by embank- ments, form very fertile agricultural land. 1 The largest area of salt marshes to be found on any sea-coast is that which extends along the east coast of the United States. The rivers that drain this long stretch of country have, as already described, been cut off from discharging into the sea by barriers of sand which have been thrown up along the coast, between which and the main land are large lagoons, into which the rivers discharge their water, and also the debris taken up in suspension from the land which they drain. These sand barriers form a natural embankment to vast areas of salt marshes many hundreds of square miles in extent, which are covered with only one or two feet at high water. Mr. Shaler estimates that along the coast south of New York there are not far from two million acres of marshes fit for reclamation, and which, owing to the small rise of the tide, which does not exceed from 4 to 5 feet, and owing to the banks already formed by the sand along nearly 1 "The Reclamation of Land from Tidal Waters," by A. Beazeley, M. Inst. C.E. Crosby, Lockwood & Co., 1900. " The History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire," chapter xvi, " On Geology and Land Reclamation." Simpkin, Marshall & Co. 1897. LITTORAL DRIFT. 61 their whole length, could be enclosed at a comparatively small expense. 1 It has been considered by some geologists that material eroded from sea-cliffs can be carried along the shore for consider- able distances, and into estuaries and up rivers ; and schemes for the reclamation of tidal land have been brought forward on the supposition that an unlimited amount of alluvial matter is to be derived from the sea. One of the most extensive of these schemes was for the reclamation of 150,000 acres of land in the Wash. This scheme was supported by engineers of eminence, and more recently received the approval of the survey or of the Govern- ment Geological Survey, who expressed the opinion that the sands in the Wash could be warped by material brought in by the sea derived from the erosion of the Yorkshire coast. 2 It has also been frequently stated that the warp in the Humber, even as far up as Hull and Goole, is due to the same cause. A more careful consideration of the facts relating to coast erosion and littoral drift would show the physical impossibility of material from the sea-coast being carried for 50 miles to the Wash, and from 20 to 30 miles to the Humber, and -40 miles up that channel. Where the tidal currents run strongly through shifting sand- banks into a river, sand may be driven along the bottom of the channel for some distance up it ; and in dry seasons, owing to the diminished downward fresh-water flow, shoals of sand may be left at the head of the tide, but these are again removed as soon as the ebb current is strengthened by the ordinary discharge of the river. The foot of the Yorkshire cliffs is only reached at spring tides, and the average distance from the mouth of the Humber may be taken at about 20 miles. It is, therefore, only during the last part of the flood that the material eroded from the cliffs is reached by the tides. While the sand and stones from the cliffs are drifted along the beach, the finer particles become placed in suspension, and are carried by the flood current south- ward at the rate of about 2 \ knots for say from two to three hours. The tide then turns, and the current sets northward away from the Humber. 1 Sea and Land," by N. S. Shaler. Smith, Elder & Co. London, 1895. 2 " The Geology of the Fenlaud." Memoir of the Geological Survey of England and Wales. 1877. 62 THE SEA-COAST. Even if the turbid water reached the Humber, it is contrary to the laws of gravity for it to be permanently carried upward against the preponderating influence of the ebb current, strength- ened by the downward flow of the land water. This question will be found more fully dealt with in the description of the Yorkshire coast in Chapter VII. The Settlement of Solid Matter in Fresh and Salt Water. Since the publication of the report of Mr. Slidell on the deposits of the Mississippi delta, 1 containing the remarkable statement that, while the deposit contained in the river-water of the Mississippi took from 10 to 14 days to settle, with solutions of salt, sea-water, or sulphuric acid the water became limpid in from 14 to 18 hours, it has generally been taken as an accepted fact that alluvial matter settles more rapidly in salt than in fresh water. Professor Archibald Geikie, in his " Text-book of Geology," endorses this theory ; and in a recent article in the American Engineering Magazine on the transportation of solid matter by rivers, Mr. Starling, one of the Government geologists, states that a small quantity of salt or other foreign material dissolved in water will diminish the suspending power and increase the rapidity of subsi- dence to a marked degree, sometimes even many hundredfold. On the face of it, the result naturally expected would be that, as sea-water is of greater specific gravity than fresh water, and more viscous, the grains of solid matter would sink more slowly in salt than in fresh water. The very great distance over which solid matter brought down by rivers remains in suspension after reaching the sea, extending from 6 miles from the mouth of the Khone to 35 from the outlet of the Nile, up to 300 miles, over which the sea-water is stated to be discoloured by the effluent of the Amazon, appears to indicate that salt water is capable of retaining solid matter in suspension for a longer time than fresh water. Experiments made by Professor Vernon Har court with alluvial matter placed in suspension in sea-water and fresh water, and in solutions containing different strengths of salt and other foreign material, although not of a conclusive character, show that there is little difference between the rate of deposit in sea or in fresh water. Of samples from different estuaries which were allowed to settle in sea- water and pond-water respectively, the particles of the former took about 9 per cent, more time to subside than 1 " Report on the Mississippi River," by Humphreys and Abbot. 1861. LITTORAL DRIFT. 63 the latter. The general conclusion he arrived at was, that though sea-water promotes the deposit of " very light clayey matter con- tained in river-silt under favourable conditions, there are no grounds for regarding it as exercising the very preponderating influence on the formation of deltas attributed to it by geologists." 1 The writer some time ago investigated this subject in con- nection with researches he was then making as to alluvial deposits in estuaries, and has again more recently conducted a series of experiments the mean results of which are given in the following table. It will be seen from this table that the rate of settlement depends on the minuteness of the particles in suspension, and varies nearly in proportion to the square of the diameter of these. With sand and silt, there was practically no difference in the rate of settlement in fresh as compared with salt water. When the particles of the solid matter were very fine, as in the case of what is generally known as mud or ooze, the rate of settlement was slightly more rapid in. salt than in fresh water ; but there was nothing to justify the conclusion arrived at by Mr. Slidell. Mr. H. S. Allen, of the Blytheswood Laboratory, commenting on these experiments carried out by the author, says 2 that it is only in the case of very finely divided solid matter in suspension that the addition of salt solution causes increased precipitation ; and that the results given are confirmed by the investigations carried out by Carl Burns and Bodlander. The precipitation of such suspensions by the addition of an electrolyte is accompanied by the coagulation or flocculation of the solid matter ; and clay suspensions that will pass through a filter-paper can be filtered if coagulated by a salt solution. All the material was first screened through a sieve having DO meshes to the lineal inch. The proportion by weight of solid matter to water was that which was found to exist on the average of fourteen large rivers when in flood, or 0'79 Ib. to a cubic foot, equal to S J part in weight of the water in the tube. Both sea-water and water saturated with ordinary salt were 1 " Investigation on the Action of Sea-water in accelerating the Deposit of River- silt," Min. Proc. Imt. C.E., vol. cxlii. 2 Nature, July 18, 1901, " On the Settlement of Solid Matter in Fresh and Salt Water," where references are given to a list of German and American papers dealing with this subject. 64 THE SEA-COAST. tried, the latter in the proportion of one pound of salt to a cubic foot of water. There was no appreciable difference between these. The samples were placed in glass test-tubes 1 foot long and J inch in diameter, filled with clean water up to the 10-inch mark. The material was well shaken and incorporated with the water, and the time given for settling is that taken by the particles to settle through 10 inches and become visible in a solid form at the bottom of the tube, and when no more particles could be dis- cerned as settling when the tube was held up to the light. The column " water clear " is that in which the water in the tube had become sufficiently transparent for black marks on a white ground to be discerned through it. Practically all solid matter had settled in the time given in the first column. The quantity deposited between the interval of " settling " and " clear " was almost inappreciable, but still sufficient to keep the water discoloured. With the specimens containing the coarser material, the water became bright again in the time given in the second column ; but Avith the very fine material, intervals varying from 2 to 3 hours up to as many days elapsed before the water became as bright as it was before the solid matter was added, partly depending on the fineness of the material, but due more to the staining quality of some of the in- gredients contained in the sample. Thus the material taken from Tilbury dock basin turned the water a black colour, which took some time to clear. The salt water took much longer to become bright again than the fresh. Samples were selected as fairly representing the material brought down in suspension by rivers or eroded from the sea- cliffs, and deposited either in the form of salt marshes or trans- ported to the bed of the sea. Thus numbers 1, 2, and 3 represent the sand found on the foreshores of the sea- coast and covered at every tide ; 4 and 5, material derived from chalk cliffs ; 6 and 7, the material in sus- pension in the rivers Ouse and Trent, and of which the warp lands bordering on those rivers are composed, 6 being the material first deposited and near the river, and 7 that further away where the water remains quiescent for some time ; 8 and 9 represent the material of which salt marshes are composed, 8 being the silt deposited on the sand, and on which, when it rises to about neap- tide level, or 6*68 above ordnance datum, samphire begins to grow, 9 the finer warp deposited from about the level of mean LITTORAL 'DRIFT. high water to that of ordinary spring tides, or 10 P 71 to 13'34: above ordnance datum, on which salt-water grass grows ; 10 is alluvial matter chiefly derived from the erosion of clay banks brought up by the tides and deposited in Boston Dock, whence it was dredged, elevated from the barges, and discharged with a current of water on to low land, the sample being taken at the part furthest away from the place of deposit ; 11 was taken from the " batches " on the banks of the river Parrett at about half- tide level of spring tides, or 13*67 above ordnance datum, where the finest part of the alluvium in the river settles, and which is collected for making bath bricks; 12 was taken from Tilbury Dock basin on the Thames when the water was being stirred up by the eroding pumps ; 13 is from clay used for brick-making 30 per cent, of the particles of this material were from ^ J- - to - 10 J 0o inch in diameter, and the remainder smaller than this, the average size being T6 J d(T of an inch. No. 14 was the alluvial matter contained in chalky boulder clay after the stones and sand had been screened out, the particles varying in size from 1000 to 2000 to the lineal inch. TABLE SHOWING BATE OF SETTLEJIENT OP SOLID MATTER IN FKESH AND SALT WATER. Number of Time taken to Water clear. No. grains to a Material. settle. Feet per minute lineal inch. Fresh. Salt Fresh. Salt. m. sec. m. sec. h. m. h. m. ^ 1 5 Small pebbles 1 0-50 > ' Water not dis- 10 20 20-60 Coarse sand \\ 2i 4 0-42^ 0-21 u-i3 cpjoiiredr - r - 2 100 Sand " 10 o-ol 99 3 200 n 25 __ 2-40 4 Whiting 12 30 5 Plaster of Paris 5 10 6 300 Warp Trent 43 45 1 1 1-20 Water scarcely discoloured. 7 1400 (Tine warp, Dutch \ \ river / 12 15 3 30 22 0-70 Water turbid. 8 500 Silt, salt marsh 2 2 6 9 0-42 9 1000 Warp 8 9 1 33 10 2000 /Alluvium, Boston\ \ Dock / 33 28 7 1 30 0-11 11 600 /Alluvium, River\ \ Parrett / 4 2 40 15 18 0-22 )? 12 1500 Tilbury basin 18 18 10 9 0-46 13 1600 Brick clay 17 15 1 30 1 0-40 ,t 1 \ 1440 Boulder clay 24 22 43 30 0-35 II 66 THE SEA-COAST. Direction of Travel. The direction of the littoral drift is governed by the direction of the flood tide and the shape of the coast. On a straight line of coast, the direction of the regular line of travel is in the same direction as the main set of the flood tide. Where a coast-line is broken up by bays and indents, there is no continuous drift of beach material along the shore, each bay retaining its own characteristic shingle, which is prevented from leaving it when the headlands project out as far as low water and form natural groynes. The South Coast between Start Point and Selsea Bill affords numerous examples of this. The cliffs consist of a series of rocks of varying geological character and degrees of hardness, the softer rocks having been wasted by the sea, leaving projecting headlands and indents of various shapes and depths. Where a bay occurs with prominent headlands, the flood tide sets into it at the upper end at an oblique angle. The tide in FIG. 6. Plan showing Direction of Drift in a Bay. the offing, moving faster than that in the shoal water of the bay, reaches the further headland before the bay tide, and, curling round, moves then in the opposite direction to that working round the shore of the indent. The drift of the shingle in the bay in this case is in opposite directions, and, according to the shape of the bay, either collects at the lower end or in the centre, as shown LITTORAL DRIFT. 67 by the small arrows in the illustration, the larger feathered arrows showing the set of the flood tide. Examples of this drift of the shingle in opposite directions are to be found in several of the bays on the Dorset coast, and on other coasts described in Chapter VII. When there exists a sharp prominent projection from the coast-line, whether natural or artificial, the coast making an angle of 45 degrees or thereabouts with the projection, the flood tide, after passing the projection, strikes the shore beyond, as shown by the feathered arrows on the illustration, and, curling round, forms a counter tide running in the opposite direction to the main set in the offing, the beach material being drifted in the same direction. An example of this will be found in the description of the coast at Seaforth and Newhaven, Chapter VII. In Start Bay there are several beaches on which the material varies from fine sand to shingle. At Slapton the shingle is different to that found on any other part of the coast; the majority of the pebbles are white in colour, and resemble peas in shape and size three-fourths consist of quartz, and the remainder flints and stones derived from the metamorphic rocks which com- pose the cliffs. These pebbles do not travel beyond the eastern horn of the bay. Between the headlands at the Dart, Berry Head, Hopes Nose, and Otterton Point are several indents, each having a beach, the pebbles of which are composed of shale, slate, hematite, green- stone, or limestone according to the character of the rocks which border them, while at Paignton and Goodrington the beach is entirely sand. The boulders and shingle on the beach at Budleigh Salterton vary in size from stones weighing 10 or 12 Ibs. to small pebbles, and consist to a great extent of pink quartzite, some of the stones having peculiar marks on them like blood-spots. These stones do not drift round the headland. The shingle on the beach east of Otterton Point and at Sidmouth consists of flints derived from inland gravels; while further east, at Seaton, the shingle is principally of chert and flint derived from the chalk cliffs at Beer Head. Along the Dorsetshire coast there are accumulations of flint and chert shingle collected in mounds in the centre of the bays, while the beach at each end is either bare clay or covered with sand. There is no drift of shingle past the headlands at Golden 68 THE SEA- CO AST. Cap or ThorncoHibe. The shingle on the beach on the west side of the pier at Bridport is of a different character to that on the east side, the latter consisting of small rounded pea-like brown pebbles, similar to that at Slapton, but of a different colour, and composed almost entirely of flint and chert. The same kind of shingle continues to Burton Brad stock. A little beyond this, at Abbotsbury, the Chesil Bank commences, the pebbles of which consist of flints of various colours, varying in size from \ to 4 inches at the western end ; at the Chesil end the shingle consists to a large extent of the black chert from the beds in the Isle of Portland. On the coast of Cornwall, in Mount's Bay, which lies between two headlands which project into 2 fathoms at low water, the beach is entirely covered with the debris of quartz rock, the shingle on the other side of the headland being of an entirely different character. In Padstow Bay, 90 per cent, of the sand consists of broken sea-shells. In Barricane Bay, on the coast of Devon near Morte Point, the beach is also covered with sea-shells, being the only beach of this kind in Devonshire. Where the coast-line is broken by estuaries or rivers, there is a continual struggle between the littoral drift and the inflowing and ebb water. If the tidal currents are deep they have the mastery, and the drift is unable to cross them. In this case the drift sometimes turns round the coast-line and drifts up the shores of the estuary. If the movement of the drift is stronger than the force of the current, the rivers become diverted from their course or blocked by a bar, or even become entirely closed ; or the drift may be pushed out across the estuary in the form of a spur or pro- montory. On the West Coast the shingle drifts up the estuary of the Wyre to Fleetwood. On the north side of Harwich Harbour the shingle has been pushed out across the estuary till it has formed a triangular spit 1J miles long, and from 1 J miles at the widest part to a tenth of a mile wide. There being deep water at the end of this spit, the shingle now works round it and travels up the shore of the estuary. On the coast of Calvados the shingle drifts along the shores of the estuary of the Seine past Villerville. LITTORAL DRIFT. 69 At the mouth of the Humber the shingle drifting from the north, unable to cross the deep water of the channel, has worked out from the land and formed the spit 3 miles long and 500 feet wide, known as Spurn Point, round which the flood tide sets with considerable velocity. Hurst shingle-bank extends out from the mainland across the entrance to the Solent for a distance of 4J miles, and is only pre- vented from joining the Isle of Wight by the deep narrow channel, about the third of a mile wide, through which the flood tides at springs flow into the Solent at a rate of 5J knots. In some cases the drift has entirely diverted the mouth of the river or harbour ; thus at Christchurch the sand, drifting along the coast from the west, has formed a spit across the bay, which separates and protects the harbour from the sea, leaving only a narrow entrance between the end of the spit and the land. This spit is still extending. The Chesil Bank has entirely diverted the flow of the small streams which at one time entered Lyme Bay directly across the beach, but which now communicate with the Fleet, which runs at the back of the bank and communicates with VVeymouth Bay. The shingle-bank on the East Coast, which runs in a southerly direction from Aldborough, has diverted the rivers Aide and Ore for 9 miles out of their natural course, the bank which separates the channel of these rivers from the sea being in some parts only from 70 to 80 yards wide, the depth of the channel varying from 12 to 30 feet. The river Yare, on which Yarmouth stands, has been diverted 3 miles southward from its original outfall by a narrow spit of sand and shingle. The West Harbour at Eye, notwithstanding repeated efforts to keep it open, was entirely closed by the drift of the shingle along the coast, and the entrance to this port is now much further east than it was in the last century. The Adur, on the Sussex coast, was forced by the drift of the shingle 4 miles eastward, the width of the shingle bank which intervenes between the channel of the river and the sea being a quarter of a mile wide. The present outfall and approach to the harbour of Shoreham, which is \\ miles eastward of the original position, was cut through the shingle-bank, and jetties had to be constructed to maintain it in position. Along the Devonshire coast, at Seaton the river Axe, and at 70 THE SEA-COAST. Charrnouth the river Char, have both been driven a considerable distance westward by the drifting shingle. The outfall of the river Sid has been completely blocked by a bank of shingle, which has drifted across its mouth. At Looe, in Mount's Bay, Cornwall, the drifting shingle forms a complete bank across the estuary of the river Caher and two smaller streams, and prevents the outflow of the water, creating a large fresh-water lake 7 miles in circumference, called Looe Pool. This bank is from 300 to 400 yards wide, and its top is 34 feet above L.W.S.T. In summer the lake maintains an even level, the water coming down the river passing away by evapora- tion or percolating through the shingle ; but in wet weather the water rises 10 feet above its normal level, and a channel is then cut through the shingle, and the water allowed to run off. After the flood water subsides the channel fills up again. Dieppe offers an illustration of the effect of shingle on ports. In remote times vessels went If miles up the valley to Bouteilles, where the port at that time existed. The mouth of the valley formed a deep roadstead, to which there were two means of access, one at the foot of the cliff to the east by Eaulue and Bethune, and the other at the foot of the rocks to the west by the river Arques. The west entrance became choked with shingle, and the town now stands on this bed of shingle. In tidal rivers like the Thames, the Severn, the Humber, and the Seine, although their estuaries may be encumbered with large beds of sand, the ebb and flow of the large volume of tidal water is sufficient to maintain a deep-water channel, across which the beach material cannot drift in sufficient quantity to form a bar, but in smaller rivers, especially when situated in depressions in the coast-line, the balance of power of the tidal current is not suffi- ciently dominant to prevent the beach material, whether sand or shingle, drifting across the mouth of the channel in the form of a ridge, the continuance of which is aided by the rotary motion of the water. The most remarkable instance of this kind was the bar of the Mersey, which, extending across the channel from a mass of sand- banks on either side, consisted of a ridge of sand, having a depth of 50 feet of water on one side and 40 feet on the other, with only 9 feet on the crest. The bar at the mouth of the Boston Deeps, at the entrance of the northern side of the Wash, consists of three separate ridges of sand extending over a mile, with 12 feet at low LITTORAL DRIFT. 71 water on the crests, and from 4 to 5 fathoms in the channel. The entrance to the south side of the Wash, which has a depth of from 14 to 15 fathoms, has no bar. The rivers Deben and Blyth, on the East Coast, have to fight their way to sea through large banks of shingle which have drifted across their outfalls, and the Adur at Shoreham is only kept open by constant dredging. On other parts of the coast the shingle has drifted across indents or bays and completely enclosed them from the sea. At Slapton a deep indent, into which two small rivers dis- charge, has been enclosed by a bank of shingle which has drifted across it, and two fresh-water lakes formed about 2 miles in length and the sixth of a mile wide. At Northam, in Bideford Bay, the pebble ridge has drifted across a tract of low land, 900 acres in extent, and formed a natural embankment, enclosing it entirely from the sea. The harbour at Pagham, near Selsea Bill, is now completely shut off from the sea by a large bank of shingle, and the channel blocked up. The western harbour of Eye and the outfall of the river Brede, after repeated attempts to keep it open, had to be abandoned owing to the drift of shingle from the west. At Lancing, on the South Coast, the shingle has drifted across an indent in the coast, forming a bank 150 yards wide, which now protects the low land inside from high tides. It is probable that the enclosure of the large tract known as Romney Marsh was first effected by a bank of shingle drifting across the wide estuary of the river Kother, the bank being enlarged and strengthened by the Romans. Transporting Agency. Attention was first directed to the movement of shingle in a paper presented by Mr. Palmer in 1834 to the Royal Society, 1 in which he divided the action into three classes : (1) Heaping up or accumulating ; (2) disturbance or breaking down ; and (3) progressive movement ; and contended that all of these were due to the effect of wind, and that tidal action alone was not capable of effecting the result produced. This view was generally accepted at the discussions which took place at the Institution of Civil Engineers on the Chesil Bank. 2 1 "Observations on the Motion of Shingle Beaches," ,\H. R. Palmer, Phil. Trans, of the Royal Society, April, 1834. 2 " On the Chesil Bank," J. Coode, Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. xxi. ; Ibid., J. Prestwich, Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. xi. 72 THE SEA-COAST. The observations of the author have led him to a different conclusion as regards the first. With regard to the second con- clusion, he is in accord. With regard to the third, although it is admitted that wind is one of the principal factors in the move- ment of shingle, the facts hereafter given show that tidal action is capable of producing, and does effect, the regular and continuous drift of shingle that takes place along the coast. The effect of waves due to gales is principally destructive, pulling down and dispersing the banks accumulated by tidal action in calm weather. The action of waves due to gales of wind is intermittent, variable in direction, and irregular. On-shore gales invariably cut out and lower shingle beaches, and cause the pebbles to be spread over the beach at a lower level. As soon as the gale ceases and the wind becomes calm or off- shore, the shingle begins to move upwards again, and in course of time is built up into a steep bank. Winds blowing off-shore have little or no effect on the move- ment of shingle. The effect of an on-shore gale is to reduce the slope of a shingle bank from 35 or 45 degrees, or say 1 in 1J to 1 in 1, to a slope of 5 degrees, or 1 in 10. Under this process, however, although the bank is cut out and partially destroyed, the top may be raised to a considerable height above the normal height of high water, and remain so permanently. This height and the size of the stones thrown up depend on the force of the gale, the length of the fetch to which the bank is exposed, and the height to which the tide rises. If the wind is not blowing directly on-shore, but obliquely, the waves will also break in an oblique direction on the bank, but the return wave will flow down the bank along the shortest course or directly down the slope ; and in addition to the results above described, the shingle will be moved along the shore in the same direction as the wind is blowing, the coast being thus denuded at the windward end, and the material transported to the leeward. If the material be drifted by the wind- waves in the direction from which the 'normal travel takes place, the shingle, after the gale ceases, will be drifted back in due course. If, however, it is drifted to leeward, it will not return. It is generally accepted as an axiom that shingle once drifted to LITTORAL DRIFT. 73 leeward is lost for ever to the part of the beach from which it was moved. With regard to the building of banks of shingle and its move- ment along the coast being due to the action of the " prevailing winds," the following facts deserve consideration. The prevailing winds in this country are those from the south- west, which blow from that quarter on a greater number of days than from any other. The term " prevailing wind " is, however, in this case sometimes taken to be that wind which blows in the same direction as the flood current and which causes the highest tides, and the one most destructive to the coast, these gales being distinguished as the " predominant winds." There is no doubt that gales blowing with the set of the flood tide do the greatest damage to the coast, and so provide the greatest amount of debris from which the shingle is supplied. If, however, the regular and continuous direction of the drift of the shingle be taken all round the coast of this country or on the opposite shores, or, in fact, on any tidal coast where ordinary conditions prevail, it will be found that it is not governed either by the prevailing or predominant winds, but invariably follows the set of the flood- tide. The flood-tide coming from the Atlantic sets northwards along the west coast of this country, and the general drift of the shingle is in the same direction. The drift, however, follows the flood tide up the Bristol Channel, working round the various headlands and bays. Thus, in the Bay of Barnstaple the direction of the set of the drift varies no less than six times. In the Irish Sea the flood tide sets into it both from the north and from the south, the two waves meeting in Morecambe Bay, and there is a corresponding variation in the set of the drift. On the north side of the Kibble estuary the shingle sets eastward up the estuary to St. Anne's and Lytham, where at the former place it has formed one of the shingle-banks known as " The Double Stanner," extending out from the shore, and which has recently been made use of to enclose a marine lake, and another similar bank enclosing some marsh land is to be found at Lytham. From St. Anne's and Blackpool to Kossal the drift is northwards, bending round this coast with the set of the tide eastward to Fleetwood. From Whitehaven the drift is southward, following the tide into the estuary of the Duddon up to Millom. Southward of the estuary along Walney Island the set is again southward 74 THE SEA-COAST. to the end of the island, when it follows the tide up the back of the island. Thus on the north and south sides of Morecanibe Bay the drift is in directly contrary directions. On the East Coast the general set of the drift follows the set of the flood] tide from north to south. There are, however, many deviations in bays and estuaries. Thus in the Wash the set is eastwards up to Wolferton, from Weybourne to Blakeney it is westerly, and along the coast of Cromer eastwards ; while beyond this at Aldborough and Lowestoft its general direction is south. North of Harwich the shingle travels south-easterly ; and until preventive measures were taken, part of it was extending in a long spit nearly across the harbour mouth, the remainder working round Landguard Point with the tides and travelling along the beach of the harbour in a north-easterly direction. In the English Channel the general direction of drift is easterly -with the flood tide, but, moving round several of the indents in Lyme Bay, the direction varies from north-east to south-east. In both Weymouth, Bournemouth, and Chichester bays there are counter-tides working into the bays round the eastern headlands, and setting in opposite directions, and the drift of the shingle follows the same course. In Newhaven Bay the drift was originally eastwards. The projection of the harbour wall has caused a counter-set of the tide, which now strikes Seaford Point and curls round into the bay westwards. Since this has occurred the direction of the drift of the shingle has altered, and the beach at Seaford has become denuded, causing the destruction of a sea-bank and of a concrete wall which had been erected for the protection of the shore, and the material has accumulated at the west end of the harbour, at the back of the pier. From Bognor to Beachy Head the general direction of the drift is almost due east ; from Beachy Head to Dover it is north- east ; from Dover to the North Foreland, northerly ; and from the North Foreland to the mouth of the Thames, westerly ; and north of the Thames, south-westerly. In all these cases the shingle moves in the same direction as the set of flood tide. On the north coast of France the prevailing winds are as on the other side of the Channel, from the south-west, and the main set of the flood tide from west to east. The drift of material from the waste of the chalk cliffs between Barfleur and Isigny is from north to south, the flood tide setting along the shores of the bay LITTORAL DRIFT. 75 in the same direction. Thence to the Seine it varies from south- easterly, north-easterly, and easterly again. North of the Seine the general direction of the shingle derived from the destruction of the chalk cliffs is eastward with the main set of the flood current, past Cape Antifer. There is, however, a counter-set which runs southwards from the projection of the cape towards the Seine, and while on one side of Cape Antifer the drift goes in one direction, on the other it moves nearly in an opposite course with this set of the tide. Beyond Treport the direction of the drift is north-east, then north, beyond Calais, and along the Belgium coast easterly in each case following the set of the flood tide ; while along the Dutch coast it is northerly. Tidal Shore Waves. As already mentioned, the agent which is instrumental in building up shingle into banks and transporting it along the coast is the tide, which accomplishes this by means of the waves which are for ever breaking on the beach as the tide rises and falls. The formation and action of tidal shore wavelets has been already described in the chapter on wave-action. These wavelets, aided by the flood current, lift up and carry forward any coarse sand, loose stones, or other material with which they come in contact, and leave some portion of them stranded at the highest point on the beach to which the tide of the day reaches. The line of " wrack " or debris left along a sandy shore, a little above the line of high water after every tide, is corroborative of this action. The ever-varying ridge and hollow to be found on shingle-banks during calm weather bear the same testimony. The constant murmur that is heard on a shingle-beach on a calm day, or when the wind is off shore, also attests the fact that the pebbles of which the bank is composed are in constant motion, even when the sea is not affected by the wind. Where material is sufficiently plentiful, the stones and pebbles due to the erosion of the cliffs are gradually driven forward and up the beach in an oblique direction, until they are collected in a bank. When this bank is formed and the slope of the beach becomes steep, the waves act with greater force and carry with them the pebbles with which they come in contact, and at the same time push forward those that lie above. 76 THE SEA-COAST. This process, continually in operation during the several hours of the tides, is sufficient to account for the removal of an immense amount of material. Allowing fifteen waves to the minute, there are no less than 3600 impulses during the period, taken at 4 hours, that each tide is sufficiently high to act on a shingle-bank. Thus, while the smaller pebbles are carried back by the retiring waves from the line of high water, there is always a certain quantity of pebbles carried on the crest of the highest wave above the reach of the retiring waves and there left stranded. In addition to the movement of individual stones, the whole of the face of the bank, above the line reached by the water under the pressure of the wave, is forced upwards, and the top of the bank is thus raised considerably above the level of high tides. It is difficult to follow for any length of time the movement of individual pebbles, as, owing to the constant shifting in position, a marked stone becomes buried amongst the others ; but when this can be done it will be found, on carefully watching, that the material moved varies from coarse sand and small pebbles weighing 1 or 2 ozs., up to stones weighing 5 or 6 Ibs. The average size moved by these tidal wavelets is about 4 or 5 ozs. When watching the effect of the incoming tide with a perfectly calm sea and the absence of any wind, when small boats in the offing were lying motionless, the author has repeatedly observed, on shingle-beaches in sheltered positions, numbers of pebbles moved by these tidal wavelets upward and forward along the beach, which weighed more than 4 ozs. when out of the water, and single stones weighing as much as 6 Ibs., and, shortly before high water, pebbles weighing 1J Ibs. rolled upward and forward and left on the bank. Also, on a shore with an inclination of 5 degrees, consisting of coarse sand and shingle, stones containing 6 to 18 cubic inches were moved up- ward 6 feet, and forward 4 feet in the course of six waves ; and with a perfectly calm sea, the wavelets being from 6 to 9 inches high, a piece of tile drifted 9 feet in a quarter of an hour ; and half a brick carried 30 yards in two hours, and on another occasion half-bricks drifted 25 yards in \\ hours. The ebb tide also retires from the beach with an oblique wave- action, the direction of these waves being the same as on the flood ; and although the waves roll down most of the pebbles that they carry up, there is always a certain quantity of material LITTORAL DRIFT. 77 which is moved upwards and remains, pebbles of considerable size being raised by the tidal wavelets and left on the bank above the reach of the falling water. Although the ebb acts for the same period on a bank as the flood, as the shingle is situated generally high up the beach, it is not able to reverse the movement of the material. The waves lack the momentum of the rising tide, and each series of waves, instead of rising to a higher level as on the flood, is continually falling, and fails to reach the stones deposited on the flood. The quantity finally lifted and added to the bank forms only a very small proportion of that moved backwards and forwards by the waves, as the stones carried back by the retreating waves form the larger proportion of those rolled up, and this especially applies to the sand and smaller pebbles. The material lifted by the incoming wave is moved in an oblique direction, as the water of the retiring wave moves normal to the bank, and the pebbles have not only therefore to descend, in place of being moved upwards, but the distance of travel is less. There are so many varying conditions that affect the breaking of the waves, such as the slope of the shore, the amount of friction due to the material of which the beach is composed, the angle at which the wave breaks and the obstructions with which it comes in contact, that it is not possible to calculate with accuracy the force exerted by these wavelets on the materials composing the beach. An approximation of the tidal energy may, however, be obtained. The volume of water displaced by the breaking wave is the product of the depth of the water in repose, before being affected by the wave, by the length of the wave and any given width. As a result of a great number of observations, the following may be taken as the mean conditions of the wavelets of a spring tide, having a rise and fall of from 15 to 20 feet, flowing up a beach composed of rough sand and shingle, with an inclina- tion of 5 degrees, or about 1 in 10. The height of the breaking wavelet from trough to crest, 1 foot ; depth of water in repose, 6 inches ; the length of the wave, 10 feet ; and the number of waves, 15 per minute. Taking the weight of sea- water at 64 Ibs. per cubic foot, the weight of the volume of moving water would be, for a given width of 1 foot of the shore 78 THE SEA-COAST. ft. ft. ft. Ibs. Ibs. ton 10 x 1 x 0-5 x 64 = 320 = 0-142 Taking the mean height that the water of the wave falls as 6 inches, the kinetic energy of the wave would be 320 x 0-5 = 165 foot-lbs. = 0-074 foot-ton that is to say, the energy due to each wave would be capable of raising 165 Ibs. of pebbles a height of 1 foot. Taking the weight of stone in water as 100 Ibs. per cubic foot, and that a pebble 2 inches in diameter weighs 0'25 lb., the force of each wave would be capable of moving 660 pebbles of this size, or 9900 a minute and 2,376,000 in a tide. If the whole energy were absorbed in moving the face of the bank, it would be capable of raising the pebbles of which it was composed to a depth of 1*65 feet over a width and height of 1 foot 165 .. 1 x 1 x 100 ' Allowing 15 waves to the minute, and the tide to be sufficiently high for 4 hours to act on the bank, the energy developed by every tide on each foot of width of the beach would be equal to raising 266 tons 1 foot high 15 x 60 x 4 x 0-074 = 266-4 tons The whole energy of the wave is not, however, available for lifting and transporting the pebbles of which the bank is com- posed, a large proportion being absorbed by friction, but the above calculation is sufficient to give some indication as to the enormous power that is developed by tidal action, day by day, on the coasts, and the capability of the wavelets due to the tides for building up shingle-banks and for drifting material along the beach. CHAPTER IV. SEA-WALLS. THE walls dealt with in this chapter are those required lor the protection of low-lying land from the incursion of the sea, where the beach is not sufficiently high to prevent the tides from washing over; for the preservation of cliffs where the land above is of sufficient value to warrant the cost of protection ; and those at sea- side towns, where the formation of roads and promenades along the sea-front necessitates the construction of retaining walls for holding up and protecting them from damage by waves. The walls for these purposes may be divided into two classes, sloping and upright ; the former being most commonly used for land defence, and the latter for the maintenance of roads and promenades. A difference of opinion exists amongst engineers as to the respective advantages of two kinds of wall for sea-coast protection. In England the upright wall has in most cases been adopted, while in Holland and Belgium the sloping form is more commonly in use. The relative merits of sloping and upright walls for harbour purposes was the subject of investigation by the commission appointed to inquire into the proposal to construct a harbour of refuge at Dover in 1S46, and the opinions of all the principal engineers and nautical experts were obtained. A perusal of this evidence with the light of subsequent events will be of great value to an engineer engaged in the construction of sea-walls. At that time there was no example of the construction of an upright wall in 40 feet of water, and the attempt to carry out such a work was regarded more or less as an experiment. In fact, several of the witnesses gave evidence to the effect that the con- struction of such a wall was practically impossible, and that a sloping mound, such as had then been constructed at Plymouth So THE SEA-COAST. and Cherbourg, was the most suitable form. The majority of the evidence, however, preponderated in favour of an upright wall, and it was contended by the witnesses who were in favour of this form that the percussive effect of waves was far less violent on an upright wall than on a sloping face, on which the waves were changed from undulations to breakers. This evidence has been justified by the manner in which the Admiralty Pier at Dover has weathered all the gales which have occurred since its construction half a century ago, as compared with the constant damage which occurred after every gale for many years to the breakwaters at Cherbourg and Plymouth, and the great cost incurred in repairs ; and also the destructive effect of the waves on the wall at Alderney, the completion of which was finally abandoned. There seems, however, to be a consensus of opinion that, for deep-water purposes, an upright wall resting on a sloping base is more subject to the destructive effect of the waves than either of the other two. The different effect of upright and sloping walls on wave- action may be best realized by watching the sea break with violence in a storm on a sloping breakwater ; while within a short distance, where the slope terminates at the entrance into the harbour in an upright wall, and where the depth of the water is great, the waves only rise and fall with gentle undulations. A distinction must be drawn as to the action to which walls constructed parallel with the coast for protective purposes are subject as compared with those built for breakwaters. The former have to act as retaining walls to the land behind, and to contend with the pressure of the earth at the back. These walls at one period are free from any pressure in front, while at other times they are subject to the impact of waves which have broken on the shallow shore in front ; whereas the walls of breakwaters are not subject to land pressure, and have water on both sides, and when built in deep water, the waves which come in contact with them on the outside have more the character of waves of undula- tion than of progression, unless the profile of the wall is such as to change the character of the wave. The force to be encountered by sea-walls for coast protection consists (1) of the statical pressure due to the head of water brought against the wall by the upward projection of the waves ; (2) the percussive force due to the momentum of a large mass of SEA-WALLS. 8 1 water moving with considerable velocity being brought suddenly to a stop ; (3) the pressure of the earth at the back of the wall. In a tidal sea the point of impact of the waves on the wall is constantly varying as the tide rises and falls. In designing a sea-wall, the object to be sought is to produce such a form that the wave shall come in contact with it at a point where it can do the least harm, and afterwards expends its force over as wide a surface as possible ; and that the force of the wave shall be equalized instead of being concentrated at any one point. The strongest part of the wall should be at the point where the wave changes from the horizontal to the vertical position. As far as practicable, the waves coming in contact with the wall should be reflected, and not break on it. Obstructions to the free movement of the waves, and projections leading to shocks and vibration, should be avoided. The water should not be guided upwards in a direction which leads, on descending, to its falling behind the wall ; nor should the form be such as to concentrate the falling mass at the foot of the wall. An example of the injury done by the water being thrown upward and falling on the road behind the wall is afforded by an incident that occurred on the Dublin and Kingstown Kailway. The waves striking the parabolic curve of the retaining wall were projected upward during a storm, and, falling like a cascade on the granite pavement, loosened and lifted blocks 2J feet square, weighing half a ton. These conditions continue to attach to walls which batter or leave the vertical until a slope of 45 degrees is attained. With flatter slopes the wave breaks. 1 With walls situated above the level of low water, as in the case with most sea-walls for cliff or shore protection, it is difficult to meet all these conditions. The wave which comes in contact with a wall of this character as the tide rises, reaches it more or less in a broken state, and the water is projected forward on to the wall with the momentum due to its mass and velocity, the effect in- creasing as the water deepens with the rising tide. The effect of a vertical wall under these conditions in project- ing the water upwards is to concentrate its action at that part of the wall where the resulting consequences are most serious. The effect of the water, whether that thrown upwards and falling on 1 Scott Russell on Breakwaters, Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. vi., 1347. G 82 THE SEA-COAST. the back of the wall, or that falling on the beach, tends to cut out the material and weaken the wall. As an upright wall batters from the vertical, the force of the wave -stroke is decreased in proportion to the cube of the sine of the slope ; but, on the other hand, the greater the batter the more the water is led by the slope landwards, and the greater the quantity that falls on the surface at the back of the wall. Upright walls possess an advantage in their construction, owing to the materials used being placed to the greatest advantage, the weight of the superincumbent mass assisting in keeping the lower stones, where the greatest stress is, in their places. They tend more to reflect the waves than to break them. They also offer no resistance to the upward stroke of the wave. Walls having a concave batter with the top overhanging have been frequently adopted, with the design of throwing the water off the wall in such a direction that it shall meet the incoming wave and so neutralize its effect. This result is not attained in practice. It frequently happens that a coalescence takes place between the two waves, and the mass of water thus thrown on the wall is increased ; and this form of wall has not been found to prevent the erosion of the beach by the falling water. A wall concave throughout its whole face is also open to the objection that the materials of which it is composed are not used to the best advantage. This form involves the disposition of a great mass of material at the upper part of the wall where the least horizontal wave-force is exerted. The projection of the upper part of the curve also offers a large surface to the upward stroke of the wave. If built of masonry, this surface, having a form like the intrados of an arch, is badly adapted to resist the upward thrust. It is impossible, also, to devise such a curve that shall dispose the form to the best advantage at the varying level of the tides. In the experiments conducted by Mr. Stevenson with the marine dynamometer, it was shown that the maximum vertical force of the upward stroke of the wave on a wall, the top of which was 23 feet above the water, tending to lift that part of the wall with which it came in contact, was upwards of 1 ton per square foot, while the greatest horizontal force at the same level never exceeded 28 Ibs. 1 1 " Design and Construction of Harbours," by T. Stevenson. A. & C. Black, Edinburgh. 1874. SEA-WALLS. 83 Walls having steps have been advocated, with the idea of breaking up the force of the wave as it strikes the wall, and so preventing its being projected upwards, and also with the object of catching the water on the steps as it falls, and thus minimizing its effect on the beach. A wall of this description offers the great objection of afford- ing a broken surface for the waves to act on, and, from the stones not being placed directly over each other, the advantage of the superincumbent weight which is obtained in a vertical wall of the usual description is lost. The wall along the bay on the west of the harbour at Margate, of which an illustration is given, has been built on this principle, and it has been claimed that this wall has withstood the effect I LW.S.T MARGATE. FIG. 7. of gales when the wall on the east side of the harbour, which has a straight face, was destroyed. This wall, however, is in a sheltered position and less exposed to the violence of the waves than the one that fell, with which it has been compared. The water in front of it at H.W.S.T. is not more than from 4 to 7 feet in depth. The promenade wall at Bridlington is stepped, each course of the stones projecting in front of the one above, a distance vary- ing from 4 inches at the top to 8 inches in the bottom courses. THE SEA-COAST. H.W.S.T: Beach BRI'DLINCTON. FIG. 8. It is also furnished at the top with a nosing or cornice projecting a foot, which, however, is curved on the bottom side. The parapet of this wall is 26 feet above the beach, and 20 feet above high water, and is exposed to heavy seas, the depth at H.W.S.T. against the wall being 6 feet. Sloping Walls. These have been adopted to a much greater extent in Holland than in this country. The wall at Dymchurch and the older wall or " hulking " at Black- pool are merely the outcome of gradual attempts to conserve exist- ing earthen walls than of original design. The new promenade wall at Blackpool, hereafter described, is a combination of a sloping base with an upright wall at the top, and is the result of intentional design. The walls both at Dymchurch and Blackpool have resulted in continual scour of the beach, necessitating renewal of the pitching, and have been a constant source of expense. A flat sloping wall necessarily extends further seaward than an upright wall, and consequently feels the effect of the wave at an earlier and for a longer period. The sloping wall at Dym- church has a face exposed to the waves varying from 80 to 140 feet. Directly the wave comes in contact with the slope it impinges on it and breaks with violence, forcing the water into all the interstices ; and an advancing and retreating oscillation parallel to the slope is set up, which has a tendency to remove any of the stone pitching that tends to stop its progress. The retreating wave down the slope is tripped up by the oncoming wave, causing it to break more heavily than it would otherwise have done, and is as destructive in its action as the one advancing. On a sloping wall the stones have only their own individual weight to keep them in their place, whereas in an upright wall they are aided by the weight of all the stones above them to resist any lifting action. A single stone is thus more easily SEA-WALLS. 85 displaced from the face of a sloping wall than from one that is upright. A stone that has become loosened by the repeated per- cussion of the breaking waves is soon sucked out, and mischief of this kind once commenced, disintegration rapidly sets in. On the sloping walls that protect the sea-dykes in Holland, during a single gale stones have been displaced over an area exceeding an acre in extent ; and the cost of maintenance of these sloping walls is always very heavy. The quantity of material required for facing a sloping wall is as great or greater than that required for constructing a vertical wall in the same position ; while the amount required for maintenance and repairs is considerably greater. A concave form has in some places been used for the face of a sloping wall, but this form has not been found to withstand the action of the waves as well as a straight face. Thus in the sea- wall made for the reclamation of land in Loch Foyle, on which the lower part of the pitching was given a flat slope, the upper part being made concave, the waves were forced up the flat slope with great velocity, and, accumulating on the more abrupt part, curled over, and in this recoil fell with such force on the flat part of the pitching as to cause breaches in it. Subsequently the concave portion had to be changed to a rectilinear bank, which stood the heavy seas without being breached. A somewhat similar profile was given to an embankment for carrying the Dublin and Drogheda railway across the Clontary estuary. The bottom part of the slope was given a convex form and the upper made concave, the mean slope of both being at the rate of 3 to 1. It was found that this form did not stand as well as one having a straight slope ; the waves, breaking on the concave part, beat down the clay bed and loosened the pitching. 1 The destructive action of the waves is generally considered to decrease in proportion to the flatness of the slope, the percussive force of the blow being smaller in proportion as the impinging particles are spread over a greater surface. The most effective angle to be given to the face depends on the nature of the materials to be used. In Holland, slopes varying from 1 in 8 to 1 in 40 are not uncommon where the protection consists of fascines or straw wattling. Mr. Brunlees, in a paper on sea-embankments given in the 1 Min. Proc. Inst, O.K. vol. xiv. 86 THE SEA-COAST. Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers (vol. xiv., 1855), records the result of experiments made by him as to the force required to draw facing bricks out from a bank 4 feet high having various slopes. The fire-bricks used were placed on end 9 inches deep, and the centre brick was extracted from each slope by means of a chain working over a pulley to which a direct pull was gradually applied. The average of the trials gave the following results : Weight required to extract brick. Slope. Ibs. 1 to 1 105 2tol 148 3tol 144 4 to 1 198 As the result of considerable experience, however, Mr. Bruii- lees came to the conclusion that a steep slope of, say, 2 to 1, with good protection for the face and heavy pitching, was more effective to resist wave-action than a flatter slope with less depth of pitching. Most Effective Form of Wall. A wall having a cycloidal or elliptical form at the bottom dying out into a vertical face at the top, and having a slope conformable to the natural angle of repose of the beach at the bottom, seems to meet the requirements of a wall for coast defence in the best manner, and to suffer from the fewest disadvantages. A sea-wall is generally placed at or above the line of ordinary high water, and the beach, after the construction of the wall, should be maintained at that level ; the wall then is only subject to waves during gales which reach above this level. The curved form shown in the illustration dies out at the bottom into a slope of about 1 in 10, which is the natural slope of a beach composed of shingle ; or coarse sand and shingle mixed after a gale. It therefore leads the water from the beach on to the wall with the least element of disturbance. The elliptical form, being the natural curve of a coast wave, is best adapted to change the direction of the particles of water from the horizontal to the vertical in the easiest manner possible ; while the vertical portion at the top does not tend to lead the water over the top of the wall on to the roadway or promenade at the back, and the return water is led back by the curved bottom to the beach by a slope conformable to its natural angle of repose, SEA-WALLS. 87 while the apron prevents the cutting out of the beach at the toe. The greatest substance of the wall is where the greatest strength is required for the support of the earth at the back, and is dis- posed in the centre of the curve where the wave- stroke operates on the wall with the greatest violence. In the case of a beach consisting entirely of sand, and where the gradient is much flatter 2'. 6' Scale 1 inch =10 feet. FIG. 9. Section of Sea-wall. than on a shingle beach, it may be desirable to extend the toe further seaward by an apron having a slope of 1 in 30, protected at the end by sheet piling. Forces operating on a Sea-wall. The forces to which a sea- wall are subjected from waves are: (1) the direct horizontal thrust due to the percussion of the waves, which tends to loosen and disrupt the materials of which the wall is composed ; (2) vertical force acting upwards on any projection or rough surface ; (3) vertical force acting downwards and tending to disturb the foundation of the wall ; (4) the action on the top of the wall due to the fall of a mass of water and the disruption of the material at the back. It is very rarely that a sea-wall fails from general weakness of construction, or is pushed over by the lateral thrust of the earth at the back. The most frequent cause of failure arises from the fall of the water from the return wave on to the beach, by which the material of which it is composed is cut out, loosened, and washed away ; or if falling on the back of the wall, the earth is washed out in a similar manner, leaving the wall bare. 88 THE SEA- COAST. Another cause of disruption arises from stones projecting from the face ; the waves catch the underside of these and use them as levers to disturb the face of the wall. This has frequently occurred where a bull nose or coping has been made to project over the face of the wall. Mr. Stevenson records that at the harbour of Stonehaven, a projecting string course had to be removed from the sea-wall, to prevent the concussions which took place during storms, and which were so great as to shake the superincumbent masonry. Many instances could be quoted of heavy copings being lifted by the sea, and where it has been found necessary to cut off string courses and other projections. Concrete, from the smooth surface which it presents, for this reason has an advantage over stone blocks. Another advantage which concrete possesses is the absence of joints. During storms, when walls are subject to the constant percussive action of the waves, the mortar used in jointing the stones is apt to be disturbed and washed out. The cavities thus made are frequently increased by shellfish. Every blow of the wave on the surface, where these cavities occur, acts in the same manner as an hydraulic ram, and in time forces the face stones outwards and dislocates the interior of the wall. Where the walls have been made up with rubble in the interior, and the cavities not carefully filled, the water is forced through the joints, and in heavy gales may be seen bursting through the top to a con- siderable height. The sudden impact of the waves, forcing the water into the wall, compresses the air, forcing it into the smallest cavities, and its expansion assists in disrupting the masonry. Even in well-constructed walls, the necessity of at once repairing defects is for this reason obvious. In settling the section of a wall, reliance should rather be placed on mass or dead weight .than on the cohesion of the material by which the several parts are joined together. The inertia due to mass is constant and unchangeable, while the effect derived from the cohesion obtained from the cementing material is always liable to be disturbed and disintegrated by the constant vibration due to the percussion of the waves. Effect of Walls on the Beach. The effect of the construction of walls is generally disastrous to the beach in front, and unless care has been taken to protect the beach, the wall becomes the agent of its own destruction. At high tides and heavy onshore gales, the waves are thrown SEA-WALLS. 89 against the wall and suddenly stopped in their course. A great part of the water is projected upwards to a height depending on the depth of the water in front of the wall, and in falling back cuts out the beach, the loosened material being carried sea- ward by the return wave. As the beach thus becomes lowered the depth of the water is increased, and consequently the volume and force of the wave. A wall that has been designed to withstand the force due to a given height has thus not only the back pressure increased by the greater depth in front, but also the footing is scoured away and the toe left exposed. The base of the wall then becomes in a condition to slide outwards, and the structure to become a ruin. The destructive effect of the waves is also increased when large masses of water driven by the onshore wind falls on the roadway behind the wall and cuts out the earth at its back. It is frequently the custom, when constructing sea-walls, for promenades to be advanced considerably seaward, and to enclose the bank of shingle and sand which forms the natural protection of the shore. Thus, although a considerable area is gained for the formation of the promenade, the protection which the enclosed beach would afford in moderating the force of the waves on the wall is lost. One of the most striking examples of the effect of sea-walls in denuding beaches in front of them after their construction is that of the wall erected at Hove. The base of the wall was carried 9 feet below the lowest level to which the beach had ever been known to scour, and it rose 11 feet 6 inches above this level. When completed there was a bed of 9 feet of shingle in front of it. Within a year from the commencement of the wall/ and before it was completed, the whole of the shingle bed in front of it was scoured away to within a few inches of the base of the wall, and to prevent it collapsing, sheet piles had to be driven all along the toe. Subsequently, by the erection of groynes, and by the deposit of shingle on the beach from the dredgings at Shoreham, a beach was again accumulated, and has since been maintained. Near Conway, on the Holyhead road, a sea-wall was constructed of masonry to carry the road round the promontory of Penmaen- mawr, of which about 10 feet in height was exposed to the sea at high water, the wall being carried 5 feet below the level of the beach, which consisted of angular fragments of basalt. The face was made to batter at the rate of 1 in 6. In October, 1846, during 90 THE SEA-COAST. a north-west gale, to which direction the wall was fully exposed, the waves were projected upwards to a height of 40 feet, the water falling in a mass on the backing, which was scooped out. In this case the wall was amply strong enough to resist the direct action of the waves, but not the effect due to the falling water. When the wall was exposed as much as 8 to 9 feet below high-water mark, the shingle was carried away and the foundations laid bare ; but where the foundation was in deeper water there was hardly any denudation. Both at Margate, Kamsgate, and Westgate, where sea-walls have been built resting on, and let into, the hard chalk, the down- ward action of the waves, after breaking on the walls, cut away the chalk in front of them. At Westgate, where the base of the wall was placed several feet above low water, and let 2 feet into the chalk, it was found that, after the lapse of a few months, the chalk was cut away by the waves and the foot undermined. The foundation of the wall at Kamsgate was carried 4 feet 6 inches into the chalk, and was built with a nosing projecting almost over the toe, with the idea of throwing the water off. In the course of a few years after the construction of the wall, the chalk at the foot had become so disintegrated that the surface of the beach was denuded to within nearly the base of the wall, so that it became necessary to underpin it throughout a great part of its length. As the waves came in contact with this wall the water ran up the face, and, being thrown off by the nosing, dropped down on the toe of the wall in a mass, with sufficient force to break up the chalk. At Clacton, on the East Coast, a concrete sea-wall about 2000 feet in length was constructed about twenty years ago, for the pur- pose of forming a promenade in front of the town. Three concrete groynes or buttresses, 4 feet 6 inches high, were carried out at right angles to the wall, with the object of preventing the denu- dation of the beach in front of it. It was, however, found that, instead of effecting their purpose, the destructive effect of the waves breaking into the bay formed by these projections, and against the wall, had a very damaging effect on the beach, and caused considerable denudation. These concrete groynes were consequently removed. This wall was made with a curved batter, the top overhanging the base. The effect of the waves breaking on this wall has been to cut out the beach from the front, the SEA-WALLS. 91 surface being 5 feet lower at the east than at the west end, which is under the lee of the pier. The danger of the wall being undermined became so great that a concrete apron had to be put down for its protection. The top of the timber wall constructed by the Sea Defence Commissioners between Clacton and Walton, when built in 1889, was (3 feet above the beach, the piles being driven into hard clay. Within ten years after its construction the beach was lowered and the clay cut out in front of the wall to a depth of 4 feet, and during a gale in the winter of 1897, a large length of the wall fell down owing to the denudation of the beach in front, and the cutting out of the material at the back of the sheeting by the action of the waves falling on the roadway. At Sandgate, Seaforth, Poole, Blackpool, and other places, concrete walls have been destroyed due to the scouring away of the beach in front of them, and the displacement of the material at the back by the falling water from the waves projected upwards from the face of the wall. Strength of Walls. The ordinary rules for the construction of retaining walls cannot be held to apply to sea-walls, so far as they act as retaining walls. The shocks and vibrations to which they are subjected by the percussion of the waves may set in motion the earth at the back, which under other conditions might have remained stable ; and these forces also tend to dis- integrate the material with which the stones of the wall, if of masonry, are joined together. The wall is further exposed to disruption by water being forced through crevices into the interior, and by the expansion of the air which may exist in any cavities. Sir Benjamin Baker, in a paper on the pressure of earthwork contributed to the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1881 (Min. Proc. List. C.E., vol. Ixv.), states that the uncertainty attending the conditions under which retaining walls are built is so great that no absolute reliance can be placed on any theoretical calculation ; but as the result of his experience in constructing nearly 50 miles of retaining walls in soils of all kinds, he found that, under ordinary conditions and with ground of fair character, an average thickness for a retaining wall of one-third the height, measured from the top of the footings, is sufficient ; if the wall is indefinitely surcharged, this width may be increased to one-half the height. Beyond this, experience alone could be a guide as to how much, 92 THE SEA-COAST. more or less, the substance of the wall may be due to the con- ditions with which it will have to contend. A wall is in a better condition to bear the thrust of the earth behind, when the amount of material used being the same, it slopes back towards the earth from the vertical line. Thus, taking a rectangular vertical wall which requires a section of 33 per cent, of the height, the same section of wall having a batter one-tenth the height would have an equal resisting power if made 27 per cent, of the height ; and with a batter one-fifth the height, if made 24 per cent, of the height. Experience seems to point out that the mean width of a wall for sea-coast protection should not be made with a less section than one-half the height, measured above the foundation, or from the level of the permanent surface of beach, and this dimension must be increased if the wall is surcharged. The theory as to the pressure of dry earth at the back of a wall is that the force to be contended with is that due to the weight of the wedge-shaped mass included between the back of the wall and a line intersecting the angle between the vertical face and the natural angle of the material of which the earth consists. The greatest pressure results when the earth is so saturated with water as to be in a fluid condition, or what is termed mud- pressure, and is equal to that produced by a fluid having the same specific gravity as water. A safe value to assume for the pressure likely to be produced by ordinary earth in a fairly dry condition is one-third that of mud-pressure, which, according to the wedge theory, corresponds to an angle of 30 degrees, or a slope of about 1-| to 1. Dry cohesive earth will stand at an angle of 45 degrees, or 1 to 1 ; some kind of wet clay is not to be depended on at an angle of about 18 degrees, or a slope of 3 to 1. The simplest formulae for ascertaining the horizontal pressure against a wall having a vertical back, where P = pressure, VV = weight of earth, taken at 112 Ibs. the cubic foot, H = height of wall exposed above the surface of ground, Q = the natural angle of repose of the earth at the back of the wall, are WH 2 (1) For mud-pressure, P = (2) For earth-pressure, P X tan 2 SEA-WALLS. 93 (3) For earth-pressure where a wall is infinitely surcharged, p _ WH 2 x cos 2 Q 2 The centre of pressure being taken as acting at one-third of the height of the wall measured from the bottom, and direction of centre of pressure as normal to the wall. For Nos. 2 and 3, the following give the same result, where C is a constant representing the pressure of the earth in cwts. for the different slopes : Slope. Angle of repose. C. Surcharged wall. VJ* 2 to 1 .... 26-34 Iftol . . . . 29-44 1J to 1 . . . . 33-42 H to 1 . . . . 38-40 1 to 1 . 45-00 0-19 0-390 0-17 0-375 0-14 0-345 0-10 0-304 0-085 . 0-250 For example, a wall 10 feet high above the beach, weight of earth 1 cwt. per cubic foot, slope li to 1. The horizontal pressure acting on 1 foot in length at one-third the height of the wall would be by formula P = 1 X 10 a X 0-14 = 14 cwt. Or if the wall were infinitely surcharged, the slope of the earth above the top of the wall being continued at the same angle as below P = 1 x 10 2 x 0-345 = 34-5 cwt, If the ground behind were in a semi-fluid condition, or in a state of mud-pressure P. 11?. 60 The strength of the wall to resist this pressure depends on the weight of the material and the position of its centre of gravity. With mud-pressure, the width of the base ought not to be less than three-fourths the height. With fairly good backing, the base may be one-third the height. For example, taking a wall 10 feet high, and having a rectangular section of half the height, a line let fall from the centre of gravity to the base bisects it equally, and gives the leverage as 2'5 feet. Taking the weight of concrete as 140 Ibs. to the cubic foot, the weight of 10 x 5 x 140 the material in the wall is ~112~~ = cwt< 94 THE SEA-COAST. 62-5 x 2-5 =-156-22 cwt. Taking the earth-pressure as given above, this leaves an ample factor of safety. Height. The top of the wall should be sufficiently high to prevent the wave itself, independent of the water projected up- wards as spray, breaking over the top of the wall. This height depends on the range of the tides, the exposure of the wall, and the height which the waves in heavy on-shore gales approach the wall. Under ordinary conditions, waves beating against walls made for sea-coast protection seldom exceed from 10 to 12 feet in height, one-half of which is above and the other below the normal level of the water. The level of an extraordinary tide may be taken as 4 feet to 5 feet above ordinary spring tides ; this would give the top of the wall at high water as from 10 to 11 feet above the level of high water at ordinary spring tides. In sheltered positions and with a good beach in front, this height may be reduced ; this accords with the general practice. Thus the top of the wall at Hove is 12 feet above ordinary high water of spring tides, the range of an ordinary spring tide above low water being 20 feet ; the new wall at Blackpool is 12 feet above, the range of tide being 25 J feet ; while at Scarborough the height is 13 feet, the range of tide being 16 feet. The walls at Eamsgate and Margate are from 7 to 8 feet, with a range of 15 feet. With the sloping wall at Dymchurch, the top of the wall is 10 feet above ordinary high water, the range of the tide being 22 feet. At Ostend the top of the wall is 12J feet above ordinary high water, and at Scheveningen 10 feet above the highest known tides, or 16 feet above ordinary tides, the range being respectively 17 and 13 feet. Material for facing Walls. It is essential that the material used y whether for facing an upright wall or for pitching a sloping bank, shall be of a hard and durable character. Concrete in mass is most generally used for upright walls, with a facing of stronger material than the body of the wall. Unless great care is exercised in making this facing, it is liable to become broken and disintegrated by the action of the waves, especially where the beach is covered with shingle. Concrete has an advantage over masonry walls, due to the absence of joints, and the smoother face which it affords. At Hove the wall was built with blocks of concrete, the face blocks having flints on the surface bedded 4 inches deep in the concrete. In other walls random granite blocks have been used in place of the flints. SEA-WALLS. 95 In Belgium and Holland columnar basalt has been very largely used during recent years, both for upright walls and for the facing of sloping banks. The hexagonal shape of the basalt blocks lends itself to the keying of the stones in a much better manner than the random shape of flints or granite. At Hastings it has been in use for some time past, for the facing of the granite blocks used for groynes, and for the aprons to a sea-wall, and has been found to answer more satisfactorily than granite or Kentish Kag, the stones previously employed. For the new sea-wall in course of construction at Southend- on-sea, as also that at Clacton, basalt blocks from 4 to 7 inches in depth have been adopted in substitution of Kentish Kag stone, the material formerly used. For the protective works in the Maas and the Khine this stone is exclusively used, as it has also been for the sea-walls at Scheveningen, Norway, and other places. Granite has also been superseded by basalt for the sea-wall, and for pitching the great sea-banks at Petten and West Kapelle, as hereafter described. Timber Walls. For mere protective purposes, and where economy of outlay is a consideration, sea-walls may in some cases with advantage be constructed of timber. Ten feet may be taken as the greatest height to which such walls should be built when dependence is placed on the strength of the piles used. Beyond this the strength of the timber is not calculated to resist the pressure, and ties have to be resorted to. When such a wall is at the foot of a cliff of unstable material, difficulty may be encountered in fixing the tie-piles in a reliable position. In any case, these should be well beyond the line of the angle of repose of the earth. Pitchpine is frequently used for construction, but this timber is very uncertain in its strength and lasting qualities. Although due care may have been exercised in the selection of the wood, it will frequently be found, on examination, that in the exposed part, such as the walings and the tops of the piles, decay will have set in soon after the construction, and at the end of ten years this will have extended to such an extent as to materially impair the strength of the timber. Sound Memel fir, creosoted with 10 Ibs. of oil, will be found a more reliable material, and its life may be placed at three times that of timber that has not been creosoted. Pitchpine will not absorb more than from 4 to 6 Ibs. of oil. A wall consists of main piles, walings extending horizontally between the main piles, and sheet piles or boarding. In some 96 THE SEA-COAST. cases it is found more convenient to form the lower part with sheet piles and the upper part with boarding. The practice of not continuing the sheeting or boarding behind the main piles, although apparently saving timber, is not to be recommended, as it makes the fixing of the walings difficult, and unless greater care is exercised in the driving of the sheet piles than is usually practised in work of this kind, voids are left between the main and sheet piles which lead to the disintegration of the backing behind. The water is drawn through these voids by the waves, and the earth behind sucked out ; or, when it falls on the top, works its way down through the earth and washes it away. The failure of a timber sea-wall due to the pressure of the earth at the back takes place much more frequently from the yielding of the earth in front of the piles than by their fracture at the point where they enter the ground ; it becomes therefore necessary, if the ground is soft and yielding, to place concrete blocks or large boulders in front. There is little or no advantage gained in driving piles beyond a certain depth, as fracture will take place at the surface of the ground before the compression of the earth, beyond a few feet from the surface, allows the piles to move forward. Ten feet may be taken as the usual limit in ordinary cases for main piles, and half this for the sheet piles. . In determining the depth to which the piles are to be driven, and the strength of the timber, consideration must be given to the fact that the beach, unless proper protective measures are taken, may be considerably lowered after the piling is con- structed, increasing the strain upon the wall. The distances apart of the piles and of the other timbers will depend on the sectional size of these. There is, however, a con- venience and economy in using the ordinary marketable sizes, as the price becomes greater as the size of the timber increases. There is also an advantage in the fact that where the timbers are placed nearer together, the strains due to the pressure of the earth are more evenly distributed. An average dimension of 5 feet in the clear may be taken as that generally found sufficient for the main piles. Taking these dimensions, the following may be taken as an example of a sea-wall of this character with earth of good quality at the back. Height from the normal level of the beach to the top of the SEA-WALLS. 97 wall, 10 feet. Main piles driveii at a rake of 1 in 10, to average 13 inches square, distance apart in the clear, say 5 feet. Two walings, the lower one placed about 3 feet from the beach, 9 inches by 6 inches, and the upper one near the top 6 inches by 6 inches. This is stronger in proportion than the other timber, but as these walings are more exposed to wind and weather, it is not prudent to make the scantling less. Sheet piles, from 4 inches to 6 inches thick, and driven 5 feet into the solid ground, and planking the same. If ties are required, these may be placed on every third pile. The tie-pile to be 9 feet long, with a breast piece in front, say 4 feet in length, 12 inches by 6 inches. Tie-rod 1J inch. Washers should always be the full width of the pile, and are best made of cast iron. CHAPTER Y. EXAMPLES OF SEA-WALLS. THE examples of sea-walls given in this chapter are intended to be typical of those generally in use for coast protection. Hove. The sea-wall erected here for the protection of the promenade about 1884, by Sir John Coode and by Mr. Ellice 3 _!.. iow/es^ of beach before wall constructed .5* known level \ t t 1 'WSbsr \ s "*i s O.D < 9 > Scale, 10 feet=1 inch LW. | S.T. HOVE SEA WALL. FIG. 10. Clark, is constructed of concrete, the front being formed with blocks of the same material, having large flints embedded 4 inches deep on the face. The height of the wall, is 22 feet ; the EXAMPLES OF SEA-WALLS. 99 base is 9 feet thick, and the top 3 feet, finished with a granite coping. The wall is vertical for 3 feet from the bottom, and then batters at the rate of 1 in 6. The top is 12 feet above ordinary high water of spring tides, which rise 20 feet above low water ; the base rests on the shingle, and was carried 9 feet below the lowest level to which the beach had been known to scour, the chalk being 28 to 30 feet below the top of the coping. The height above the beach was therefore only 13 feet at the time the wall was built. The mean section of the wall is 6 feet. High water of spring tides reached to about the exposed part of the wall when it was built. About a year after its construction, the beach was cut away within 10 inches of the foundation, and the front had to be protected with sheet piles. The wall is 2000 feet long. Scarborough. The cliff on the north side of the town rises from 100 to 175 feet above the sea-level, and consists of shale mixed with irregularly bedded sandstone, and on this is imposed a stratum from 10 to 30 feet thick of boulder clay, which has fallen from the cliff behind. The shore consists of shale, which dips seaward, the beach having a covering of sand and pebbles varying from 2 to 5 feet thick, which is frequently bared to the shale in rough weather. In calm weather the sand sometimes accumulates in front of the wall to the level of H.W.S.T. The length of beach to L.W.S.T. is from 250 to 300 yards, and the rise of tide 16 feet. 1 The beach near the foot of the cliffs is about 11 feet above low water, the depth of water against the cliff or sea-wall at H.W.O.S.T. being 5 feet, and in E.H.W. 10 feet. Owing to the action of the waves in undermining the cliff, aided by the soakage of rain- water, landslips were frequently taking place. In 1879 a slip occurred, carrying away a portion of the road on the top of the cliff, and placing the hotel and houses located there in danger. Between 1886-90 a sea-wall was erected, and the cliff benched and drained. The sea-wall extends from the Castle northwards for a distance of 3600 feet. It is founded on the hard shale, into which the base is sunk 2 feet. It is constructed of concrete composed of sea-shingle, sand, and cement, in the proportion of 8 to 1, with random blocks of stone interspersed, the face blocks being 6 to 1. The blocks are 2 feet deep, by 1 foot wide, and 2 feet long, grooved at the ends, and laid in alternate courses of headers 1 Min. Proc. List. C.E., vol. cv., 1891. 1OO THE SEA COAST. and stretchers. The wall is 22 feet high, 1G feet wide at the base, and 5 feet at the top. The face is curved to a radius of 17 feet. The coping is 13 feet above H.W.S.T. In heavy gales the waves break with great force on this wall, the water being thrown over the top and falling on the roadway. Soon after the completion of the wall the wave-action scoured away the beach, and within a year the shale in places was scooped out to a depth of 3 feet. An apron 15 feet wide and 3 feet G L. W. S.T. I SCARBOROUGH FIG. 11. This inches deep, with a toe 5 feet deep, was added in 1891. apron consists of pitched stones on a layer of concrete. The cost of the wall, exclusive of the apron, but inclusive of 115,770 cubic yards of filling at the back, was 18,777. The illustration is taken from a section supplied to the author by Mr. H. W. Smith, the borough engineer. Westgate. For the protection of the chalk cliffs on the estate of the Bethlehem Hospital, a sea-wall 16 feet high has been con- structed. The face is curved to a radius of 12 feet at the bottom and 20 feet at the top. The base of the wall was carried 2 feet below the hard chalk of which the beach consisted, the surface of which, at the foot of the wall, is 9 feet 6 inches above low water of spring tides, the rise of ordinary spring tides being 15 feet EXAMPLES OF SEA-WALLS. 101 6 inches, and reaching within 7 feet of the top of the wall. In two to three years after the construction of the wall it was found that, owing to wave-action, the chalk had been cut away, the foot of the wall undermined, and the chalk scoured out 9 inches. In St. Mildred's Bay, at Westgate, the chalk cliffs were pro- tected by a coating of concrete about 18 inches thick, made in a curved form. This wall is shown by the dotted line in the illustration. During a storm and high tide in the winter of 1897, the waves, striking the wall and being thrown upwards, fell on the roadway at the back and washed away the tar pavement, leaving the chalk filling at the back of the wall bare, and this was subsequently washed out and the wall destroyed. A new wall was subse- quently constructed for the owners of the property. This wall is 10J feet high, (> feet wide at the base, and 2 feet at the top, which is 7 feet C inches above H.W.O.S.T. The base is sunk into the chalk 4 feet below the level of the beach, which is here 13 feet above low water. The face is curved to a radius of 20 feet. This section of the wall is shown by the thick lines on the illustration, for which the author is indebted to Messrs. Mclntosh, Valon & Son, the engineers under whose direction the work was carried out. Bognor. A sea-wall and promenade about one mile in length has been constructed along the front of this town. The portion at the western end and that constructed in 1899, which were carried out under the direction of Mr. 0. A. Brydges, the Surveyor to the Urban District Council, are made of concrete composed of shingle, sand, and Portland cement, in the proportion of 6 to 1. The wall is 13 feet high. The base is 5 feet 6 inches wide, and reaches 3 feet into the clay. Above this the face batters at the rate of 3 inches to the foot, the top being 3 feet wide and 4J feet above H.W.S.T. There are counterforts every 30 feet. The face is composed of concrete blocks, 2 feet and 1 foot WESTGATE L.W.S.T. FIG. 12. 102 THE SEA-COAST. 6 inches by 1 foot G inches long and 1 foot deep, and having flints about 4 inches in diameter bedded in cement and sand in equal quantities. Each block has an angular slot left down both sides, which is filled with cement when the block is laid. The wall is 160 yards long, and cost 2300. Clacton. The cliffs along this part of the coast consist of London clay with beds of gravel and flints. A considerable outlay has been incurred both at Clacton and Walton in protect- ing the cliffs by concrete and timber walls and by groynes. In front of Clacton, a concrete wall about 2000 feet in length was constructed twenty years ago for the purpose of forming a promenade. This wall is 19 feet high from the base to the top, PROMENADE CLACTON ON SEA OLD WALL FIG. 13. which is 11 feet above O.H.W.S.T. It is founded on the London day ; the base is 9 feet 6 inches wide, being sunk 7 feet 6 inches in the clay. There is a promenade 20 feet wide at the back of the wall, beyond which the cliff slopes upwards. With ordinary spring tides the water does not reach the west end of the wall within 10 or 12 feet. The lower part of the face up to about 5 feet above O.H.W. has a straight batter of li to 1, and is pitched with Kentish rag stone; above this the wall is curved to a radius of 8 feet up to the top. The wall is made of concrete, the cement being in the proportion of 1 to 10 of the other material, in the lower part, and above the pitching 1 to 7. The outline section of this wall is shown in the illustration. EXAMPLES OF SEA-WALLS. 103 Three concrete groynes, 4 feet 6 inches high, were carried out to low water at right angles to the wall, with the object of pre- venting the denudation of the beach in front. It was, however, found that instead of effecting this purpose, the destructive effect of the waves breaking into the bays formed by these pro- jections, and against the wall, had a very damaging effect on the beach, and caused considerable denudation. These concrete groynes have consequently been removed. The effect of the waves breaking on the wall still tends to cut away the beach from the front, the surface being much lower at the east than at the west end. The danger of the wall being overthrown was so great that a concrete apron had to be put down for its protection. At the \vest end of the wall a promenade pier, which runs out to sea, has acted as a groyne, and a large quantity of sand and shingle has accumulated, the beach being 5 feet higher at this than at the eastern end. To the east of the concrete wall the cliffs were protected and a promenade formed by a timber sea-wall, which extends to the limits of the jurisdiction of the Sea Defence Commissioners, by whom it was constructed in 1889. This wall consisted of pitchpine piles U> inches square, spaced 6 feet apart centre to centre, varying in length from 18 feet to 24 feet, and driven originally 12 feet into the London Clay, of which the substratum of the beach is composed ; they were strutted seawards with 1 2 inches square timber placed at an angle of 45 degrees, the foot resting on a block of concrete, about 4 feet square, bedded in the clay. The sheet piles consisted of 6 inches pitchpine bolted to two 12-inch by 6-inch walings. After the construction of the wall, the waves breaking on it in high tides cut away the beach, removing not only the sand and shingle, but also the clay or " platimore," as it is locally termed, the surface being lowered 4 feet, thus considerably increasing the thrust on the wall. The struts which were placed in front of the piles were considered as contributing to the destructive effect of the waves. During the north-easterly gales of the winter of 1896-7, owing to the denudation of the beach in front of the piles to the extent of 4 feet, and landslips of the cliffs at the back due to the satura- tion of the beds of sand and gravel by heavy rains, about 250 feet of this wall was overthrown. This breach was repaired, and the main piles tied with iron rods to piles driven on the land side. Although this walling had only been done about ten or twelve 104 THE SEA-COAST. years, the beads of some of the piles and the walings had already begun to show signs of decay. A concrete wall about 1000 yards long has recently been con- structed in the front of the timber structure. The cost of this wall, including 850 for forming the promenade, amounted to 19,200, for which the Local Government Board sanctioned a loan repayable in forty years. The section of this new wall, as shown in the illustration, which also shows the timber wall at the back, varies a little from V CLACTOH ON SEA 'JKEW WALL FIG. 14. the old one, the upper part having less curve, and basalt blocks 13 inches deep being substituted for Kentish rag stone. This wall was carried out under the direction of Mr. T. H. Cressy, the Surveyor to the Clacton Sea Defence Commissioners, to whom the author is indebted for the drawings from which the illustrations have been taken. On the western side of Clacton pier the cliffs are protected, so far as they extend, by a timber wall of similar construction to that which formerly protected the east end. Bridlington. These sea-walls will be found described in Chapters IV. and VII. Southend. The cliffs here consist of London clay, and are EXAMPLES OF SEA-WALLS. 105 subject to constant slips. The Promenade is protected by a sea- wall half a mile long, which has recently been built. This wall is vertical and composed of concrete, the base being sunk 2 feet into the clay beach, the height above this being 9 feet. The thickness is 2 feet at the top and 4 feet at the bottom, the batter on the sea- face being 1 in 5. The top of the wall is 1 foot above the pathway, 5 feet above an ordinary spring tide, and 4 feet 9 inches above the highest known tide. The space on the beach in front of this wall has been filled with clay, trimmed to a batter of 1 in 3, and on this is laid a pitching of basalt blocks varying in thickness from 6 to 9 inches, the joints being pointed with fine concrete. The front of the slope is not protected by piling or otherwise. Blackpool. The promenade along the south frontage at Black- pool is protected by a sloping sea-wall, locally termed " hulking." Originally the sloping cliffs or sand-banks were protected by stone pitching. As the beach became scoured away, this hulking was extended and carried further seaward until the present structure was developed. The limit of this extension does not seem to be reached yet, as the beach is still being scoured away. The pitching consists of rough granite blocks containing about 2 cubic feet, laid at an angle of about 2J to 1. It is divided into panels by planking fastened to piles driven into the bank, and in some cases with sheet piles. BLACKPOOL, NORTH SHORE. FIG. 15. The promenade at the north end has recently been extended, at a cost of 115,000, for three-quarters of a mile along the foot of the cliffs, which consist of a mixture of clay and sand derived from glacial drift. This promenade is protected by a concrete wall io6 THE SEA-COAST. 21 feet high and 7J feet wide at the base, which acts as a retaining wall to the foot of the cliffs behind. In front of this is an ashlar facing 8 feet high, curved to a radius of 8 feet, finishing with a bull nose projecting about 1 foot. Above this is a parapet wall 3 feet high. The top of the wall at the foot of the coping is 12 feet above H.W.O.S.T., and the bottom is a little above high water. From the base of this upright wall is a sloping face con- sisting of stone pitching laid on a foot of concrete to a slope of 2 to 1. This pitching consists of rough granite blocks averaging about 2 cubic feet, and is divided into panels 18 feet long and 23 feet wide, the divisions consisting of 2-inch planks fastened to round fir piles. The pitching as at first designed was 23 feet long and carried to the level of the beach. The foot of this wall was placed about 20 yards further seaward than the point to which high water previously reached. Since its construction the beach has been scoured away from 5 to G feet, and the pitching has con- sequently had to be extended a further 10 feet. Dymchurch, This wall will be found described in Chapter VII. Herne Bay. The sea-front, promenade, and road here, which extend for over a mile and a quarter, have been protected by a timber wall or breasting consisting of horizontal fir planks bolted to fir piles, and reclining from the vertical at an angle of 20 degrees. The piles are spaced 5 feet apart and have a 12 inches by 12 inches raking strut every 20 feet apart. Where this wall has recently been renewed the timber has been creosoted. In front is a bank of shingle, the surface of which varies from 2 to 10 feet below the top. In December, 1881-83, considerable damage was done to the wall, and a sum of 2600 expended on the sea- defences. During the gale and high tide of November, 1897, the waves broke over the wall and cut out the roadway, doing damage, which cost over 700 to repair. The height of the waves during this storm was estimated at 5 feet. In 1898 it was proposed to replace the timber by a concrete wall, the foundation of which was to rest on the London Clay. The face was to project 15 feet in front of the present line. The height was to be 20 to 24^ feet, and the top 17 feet above Ordnance datum, or 7J feet above high water, or about the height to which the water reached during the great tide of November, 1897. The face was to be stepped in the same manner as the wall described at Margate. The estimated cost was 40,000. The condition EXAMPLES OF SEA-WALLS. 107 Sect/on Plan imposed by the Local Government Board, that the money borrowed should be repaid within 20 years, being considered too onerous by the authorities, the scheme has not so far been proceeded with. Felixstowe. The cliffs to the north of this place, which consist of London Clay, are protected by a sea-wall consisting of a com- bination of timber and concrete. Fir piles, inches square and spaced 3 feet apart, are driven in the clay and support 11-inch by 2-inch planking. The piles are supported by timber ties. At the back of the board- ing is a concrete wall 9 feet high, 1 foot inches wide at the top, and 3 feet at the bottom. The beach in front con- sists of sand and small shingle. Morecambe Bay. An example is afforded here of a sea-wall constructed on the sand partly for reclaiming land, but principally for carrying a railway across the estuary. Morecambe Bay is a wide indent on the coast of Lancashire and facing the Irish Sea, having a width of 8 miles and a depth inland of 10 miles. The area dry at low water is about 90,000 acres, which is covered to a depth of from 5 to 10 feet at ordinary spring tides at the part where the embankment is placed, the rise of tide above low water in the outer part of the bay being 27 feet. The depth of the sand forming the floor of the estuary is not known, but borings made in some places to a depth of 30 feet, and in others to 70 feet, did not pass through it. The embankment across the estuary of the Leven was con- structed by Mr. Brunlees between 40 and 50 years ago, and is situated in the upper part of the bay, and is therefore less exposed than it would be on the coast, but for the greater part of its length there is a fetch of 50 miles in a south-westerly direction across Liverpool Bay (Fig. 17). The body of the embankment consists entirely of sand, the width at the top being made sufficient for two lines of railway. The outer side of the slope was made at a batter of 2 to 1, and the inside 1J to 1. The slope on the sea side was first covered with clay puddle to a depth of 12 inches. On this was laid small quarry rubble 8 to 10 inches diameter, 18 inches in thickness, and on this was placed limestone pitching 18 inches thick at the loS THE SEA-COAST. bottom, diminishing to 12 inches at the top. The pitching was carried 3 feet below the surface of the sand. The embankment varied from 15 to 25 feet in height, and was made 15 feet 6 inches above the level of ordinary spring tides, and 6 feet 3 inches above an extraordinarily high tide that occurred in December, 1852. The sands along the wall have increased in height since the bank was constructed, and in places are now covered with grass. The wall appears to have stood well (Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. xiv.). LEV EN ESTUARY FIG. IT. Clontarf. The embankment across the Clontarf estuary for the Dublin and Drogheda Bail way was made in a somewhat similar manner, the body of the bank being of sand, and the face having 3 feet of clay puddle and pitched with stone, the outer slope being 2 to 1 and the inner 1J to 1. In this and the previous case the facing with heavy pitching on a steep slope was found to answer better than the use of a flatter slope and lighter pitching. Sutton. The Lincolnshire coast is bordered by sand-dunes which extend from Saltfleet to the Wash, the land behind being below the level of high tides. The foot of these dunes is above the level of ordinary high water, and is only reached by the waves during very high spring tides. A large outlay has been incurred in protecting the dunes between Mablethorpe and Sutton, where they are liable to be washed down and broken through. This protection consists of covering the face of the sandbank with 3-inch planking spiked to walings bolted to fir piles 9 feet long by 7 inches square, spaced 4J to 5 feet apart each way, driven through the sand into the clay bed below. The lower part, which extends about 40 feet up the face, rakes at an angle of 15 degrees, and the upper length of 10 feet at an angle of 30 degrees (Fig. 18). The planks are bedded on a layer of clay. When this protection was first adopted, the heads of the piles pro- jected above the planking, and IJ-inch boarding was used. In the newer work the pile-heads are covered by the boarding, EXAMPLES OF SEA-WALLS. 109 and the thickness of the planking has been increased to 2 and 3 inches. The foot of the dunes, and consequently of the board- ing, being above the level of high water of mean spring tides, it is Hi Us H.W.O.S.T. Section Trusthorpc FIG. 18. only in case of very high tides and on-shore gales that the pro- tection of this boarding is required. Belgium and Holland. The sea breaks very heavily on that part of this coast which is exposed to the full range of the North Sea, and which has an uninterrupted fetch up to the North Pole of about 3000 miles. A great part of the country lies below the level of high water, and the struggle between the sea and the land has been continu- ous since the first attempt at reclamation was made in the time of the Kornans. The history of Holland is studded with records of disaster and ruin caused by storms, and of determined attempts to maintain the land. In some cases the efforts have been suc- cessful, but in others, only the record exists of towns and villages buried beneath the water of the sea. The vast extent of the works which have been carried out for the reclamation of this land may well justify the saying in Holland that God made the sea, but man made the land. The methods of protection in Holland are as various as in this country, and the engineers having charge of the sea-works differ on most important questions of procedure. The massive earthen banks, some of them having a base of over 300 feet in width, and 30 feet high, with long flat slopes, are costly to construct and expensive to maintain, and appear, to those accustomed to English methods, as more costly to keep in order, and less effective than if steeper slopes and heavier pro- tection were adopted ; but the fact must not be lost sight of, that the Dutch methods are the outcome of long years of experience, no THE SEA-COAST. and are carried out under the direction of engineers specially trained for the work. The general practice is to give a long seaward slope to the banks, and cover the face with a layer of clay about 3 feet thick, and on this to place a pitching of hard rubble stone generally basalt from Andernach on the Ehine in blocks 8 to 11 inches in thickness, or granite boulders from Norway. In some places the basalt blocks are laid on a mattress of osiers, which are either made into fascines 5 inches in diameter and from 40 to 60 feet in length, or packed in layers on the face of the bank. The slope of the lower or pitched part, which reaches to the level of the highest tides, is about 1 in 4, and of the matted part 1 in 40, the length of the face being from 200 to 300 feet. In other cases the banks for two-thirds of the way down to low-water mark are made to a gentle slope and paved with Dutch bricks ; below this the paving is continued with basalt, which is continued at a steeper inclination down to low water. In other cases, instead of the bricks, the clay is protected with a thick covering of plaited straw about a foot thick, placed in layers parallel with the bank, and held in place with straw bands, which V are pressed down into the clay with a tool made for the purpose. The straw requires renewing every year at a cost of about 3d. a square yard. Another method resorted to is the same as that used at Dym- church, piles being driven into the bank and bays formed with longitudinal and transverse timbers, between which the basalt covering is packed. Where piles are used in this way, a strong diversity of opinion prevails as to whether the heads should project or be flush with the paving, the engineers in charge of one district contending that these projecting piles serve to break up the waves and diminish their effect ; while others and these are the majority contend that any projection of this kind creates eddies which loosen and suck out the stones. Scheveningen. Here not only the protection of the coast has had to be considered, but also the requirements of an important watering-place, and the long slopes used in other places would have taken up too much valuable space. The sea-dt- fence works are three-quarters of a mile in length, and have been completed about five years. Previous to the construction of the wall the earthen bank was pitched with stones, over which, in heavy storms, the EXAMPLES OF SEA-WALLS. in water broke and fell on the inside, causing considerable damage. This bank, which suffered very severely during the storms of the winter of 1894, has within the last few years been protected by a concrete sea-wall, faced with basalt blocks 12 to 15 inches in depth, the face being formed to a radius of 1312 feet. The top of the wall is 24 feet above low water, and 13 feet above ordinary and 10 feet above the highest known tides. It is 20 feet high, the base extending 6J feet below low water, and is 8 feet 6 inches wide at the base, and 278 feet at top, the toe being Schvtnrrtgn. FiO. 19. protected by piles driven 13 feet below low water. In front of the wall is an apron 20 feet long, laid at a slope of 1 in 4. The lower part of this consists of mattress-work 1J feet thick and clay ; on this is concrete of the same thickness, the top being faced with basalt blocks. The length of the wall is 3714 feet, and the cost was 36 17s. 6d. a yard. Ostend. " The Digue " (Fig. 20), near the Pavilion du Koi, has a solid toe of concrete 16 feet long and 3 J feet thick ; from about the centre of this is a face of hard burnt bricks. The lower 5 feet is laid horizontally, and above this for 12 feet at a slope of 2 to 1, terminating at the top in a length of 3 feet, having a curve of 3'2 feet, and stone coping ; the top being 12 feet 6 inches above ordinary high water, and 7 feet 3 inches above highest tides. West Kapelle. The island of Walcheren, at the mouth of the Scheldt, is protected from the sea by sand-dunes. On the north- west side, between Domburg and West Kapelle, these were too weak to withstand the sea, and a wall had to be constructed to fill in the gap in the defences, in a somewhat similar manner to that 112 THE SEA-COAST. at Petten ; but the exposure here is much greater, the bank facing nearly due north, and being therefore exposed to a fetch of over 2000 miles. The waves beat on this part of the coast with great violence. This bank protects about 70,000 acres of land, the OSTEND. FIG. 20. surface of which is 6^ feet below high water. The tidal rise above low water is 11*20 feet, extraordinary tides rising 5*86 higher, or 17'06 feet. The bank dates from the ninth century, but has within recent times been increased in size and consolidated. It is 2*36 miles in length, and its top is 27'3S feet above low water, and 1618 feet above average high tides. It was built and is maintained by the Island of Walcheren, the annual cost of maintenance amounting to about 16,000, equal to a rate on the land of about 8s. an acre. The bank is protected by a series of groynes, the construction of which is described in Chapter VII. The width of the bank at the top is 40 feet. The average slope is 1 in 14, divided as follows : lower part, for a horizontal distance of 72 feet, 1 in 6, covered with stone up to average high water. All this part is protected by a stockade composed of eleven ranges of piles 6 inches in diameter and from 8 to 11 feet in length, the heads projecting from 3 to 5 feet above the face, and spaced 1 foot 6 inches apart. Above this for 30 feet the slope is 1 in 7, which is pitched with basalt. Above this for 20 feet the slope is 1 in 8 ; then for 200 feet 1 in 17. This upper part is protected with clay and straw matting. Above this is basalt pitching, and the upper part is sodded. In the less exposed part the face is defended with stone pitching and fascines. EXAMPLES OF SEA-WALLS. 113 Petten Sea-bank. For the preservation of the Petten and Hondsbossche Polders on the coast of Holland, about 12 miles south of the Helder, a sea-dyke 3'41 miles in length was built many years ago. This bank was reconstructed during the period 1870-80. The beach in front is entirely sand, and extends from 300 to 350 feet to low water, the slope being about 1 in 60. The bank crosses a gap in the sand-dunes, to which it is joined at each end. The tide here rises about 5 feet, or 2-23 feet above Amsterdam Peil, or mean level of the sea. During a gale in December, 1863, high water rose 8*20 feet above the level of ordinary high tides, and within 11*48 feet of the top of the bank. During another gale in December, 1883, the waves ran up the bank nearly to the top, or to a height of 18*70 feet above mean high water. The top of the bank varies from 19*70 to 23 feet above mean high water. This bank is repaired by two different authorities, the Hondsbossche bank being in charge of the local Polder Com- missioners, and the Petten bank under the charge of the Govern- ment. The Government bank is 0*62 mile long, and has a total width of 253 feet at the base, the sea-slope averaging about 1 in 8. The lower part, up to the level of high tides, slopes at the rate of 1 in 4 ; then there is a stretch of 1 in 40 ; another of 1 in 24 ; above this 1 in 20. The material for the body of the bank was obtained from the inside, at some distance from the work. It is pitched at the bottom up to the level of the highest tides, a length of 60 feet, with basalt from Andernach, on the Rhine, laid on a thick bed of clay. The blocks as obtained from the quarries are hexagonal in shape, and are broken off into lengths of from 12 to 18 inches, and placed on a matting of osiers made into fascines 5 inches in diameter, and from 40 to 50 feet in length. A row of piles, 6 inches in diameter, is driven into the clay about 1 foot apart, the rows being 9 -84 feet apart, the heads being left projecting about 3 feet. Above this is a long, flat slope about 87 feet in length, which is thatched with wheat straw laid in bundles over- lapping each other, placed on a thick bed of clay, the covering being renewed every autumn. The bundles are fastened down to the clay by bands of straw laid parallel with the dyke, and pressed 6 inches into the clay with a special tool. This straw I ii4 THE SEA-COAST. covering is only expected to last for one season. The straw thatching is terminated by a row of piles, and above this for about 30 feet is basalt pitching on a bed of clay, the clay covering being continued to the top of the bank. The Polder, or Hondsbossche dyke, which is 2*79 miles long, has been treated rather differently. The dimensions are approxi- mately the same, the top of the bank being rather higher. Instead of the straw thatching, basalt pitching is placed for a length of 92 feet, at a slope of 1 in 24, up to a level of about 5^ feet above the highest known tide ; and above this to the top the face is covered with clay to a thickness of about 4 feet. The cost of the Polder dyke was 183,333, and of the Government bank 41,666, or an average for the two of 63-049 per mile. The cost of maintenance is about 2000 a year. 1 The Helder Dyke. The great dyke at the Helder is described by Marsh 2 as being 5 miles in length and 40 feet wide at the top. It slopes down 200 feet into the sea at an angle of 40 degrees. The base is always washed by the swell of the sea, but the highest waves do not reach the top. The sea-front of the bank is composed of Norwegian granite. Groynes at regular intervals run out from the bank to low water. On the Friesland coast, over a length of 150 miles, where there are no dunes, the earthen banks have been protected at their foot by triple rows of piles, bound together by longitudinal and cross timbers, the space between the piles being filled in with stones. The ground adjacent to the piling is secured by fascines, and at the more exposed parts heavy blocks of stone are heaped up as an additional protection. Cranz is a sea-bathing resort on the shore of the Baltic standing on a cliff consisting of loamy clay from 16 to 20 feet high. This cliff was gradually being undermined and washed away by the action of the sea. About 40 years ago some short groynes were constructed in front of the cliff, but, not being carried high enough up the beach, did more harm than good ; the waves breaking above them cutting out the beach, a current was set up between the upper ends of the groynes and the cliff, which caused considerable erosion. Subsequently these groynes were carried up to the foot of the cliff, and extended seaward to a depth of 5 feet. 1 Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung, January, 1898. 2 " Man and Nature," Marsh. 1864. EXAMPLES OF SEA-WALLS. 115 For the protection of the Corso and bathing establishment, a retaining wall of rubble masonry was built, having a width of 5 feet at the top and 10 feet at the base, which was carried 3 feet below the mean water-level. This wall was protected by a row of piles 3 feet 6 inches long. The cost was 4 a foot run. The foot of the cliffs was protected by a breakwater consisting of a double row of piles 3 feet 3 inches apart; the front batter- ing at an angle of 1 in 4, the back row being vertical, the space between the piles being filled with fascines. This breakwater was strutted with timbers driven at an angle of 45 degrees, the heads being secured to the back piles, these being strengthened by longitudinal waling and cross-braces to the front piles. In front of the breakwater, and parallel with it, two rows of piles were driven at distances of 6 feet and 13 feet, and having a plank spiked to them at the bottom for the purpose of diminishing the effect of the backwash. These piles were 10 to 1'2 feet long, and 8 inches square. The cost of this breakwater was 30s. a foot run. The general effect was good ; the groynes became covered with sand, and a foreshore was formed between the breakwater and the front row of piles (Min. Proc. List. C.E., vol. li., 1877). Nordenay. The face of the bank here is paved with heavy sandstone blocks, laid on concrete to a little above the level of the highest tides, the lower face being concave, with a radius of 14*70 feet, and the lower part convex, and above this brick paving on concrete. The base is protected by a toe 18 feet long, consist- ing of rows of piling with transverse timbers, the space between being filled in with large blocks of stone, the total thickness being 4 feet. CHAPTEK VI. GROYNES. FOR the protection of a shore where cliffs exist to provide the material, and where the object to be attained is only the preserva- tion of the land, shingle-banks are sufficient for the purpose, and a sea-wall is not required. For the purpose of gathering the shingle and raising the beach, groynes are made use of, placed on the beach transversely to the coast-line. The system of groyning generally adopted may be divided into three classes (1) High substantial structures placed at short intervals apart. (2) Those of a less expensive character, the planking of which rises only a short distance above the beach. (3) Where reliance is placed on a single substantial structure to accumulate the material over a considerable length of coast. Groynes in themselves cannot be regarded as a protection, but are serviceable in the effect they produce on the beach. They do not create fresh material, but simply stay the littoral drifting action, and so prevent denudation and assist in accumu- lation. Provided they stay the drift of the shingle from the length of the coast to be protected, that is all that can be expected from them. There is, therefore, little or no service to be derived from placing them on a coast where there is no material to collect, and no wasting cliffs to provide fresh supplies, except to prevent the formation of lows on sandy shores or beaches. Effect of Groynes on Wave-action. Groynes are of no service in moderating the force of the waves, or preventing them break- ing on the beach, but, on the contrary, tend to add to their destructive effect. When the momentum of a wave is suddenly GROYNES. 117 checked by an obstruction, such as a high groyne, the water is projected upwards, and in falling cuts out and erodes the beach. The retiring wave, flowing back in a considerable volume, carries with it in its undertow this loosened material. When groynes project much above the beach, and are placed within short distances of each other, the water thrown into the bay between them, owing to its momentum being checked, is forced above its normal height. Owing to this increased eleva- tion, the wave retires with greater velocity than when it has a freer course, and is thus more effective in the removal of material down the slope of the beach. . When Avaves are driven by the wind obliquely into these short bays, the water eddies round and cuts out the shingle. Owing to the irregularity in the breaking of the waves, due to the obstruction caused by a high groyne, it frequently occurs that the crest of the wave is on one side of a groyne while the trough is on the other, and consequently the water pours over the top like a cataract, and in falling 8 or 10 feet, as in some cases, on the bare beach on the other side, disturbs and cuts out the surface. Shingle is frequently found heaped up to the top of a high groyne on the windward side, but never accumulates for any permanency on the leeward side ; on the contrary, the sea always has the greatest eroding effect at this part, the water running freely up the shingle heaped up on the windward side, and drop- ping over the top of the groyne on to the bare beach. With direct on-shore gales shingle is drawn down, and the upper part of the beach becomes denuded. Groynes do not prevent this removal. Groynes on Sandy Beaches. On sandy beaches there is not the same amount of drift as where shingle abounds. Groynes, there- fore, have much less effect in collecting beach material. There is, however, a certain amount of sand that is set in motion during the flood tide, and more especially during heavy gales, which is carried by the current and deposited in slack water. Where long low jetties have been run out across sandy fore- shores, there has in some cases been accumulation on the wind- ward side of these. Thus, on the coast of Holland, where there exists a long flat beach of sand, a considerable accumulation of and has taken place on the west side of the jetties of the harbours n8 THE SEA- CO AST, at Ymuiden, and at those at the outlet of the river Maas, as described more fully in Chapter VIII. The surface of sandy beaches frequently consists of wide ridges and lows, the lowest places generally being found where the waves plunge at H.W.S.T. If low groynes be placed across such beaches, extending from the shore to low water, the action of the flood tides causes the sand off the ridges to work upwards along the groynes towards the shore, filling the hollows, and leaving an even surface for some distance from the shore of hard firm sand lying at an angle of from 1 in 10 to 1 in 15, the surface below this having an incline to low water of from 1 in 50 to 1 in 100. A wet, soft surface may thus be converted, for a certain distance from the shore, by a transposition of material, into dry, firm sands. Examples of this effect will be found in the description of the beaches at Bridlington and Blackpool in Chapter VII. Distance apart. No general rule can be laid down as to the space that should intervene between groynes ; so much depends on local circumstances that experience of these alone can deter- mine this factor, but on the score of economy and efficiency, it is better to carry out the work tentatively, and add to the number, if experience shows this to be desirable, rather than to place them near together at first. Where fishing or boating is carried on, and the boats are beached on the shore, a series of low groynes placed near together may be a source of great danger, as it is difficult for the boatmen to ascertain their position and avoid them when the beach is covered at high water. Groynes placed at short intervals make a very uneven surface, and completely spoil the appearance and amenities of the beach for the purposes to which they are applied at seaside resorts. In fact, groyning was described by Mr. Kedman as a plan for cutting up the easy flowing lines of a shingle beach into a multitude of short bays, with a repletion of material on one side and deep water on the other, and by means of which the long easy slope which shingle assumes on a natural beach is changed into a series of short abrupt banks, by which new antagonistic forces are brought into play. Although practice varies greatly, the rate most generally followed appears to be to make the distance between the groynes equal to their length, and this, to be effective, may be taken as GROYNES. 119 the distance between high and low water of spring tides. This distance may, ;however, be increased without detriment to the raising of the beach, while lessening the cost. At Cooding, near Bexhill, with groynes 250 yards apart, the shingle on the beach accumulated to a height of '20 feet, and high water was driven back 30 yards from the shore. Under the most favourable conditions, groynes can but be regarded as obstructions to the free use of the beach, their presence only being justified by the necessity for protecting the shore. They should not, therefore, be multiplied more than is absolutely necessarv. As the only use of groynes is to prevent the drift of material, experience shows that, where the length of shore to be protected is short, a single groyne, placed at the leeward end of the length to be protected, and raised from time to time as the beach material accumulates, will answer all the purposes required for protection, without creating the objectionable features above referred to. The action of the waves in disturbing the shingle in gales is much less destructive on a level line of beach than where it is broken up by numerous groynes projecting above the surface. The length of coast that may be effectually protected by a single groyne to the best advantage, and without accumulating more shingle than is required for the protection of the coast, may be taken, under normal conditions, at about 600 yards. In the case of a jetty carried out from the shore for the pro- tection of the entrance to a harbour, and which extends into deep water, the effect will extend to a much greater distance than this, but these structures are of a much more substantial and expensive character than are required solely for coast protection. Shingle accumulates to the greatest width immediately on the windward side of a groyne, and tapers off in a narrowing line at an angle of about 95 degrees with the lower end of the groyne, the accumulation reaching two-thirds of the way down the groyne. By the time this has been accomplished it will be found, with the distance given, that the beach has become raised to the top of a groyne which reaches to the level of high water, after which future additions will pass over to the lee side. By the time this occurs the shingle-bank under the cliff, for the distance of about GOO yards, will have accumulated to a width sufficient for the protection of the cliff. 120 THE SEA- CO AST. In the illustration, the shingle is shown by the dotted part as having accumulated to the full extent due to the length of the groyne. The thick line at right angles to the coast shows the single large groyne. The dotted lines represent the number and position of low groynes as usually placed to protect the same length of coast. The effect produced by a single groyne in promoting accumulation qf material and providing a beach free from all pro- jections and encumbrances, and the advantages of this system as compared with that where a number of groynes are placed at short intervals, are exemplified on the coast at Cronier, a description of which will be found in Chapter VII. The shingle beach in front of the wall at Hythe has been accumulated, and is held up along its whole length, by a single concrete and timber groyne at the east end ; and the result cannot but be regarded as more satisfactory than the unsightly and - T~ji7~o f " -l^;^dd L rlV-Or-7v ~ r 7~^~- ,!. . ' ' ~ S># H.W.SJ. and Coast. Line . f)f)n Vrlc, FIG. 21. Plan showing Accumulation of Shingle against Groynes. uneven condition of the adjoining beach at Seabrobke, which is protected by a number of high groynes at short intervals. The construction of the west pier of the harbour at Folkestone, and the groyne adjoining it, led at once to the making up of the beach for a width of 500 yards near the pier, tailing off to a distance of half a mile ; all the old groynes which formerly obstructed the use of the shore being now buried. The same has been the case at Shoreham, where the west pier of the harbour holds up the shingle along a frontage of 1-J- miles, beyond which the beach has been obstructed by some high timber groynes. The pier at Littlehampton is boarded on the west side, and has prevented the eastward drift, and raised the beach for a con- siderable distance, the old groynes being buried. At Hastings the concrete groyne at the east end of the promenade and road led to a large accumulation of shingle, which is gradually spreading westward, making a far more GROYNES. 121 effective protection to the sea-wall than the high unsightly groynes which obstruct the remainder of this beach. At South wold the wooden jetty which has been projected out from the shore for protecting the river Blyth from the littoral drift has led to the accumulation of a bank of shingle half a mile in length and 110 yards wide. The fine level stretch of sand at Yarmouth, free from any groynes, is due to the projection of the north pier ; and at Lowes- toft, after the jetties at the entrance to the harbour were built, the beach rapidly accumulated on the windward side, and in 20 years advanced over 100 yards seaward. Height. The less the height of the planking of groynes rises above the beach, the less the effect of the waves in disturbing and eroding the beach. Low groynes are therefore more effective in securing an even surface than those which are carried several feet above the beach. The most effective plan, where the groynes are placed at short intervals, is to commence with the planking raised about 18 inches or 2 feet above the surface, and gradually to raise it as the material accumulates. High groynes are costly to construct in the first instance, and afterwards to maintain. They require to be made very sub- stantial to resist the impact of the waves and the pressure of the large amount of shingle that accumulates on one side only. They are less effective in accumulating material than low groynes raised from time to time as the beach accumulates. The profile of a beach where high groynes placed at short distances apart exist, if traced along a line horizontal to the shore, consists of a series of mounds, the shingle being accumu- lated against the groyne to a great height on the windward side, and tailing off at a steep slope, leaving the leeward side of the bay bare, the drop from the surface on one side to that on the other sometimes being from 10 to 15 feet. Where high groynes are used for the purpose of collecting beach to support a sea- wall, they offer a very irregular support and protection. The mounds of shingle oscillate between one side of the bay and the other as the direction of the gales varies. So, also, a profile taken in a direction transverse to the coast will show the shingle heaped up to a great height, and sometimes flowing over the sea-wall and on to the roadway at the top end, and sloping seawards with a rapid inclination, leaving the beach bare lower down. 122 THE SEA-COAST. Temporary Groynes. Where groynes are placed at short distances apart, if properly arranged and not carried too high, they will become buried by the accumulating shingle, and there is, therefore, no service in making them of a more substantial and permanent character than is necessary to serve the temporary use they have to fulfil. After a beach has been raised to nearly high-water mark, or to a little above mean tide-level, the accumulation of shingle will proceed without artificial aid when there is a continuous supply of drift. Sloping Groynes. In order to avoid the cutting out of the beach which occurs on the lee side of a groyne, a form has been used in France of the shape of the letter A, a centre pile being driven with walings on each side, from which planks are laid at an angle of 45 degrees to other walings attached to shorter piles at the level of the beach. It is claimed for these groynes that there is less disturbance of the beach by the waves, and that consequently the beach makes up equally on both sides. Groynes of this shape have also been used at Mablethorpe, on the East Coast, and at Bridlington, a description and illustration of which will be found in Chapter VII. Direction. With reference to the most effective direction to be given to groynes, the general practice is to place them at right angles to the shore-line, experience having shown that this on the whole gives the best results. The worst direction is at an angle sloping to the windward side, or towards the source from which the regular supply of drift comes ; and although examples are to be found of groynes placed in this direction, experience cannot be said to justify this system. Groynes sloping to leeward, or away from the source of supply, are advocated by Mr. K. F. Grantham, who has had considerable experience in works of coast protection on the South Coast. The groynes he has constructed at Lancing and Middleton have been made to point in a south-easterly direction, and he considers the result as satisfactory. Length. As to the length of groynes. Where there is a fair supply of shingle along the coast, it is not necessary to carry groynes as far down as where the beach consists only of coarse sand with a small sprinkling of pebbles, and it will be found sufficient if they extend to low water of neap tides ; but as groynes are generally required on beaches which have been more or less denuded of shingle, and their purpose is to prevent any drifting GROYNES. 123 of material away from the beach to be protected, the groyning- ought to extend from the cliffs or sea-wall to low water of spring tides. Although shingle accumulates only at the upper part of the beach, there is always especially after on-shore gales a certain quantity spread all over the beach down to or below low water. A groyne extending the whole depth of the beach will collect any coarse sand or shingle drifted against it, and material so stopped from travelling will gradually work along the groyne to the upper part of the beach. If the groyne to the extreme leeward end of the part to bo protected be carried as far seaward as practicable, so that it may stop the drifting material, each successive groyne to windward may be made shorter, and lengthened from time to time as the beach accumulates. This will be better understood by a reference to the diagram given on p. 120. Cost of Groynes. This will vary with the condition of the coast to be protected and the price of materials and labour. The following, however, may be taken as representing approximately the relative cost of the various systems. For the purpose of this comparison, a coast-line has been taken where the cliffs are just reached by the spring tides. The width of the beach to L.W.S.T. as 100 yards ; rise of tide !."> feet ; slope of beach 1 in 10 at upper part, and 1 in JJO at the lower, or mean of 1 in 20. The groynes to extend from the cliff to low water, or 100 yards ; the distance of the groynes apart as 120 yards. For the system of high groynes, the type is taken as that in use at Hove and Hastings ; for the low groynes, those at Worthing and Felixstowe ; for the single groyne, those at Cromer, supported by struts and spaced GOO yards apart. These groynes are all described in Chapter VII. In order to reduce all to the same standard, the Case groynes are taken the same length as the others, although the practice is for them to commence only at mean high water ; but, on the other hand, they are placed nearer together than 120 yards, and it is doubtful whether to be really effective they ought not to reach higher up the beach. For the larger groynes, the height is taken as 12 feet at the upper end and 4 feet at the lower, or a mean height of 8 feet ; and for the low groynes, when raised to their full height, 5 feet at the upper end and 2 feet at the lower end, or an average throughout of o feet 6 inches. 124 THE SEA-COAST. The cost of pile-driving, timber, and ironwork for each different system of groynes is taken at the same prices. Relative Cost of Groynes. The groynes are taken at 100 yards long and 120 yards apart (14*66 groynes to a mile). High groynes, mean height 8 feet ; low groynes, 3 feet 6 inches. Cost per Cost each Cost per yard run. groyne, mile of coast. High groynes with oak ties, as fixed at Hove and Hastings 6-50 650 9529 High groynes with struts, as fixed at Croiner . 5'70 570 835G Low groynes, piles and boards, as fixed at Worth- ing and Felixstowe 0'S4 S-t 1231 Case groynes 0'96 9G 1407 Long distance groynes, placed 600 yards apart . 5'70 570 1670 Time of Accretion. As the beach grows up from the accumula- tion of the drift, the low water is gradually pushed more seaward and the depth of the water at high tides decreased, and conse- quently the eroding and destructive action of the waves diminished. The time that must elapse before improvement takes place depends on the abundance or scarcity of the supply of material, but, speaking generally, a period of from two to three years must be reckoned before any substantial increase in the height of the beach will ensue. Case System. The late Mr. E. Case, engineer of the Eomney Sea Defences, who paid great attention to the system of groyning, and had considerable experience of its effect both at Dymchurch and other places, was a strong advocate of long low groynes, and advised strongly against the use of high groynes, contending that the building up of the foreshore should be gradual and progressive, and that the object to be sought is the remodelling of the beach to its natural inclination of repose. The inclination varies according to the material of which the beach is composed, being steeper where shingle exists than where sand only prevails. For a beach containing a mixture of shingle and sand, he put it at 1 in 12 for the upper part, increasing to 1 in 40 lower down, and towards low water of spring tides 1 in 70. He contended that groynes should accordingly be placed at this angle, the planking being placed horizontally and stepped to meet the varying slope. He also contended that with high GROYNES. 125 groynes material cannot be collected equally on both sides, and that by commencing with low groynes, and gradually increasing them in height as the beach accumulates, not only will the bays fill equally and to a natural slope, but when the construction of the beach is finished the accumulated material will retain its form under all conditions of wind and tide ; and that low groynes, being less subject to the action of the waves, and becoming soon buried, may be economically and quickly constructed. On these principles Mr. Case constructed a number of groynes at Dymchurch which have been very successful, a description of which will be found in Chapter VII. He also laid down similar groynes at other parts of the coast. He further advocated that groynes should not be carried up the bank beyond the point to which the mean high water reaches. It is doubtful if the stopping of the groynes at this CASE GROYNE FIG. 22. point will be found satisfactory, especially when the beach consists principally of sand. An examination of some of the groynes erected on this principle shows that the waves running round the end of these tend to scour out the beach; and it is to be apprehended that these shortened groynes will aid in developing those lows or hollows running parallel with the coast which are produced by the waves in gales on sandy beaches at or about the point reached by high water. The author has inspected most of the places where the Case system of groyning has been adopted. Local opinion as to their efficiency varies very considerably. Fishermen, boatmen, and others engaged on the shore appear to have not only a very strong prejudice against them, but consider 126 THE SEA- CO AST. that, while they are dangerous for the boats, they are ineffective in improving the beach. The general conclusion arrived at by the author is, that while their beneficial effect has been exaggerated, yet that, in the majority of cases, they have given the same satisfactory results as have always been obtained by the use of low groynes, and have had a good effect in building up the beach where they have been down a sufficient time. The conditions of littoral drift, however, vary so much that the application of any one particular system of groyning to all parts of the coast cannot be expected to give satisfactory results on all the beaches to which it may be applied. The principle on which these long low groynes are designed is in the author's opinion correct, except as to their only com- mencing at the line of mean high water ; and it has been proved that under certain conditions they are capable of moulding the shape of a sandy beach into a natural form by taking away the sand from where it is not wanted, and putting it where it is required ; and, by filling up lows and swills, converting wet sands into dry hard beach. Groynes constructed on this or any other system cannot be expected to collect beach material when it does not exist; but these low groynes are more calculated to alter the contour of the beach advantageously than the short high groynes that are so frequently to be met with. In the construction of groynes, Mr. Case adopted the plan of fixing the uprights to which the planking was attached in concrete blocks, and he claimed that by this means the groynes could be constructed more easily and rapidly, and at less cost than by driving piles into the beach. The saving in cost has, however, been disputed ; and it has also been questioned whether groynes fixed in this manner will stand the wear and tear of storms as well as those supported by piles ; but it must be borne in mind that low groynes of this character offer far less resistance to the waves than those which extend further above the beach, and so far as experience has gone, results seem to show that groynes fastened into concrete blocks are not subject to more accidents than those supported by piles. In 1896, a patent was taken out for this system as an "improved construction or arrangement of shore groynes." The validity of this patent was contested in an action brought in 1900, GROYA?ES. 127 in the Court of Chancery, by the representatives of Mr. Case against the Clacton Sea Defence Commissioners (Case v. Cressy), who had constructed groynes of a similar character and refused to pay the royalty claimed. It was held by the Court that, although, according to the evidence, the mode of construction has advantages that make it useful, and that it is cheaper than the ordinary way of constructing groynes by driving piles, yet the system, being merely an adaptation of well-known methods of construction, does not contain the elements of novelty of design or of inventive faculty on the part of the patentee to con- stitute it subject matter for a patent, and that therefore the patent that had been obtained was not valid ; and this decision was confirmed by the Court of Appeal at a hearing in July, 1901. In 1899 and 1900 fresh patents were applied for, relating to the securing of the uprights by bolts and cross bars to a box buried in a hole in the foreshore and filled with any ordinary material, thus dispensing with the use of concrete, the later patent applying to the fixing of the uprights by projecting iron bars. Beard's System. Mr. E. T. Beard, the surveyor of the Pevensey Level, who has under his charge the sea defences of about 10 miles of coast in that part of the country, has also taken out a patent for the " improvement in shore groynes." He differs from Mr. Case in considering that groynes should only commence at about the level of mean tides. His system, which consists of a combination of high and low groynes, is described in the patent specification as consisting of two levels, the upper part being horizontal and carried above high water, and the lower part being placed below high water, the two levels being connected by a ramp sloping at the same angle as the beach. This ramped part is intended to be moved outwards as the bank of shingle next the shore grows up. It is claimed for this system that " the beach which passes over a groyne is caused to accumulate at both sides to any desired extent, and to render a single groyne self-support- ing." The object to be gained in joining the two portions of the groyne by a ramp is " to control the passage of ibeach, causing it to pass at or below the junction at the two parts." With groynes constructed in this manner, Mr. Beard claims to have moved the high-water mark on the beach at Cooding, near Bexhill, a maxi- mum distance of 120 feet, and an average distance of 90 feet, 128 THE SEA-COAST. further seaward, and raised the level of the beach 20 feet on the windward side and over 16 feet on the lee side. These groynes are spaced 250 yards apart. The same class of groynes have been put down at the Crumbles near Eastbourne, and it is claimed that the shingle has been raised near the shore 20 feet on the windward side, and 14 feet on the lee side, leaving a drop of 6 feet between __the two sides. Conclusions. The conclusion arrived at by the author after an inspection of the principal works of groyning along the coasts of England, Belgium, and Holland, is as follows : (1) That in many instances where the length of coast to be protected is not great, a single groyne placed at the extreme lee- ward end of the beach, and carried as far below low-water mark as practicable, and raised from time to time as the shingle accumu- lates, is sufficient to prevent the drift of material, and will provide a level and even beach. (2) That if groynes be placed at short intervals, they should consist of low inexpensive structures of wood, extending out from the sea-wall or cliff to low water of neap or spring tides, according to the condition of the beach. (3) That there is no advantage derived from placing groynes near together. As a general rule, it may be taken that the dis- tance should never be less than the space lying between extreme high and low water of spring tides, but may with advantage be made greater than this. (4) That the tops of groynes should not rise more than about 2 feet, or at the most 3 feet, above the natural surface of the beach, provision being made for raising them as the beach accumulates. (5) That the best direction for groynes is at right angles to the line of coast. (6) That the inclination of groynes should vary as they proceed seaward, in harmony with the natural slope of the beach. (7) That as regards the length, they should extend from high water to low water of spring tides, and when they are placed at short intervals, the leeward groyne should extend from the cliff, or extreme high-water mark, to a short distance below low water, each windward groyne being shorter than the one preceding it, and lengthened as the beach grows up. Crown Eights. It may be as well to point out that, as the GROYNES. 129 shore between ordinary high water and low water belongs to the Crown, unless it has been alienated by grant to the lord of the manor or frontager, no groynes or erections of any kind for coast protection can be constructed below high water with- out consent being first obtained from the Board of Trade or the owner of the foreshore. CHAPTER VII. THE COAST OF ENGLAND. THE SOUTH COAST. Start Point to Portland Bill. Between these two headlands, a distance of 48 miles, is Lyme Bay, the cliffs having been worn back in the centre 25 miles from the straight line. This coast-line offers the most interesting study in littoral drift to be found anywhere round the shores of England. Its description has therefore been dealt with in some detail. While the softer rocks of which the cliffs are composed have been wasted by the action of the sea, the harder intrusive material has remained, forming projecting headlands between which the coast has been hollowed out during the lapse of ages into a great number of coves and small bays. Each of these bays has its own peculiar characteristic ; and the beach its own distinctive shingle derived from the local cliffs, which is prevented from drifting westward into the next bay by the natural groyne formed by the western headland. The general set of the flood tide is easterly, but its course is disturbed by the projection of these two headlands, the sea being agitated down to a depth of 29 fathoms off Start Point, and the surface water much broken. At Portland the tide runs with great violence, the velocity round the Bill reaching 7 knots at spring tides, causing great whirls and eddies. The regular easterly set of the tidal flow along the bay is also disturbed by the numerous projections of the smaller indents, and counter currents are set up, the tide in some part of the bays swirling round the headlands and assuming a westerly set. Although the general course of the drift of the beach material is also easterly, following the set of the flood tide, this course in some instances is reversed, and the shingle is drifted in two opposite directions in the same bay. Off Start Point, at about a mile distant, there is a bank known 132 THE SEA-COAST. as " The Skerries." It is about half a mile wide, and extends in a north-easterly direction for about 3J miles. This bank consists of shells and fine gravel, its surface being from 1J- to 4 fathoms below low water. A somewhat similar bank of shells, known as The Shambles," exists off the other horn of the bay at Portland. This shoal has from 11 to 18 feet of water over it, and rises from a depth of 10 fathoms. Although the material of both these banks is in constant movement, and the sea breaks very heavily on them, their position has remained unaltered as long as any record exists. Commencing at the westerly end, the headland at Start Point and the projection at Dartmouth, a distance of 10 miles, form an embayment 3 miles in depth. The flood tide, striking the projection at the northern end of the bay, sweeps round along the shore and sets southward for nine hours out of the twelve. The coast of this embayment is cut up into several smaller bays divided by projecting points of hard rock. These bays are known respectively as Hall Sands, Bee Sands, Slapton Sands, and Blackpool Sands. The cliffs are composed principally of meta- morphic rocks with bands of quartz, Start Point itself being chloritic slate, and that at Combe Point, near the mouth of the Dart, of diabase. The beach material diminishes in size from pebbles at Hall Sands to fine sand at Blackpool cove. Slapton Sands. The beach material in Slapton Bay is of a very peculiar character, the shingle with which it is covered resembling peas in shape, the average size being about one-eighth to a quarter of an inch in diameter. Amongst these are scattered a few flat pebbles varying from 2 to 6 inches in diameter, composed of slate or shale. Three-fourths of the shingle consists of quartz pebbles, the remainder being of the same material as the metamorphic cliffs, with a fair sprinkling of flints. There does not appear to be any local source from which these last have been derived. The beach is entirely covered with this shingle, which extends down to low water. The shingle has been drifted across a deep indent in the middle of the bay, into which two small fresh-water streams discharge, and has accumulated into a bank enclosing this indent, and forming two fresh- water lakes about 2 miles in length and the sixth of a mile wide, known as Slapton Leys. In south-easterly gales the shingle is torn down and the bank lowered by the action of the waves, but it returns again during calm weather or with off-shore winds. THE SOUTH COAST. 133 In November, 1894, during a storm, the sea made a breach in this shingle-bank and let the salt water into the lakes and killed the fish. After the gale the shingle worked back and restored the gap. In Blackpool Bay, the beach of which consists of fine sand, during storms the material is sometimes drifted from one end of the bay to the other, but after the gale the beach gradually resumes its normal condition. During a gale in 1881, the beach was denuded at the east end to a depth of 14 feet, and the sand piled up in a mound 16 feet high at the west end. A large amount of shingle has been removed from the Hall Sands, and also dredged from the Skerries, for making concrete for the Government docks at Keyham and Plymouth. Between the estuary of the Dart and Berry Head there are three indents with well-defined beaches known as Scabbacombe, Man Sand, and Mudstone Sand. On these there is no indication of the Start Bay shingle, the beaches being composed of the debris from the adjacent rocks, which consist of slate and other meta- morphic rocks, hematite, and limestone. Some of the pebbles are round and others flat in shape. Tor Bay. Between the projection of Berry Head and Hopes Nose, a distance of 4 miles, is the deep indentation of Tor Bay, the coast-line being recessed 3 miles. In this bay are several minor indentations. Under Berry Head is a small cove, the beach of which consists of nothing but wave- worn fragments of limestone thrown out from the quarry close by, and the same is the case with the strand from Berry Head to Brixham. Beyond Brixham is Fishcombe Cove, which has two beaches, one exposed to the east, and the other to the north, and sheltered from other winds. The beach of the former consists of wave- worn limestone pebbles from the adjacent quarry, and some large blocks of limestone are scattered about on the beach. The other beach is covered with small stones and sand. From Fishcombe to Elbury there are several small coves cut out of the limestone, the beach consisting of pebbles above low water, with large stones below, changing to fine sand eastward. The drift of the stone here is westerly. Beyond the headland at Elbury the character of the beach is changed, that at Broad Sands being composed of sand from the red sandstone cliffs, with a narrow ridge of rounded limestone pebbles. 134 THE SEA-COAST. The beach at Goodrington and Paignton, in the centre of the bay, consists of sand with a few stones scattered about. The beach sand is derived from the sandstone cliffs which adjoin the coast here. In the bight at Hollocombe, stones are more frequent, and are derived from the quarries at Kockend and Meadfoot, further to the east, the drift being in a westerly direction. At Livermead and Torre Abbey, the beaches, which consist of sand, have to some extent been affected by the sea-wall built for the protection of the road. Any drift that takes place is to the north and east. 1 The shore which bounds Tor Bay is being wasted by the sea in several places. The road running along the coast from Paignton to Torquay has had to be moved inland three times during the last hundred years. A sea-wall which was constructed for the protection of this road was demolished by the waves in 1859, during which storm the cliffs along this part of the coast were undermined at many points. 2 From this it will be seen that the shingle travels along the coast of the bay in two opposite directions, while in the centre, where there is little or no drift, the beach is sand. The drift thus follows the direction of the flood tide, which sets round the horn of the bay in a north-easterly direction on the south, and is deflected into the bay in a south-westerly direction on the north end by the projection of Hopes Nose, the movement being neutral in the centre. Hopes Nose to Otterton Point. The bay lying between Hopes Nose and Otterton Point is about 14 miles in length, and has an embayment of about 3 \ miles. Hopes Nose, the southern horn of the bay, is a limestone cliff, and is followed for about a third of a mile by greenstone and lime- stone cliffs, which stretch along the bay for about 2 miles to the New Ked Sandstone, which forms the remainder of the cliffs to Otterton Point. In the cove near Hopes Nose the beach is covered with rolled stones, with large blocks of stone lying at and below low-water mark. The beach in Ilsham cove is covered with fragments of slate. 1 The description of the coast between Dartmouth and Torquay is principally taken from a paper on " The Action of Waves on Sea Beaches," read by Mr. A. H. Hunt before the Torquay Natural History Society in January, 1893. 2 Memoir by Mr. Pengelly on " Waste of Devonshire Coast," Geologist, 1861. THE SOUTH COAST. 135 In Babbacombe Bay the beach consists principally of the debris from a large limestone quarry. The] general trend of the drift along the shore is in a westerly direction. In strong easterly gales the material is drifted from Babbacombe to Oddi- combe in large quantities, and the Babbacombe beach becomes denuded. On the south side of Babbacombe Bay there is a stretch of sands, but about the middle of the bay the westerly direction of the coast changes to nearly north, and at this point a small pro- jection of greenstone juts out through the Devonian slate, and ^many blocks of stone from this rock are strewn about on the beach, llolled fragments of this greenstone and slate drift northwards, and are to be found in abundance on the Oddicombe beach. About a third of a mile beyond Oddicombe Sands is an indent in the sandstone cliff known as Pettitor Cove, which is divided off from the main beach by some large isolated rocks, having a distinct beach of its own composed chiefly of limestone, none of the greenstone or slate from Oddicombe travelling round the point between the two beaches. About the centre of the bay is the estuary of the river Teign, the mouth of which is encumbered by a shifting bank of sand. Extending out from the north side of the estuary in a southerly direction is a bank of shingle known as the Den, and beyond which is a bank of fine shingle and sand. On the opposite side a bank known as the Pole Sands extends out from the Ness, a projecting point of red sandstone. This sandbank constitutes the bar. The shingle and sandbank at the point on the north side forms a protection to the harbour, and a groyne has been erected to assist in its preservation. Considerable complaints have from time to time been made as to the removal of material from this bank. At an inquiry held by the Board of Trade in 1898, at the request of the Harbour Commissioners, to inquire into this matter with a view to having the removal stopped, it was stated that as much as 15,000 to 16,000 tons had been removed in one year for the making of concrete and other purposes. The supply of sand and shingle along this part of the coast comes from the sandstone cliffs to the north of the estuary, the drift here being southerly. Five miles further on is the estuary of the river Exe, which 136 THE SEA-COAST. is 1J miles wide, but the opening to the bay is restricted to about half a mile by a projecting spit of sand. The drift across the mouth of the estuary is in the opposite direction to that of the Teign, the sands extending from the cliffs at Langstone Point across the river in a northerly direction, forming a spit 1J- miles long, known as the Warren, beyond which is the Pole Sand, which is covered at high tide. The Warren consists of blown sand, and is from 20 to 30 feet high, and is covered with bent grass, and forms a natural break- water for the harbour. The cause of the drift across the estuaries of these two rivers, which are only 6 miles apart, being in opposite directions, is probably due to the different positions they occupy in the bay. The up-channel flood current, setting past the projection at Hopes Nose, has a tendency to strike the coast to the north of the Teign, part eddying round and being deflected south by the Clerk rocks, and the inshore current running towards the Teign causing the drift to move in the same direction. On the other hand, the other branch tends to set along the shore north of the Clerk rocks, and causes the northerly drift of material across the mouth of the Exe. The south-west winds, which bring the highest tides and heaviest seas, also have more effect in driving material across the Exe than across the Teign, this part of the coast lying under the shelter of the cliffs at the south end of the bay. The cliffs from the river Exe to Budleigh Salterton, a distance of about 3 miles, consist of the New Ked Sandstone, and attain an elevation of 250 feet at the western end near Straight Point, dropping down to the valley of the river Otter, the water from which finds its way to the shore through a bed of shingle which extends across its mouth; and then rising again at Otter ton Point, which forms a headland, in front of which a ledge of rocks extends seaward and is covered at half tide. These cliffs are capped by a bed of pebbles, about one-third of which are flints and the remainder quartzite ; and these pebbles extend up the banks of the Exe to Topsham, and up the river Otter to Fairmile. The shingle on the beach at Littleham, on the east end of the bay, is mainly composed of pebbles derived from these beds. The beach at Budleigh Salterton has a distinct character of its own, the shingle being different to any other found between Start Point and Portland Bill. For about If miles the stones THE SOUTH COAST. 137 consist chiefly of quartzite, and there are some pebbles having blood-red spots ; a few pebbles of jasper are also found, the source of which has been traced to some gravel beds on the Alesbere Hills, 6 miles to the north, whence they have been transported down the river Otter. These quartzite pebbles vary in size from small stones to boulders weighing from 10 to 12 Ibs., and are known as Budleigh "popples," and have been used for generations for building purposes, and for paving the streets and repairing the roads. The larger boulders are round, the smaller pebbles being flattened ovals free from angularity. They are derived from a large bed of pebbles 100 feet thick, rising up from the beach and resting on the red marl capped by sand and gravel. The drift of the shingle is easterly, but its progress is stopped at the headland at Otterton Point, which, with the projecting ledge of rocks, forms a natural groyne, and prevents the material passing on to the next bay. Otterton Point to Beer Head. The next bay, lying between Otterton Point and Beer Head, has two distinct beaches. The shingle on the east side of the point is of an entirely different character to that at Budleigh Salterton, none of the quartzite pebbles finding their way round the point. The cliffs in this bay consist, on the west, of the New Red Sandstone, and east of Sidmouth of red marl. The whole of this line of cliffs, which are from 50 to 100 feet high, is being eroded by the sea, and the gravel beds which cap them, when they fall, afford a supply of shingle to the beach. Between Otterton and the projection of the Chit rocks at the west of Sidmouth the beach consists principally of sand, but there is some shingle derived from the gravel beds above referred to. The drift along the beach is from south-west to north-east, and a considerable bank of shingle collects behind the headland at the Chit Bocks. These rocks extend some distance seaward, and are only bared at about half tide, thus forming a natural groyne, beyond which the shingle does not drift. Sidmouth lies in a gap in the cliffs in the valley through which the river Sid finds its way to the sea. The beach in front of the town is shingle, the width between high and low water spring tides being about 35 yards, beyond which is a flat sandy beach uncovered in places at L.W.S.T. The shingle consists 140 THE SEA-COAST. sand overlying the lias clay which slopes seaward. After a very rainy season, the water, soaking through the pervious strata down to the clay bed, caused the sand to be supersaturated. With very little warning, in December, 1839, a portion of the cliff, covering about 22 acres and extending over a length of three- quarters of a mile, and for a width of 240 feet, with some cottages, suddenly subsided a depth of 150 feet, leaving a deep chasm 300 feet wide ; at the same time the beach was upraised, forming a reef parallel with the shore a mile long and 40 feet high in places. This reef consisted to a considerable extent of the sand and shingle which had covered the beach, and some chert from the cliff. The chalk and gravel which had subsided formed an under-cliff, which, with the exception of the edges of the fallen rocks having lost their sharpness and the surface having become covered with brambles and other vegetation, is very much in the same condition as when the cliff subsided. The mound or reef on the shore, which remained in existence for some years, has now disappeared. 1 The beach at the foot of the slip is covered with boulders, but is bare of sand and shingle. Lyme Regis. Beyond this to Pinney Bay, a distance of 2^ miles, the coast is indented with several shallow bays, the beach of which is covered with sand, and some chert and flint shingle ; but outside the bays the beach is strewn with large blocks of lias and greensand, which, with ledges of rock projecting from the cliffs, assist in their protection. From Pinney Bay to Lyme Eegis, a distance of 2 miles, the Ware cliffs, which reach to a height of 400 feet, consist of blue lias, limestone, and clay, above which is chalk and greensand. The beach consists of thin beds of lias rock, which, when the British Association Report of 1885 was made, was bare of sand or shingle, and the tides then reached the cliffs at high water. Large quantities of material have been taken from the cliffs and from the ledges east and west of Lyme Eegis for making lime. About 10,000 tons were sent to Hull in one year, to be used in the construction of the docks. The reefs that were removed acted as a protection to the cliffs, and in the British Association Report of 1888 it was stated that, owing to the denudation of the cliffs, the church was placed in 1 " Memoir of Views of Landslip at Axmouth, on Coast of Devon," by Conybeare and Dawson. London : Murray. 1840. THE SOUTH COAST. 141 considerable danger. At the present time there is a deep indent on the east side of the town, and part of the graveyard has gone, the clay cliffs having been eroded to within 25 yards of the church. There have been several large landslips along the cliffs. Between 1803-33, 90 feet of cliff was lost, partly by weathering, and by the removal of the stone from the base and shore. The loss of cliff has been estimated at 3 feet a year in the soft strata, and 1 foot in the harder rocks. Material is still removed, but the erection of three stone and one wooden groyne since the report was made has been of service in accumulating some sand and shingle on the beach. Lyme Regis to Burton Bradstock. Eastward of Lyme Regis the Church cliffs, consisting of lias limestone, rise to a height of from 70 to 140 feet, and are succeeded by the Black Ridge cliff, rising to 400 feet. This cliff consists of clay and marl, capped by sand and chert gravel. The cliffs then dip down to the valley of the river Char, but rise again to a height of 400 feet at Stone- barrow, and 600 feet at Golden Cap, which consists of marl and clay. Both Stonebarrow and Golden Cap are topped with a thick bed of sand and chert gravel. The beach cast of Lyme Regis is clay, and bare of sand or shingle. At Charmouth, and for some distance to the eastward, the beach in the bay is covered with sand, and then shingle commences, the size and quantity of which increase towards Golden Cap, the headland of which, aided by large blocks of stone which have fallen from the cliff, and by ledges of rock on the beach, forms a natural groyne beyond which the shingle cannot travel. On the west side of this headland, below Char- mouth, the shingle has accumulated in a bank which extends out from the cliff for a distance of about 30 yards, the pebbles varying from to 12 inches in diameter. They consist principally of flints and chert, with a few of quartzite and an occasional piece of jasper. Below the shingle to low water is a hard sand beach. This shingle-bank has diverted the small river Char for 300 yards to the east. West of Charmouth the cliffs have wasted a great deal, one field having decreased 3J acres in 150 years ; on? the east side within living memory 6 acres of land have been lost, and there was a grass field where now the beach is. The erosion has been less in recent years. 142 . THE SEA-COAST. At Seatown, which lies about a mile to the east of Golden Cap, the beach in the centre of the bay, for about 30 yards above high- water line, and from 20 to 30 yards below it, is covered with shingle. This shingle is frequently drifted about, the beach being denuded in south-west gales, and the shingle accumulating again in calm weather or with off-shore winds. The shingle consists principally of brown flints and chert, with a few of limestone and quartzite, also an odd jasper pebble may be found. The majority of pebbles have probably been derived from the gravel beds Avhich have fallen from the top of the cliffs. The pebbles vary in size from J to 2 inches, with a few larger. The sea is gradually gaining on the land here, a road and four houses having gone within the last twenty or thirty years owing to slips of the cliff. A limekiln and road at Stonebarrow have twice been set back, and 7 acres of land been lost about fifty years ago ; but the sea only reaches the cliff now at high tides, and there is less waste of land. Beyond Seatown, Thorncombe Beacon rises to a height of 430 feet. It consists of sand and clay, the upper part having bands of indurated limestone, capped by beds of chert gravel, which afford a supply of shingle to the beach when the cliffs fall. This shingle drifts along the shore in an easterly direction, and accumulates on the west side of the Thorncombe headland, where the projection and some reefs on the beach intercept the travel of the shingle, and a high bank of pebbles, some of large size, is formed on its west side. On. the other or east side of the head- land there is no proper beach, the sea reaching up to the cliffs at high tides. Such beach as there is consists of small fragments of stone. From Thorncombe Beacon to the termination of the cliffs at Burton Bradstock, a distance of 31 miles, the coast-line is nearly straight, and there are no indents or bays. The cliffs west of Bridport are clay, sand, and shale, from 40 to 100 feet in height ; and between Bridport and Burton, sand with indurated bands of sandy limestone, which is easily acted on by the weather and sea. At Eypemouth there was a considerable landslip in 1897, when a mass of cliff about 50 yards in width fell, and further falls have taken place since. It is estimated that these cliffs are wasting at the rate of 1 to 3 feet a year. The beach between the headlands is covered with sand, and in the bight of the bay there is a fair sprinkling of shingle, which THE SOUTH COAST. 143 extends out from the cliffs in the centre for 50 yards at an incli- nation of 1 in 10. There are also a few lias stone boulders pro- jecting from the beach. The pebbles are irregular in size, varying from I to 24 inches in diameter. They consist principally of flint, chert, and lias limestone, with a few quartzite, some of which have marks like blood- spots similar to those found at Budleigh Salterton. The flint and chert shingle appears to have been derived from the inland gravel beds on the top of the clifts. West of Bridport Harbour the cliffs consist of sand and lias clay capped with gravel. They are continually falling. Recently a mass of clay cliff 20 yards wide fell on to the beach. The beach, for a distance of about 15 yards from the cliff above the line of ordinary high water, and for 35 yards below it, is covered with shingle varying from to 1 inch in diameter, beyond which is lias stone. The shingle has accumulated nearly to the top of the esplanade wall, in the pocket formed by this and the west pier of the harbour. A considerable sea breaks on this shore, and it is recorded that in a gale about four years ago two fishing-smacks were lifted bodily by the waves and deposited on the promenade. East of Bridport Harbour the beach is of a different character to any other along this coast, and resembles that at Slapton in the size and shape of the pebbles, but the material of which they are composed is different. Abutting up to the eastern wall of the harbour, and between there and the cliffs which commence about 300 yards to the eastward, the shingle has accumulated in a bank stretching inland above high water for about 50 yards, and beyond this for another 130 to 200 yards. In front of the cliffs from here to Burton Bradstock, the width of the shingle is from 60 to 70 yards wide. This shingle consists principally of flint and chert; there are a few limestone pebbles and some pink quartzite, and a peculiar red flint similar to those found on the Chesil Bank. The bulk of the pebbles vary from J- to i inch in diameter. At Burton Bradstock, 2J miles further east, the character of the shingle is the same as that to the east of Bridport, but there are several large pebbles up to 12 inches long interspersed amongst the small ones. Shingle and sand are removed from the beach near Bridport for ballast for vessels, and for railway ballasting and roads. The cliffs between Bridport and Burton Bradstock range from 120 to 140 feet in height, and consist of sand with indurated 144 THE SEA-COAST. bands of limestone belonging to the Oolite series and beyond the river Brid, of clay and marl with a band of limestone. These cliffs end about a mile beyond Burton Bradstock, where the Chesil Bank commences. Behind the shingle-bank and the Fleet the coast consists, from Burton to Chesil, of various strata, including fuller's earth, corn- brash, Oxford clay, and coral rag, and near Wyke, Kimmeridge clay. Inland there are some gravel beds. The Chesil Bank. The Chesil Bank, situated at the east end of Lyme Bay, is one of the most remarkable collections of shingle to be found in this country. The name is derived from A.S. cesil, " a pebble." The bank, commencing near Abbotsbury, extends thence in a south-easterly direction to the Island of Portland, which it joins at Chesilton, the distance being 10| miles ; westward of Abbotsbury the shingle slopes down from the low cliffs as in the case of an ordinary beach, and gradually dies out at Bridport Harbour, a distance of 4 miles. At the Portland end the shingle-bank sweeps round in a southerly direction nearly to Blacknore Point. 1 Between the bank and the shore is a sheet of tidal water known as the Fleet, varying in width from a quarter to half a mile. This backwater is entirely cut off from the west or Lyme bay, but is in communication with the east bay. It receives the discharge from some small streams, which have been diverted from the west bay by the shingle-bank. The east end of the bank acts as a natural breakwater to Portland Koads in the east bay, sheltering it completely from south-west gales. The average width of the base of this mound, as given by Sir J. Coode, varies from 600 feet at the east end to 500 feet at the west end. The height at the Portland end above L.W.S.T. is 53 feet, and at Abbotsbury 32 feet. The top is 43 feet and 23 feet respectively above H.W.O.S.T. 1 " Description of the Chesil Bank," by John Coode. Min. Proc. Inst. CM, vol. xii., 1853. " The Origin of the Cbesil Bank," by Joseph Prestwich. Idem., vol. xl., 1875. " The Alluvial Formation of the South Coast of England," by J. B. Redman. Idem., vol. xi., 1852. " The Chesil Bank, Dorset, and Raised Beach at Portland," H. W. Burton and William Whitaker. Geolog. Mag., Oct. 1869. " The Grading of the Chesil Beach Shingle," by Vaughan Cornish. Proc. Dorset Natural History Field Club, 1898. THE SOUTH COAST. H5 The bank rests on Kimmeridge clay, which crops up on the bed of the bay off Chesilton one-third of a mile from low-water line in 8 fathoms of water. The shingle -bank extends out into the bay at the Chesilton end 200 yards, where the water is 7 fathoms deep. The bed of the bay between Abbotsbury and Chesilton generally is covered with sand, with a few scattered patches of gravel and shells. There are two ledges of rock running nearly parallel with the bank, one at about 5 miles from the shore in 10 fathoms, and the other at about 10 miles in 15 fathoms (see Plan of Lyme Bay, p. 130). The mean inclination of the seaward face is described as being at the Portland end 1 in 5 J from the top to a depth of 4 fathoms, 1 in 8 at 6 fathoms, and 1 in 30 at 8 fathoms, where the shingle terminates, and beyond which the bed of the sea consists of fine sand, clear of any shingle. At a short distance from the shore the pebbles are described as being encrusted with barnacles, the number of these and their size becoming larger as the depth of the water increases, showing that there is not much movement of the shingle under ordinary conditions far out from the shore. A subsequent examination after an unusually heavy gale showed the pebbles on the surface to be free from incrustation, which may have been due either to their movement by the waves, or by the older layer of pebbles being covered by those torn down from the bank during the gale. At the Abbotsbury end the mean slope is described as being 1 in 7 to 3i fathoms, 1 in 11 to 5} fathoms, and 1 in 30 to t> fathoms, where the shingle terminates. During heavy on-shore gales the shingle is torn down from the bank, which then becomes much flatter than in calm weather, assuming a slope of about 1 in 9. After a continuance of calm weather or off-shore winds, the shingle gradually works back and the bank is restored to its normal condition ; the slope then becomes much steeper, or from 1 in 3 to 1 in 2. At the level of spring tides the usual shelf is left. On the section, which is adapted from Sir J. Coode's paper, the dotted line shows the alteration in the face of the bank during a storm in 1852, the quantity of shingle then removed between Abbotsbury and Portland being calculated at 4,553,000 tons. The pebbles consist principally of flints, these being of various colours, brown, black, and grey predominating, with a few red and other tints. Eight distinct varieties may be easily traced. L 144 THE SEA-COAST. bands of limestone belonging to the Oolite series and beyond the river Brid, of clay and marl with a band of limestone. These cliffs end about a mile beyond Burton Bradstock, where the Chesil Bank commences. Behind the shingle-bank and the Fleet the coast consists, from Burton to Chesil, of various strata, including fuller's earth, corn- brash, Oxford clay, and coral rag, and near Wyke, Kimmeridge clay. Inland there are some gravel beds. The Chesil Bank. The Chesil Bank, situated at the east end of Lyme Bay, is one of the most remarkable collections of shingle to be found in this country. The name is derived from A.S. cesil, " a pebble." The bank, commencing near Abbotsbury, extends thence in a south-easterly direction to the Island of Portland, which it joins at Chesilton, the distance being lOf miles ; westward of Abbotsbury the shingle slopes down from the low cliffs as in the case of an ordinary beach, and gradually dies out at Bridport Harbour, a distance of 4 miles. At the Portland end the shingle-bank sweeps round in a southerly direction nearly to Blacknore Point. 1 Between the bank and the shore is a sheet of tidal water known as the Fleet, varying in width from a quarter to half a mile. This backwater is entirely cut off from the west or Lyme bay, but is in communication with the east bay. It receives the discharge from some small streams, which have been diverted from the west bay by the shingle-bank. The east end of the bank acts as a natural breakwater to Portland Koads in the east bay, sheltering it completely from south-west gales. The average width of the base of this mound, as given by Sir J. Coode, varies from 600 feet at the east end to 500 feet at the west end. The height at the Portland end above L.W.S.T. is 53 feet, and at Abbotsbury 32 feet. The top is 43 feet and 23 feet respectively above H.W.O.S.T. 1 " Description of the Chesil Bank," by John Coode. Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. xii., 1853. " The Origin of the Chesil Bank," by Joseph Prestwich. Idem., vol. xl., 1875. " The Alluvial Formation of the South Coast of England," by J. B. Redman. Idem., vol. xi., 1852. " The Chesil Bank, Dorset, and Raised Beach at Portland," H. W. Burton and William Whitaker. Geolog. Mag., Oct. 1869. " The Grading of the Chesil Beach Shingle," by Vaughan Cornish. Proc. Dorset Natural History Field Club, 1898. THE SOUTH COAST. 145 The bank rests on Kimmeridge clay, which crops up on the bed of the bay off Chesilton one-third of a mile from low-water line in 8 fathoms of water. The shingle -bank extends out into the bay at the Chesilton end 200 yards, where the water is 7 fathoms deep. The bed of the bay between Abbotsbury and Chesilton generally is covered with sand, with a few scattered patches of gravel and shells. There are two ledges of rock running nearly parallel with the bank, one at about 5 miles from the shore in 10 fathoms, and the other at about 10 miles in 15 fathoms (see Plan of Lyme Bay, p. 130). The mean inclination of the seaward face is described as being at the Portland end 1 in 5 J from the top to a depth of 4 fathoms, 1 in 8 at 6 fathoms, and 1 in 30 at 8 fathoms, where the shingle terminates, and beyond which the bed of the sea consists of fine sand, clear of any shingle. At a short distance from the shore the pebbles are described as being encrusted with barnacles, the number of these and their size becoming larger as the depth of the water increases, showing that there is not much movement of the shingle under ordinary conditions far out from the shore. A subsequent examination after an unusually heavy gale showed the pebbles on the surface to be free from incrustation, which may have been due either to their movement by the waves, or by the older layer of pebbles being covered by those torn down from the bank during the gale. At the Abbotsbury end the mean slope is described as being 1 in 7 to 3J fathoms, 1 in 11 to 5} fathoms, and 1 in 30 to 6 fathoms, where the shingle terminates. During heavy on-shore gales the shingle is torn down from the bank, which then becomes much flatter than in calm weather, assuming a slope of about 1 in 9. After a continuance of calm weather or off-shore winds, the shingle gradually works back and the bank is restored to its normal condition ; the slope then becomes much steeper, or from 1 in 3 to 1 in 2. At the level of spring tides the usual shelf is left. On the section, which is adapted from Sir J. Coode's paper, the dotted line shows the alteration in the face of the bank during a storm in 1852, the quantity of shingle then removed between Abbotsbury and Portland being calculated at 4,553,000 tons. The pebbles consist principally of flints, these being of various colours, brown, black, and grey predominating, with a few red and other tints. Eight distinct varieties may be easily traced. L i 4 6 THE SEA-COAST. A considerable number are of greensand, chert, and also of the black flint underlying the oolite from the rubble cliff at Port- land; whence also, and from the tips from the quarries, are derived some hard crystalline limestone and oolite pebbles. There are also to be found a limited number of pebbles of sandstone and lias lime with pieces of carbonate of lime and Fuller's earth ; also white and red quartz, light red quartzite, and occasion- ally jasper and a dark red stone which resembles a flint altered by heat. These latter have probably come from the raised beach at Portland Bill, where similar stones are found. Some of the pebbles derived from the Portland cliffs may be traced as far as Abbotsbury, though the number is limited. At the eastern end of the bank, in the bight formed by its Hotizontal Scale 200ft;*] inch Vertical Scale 40ft.=1 inch CHESIL BANK EAST END. FlG. 24. Sand junction with the Island of Portland, the beach consists entirely of black flints, chert, and hard oolite stone derived from the breaking up of the rock debris from the island. This part of the beach has increased since a landslip of the clay base, which occurred recently, when a large quantity of the overlying stone was thrown down on the beach. The north end of the Island of Portland consists of a rubble cliff composed principally of angular black flints, chert, and hard oolite stone. From the wasting of these cliffs when the island was formed a considerable portion of the material of which the bank is composed has been derived, while at the present time it supplies what little addition is taking place. The stones of which the bank is composed vary considerably in size, the largest being found at the Portland end. The graduation in size from the east to the west end of the bank is stated by Sir J. Coode to be so regular that a Portland fisherman, THE SOUTH COAST. 147 if landed on the bank in the dark, would be able to tell his position by the size of the pebbles. Dr. Vaughan Cornish grades the pebbles as follows. The third column, which is only an approximation, has been added. Distance from Average weight Longest Bridport. of pebble. diameter. Locality. Miles. Ow. Inches. Bridport, east of the harbour .... O'l . . . 0-016 . . . } Cliff end, Burton Bradstock .... 1-8 ... 0-028 . . Punckoowle 5-2 ... 0*067 . West end of Fleet (near Abbotsbury) . 8 2 ... 0-1 1 1 ... f Langton Herring 11-2 ... 0-294 ... I Chickerel 133 . . . 0-342 ... 1 Passage 1C2 . . . 0783 ... East end of beach 181 . . . 12-80 ... With the exception of that part of the beach which lies at the foot of the bank in the bight near Chesilton, where the majority of the pebbles are not more than -J to i inch in diameter, the stones at the Portland end vary from 9 to 2 inches in their longest diameter. There are a few large stones on the top, but the largest are collected together at about the level of high spring tides. About half the pebbles on the top may be taken at about 2 inches diameter by 1 inch thick ; about a quarter are about 4 inches diameter by 1 inches thick. Those at the lower part of the bank may be taken at about If inches diameter. The majority of the pebbles above high-water mark are flattened ovoids, showing that the principal agent in their movement has been a pushing rather than a rolling movement. Those below the water are more spherical in shape. With a heavy ground swell, some large pebbles, up to about 9 inches in diameter and containing 100 cubic inches, are thrown up from below low water, and a few of these are to be found on the top. At Abbotsbury the pebbles vary from J inch to 2 inches in diameter, a few being from 4 to 6 inches, the average being about i inch. They consist principally of flints of various colours, the majority being brown, with a fair proportion of yellow and black chert and pink quartzite. West of Abbotsbury, and between there and Bridport, the bank, which abuts on the cliffs, consists principally of small spheroids of J to 1 inch in diameter, and is of the same character as that on the east of Bridport Harbour, 8 miles distant. Below low water the shingle at Abbotsbury is generally large and spherical in form, while the pebbles below the water at Portland are smaller than those in the bank. 148 THE SEA-COAST. The bank faces nearly south-west, from which direction the heaviest gales come, frequently also accompanied by the highest tides. It is exposed to an unbroken fetch across the Atlantic. There is a depth of from 35 to 57 feet immediately in front of the bank at high water at the Portland end, and of 30 to 45 feet at the Abbotsbury end. The rise of the water at spring tides is 10| feet, but the crest of the waves is stated to frequently run up the slope of the bank from 8 to 10 feet vertically, and during exceptionally heavy gales the waves, breaking on the bank, project the water and spray to a height of from 60 to 70 feet, or 20 to 30 feet higher than the top of the bank, which falling on the land on the inside has occasionally flooded the houses. As an illustration of the force exerted by the waves in gales, the following instance is recorded in Sir John Coode's paper : During the height of a gale in November, 1824, a sloop of 100 tons burden, having on board a cargo of ordnance stores and heavy guns, was thrown on the Chesil Bank, and was carried on the top of a wave to its crest. This vessel was ultimately launched on the land side into Portland Eoads. During the same storm the village of Chesilton was overwhelmed. Considerable difference of opinion exists as to the source from which the pebbles composing this bank have been derived, and as to the direction in which the pebbles drift. Sir John Coode, in his paper, expressed the opinion that the drift was from west to east, except at the east end, where the movement is in a northerly direction for one mile along the shore; and that "the only possible source from which the shingle of the Chesil Bank can have been derived is between Lyme Eegis and Sidmouth, where there are chalk cliffs with numerous flints." He adduced, as a proof that the drift must have been from the west, the fact that a few of the pebbles of a dull red colour marked with red spots are of the same character as some he found near Budleigh Salt er ton, where also on the beach he found jasper pebbles. As already pointed out, however, these pebbles may have come from the raised beach at Portland. The fact that the largest pebbles are to be found at the furthest distance from the source of supply was met by the state- ment that large pebbles are moved more readily than those which are smaller, and that the largest pebbles are always to be found on the leeward end of a beach. THE SOUTH COAST. 149 Sir J. Prestwich, on the other hand, in his paper, stated that in his opinion the bank has been formed partly of pebbles derived from 'the south end of Portland and from the sea-bed westward thereof, but principally from the remains of an older beach; and that the movement of the material had been from south-east to north-west. In support of this theory, he cites the facts that the largest pebbles are found at the eastern end, and that they gradually diminish in size as the bank proceeds west- ward ; that if the movement were eastward, there could not be that constant increase in the dimensions of the bank as it trends towards Portland without a discharge of the overloaded end into Portland lloads; and the common occurrence of pebbles of greensand, chert, and black flints from the Portland beds, with fragments of the harder limestone and oolites, all of which must have come from Portland, and some of which, although in very small specimens, are to be found as far north as Abbotsbury. Beyond these pebbles of local origin, Sir J. Prestwich traced the source of supply to a beach which formerly existed about 10 miles further seaward than the present shore-line, and remains of which are still to be found at Portland Bill, at Hopes Nose near Torquay, at Brixham, and in Start Bay. The remains of this beach at Portland Bill are situated 21 feet above the present beach, and extend over a length of 1} miles, ranging inland the sixth of a mile, and covering about 100 acres with a thickness varying from 4 to 10 feet. The pebbles of which this raised beach is composed vary in size from 2 to 4 inches longest diameter, with a few of larger dimensions, and consist chiefly of flints, greensand, chert, the harder oolites, and Portland black flint, with a not inconsiderable number of red and purple sand- stone, red and grey quartzites, light and dark red porphyry, white and red quartz, and slate. The pebbles from this old beach, Sir J. Prestwich considered, are scattered over the bed of the bay, and he points to certain places within the line of the original bank and the present shore from Portland to Tor Bay, where the soundings denote gravel to prove this, and states that these pebbles have been and are still thrown up by the waves on to the Chesil Bank. The few isolated patches of gravel scattered over the bay, as indicated by the references on the Admiralty Chart, if indicative of a former beach, cannot be reckoned as a source of supply of pebbles to the beach. They are situated in deep water beyond ISO . THE SEA-COAST. the influence of waves of translation; and if there was any tendency for them to drift ashore, their removal would have been accomplished long before this time. It is possible that during heavy ground swells and gales a few stones near the shore may be occasionally disturbed from the debris in which they are buried and be rolled shoreward, and this may account for the large stones stated by the fishermen to be thrown on the beach after gales ; but references to the Admiralty Chart show a ledge of rocks running nearly parallel with the shore and at about 5 miles from it in about 15 fathoms of water, and considerably within the line of the old beach, as indicated on Sir J. Prestwich's plan. The existence of this ledge of rocks is confirmed by the fishermen, who also state that there are accumulations of coarse and fine sand on it. The contour of this coast lends itself to a drift from two opposite directions. The east end of the bank, where it joins the Island of Portland, is subject to the longest fetch, and therefore to the full force and concentration of the waves, due to the pre- vailing south-west winds, in the angle formed by two converging lines ; consequently the height of the bank is greater here, and the stones heaped up are of a larger size than at any other part. The flood tide, coming up the Channel and striking the Island of Portland, causes an inward set along the island and a northerly drift, while the set into and along the bay from the west causes an easterly drift at the west end of the bank, which drift from two opposite directions, concentrating about Chesilton, further accounts for the bank being larger and higher and having larger pebbles than at any other part. The character of the beaches in the smaller bays between Start Point and Portland, as previously described, shows that, whatever may have been the case in past ages before the coast was eroded into the form it now assumes, since these bays have been formed there has been no travel of material from Budleigh Salterton or the other places on the west end of the bay, and only a very small supply of shingle can find its way to the Chesil Bank from any part of the coast to the west of the projec- tion at Thorncombe Beacon or Golden Cap. From Bridport the source of supply to the beach is very limited, and derived from the gravel beds on the summit of the cliffs. The shingle at Burton Bradstock, immediately to the west of the Chesil Bank and up to and beyond Bridport, is limited in supply and small in size. THE SOUTH COAST. 151 A careful examination of all the circumstances relating to this bank must lead to the conclusion that it was originally formed under different conditions to those which now exist. Looking at the formation of the cliffs in the neighbourhood, and the amount of flint or other stone which could be derived from them, and comparing these with the chalk cliffs on other parts of the coast, and the shingle-banks which owe their origin to the debris of these, it is evident that the enormous mass of stone contained in the Chesil Bank could not be derived either from the few flints produced by the waste of the cliffs near, nor from the remains of the older beach which once existed more seaward. The greater proportion of the flints of which the bank is composed denote an inland rather than a sea-cliff origin, and seem to point to the time of the breaking up of the last great Ice Age, when the valleys and rivers were scooped out by the ice, and the floods due to its melting, and when vast quantities of rock debris and gravel were carried to the coast. The theory proposed by Mr. Strahan, in the discussion on Dr. Vaughan Cornish's paper on " Sand-beaches and Sand-banks," 1 as to the origin of this bank, is that the beach could not have been fed from the cliffs at the west end of the bay, as the stones could never have been moved across the deep water of Tor Bay. He considers that the material has been derived solely from the region in which it occurs ; and that the source of supply was the tertiary strata of the Hampshire basin, which at a former period probably touched the rocks in which these pebbles are in, situ. The bank contains stones of great variety derived from this origin. There is also a set of gravels which in prehistoric times over- spread a large part of this area, but which have now been cut by denudation into isolated patches in which similar pebbles are embedded. The sea has encroached on this part of the coast and swept some of these away, but there still exist two hills on the landward side of the valley of the Fleet occupied by these gravels and containing quartzite pebbles. There were probably originally similar patches on the seaward side, with corresponding gravels. From the sweepings of these inland gravels and of the harder residuum of the rocks that once occupied the west bay, the Chesil Bank has probably been formed. Also the fact must not be lost sight of that since the original 1 Geographical Journal, May and June, 1898. 152 THE SEA-COAST. formation of the land the coast-line has been worn back at least 10 miles, as indicated by the line of the old raised beach, and that the eroded cliffs contained a large amount of gravel and flints, which, falling on the beach, would gradually be drifted landwards, forming a bank of increasing magnitude as the cliffs receded. It is probable that from this source the bulk of the material has been derived. Another indication that this bank was formed under different conditions to those which now exist is afforded by the fact that there is no evidence of change in the form of the bank or material increase in its length or width within recent periods. The account given by Leland in his Itinerary three and a half centuries ago (1546) agrees very much with the condition of the bank at the present time. After describing the Fleet, he says, " A little above Abbotes-Byri is the head or point of the Chisil lying north- weste, that from thens streatch up 7 miles as a maine narrow banke by a right line to south-est, and ther butteth on Portland, scant a quarter of a mile above the new Castell in Portland. The nature of this bank of Chisil is such that as often as the wind bloweth strene at south-est, so often the se betith it, and losith the bank, and breaketh it thorough it. So that if this might continually blow here, this bank should sone be beten away, and the se fully enter and devide Portland making it an isle, as surely in tymes it hath beene, as far as I can by any conjecture gather. But as much as the south-est wind doth bete and breke off this Chisille bank, so much doth the north-west wynd scoor, strengith and augmentith it." This description shows that the bank was substantially the same as it is at the present time, but that the height may be somewhat greater. The last time a breach occurred from the water breaking through was about the beginning of the last century. In Hutchinson's " History of Dorsetshire," published in 1774, the bank is described as being 16| miles long, and as ending at Swyre ; that the pebbles at Chesilton were as large as an egg, and many larger, but less in size towards the west, while at Swyre they were no bigger than peas. Mackenzie's description of the coast, made a hundred years ago, shows that there has been very little change in the sea-bed or in the position of the Shambles, an immense bank of broken shells lying south-east of Portland Bill, and having the same depth THE SOUTH COAST. 153 over it then as now, which varies from 2 to 7 fathoms. This alone is sufficient to refute the theory that has been put forward, that the shingle has been thrown up from the bed of the sea. Portland Bill to Christchurch. From Portland Bill to Christ- church, a distance of about 40 miles, the coast is bordered by high cliffs consisting principally of sand, gravel, and clay, with a few stretches of chalk and limestone intervening. The shore-line is broken up by numerous bays, each having its own distinct beach of shingle or sand, which is prevented drifting eastward by the various protecting headlands. These cliffs, throughout nearly the whole length, are being eroded by the action of the sea, or are wasting from landslips. Very few works for their protection have been carried out, and along the cliffs there are no towns or villages sufficiently near the shore to render such protection an absolute necessity. The towns of Weymouth, Swanage, Poole, and Bournemouth are situated in depressions or valleys in the cliffs, and only at Weymouth and Poole has any attempt been made to protect the shore from the encroachment of the sea. The Island of Portland, which forms the western extremity of this line of coast, is composed of oolite limestone, containing nodules and bands of chert, resting on a bed of grey and yellow sand and Kimrneridge clay. The land at the north end does not rise more than 50 feet above the sea-level, and is composed to a great extent of a rubble bed of chert and limestone ; the cliff then rises almost vertically to 488 feet at the highest point, from which the land slopes gradually to the Bill at the south end. The Portland stone is quarried and exported largely for building purposes. A great deal of the debris from the quarries rolls down the cliff on to the beach, and either lies in large blocks, or is broken up by the waves. Amongst this debris is a con- siderable quantity of black flint or chert, which is ground into pebbles, which collect and form a shingle beach below Chesil at the north-west of the island, a few being drifted on to the Chesil Bank. The eastern side of the island is being wasted by the en- croachments of the sea, and large portions of the cliff, being undermined, have fallen. About the middle of the last century, a landslip to the extent of 150 yards occurred, and several skeletons buried beneath slabs of stone were exposed. 154 THE SEA-COAST. At the end of the last century there was again a large land- slip, when part of the cliff subsided 50 feet, the extent of ground that was moved being 1| mile from north to south, and 600 yards from east to west (Hutchinson's " History of Dorsetshire "). At the present time the centre part of the island is estimated to be losing nearly a foot a year. Portland is connected with the mainland by a narrow isthmus along which runs the Chesil bank, affording complete shelter to Portland Koads. The land beyond this to Melcombe Kegis is low, and consists principally of sand and pebbles deposited by marine agency. Weymouth. The beach in front of Weymouth lies in a sheltered position facing easterly. The rise of the tide is small, being about 7 feet at spring tides. A sea-wall has been con- structed along the front of the town, and a pier projects from the south end of this wall. In this embayment there is a very fine stretch of sand, which is of much service in attracting visitors to the town. Northward of Weymouth the shore trends to the north-east, and faces nearly south-east, and is therefore much more exposed. The shore here is low, and the main road to the village of Preston, which runs along the edge of the beach for 1 j miles, skirts a tract of enclosed land known as Lodmoor Marshes. Beyond this are some low clay cliffs which extend for about 1J miles to the chalk cliffs at Kedcliffe Point. These cliffs rest on greensand and face south, their height being about 150 feet. Northward of the town there is a bank of shingle, and a little shingle is spread over the beach nearly up to the clay cliffs, the pebbles averaging about 1 inch in diameter at the top of the bank, a few of the stones reaching 6 inches long. The pebbles are of the same character as those on the Chesil Bank, and no doubt have been derived from the same source. They consist principally of brown and other coloured flints, black and yellow chert, and oolite stone from the Portland cliffs ; there are a few quartz and pink quartzite stones, and here and there a jasper pebble. The bank is from 40 to 50 yards wide at the base, and from 10 to 15 yards at the top. From its surroundings, and so far as any information can be obtained, the accumulation is an ancient one, and the quantity of material has not greatly varied since the original formation of the bank, any supply that comes from the debris of Portland THE SOUTH COAST. ID 5 oiily making good the wear and tear caused by the waves and tides. The accumulation of shingle at this part of the coast forms a natural bank for the protection of the low alluvial land at the back, the tide, no doubt, having flowed over the Lodmoor Marshes before they became reclaimed by the drifting of the shingle across them. The shingle which formerly protected the road has now a tendency to drift southward, and is gradually encroaching on the sands, which are becoming more pebble-strewn, and shingle is spreading along the front of the town, and now reaches along the promenade 250 yards south of the clock-tower at the end of the road leading to the railway station. The beach in front of the Preston road is becoming proportionately denuded, the top of the bank being higher at the south end in front of the esplanade than where it runs by the side of the road. Fears have been entertained by the road authority and the landowners that during a heavy on-shore gale the road may be washed away, and the sea force its way across the low land to the backwater, and so convert the town into an island. The road had to be set back 60 feet between 1855 and 1885, and it is stated that the beach has been lowered from 5 to 10 feet within the last ten years. The parties concerned have been advised that the construction of the breakwater at Portland has led to the denudation of the beach, and that therefore the Government ought to take the necessary steps for protecting the shore. The Admiralty, however, in reply to deputations which have waited on them at different times, have declined all responsibility in the matter. The breakwater was constructed about the year 1847. Pre- vious to the commencement of this work, the esplanade wall in front of the town was constantly subject to injury during gales from the south-east, and frequently had breaches made in it. As the breakwater extended outwards, the heaviest waves struck the wall more to the northward than previously. Considerable expense had to be incurred in protecting the part which had previously escaped, and a new wall which had been erected for the protection of the frontage was destroyed two years after its construction. Now there is a large accumulation of shingle in front of the esplanade, which reaches nearly to the top of the wall and affords complete protection to it. The effect of the 156 THE SEA-COAST. breakwater also was to drive the heavy seas on to the cliffs at Jordan Hill, and, there being no shingle beach there, considerable erosion of the cliffs takes place. The Government appear at one time to have admitted some liability for the damage being done, as under their direction a large quantity of blocks of stone, obtained from Portland, were deposited on the beach, for the purpose of breaking the force of the waves, and for a time these served as a protection. Before the construction of the breakwater there was practically no permanent displacement of the shingle, but now a counter set of the flood current has been created, which, curling round the breakwater, moves in a south-westerly direction, causing the shingle to drift towards Weymouth. The wind waves also, striking the north shore, are deflected in the same direction, emphasizing the tidal action. Groynes have been constructed at different times along the shore, but, owing to faulty construction and neglect, most of these have gone to ruin. There are at the present time some high groynes near the coastguard station at Preston, of a somewhat similar construction to those described at Hove, but as there is no shingle to the north-east of these, and the drift of the shingle, as already described, is to the south-east, these are useless as a protection, and stand up above the bare beach to a height of 10 feet. 1 Occasionally with heavy south-west gales some of the shingle is drifted northward, and accumulates against the groynes, but after the subsidence of the gale it works back towards Weymouth, and leaves the groynes bare. During a very heavy south-west gale in February, 1899, the waves broke over the shingle-bank, and the beach in front of the road was washed away, the roadway being made impassable, a very large quantity of shingle being thrown on to the marshes. The landowners and the County Council were advised by Mr. E. Case that the high groynes which were erected were not only of no service, but greatly the cause of the encroachment of the sea on the beach, and that it would be necessary to have them removed, and the beach protected by a system of 30 low groynes, with the view of collecting and fixing the drifting shingle, and preventing its further encroachment on the Weymouth sands. The estimated cost of these groynes was 2000. 1 " On the Erosion of the Coast near Weymouth;by the Action of the Sea," T. B. Graves. Proc. Dorset. Nat. Hist, and Antiq. Field Club, 1889. THE SOUTH COAST. 157 The County Council, being advised that the stone placed on the beach near the groynes, and the projecting rocks, prevented the accumulation of shingle, entered into a contract with the Case Syndicate for the removal of the rocks on the Weymouth side of the groynes over a length of 300 yards, and for the con- struction of a retaining wall with the stones removed, the amount of the contract being 2415. Redcliffe Point to Swanage. To the east of Weymouth, beyond Redcliffe Point, at Osmington, there is a collection of beach. Beyond this is the Burning Cliff, consisting of indurated clay ; and Ringstead Bay, on the beach of which an accumulation of shingle is kept in place by the projection of White Nothe. This marks the commencement of a series of chalk cliffs with flints rising to a height of 300 to 500 feet, which are formed into bays by the projection of Batts Head, and the oolite headland called Durdle Door. The cliffs are varied in outline by bays and headlands, the beach being covered with sand and flint shingle. Further east is Lul worth Cove, a deep indent having a narrow opening, and surrounded by cliffs of chalk and sand. Two large slips of the chalk cliffs took place in the centre of the bay about fifty years ago. The beach is strewn with coarse pebbles, the largest being in the centre of the bay. Mewps Point, about a mile further on, is formed of Purbeck strata, with a large area of reefs on the beach, which are just covered at high water. Between Mewps Point and Panfield Point is a deep recess, the western end being known as Mewps Bay, formed by a chalk reef running out from the shore seawards, the centre as Arrish Gap, and the eastern end as Worbarrow Bay. The beach of Mewps Bay is covered with fine shingle. Arrish Bay has a white sandy beach. Lul worth beach, further east, is strewn with large masses of fallen chalk, and there is some shingle collected in the deep indentations in the base of the cliff. The chalk cliff at the west side of Worbarrow Bay, which rises to a height of 560 feet, is continually falling in large masses on to the shore. The eastern cliff is formed of Purbeck strata, forming a nearly perpendicular hill of a conical shape known as Worbarrow Tout. The beach is full of rounded flint pebbles mixed with Purbeck boulders and ironstone derived from the beds on the top of the cliffs. Worbarrow Tout marks the commencement of the Purbeck strata, and the cliffs consist of a succession of dark-looking oolitic 158 THE SEA-COAST. shelly limestone, containing bands of chert with shale and clay, to St. Al ban's Head. The shore-line is broken by several indents and bays, the cliffs varying in height from 485 feet at Gad Cliff to about 50 feet in Kimmeridge Bay. East of Kimmeridge Bay the limestone crops out on the shore in reefs called " The Kimme- ridge Ledges," which get worn into boulders and pebbles by the action of the waves. The beach east of these ledges is covered with fine pebbles and sand. In Chapman's Pool the traces of fallen cliffs are indicated by an undercliff, and the beach is strewn with detached masses of stone and patches of shingle formed of Purbeck boulders. St. Alban's Head rises 100 feet from the beach, and consists of Kimmeridge clay, the beach at its foot consisting of rock and boulders, with rough shingle in the coves. There have been several landslips. Between St. Alban's Head and Durlston Head is a shallow bay bordered by cliffs rising to about 100 feet above the shore, and consisting of Portland stone, which is quarried for building purposes. The beach is strewn with detached blocks of oolite rock mixed with boulders. Durlston Head consists of limestone with chert nodules, and from this projection to Peveril Point, a distance of about a mile, is Durlston Bay, which has been hollowed out by the sea to a depth of nearly a quarter of a mile, having cliffs from 50 to 100 feet high of the Lower Purbeck beds. From Peveril Point to Ballard Point, a distance of If miles, is Swanage Bay, the coast-line of which is set back a mile and consists of cliffs about 5D feet high, of Wealden clays and shales, with bands of quartz grit. The beach is covered with sand in front of Swanage, and further on to the north by shingle composed of flint pebbles. From Ballard Point to the Foreland, where there are two pro- jecting chalk cliffs, or pinnacles, known as Old Harry and his Wife, is a straight line of chalk cliffs extending for about seven- eighths of a mile, and rising to a height of from 200 to 300 feet. The flints in this chalk are unusually large, and at the base of the headland there is an accumulation of flint boulders of a larger size than to be found at any other part of the coast. Swanage. The town of Swanage is situated at the back of Peveril Point, at the foot of the cliffs, which rise with a gradual slope from the sea. It is entirely sheltered from south-west gales, THE SOUTH COAST. which bring the heaviest seas in the Channel, but is exposed to the north-east. The beach in front of the town is covered with hard dry sand. It is subject to constant erosion, and during the last sixty years the sea encroached 60 feet, and the beach has become so much denuded that the waves at ordinary high tides break against the roadway, which runs parallel with the shore for about three-quarters of a mile. This road was partly washed away during a storm in the winter of 1898. Some buildings on the shore have been destroyed, and a pillar which had been erected as a memorial of King Alfred was washed down by the sea, and had to be erected further inland to save it from destruction. It has been the practice to remove shingle and sand from the beach in large quantities for building purposes. In order to prevent further denudation and restore the beach to its former condition, the District Council proposed, in 1899, to construct twenty -six low groynes on the beach, extending to low water, at a cost of 3500, and applied for the necessary sanction of the Board of Trade and Local Government Board. The Board of Trade, after considering the evidence produced at a public inquiry, and the report of their inspector, refused their sanction to the construction of these groynes. The principal opposition raised was by the boatmen and fisher- men, who contended that the groynes would interfere with the seine-net fish- ing, and be dangerous to the small boats. Poole. At the southern end of Bournemouth Bay, the coast-line is set back from the headland three-quarters of a mile, and for 4 miles from Studland to Poole Head is a range of dunes or hills of blown sand, which at the widest part, immediately south of the entrance to Poole, are half a mile wide. Within these sand-hills is a large expanse of sand forming the estuary of the river Wareham, through which the channel winds its way past Poole. The main set of the flood tide along the bay is easterly, but there is a counter-tide at the western end which sets in a south- westerly direction, and the drift of the sand fallen from the clifYs SAND D'UNES POOLE HARBOUR. FIG. 25. 160 THE SEA-COAST. is in the same direction. There has been considerable erosion of the cliff at this end of the bay, the frontage line having receded in places 170 feet within living memory. The material from the fallen cliffs has drifted into a sandspit which stretches across Poole Harbour for 2 \ miles, on which has accumulated the northern sand-dunes above referred to. This spit faces south-east, and is much exposed. At the back of the spit and dunes is a road and several houses. For the protection of the dunes, a concrete wall running nearly their whole length was constructed some years ago. The waves in south-east gales, striking against this wall, cut out the sand at its foot and caused its destruction, the greater part of the wall having fallen, and the remainder being more or less in a ruinous condition. The part now standing has been protected by larch poles driven close together in front of it, and rising 6 feet above the sands. These, however, form only a very imperfect protection. For the purpose of preventing the removal of the sand from the beach, a box groyne 170 feet long has been constructed at the southern end of the spit, to the north of the entrance to the harbour, and extending in a southerly direction to low water. The top of the groyne is 4 feet above the beach. Two rows of 4- inch boarding, spaced 7 feet apart, are bolted to uprights of 6-inch T-iron, the sides being stayed at intervals of 9 feet by 7-inch by 5-inch fir struts of wood, and tied together with |-inch iron rods. The space between the boarding is filled with rubble stone. The northern shore of the entrance to Poole harbour lies back considerably from the general line, and behind a headland on the other side. The flood tide deflected by this headland eddies round and causes a south-westerly drift of the sand. The box groyne appears to have been useful in arresting the progress of the drift into the harbour entrance, and in raising the beach at this part, the sand being from 3 to 4 feet higher on the east than on the west side. At the north-eastern end of the dunes some short groynes have been placed at distances apart varying from 75 to 100 feet. They consist of 4-inch longitudinal planks bolted to 6-inch T-iron uprights. As arranged, they do not appear to have served any useful effect in accumulating sand or raising the beach. Recently it has been determined to extend the existing box- groyne, as far as practicable, towards low water, and to erect a THE SOUTH COAST. i6[ second box-groyne, 70 yards long and 100 yards eastward of the existing groyne, and also five low groynes 200 feet long. Bournemouth Bay. Between the foreland at Studland to Hengitsbury Head, a distance of about 9 miles, is Bournemouth Bay, the coast-line of which is set back from a line drawn between the two headlands <3 miles. Beyond Poole Head to the eastern headland the coast trends first in a north-easterly direction for 4 miles, and then nearly due east. It is thus partially sheltered from the effect of south-west gales, but open to the south and east. The cliffs consist of light- coloured sand belonging to the Bagshot beds, interspersed with which is gravel, and are about 100 feet in height till nearly the eastern end of the bay is approached, when there is a short length of sand-dunes, the summit of which is about 60 feet above the sea. Beyond Southbourne they consist of sand and gravel, and are low until the headland at Hengitsbury is reached, which attains a height of 100 feet. These cliffs are intersected by several deep ravines or " chines," which run down to the beach, and in one of them the town of Bournemouth has been built. A scheme has been proposed for building a wall from Boscombe to Bournemouth for the purpose of forming an undercliff drive and promenade. The beach in the bay, which is about 100 yards wide, is covered with sand overlying blue clay, and with small detached patches or heaps of gravel. These consist chiefly of angular stones which have fallen from the cliffs, and there are a few large grey rounded pebbles derived from the layers in the Bagshot Beds. The cliffs all along Bournemouth Bay are subject to constant erosion, more particularly at the eastern end. At Double Dykes a monument built on the cliff, and bearing date 1861, is shown on the inch ordnance map as 40 yards from the edge of the cliff, but is now only 15 yards, although it has been moved back. The site of a coastguard station at Flag Head and a field in front, which was standing in 1850, is now in the sea. At Southbourne a sea-wall and promenade was erected about ten or twelve years ago, with a row of houses at the foot of the cliff. The waves, breaking on this wall, cut away the beach and undermined it, and during the south-west gales in the winter of 1899 it was washed away, and the greater part of the promenade destroyed nearly up to the houses. 162 THE SEA-COAST. The shingle along the bay has an easterly drift. At South - bourne the beach is covered with sand, with a little shingle scattered- about, and this increases in quantity up to the headland. It varies in size from J inch to 3 inches, and has been derived from the gravel in the cliffs. The shingle does not travel beyond the headland at Hengits- bury ; this, with the Beerpan rocks, which extend out seaward, forming a natural groyne. Until about fifty years ago it was the practice to remove the ironstone which occurs in broken seams 3 to 4 feet in thickness at the base of the cliff, and between 1847-54 400 feet was removed or washed away. After the removal of this stone two large mounds of shingle, which had accumulated on the west side and extended as far as Double Dykes, began to disperse and drift round the point on to the spit at the west end of Christ- church Bay (British Association Keport, 1885). The practice of moving this ironstone has now ceased. Christchurch to Selsea Bill. Between the headland at Christ- church and the projection at Selsea Bill, a distance of 43 miles, the main, or interior, coast-line is slightly embayed, being set back from a straight line drawn between the two points in the centre about 5 miles, which widens out to 8 miles at the entrance to Southampton Water. Partly within this embayment is the Isle of Wight, and if this be considered, as no doubt it was at one time, attached to the mainland, the line of coast would show a projection instead of an embayment, St. Catherine's Point standing out as a bold head- land. The interior coast-line presents a great contrast to that already described on the west, and to the high chalk cliffs on the east, the land being low and entirely free from cliffs, except for a short distance at the west end. The southern coast of the Isle of Wight, on the contrary, is distinguished by its high white cliffs. There is clear evidence that the Isle of Wight at one time joined the mainland at its western end, the chalk cliffs, and the Needles, forming a continuation of those of the same geological character in Dorsetshire, the Solent being the estuary of the several rivers which now flow into it from the Isle of Wight and Hampshire, which with Southampton Water joined the English Channel to the east of Spithead. The Isle of Wight constitutes a natural shelter for the road- stead at Spithead, and, with the deep water of the Solent and the approaches to Portsmouth and Southampton sheltered from heavy gales, and the prolonged period during which high water lasts, THE SOUTH COAST. 163 Sout 1 64 THE SEA-COAST. renders this part of the coast one of the most valuable naval and commercial centres in the kingdom. Along this coast are some remarkable examples of shingle banks and spits. This shingle must have been deposited along the banks of the Solent in remote times and under conditions which do not prevail at the present time, as there are no cliffs or waste of land going on to afford material of this kind. Immediately at the back of Hengitsbury Head and sheltered from south-west winds is the approach to Christchurch Harbour. From the headland a sand-spit has grown out for 1^ miles in a north-easterly direction across the harbour ; the entrance being between this spit and another sandbank which stretches out from the mainland in a south-easterly direction. The spit is about a quarter of a mile wide near the head, and sandhills have accumulated on it which attain a height of from 20 to 30 feet, the narrower part of the spit being above high water of spring tides. This spit is gradually extending, having advanced half a mile within the last few years. On the north side of the harbour the land rises, the cliffs extending from Mudeford to Milford- on-Sea. At Barton they attain a height of 50 feet to 100 feet, and terminate a little beyond New Milford. They are composed principally of clay and sand, overlying which is a bed of angular flint gravel from 13 to 18 feet thick. The beach is covered with sand and shingle, its normal slope being 1 in 10. The direction of the drift along the shore of the bay changes considerably. It is first northerly at the west end, then north-east, east, south-east, east, and finally north-west at the back of Hurst Castle. The easterly progress has been tempo- rarily arrested by a landslip at Chewton, where the brook which emerges from a valley is diverted in an easterly direction by the drift of the shingle. At Milford-on-Sea the shingle-bank extends from the cliffs for 16 yards wide above high water, and about 18 yards below this. The pebbles consist principally of brown flints, but there are several of black and grey, with a few red, the pebbles varying in size from J inch to 3 inches, all of which appear to have come from the cliffs. The cliffs, except where landslips have occurred, are nearly vertical, and are wasting away throughout the whole length of the bay, the average annual rate of erosion being estimated at 3 feet. The falling of these cliffs is chiefly due to the action of land THE SOUTH COAST. 165 springs and rain-water issuing from the base of the gravel over the slippery clay surface. During the present generation the coast road along the cliffs has had to be moved further inland three times, and there is a tradition that the church at Hordle, which was once in the middle of that parish, is now much nearer the sea (Lyell, " Principles of Geology "). East of Chewton Glen, where the cliffs are from 50 to 100 feet high, there has been a recent landslip, the clay base having slipped down for a distance of 150 yards, and extending across the beach nearly to low water. Hurst Shingle-bank. From the termination of the cliffs at the east end of Christchurch bay the shingle extends across the channel of the Solent for 1J miles in a high bank, known as the Hurst Castle shingle-bank. At the end, the bank curves round in a hook form, on which the castle now stands, and the lighthouse. The top of the bank at the commencement is about 3 yards wide and 12 feet above low water ; at the eastern extremity it increases to 100 yards. The bank rests on a bed of clay. The shingle consists principally of flints of the same character as those in the cliffs, the pebbles varying in size from \ inch to 3 inches, the average being 1 inch. The sea face of the bank slopes at an angle of 1 in IJ, and the beach at its foot, which is a mixture of sand and shingle 20 to 30 yards wide, has a slope of 1 in 7. This shingle-bank extends below low water across the Solent Channel nearly to the Needles at the west end of the Isle of Wight, a distance of 3 miles, forming a shoal on which there is only from ^ to fathom at low water, and leaving a deep narrow channel about the third of a mile wide and from 25 to 50 feet deep, through which the tide runs with great velocity, the rate at spring tides being 5 knots. The bank, on its southern side, forms a submarine cliff from 20 to 70 feet in height, the side being very steep and dropping suddenly from the top to a depth of several fathoms. During a great storm in 1824, this bank of shingle was moved bodily 40 yards in a north-easterly direction, and some piles which served to mark the boundary of two manors, were found after the storm on the opposite side of it. Many acres of land were covered with shingle washed from the bank. The bank was soon restored in its old position by pebbles drifted from the west (Lyell, Principles of Geology "). 166 THE SEA-COAST. This bank and shoal are no doubt the remains of an ancient accumulation of shingle which had collected along the beach behind the headland at the Needles when the Isle of Wight was connected with the mainland. Although subject to occasional changes during heavy storms and oscillations of the submarine face due to the flood and ebb tides, so far as can be ascertained from old maps, the bank has retained the same general outline and position for centuries, the castle having been built in the reign of Henry VIII. 1 It affords a remarkable example of the permanence of banks of such mobile materials as sand and shingle, when the conditions attaching to the contending forces of tides and winds remain unaltered from any natural or artificial changes in the coast-line. There is no drift of shingle eastward beyond Hurst Bank. It slopes at the back at an angle of about 1 in 2J, and dies out in the salt marshes and mudlands which have grown out from the mainland for a distance of three-quarters of a mile. The Solent. From Hurst Point eastward to some distance beyond the outfall of the Lymington river, the coast is low, with a foreshore which in the widest part is about a mile in width, diminishing to a quarter of a mile at the eastern end. The rise of spring tides in the Solent at this part is only 7 feet. The outfall of the Beaulieu river has been diverted from a straight course for 2 miles by the easterly drift of material. On the west side of Southampton Water, at the point where Calshot Castle stands, is a large spit of shingle a mile in length, which extends out from the mainland across the entrance channel, curving round at the outer end into a natural horn, and forming a protection to a tidal sheet of water called sver Lake. The castle, built at the end of this spit in the reign of Henry VIII., shows the permanence of this bank. On the eastern side the Bramble Bank, consisting of sand and gravel dry at low water, extends out from the shore 3 miles, entirely overlapping the entrance to Southampton Water on the east side, leaving a narrow channel between it and the Calshot spit, in which there is a depth of 5 fathoms. The coast continues low up to and beyond Portsmouth. The entrance to the harbour at Spithead is through a trumpet- mouthed channel, at the western extremity of which, at Grilkicker Point, is a bank of calcareous sand and gravel. 1 Redman, " Changes South-East Coast." Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. xi., 1851. THE SOUTH COAST. 167 In front of Southsea there is a low gravelly beach steep to the water, and the shore has been protected by groynes. At the approach to Langston Harbour two spits of gravel have formed, which extend out from the shore for a mile, and through which is the entrance. The one on the west side curves round at the outer end in an easterly direction, leaving only a very narrow channel, from which to the other spit is a bar with only a foot on it at low water. Chichester Harbour. A shingle beach extends from Hayliug to the entrance to Chichester Harbour, where, on the east side, is a spit of shingle extending out seawards for three-quarters of a mile, and behind it a large bank known as the East Pole Sand. The cliffs east of Chichester Harbour consist of clay, and are low, only rising 4 to 12 feet above high water. The beach, which is about 200 yards wide, is covered with sand and shingle, which lies at the foot of the cliffs for a width of 15 to 20 yards, the top of the bank not being covered at H.W.S.T. The largest pebbles are about 9 inches in diameter. The cliffs are subject to erosion, and the sea is gradually encroaching on the land, the waste being estimated at the rate of 6 to 8 feet a year To the west of Selsey there is some land which lies below the level of high water, and is protected from the sea by a bank of shingle. The sea is gradually driving this bank backwards and encroaching on the land (British Association Report, 189.")). Beyond this the sea has for years past been gradually en- croaching on the land along the coast, causing considerable destruction of property. Fields of from 40 to 50 acres have disappeared, while houses and buildings have had to be abandoned. The coastguard station at Cockbush had to be deserted several years ago, the foundations of the old buildings being now covered by the tide. As the tide advances, the earthen banks which protect the land are moved further inland. Some attempt was made many years ago to protect the land by the erection of timber groynes, but, owing to their light construction, and neglect of repair and attention, they fell into ruin, and have been destroyed by the sea. The Isle of Wight. The connection of this island with the mainland in former ages has already been dealt with. The coast presents a great variety of strata, including the high white chalk cliffs for which the south-western part of the 1 68 THE SEA-COAST. island is noted ; the coloured sands of Alum Bay, used for glass- making ; the pottery clays on the western side ; the greensand and gault of the undercliff ; the septaria on the north, dredged up off the coast for cement-making ; and the low flat alluvial shores of the north-west. The set of the flood tide along the shore is from west to east, and the drift of the material is in the same direction. Shingle is collected in all the bays, but is absent where the line of coast is not indented. The shingle in these bays varies in character, and is generally composed of material derived from the cliffs bordering them. At the extreme west end of the island the shore runs out in the form of a narrow peninsula bounded by high white chalk cliffs containing flint, terminating in three pinnacles rising per- pendicularly from the sea and known as the Needles. The western shore is indented by Colwell, Totland, and Alum bays. Of these the best known, owing to the varied colour of the sand on the cliffs, is Alum Bay. The material of which this cliff, which attains a height of over 600 feet, is composed consists of sand with bands of pipeclay, capped with gravel belonging to the Bagshot series. The colour of the sand is red, yellow, and brown. The face of this cliff is continually falling, due to the percolation of land- water. The sand was at one time largely exported for glass-making. The beach is covered almost entirely with rounded black flints derived from the chalk cliffs on the south side of the bay, varying in size from inch to 3 inches in diameter, which is piled up against the cliff in the bight of the bay to the level of H.W.S.T., below which is sand to low water. At the east end are collected a few pebbles derived from the sand cliff. The southern arm of the bay to the Needles is bordered by a high chalk cliff with flints. The tide washes to the foot of this cliff, and there is no beach along it. There are frequent falls of chalk. In Totland Bay the cliff consists of brick-earth, and the shingle of the beach, of a brown colour, is derived from the gravel beds which cap it. Between the Needles and Freshwater Bay, a distance of 3 miles, the cliff, which rises to a height of 480 feet, consists of chalk with flints. The sea reaches to the foot, and there is no beach. Freshwater Bay lies in a dip in the cliffs. A considerable THE SOUTH COAST. 169. amount of shingle has collected on the beach in a bank 10 to 12 yards wide, the pebbles being principally derived from the flints- in the chalk cliffs, with about 10 per cent, of gravel derived from the beds, 6 to 8 feet in thickness, which cap the cliffs on the east side. The size of the pebbles varies from \ inch to 2 and 3 inches- in diameter. Below the shingle, is coarse sand to low water. The adjoining land has been protected by a concrete sea- wall, a considerable part of which was destroyed by the waves cutting out the beach during a heavy gale in February, 1899. Since the destruction of the wall there has been a considerable fall of the cliff on the eastern horn of the bay, and the road, which at one time ran along the top of the down, has been washed away. The coast-line from here to St. Catherine's Point, a distance of 18 miles, is indented by several bays, the cliffs consisting almost the whole way of greensand and gravel, the height varying from 80 to 160 feet. There are also beds of sandstone containing chert known as firestone, or Malm rock. These sandstone beds extend from Compton Bay to Sandown Bay. This stone has been used largely in the island for the construction of churches and other buildings. For the first mile the cliffs are of chalk, and there is no beach until Compton Bay is reached. This bay is bordered by cliffs of greensand and gault of the Wealden series, with narrow bands of sandstone, and capped with gravel towards the eastern end. The gault contains spangles of mica and crystals of selenite. These cliffs are wasting, the greensand slipping over the gault. Their general character, and the gravel on the top, clearly indicates that at one time they were a continuation of those on the coast of Dorsetshire. The beach in the bay is covered with shingle and sand, that at the western end being composed of flints derived from the chalk cliffs, varying from inch to 3 inches in diameter. As the distance from the chalk cliffs increases the shingle changes to reddish-brown pebbles, derived from the gravel which caps the cliffs, with occasional red flints, chalcedony, jasper, fragments of Purbeck marble, and pieces of sandstone indurated by iron and known as "iron sand." The shingle varies in size from 4 inch to 6 inches in diameter, and the pebbles, which are not much worn or rounded, are heaped up into a bank about 12 yards wide at the east end, and are prevented drifting beyond the horn of the '70 THE SEA-COAST. bay by a ledge of rocks which extends out some distance beyond low water. At the east end of the bay, at Brook Point, the cliff consists of the Wealden strata at the base, above which is pale grey sand- stone and red and green marls. In Brook Bay lignite and iron pyrites are found on the beach, the cliffs consisting of red and yellow sands. Brixton Bay is bordered by cliffs of grey shale, with beds of limestone and sandstone. At Atherfield the cliffs, which are 150 feet high, consist of greensand and Wealden clay ; and a ledge of rock extends out from the shore for some distance below low water. The cliffs along this part of the coast belong to the Punfield series, and are similar to those exposed at Swanage. Along all these cliffs are gaps and deep valleys known as " chines," by which access can be obtained from the top of the downs to the beach. West of Blackgang Chine the cliffs consist of greensand resting on gault ; the face is continually sliding down owing to land-springs. The cliffs on the east side are of chalk. The shingle in Chale Bay, at the foot of Blackgang Chine, consists of small reddish-brown rounded pebbles about half an inch in diameter, which is confined to the bay, and prevented from drifting eastward by the rocky projections at the east end. This shingle is banked up against the cliff in the centre of the bay above the level of ordinary spring tides for a width of about 50 yards, when it slopes down to a sandy beach at an angle of 1 in 2, the total width of the beach being from 70 to 100 yards. The small size of these pebbles is probably accounted for by the fact that the stones deposited at some remote period in the bay, not being able to drift out of it, have been rolled about continually by the waves and have been worn down to the present dimensions. The pebbles have originally been derived from land gravel, and not from the chalk cliffs. Beyond Blackgang commences the great landslip which occurred about 120 years ago, and constitutes what is known as the " undercliff," and this extends for nearly 8 miles to Luccombe. Along this stretch of coast the cliff is in terraces from a quarter to half a mile in width, about 50 to 100 feet above the sea, surmounted by a steep cliff of chalk or sandstone rising almost vertically in places to a height varying from 500 feet at Niton to 100 feet at St. Lawrence and 400 feet at Luccombe. The THE SOUTH COAST. 171 highest point of the downs at St. Catherine's Point rises to 780 feet above sea-level. East of St. Catherine's Point to Luccombe the base of the cliffs is composed of the gault clay, or " blue slipper," as it is locally termed, and known on the south-east coast as " platimore." The wet, filtering down on to this from the porous strata above, caused the large subsidence of the upper greensand or " fire- stone " rock, and chalk with flints, which rested on the gault, forming the undercliff. The landslips of which there are records are those of 1791), when a farm called Pitland near Niton, containing 100 acres, subsided ; in 1810 there was another fall, when 30 acres subsided ; in 1818, 50 acres fell, and there was a large fall in 1847. Between Kocken End and St. Catherine's Point there is very little beach, large boulders lying at the foot of the cliffs. The shore in Ventnor Bay has been protected by a sea-wall, against which is banked up small round red-brown shingle of a similar kind to that already described in Chale Bay, beyond which is hard firm sand. Under normal conditions the shingle is within 4 feet of the top of the sea-wall, but in heavy south-west gales it is dragged down from 5 to 6 feet. It is stated that previous to the year 1825 there was no shingle on this beach, but during a heavy gale the ledge of rocks to the west, at Kocken End, became broken up and lowered, allowing a portion of the shingle to drift from Chale Bay. The quantity of shingle tends to decrease, there being no fresh source of supply, any material dragged down in heavy gales and drifted along the beach to the east never returning. Four low wooden groynes, consisting of 10 -inch piles and 4-inch planking, and a stone groyne at the east end placed at right angles to the wall to prevent the shingle drifting away, were erected about thirty years ago. To the north-east of Yentnor the beach is rocky, with small patches of shingle in the bays and indents. In the bay at Bonchurch, three-quarters of a mile to the north- east, a sea-wall has been constructed to protect the road at the foot of the cliff, and against this is a bank 15 to 20 yards wide of large rounded black flints derived from the chalk cliffs to the west, their size varying from 1 to 3 inches, and below this shingle is firm hard sand. 172 THE SEA-COAST. Several stone groynes have been erected here for the purpose of retaining the shingle and preventing its drifting away to the north. Between Dunnose Point and Luccombe the cliffs consist of greensand and gault, and there have been very considerable land- slips. Beyond Luccombe to Shanklin the cliffs, from 250 to 330 feet high, are composed of greensand and beds of the Wealden clays. Kound Sandown Bay the cliffs at the west end are of the lower greensand formation, and are nearly vertical, the lower beds consisting of black gritty ferruginous sandstone full of dark water worn-pebbles, with quartz and jasper and concretions of iron sand. Up to about Luccombe the shore at the foot of the cliffs is covered with large boulders. At the Chine begins a sand beach, which extends along to the coast beyond Sandown. Close under the cliff are boulders and patches of shingle consisting of reddish- brown gravel, some of the flints being stained on the surface a deep red by the oxide of iron contained in the land springs. There are also to be found remains of wood hardened by iron, and it is on this beach the chalk flints are found which are polished and sold by the lapidaries as " moss agates," and some- times called petrified sea-anemones. The beautiful colour of these is derived from stains due to contact with peroxide of iron. The crystallized cavities in these stones contain the remains of silicified sponges, " choanites " and " ventriculites." These cavities are sometimes lined with quartz or chalcedony. Small pebbles of pure quartz or rock crystal are also found, which, when polished, are sold as " Isle of Wight diamonds." Mr. Mark Norman considers that these have been washed out of the Wealden strata, as identical pebbles occur in the strata at Tilgate Forest and Tunbridge Wells. 1 The drift of the beach along Sandown Bay is northerly, but it is stopped by the projection at Culver Cliff, at the north- east end, the foot of which projects some distance and beyond low water. For some time past the cliffs have been giving way, and there have been some heavy falls on to the beach, partly due to land 1 " Popular Guide to the Geology of the Isle of Wight." By Mark W. Norman. Knight. Ventnor, 1887. Mantell's " Geological Excursion round the Isle of Wight." 1854. THE SOUTH COAST. 173 springs, but principally from the action of the sea, which reaches the base of them at high water, the path between Shanklin and Sandown being rendered unsafe. The beach also has become much denuded, the tide reaching the foot of the sea-wall and promenade that was built about thirty years ago. Some small groynes have been put down from time to time, but these have not been effective. Recently application was made to the Local Government Board by the Shanklin Urban District Council for permission to borrow 2000 for the construction of two groynes for the protection of the beach and the cliffs, one to be placed at the end of the esplanade wall, 95 yards long, and the other at the north end, 100 yards long. The tender for these groynes, constructed of concrete with facing blocks, was 2200. From Sandown the cliffs rise to Culver, the west side of which is composed of red clay, and the east side chalk. White- cliffe Bay is bordered by plastic clay cliffs resting on chalk, capped by beds of sand and gravel, with layers of pebbles of the Woolwich and Keading series. From the foreland at the eastern extremity of the island to Bernbridge the coast is fringed by an unbroken rocky shelf, which uncovers at low water for about one-third of a mile from the shore. North-east of Beinbridge two sand-hills, which are from 10 to 20 feet in height, project out from the shore in a northerly direction for about three-quarters of a mile, and between these is the entrance to Brading Harbour and the outflow of the river. Six hundred acres of land have been reclaimed by a bank made across the estuary of the river. The beach north of Brading Harbour is strewn with rocks, and there is little or no shingle except in patches. The coast is wasting considerably near St. Helen's Priory. Beyond Brading the cliffs, consisting of marls and clays and sandstone, rise to a height of 100 feet, but drop down again to about 20 feet at Nettles tone Point ; the beach being of lime- stone rock. Westward of this, and extending for 3 miles and past Ryde, is a large area of sands, which at the widest part un- cover at low water for a distance of 1J miles. On the north-east side of the island, where a great deal of erosion is taking place, some groynes have been erected between Nettlestone Point and Sea View for the protection of the sea-wall 174 THE SEA-COAST. there ; also at North Nodes Point. Some of these are stone, and others of wood. A wall was built along the cliffs north of St. Helen's Church, which stopped the erosion of the cliffs. At Cowes, on the beach on the west side of the river Medina, a concrete wall and promenade extend for about 300 yards, beyond which the roadway is protected by timber breasting. Westward of Egypt Point, a new concrete wall with promenade, about one-third of a mile long, was erected by the West Cowes Local Board in 1894. The beach is covered with shingle for a width of from 25 to 30 yards, which reaches nearly to the top of the timber breasting. The shingle is generally brown in colour, with several red flints, and has been derived from land gravel from the deposits on the top of the cliffs to the west. It varies in size from j inch to 3 inches in diameter. There is a good deal of shell sand mixed with, and extending beyond, the shingle. At low-water level the beach is covered with large boulders. The cliffs on the north-western side of the island consist of marl and clay, which in places rise to a height of 200 feet, and the shore is indented by shallow bays. Near Hampstead the cliffs consist of green and brown marl and clay, capped with beds of gravel. The drift of the shingle along this part of the coast is from west to east, the same as that of the flood tide. In the neighbourhood of Yarmouth the land is low, being not more than 10 or 12 feet above ordinary high water. Iron ore and cement stone have been dredged up from the sea-bed at this part of the coast. The floor of the beach consists of gault, or " platner," as it is locally called ; boulders of ironstone are scattered about, and there is a small quantity of shingle. Some low groynes have recently been erected for the purpose of collecting the shingle which drifts from the west. Near Hampstead is the largest accumulation of shingle between the Needles and Cowes, which is known as the Duvver. It is about a quarter of a mile long. At Bouldnor groynes have been erected for the protection of the frontage, and sand and shingle have accumulated on the windward or west side. Selsea Bill and the South Foreland. Between these points the destruction of cliffs and the waste of land have been very great, THE SOUTH COAST. 175 and there are here situated a greater number of seaside resorts requiring protection than in any other part of the coast. The coast-line is almost straight, and is free from any deep indents or embayments, and up to Brighton, a distance of 30 miles, is more or less bordered by cliffs consisting of clay and sand, only a few feet in height, which are constantly being eroded by the sea in gales, but which afford very little supply of beach material. Throughout there is a more or less continuous bank of shingle of varying width, which increases to a very large accumulation at the windward or east end. This shingle was probably origin- ally derived from the waste of the land which now forms the site of the English Channel, and from the transport of inland gravels by glacial floods. The present conditions of the coast present no features which could account for the deposit of this shingle. On the Geological Survey Drift Map it is stated that near Selsea Bill fragments of granite, quartzite, and other stones are scattered on the shore, which would account for the pebbles from these rocks being found amongst the shingle. Chalk rocks also crop up near low water in the neighbourhood of Felpham and Lancing, but with these exceptions there is no source at any part of this coast from which any quantity of shingle can now be derived. The shingle is almost entirely of rounded flint pebbles derived from the chalk, but amongst them are to be found, at the western end, many unworn flints having the same appearance as they would have if they had just fallen from a chalk cliff. Towards the east end the pebbles get smaller in size and more worn. Groynes have been placed along nearly the whole of this part of the coast. Between Brighton and Beachy Head are chalk cliffs ; and at Pevensey, Dungeness, and Hythe large accumulations of shingle. The chalk cliffs begin again at Folkestone, and reach some distance beyond Dover. Selsey and Pagham. East of Selsey Bill is a low clay shore, the beach being slightly covered with coarse shingle, but the waves break on the low cliffs at high water. The sea has encroached considerably, upwards of 100 acres of land having been washed away within living memory. Tradition says that the village of Selsea, which now stands half a mile from the sea, i?6 THE SEA-COAST. was at cue time in the centre of a peninsula, half of which has been swept away since the Saxon era. The site of the ancient cathedral is covered by the sea. At the time the church was built it was 2 miles to the north-east of the village, but the sea has now crept up much nearer. In the time of Henry VIII. there was a deer park, belonging to the Bishop of Chichester, which is now an anchorage ground with 3 fathoms of water, and is marked on the charts as " The Park." Further along in the bight is a large accumulation of shingle extending for about 2 miles. The top of this bank, which is about 6 feet above high water, is from 200 to 300 yards wide, and below this the beach is covered with shingle for half a mile. This accumulation of shingle has been in its present position from time immemorial. The pebbles consist almost entirely of chalk flints of all sizes up to 9 inches in diameter. Although the greater part are rounded from having been rolled about by the waves, some are not in the least worn, but have the same appearance as if they had recently fallen from a chalk cliff. Amongst the pebbles are a few pink and brown quartzite and sandstone. At the east end of the bight was formerly the entrance to Pagham Harbour, which is now completely closed, the land inside having been reclaimed under the powers of an Act' passed in 1875. Since this reclamation, and the stoppage of the ebb and flow of the tidal water in and out of the harbour, the shingle has drifted north-eastward, and the channel, which had 40 feet of water, is now completely filled up. From Pagham to Bognor the beach is backed by a low earth- bank, which is constantly being eroded by the sea. Groynes of a similar character to those on the shore at Bognor have been placed all along the coast. A notice-board has been fixed by the Board of Trade on the shore at Aldwick, dated 1876, stating that the removal of shingle from the beach is forbidden. Bognor. The coast along the whole of this frontage was originally bordered by low sandy clay cliffs, which, until pro- tected by the sea-wall, were continually being washed away. The beach is covered with shingle 12 to 40 yards in width, or say to about a quarter ebb tide, and below this is good firm sand resting on clay. The shingle consists principally of rounded chalk flints, varying in size from 2 up to 9 inches. At the west THE SOUTH COAST. 177 end, in calm weather, it reaches to within 3 feet of the top of the wall, while at the east end it is 12 feet below it. Throughout the whole length groynes exist, which were first erected about seventy years ago. They vary in length, the longest being about 100 yards and extending nearly to low water, the others being half this length. The distance apart varies from 75 to 100 yards. They are placed at right angles to the coast-line, and near the shore, for the first 20 yards or so, are 7 to 8 feet in height, raking down to about 18 inches or 2 feet above the sand for the rest of the distance. They are constructed of fir piles 8 inches square, spaced 4 feet apart centre to centre, with 2-inch fir planking. The longer groynes cost about 60 each. These groynes have not raised the level of the sand beach, but are efficient in keeping it level. Occasionally in heavy gales the sand is scoured out in places to a depth of two planks, or 18 inches, but it drifts back after the gales. The boatmen consider that these numerous groynes are a source of danger, small boats getting stove in occasionally in rough weather. Between Bognor and Aid wick the roadway along the coast is held up by a timber breasting, but throughout the Bognor frontage there is a promenade protected by a sea-wall. The centre part of this wall was constructed in 1870, at a cost of 8000 ; and was extended eastward 240 yards in 1895, at a cost of 5000 ; and westward for 160 yards in 1899, at a cost of 2300. A description of the part of the wall last constructed will be found in Chapter V. The east wall has concrete groynes extending out at right angles, and 60 yards apart. These are 3 feet wide at the top, with a batter of 3 inches to 1 foot on each side, and are stepped down. They are about 80 yards long, and cost 350 each. These have not been as effective as the wooden groynes in holding up the beach, while costing nearly six times as much. The waves, in breaking on them in rough weather, tend to cut out and denude the beach. The shingle in calm weather is from 3 to 4 feet higher on the west side of the groynes than on the east side. During the heavy gales of the winter of 1898-99, the sea washed over the promenade and flooded part of the town, nearly up to the High Street. With moderate waves the water from the waves falls on the promenade, especially where the beach is low. Felpham. Between Bognor and here a concrete sea-wall, about 3 feet thick, has at some time been constructed for the x 173 T.HE SEA-COAST. protection of a tract of low land. This wall stands up above the land, and during heavy on-shore gales the waves break over it and inundate the land behind ; a considerable quantity of shingle has also been lifted over the top and deposited on the land side by the waves. The maintenance of this wall, and of the cliffs beyond it, has for some time been a source of anxiety to the Commissioners of the Court of Sewers of West Sussex, and they have been in treaty with Bognor for the purpose of carrying out the erection and maintenance of an efficient system of coast defence. Steps are also being taken to prevent the removal of shingle from the shore. Beyond the sea-wall the coast is bordered by low cliffs con- sisting of sandy clay, which are continually being worn away. During the last two or three years more than 40 feet of the cliffs have gone, and a road and path been carried away. Groynes have been placed on the beach at intervals of from 50 to 60 yards apart, extending out from the cliffs at right angles to the shore for 150 yards. Near the cliffs, they are from 4 to 5 feet in height, but rake down, and along the sand are only from 1 to 2 planks above the beach in calm weather. They are constructed of fir piles 4 feet apart and 2-inch planking. The shingle -bank here is about 26 yards wide, and is similar to that at Bognor, and the sands to low water are about 330 yards wide. The groynes have been constructed several years, but the level of the sand does not appear to have been raised. It is firm and level, and free from swills and pools. Middleton. The coast here is of the same character as Felpham, and the low cliffs have been much eroded. The upper part of the beach is covered with a bank of shingle for about 40 yards in width ; it consists of chalk flints, many of which are large, and a considerable quantity of these have been removed for facing the concrete blocks of the sea-wall at Bognor. Between here and Felpham the chalk crops out on the beach, and is visible at extreme low water, and boulders of chalk are found on the beach. No doubt it is from this source that the unworn chalk flints found amongst the shingle are derived, being drifted ashore in heavy on-shore gales. Groynes have been in existence on the beach from here to Atherington for many years. They are spaced apart at distances varying from 30 to 60 yards, and are of similar construction to those at Felpham, and have had the same effect. They hold up the THE SOUTH COAST. 179 shingle next the cliff, and prevent the denudation of the sand off the clay, but have not raised the beach. They appear to have been much neglected, and allowed to get out of order. About ten years ago some of the old groynes were repaired, and some large and more substantial groynes constructed. These consist of fir piles, reaching 10 feet above the beach, placed 5 feet apart, and boarded with 9-inch by 3-inch planks for a height of 5\ feet. Two horizontal walings, 9 inches by 5 inches, are bolted to the piles, and at intervals of 15 feet are large oak ties, about 9 inches diameter and 18 feet long, placed on the windward side, and made fast to a double set of short piles. These groynes are 100 yards long, and spaced about 150 yards apart. They are placed in a south-easterly direction, at an angle bearing eastward from the shore of about 120 degrees. The planking next the shore is from G to 8 feet above H.W.S.T., and it rakes seaward at an angle of 1 in 16, the lower end being 10 feet below high-water level. These high groynes are more substantially erected and higher than those at Bognor and Felpham, but do not appear to have had more effect. Since they have been erected the quantity of shingle is stated to have increased, but the bank is about the same height as that to the westward. Littlehampton. The coast in this neighbourhood is low. For the purpose of the harbour two piers have been constructed, which extend out across the beach for half a mile, between which the river Avon flows to sea. The west pier is boarded up nearly to high water. On the west or windward side of this are some low hills of blown sand, 100 yards in width, and from 10 to 15 feet above high water ; and shingle has accumulated at the back of them for nearly half a mile in depth. On the sea side of the dunes is a small bank of shingle 20 yards wide, the top of which is above high water. The shingle consists of rounded flint pebbles, varying in size from ^ inch to 5 or 6 inches in diameter, the average being about 1J inches, a few being still angular and unworn. Seaward of the shingle to low water the beach consists of firm sand, the distance being from a quarter to a third of a mile. The close-boarded jetty on the west side of the harbour, carried out to low water, has led to a considerable accumulation of sand, the beach extending further seaward than on the east side. It has entirely prevented any drift of the shingle eastward. Some groynes erected for the protection of the coast between the pier and Atherington are now buried. i8o THE SEA-COAST. On the east side of the pier there is a sea-wall and promenade, at the foot of which is a bank of small shingle, the average size being about an inch, which in calm weather reaches within 3 feet of the top of the wall. Seaward of this is firm dry sand. Groynes are placed at right angles to the wall 60 to 70 yards apart. They consist of fir piles with 2-inch planking, and are 90 to 100 yards in length. There is about one plank above the beach where it is sand, but more where the shingle is. The British Association Eeport of 1885 states, with regard to this part of the coast, that groynes had been erected since the middle of the present century of various heights and sizes, and placed at irregular distances apart, in some places three or four being crowded together, while other parts were devoid of any protection ; and there the sea was encroaching, the greatest erosion being where there were no groynes or insufficient ones. Erosions of the shore of limited size were also observed to the eastward of large groynes, and also to the eastward of spots where three or four groynes were crowded together, such erosions being noticed as hollows in the shore, and large notches in the land, while shingle was largely piled up on the west side of the groynes. Erosions had always been noticed to be at a minimum, or altogether arrested where groynes of moderate height and length and in good repair stood, say, at 30 to 100 yards apart. Worthing. The shore at Worthing has been protected by groynes for upwards of fifty years. About twenty-seven years ago a number of low timber groynes were constructed, and others added more recently. These consist of 2 J-inch planking fastened to 9-inch fir piles, spaced 5 feet apart, and driven into the beach, having 7-inch walings bolted to them, and supported by 9-inch struts, which are bolted to short piles driven into the beach. The groynes are spaced at distances varying from 40 to 160 yards apart, the top being originally from 3 to 4 feet above the beach. They were placed in a south-easterly direction, at an angle of from 110 to 120 degrees from the shore-line. At the upper part of the beach, on the west side of the pier, for a width of about 60 feet, the shingle has accumulated nearly to the top of the sea-wall, and many of the old groynes are buried. The shingle tails down nearly to the end of the groynes, the lower end being 18 feet lower than at the sea-wall. The shingle varies from 2 to 5 feet higher on the west than on the east side of the groyne. At the time these groynes were put down the beach had THE SOUTH COAST. 181 become quite bare of shingle, and the land was being destroyed by the action of the waves. Since their construction a fine beach has accumulated all along this part of the coast, which affords adequate protection to the sea-wall and road. Although these groynes have answered the purpose for which they were intended in raising the beach near the sea-wall they were not carried far enough down towards low water. As the beach between half tide and low water is very low and flat, the inclina- tion being at the rate of 1 in 300, the water is unable to drain off quickly ; the sand is seldom hard and dry, and seaweed collects in the lows in great quantities. The late Mr. Case, who made an inspection of the shore with the view of improving it by means of his system of groyning, reported that between mean high and low water it was the worst beach he had ever seen, and was of opinion that with proper groyning it might be made sound and good. He proposed the extension of the groynes for 130 yards to low water, making a total length of 200 yards. If this were done, he was of opinion that the inclination would be increased to 1 in 50, and the low part of the sands raised 5 feet. A limited number of these groynes were put in, but the system was never given a fair trial, objection being raised to their length ; and a resolution was carried in the Town Council that the planking of the western groynes should be removed. In 1901 it was determined to construct two new groynes east and west of the Brougham road, to replace old ones, at an estimated cost of 525. Lancing. The shingle here has drifted across an indent, forming a bank and enclosing an area about 600 acres, the surface of which is below low water of neap tides, this shingle forming its only protection from the sea. The top of this bank is about 6 feet above high water, and from 12 to 15 feet above the land, and is 150 yards wide. On the land side it slopes at an angle of 1 to 1. The shingle extends seaward for 14 yards beyond the line of H.W.S.T., below which the beach is covered with sand. The pebbles vary in size from \ inch to 2 and 3 inches, up to 6 inches in diameter, the average being about 1 to \\ inches. The pebbles are chalk flints, and are rounded, a few being angular and unworn. In the British Association Keport of 1895, Mr. E. F. Grantham, in his report, states that to the west of Lancing chalk rock and i82 THE SEA-COAST. flints are visible at low ebbs, and that in storms these flints are loosened, raised up, and washed ashore. In south-west gales the shingle-bank is liable to be damaged by the waves, and it is stated that it was gradually being driven landward, the encroachment between 1875-91 varying from 70 to 320 feet. During a heavy gale in 1899 the sea made a breach through it and flooded the low land at the back, and also washed a large quantity of the shingle on to it. Groynes have from time to time been constructed for its protection, and the shingle has been removed from the inner side and placed on the top, so as to raise it 3 to 4 feet, and above the height to which the waves reach. In 1873 fifteen groynes were erected here by the late Mr. Grantharn, each 66 yards in length, and spaced 166 yards apart, placed sloping away from the coast-line in a south-easterly direction at an angle of 100 to 117 degrees. They consist of fir piles and planking, supported by ties placed on the windward side, and are of similar construction to those described at Middle- ton. Some shorter intermediate groynes have been added. During the last five or six years twenty-five new groynes have been constructed by Mr. E. F. Grantham. They are 100 yards long, spaced from 70 to 100 yards apart, the height of the planking at the shore end being 8 feet above H.W.S.T., and at the lower end 10 feet below that level, or when first fixed from 3 to 4 feet above the level of the shore. These, like those previously erected, incline away from the shore in a south-easterly direction. Shoreham. The drift of the shingle along this part of the coast has caused the river Adur to be driven out of its course eastward. About 70 years ago the outfall was at Aldrington, nearly 4 miles from its original position. A new outfall was subsequently opened out about 1J- miles east of Shoreham, and piers have been constructed to keep the channel in its place and prevent it being choked with the shingle. The west pier, con- structed in 1874, has acted as a groyne, stopping the travel of the shingle and increasing the size of the bank, which is now a quarter of, a mile wide. The depth of water at the end of the pier at low tide is only about 3 feet, and as the shingle has for some time past reached the end of the pier, it now works round into the harbour, whence large quantities are removed by dredging ; but as the accumulation in the harbour grows faster THE SOUTH COAST. 183 than its removal, it is now proposed to extend the west jetty into deeper water. On the beach west of Shoreham groynes have been constructed within the last twenty years. They consist of fir piles and planks with timber ties, similar to those described at Middleton and Lancing. They are about 90 yards long, and from 100 to 150 yards apart, and point in a south-easterly direction, or away from the coast-line at an angle of 105 degrees. The shingle in calm weather reaches to the top of the planking at the end next the shore, but at a short distance down the material is from 4 to 7 feet higher on the west than on the east side of the groynes. Between the pier and these groynes, a distance of about 1 J miles, the beach is level and without obstruction, the upper part to about a quarter ebb being shingle, below which, for a quarter of a mile to low water, is sand. The shingle on the Shoreham beach consists almost entirely of rounded flint pebbles, with a few quartzite scattered among them, and varies in size from \ inch to 3 and 4 inches in diameter, the average being J inch to 1J inches. Shingle is removed in large quantities from the harbour by dredging, and sold for concrete-making and other purposes, the sum annually realized by the sale during the last few years amounting to over 2000. Southwick and Portslade-by-Sea. The coast between Shoreham and Hove is low, and the beach covered with shingle to about half-tide level, and below this sand. The shingle varies from rough pebbles to stones the size of peas, and the bank may be taken approximately at 15 feet wide. The Brighton and Hove gas works were erected on the foreshore in 1871, between the harbour and the sea, and the premises are protected by a timber sea-defence. Groynes of piles and planks similar to those at Shoreham have been erected on the beach at right angles to the shore, and are about 80 yards long and 60 yards apart. The top of these groynes is from 2 to 5 feet above the surface of the beach. Brighton and Hove. The waste of the cliffs in front of Brighton has been the cause of considerable trouble and expense for upwards of three centuries. About two hundred years ago, in consequence of serious damage and injury to the houses, attempts were made to protect the cliffs by the construction of groynes, and at the present time the beach is provided with the most 1 84 THE SEA-COAST. elaborate and expensive system of groyning to be found on the South Coast. In describing these groynes, it has been said that " there are more groynes than beach ; " and in another account, that, " as the result of an average annual expenditure on groynes of 2500 for several years, the only result has been the collection of several triangular spits of shingle, while the natural beauty of the beach has been entirely destroyed." The lengthening of the west pier at Shorehani in 1874 stopped the supply of shingle, and the beach in front of Hove and Brighton became much denuded. Previous to 1874 there was an ample supply of shingle below the Brunswick Lawns, but five years afterwards the sea had begun to erode the slope, and in 1880 the lawns themselves were being washed away. Mr. Ellice Clark has stated that in September, 1878, the beach in front of Hove was 15 feet 6 inches above mean tide-level ; in the following summer it had decreased 9 feet 6 inches, and in the winter of 1879 to 4 feet 6 inches, showing a decrease of 11 feet during fourteen months. Subsequent to this groynes were constructed in front of Hove and the Brunswick Lawns, and in June, 1881, the beach had risen again to 16 feet 6 inches above mean tide. Mr. Ellice Clark calculated that during a gale as much as 10,000 tons had passed Brunswick terrace in two tides, and that 011 another occasion a survey showed that 27,000 tons of shingle had been removed during a storm from 770 yards of foreshore. In 1886 the beach east of Hove was practically bare of shingle. Beyond the Chain Pier the loss of shingle became so great that the waves attacked the road of the Undercliffe. In 1894 it was reported that there only remained a few yards of sand where formerly the shingle extended seaward for a great distance. To make up for the loss of shingle on the Hove shore, about 25,000 tons, obtained from the dredging in Shoreham Harbour, were deposited on the beach 400 feet below high water, which gradually drifted up and was deposited in front of the sea-wall to a depth of 8 feet, and in places within 5 feet of the top of the wall. For the protection of the road and promenade in front of Hove and Brighton, a nearly continuous line of sea-wall has been constructed from Aldrington on the west to Black Rock on the east, a distance of nearly 4 miles, forming one of the finest promenades in the country. THE SOUTH COAST. 185 The first wall was constructed in 1838, to the east of Old Steyne for a distance of 2 miles to Kemp Town, at a cost of 100,000, the average height of this wall being 60 feet, and the width of the base 23 feet, diminishing to 2 feet at the top. The next wall was constructed at Hove about 1884. Owing to the gradual denudation of the beach, it became lowered 11 feet, and where formerly there was a slope of 1 in 10, the face of the shore became vertical, and 100 feet of the esplanade was washed away. For the protection of the roadway and promenade, a concrete wall was erected, of \vhich a description is given in Chapter VI. on Sea-walls. After this wall was completed, the reflex action of the waves scoured out the beach at the foot of the wall nearly to the bottom of the foundation. Piles were then driven in front of the wall, but as the denudation still continued, groynes 70 to 100 yards in length were placed along the beach of a similar character to those then in use at Brighton. Those first placed were fixed at an angle of 45 degrees, but as this was not found to be satis- factory, they were afterwards placed at right angles. Subsequently the sea-wall was extended westward along the Medina for a length of about the third of a mile. In 1899 leave was obtained by Hove from the Local Government Board for a loan, amounting to 17,000, for the purchase of land and fore- shore and the extension of the sea-wall. About four or five years ago a concrete wall was constructed on the Brighton frontage to the east of Hove, in front of the Brunswick Lawns, extending from the Hove wall to the concrete groyne to the east of the west pier, being about a quarter of a mile in length. This wall was constructed of concrete faced with flints, and was 20 feet high, 12 feet wide at the base, and 3 feet at the top ; and at the time of its construction the top was 8 feet above the beach. The line of this wall was set back from that of the Hove wall from 40 to 50 feet. Two concrete groynes were at the same time constructed on the east and two on the west side of the west pier, one being of sufficient width at the top to form a promenade. These replaced old wooden groynes which had become in ruins. The cost of these works was about 20,000. A concrete sea-wall faced with flints was also constructed at the east end of Brighton, 150 feet in front of the chalk cliffs, with a road at the back 60 feet wide, and a promenade from Paston 1 86 THE SEA-COAST. Place nearly to Black Kock. The top of this wall was placed 12 feet 6 inches above high water. A concrete groyne was also constructed at the east end 120 yards long, and another more to the west 166 yards long and 10 feet 6 inches wide at the top, with a parapet so as to form a promenade. The cost of this wall and the groynes was about 14,000. The Madeira Koad Terrace was also extended at a cost of 14,000. Beyond the concrete wall the roadway was protected by a timber breast work rising 10 feet above the shingle. Subsequently the sea-defences were extended from the Albion Groyne to Black Kock, a distance of three-quarters of a mile, and four more con- crete groynes were constructed at distances of 166 yards apart, the lengths varying from 75 to 150 yards, at a cost of 18,500. The time allowed by the Local Government Board for repay- ment of the loan for these works was twenty years. In 1900 the sanction of the Local Government Board was obtained to borrow the money for erecting an additional concrete groyne at Kemp Town 180 yards in length, and a tender of 4500 was accepted for the construction of the same. At the beginning of 1901 the sanction of the Local Govern- ment Board was obtained to a further loan for the lengthening of the three principal groynes at the east end, and a contract was entered into for 5100 for the execution of the work. The concrete groynes are very substantial structures, and vary in length and width, the larger ones extending from the sea- wall to low water, a distance of about 150 to 160 yards. The top varies from 10 feet to 15 feet in width, and some of the groynes, being provided with parapet walls, form a promenade. For about two-thirds of their length the top is above the line of high water, the lower end gradually sloping towards the beach. The largest of these groynes is stated to have cost over 10,000. The two concrete groynes erected opposite East Street and the Old Steyne, which are 120 yards long, cost 12,000. Altogether there are twenty -three concrete groynes along the Brighton foreshore, averaging 200 yards apart. These concrete groynes have superseded the massive timber erections formerly adopted, but which are still in use on the beach in front of Hove. The Hove groynes are placed about 120 yards apart, and are THE SOUTH COAST. 187 100 yards in length, rising about 16 feet above the ordinary level of the shingle beach at the upper end, and 6 feet above the sand at the lower end, the line of direction being at right angles to the shore. The construction varies a little, but generally they may be described as consisting of 3-inch horizontal planking fastened to fir piles 9 inches square driven into the beach, and spaced 3 feet 6 inches apart, and tied together with double 7-inch by 6-inch waling at top, and 6-inch by 6-inch lower down bolted to them. These are held in place by unsquared oak timber ties from 30 feet to 35 feet long, and 15 inches diameter, the butt end passing through the boarding, and notched and secured by wooden cotters and cross-pieces. The other end of the support is made secure to two short piles driven into the beach, and held together by cross-ties. These supports are placed on the windward side, or that from which the regular supply of drift comes, and they thus act in tension. As the shingle collects and its depth increases, it buries these ties, and adds to their ability to support the groyne. With high groynes, struts placed on the leeward side are liable to be washed out; with an oblique wind, the waves flow freely up the slope of the shingle and over the top of the 1 88 THE SEA-COAST. groyne, and in falling the impact of the water cuts out the beach and undermines the support of the stays. The cost of these groynes for a length of 300 feet may be put at about 540, or 36s. per foot run. Under normal conditions the shingle accumulates on the west side of these groynes, and becomes heaped up near the upper end above high-water mark, and there is a difference in level of the shingle on the two sides of the groynes of from 10 to 15 feet, and even, in some cases, as much as 20 feet. As these groynes are only 120 yards apart, the beach is very much im- pared for use by visitors, and rendered dangerous for children, owing to the great drop from one side of the groyne to the other; and its appearance is much detracted from by the existence of these unsightly structures. They only afford a partial protection to the sea-wall, for while at one end of the bay between them the shingle is heaped up, at the other end it is exposed to the full force of the waves acting on a denuded beach, and the part supported is varied according to the direction of the on-shore gales, which shift the shingle from one side to the other. Although these high massive groynes have been the means of trapping a considerable amount of shingle, they have failed so far in permanently raising a level beach along the whole of the frontage ; and considering that their general condition has been the same for the last forty or fifty years, there does not seem much prospect of their ever attaining the end to be sought by a proper system of groyning. The large accumulation of material that has resulted on the neighbouring part of the coast at Shoreham since the construction of the west pier, and also at Folkestone by the construction of a single jetty at the leeward end of the beach, from which the shingle tails out to the windward side for a distance of 1J to 2 miles, and which would have reached even further if the jetty had been extended more seaward, affording a level unbroken strand all along the sea-front, contrasts greatly to the disadvantage of the system pursued at Hove and Brighton of breaking up and spoiling the beach by a constant succession of large unsightly structures erected at great cost and giving a far less efficient protection. Shingle is constantly being removed from the beach at the east end for concrete and other purposes. THE SOUTH COAST. 189 The shingle at the east end of Brighton consists of large rounded chalk flints, averaging about 2 inches in diameter, which is heaped up against the sea-wall on the west or wind- ward side of the groynes. On the east side of the last groyne at Black Kock the beach is quite bare, the chalk floor being exposed, and the tides washing the foot of the cliffs. The flints have been derived from the waste of the cliffs before they were protected, and from flints set loose from the beach during heavy gales. Considerable erosion is taking place, and recently, owing to a large fall of chalk, the old road on the top of the cliff, leading to Kottingdean, becoming dangerous, was stopped, and its course diverted. The beach continues bare of shingle to Rottingdean, where in front of the village, owing to the presence of three large groynes, a considerable amount of shingle has been trapped. These groynes appear to have been in existence for at least half a century. They are substantial timber structures, built much on the same design as those already described at Hove. The shingle is piled up against these groynes 12 feet next the cliff, higher on the west than on the east side, and consists of large rounded flint pebbles derived from the chalk cliff. The cliff between Brighton and Rottingdean, 80 to 100 feet high, is composed of chalk with flints in layers from 4 to 8 inches thick, and 4 feet apart. There are also vertical bands of flint about an inch thick. The beach, except in front of the village, is covered with large chalk boulders and unrolled flints, and the foot is washed by the sea at high water. The question of the protection of the chalk cliffs eastward of Brighton to Rottingdean and Saltdean, and of continuing the Madeira promenade to Rottingdean village, has from time to time been under consideration, but the difficulty of determining which is the proper authority to carry out the work, and of finding the money required for the purpose, has hitherto prevented any pro- gress being made with the scheme. Newhaven and Seaford. From Rottingdean to Newhaven the chalk cliffs, containing flints, continue, rising above the beach from 80 to 100 feet. No works have been carried out for the protection of these cliffs, which are wasting away, falls of chalk continually taking place. At Newhaven and Seaford the coast consists of two chalk headlands at the west and east sides of the harbour, respectively 1 90 THE SEA-COAST. ISO and 250 feet above sea-level. Between these is the alluvial valley through which the river Ouse finds its way to the sea. There are frequent falls of chalk from the cliffs, which contain a large quantity of flints. The outfall of the river Ouse was at one time deflected for a considerable distance to the eastward by the drift of the shingle, but has been restored to its original position by means of works carried out for the improvement of the harbour. A breakwater was constructed extending out to low water on the west side of the harbour between the years 1880-90. Formerly there was an abundant supply of shingle drifting along, and accumulated on, the coast in front of Newhaven and Seaford. About twenty years ago the construction of the groynes at Brighton and Shoreham arrested the supply, and very little shingle now finds its way to Newhaven. The small quantity drifted and that derived from the cliffs between Newhaven and Brighton is caught by the breakwater of Newhaven Harbour, which extends out a considerable distance from the shore. The construction of this pier has also caused an alteration in the set of the flood tide, which formerly ran eastward parallel with the shore, but is now deflected and a counter tide is formed, which, striking the projection at Seaford, eddies round and runs westward towards Newhaven Harbour. The drift of the shingle has followed the alteration in the set of the flood tide, and now works westward, and is accumulating in a large mass on the east side of the harbour, in the pocket formed by the projection of the wooden jetty. Groynes formerly placed for the protection of this part of the share are now buried, while at Seaford the beach is scoured down to the chalk in places. These groynes were constructed about fifty years ago. They were 150 yards apart, and extended to low water, and were 8 feet out of the ground. Further to assist in maintaining the beach, in 1850 a large quantity of the cliff was thrown down by the use of explosives, the result was only transient, the debris being soon washed away. The Newhaven Harbour Company constructed a sea-wall of concrete about fifteen years ago for the protection of the land, from the east pier for about If miles eastward. Owing; to the scouring away of the shingle, this wall became undermined and destroyed, its remains lying scattered about on the beach. THE SOUTH COAST. 191 The Newhaven Harbour Company and the Brighton and South Coast Kailway Company obtained an Act in 1898 to construct a new sea-wall and other works for the protection of the land, the estimated cost being 50,000, and this wall has since been con- structed. Mr. Ellice-Clark, C.E., in a report made in 1897 on the con- dition of this coast, estimated that at that time the beach had been denuded to the extent of 150,000 tons, and that the high-water line of 1872 had then become the low- water line, thus considerably increasing the depth of water on the beach at high tide, allowing a much greater wave-stroke. The land at Seaford lies at a level from 10 to 11 feet below the top of the beach, and during the gales of the winter of 1898, considerable difficulty was experienced in saving the earthen bank which protects the land from destruction. In 1824, during a storm this bank was entirely swept away, and Seaford inundated. The bank was subsequently restored. For the protection of the shore at Seaford, Mr. Ellice-Clark advised the construction of a sea-wall and concrete groynes 200 feet apart, with short timber groynes between, placed at right angles to the shore-line. The sea-wall was completed at the end of 1900, and groynes placed along the shore. These have been effective in stopping the westward drift and in accumulating shingle along the beach of the bay. Eastbourne. Groynes have been in existence on this part of the coast for a very long period, principally for the protection of the Circular Redoubt, and were found useful in accumulating shingle. The old groynes, which had been allowed to go to ruin, were subsequently replaced by others, and these have since been added to and lengthened. At the present time the whole frontage extending from a little to the east of Beachy Head nearly to Langney Point, a distance of about 3 miles, is protected by a sea-wall, and studded with high short groynes. These groynes are constructed much on the same system as those already described at Hove. They vary in length from 30 to 80 yards, and are spaced from 60 to 100 yards apart. The oak supports, however, in this case, in many of the groynes are placed alternately on the windward and lee sides, and in some cases wholly on the lee side. The general direction of the coast here faces south-east. There 192 THE SEA-COAST. is an abundant supply of shingle derived from the waste of the chalk cliffs at Beachy Head, but the material is very irregularly distributed, particularly as the west end. Although the high short groynes with which the beach is studded have now been in use for several years, and the outlay incurred in their construction must have been very great, they cannot be considered, any more than those at Hove and Hastings, as affording an efficient means of accumulating shingle or of retaining it on the beach. With southerly gales the material is either piled up in mounds to the top of the groynes for about a fourth of their length on the windward side, leaving the lee side entirely bare, with a drop from one side to the other of 6 to 9 feet, or else the whole bay is denuded down to the chalk or sandstone rock. With easterly gales, where the shingle has been pre- viously piled up in mounds, it is shifted to the other end of the bay, producing the same effect. After gales, the whole of the beach, except one or two of the bays at the extreme west end, from the Wish Tower westward, for a distance of about half a mile, is frequently denuded, leaving the chalk rock bare, the groynes standing up from 10 to 12 feet above it, the depth from the top of the sea-wall to the beach being in places from 12 to 15 feet, and even in some places as much as 20 feet. East of the Wish Tower to the pier many of the bays are nearly cleared of shingle, and in others more than half the bay becomes bare. East of the pier denudation leaves the greater part of the groynes exposed. During on-shore gales, when the beach has become denuded of shingle, the waves break against the sea-wall and the water is projected on to the roadway and promenade, the water reaching a height of from 10 to 1 5 feet above the road. In October, 1881, owing to the beach becoming scoured away, a large part of a new sea-wall which had recently been erected was destroyed. Two or three years since the Corporation sanctioned the con- struction of some low groynes on the beach east of the pier, on the same system as those constructed at Dymchurch, and these were carried down to low water. The sea breaks with great violence on this part of the coast, and occasions great scour on the beach, sand being drifted away leaving the clay, locally called " plavender," bare. Although these groynes were never really given a fair trial, they were effective in holding up and THE SOUTH COAST. 193 accumulating the sand, the beach becoming raised 3 feet, and the gullies and swills cut out by the waves filled up and the surface made level. These groynes were much objected to by the boatmen, and a deputation waited on the corporation asking for their removal, or at least that they should be reduced to the same length as the high groynes, on the ground that they were a source of danger ; that when visitors were boating at high water, they were unaware of the existence of these groynes, and that there had been several accidents by boats coming in contact with them ; and that they did not consider the increase of the sand on the beach was a com- pensation for the danger incurred by their presence. Owing to this opposition, the low groynes were discarded, and four additional high groynes erected east of the pier at a cost of 2600. Beyond Langney Point there is a spit of shingle extending out along the shore-line nearly three-quarters of a mile. The drift of the shingle at this part of the coast from the west drove the outlet of the harbour, which formerly existed at Pevensey, more than a mile to the east, and the harbour which once existed there is now entirely filled in with shingle. The growth of Lang- ney Spit appears, from ancient charts, to have been gradually decreasing for more than a century. The chart of 1736 shows the point extending seawards half a mile further than at the present time (Kedman, " South Coast of England "). The shingle thus diverted from Langney Point has been drifted to the east, and has aided in supplying the material to be found on the beaches at Bexhill, Hastings, and Dungeness. An old Roman pavement, which at one time was a furlong distant from high water, is now buried in the sea. Bexhill. A sea-wall about three-quarters of a mile in length was constructed here about sixteen years ago, and groynes con- structed at intervals on the beach in front of the wall, Similar groynes are also continued along the shore to the eastward. They are spaced from 80 to 100 yards apart, and are about the same length, extending from half to two-thirds down to low-water mark of spring tides. They consist of oak piles spaced 4J feet apart and 8 inches square, with a waling of the same scantling. The boarding, which is also oak, is 3 inches thick. These groynes are supported by ties consisting of unsquared oak trees 16 feet long, and from 12 to 15 inches diameter, placed on the west or o 194 THE SEA-COAST. windward side, the butt ends passing through the planking, and are notched on to a waling which extends over and is bolted to the piles, the other end being made fast to two short piles driven into the beach. The boarding rises about 5 feet above the original surface. These groynes incline from the sea-wall to the westward, the direction from which the supply of shingle comes, at an angle varying from 105 to 130 degrees, their rake being 1 in 9. The general direction of the coast-line faces about south by east. There is at the present time a considerable accumulation of shingle along the whole frontage, which is evenly distributed, the groynes being almost entirely buried. Next the sea-wall the shingle is piled up, for a width of about 20 yards, 6 to 7 feet above the level of spring tides, and within about 3 feet of the top of the wall. Then after a short steep slope at the level of high water of spring tides, the shingle inclines to low water of neap tides at an angle of 1 in 10, beyond which is a flat surface of sand, through which the rock projects in many places. The way in which this shingle has been maintained, and the even manner in which it is distributed, affording complete protection to the sea- wall, even after exceptionally numerous and heavy gales of winter,, presents a great contrast to the condition of the beach at the two- neighbouring watering-places of Eastbourne on the west and St. Leonards 'and Hastings on the east. At Cooding, near Bexhill, groynes have been erected to pro- tect the frontage ^on the system patented by Mr. Beard, which has already been described. These are spaced 250 yards apart, and it is claimed that they have been the means of raising the shingle beach 20 feet on the windward side, and 14 feet on the lee side, and driving high-water mark an average distance of 30 yards from the shore, and at one end 40 yards. At Bo-Peep, near St. Leonards, groynes of a similar character have been the means of collecting a large amount of shingle ; but in this case, as at Cooding, the shingle is much higher on the windward than on the lee side. St. Leonards and Hastings. Between Bexhill and St. Leonardo there is a large accumulation of shingle due to works which have been carried out by the Kailway Company for the protection of their line. Some years since groynes were placed all along this beach, and some of these have recently been repaired and heightened. The shingle has accumulated in a bank about 20 yards wide, which extends up to the railway, the top of which is. THE SOUTH COAST. 195 from 6 to 9 feet above high water of spring tides ; there is then a steep slope of about 1 in 3, after which the inclination of the beach to the end of the shingle, a total distance of 60 yards, is 1 in 9. The greater part of the groyning is now completely buried. The shore fronts south by east. The heavy gales of the winter do not appear to have affected this bank of shingle, the material being evenly distributed all along the coast. The groynes are spaced from 80 to 100 yards apart, and are from 50 to 60 yards in length. They incline to the westward, the direction from which the supply of shingle comes, at an angle of 115 degrees, and rake at the rate of 1 in 9. They are constructed of pitchpine piles 9 inches square, spaced 4} feet apart centre to centre, to which are spiked 3-inch boards, the waling being 9 by inches. The groynes are supported by pitchpine baulks 12 inches square, placed on the windward side, spaced 34 feet apart, which, passing through the boarding, are notched on to a short waling on the lee side bolted to three of the piles. Further along the coast, at St. Leonards and Hastings, a sea- wall and promenade extends along the frontage a distance of 3 miles. Along the whole sea front of this wall there exists an elaborate system of high timber groynes of a similar character to those at Hove already described, and at intervals between these about ten concrete groynes have been added. These groynes are of various lengths, and spaced at varying distances aveiaging about 100 yards apart, and from 50 to 70 yards in length. They only extend from half to two-thirds of the way to low water at spring tides. The largest are from 15 to 20 feet in height above the beach. Like those at Eastbourne and Bexhill, they slope away from the sea-wall to the westward at an angle of about 110 degrees. The general trend of the coast-line faces south-south-east. At the eastern end a very substantial concrete groyne was constructed about thirteen years ago, and extends beyond low- water line into a depth of about 3 feet. During the last four years works have been going on for the construction of a harbour, and this groyne will form part of its eastern side. At present only part of the western wall has been constructed, the end of this next the shore being composed of open timberwork. The construction of these two walls projecting out from the shore for a considerable distance has led to the accumulation of a 196 THE SEA-COAST. large bank of shingle, which spreads out from the shore for 40 or 50 yards, the upper part being from 10 to 12 feet above high water, and reaching the top of the sea-wall. Since 1897 the low-water contour has grown seaward 500 feet, and an area of 5J acres, which was then below low water, has become covered with shingle and sand. The bank in 1899 extended westward for about a quarter of a mile, but the influence of the projections was felt for nearly double this distance, the shingle nearly up to the Queen's Hotel being within a few feet of the top of the sea-wall, notwithstanding some heavy on-shore gales. The result obtained by the erection of high short groynes, placed at short intervals, as carried out along this frontage generally, cannot be considered as having been successful in either accumulating or holding up the shingle. The fact that the larger portion of the timber of which the groynes are composed is always visible, especially after rough weather, shows that the material is not disposed to the best advantage, and the fact that after on-shore gales the beach is denuded to a very great extent, tends to prove that these high groynes are as useless in prevent- ing denudation as in moderating the force of the waves, while they are as unsightly as detrimental to the use of the beach. There appears to be a plentiful supply of shingle, which drifts from the west ; but it is very irregularly disposed, the mounds on one side of the groynes being from 6 to 10 feet, and even in some places 15 feet, higher than on the other side. In heavy south-west gales the shingle is either piled up in these mounds or else completely washed out of the bays. In many of the bays, especially at the western end, the beach between the bays is nearly bare of shingle, and the surface from 15 to 20 feet below the top of the sea-wall, the depth of water on the beach at H.W.S.T. being 15 feet. Near the public baths at White Kock the beach is fully 20 feet below the top of the wall, and the waves at times during the gales of winter break against the wall with such force that the water is thrown across the promenade and on to the road and to such an extent as almost to stop the traffic. Near the Queen's Hotel, where the width of the roadway is less, the shingle has been thrown against the houses and through the windows into the bedrooms. Kecently it has been determined by the town council to replace four wooden groynes at West Marina with concrete, 180 feet long, at a cost of 940 each; and to erect two THE SOUTH COAST. 197 additional concrete groynes opposite the baths at White Kock at a cost of 2000. Basalt stone, hexagonal in form, has been used to some extent in the sea-works at Hastings, and, owing to its hardness and shape, found to be both economical and effective. It has been the constant practice for the last half-century to remove material for road-making, concrete, and building purposes from this beach. In fact, it has been said that the new portion of the town has been largely built out of the sea. Rye. This harbour is situated in the outfall of the river Rother. The coast is low and flat, consisting of alluvium, which has formed a considerable delta. The nearest cliffs, which consist of clay and sandstone, are 5 miles to the westward. According to Camden, the sea at one time made considerable inroads on this part of the coast, " the ancient town of Win- chelsea being swallowed up by the raging and tempestuous ocean in the year 1250." The site of the old town is given as being a mile outside the present shore, at a place known as Boulder Bank, the depth of water over which at the present time is 2 fathoms, while between it and the shore it is 3 J fathoms. 1 On an old map of the harbour, dated 1623, a spot outside the old west harbour is marked as " Old Winchelsea, drowned 1250." Since then there has been great accretion from alluvial deposit brought down from inland. The Ordnance map of 1872 shows the high- water mark in front of Eye about three-quarters of a mile more seaward than Grenville Collins' chart of 1771) ; but from Sherrad's map, there does not appear to have been much alteration since 1840. In the middle of the last century the harbour is described as being situated 2 miles to the westward of its present position, the river Brede then discharging through the west harbour. The drift of shingle from the west has always been a con- stant source of trouble in the maintenance of the outfalls. In the middle of the last century an attempt was made to open out the west harbour, under the advice of Captain Perry. Two piers were built, and a cut three-quarters of a mile long made for the purpose of diverting the water of the river Brede to the harbour. Owing to the easterly drift of the shingle, these works were a failure. Subsequently Smeaton was consulted, and further works 1 " An Account of the Origin and Formation of the Harbour of the Ancient Town of Rye," by J. Mergon, Weale's Quarterly Papers, vol. iv., 1845. 198 THE SEA-COAST. were carried out under his direction, for the purpose of keeping the west harbour open. But these works proved ineffectual, owing " to the falls of shingle corning from the west," and the neglect of works on the west side of the harbour to prevent this. The west harbour was finally abandoned about the year 1797. Since then the shingle-bank known as the Nook has gradually extended from the old west harbour in an easterly direction to the present eastern outfall, where its further progress is stopped. In 1839, Mr. Cubitt, who was consulted as to the maintenance and improvement of the outfall of the river Kother and the east harbour, which was then in about the same position that it now occupies, advised the construction of a jetty on the west side to prevent the drift of the shingle from the west entering the harbour, but, contrary to his advice, the present stone wall or jetty was erected on the east side. This was subsequently extended, making its total length 1300 yards. A jetty or large wooden groyne was erected about the same time on the west side of the channel, and this was extended about five years ago. Although this groyne has been the means of stopping the east- ward progress of the shingle, and preventing to a great extent its getting into the harbour, yet, owing to its not being carried out far enough, the shingle works past it and forms a bar across the channel, and also drifts into it and is deposited in patches. There is a large accumulation of material on the west side of the jetty, the bank being from 20 to 30 feet high. Recently a large quantity of this shingle has been removed for the concrete used for the works in Dover Harbour. Dungeness. One of the most remarkable collections of shingle to be found on the English coast is at Dungeness. This deposit extends out from the shore seawards as an ever-increasing promontory, the base of which measures, approximately, 6 miles, the distance from the base to the apex being 3 miles. There is every reason to suppose that the cliffs in front of Hastings, on the west, at one time extended much further seaward than they do at the present time ; and as the shingle due to the wasting back of these cliffs travelled eastward, it gradually extended across the mouth of the estuary of the Bother, and choked the outlet of the river, which finally became diverted from its original course to Eye. The shingle-bank thus formed led to the silting up of the estuary of the river, and the formation THE SOUTH COAST. 199 of marshes, from which the tide was excluded, and the land reclaimed by the existing artificial banks. The flood tide, entering the new outfall, eddied round and gradually drifted the shingle in a south-easterly direction, and so formed the nucleus of the salient angle which now exists. The point formed by the seaward side of this bank has extended a mile outward during the present generation, and the growth of the shingle has pushed the harbour of Bye a quarter of a mile further out from the land. Since the time of Elizabeth this point has been gradually pushed seawards at an average rate of G yards a year. The growth in recent years, since the erection of the lighthouse in 1782, has been at the rate of 2'61 yards a year. The shingle-bank at the point is very steep, lying at an angle of 2 to 1, and it slopes down to deep water ; at 50 yards from the shore the bottom is mud. This feature appears always to have been maintained for a long period, as Grenville Collins, in his Pilot Chart published in 1779, described Dungeness as a " low beachy point on which is a lighthouse. The place is very bold ; you may keep within and 10 fathoms of it close by the shore ; there is good anchorage on the east side, with a westerly wind." The amount of shingle accumulated during a period of thirty - five years covered 430 acres 7J- feet deep, representing 7,000,000 tons, or at the rate of 200,000 tons a year. The total shingle deposit covers an area of 0000 acres, the surface being from 4 to G feet above high water, and the thickness of the shingle being estimated at 22 feet. The only source of supply of this shingle under existing geological conditions is flint derived from the cliffs between Dungeness and Beachy Head, a distance of 20 miles. The average height of the cliffs along this coast is about 200 feet. Taking Lamblardie's estimate (Chapter II.), that erosion takes place on these chalk cliffs at an average rate of one foot a year, and that about 7 per cent, of the total mass consists of flints, and that these lose two -thirds of their bulk in the process of being ground to pebbles, the average supply of shingle would be 13,037 cubic yards per mile, equal to 260,740 for the 20 miles. If the whole of this was deposited at Dungeness, a period of 81 G years would be required to produce the quantity deposited there. In the paper on Littoral Drift (Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. cxxv.), the 200 THE SEA-COAST. proportion of flints in the chalk was calculated much higher than that given by Lamlardie, whose estimate further experience has satisfied the author is more in accordance with facts. The accumulation at Dungeness, however, only represents a portion of the flints eroded from the cliffs, as there is the large accumulation at Pevensey, and the shingle-banks spread all along the coast to the east of Beach y Head. The time, therefore, during which the Dungeness shingle has been accumulating must largely exceed that given in the above calculation if it has all come from the cliffs. The bulk of the pebbles consists of flints, and mixed with these are chert and other stones from the Wealden series and greensand formation. There are also some stones entirely foreign to the rocks of this part of the coast. These may have been derived from ballast contained in vessels wrecked in the locality. In the British Association Eeport of 1895 a list of these foreign pebbles is given, but this does not state what proportion they bear to the whole. Taking into consideration the source of supply, it seems remarkable that only 11 per cent, of the flint pebbles at Dungeness (taken from the surface) are of the same colour, black, as those derived from the chalk cliffs ; about 25 per cent, being brown, and the remainder various colours, including red. Dymchurch and Romney Marsh. On the south-east coast of Hampshire, and north-east of Dungeness, is a low flat tract of valuable grazing and arable land, covering 60,000 acres, of which Komney Marsh, containing 24,000 acres, forms part, which, in the whole or in part, comprises twenty -seven parishes. For the protection of this land, the surface of which is from 8 to 11 feet below the level of high water of spring tides, a sea- wall extending from New Eomney to Hythe, a distance of 4 miles, was constructed by the Komans during the occupation of this country. The top of this bank is 20 feet wide, and from 10 to 13 feet above high water. The method of protection which has of late years been adopted resembles more nearly the Dutch system than any other work in this country. Previous to the beginning of the present century the bank had been protected by huge groynes, or " knocks," consisting of blocks of stone secured between timber piles placed at right angles to the coast. They were 100 feet in length, and started level with the top of the bank, sloping seaward at an inclination of 1 in 10, some of them being divided at the sea end into the THE SOUTH COAST. 201 shape of the letter Y. Although they were not effectual in protect- ing the bank, these groynes were the means of accumulating a certain amount of shingle. In 1803 Mr. Kennie was called in, and the first attempt was made to reduce the works of repair to a system, a sum of 56,000 being expended over the part west of Dymchurch. The slope of the bank was increased from 1 in 2 to 1 in 6, and protected with '' arming," consisting of brushwood secured by hop poles fastened to piles driven into the bank. After this the shingle began to disappear from the beach, and the " arming " was from time to time carried lower down. Twenty years later the brushwood was superseded by blocks of Kentish rag stone. From this time till about twenty years ago groyning seems to have been almost abandoned. About the year 1837 Mr. Elliott was appointed superintendent or " expenditor " of the bank, and under his direction, with the '*.-.. I Opt I m 7 Slope I m 9 Sect/on Plan. DYMCHURCH. FIG. 28. concurrence of Mr. Walker, who had been consulted, the pro- tective works assumed very much their present form. The whole face of the bank was pitched with stone, the lower part being reduced to an average slope of 1 in 8 or 9 up to high water, and above this 1 in 6, terminating with a curve of 7 feet radius. Timber piles were driven into the slope, connected by walings running parallel with the bank, placed about 50 feet apart, and between these were placed blocks of Kentish rag stone, varying in size from 12 inches in depth at the foot and top, and 15 inches in the centre ; the inner slope being 1 \ to 1. As far as practicable the stones were bedded in concrete, but at the lower part the cement was washed away before it had time to set. 202 THE SEA-COAST. This pitching and piling has been gradually carried forward as the beach became denuded of shingle and sand, until the slope has attained a length of 150 feet at the east and 80 feet at the west end. The seaward slope is finished at the top by a Kentish rag- stone parapet. This pitching and parapet extend westward for 3 miles from the Grand Redoubt to High Knock. Beyond this to Jeffreston the embankment is unprotected. This latter portion was set back fifty years ago, the original line having been abandoned. The area of the pitched slope exposed to the action of the sea covers 40 acres. The sea breaks against this wall over its entire length, and great difficulty has always been experienced in maintaining it, due to the scouring away of the foreshore. The greatest damage is done by south-east gales, which blow dead on shore; with north-west or off-shore winds the beach grows up. The western end is protected to a great extent from south-west gales by the projection of Dungeness. Even at the time the works described above were completed the surf sometimes overtopped the new work, although 12 feet above ordinary high water spring tides, and it was found that the waves sucked out every particle of sand and shingle from between the stones. Between 1859-70 the paving was extended further down, and a number of faggot and oak groynes constructed. Several of these were swept away by a storm in 1869, and, the groyning being neglected, the beach gradually became lowered. Between 1870-90 low-water mark was advanced 300 feet nearer the bank. The depth of water being thus increased, the effect of the waves became so disastrous as not only to suck out the sand and shingle, but also the stone pitching. During gales in 1859, 18,000 square yards of the pitching was destroyed, and between 1870-90, 68,296 was expended in defence works. Between 1880-90 nineteen high groynes, varying in length from 120 to 200 feet, were placed between Dymchurch and High Knock. . In a report on the condition of the bank made in 1892, the late Mr. Case, A.M.I.C.E., who had been appointed the expenditor in 1890, stated that there were holes in the face of the bank below the pitching from 4 to 5 feet deep, which showed clearly the destructive effect the masonry pitching had on the foreshore ; that there was abundant evidence to prove that the foreshore THE SOUTH COAST. 203 had been wasting away ever since the bank had been paved, the depth of water increasing year by year ; and that the pitched masonry slope had worked its own destruction by scour at the base. The previous expenditor had reported that the beach had become G feet lower at the foot of the bank than when he first took charge of it a few years previously. In 1891 about 8] acres (40,000 square yards) of the pitching was destroyed. In the winter of 1893, during a series of heavy gales, the bank was so damaged that it was estimated by Sir J. Wolfe Barry and Mr. Matthews, who were consulted by the Com- missioners, that to thoroughly restore the injured portion of it, extending over three-quarters of a mile, and to provide forty- three heavy groynes in front of the wall, which they advised should be constructed, would cost 41,000. On the advice of Mr. Case, previous to incurring the large expense involved in the heavy groynes recommended, a system was adopted of placing low groynes along the beach at right angles to the bank, extending from mean high-water level to low water. Mr. Case, after a careful study of the conditions of the beach, found as the result of experience that the best effect could l>e obtained in accumulating material on the beach by means of low groynes, commencing with a rake of 1 in 12 at the upper end, and increasing to 1 in 40 lower down, and towards low water 1 in 70, this being the natural inclination of this sand beach. Owing to the shingle being trapped at Dungeness, the supply along this part of the coast is very scanty, the material of which the beach is composed consisting principally of coarse sand mixed with some small shingle. The substratum of the beach consists of sand and mud to an unknown depth. Groynes on this principle were accordingly erected. The upper end of these commences at about the level of mean high water, and the lower end is carried as far below low water spring tide as possible. The uprights of these groynes consist of two 7-inch by 2j-inch red fir battens, spaced 7 feet 6 inches apart. Between these uprights are placed 7-inch by 2J-inch planking in 7 feet 6 inch lengths, spiked to the uprights, placed horizontally, and stepped to follow the natural inclination of the beach. The height at the commencement did not exceed 2 feet 6 inches above the beach, the planking being raised as the sand and shingle 204 THE SEA-COAST. accumulated, and where required the height of the uprights was increased by bolting an additional length of battens. For fixing the battens, holes were sunk in the sand about 3 feet square and 4 feet deep, the uprights placed in them, the holes being filled with dry cement concrete, well trodden down, and covered over with part of the excavated material. Groynes 420 feet in length were constructed in this manner, at the rate of about one groyne a day. The sand and shingle accumulated between these groynes at the rate of about 2 feet a year ; and in the course of three years Mr. Case stated that the beach became raised in places 8 feet near the front of the embankment, and that low water was driven 300 feet back ; and at the western end the waves, which formerly broke on the wall when it was protected by the twenty high groynes, do not now reach it. The average depth of sand and shingle collected between the Grand Eedoubt at the east end and Dymchurch was 4 feet 6 inches, the total quantity being estimated at 1,500,000 tons. The foreshore has been built up to the natural inclination of repose, and is now undisturbed by gales ; the beach, also, has been changed from mud and sand, with pools of water, to a well-consolidated mixture of beach and sand. Between 1894-99 a length of 10 miles of these low groynes was erected, which extend westward as far as Dymchurch. They are spaced 150 to 200 feet apart, and are from 700 to 1000 feet long. The cost of repairing the bank and constructing these groynes during this period was 19,000. The process of erecting further groynes and raising those already put down is being continued. 1 Hythe. Between Dymchurch and Hythe the beach is be- coming denuded of shingle and is being gradually lowered. The waves at high water reach up to the Martello Tower to the west of Hythe, and during a gale in 1899 the beach up to the foot of the tower was scoured away, and the tower was split in two and became in a ruinous condition. At Hythe there were formerly some groynes along the shore, but they were neglected and allowed to get out of repair, and consequently the beach became much denuded. 1 Paper by Jas. Elliott on "Komney Marsh," Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. vi., 1847. " The Dymchurch Wall and Keclamation of Komney Marsh," by Edward Case. Paper read at British Association, Dover, 1899. THE SOUTH COAST. 205 A few years since a substantial concrete sea-wall and promenade was constructed, nearly a mile in length. The wall is 15 feet high from the beach when bare of shingle. At the east end of this wall a substantial groyne, consisting of timber framing and concrete paved with stones, has been con- structed. This groyne extends for about 80 feet from the wall, and is continued to low water, with planking supported by uprights made with railway metals. It has been the means of accumulating a large quantity of shingle, which now reaches to the top of the sea-wall at the east end, and gradually tails out for nearly the whole length of the wall, burying all the old groynes, and leaving a fine level beach. In heavy south-west gales the shingle-bank in front of this wall, which is from 30 to 40 yards wide, is sometimes lowered from 6 to 7 feet, but it makes up again in calm weather to within about r> feet of the top of the wall at the west end, and up to the top near the groyne at the east end. Seabrooke. To the east of Hythe a sea-wall and promenade about three-quarters of a mile in length was constructed about ten or twelve years ago, in continuation of the Hythe sea-wall. It was made to project about 70 feet in front of the ordinary high- water line. The wall is about 20 feet high from the beach when bare. For the protection of this wall, a number of high groynes were run out at short intervals at right angles to the wall. These groynes were made with planking and railway metals of the same kind as those described at Sandgate. They were spaced about 120 yards apart, and collected a large amount of shingle, but it was very irregularly distributed. The bays gradually filled up at the rate of about one bay a year, and the groynes at the west end are now nearly buried, the shingle being from 3 to 5 feet below the top of the wall. Until recently, at the east end the shore was nearly bare, and from 12 feet to 15 feet below the top of the wall. During the heavy gales of the winter of 1897-8 the waves here broke with full force against the sea-wall, and, being projected upwards from 10 to 15 feet, they fell on to the promenade, cut out the road way, and broke down the concrete wall. After south-west gales the shingle accumulated on the west side of the embayments, leaving the groynes nearly bare on the east side, the difference in height of the shingle as between one side of the groyne and the other being upwards of 6 feet, rendering the beach at high water 2C6 THE SEA-COAST. perfectly useless for walking, bathing, or other seaside purposes. The waves entrapped into these short embayments had consider- able effect in cutting out the shingle and rolling it from one side of the bay to the other. Sandgate. A sea-wall and promenade about a mile in length extends along this frontage. For the protection of the beach, groynes were at one time constructed near the fort, but being allowed to go to ruin, 10 to 12 feet of shingle drifted away east- ward, and the beach became denuded down to the clay substratum. Fresh groynes were constructed about 1889, against which the shingle accumulated to a depth of 5 feet near the wall, and an average depth of 3 feet. The groynes at Hythe and Seabrooke, however, materially affect the supply of shingle. The groynes, 200 feet in length, are made of railway metals, varying in length from 10 to 18 feet, driven from 5 to 6 feet into the clay. They were driven with a 10-cwt. iron tup; and on an average four to five of the shorter piles, and three of the longer ones, were driven in a day. These piles are spaced ll**3P/ank!na a Elevation Sm.ndga.te FIG. 29. 5 feet apart, and consist of two double-headed old railway metals welded together at the bottom and brought to a point. These uprights are supported by struts made of railway metals fastened by f-inch bolts to two short piles driven into the beach. Between the piles is placed 3-inch horizontal planking, fastened to the piles with bolts. At first about four 9-inch planks were placed in position, the uprights being made of sufficient length to allow of these being added to as the beach grows. In some cases where this system has been adopted, and the accumu- lation of the shingle has been considerable, the length of the piles has been increased by attaching a second length of railway metal by fish-plates, and adding a second strut. The groyning is con- tinued all the way to Folkestone. THE SOUTH COAST. 207 The shingle is very irregularly distributed, being generally several feet higher on one side of the groyne than the other. Under ordinary conditions at the present time it is 7 feet below the top of the sea-wall. In south-west gales the shingle is torn down and the beach much lowered, and the waves then break against the sea-wall with great force. The water falling on the road has on more than one occasion led to its partial destruction. During the gales in 1890, 1893, and 1894 half the road in places was washed away, the cost incurred in rebuilding and making good the damage, including the construction of some additional groynes, being 7400. This work led to considerable litigation as to whether this expense should be borne by the local authority or the County Council, the road being a main road. It was finally decided by the House of Lords that the County Council were liable, not only for the cost of restoring the road itself, but also the esplanade and sea-wall. In February, 1899, during a heavy south-west gale, accom- panied by a very high tide and heavy swell, the sea broke with great violence against the sea-wall, and a breach 40 feet long was made extending across the whole width of the esplanade in one place. Several thousands of tons of shingle were thrown on the roadway, some of the stones, weighing half a hundredweight, being lifted 10 feet in height off the beach and thrown half across the road, a distance of 15 feet from the face of the wall. In December, 1900, also during a severe south-west gale, the shingle was thrown up on to the road and promenade in large quantities. Folkestone. For the protection of the chalk cliffs at Folke- stone, which were being much wasted by the sea, groynes were placed several years ago at intervals of about 120 to 150 yards, extending from the harbour westward towards Saudgate. These groynes are about 200 feet long, and, where they are still un- covered, rise from 6 to 7 feet above the beach, with a drop of from 4 to 6 feet from one side to the other, so that walking along the beach on the west side of the pier, except when the tide is down, is entirely prevented. The same remarks apply here as to the groynes at Brighton, only to a less degree, as to the effect of these high, short groynes in the accumulation of the shingle in a series of heaps or mounds against one side of the embay ment, instead of in a level strand, 208 THE SEA-COAST. and the oscillation of the shingle from one end of the embay ment to the other. There is an easterly drift along this shore, and formerly the harbour was much encumbered by the shingle being carried into it, the bar across the entrance being dry at low water, the fisher- men frequently having to dig a channel through it before they could get their boats in or out. In 1856 the west pier of the harbour was constructed, and, acting as a groyne, for a time stopped the easterly drift, the shingle accumulating at the back of the wall. In the course of seventeen years the beach advanced seaward 120 feet for a length of 500 feet, three-fourths of which took place within the first seven years. As, however, the wall only extended a short distance from the shore and into shallow water, the shingle, after a time, worked round the end and into the harbour. The west pier was subse- quently extended in a south-easterly direction into 15 feet at low water. Owing to the wall being carried in a direction away from the line of drift, although the extension led to a further accumulation of material, the flood tide, striking the wall, eddied round and cut out the shingle from the beach, and tended to drift it towards the entrance. To prevent this a groyne was constructed in the angle between the harbour wall and the beach, running out at right angles from it. A large amount of shingle has since collected, which near the pier is about 500 yards wide and 30 feet deep, and this tails off for about half a mile, all the old groynes having become buried ; and there is now a long stretch of level beach, extending from the harbour to the pavilion, which is freely made use of by the public for bathing and walking, and general seaside amusement. A wide road and drive, with pleasure gardens, now exist where formerly the waves used to break on the shore. The condition of the beach on the east side of the pavilion, as compared with that on the west side, shows the advantage of a single groyne in collecting shingle and forming a level beach as compared with a number of high groynes at short distances apart. The western pier is now being further extended 900 feet into 25 feet at low water, which will completely bar any drift of the shingle eastward. Dover. Eastward of Folkestone the coast is embayed for 2 miles, and faces south-east ; beyond this to Dover the direction is nearly southerly, Dover facing south-east. THE SOUTH COAST. 209 At one time there must have been a considerable deposit of shingle on the beach in front of Dover, as the buildings on the east cliff are all built on a bed of shingle. So far back as the reign of Henry VIII., who carried out works for the improvement of the harbour, the entrance was much choked with drift, and in succeeding reigns various attempts were made to remove the bar and prevent the deposit of the shingle. At the beginning of the last century (1718), Captain Perry reported that the harbour was then choked up with shingle, which drifted from the west, and advised the construction of low- water groynes or jetties, and an extension of the west pier. He also referred in his report to the arrest of the drift of the shingle from the west, owing to the effect produced by falls of the chalk cliffs. Half a century later Smeaton also advised the extension of the west pier, in order to arrest the drift of the shingle. This, however, was not done until after more than another half-century had passed. In 1833 a stone groyne was erected on the west side of the harbour, at Cheeseman's Head, which for a time completely arrested the travelling shingle, the frontage on the east of the harbour being reported as suffering from the consequent denuda- tion. Owing to the remonstrances of the frontagers, this groyne was partially pulled down, and was subsequently done away with when the Admiralty Pier was constructed. Between Folkestone and Dover the cliffs consist of chalk, in which are a large number of flints, the height being from 100 to .")00 feet above the sea. The beach is sand, lying at an inclination of 1 to 50, and shingle is collected at the foot of the cliffs in places. In East Wear Bay, where the cliffs rise to a height of 500 feet, a great landslip of the chalk, over the gault clay on which it rests, took place about the middle of the last century, forming an under- cliff known as the Warren. In 1877, owing to a fall in the cliffs, the eastern end of the Folkestone tunnel had to be replaced by an open cutting ; and about the same time, at half a mile nearer Dover, an immense mass of chalk, calculated at two hundred thousand tons, fell, filling up the railway cutting; a large quantity being deposited on the beach. A further slip occurred in 1892, when the roadway near the Warren Inn was carried down 40 feet. BRA/?> Or TH UNIVERSITY OF 2io THE SEA-COAST. Since the construction of the harbour at Folkestone, more especially since the extension of the west pier and the stoppage of the drift, the beach east of Folkestone has become much denuded of shingle. Near Lydden Spout, 2^ miles west of the Admiralty Pier, in 1871 Sir J. Code reported that the shingle bank, which was 80 yards wide, had become almost entirely denuded. Where large falls of cliff takes place, the debris forms a natural groyne, the shingle from the chalk being held up in the embay - ment. On the windward side of the great fall that took place near Shakespeare's Cliff a few years ago there is a considerable accumulation of fallen material, the shingle being banked up 50 yards in width, the pebbles varying in size from half to one inch in diameter. Near Shakespeare's Cliff, some timber groynes, about 60 feet in length, consisting of 12-inch piles and 3-inch planking, have been constructed on the beach, and these have held up the shingle, which in calm weather is 3 to 5 feet the highest on the windward side. The Admiralty Pier, which was commenced in 1847, extends out from the shore in a south-easterly direction for nearly halt' a mile, into 7 fathoms at low water. As this pier advanced seaward, all travel of the shingle eastward was completely stopped. Some doubt existing as to whether shingle travelled round the pier, an examination was made some years after its erection by divers, who xeported that the sea-bed in the neighbourhood of the wall was entirely free from any shingle or stone. A considerable amount of shingle has collected on the wind- ward side of the pier, the coast-line advancing about 30 yards in the first ten years, over a length of 500 feet, and the beach being raised from 3 to 6 feet. At the present time, opposite the railway station the shingle above high water is 60 yards wide, and near the railway viaduct, to the east of Shakespeare's Cliff, it is from 6 to 10 feet above high water for 30 yards in width, the bank sloping down at an angle of 1 in 3. Below this to low water the beach is from 60 to 70 yards wide, lying at a slope of 1 in 12, and covered with small shingle at the upper part, and coarse sand towards low water. The shingle varies in size from 2 inches to the eighth of an inch in diameter, the average size being about three-quarters of an inch. The effect of the Admiralty Pier has been to lessen the wave- THE SOUTH COAST. 211 stroke at the western end of the Dover frontage, and to project it more to the eastward, and this, in combination with the stoppage of the supply of beach, caused considerable erosion on the eastern frontage. To counteract this, a substantial pier or jetty, projecting out at right angles to the shore, was constructed nearl y opposite the Castle, and subsequently about 1863 a stone groyne more to the east, known as the harbour jetty, was erected. The effect of this jetty was reported by Mr. Kedman in 1863, as having a detrimental effect on the eastward beach, as, owing to its great height, it caused an eddying of the sea eastward, scouring out the shingle forming the natural barrier, whereby the extreme range of the tide advanced landward 100 feet. Mr. Redman also reported that the beach was more than 20 feet higher on one side of the jetty than on the other. In 1867 the wooden groynes on the beach were repaired and extended to low water. A sea-wall now protects the eastern frontage and promenade, fit the end of which the reclamation wall of the Harbour of Refuge commences. At the end of the promenade a wooden jetty for the purposes of the new harbour works has been carried out beyond low-water, and to the east of this are some wooden groynes, which have been allowed to go to ruin, one or more of which have recently been replaced. The shingle near the jetty at the eastern end, in calm weather, is from 10 to 12 feet below the top of the promenade wall. Between the two concrete groynes the shingle is very scarce .find small, the surface of the beach being 5 feet from the top of the wall. Westward of the Castle groyne, and up to the Clock Tower, there are several wooden groynes about 50 yards in length, and placed about 70 yards apart. They are constructed of 12-inch piles spaced 9 feet apart, and boarded with 3-inch planking, others being supported by old railway metals. In 1899, the top of these groynes was from 3 to 4 feet above the surface. The shingle is more abundant on this part of the beach, and reaches nearly to the top of the wall, at the Promenade Pier, extending seaward above high-water level from 10 to 30 yards. The shingle, which consists almost entirely of flint, shows evidence of much wear, the pebbles at the eastern end varying from i to 1 inch in diameter, and averaging about an inch. At the western end beyond the Clock Tower there is less shingle, the beach being covered with sand. During a very severe gale in December, 1900, ranging from 212 THE SEA-COAST. south-west to north-east, considerable denudation of shingle off the beach took place, several thousand tons being swept down, in some parts the surface being lowered 20 feet. Between Dover and St. Margaret's Bay, the chalk cliffs attain a height of from 300 to 400 feet, dropping down to 80 feet at St. Margaret's. In 1891 a considerable fall of cliff took place near the Cornhill Coastguard Station, 2 miles to the east of Dover ; and in 1894 opposite the Convict Prison and at Cobbler Point. In 1896 a furlong of cliff fell west of the High Lighthouse. These falls appear to be due as much to the water percolating from the surface as from the action of the sea. Although there has been considerable wasting at the few places named, the erosion of the cliffs recently has been very small. The report on the erosion of these cliffs by Captain McDakin, published in the British Association Keport of 1895, gives the average amount of erosion for the three years 1890-93, as amount- ing to only the fraction of an inch in a year in some parts, and nothing in others. Before the construction of the Admiralty Pier, there was a continuous shingle beach from the end of the promenade to Cobbler Point. At the present time the beach is bare of shingle up to the foot of the cliffs, and between Dover and St. Margaret's Bay and Kingsdown the beach has become much denuded, the waves at high water breaking on the chalk cliffs where they pro- ject into the bay ; there is, however, a considerable amount of shingle in places. In the evidence given at the inquiry as to the Dover Keclamation Scheme, it was stated that the width then in Langdon Bay was 46 yards. About 30 to 40 years ago there was an undercliff between Dover and Foxdown Hill, on which stood a cottage and garden, with a road giving access to it, which has been all washed away. The shingle at one time reached up to the path at Langdon Hole, 15 feet above the coast, whereas the water now at high water of neap tides reaches up to the cliffs. The set of the flood current, after passing the Admiralty Pier, now strikes the coast near the Cornhill Coastguard Station, and there is a westerly eddy from this point towards high water. This will account for the great amount of erosion that has taken place. In St. Margaret's Bay there is a considerable bank of shingle, which has accumulated above high water to a width of 20 yards. THE EAST COAST, 213 The pebbles average in size from J to J up to 2 or 3 inches, there being a few large flints among them. Some timber groynes have recently been put down to hold up the shingle ; they are about 50 yards long, and consist of 12-inch fir piles, spaced 3 feet 6 inches apart, every other pile being sup- ported on both sides with 6-inch struts. There is a 12-inch by 6 -inch waling. The planking is 12 inches by 3 inches, the top being, at the time of my inspection in 1899, from 3 to 5 feet above the beach. This groyning has not, however, stopped the erosion of the foreshore, which is stated to be wasting at the rate of 10 feet a year. THE EAST COAST. Northumberland and Durham. The coast from the Tweed to the Tees is generally rocky, with few beaches of interest or examples of coast protection. Immediately south of the Tweed the coast is bordered by a broad beach as far as Huds Head ; beyond this it is rocky, the cliffs rising as high as 87 feet. Beyond Cheswick is a sandy strand which gradually widens out into the extensive tract of sand, 3 miles long and 2 miles wide, known as Fenham Flats, which connects Holy Island with the main land at low water. lloss Links is a sandy ridge \\ miles long, covered with " bents " (Arundo arenaria) , and parallel with this, and separated from it by a channel filled at spring tides, is Old Law, a narrow sandy- island three-quarters of a mile long. To the south of Koss Links is a large area of sand about a mile square, which dries at low water. South of these sands is a small estuary with a shifting sand-bar, bounded at the south-east side by a rocky cliff known as Budle Hills. Bamburgh Castle stands upon a rocky cliff, which rises almost perpendicularly from a flat sandy beach bordered by sand-hills to the north-west and south-east. Off Beal Point is a limestone rock known as Holy Island, which covers an area of 1J square miles, and has a long narrow ridge of sand-hills extending from its north-west end in a westerly direction towards the mainland for 2 miles, from which the island is separated by a sandy ridge 1200 yards wide, only dry for about three hours. Near the harbour the beach is covered with shingle and sand. 214 THE SEA-CO AST. Further south are the Farn Islands, consisting of a bold cliff of columnar basalt 45 feet high, which slopes away to the north- east, the length of the island being only 500 yards, and covering an area of 16 acres. At one end of the island is a cavity in the rock communicating with the sea, through which in north-east gales the sea is forced and the water is driven upwards in a vertical column. At Goswick is a high sandy shore. Further south the cliff is low, and there is a deep bight in the coast-line, fringed by sand-hills. The general formation of the cliffs along the coast from Berwick to Alnmouth is carboniferous limestone, with intrusions of trap at Holy Island, Bamburgh, Dunstanburgh, and Boulmer. Between the projections of the Out Car rocks and Dunstan- burgh headland, which consist of basaltic rock, the coast is embayed. Embleton Bay is backed by sand-hills, some of which rise to a considerable height. Southward of Dunstanburgh headland to Coolernose Point, the coast consists of a bank covered with grass sloping towards the land. The line of cliff is broken by an opening at Craster Bay. Beyond Coolernose Point the cliffs are rocky to Howick, beyond which the coast is low and sandy, with sand-hills which continue nearly to Alnmouth Bay, an indent in the coast, H miles deep, lying between Seaton Point and Coquet Island, a distance of 4 miles. The coast from the river Aln to the Coquet is backed by sand-hills, broken only by a rocky cliff 67 feet high. A patch of boulder clay 6 to 10 feet thick at Alnmouth affords a supply of pebbles of carboniferous limestone, porphyry, sand- stones, etc., the largest boulders being 12 inches in diameter. Here also is another of the islands so frequent on this coast. Coquet island is situated two-thirds of a mile from the mainland, and is 16 acres in extent, its surface being 35 feet above high water. At the southern end of Alnwick Bay the river Coquet finds an outlet through sands, silt, and gravel, and is encumbered by a bar of a horseshoe shape, over which is the entrance to Walk- worth, harbour. South of Snab Point the coast is low and sandy, and there is a high sand-hill, on the south side of Lyn Burn, and it so continues to the river Blyth, where there are also sand-hills off the entrance to the river and to the south. There are extensive ledges of rocks along the coast, extending out from the shore three-quarters of a mile. THE EAST COAST. 215 South of Blyth the coast continues low and sandy for 3 miles, the cliffs being composed of drift clay, containing large boulders in the lower part and smaller pebbles in the upper part. From Curry Point, 4 miles north of the Tyne, the shore is bordered by a low cliff having a sandy beach at the base, and there is a good sandy beach at Whitley. Beyond this, past Cullercoates, magnesian limestone cliffs continue to Tynemouth Head, the foreshore being rocky for 300 yards from the cliffs. Tynemouth Head, on which stands the ruins of the Old Priory, is a limestone cliff 85 feet high. At the foot of the cliff are scattered boulders and pebbles derived from the cliff of glacial drift fronting the entrance to the Tyne, which rises to a height of from 80 to 100 feet, with a very steep face ; these consist principally of carboniferous limestone, shale, greenstone, and grit. A ridge of sand formerly extended across the mouth of the Tyne, forming a bar on which there was only from 6 to 7 feet at low water. This has now been removed by dredging. On the south side of the entrance is a considerable sand-beach, and some low sand-hills from 8 to 12 feet high, locally called " bents." A groyne 140 yards long was built on the west side, to prevent the sands drifting into the channel of the river. This sand is removed for glass-making. The sands and sand-hills continue along the coast to the south for 1J miles, changing at Trow Point to a magnesian limestone cliff from 50 to 60 feet high, which extends for 4 miles, the foreshore consisting of rocky ledges. At Whitburn for about a mile the beach is sandy, and there is an accumulation of shingle at the south end of the sands. There are also some sand-hills here. After this comes half a mile of limestone cliffs, and a mile north of Sunderland harbour is a cliff of boulder clay 30 feet high, containing fragments of granite, basalt, limestone, porphyry, and other rocks, and then sands and sand-hills which extend to the Wear. Shingle accumulates in the recesses at the foot of the cliffs above the level of high water. The river Wear was formerly encumbered by a sand-bar, which had only 3 feet over it at low water, now increased to 12 feet. Southward of Sunderland the coast consists of a grassy bank with a rocky base, which is intersected at Hendon, Ryhope, Seaham, Hawthorn, Foxhole, and Castle Eden by deep ravines called " denes," the shore being fronted by rocky ledges or 216 THE SEA-COAST. " scars," dry at low water. At Byhope, owiDg to the encroach- ment of the sea, there has been considerable destruction of the cliffs, the footpath on the top being rendered unsafe. At Hendon the boulder clay is exposed, the limestone cliff rising from 50 to 90 feet high. Three miles north of Hartlepool, at Black Halls, the cliffs are from 100 to 120 feet high, and consist of soft yellow rock and clay, the beach being covered with boulders, shingle, and sand ; the cliffs are being undermined by the sea. Material is removed off the beach for the repair of the roads. North of Hartlepool are sand-hills 30 feet high. The cliffs cease at Crinden Dene, the coast then becoming sandy for 2J miles to Heugh, a rocky peninsula composed of magnesian limestone 40 feet high, which stands out boldly from the land, and on which Hartlepool is placed. The sea is gradually wasting these cliffs, which are rendered cavernous by the action of the waves, and a wall had to be constructed to protect them. Since 1816, it is estimated that 13 acres of land have been worn away. The floor of Hartlepool Bay consists of sand on a clayey bed ; there is no shingle on the coast here. From Hartlepool to the Tees the coast is bounded by low cliffs of sandstone, which do not exceed 20 feet in height. Between Sneaton Snook and Bran Sand the Tees enters the sea. Formerly the entrance was confined between the north and south Gares, which consisted of extensive banks of sand, and the approach to the river was encumbered by a bar, on which there was only 3 feet at low water. This has been deepened by dredging, so as to give 20 feet at low water. The Tees is only a small river draining 760 square miles. It passes through a large sandy estuary covering 14J square miles, from which 26,000 acres of salt marsh and alluvial soil have been reclaimed. There is a low, flat sandy beach at Seaton Carew. From the Tees to Flamborough Head. Between the Tees and the Humber is the coast of Yorkshire, the northern part of which is principally rocky, the southern shore being bounded by clay cliffs. From the Tees to Kedcar and Marske the coast is low and sandy, with sand-dunes inland, and fronted on the sea side by some ledges called the Eed Cars. From Saltburn and Huntcliff the rocks rise to 150 and 350 feet, the beach being covered with shingle and sand. At Eedcliff, so called from the colour of the rock of which it is composed, the cliff rises to a height of 670 THE EAST COAST. 217 feet above the water, this being the boldest and most prominent projection along the Yorkshire coast. From Staithes Nab to Eunswick Bay the cliffs attain a height of 320 feet, and consist of lias overlaid by sandstone and lime- stone, with a considerable amount of alum shale interpressed. The shore of the bay is encumbered by rocky ledges. At Kose- dale, on the north horn of the bay, some ironworks, cottages, and buildings, with a pier and small harbour, were carried into the sea by a landslip a few years ago. In the spring of 1900, after some heavy rains, a landslip occurred in the cliffs of Kunswick Bay, the earth slipping down in a crescent form. Several build- ings fell into the sea, and thirty others were endangered. It is stated that this is no new experience, the beach being strewed with waterworn pebbles derived from the bricks, tiles, and chimney-pots of houses which have at different times fallen on to the beach. Where once a street ran and an orchard existed on the top of the cliffs is now sea-shore. It is anticipated that unless works are undertaken to protect the cliffs, this picturesque old village will soon disappear. At Sandsend is a low cliff of sandstone covered with drift, and south of this a broad sandy strand extends to Whitby, the rocks above it being steep. At Whitby the cliffs are 100 feet high, and consist of boulder clay, the beach being 100 yards wide and covered with sand, with some shingle in the recesses. The entrance to the harbour is encumbered by a flat ledge of shale, sometimes bare, and at others covered with sand. Several landslips have occurred during the last century in the east cliff, on which the old parish church stands, during one of which a chapel was destroyed. The last fall was in the early part of 1900, when, after a heavy fall of snow and rain, a considerable quantity of the cliff slipped down on to the beach, when a road was carried away, and buildings on the top placed in danger. From Whitby to Kobin Hood's Bay the cliffs are of lias, shales, and sandstone, and attain a height of 200 feet. On the beach jet is found, which has been washed out of the base of the cliff. This is manufactured into ornaments. Kobin Hood's Bay lies recessed a mile between two bold headlands called the North and South Cheeks, which are 2f miles apart, and consist of red sandstone ; the cliff of the bay, which has been eroded by the sea, being lias, and rising to a height of 218 THE SEA-COAST. 100 feet. It is broken by deep gullies and ledges, due to landslips. South of the bay are high cliffs of the lower lias, shale, and sandstone, and in places boulder clay. Alum is obtained from these cliffs. They attain their greatest height of GOO feet at Hayburn Wyke, after which they decline to Scarborough. At Cromer Point these cliffs are of glacial drift, with a stratum of sand and gravel 120 feet thick, containing pebbles of sandstone, grit, porphyry, etc., and above this, 13 feet above the sea, the stratum is clayey, in which is embedded small stones. The beach here is 150 yards wide, and covered with sand and shingle above high water. At Scarborough the cliff on the north side of the harbour, 100 to 175 feet high, consists of shale and sandstone capped with boulder clay. The bed of the beach consists of shale, which is covered with shingle and sand varying from 2 to 5 feet thick, which occasionally, in heavy on-shore gales, is carried away, leaving the shale bare. The sands extend out to 300 yards to low water. Slips in this cliff were constantly taking place until the sea-wall and promenade were erected about twelve years ago. A description and illustration of this wall is given in Chapter V. The beach to the south of the harbour is also covered with hard dry sand, the two strands being separated by a narrow rocky peninsula projecting half a mile, on which the castle is placed, and on the south side of which is the harbour. From Scarborough to Filey is a continuous line of cliff, con- sisting of sand, shale, clay, and glacial drift. There is a sand beach at the foot of the cliffs, and shingle has accumulated in the bays and recesses. At Cayton Bay the shingle extends for 30 yards, the pebbles being from 3 to 4 inches in diameter, with boulders of carboniferous limestone, basalt, and greenstone. Further south, between Newbiggin and Filey, there is less beach, and the sea seldom leaves the foot of the cliffs, which south of Staiths consist of oolite rock, sandstone, and shales. Filey Bay affords a remarkable instance of the wasting away of the softer rocks, leaving a headland projecting into the sea. The cliffs immediately to the south of the bay consist of glacial drift of clay and sand, with gravel and boulders resting on hard limestone. These have been eroded by the action of the sea till now they are lj- miles inland of their original position as deter- mined by the headland. The outer end of this headland, known THE EAST COAST. 219 as Filey Brig, consists of hard calcareous grit and limestone rocks, which project beyond the clay cliffs for half a mile in a south-easterly direction, the surface being above high water and dry at ordinary low water. On this ridge, which is about 100 yards across in the widest part, the waves of the North Sea break in gales with all their force, throwing the water and spray as high as the top of the adjoining cliff. The head of the Brig is covered with large boulders of all shapes and sizes, the smaller ones rounded and the larger flat cubes weighing from 20 to 30 tons. In a storm these boulders are rolled about by the waves, some being thrown over the rocks to a height of 20 feet, and from one side of the ridge to the other. There is a depth of water close up to the rocks on the north side of 7 fathoms. The water in the bay itself is shallow, decreasing from the 4-fathom line to 2 fathoms in the centre and half a fathom for some distance from the shore. The bed of the bay consists of Kimmeridge clay, and the cliffs fronting it of glacial drift, which are still wasting, slips both from weathering and the action of the waves on the foot continually taking place where they are not protected. At the north end, under the lee of Filey Bay, the beach is rock with boulders scattered about, but in the centre of the bay the beach is hard firm sand, which extends for 7 miles to Speeton. A sea-wall was constructed and promenade formed in 1894, 700 yards in length. This wall is constructed of concrete blocks, and the foundation rests on clay. It rises 19 feet above the clay bed of the beach, and the top is 11 feet above high water. It is slightly curved and batters at the rate of an inch to a foot, and has a bull-nosed coping projecting 14 inches, which is curved on the under side so as to throw off the waves. The wall has been placed about 20 yards in front of the foot of the cliffs. In fine weather, sand and some small shingle accumulate on the beach at the foot of the wall to a height of from 3 to 4 feet, lying at a slope of 1 in 7 for 20 or 30 yards from the wall. In north- east gales this sand is carried away and the beach laid bare to the clay, but after the gale is over it gradually works back. In this respect the effect of the wall on the beach presents a great contrast to those at Scarborough and Bridlington, no apron or other protection having been required at Filey to prevent the undermining of the wall. 22O THE SEA-COAST. South of Filey the cliffs consist of the oolite series with clay, and chalk commencing at Speeton Cliff, which is 450 feet high. The sand beach which extends from Filey ends at the King and Queen rocks. At the base of Speeton Cliff is an irregular bed of red chalk from 6 to 20 feet thick ; the upper part of the cliffs for SCARBOROUGH G-OCLE: Nautical Mtles. FIG. 30. Yorkshire Coast. a thickness of 380 feet contains flints. The cliffs here are marked by numerous landslips. A few years ago a fall took place, when, over a length of 60 yards, a large mass of cliff fell, the quantity being calculated at 200,000 cubic yards. THE EAST COAST. 221 Flaniborough to Spurn Point, The cliff-erosion along the Holderness coast of Yorkshire, extending from Bridling ton to Kilnsea, has been as great as in any part of England, and nowhere else have such careful records been kept as to the amount of erosion that has taken place. Flamborough Head is a perpendicular cliff of hard chalk 120 to 130 feet high, forming a peninsula extending out from the regular coast-line from 6 to 7 miles in a south-easterly direc- tion, and forming the extreme eastern termination of the chalk which extends across England in a westerly direction, in masses of greater or less width, to the cliff at Beer, in Devon- shire. The depth of water close to the headland is from 3 to 7 fathoms. Flamborough forms the headland behind which is a bay extending along the Yorkshire coast to the Humber, the softer rocks of which the cliffs in the bay are composed having been eroded back by the sea, forming the embayment in which Bridlington is situated. The chalk of which this headland is composed extends to Sewerby, a distance of 3J miles, when it gives place to glacial drift, the beach along the southern side of the peninsula being covered with chalk boulders, with some shingle at the end derived from the cliffs. Beyond this the cliffs have been protected for upwards of 2 miles by sea-walls. All supply of drift material being thus cut off, the beach for some distance is covered only with sand, and except a few scattered patches there is no accumulation of shingle for 3 miles to Fraisthorpe. South of Bridlington the coast presents an almost unbroken line for 34 miles to the Humber, but lying back from the main direction of the coast-line ; it faces east by north to north- east. The cliffs, which consist of glacial drift of sand, gravel, and boulder clay, directly face the opening of the Skager Back on the opposite coast, the distance to which is about 400 miles, and are therefore fully exposed to the full force of the waves during north-east gales. The set of the flood current is southward along the coast. High water of ordinary spring tides, which rises 16 feet, reaches the cliffs over a great part of the length, and in some places rises from 2 to 3 feet above the foot. The beach generally, between high and low water, varies in width from 150 to 300 vards, and is covered at the foot of the 222 THE SEA-COAST. cliffs above high water with, sand and shingle. The average inclination of the sand varies from 1 in 30 to 1 in 70. The drift of beach material is from north to south, and where its progress has been arrested by groynes, it is accumulated in banks at the foot of the cliffs above the level of high water. The shingle is derived from the cliffs, and consists of fragments of chalk, flint, carboniferous limestone, silurian grit, grey, red, and greenish-coloured granite, gneiss, conglomerate, jasper, quartz, etc. Some of the sandstones are peculiarly marked by red veins. Chalk pebbles and boulders abound all along the beach to Spurn Point. The waste of the cliffs has been estimated at 2 miles since the time of the Romans, a mile of which has gone since the Norman Conquest. The only record on old maps, of many villages and townships that at one time existed on the Holderness coast, is, " washed away by the sea." The townships of Wilsthorpe, Auburn, Hartburn, \Yithon, and Cleton are all buried in the sea ; while other parishes, such as Monkewike, have lost churches, houses, and the greater part of their land. Kilnsea church fell in 1826-1836, and the village was removed. Nearly the w r hole of this parish has been washed away during the last century. Aldborough church is far out at sea, and Thorpe parish has been reduced from 690 to 148 acres. Of Eavenser and Eavenserodd, once a seaport town at the mouth of the Humber, not a vestige is left. Phillips, in his " Geology of the Yorkshire Coast," estimated the loss at 2 yards annually, equal to 30 acres a year over the 06 miles, the average height being taken at 40 feet. Captain Kenny, E.E., in the Eeport of the British Association of 1895, gave the erosion over part of the coast as averaging, between the years 1852-1889, from 5 to 10 feet, or for the thirty-seven years, 215 feet. Captain Salversen, E.E., for a length of 12 miles gave the erosion for 40 years at 132 feet of coast, equal to a loss of 204 acres. Mr. Oldham, in his evidence on the Holderness Eeclamation Bill in 1866, estimated the average loss over the whole length of cliff at 2i yards a year. Mr. Pickwell, in his paper on the waste of this coast, 1 expressed the opinion that this estimate, though correct for a limited 1 " On the Encroachments of the Sea from Spurn Point to Flamborough Head," Jtftn. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. li., 1878. THE EAST COAST. 223 locality, aud at the time when the measurements were taken, does not represent the loss along the entire coast. He gives a detailed description of the losses sustained in the different parishes, and further states that the waste of these cliffs is not regular or gradual, but occurs at intervals in huge landslips 200 to 600 yards long, and from 20 to 50 yards wide ; after which there is generally no more loss at these points for three or four years, until the looser material of the slip itself and the base on which it had rested have been washed away, leaving the cliff face exposed. In time the waves again undermine the foot, and, by the aid of frost and land-water, bring down fresh slips. As it has frequently been asserted that the waste of these cliffs is carried into the Humber, and accounts for the turbid condition of that river, it may be as well to trace in some detail what becomes of the solid matter when placed in suspension. Mr. Eobert Pickwell, in the paper already referred to, stated that the matter wasted from the Yorkshire cliffs found its way to Spurn Point, and was thence carried into the estuary of the Humber, and was the cause of enormous expense in dredging at the Grimsby and Hull Docks. This statement was repeated in the paper read in 1900 before the Geological Section of the British Association by Mr. Croft, on the sections disclosed during the construction of the Alexandra Dock at Hull. Schemes for the enclosure of the sands in the Wash have been brought forward from time to time, and have received the support of eminent engineers on the supposition that an unlimited amount of alluvial matter is to be derived from material from the Yorkshire coast. Authority is further given to this in the Government Memoir 011 the Geology of the Fenland, published in 1877, wherein it is stated that the sands in the Wash were becoming warped by material brought in by the sea from the erosion of the Yorkshire coast. On the other hand, those who from their official position have had the best opportunities of observing the Humber, challenge this and say that the statement that mud is drifted into the Humber from the sea on the flood tide is not in accordance with facts. The universal opinion of all the pilots and masters of coasting vessels navigating the Humber with whom I have dis- cussed the matter, is that no mud enters the river from the North Sea. Recently the subject has been revived, owing to the promotion 224 THE SEA-COAST. of a scheme for the protection of the coast of Holderness, and a claim made on behalf of the promoters that they ought to derive assistance from the owners of the docks at Grimsby, Hull, and Goole on the ground that the mud which has to be dredged from these docks is derived from the Holderness coast. Messrs. Case and Gray, the engineers of the scheme, in a report dated January 12, 3901, made to the promoters, state that "the material removed from the Holderness coast is carried in part round Spurn Point into the Humber, and in part along the Lincolnshire coast," and that, in their opinion, " the Humber is encumbered by mud and sandbanks derived to a great extent from the rapid degrada- tion of the Holderness coast." An analysis was obtained of the material of which these cliffs are composed, and of that on the shore at Grimsby, the result being used, though it by no means warranted such a conclusion, to show that the material in each case was derived from the same source. Having thoroughly investigated this subject by a personal examination of the cliffs and of the rivers Humber, Ouse, and Trent, the author has come to the conclusion that it is not physi- cally possible for the material eroded from these cliffs to be carried up the Humber ; and that the material in suspension in that river and its tributaries is derived from solid matter brought off its drainage area of 10,500 acres, or eroded from the banks of the rivers. The material eroded from the Yorkshire cliffs consists approximately of 30 per cent, of stones and pebbles, 10 per cent, of coarse sand, and 60 per cent, of alluvial matter. The sand, the grains of which vary in size from 20 to 200 to the lineal inch, would settle in still water at the rate of 250 feet a minute, and could not therefore be transported any distance, but would be deposited on the beach. The individual particles of the alluvium vary in size from about 300 to 2000 to the lineal inch, and are sufficiently small to remain in suspension in the water so long as it is in motion. An analysis of this soil made by Messrs. Stanger and Blount gave the following result : siliceous matter, 66*08 per cent. ; alumina and oxide of iron, 17*02 ; lime, 4*38 ; magnesia, 2*62 ; salt, 0*31 ; carbonic anhydride, 4*38 ; loss, etc., 5*21. The material falling from the cliffs is broken up and dis- tributed by the waves, the stones and gravel, sand and alluvium, being separated and sorted. The stones and pebbles remain on THE EAST COAST. 225 the beach, and are drifted southward and form the shingle of which the spit at Spurn is formed. This southerly drift is now stopped about half a mile south of Kilnsea by the groynes which have been put down for the protection of the Spurn peninsula. The sand rapidly settles in the water, and becomes distributed over the beach. It is only the alluvial matter forming about two- thirds of the whole eroded material that remains for a time in suspension, its final destination being the bed of the sea, on which it ultimately settles. The general result of the observations and measurements that have been made gives an average loss of 2 yards a year over the whole length. The cliffs vary in height from 10 to 130 feet, the mean throughout the whole length being 12 yards. Taking the length of the cliffs at 34 miles, the mean height at 12 yards, the loss at 2|- yards a year, the mean total quantity eroded and falling on the beach in one year would be 1,615,680 cubic yards, of which 969,408 cubic yards is alluvial matter carried away in suspension. The falls from the cliffs are only reached for about two hours before and two hours after high water of spring tides, or say during four hours on 260 tides in a year. The average quantity carried away on each tide would thus be 3728 cubic yards. The alluvial matter at the foot of the cliffs, placed in sus- pension by the action of the waves and tides, becomes gradually diffused over an ever-increasing area. It is subject to the cur- rent due to the southerly set of the tides, and also to the set of the rising tide towards the shore, to the oscillating action of the waves, and to the downward movement towards the bed of the sea due to the action of gravity. The current along the coast in this part of the North Sea continues to run for about two hours after high water, but during the last half-hour the water is slack, so that the drift of the suspended matter towards the Humber lasts for about three and a half hours. The rate of the tidal current at this period of the tide is 2J miles an hour. A particle of solid matter, provided it remained in suspension the whole time and reached the main current running towards the Humber, would thus be carried from the point of mean distance, say 20 miles from the Humber, Sf miles, or not within 11 J miles of the mouth of the river. The current would then Q 226 THE SEA-COAST. turn and run north for six and a half hours, carrying the particle 16 miles northwards, or 28 J miles away from the Humber. As a matter of fact, the alluvium placed in suspension does not even reach the main set of the flood tide along the coast. As already stated, the coast is set back in an embayment, the depth of which at the northern end is about 5 miles. The flood tide sets into this embayment. The oscillation of the waves keeps up a continual churning action, so that any solid matter placed in suspension becomes gradually diffused over an ever- increasing area. Parallel with the coast is a shelf a mile in width, on which the depth of water is about 2 fathoms, beyond this the bed of the sea deepens rapidly to 6 and 7 fathoms. The direct southerly set of the flood tides does not approach the coast beyond the deep water, so that solid matter eroded from the cliffs, if it could reach the main south-going current towards the Humber, must traverse this mile of shoal water. Allowing the movement of the current in the bay to be 3 feet a second, the cubic contents of the water in the mile of embayment during the three and a half hours of flood tide at high water may be calculated at 1,169,607,600 cubic feet of water ; and as the average quantity of material put in suspension, as given before, is 3728 cubic yards, or 100,656 cubic feet, this would only produce one grain of solid matter in 14,000 cubic feet of water. It is evident, therefore, that it is physically impossible for the mud in the Humber to be supplied from the waste of the York- shire coast ; much less can this eroded material be transported to the Wash. As a further proof of this, it may be stated that at the Spurn Lightship, at the entrance to the Humber, the water is clear and bright, and samples taken at varying depths show no matter in suspension except a few grains of clean sand. The whole of the bed of the sea outside the Humber is covered with stones, clean sand, and shells. On the east side of the mouth of the river, past Cleethorpes to the sea, the natural clay bed of the foreshore is covered with clean sand ; the beach on the north side being also covered with sand and shingle, showing that no deposit of clayey material is carried into the Humber from the sea. 1 1 " The Source of Warp in the Humber." Paper by W. H. Wheeler, British Association Meeting, Glasgow, 1901. THE EAST COAST. 227 Bridlington. This frontage faces nearly south-east, and lies embayed about 5 miles behind Flamborough Head, by which it is protected from the north-east. The beach is covered with sand, and extends about 220 yards to low water at an average slope of 1 in 40, the inclination near the shore being about 1 in 20. A harbour has existed here from a very early period, the walls of which have been extended seaward from time to time, the last extension being made about fifty years ago. The walls now extend over 600 yards beyond high water, and about 400 yards beyond low water. The original projection of the harbour walls has led to a con- siderable extension of the beach on the north side, the line of low water being 250 yards more seaward than that on the south side. The shore on the north side of the harbour has been pro- tected by sea-walls built at different periods, the total length of walls and promenade being over three-quarters of a mile. The ruins of former walls which lie in front of those now in existence both on the north and south side of the harbour bear testimony to the force with which the waves break in this bay. The oldest protection wall, 250 yards in length, is of brick, and adjoining this is a short length of timber-work consisting of piles and planking, at the top of which the slope of the original cliff is protected by chalk. Between this older protection and the harbour is a sea-wall and the Princes promenade, which together cost 20,000. It is 233 yards long. The top of the parapet is 26 feet above the beach, and 20 feet above H.W.S.T. The wall is vertical, and built with sandstone blocks, each course projecting a few inches beyond the one above it. The top courses are 1 foot 4 inches in depth, and project 4 inches ; the middle courses 1 foot 8 inches, and project 8 inches ; and the lower courses up to about high- water mark, or say 6 feet above the sands, 2 feet, with 12-inch projection. The top is finished with a cornice or nosing 1 foot 6 inches deep and projecting 12 inches, which is curved at the lower side so as to throw off the water from the waves, the parapet wall rising 2 feet above this. The foundations are carried down into the clay, and there is a concrete apron 6 feet wide at the base of the wall. The sand at the foot of the wall is, under ordinary conditions, hard and dry, but during strong southerly or on-shore gales this is scoured out from 2 to 3 feet down to the clay, but it soon works back after the gale. 228 THE SEA-COAST. To the north of the old brick wall already referred to, a wall was erected in 1888 at a cost of 8750, known as the Beaconsfield wall. It is 283 yards long, and built of sandstone in a similar manner to the wall at the Princes parade. This is continued by a concrete wall 262 yards long, beyond which the face of the cliff and promenade has been protected by timber-work for a length of 400 yards. This consists of a row of 9-inch piles driven into the beach and a parallel row into the cliff, the two being 8 feet apart, and spaced 7 feet apart ; these are joined by timber ties, and the slope is planked with 11 by 3-inch boarding, which is continued vertically for 6 feet above the slope up to the roadway. The cliff under the boarding is pitched with chalk boulders. On the south of the harbour a new sea-wall and promenade 500 yards long was erected in 1896. This is constructed of sand- stone, in nearly a similar manner to the wall described on the north side, and is protected at the foot by a concrete platform 6 feet wide and sheet piling. The height is 16 feet 6 inches from the concrete platform to the top of the parapet wall, which is left above high water. The foundation rests on clay. Beyond this the cliffs are protected by a concrete wall, with buttresses, 680 yards long, the maintenance of which appears to have caused some trouble. The foot of this wall has been protected by piles driven into the beach and planking. Joining this wall at Hildersthorpe, a new wall 560 yards long was constructed in 1901, which is of similar design as the pro- menade wall, the facing being sandstone blocks backed by con- crete. This wall replaces some timber protection to the cliffs which was found insufficient for the purpose. The cliffs here consist of sandy material resting at the base on boulder clay. The erosion recently has been very great, the face of the cliffs being 20 yards inside the general shore-line. For the protection of the beach and sea-walls on the north side of the harbour, groynes were erected twenty-five years ago, some of which are still in existence, and some have been added recently. These are placed at right angles to the shore, are 40 yards long and 120 to 140 yards apart, and extend a little beyond half ebb. One groyne extends out from the north end of the wall of the Princes promenade, and four others in front of the other sea-wall. The top is 10 feet above the beach next the wall, THE EAST COAST. 229 and 2 feet at the other end. They consist of a timber framing, A-shaped, filled with chalk, the sides being built at an angle of 35 degrees ; the piles are 14 feet long, 9 inches by 9 inches, and the boarding 4 inches thick. Two 11-inch by 4-inch longitudinal walings are bolted to the top of the piles. The groyne at the Princes promenade is made 3 feet 6 inches wide at the top, so as to afford a sloping roadway to the sands. These groynes have been useful in holding up the sand, and in preventing lows being formed near the sea-wall. During a north-east gale in the autumn of 1898, much damage was done to the beach, and to the groynes in front^ of &R1.DLIHGTON. CJZGYffES, .N. SHORE FIG. 31. the Princes and Beaconsfield promenades, and also to the cliff protection near Sewerby. For the repair of these and for the construction of four additional groynes, the sanction of the Local Government Board was obtained to a loan of 820. A very large quantity of sand and shingle has been removed from the north beach for concrete and road-making. The beach on the south side of the harbour when the new sea-walls were built was very low in many parts, especially near the shore, being denuded down to the clay. To remedy this, a number of groynes were fixed between Bridlington and Hilders- thorpe at distances generally of about 100 yards apart, and of the same length, reaching halfway to low water. In some places where there has been a tendency for the sand to scour away, and for a low to be formed down to the clay, short intermediate 230 THE SEA-COAST. groynes have been placed. In all there are about twenty groynes in front of these sea-walls. Some of these groynes consist of 3-inch planking, bolted or spiked to 12-inch square piles 10 feet long, driven from 5 to 6 feet into the clay, spaced 3J feet apart. The top is made to rake with the inclination of the sand. Other groynes are constructed of 10-inch by 4-inch sheet piles 10 feet long, and driven 3 to 5 feet into the clay. Since these piles have been fixed, the swills and low places in the upper part of the beach have become filled up, and the clay bed covered to a depth of from 3 to 4 feet with clean hard sand. Generally the sand is level on both sides, but at some of the groynes the beach is from 1 foot to 18 inches highest on the north side. The top of the groynes is about 1 to 2 feet above the surface of the sand. Fraisthorpe. From Hildersthorpe south of Bridlington, nearly to Fraisthorpe, the cliffs, which vary in height from 10 to 30 feet, consist of an upper layer of sand and silt resting on clay contain- ing about 10 per cent, of boulders and pebbles. In the upper layer is some gravel and a layer from 3 to 5 feet thick of small chalk pebbles, about half an inch in diameter, and some gravel. At Fraisthorpe there is a depression in the cliffs for about half a mile, which is filled by low hills of blown sand. There is a small accumulation of shingle on the beach, with scattered boulders up to 9 inches in diameter. The direction of the movement of material along the coast is clearly shown by the number of fragments of bricks, tiles, pottery, and glass bottles which have been drifted along the beach from Bridlington. The sands here are dry and firm about 30 yards from the cliff, lying at an angle of 1 in 15, below which they are very flat, and extend out to low water for a distance of 300 yards. Some groynes have been placed on the beach with the view of protecting the cliffs, which are much eroded. Most of these, however, are now in ruins. They originally consisted of 4-inch planking spiked to round fir piles 7 feet above the beach, 9 inches in diameter, with 6 -inch round struts on each side, attached to other piles driven into the beach. The top of the planking is 3 J feet above the present level of the beach. They extend out from the cliffs for 30 yards at an angle of 120 degrees away from the direction of the drift, and are 200 yards apart. THE EAST COAST. 231 Where the boarding remains, they seem to have been of some effect in holding up material, as for about their length from the cliffs the beach is covered with sand, beyond which is a low 8 to 10 yards wide where the clay is exposed, the sand beyond this being about the same height as that near the cliff, beyond which it is low and wet to low water. Hornsea. Between Fraisthorpe and Hornsea no attempt has been made to protect the coast. The cliffs, which consist of boulder clay and drift, to the north and south are from 25 to 30 feet high, but opposite the town there is a depression which extends inland, and affords the site for two large fresh-water lakes. The loss of land here has been considerable. The hamlet of Hornsea Beck, at an inquiry held in the seventeenth century, was reported as " decayed by the flowing of the sea," and that thirty-eight houses and several fields had been washed away since the time of Edward I. A pier had been erected here, which afforded a certain amount of protection, and while it existed " the decay was very little." It was subsequently washed away, and then the loss of coast became greater, as much as 13 yards a year disappearing. Since the middle of the last century the loss appears to have been going on at the average rate of two yards a year. Some years ago the highway running along the cliffs was washed away. An order was made by the Justices on the in- habitants to restore it. This was overruled on appeal to the Superior Court, where it was held that the sea had released the parish of its obligation to maintain the road. The shingle here consists of pebbles derived from fragments of various rocks from the drift in the cliffs, and varies in size from i inch to 2 inches in diameter, and in places is piled up against the cliffs above O.H.W.S.T. for a width of 30 or 40 yards. There are amongst it and lying on the beach several rounded lumps of chalk, the largest of which are 12 inches in diameter. These lumps of chalk have probably been drifted from Flamborough, which is about 17 miles distant. Two groynes were erected by a private owner in 1869 for the protection of his property. They were 150 yards apart and 132 feet long, and made of 12-inch fir piles 14 feet long, driven in pairs, spaced 6 feet apart, with 11-inch by 3-inch planking. These groynes cost 3 19s. Qd. per yard run. The foot of the cliffs for a length of 110 yards was also protected by a timber breastwork, 232 THE SEA-COAST. consisting of 13-inch fir piles spaced 4 feet apart, having 13-inch by 61-inch walings at the back, and 3-inch planking. The piles were tied to back piles by 6-inch by 6-inch timber ties 15 feet long. This breastwork cost 4 per yard, but it only lasted about ten years, the timber having become decayed, and the sea washed the cliff away behind it for a distance of 5 yards. At the southern end of Hornsea groynes were also constructed, consisting of 13-inch main piles 27 feet long driven in pairs, with two walings, and a centre row of 6-inch sheet piles 20 feet long, driven into the clay about 10 feet. The top of the sheet piling was from 9 to 10 feet above the surface of the beach. These groynes cost 600 each (Pickwell). The remains of these groynes are still on the beach in a dilapidated condition. At the present time the foot of the cliff north of the pier is protected by a slight timber breastwork 220 yards long, and three groynes, which are more or less dilapidated. The shingle is heaped up on the north side of these from 3 to 4 feet, but there is very little shingle on the south side. Withernsea. The cliffs on the north side are about 30 feet high; there is a depression in front of the town, the cliffs gradually rising again on the south to a height of 25 feet. At Sands-le-Mere, about two miles north of Withernsea, the coast is low, and there is a depression which extends through Eoos and Keyingham to the Humber, along which the Keying- ham and Tunstall drain runs. Some years since, owing to a breach in the bank and the giving way of the sluice at the Humber, the tidal water flowed along this drain up to the coast at Sands-le-Mere. At Owthorpe, which adjoins Withernsea, at the end of the last century the sea had reached the wall of the churchyard, and during a storm in 1816 a large part of the church fell down the cliff. The loss of the cliffs along this part of the coast, which had been going for centuries at the rate of from 1 to 3 yards a year, was stopped about thirty years ago owing to the accumulation of beach due to the groynes erected by Mr. Pickwell for the Withernsea Pier Commissioners. A concrete wall was about the same time erected all along the front of the town. Beyond the sea-wall on the north the shingle lies at the foot of the cliffs, and in front of the sea-wall, in a bank above high water for a width of from 40 to 60 yards ; it then slopes down THE EAST COAST. 233 at an angle of 1 in 2|, and below this is sand and small shingle, lying at a slope of 1 in 10; for the rest of the distance to L.W.S.T. the beach is firm sand. The shingle is derived from the cliffs, and consists of pebbles from several kinds of rock, varying in size from J inch to 5 inches in diameter, the average being about 1 inch. The groynes, which were constructed about thirty-two years ago by Mr. Pickwell, are fully described and illustrated in the Min. Proc. List. C.E., vol. li. They consist of 11-inch by 4-inch Baltic fir planking, secured by inch bolts to 13-inch piles spaced 5 feet apart and 23 feet long, driven 12 feet into the boulder clay; every alternate pile is supported by 13-inch by 61-inch struts, abutting against 13-inch piles driven 9 feet into the clay. They are placed about 200 yards apart at right angles to the shore, and run about 100 to 116 yards in length. The planking was added as the beach increased, the top being kept about 3 feet above the beach. The cost of the groynes was 3 7s. 6d. per lineal yard. Mr. Pickwell, in his paper, expresses the opinion that the groynes would have been equally effective if they had been placed 300 yards instead of 200 yards apart. The effect of the groynes was at once to raise the beach, and prevent further erosion of the cliffs. Ten years after their construction it was estimated that the accumulation of shingle amounted to 500,000 tons, and that the beach had been raised 8 to 16 feet over a length of 1300 yards by 100 yards wide. Considering the small amount of attention that appears to be paid to the maintenance of these groynes, they are still in very fair order, after thirty years' wear and tear of the stormy waves of the North Sea. In many places they are buried in the shingle. Although the groynes have efficiently protected the coast and sea-wall, they do not prevent the removal of the shingle during gales. Thus, in the heavy gales of the winter of 1897, and the four days' easterly gale in March, 1898, the shingle was scoured out from the front of the concrete sea-wall at Withernsea to a depth of from 6 to 10 feet. Although it was gradually working back, there was still, several months after the gale, a depression below the top of the groynes in front of the sea-wall of from 8 to 10 feet, the beach 50 yards further out having accumulated up to the top of the groynes. The coast to the south of Withernsea has also been groyned for a short distance, but these groynes are in a dilapidated condition, nearly all the planking having gone. 234 THE SEA-COAST. Between Withernsea and Kilnsea, although the cliffs are being rapidly degraded, no means of protection has been attempted. During the present winter (1901) further damage was done to these cliffs during the very high tide that occurred in December and the subsequent gales. Several acres of land fell south of Withernsea ; the coastguard station at Warholme has had to be condemned ; the cliff opposite North Farm, Withernsea, was so much eroded that a portion of the farm buildings were destroyed ; at Dimlington about half an acre of land fell in two tides ; and a long stretch of land was- carried away from the cliff near Lane End at Kilnsea. Kilnsea. There is here only a narrow neck of land that separates the North Sea from the estuary of the river Humber. The width opposite Kilnsea church is about 50 chains, diminish- ing at the Warren, the head of the Spurn, to about 10 chains. The surface of some of this land near the Humber is 5 feet below H.W.S.T. As the termination of the name denotes, at the time of the Saxons this was an island, being separated from Easington by a creek running between the sea and the estuary, the site of which is now known as the Long Bank. Considerable alarm has from time to time been entertained locally, lest, owing to the wearing away of the shore, the sea should break across this narrow neck of land. About three years ago, by direction of the Board of Trade, their engineer made an examination of this coast, when he reported that erosion was pro- ceeding, that it would continue, but that there was no reason to fear that a breach would be made through the land to the Humber. The cliffs here gradually die out from about 30 feet at the north end to 10 feet opposite the church, and then disappear altogether. They consist of drift sand and clay, the boulder clay dropping down below the level of the beach. At the south end there are sand-hills, which continue on to the Spurn. The waste of the cliff and shore has been very great, the old village and half the land in the parish having been washed away. In 1826 the old church fell, and the present one was subsequently erected further inland. A record of the rate of erosion in modern times is afforded by an inscription cut on a stone let into the Blue Bell Inn, which THE EAST COAST. 235 was erected in 1847, stating that the building was then 534 yards from the sea. In 1876 it was only 392 yards ; in 1892, 341 yards ; and in 1901, 325 yards ; showing a loss of over 200 yards, or at the rate of 4 yards a year during the last half-century. At Easington, the next parish to the north, about an acre of cliff, 30 feet high, was washed away in the autumn of 1900, and the rate has been over 5 yards a year. The remains of the old beacon, which was once far inland, are now to be seen on the beach. At Out Newton, a little further to the north, there are the ruins of an ancient chapel. In 1833 this was 147 yards from the edge of the cliff; in 1837 it was 47 yards; and in 1901, 20 yards; showing a loss at the rate of about 2 yards a year. The beach south of Kilnsea, between high and low water mark, is about 200 yards wide, except for a short distance where it is much narrower. It is bordered towards the south by a mound of blown sand. Shingle is not abundant at the north end of the shore, but increases in quantity towards the Spurn, and at the widest part, where groynes have been erected, is from 50 to 100 yards wide. The pebbles are of the same character as those at Hornsea and Withernsea, but smaller in size, varying from \ inch to 2 inches. Amongst these smaller stones are some boulders on the top of the bank from 4 to 9 inches in diameter, and contain- ing from 80 to 500 cubic inches. Below the shingle the beach for about 20 yards is covered with small shingle and sand, lying at a slope of 1 in 11J, and beyond this to low water is sand. An illustration is here afforded of the way in which lows or gullies, running parallel with the coast, are formed during heavy on-shore gales. At the time of the author's inspection, a deep depression, varying from 50 to 100 yards wide, was formed at the foot of the sand-hills by the breaking of the waves at or about the point to which the high tides reached some months previously during a north-east gale of some continuance. Immediately seaward of this was a ridge of shingle and coarse sand lying at a steep angle, and gradually moving upwards and filling the low ; beyond this ridge the slope of the beach was about 1 in 12. In the spring of 1901, during a north-east gale, a similar low, about 400 yards long, was formed under the sand-hills just north of the groynes opposite the lighthouse, from which a gully con- tinued past the lower end of the groynes to low water ; and this was still in existence when the author visited the Spurn in the 2 3 6 THE SEA-COAST. autumn of 1901, the beach generally being lower near the sand- hills than 70 yards seaward. The groynes which have been erected between Kilnsea and Spurn Point are substantial structures, consisting of 3-inch Baltic fir planking, fastened to 12-inch piles spaced 8 feet apart and driven 10 feet into the clay, supported by 9-inch by 6-inch struts attached to short piles. An intermediate pile is placed between these. The piles are protected at the top by galvanized cast-iron caps. The groynes are placed about 200 yards apart, and run about 100 yards in length. Many of the groynes are now buried, the shingle and sand having accumulated to a depth of 10 feet. P I a Sand Section KILNSEA. FIG. 32. The last groyne, which is about half a mile south of Kilnsea, was constructed about six years ago. Spurn Point. This is a long spit of shingle and sand, forming a narrow promontory projecting southwards across the mouth of the estuary of the Humber for a distance of 2 miles. Historic evidence shows that for many centuries this spit has preserved the general outline which it now bears. Its history extends back to Danish times, and it was known in old records as Kavenseyr Spurn, the termination of the word " eyr " denoting a narrow strip of land between two waters. The name recorded on the inch Ordnance Map, " The Old Den," was described in the Monastic Chronicles of the thirteenth century as " a ridge of gravel half a mile long and 70 or 80 yards wide, raised 3 feet above the THE EAST COAST. 237 mud banks by which it was surrounded, and as a sandy road covered with round and yellow stones thrown up by the height of the floods, having a breadth which an archer can scarcely shoot across, and wonderfully maintained by the tides of the sea on the east, and the ebb and flow of the Humber on the west." From Danish times there appears to have been a place called Aid Kavenseyr at the mouth of the Humber, built " on a tongue of land between two waters ; " and later on, in the beginning of the thirteenth century, in the reign of Edward L, a town called Kavenserodd was built on a site where, by the casting up of the sea, sand and stones had accumulated, and became a seaport town and rival of " Grimesby." A Royal Charter was granted to this place, and also a grant of quayage, and it became an " exceeding famous borough devoted to merchandise as well as many fisheries, and most abundantly furnished with ships," returning members to Parliament up to the middle of the fourteenth century, when the sea so encroached that the citizens removed their goods to Hull, and by " ' the wrongdoing of the sea ' the town was destroyed and nothing of value left." This was the last record that exists of these places, but in the middle of the fifteenth century a hermit settled on Eavenseyr Spurn and erected the first lighthouse. The Spurn extended southwards a distance of 2643 yards between 1676 and 1864, at a rate varying from 20 to 56 yards a year during the first 100 years, and, more recently, up to 1864, at a rate of about 8 J yards ; from 1864 to 1875 the extension was at the rate of 5*4 yards a year. 1 In 1873 a telegraph-pole was erected at the end of this point, which is now 100 yards inland. It is bordered by sand-dunes rising from 10 to 20 feet above high water. The shingle derived from the waste of the Yorkshire cliffs has accumulated here in considerable quantities, and at one time formed a depot from which supplies were derived for repairing roads and making concrete. At an inquiry that was held by the Board of Trade, it was shown that 60,000 tons a year had been taken from Spurn and the south-east part of the Holderness coast for the maintenance of the roads. The removal of this shingle has for some time past been prohibited by the Board of Trade. In 1849 a large breach was made in Spurn Point, and it was feared that the tide would break across. The cost of making good this breach with a chalk bank was 25,000. 1 " Shelford on the Humber," Min. Proc. Imt. G.E., vol. xxviii., 1869. 238 THE SEA-COAST. In 1863 the Board of Trade undertook the defence of Spurn Point and a length of 4 miles of the coast, and, under the direction of Sir John Coode, six groynes were constructed near the high lighthouse, opposite the breach of 1849, for the purpose of stopping the drift of the shingle and accumulating beach, others being subsequently added, extending from the southern to the northern point of the promontory. These groynes were of different lengths and spaced at varying distances, and consisted of 3-inch planking fastened with f-inch bolts to 12-inch fir piles, driven at various depths into the beach. When they were erected, most of them stood about six planks above the beach at the land end. Twelve years afterwards five of the groynes were covered with shingle to depths of 3 to 4 feet along the greater part of their length, and Mr. Pickwell (Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. li.) estimated the quantity of shingle which had accumulated due to the groynes at \\ million tons, making an increase of beach 100 yards in width by 7 feet in average thickness, over a length of 3.V miles. The cost of these groynes was 6 a lineal yard. In addition to the groynes for the protection of the sand- dunes, Sir John Coode caused to be made small embankments 6 to 7 feet high, the top being 1 to 2 yards wide, and from 3 to 4 feet above high water, the side slopes being 4 to 1, protected at the sea front by stakes and wattles, and the top and sea faces planted with " marram " or " bent " grass. He also had all abrupt knolls and vertical faces in the dunes levelled down to easy slopes, and these planted with bent grass. In the course of a few years the line of grass-covered dunes extended from 20 to 80 yards sea- wards, and to a height of 6 to 8 feet. In addition to the bent grass, plants of sea-buckthorn sprung up on the dunes naturally, and added much to the stability of the banks. The Lincolnshire Coast. On the south side of the estuary of the Humber, which is about 7 miles wide, from Cleethorpes nearly to Donna Nook, a distance of 9 miles, the floor of the beach, which is a mile wide, generally consists of boulder clay covered by sand. On this beach groynes have been erected for the protection of the sea-wall, about 60 to 100 yards apart, consisting of double 9-inch square piles spaced 8 feet apart, with 9-inch by 3-inch planking bolted to the piles. The piles are strutted on each side by 9-inch square timber, placed at an angle of 45 degrees, and secured at the foot to a short pile driven in the beach. Generally the sand is level on both sides of the groynes, and about 3 feet from THE EAST COAST. 239 the top of the planking, but on the most westerly groyne the sand is 4 feet the higher on the east side. The shore has been protected by a sea-wall, and a promenade and roadway formed at the back. Between Donna Nook and Saltfleet is afforded one of the rare examples along the sea-coast of England where the shore is grow- ing, owing to the deposit of alluvial matter. Owing to an eddy tide caused by the division of the tidal flow in the North Sea, one branch going into or out of the Humber, and the other continuing along the coast, the alluvium brought down in freshets by the Huniber has accumulated in a considerable quantity, forming a large shoal known as Sandhaile flats. The beach from the old enclosures to low water is more than 2 miles wide, the greater part of which is sand, but a quarter of a mile is covered with samphire and salt marsh. About fifty years ago a large tract of this land was enclosed by two earthen banks, together 4 miles in length, and extending from the Nook to Saltfleet. No special works have been carried out for the protection of this bank, which in some places has become buried by the blown sand. Inside this bank there are " meals," or hills of blown sand, formed before the enclosure of the marsh. The top of these is about 23 feet above sea-level. The whole of the Lincolnshire coast from the Humber to the Wash, a distance of 30 miles, is low and flat, the enclosed marshes which are below the level of high water extending several miles inland. The coast-line is unbroken by bays or indents, and for the first 24 miles faces nearly north-east. South of Ingoldmells the direction is nearly east. Spring tides rise from 18 to 19 feet. During north-east gales there is a very rough sea here, but owing to the waves being broken up by the long stretches of flat sands, the damage done to the dunes is not as great as it would be with a steeper beach. The marshes south of the land reclaimed during the last half- century are protected by dunes, or hills of blown sand, which at no part rise to a greater height than from 15 to 20 feet. Standing on these dunes, the sun may be seen setting on the horizon in the west across the long stretch of flat marsh land, and at the same time to the east the moon rising out of the sea, an incident which is referred to by Tennyson in the lines " They sat them down upon the yellow sand, Between the sun and moon upon the shore.'* 240 THE SEA-COAST. The particles of sand in these dunes are the same size as those on the beach, and vary in size from 100 to 200 to the lineal inch, and consist almost entirely of quartz, a few shells being mixed amongst it. The water does not reach the foot of the dunes, except at high tides. Between the dunes and low water is a long beach of flat sands resting on a substratum of boulder clay, which is only thinly covered, and is often bared during storms. In this clay are embedded fragments of various kinds of rock, including chalk, flint, septaria, sandstones, quartz and felspar, red and grey granite, syenite, porphyry, mica schist, gabbro, and others. The stones on the surface, loosened during north-east gales, collect in small patches and lie scattered about in the pools and against the upper end of the groynes. They are angular, and show very few signs of drift or wear. Saltfleet is reported to have been a market town at one time, and to have been washed away by an inundation of the sea, but at the present time there is a very wide beach, extending out to low water for over a mile, with an average slope of 1 in 270, the upper part of which is covered with samphire and marine grass. The sand-hills commence here. At Mablethorpe the beach is covered entirely with sand and becomes narrower, the width being about a quarter of a mile, with a slope near the shore of 1 in 30, and an average over the whole width of about 1 in 70 ; and the beach continues like this to the Wash. Between Trusthorpe and Sutton, a distance of 2 miles, with the object of raising the beach, and so affording more protection to the dunes, groynes have been placed about 150 yards apart and 2 feet above the beach, consisting of 7-inch by 2 i -inch fir plank- ing, spiked to a 6-inch by 4-inch waling, resting against fir piles 9 feet long, driven into the clay, and spaced 5J feet apart, every alternate pile being supported by a strut. When these groynes were first erected they were placed at an angle leaning away from the shore northward ; but as this was not found satisfactory, they were afterwards taken up and placed at right angles to the shore. They now extend from the foot of the dunes for about half the distance to low water. As there are no cliffs along this part of the coast to provide material, these groynes have had little or no effect in raising the beach. They may, to a certain extent, have prevented denudation, but a comparison between the part that THE EAST COAST. 241 has been groyned and that immediately adjoining to the north shows that the level of the beach is about the same in both cases. During heavy gales the sand is cut out down to the level of the clay at the upper part of the beach, leaving a wide hollow or low, but this gradually fills up again after the subsidence of the gale. If anything, the denudation of the beach and exposure of the clay bed of the shore is greater where the groynes are than over the adjacent beach. After the gale, when the sand begins to work back up the beach, an accumulation of from 1 foot to 2 feet takes place on the north side of the groynes. At Trusthorpe some angular box groynes have been con- structed, consisting of five piles 7 inches square, spaced 5 feet apart, driven into the clay, the centre pile being about 3 feet higher than those at the sides, the piles raking away from the centre to each side at an angle of 22J degrees, the shape resembling that of a reversed Y. To the piles are bolted 5J-inch by 4-inch wal- ings, and on these are spiked 2-inch planking, the space inside being filled with clay. These groynes are con- structed on a sandy beach, and are from 250 to 300 feet long. They offer less resistance to the waves than the square box, are easy to climb over by persons using the shore, and are much used by visitors as seats, affording shelter from the wind. Similar groynes have also been fixed further along the coast at Ingoldmells. The method of protecting the dunes will be found described in Chapter V., giving examples of sea-walls. The Wash. At the southern end of that part of Lincolnshire which fronts the North Sea the coast makes an almost right- angle bend to the east, the coast of Norfolk facing north, the line being broken by the large estuary known as the Wash, into which the rivers Ouse, Nene, Witham, and Welland discharge. These rivers drain 5820 square miles, their watersheds joining to those of the Trent, the Severn, and the Thames. This estuary is 12 miles wide at the mouth, and formerly extended 50 miles inland as far as Huntingdon and Cambridge, with a width of 30 miles. The Komans, by the construction of over 50 miles of sea-banks, enclosed the greater part of this area, leaving only the Wash open Box Groyne.. Trusthorpe. FlG. 33. 242 THE SEA-COAST. to the tides. The area covered by the tides is about 157,000 acres, of which 84,000 acres consist of sand-beds dry at low water. Consider- ing the enormous amount of material contained in these sands, it is evident that they could not have been formed under present conditions, but must have been due to torrents of much greater magnitude than the four rivers that empty into the Wash could ever alone produce. So far as any comparison can be made from the oldest charts in existence, reaching back to the beginning of the last century, it is shown that these sands have retained their shape and position without material change, the channels that pass between them, some of which are much curved, remain- ing permanent as to position, depth, and width. Accretion has taken place along the shores of the Wash, principally on the west and south sides. The amount of this accretion since the time the Roman banks were constructed 1700 years ago may be put at 63,299 acres. It has been shown that the quantity of material required to raise this area sufficiently above the level of the tides for it to become salt marsh may be fully accounted for by the alluvium brought down in suspension and deposited on the foreshore by the four rivers which drain into the Wash. 1 The Wash is divided into two parts by a long narrow bank of sand, dry at low water, which extends for 15 miles between the two channels. The sides of this sandbank, at the lower end, are so steep as to be nearly vertical ; there being a depth of 3 to 4 fathoms at low water close up to the sand, and 4 to 5 fathoms in the channel on the west side, and 13 to 15 fathoms on the east side. The entrance to the channel on the west side is not more than a quarter of a mile wide, while that on the east side is 7 miles wide. The flood tide, which rises 22 feet, sets first and most strongly into the eastern channel, and with a volume and velocity sufficient to counteract any tendency of the littoral drift to form a bar across it, but in the west channel a bar exists consisting of three ridges of sand on which there is only 2 fathoms at low water. Although these ridges are so narrow that the depth of water within a single cast of the lead varies a fathom, and are shifted about by the tides and gales, yet they are of a permanent character. Norfolk Coast. The north coast of Norfolk presents features of peculiar interest. It forms a bold, wide promontory, of which the north and east sides are washed by the waters of the North 1 " The Fens of South Lincolnshire," chapter xvi., " Geology," etc. Chapman & Hall. 1897. THE EAST COAST. 243 Sea, and the greater part of the west side by that of the Wash. 'Flamborough Head 23 23 2.4- NORTH SEA 75 Set of flood tide ** > Figures depth of water Set of Drift v- in fatho'ms. FIG. 34. Norfolk Coast, and Entrance to the Wash. The north coast is exposed to the fall range of the sea to the 244- THE SEA-COAST. north, having a fetch which extends to the Arctic regions, with a rise of tide of 18 feet. Under these conditions, it would naturally be expected that the waves, breaking with violence on the coast, would leave a steep escarpment of cliffs with a narrow beach, and having deep water in front, instead of which the sea-bed is shoal for 15 miles seaward ; the beach is low and flat, and the coast consists of alluvial marshes and sand-hills. On the west side is a large accumulation of shingle with a southerly drift, and on the east another large bank with a westerly drift. It is difficult to form any idea as to the original cause of this large deposit of detritus and alluvial matter, or as to the origin of the shingle on the west side. The only rivers which discharge on this coast, the Glaven and the Stiffkey at Blakeney, and a small brook at Burnham, are small, and, draining a limited area, are quite incapable of having brought down any large quantity of material. Inland the prominent formation is chalk, some of it contain- ing flints, greensand rock, boulder clay with rock fragments embedded, and drift gravel. The "eskers," or large ridges of gravel, which are a feature of the coast, are deemed by Mr. Wood- ward to be the " last relics of the Great Ice Age, and to have been formed by the floods and torrents that attended its passing away." l The detritus on the coast may be due to floods caused by the water flowing off the land at the breaking up of the glacial period, or to " that great inundation of the sea " which monkish chronicles refer to as having destroyed the towns on the Humber and caused great damage on the Lincolnshire coast. Mr. Whitaker adopts Mr. Godwin-Austen's theory that the " Fen rivers were continued to the sea, the Admiralty Chart showing that a channel bordered by the 10-fathom line runs seaward for at least 24 miles beyond the mouth of the Wash. The great bank, whose highest portions are known off the Norfolk coast as the Dudgeon Shoal, Kace Bank, Docking Shoal, and Burnham Flats, forms a great submerged peninsula 24 miles long, and from 16 to 20 miles broad, which marks the extent of an ancient coast-line. Similarly, on the Lincolnshire coast a great shoal, having the Inner Dowsing Sand, the Protector, and other overfalls as its highest parts, marks another old coast-line running almost due north from about 10 miles east of Ingoldmells 1 " Memoir of the Geology of the Country around Fakenham, Wells, and Holt." Geological Survey. H. B. Woodward. 1884. THE EAST COAST. 245 beyond the Humber, from whose mouth it is distant 20 miles. Between these great shoals the submerged channel above mentioned runs." l Whatever may have been the origin, the permanency of this great alluvial and sandy deposit may be taken as showing the predominating force of the constant tidal action as compared to that of the waves caused by occasional and intermittent storms of wind. It is only one of many instances of banks of mobile material being held up and maintained by strong deep-water tidal currents running on one or both sides of them. Although the source of supply of this alluvial matter is different to that at the mouth of the Humber on the Lincolnshire coast, the cause of its presence is equally due to an eddy of slack water from the splitting of the tidal stream. The flood tide coming from the north divides about the neighbourhood of the Dowsing shoal, one stream making for the Wash, and the other working to the east and south, leaving a slack space off the Norfolk coast. The set of the flood in the offing is westward up to about Scald Head, and eastward on the east side ; but where the coast trends more southward, between Blakeney and Wey bourne, there is a counter tide in shore which sets westerly, caused by the tide striking the coast and curling round. Hunstanton and Snettisham. On the east side of the Wash a red chalk and greensand cliff at Hunstanton rises about 75 feet above the sea and extends for 1 miles. There is a small wasting of this cliff. The beach in front near the shore is rocky and covered with seaweed, but beyond this, sand extends seaward for about half a mile, with an average inclination of 1 in 130. To the south of Hunstanton, and along the coast of the Wash for about 6 miles, is a bank of shingle on the beach from 2 to 3 chains wide, the greater part of which is above high water. At Snettisham and Wolferton the bank widens out to 10 and 15 chains. The drift of this shingle is southward, and it is still extending slowly at the termination of the bank at Wolferton Creek. This shingle consists principally of flints of different colours, varying in size from J to 3 inches in diameter, and amongst them are a few pebbles of quartz and jasper, and several lumps of rounded red chalk, some of which are 9 inches in diameter. Shingle has been removed in large quantities from the 1 " The Geology of the Borders of the Wash," by W. Whitaker and A. J. Jukes- Browne. Geological Survey. 1899. 246 THE SEA-COAST. Snettisham and Wolferton banks by sailing vessels for a long time past, on payment of a royalty to the Lord of the Manor, being used for road-making and concrete; but at the present rate of removal, and considering that the land at the back is not low, no harm to the coast behind is likely to ensue. It is difficult to say where this shingle has come from. There are no flints in the chalk cliffs at Hunstanton, which rest on a greensand rock. The coast north of Hunstanton is bordered by a wide sandy shore, and by sand and marshes for several miles to the east. There is no appearance of shingle on the beach under the Hunstanton Cliffs. For the protection of the beach south of Hunstanton, some groynes were erected about the year 1873. They are placed at right angles to the shore. The shingle collects on the windward or north side, where it is heaped up higher than on the lee side. Hunstanton to Blakeney. The north part of the coast extend- ing from Hunstanton to Blakeney Bar, a distance of 19 miles, is bordered by a low flat shore composed of salt marshes and sand, backed by sand-hills called " meals," which rise to a height of from 10 to 60 feet, the greatest height being between Holkham and Blakeney. From Cley to Stiffkey they are from 30 to 40 feet in height. Behind this the country is more elevated, the surface being from 10 to 40 feet above the sea. There has been a considerable gain of shore since the country became inhabited and roads and houses built, the marshes and sand being from 1 to 1^ miles wide in some places, and the distance between high and low water more than 1 J miles, of which the sand occupies a mile. There are several small harbours along the coast. Wells harbour is formed in a creek or arm of the sea, which, after pass- ing through a beach of sand and shingle, runs through sand for 1J miles, and then, piercing the sand-hills, passes across a marshy estuary up to the town. These marshes formerly covered 2563 acres, but a large area has been reclaimed. At Wells considerable care has been devoted during the last half-century, to the growth and maintenance of the sand-hills on the shore of the Holkam estate near Wells, which extends over 3 miles. The method employed for repairing damage done by high tides and storms is to fix in a trench cut a foot deep, parallel with the coast, faggots of waste brushwood from the pine forests, with spars 5 to 6 yards long on both sides, at every 100 THE EAST COAST. 247 yards. The sand collects round and buries tbese faggots, when another row is set up, and so on till the hills have been restored to the required condition. Marram grass is then planted in tufts 2 feet apart. Pine trees have been planted on the land side of the " meals," which have attained a height of from 30 to 40 feet. The small ports of Brancaster, Blakeney, and Cley are also approached by tidal creeks running through sand and salt marshes. By an old plan of 1586, the approach to Brancaster and Cley, and the outfall of the river Glaven, are shown as being Ik miles more to the east than they are at the present time, and by Palmer's plan of 1835 as being three-quarters of a mile more east- ward, the channel having been driven westward by the drift of the Weybourne shingle-bank. Both Wells and Blakeney harbours have deteriorated. The cause of this has been ascribed to the abstraction of a large quantity of tidal water which formerly flowed in and out of the harbour by the enclosure of about 12,000 acres of marsh land (Tidal Harbour Commissioners' Keport, 1864). Very great damage was done all along this part of the coast by high tides and gales in February, 1882, and in November, 1897. The quays at Wells were overflowed, the sea-banks which enclose the marsh lands at Holme, Thornham, Cley, and Blakeney were broken, and a large area of land flooded and houses submerged, at the village of Salthouse ninety houses being inundated. With the exception of a few groynes at Holme, no means have been adopted for the protection of this part of the coast. Weybourne Shingle-bank. At Weybourne commences a steep shingle-bank, which, continuing for 7 miles, terminates at Blakeney harbour, where also are some hillocks of blown sand. At the back of the bank is a large area of salt marshes, part of which as far as Cley have been enclosed. Beyond this to Blakeney the marshes are covered by the tides, the water flowing up the Cley channel, which runs at the back of the bank. The pebbles consist principally of flints, but there are also quartzite, quartz, grits, and occasional jasper and cornelian. They average in size at Weybourne about 1^ inches, some on the top being 3 inches in diameter. The shingle diminishes in size as the bank extends westward. At Cley, although there are a few pebbles from 1J to 3 inches in diameter, the majority are from i to 1 inch. Only a few are flat ovoids in form. At Weybourne the bank is about 100 yards wide at the base, 248 THE SEA-COAST. the top being about 10 feet above the land at the back, and having a steep slope. At Cley the width of the bank itself is about the same, but the shingle extends on to the marshes for 70 or 80 yards more. The sea face slopes up to H.W.S.T. at an angle of 1 in 8. There is then a wide, nearly flat top, and on the land side it stretches to the marshes at a slope of 1 in 50. The top is 6 feet above H.W.S.T. In heavy on-shore gales, the waves break over the top and carry a large quantity of shingle on to the marshes. The drift of the shingle is westerly, and the bank is still growing and driving the outfall of Blakeney harbour more to the westward, across which it forms a bar. During the last sixty-five years the bank has moved westward about three- quarters of a mile. This bank is 7 miles long, with the top 25 feet above low water, and must have been formed from the waste of the land under conditions different from those that now exist. There is no apparent source of supply from which the pebbles can be derived. The floor of the sea in front is covered with sand, and at the back are only salt marshes. Weybourne. Cliffs commence here, and rise from 50 to 60 feet above the sea. They consist of sand and clay deposited by glacial action, resting on chalk which rises above the beach and contains flints in layers 5 feet apart. At the foot of the cliffs is a bank of shingle 15 yards wide, 6 feet above H.W.S.T., and this continues for 3 miles to Sheringham. Below this bank the shingle extends for 60 yards, the lower part of the beach being covered with sand. The pebbles vary from 1 to 3 inches at the top, the average being 1 inch, and at the lower part diminishing to half an inch. At Sheringham the shingle-bank at the foot of the cliffs is about 18 yards wide at the level of H.W.S.T., and extends for about 24 yards beyond this at an angle of 1 in 6, below which the beach is covered with sand. The shingle consists of large round pebbles from 1 J to 2 inches in size. The drift of this shingle is eastward towards Sheringham. The shingle deposited on the beach has been derived from the waste of the cliffs, and is not more than this waste would have yielded. The drift, also, is away from the Weybourne bank. Sheringham. The rate of destruction of the coast at Shering- ham has been considerable, and is marked by the gradual approach THE EAST COAST. 249 of the sea towards the Crown Inn, which was built in 1805, when it was 70 yards from the sea. Between 1824-29 17 yards of cliff were swept away, and the distance before the sea-wall was built was reduced to 12 yards. It was stated at a recent public inquiry that several houses had gone into the sea, and that one landowner had lost 30 acres ; and during one storm in January, 1897, two acres were swept away. In front of the town, for a length of about 300 yards, the beach has become denuded, and the chalk floor, being exposed, becomes disintegrated by the waves, setting loose the flints, some of which are as large as 24 inches in diameter. For the protection of this beach, a high groyne was erected by the parish at the east end of the town, near Beeston, in 1873, which prevented the drift of the shingle eastward and held up the beach. This groyne is 70 yards long, the upper part of the boarding being 9 feet above the beach. It is constructed of 10- inch piles, spaced 5 feet apart in the clear, and strutted to a short pile with 9-inch struts, and two 9-inch by 4-inch ties 8 feet long and 3-inch planks. When the author inspected this shore about seven years ago, the shingle was accumulated to the top of the boarding on the west or windward side, and 6 feet higher than on the lee side at the upper end and 3 feet at the lower end. When again inspected in the autumn of 1900, this shingle had all dis- appeared and the chalk floor of the beach was exposed, which was then 9 feet below the top of the planking, and the beach all along the front of the town was bare of shingle or sand. To the east of the groyne the beach was also bare and the chalk bed exposed. This denudation is due to the construction of a high groyne to the west or windward side of the town, and the effect of the waves on the sea-wall recently erected. The groyne stops the supply of the shingle from the west, and the tide, setting round the end of it, eddies into the bay between the two groynes and tends to scour away the beach. In high tides and gales, also, the falling column of water from the waves striking against the wall disintegrates the beach in front of it, the effect increasing as the beach becomes more denuded, and the depth of water in front of the wall increased. It was stated at the Board of Trade inquiry which was held to investigate the matter, that the beach had been lowered since 250 THE SEA-COAST. the construction of the " Upcher " groyne from 8 to 9 feet. Sub- sequently, at the suggestion of the inspector, some of the upper planks of this groyne were removed. This high groyne, known as the "Upcher" groyne, was erected in 1894, by consent of the Board of Trade, by the owner of the Sheringham Hall Estate. It is about 120 yards in length, and extends from the sea-wall to low water. In construction it is similar to the groyne with oak ties at Cromer, described later on. On the windward side the shingle is piled up from 6 to 8 feet higher than on the lee side. About three or four years ago Parliamentary powers were obtained to raise 15,000 to erect the sea-wall above referred to, for the purpose of protecting the town of Sheringham and form- a promenade along the sea-front, two-thirds of the cost being paid by the frontagers, and the remainder out of the district rates. This wall, with the promenade to the east, is about 550 yards in length, and was erected under the direction of Mr. W. Jaffrey, MJnst. C.E. For the construction of this wall, 16,000 tons of shingle were removed from the beach. Subsequently, in the spring of 1900 application was made by the District Council to the Local Government Board for leave to borrow a sum of 5000 for further works of coast-protection. It was proposed to erect a number of groynes on the Case system on the beach in front of the town. At the Board of Trade inquiry held with reference to this application for permission to erect these groynes, it was stated that the beach had become so denuded as to endanger the front of the town, the waves during a high gale in 1897 washing up into the streets. About a year after the construction of the sea-wall it was stated, in an official report made to the District Council, that denudation of the beach in front of the Crown Hotel and the sea- wall had taken place to the extent of 7 feet 6 inches, and that high water reached up to the wall. Owing to strong representations made by the fishermen as to the inconvenience and danger that would arise from these groynes, permission was not granted. It was contended at the public inquiry that the projection of these low groynes would be dangerous to the crews of the fishing-boats and of the lifeboat, who frequently had to land in the dark, the only guide as to where they should run their boats being a lantern on shore, and as the sweep of the tide frequently carried the boats beyond this THE EAST COAST. 251 light, they would run the risk of being stove in by coming in contact with the groynes. A subsequent proposal to erect two low groynes in front of the sea-wall was strongly objected to, a memorial signed by 260 fishermen protesting against their erection, and proposing that the Upcher groyne should be lowered, and the one at Beeston repaired and extended to low water. In 1895 a concrete wall and promenade was constructed by the owner of the Hall Estate at the foot of the cliffs, in con- tinuation of the Sheringham wall and promenade, which extends for 250 yards, and the cliffs sloped back. The face of this wall is curved towards the top, and in the autumn of 1900 the shingle bank was 4J feet below the top of it at the east end and 6 feet at the west end. In 1898 six low groynes on the Case system were erected in front of the Sheringham Hall Estate, to the west of the high groyne above referred to, spaced 83 yards apart. It was stated that these had the effect of raising the beach 4 feet, and of driving the low-water mark 7 yards back. It is doubtful, however, whether these groynes have served any useful purpose, as the drift of shingle, which is abundant on this beach, is stopped by the high groyne previously erected immediately to the east of them, and as it collected the accumulation would have extended over the beach where these groynes are placed, in the same manner that the beach has grown to the windward of the groynes at Cromer, hereafter described. Eastward of the Beeston groyne some low groynes on the Case system have been put down. In a report made by Mr. Jaffrey in the summer of 1901, it was stated that sand had accu- mulated between the most easterly of these groynes to a depth of a foot over a width of 110 yards, and to a less extent at the other groynes ; and that the average level of the beach below the top of the Beeston wall was 10J feet, or 2 feet above H.W.S.T. Cromer. From Kunton to Cromer the cliffs consist of drift clay with beds of sand and gravel, and vary in height from 10 to 250 feet, the highest part being to the east of Cromer, where the lighthouse is placed. The sea-bed consists of chalk with flints embedded, and banks of flints exist on the beach in places. Some of the flints are very large, being 24 inches in diameter. There are also boulders of sandstone and other rocks derived from the cliffs. 252 THE SEA COAST. Tradition says that there was a Koman settlement on a site opposite Cromer, now 2 miles out at sea. When Domesday Book was compiled, Cromer was an inland hamlet and part of the old parish of Shipden, a place of consider- able extent and importance, nearly the whole of which has disappeared. Taylor states that the whole site of the old town now forms part of the German Ocean ("Geology of East Norfolk "). The old parish church was swept away in the reign of Henry VIII., and its ruins are now half a mile out at sea. Shipden is mentioned in Domesday Book as Crown property in the thirteenth century, but as the " biting sea ate up Shipden " the townsfolk retreated, and Cromer grew in its place. In 1337 the church of St. Peter was endangered, the greater part of the churchyard being washed away. In 1551 the inhabitants of Cromer petitioned the Privy Council for relief to enable them to protect the town from sea breaches, in which it was stated that many houses had in former times been swallowed up by the sea, and that for the defence of the town the inhabitants had defended the same with great piers. 1 In the reign of Queen Elizabeth certain privileges were granted to the town, to enable it to rebuild the old decayed pier. A comparison of the Ordnance Surveys of 1838 and 1861 shows that between Cromer and Mundesley the cliffs had receded 350 feet, or at the annual rate of 14 feet. 2 In 1887, during a heavy gale from the north-west and an extra- ordinary high tide, great destruction was caused to the cliffs, and part of Tucker's Hotel and several buildings were washed away. The jetty was also nearly destroyed. In the winter of 1899 the Lighthouse Cliff, on the east of Cromer, which is 220 feet high, had several large slips, one of which carried away half an acre of ground. In the winter of 1825 there was a large fall of the cliff, and 12 acres of land disappeared (Taylor), the fallen earth extending for 500 yards on the beach, the quantity being calculated at half a million cubic yards. In 1832 another large fall took place, endangering the safety of the lighthouse, and a new tower was in consequence built 280 1 " Cromer Past and Present." W. Bye. 1869. 2 " East Coast between the Thames and the Wash." J. B. Redman. Min. Proc. Imt. C.E., vol. xxii. 1864. THE EAST COAST. 253 yards more inland. In 1887 there was another large fall, when the old lighthouse on the top of the cliff was carried away, some of the ruins of which may still be seen on the beach. After a heavy north-east gale in 1898, a large piece of cliff forming part of the golf links subsided. Again in January, 1898, after another gale and high tide, two large falls occurred about 200 yards in width and 150 feet in height, the quantity of earth falling on the beach being estimated at from 3000 to 4000 tons, forming at the present time a small promontory on the beach. The beach is about 200 yards wide, with an average slope of 1 in 35. It consists principally of sand, but shingle is scattered about in patches. West of the lighthouse near the cliff there is sand with patches of shingle for a width of about 10 to 12 yards above high water, then sand and shingle mixed for 30 or 40 yards at a slope of 1 in 8 to 1 in 10, and below this sand to low water at a slope of 1 in 30, the total width being 100 yards. Beyond the lighthouse the sea washes the foot of the cliffs at high water nearly to Overs trand, when the beach becomes higher. The pebbles of which the shingle is composed consist mainly of flints derived from the chalk at the foot of the cliffs and from the beach. Some of these are very large ; other pebbles are derived from the beds of glacial drift in the cliffs, and amongst them are to be found specimens of ammonites from the Lias, Scotch granites, quartz, quartzite, schist, porphyry, basalt, with occasional specimens of jasper, cornelian and agates, jet, and amber. 1 It is stated in Taylor's " Geology of East Norfolk " that in 1827, on the shore west of Cromer and exposed at low water, there were large boulders consisting of granite, basalt, porphyry, schist, limestone, etc., some weighing as much as 4 tons. The sand beach generally all along this part of the coast is remarkably hard and dry. The drift of beach material is eastward. It has been the practice to remove shingle along this part of the coast for road-making and other purposes, and flints were at one time collected and sent away to the potteries in Staffordshire in considerable quantities. The shingle for the new concrete walls was taken from the beach. For the protection of the cliffs in front of the town a jetty was 1 Savin's ' Geology of Cromer." 1887. 254 THE SEA-COAST. built in 1822, near where the present pier has been constructed. After the damage done by the gale and high tide of 1837, a sea- wall was built and the old jetty repaired. This work was paid for by a voluntary rate, owners having land on the front being taxed at the rate of twenty shillings in the pound, and those whose land was situated further back ten shillings. In 1845, during a severe gale the old timber jetty erected in 1822 was entirely swept away. In 1846 an Act of Parliament was obtained, under the powers of which a new sea-wall was built all along the sea frontage of the west cliff, and the timber jetty erected in 1822 was rebuilt. The cost of these works was 6000. Mr. Kedman has stated that a groyne placed on the north- west shore about 1863 raised the foreshore 16 feet, and others erected at the same time on the south shore 6 feet. This, however, had the effect of denuding the beach further eastward and up to Overstrand. Groynes were also constructed at several places along the shore extending nearly to the lighthouse. These have recently either been restored or replaced by new ones. There are now five long groynes, two to the west of the site of the old jetty, constructed between 1892-94, and three on the east, extending from opposite the Grand Hotel to near the lighthouse, and one short one near the lifeboat house ; these have recently been repaired and extended towards low water. The old wooden jetty has been removed, and a new promenade pier occupies the site. Some of the older groynes are now buried in the beach. The distance apart of the existing groynes varies, those on the west being about 200 yards, and those on the east from 400 to 500 yards. They are substantial structures, the western groynes consisting entirely of timber, and the two furthest to the east commencing with a concrete wall, which extends in one case for 60 yards and the other for 25 yards, and continued with timber. They are placed at right angles to the shore, and extend to low water, the length being from 120 to 160 yards. They rake at an angle of 1 in 30. The boarding at the upper end is from 8 to 10 feet above the original beach, and 5 feet at the lower end. Two methods of construction have been adopted, some of the groynes consisting of 12-inch piles, varying in length from 12 to 18 feet, and spaced 4 feet apart in the clear, supported by an 8-inch by THE EAST COAST. 255 6-inch strut butting against a short pile 10 inches square, which is braced to the main piles by two 7-inch by 4-inch planks, the whole being bolted together; a 12-inch by 6-inch waling runs along on the lee side, and one 10-inch by 5-inch on the weather side ; the planking is 11 -inch by 3-inch deals. The others consist of piles 12 inches square of pitchpine spaced 4 feet apart in the clear, every alternate set of three of these having a 10-inch by 12-inch waling bolted to them on the back, and to this is attached, by being notched in, an unsquared oak log 25 feet long, the butt end of which is from 16 to 18 inches in diameter, secured to two short piles driven into the beach, and having four 12-inch square cross-pieces bolted to the piles and oak ties. The oak logs are placed on the weather side, thus acting as ties. The boarding is of 11-inch by 4-inch pitchpine planks ; the top of the piles is protected by C.I. galvanized caps. The groynes constructed within the last few years are stated to have cost from 700 to 970 each, or about 2 per yard of frontage. In 1898, further power was obtained from Parliament to raise money for the purpose of extending the sea-wall and carrying out other protective works. To the west of the town a concrete wall and promenade has been constructed for a distance of over 500 yards, and the cliffs sloped up to an even batter. A concrete wall and promenade has also been constructed at the east end, the total length of the promenade now being nearly three-quarters of a mile. The construction of these walls and of the groynes has been carried out under the direction of the Sea Defence Commis- sioners. The works of protection that have been carried out between Cromer and Overstrand, a distance of 2 miles, afford instructive experience as to the results of groyning. The beach consists of hard sand, which quickly dries as the tide recedes, with patches of shingle in places. A short distance to the east of the new pier a substantial wooden groyne, as above described, extends from the sea-wall to low water of spring tides, a length of 100 yards. The tide sets round the end of this groyne, causing an eddy which scours out the beach. In north-east gales the waves, breaking against this groyne and also against the sea-wall, have caused a great denudation of the beach, which is now very low. Beyond this groyne, at intervals of 420 yards and 500 yards 256 THE SEA-COAST. respectively, are similar groynes. The top of the planking of these at the upper end, when constructed, was from 8 to 10 feet above the beach. On the west or windward side of these groynes the beach at the upper end has accumulated to a height of from 8 to 10 feet, reaching to the top of the groyne for a distance of 50 to 60 yards, and within 3 or 4 feet of the top lower down. On the lee side the beach is from 7 to 10 feet below the planking. The sand and shingle have accumulated to a considerable extent to the windward of these two groynes, the accumulation extending from one groyne to the next, a distance of about the third of a mile, the water not reaching the foot of the cliffs at H.W.S.T. Beyond this, for about a mile, a number of low groynes on the Case system have been constructed by the Committee of the Golf Links Club and Lord Suffield about three years ago. These are spaced about 70 yards apart and 120 yards long, extending from mean high water to L.W.S.T. Before these groynes were con- structed, there was a deep swill or low running parallel with the cliffs. It is stated that this low has been filled up and the beach raised 3 feet above the previous level. The condition of the beach in the autumn of 1900 was as follows : For the first five lengths at the western end, or about 400 yards, the sand was either level with the top of the planking or the groynes were entirely buried, the beach consisting of hard dry sand, but not sufficiently high to prevent the tide reaching the foot of the cliffs. Beyond this, for an interval of about 250 yards, the groyning had been omitted. For the next six bays, a distance of about 250 yards, the groynes did not appear to have had any effect in raising the beach, as a low or swill of varying width still remained, the beach being at this part bare of any covering of sand, and having from 1 foot to 18 inches of water on it at low water. Beyond this, for the remaining bays the sand was higher and the groynes buried in places. Beyond the groynes, for a length of about half a mile, the beach was level and covered with hard dry sand and shingle, which gradually increased in width and height to the groyne at Overstrand, a description of which is given later on. High water of ordinary spring tides, for some distance to the windward of this groyne, did not reach to the cliffs. A comparison of the two systems of groyning in existence here shows that the beach generally is higher and in better THE EAST COAST. 257 condition for a long distance to the windward of the groynes at the two ends of this reach than where a number of low groynes have been placed at shorter intervals. While with the high groynes the beach is not broken up by the numerous erections crossing it, on the other hand there is a great drop from one side to the other of the groyne. The relative cost of the two systems per mile of coast protected, allowing for the high groynes to be 600 yards apart, and the low groynes 120 yards, is 1670 for the former, and 1407 for the latter. The above description applies to this beach under fairly normal conditions, but its state varies considerably from time to time, being cut out in north-east gales, and growing up with south-west winds. With regard to the question as to whether the Case groynes placed on this beach have been of advantage in raising the beach > it is difficult to arrive at any satisfactory conclusion. The length of time they have been down has not been sufficient to give them a fair trial. While at the two ends there has been an increase in the beach, in the centre is a long interval where no improvement appears to have taken place ; and the beach beyond the termina- tion of the groynes is in as good condition as where the best results of the groyning are shown. The opinion of fishermen and the boatmen living in the locality is unanimous that they have not been of any use. This opinion, however, must be taken with caution, as there is a universal preju- dice against this system of groyning, owing to the danger caused by the low groynes to the boating. The Sea Defence Commis- sioners, after considerable experience, have come to the conclusion that the long high groynes placed at considerable intervals apart Are more efficient. The Case groynes labour under the disadvan- tage that the high groyne constructed by the Commissioners to the windward of them arrests the travel of the shingle from the west. On the other hand, the large falls of cliff that have taken place along the coast where they are situated, the material of which is being gradually broken up and washed away by the sea, provides a supply of fresh material. Cromer to Happisburgh, Between these two points, a distance of 16 J miles, the coast presents a nearly straight line of cliffs, facing about north-east, and devoid of any. bays, indents, or river outfalls. The cliffs consist almost entirely of sand and gravel, with a short length of chalk with flints. s 258 THE SEA-COAST. Spring tides rise 15 feet at Cromer, and only 11 feet at Happisburgh. The sea reaches the foot of the cliff at H.W.S.T. for nearly all this reach. The beach is covered with sand, but in places there are swills or lows, one between Overstrand and Triminghani being from 8 to 10 feet deep. The whole of this coast is wasting rapidly, the average annual loss being put at 2 yards. It was estimated by Mr. Clement Keid, F.G.S., that during the storm of January, 1897, an average width of 1 foot of cliff was eroded between Shering- ham and Happisburgh. Since the Norman Conquest' the villages of Keswick, Clare, and Wimpwell have disappeared, several manors and portions of parishes have, piece by piece, been swallowed up; nor has there been any intermission from time immemorial in the ravages of the sea along a line of coast 20 miles in length (Taylor). At Overstrand the loss of cliffs has been considerable. The original church of this parish was carried away by the sea early in the fourteenth century. At Sidestrand the body of the old church was removed in 1881, the tower only being left. This now stands on the verge of the cliff, and must be carried away in a very short time. The beach near Overstrand became much denuded some years since, owing to the supply of material being stopped by the groynes erected at Cromer, the sand and shingle being washed away and the clay bed exposed. Shingle and sand are removed from some parts of this beach for road-making and other purposes. A large groyne was erected at Overstrand by the parish about the year 1884, which raised the beach very considerably, the material reaching nearly to the top of the groyne for half the distance from the shore to low water. This groyne was made 100 yards long, and extends to L.W.S.T. It is 10 feet 6 inches high at the upper end and 5 feet 6 inches at the lower, the top near the shore being about level with high water. It consists of piles 16 to 20 feet long and 12 inches square, spaced 6 to 7 feet apart. The piles are supported by stays consisting of two horizontal braces 7 inches by 5 inches, 10 feet 6 inches long, and a strut 7 inches by 5 inches, both being bolted to a pile 9 feet long, and 9 inches square, driven into the beach. To the piles 11-inch by 3-inch planking is spiked. THE EAST COAST. 259 Some time after completion the sand reached the top of the groyne, and additional planks were added, raising it 2 feet 3 inches ; but as these were found to do more harm than good, they were taken off in 1899, and the groyne lowered to its original height. At the present time the beach on the west side is level with the top of the groyne for about 70 yards, and then slopes away to low water at an angle of 1 in 10. The effect of the groyne in holding up the beach extends for a considerable distance, H.W.ST. not reaching the cliffs for about 400 yards to the westward. On the east side of the groyne the beach is washed out down to the clay bed, and the sea is eroding the foot of the cliffs, the difference in level between the windward and lee sides of the groyne at the top being 10 feet. At the commencement of the parish of Sidestrand, from 300 to 400 yards beyond the groyne at Overstrand, there has recently (1900) been constructed a timber breastwork of boarding about 15 feet high, attached to 12-inch creosoted piles spaced 6 feet apart, and tied into the ground at the base of the cliff by iron rods. Kunning out at right angles to this is a high substantial groyne, similar in design to that at Overstrand. The length of this groyne is 100 yards, and the top of the boarding at the upper end is 11 feet above the beach, the piles being driven 12 feet into the ground. This groyne crosses a deep low, and sheet piling had to be substituted for boarding where it crossed this, as the sand was scoured out below the boarding when attached to the piles. A groyne had been constructed here at some previous time, but it had been allowed to go to ruin. Beyond this twelve Case groynes have been placed on the beach, but so far they do not appear to have had much effect in improving or raising it. At Trimingham the cliffs attain to a height of 300 feet, and the whole face shows subsidence, partly due to the erosion of the base by the sea, which reaches it at high water, but principally to the effect of land springs. Not long since part of the cliff, with two farmhouses with their yards and outbuildings, subsided and were washed away by the sea. There is a large bed of gravel in the cliffs here, from 12 to 15 feet thick. This consists principally of rounded flints, but there are many angular and unworn stones. Below this is chalk containing flints, which extends down to the beach. There is a kiln in an undercliff for converting this 260 THE SEA-COAST. chalk into lime, and there are also other kilns between here and Mundesley. The beach is about 200 yards wide, the average slope being 1 in 30 to 1 in 50. The sand is scoured off the beach at about the level of ordinary high water, forming a swill parallel with the cliffs. Towards Mundesley the cliffs decline in height, but rise again beyond the village to a height of 120 feet. The beach is covered with sand, with some shingle on the upper part. In 1835 two walls, one above the other, forming two terraces, were constructed by a landowner to protect the cliff at Mundesley. These were swept away during a gale and high tide. In 1845 the cliffs again suffered from high tides and gales ; and in 1862, during one of the most severe gales on record, 11 yards of cliff and some buildings were swept away. At the present time the foot of the cliff behind the Ship Inn is protected by a concrete wall, and extending out from this at right angles to about half-tide level are 3 groynes of a light and inexpensive character. These consist of piles 10 inches square, 5 feet 6 inches apart, placed on alternate sides of the board- ing, which is of 3-inch planks. Some spurs 5 yards long, con- sisting of planks and piles, branch out from the groynes on the windward side, pointing towards the cliffs at an angle of 45 degrees. These, however, have not been of use in collecting material. A little to the west of these groynes the cliff behind the Manor House Hotel has also been protected by a concrete sea- wall. On the beach, commencing at about mean tide level and extending to low water, 5 groynes, constructed on the Case system, spaced 40 yards apart, were put down about the spring of 1899. Some trouble was caused with the maintenance of these. In the autumn following their construction several were swept away during a north-west gale, and the concrete blocks in which the uprights were attached left bare. It is stated that since these groynes were put down the beach has been raised from 6 to 8 feet. In the autumn of 1900 the greater part of the groynes were buried, and there was a good beach of firm dry sand extending in front of both the Ship Inn and Manor House Hotel. In front of the latter, between the top of the groynes and the shore, a low was being formed above the top end of the groynes, at about the point where high water THE EAST CO AS 7. 261 reached, or about 18 yards from the sea-wall, the form of the beach being a level bed of sand for 18 yards in front of the sea- wall, and 3 feet below the top of it ; then a low, the bed of which was strewn with shingle, and from this the sand rose seaward at an angle of 1 in 20 for 20 to 25 yards, and then inclined seaward for 25 yards at an angle of 1 in 30, and beyond this the incline increased to 1 in 10. A concrete sea-wall, extending from Walcot Gap to Ostend Gap, was built in 1899 for the protection of the cliffs. Sand and shingle are removed from this beach. To the north of Happisburgh the cliffs consist of an under- stratum of sand and gravel, and of drift clay, containing fragments of various rocks. They gradually decrease in height, and terminate to the south of the village. The waste here has been considerable. Between 1804-64 the cliffs wasted at the rate of 7 feet a year (Redman). Six coastguard houses have been carried away during the last five-and-twenty years. Some substantial groynes were erected in 1893, but the sea washed round the upper end and cut out the cliffs, and they were finally carried away during a gale in 1895. While these groynes existed they collected a small amount of sand, but not sufficient to prevent high tides from washing up to the foot of the bank, and the authorities came to the conclusion that "they did more harm than good." Happisburgh to Gorleston. South of Happisburgh the coast is fringed by hills of blown sand covered with marram-grass. Between Hempstead and Palling is a tract of marsh land, the surface of which is from 3 to 4 feet below the level of high water, and extending about 3 miles inland. This land is protected from inundation by the sea by a naturally formed embankment of blown sand, which is overgrown with marram-grass, the hills being 15 feet high. The loss of land on this part of the coast has been very great. The original village of Eccles, which was situated to the east of Hempstead, long ago disappeared in the sea, and the remainder of the parish is now coupled with Hempstead. In the reign of James I. the inhabitants of Eccles prayed for a reduction of taxes on 300 acres of land, as all their houses save fourteen had been destroyed by the sea. The total loss of land has been put at 2000 acres. The church was abandoned nearly three hundred 262 THE SEA-COAST. years ago. Afterwards the building became covered by the blown sand, but the tower subsequently was uncovered by the advance of the sand landward. In 1839 the tower was half buried in sand. Twenty-three years afterwards the sand had left the tower clear, and after a storm in 1862 the waves washed the foundations of the building ; and so it remained a solitary tower, with a lantern top, which formed a sea-mark till, during a great gale in January, 1895, it was swept away, and the waves now break over its ruins. Five groynes have recently been erected for the protection of the beach, and the foot of the sand-hills is protected by faggots. From Palling to Waxham the coast continues low, and is fringed by sand-hills, the beach being covered with sand and shingle above the level of mean high water. The drift of the shingle is to the south-east. From Waxham to Gorleston, a distance of 16 miles, is a large tract of low land known as the Norfolk Broads, covering 250 square miles, the surface of which is in many places below the level of high water. This district, formerly an arm of the sea extending up to Norwich, consists of marsh lands interspersed with sixty fresh- water lakes and 200 miles of navigable rivers, and was originally the estuary of the rivers Yare, Waveney, and Bure, which now discharge, after passing through Breydon Water, at Gorleston. In the time of the Saxons Norwich was represented, as its name " North wick " denotes, " as situated on the bank of an arm of the sea," and as being a fishing town. Even so late as the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the same description of this city was given. On a map in the archives of the Corporation of Yarmouth of the time of Elizabeth, called " The Hutch Map," an estuary is shown extending up the valley of the rivers Waveney, Yare, and Bure, and the site of Yarmouth as a sandbank of the main sea. After this the estuary became gradually enclosed by the natural growth and extension of the beach and sand-dunes south- ward, and these now form the only protection of the district from the sea. At one time the Thurne river, or " Hundred stream," one of the tributaries of the Bure, discharged into the sea through a gap in the sand-hills two miles north of Winterton, known as " The Long Breach." This was filled up at the beginning of the present century. THE EAST COAST. 263 The river Waveney also at one time had an independent outfall to the sea at Kirkley, but this became closed by the drift of material from the north, and the water now joins the other rivers in Breydon Mere. The sand-hills, which form the protection of this district from the sea, vary in height from 15 to 50 feet, and in places are not more than from 20 to 35 yards wide. At Waxham the dunes are backed by low cliffs of loam about 10 feet high for about a mile. Beyond this to Horsey, a distance of 4 miles, the land is very low, the surface in places being below the level of spring tides, and depending entirely on the sand-hills for protection. Between Winterton Ness and Winterton the sand-hills widen out to about 400 yards, and south of the village are backed by a low cliff of chalky boulder clay overlying sand, which extends for nearly 3 miles. Beyond this to Ormesby the sand-hills are backed by low cliffs of clay and sand. From Caister, where the sand-hills decrease in height, to Gorleston, the land consists entirely of marshes, the surface of which is below the level of spring tides, and which depend to a considerable extent on pumping for their drainage. The sand-hills are subject to erosion by the sea during high tides and gales. Old records show that a gale in 1665 caused such " alarming breaches in the parishes of Winterton, Waxham, and Horsey as to threaten all the valuable marshes thence to Yarmouth and Beccles." In 1792 another tide caused nine breaches in the sand- hills from 20 to 120 yards wide between Waxham and Horsey, which flooded the country beyond Hickling, 3 miles inland. In 1884 the sea made a small breach in the sand-hills near Horsey. In 1894 a heavy gale from the north-west caused considerable damage to the sand-hills, which were then reduced to very narrow limits, the loss from which had not been made good when, in November, 1897, owing to a severe north-westerly gale, the tides on this part of the coast rose 8 feet above the normal height, and considerable damage was done to the sand-hills between Palling and Winterton, which were eroded to the extent of from 5 to 12 yards, and the sea broke through at the Long Breach, causing two gaps, one 66 feet wide, and the other 33 feet, arid flooded some of the low-lying land. The beach was also cut away, 264 THE SEA-COAST. and the surface lowered by the scour of the waves a foot to 18 inches. Groynes which had been erected on the beach were damaged, and the material they had collected was dispersed. After the gale the sand-hills were protected by rows of faggots, and the breach filled with bags of sand and faggots to a height of 5 feet above the beach level, and baskets filled with stones and fastened together with wire were laid at the base. The danger to the country during the high tide and gale of 1897 was considered to be so serious that the Board of Trade took the unusual course of sending down one of their inspectors to inquire and report on the matter. For the purpose of protecting the base of the sand-hills, it has been the practice to place faggots at right angles to the shore in rows about 10 yards long and 10 yards apart, by which means a considerable amount of sand is collected. As many as from 20,000 to 30,000 faggots are sometimes used in a year for this purpose. The marram grass which grows on these hills is cut and used for thatching, but the practice is condemned by those having charge of the sandbanks. The Commissioners consider that they have no power to prevent this being done. Shingle and sand are also removed from the beach. The maintenance of the sand-hills is vested in the Sea Beach Commissioners, who are appointed under the provisions of Acts of Parliament passed in the reign of George III. (45 Geo. III. c. 38 ; 52 Geo. III. c. 18). Yarmouth. Between Caister and the cliffs at Gorleston is a long bank of sand and shingle, at the south end of which is a mound of blown sand rising from 5 to 8 feet above high water and extending to the cliffs, a distance of 5 J miles. On this bank, known as " the Denes," which varies in width from 170 yards to half a mile, and which lies between the sea and the river, the town of Yarmouth has been built. These denes first became habitable early in the twelfth century. In Gillingworth's " History of Lowestoft," it is stated that the sand on which the town of Yarmouth now stands was dry in 495, and that shortly afterwards the Saxons began to build on it. There is a record in the " Town Book " of Yarmouth that about the year of our Lord 1100 it pleased God to lay the first THE EAST COAST. 265 foundation of the town of Yarmouth " on firm ground, even out of the main sea." About the end of the tenth century Breydon Water had two outfalls, one at Cockle water, or Grabbs Haven, \\ miles to the north of Yarmouth, and the other to the south past Glories ton, the former at that time being the principal haven. Grabbs Haven became closed up in the reign of Edward III. From this time up to the middle of the sixteenth century, when the first pier was built, it is recorded that the position of the approach to Yarmouth Harbour has changed eight times ; and by the gradual drift of the shingle and sand along the beach, the outfall became permanently diverted 4 miles to the south of its original position. In 1560, the channel ran for some distance under the cliffs to the south of the present entrance, when a cut was made through the sand and shingle by a Dutch engineer, named Joas Johnson, and a south pier was constructed to prevent the channel being driven southward. A few years afterwards the first north pier was built to prevent the sand from the north drifting into the harbour. Since that time the entrance to the harbour has been main- tained in its present position, but with varying degrees of efficiency. In the old days of sailing-ships, Yarmouth was one of the principal ports in the kingdom, and was considered of such national importance that in the middle of the seventeenth century a " brief," under the patronage of the king, was circulated throughout England asking for funds to repair the piers and improve the harbour. Subsequently the matter came before the House of Commons, and in 1870 an Act was passed authorizing dues to be levied ; and the control of the port was placed under commissioners represent- ing the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk and the towns of Yarmouth and Norwich, and this commission exists up to the present time. Grenville Collins, in his book of "Sailing Directions," published in 1779, says, "The maintenance of the piers at Yarmouth is very chargeable, and towards which the town has had some time relief by Parliament, for this haven is the only and chief place for the herring fishery. Notwithstanding the badness of the haven, yet such is the industry of the people that they have about 500 sail of ships belonging thereto." The north pier erected in 1566 was successful so long as it 266 THE SEA-COAST. acted as a groyne and stopped the southerly drift of the beach, but in course of time the pier became buried, and the drift of the sand choked the entrance. An extended north pier was erected in 1815, which was lengthened in 1824, and again in 1868, and at the present time the north pier is 200 yards long, and projects 100 yards beyond the south pier. Each of these extensions led for a time to the improvement of the entrance and to the deepen- ing of the channel at low water. The beach, in the mean time, has grown out, and is now in advance of the north pier end. The coast-line north of the entrance is more than 600 yards in advance of that on the south side. Comparing the plan of the harbour made by Commander Smyth, in 1845, with the Ordnance map of 1882, the denes and beach appear to have increased in width seaward about 100 yards in forty years. The depth of water at the present time over the bank of sand which stretches across the entrance is 10 feet, about the same as in the channel inside. This is 10 feet more than there was in 1828, and 4 feet more than in 1836. The depth of the water outside this bar is 4J fathoms. The denes vary in width from i to J mile, and rise from 5 to 8 feet above sea-level. Spring tides only rise 6 feet on this part of the coast. The beach consists of sand with patches of small shingle, which increase in size after an on-shore gale, and vary in width between high and low water from 130 to 170 yards, having a slope of about 1 in 7 above mean high water, and 1 in 70 to low water. The pebbles consist almost entirely of flint, and vary in size from half an inch to an inch in diameter. After a heavy north-east gale, the sand gets cut out in a swill or low parallel with the coast about 30 to 40 yards wide and from 3 to 4 yards in depth. After the gale the sand and shingle gradually work back up the beach in the form of a ridge about 7 yards wide, the face having a slope of 1 in 6. About 50 yards of the beach has been enclosed and formed into gardens and promenade, protected by a sea-wall. There are no groynes on the beach, the effect of the north pier in accumulating material extending along the whole front. Shingle and sand are removed from the beach for road-making and building. THE EAST COAST. 267 Gorleston to Lowestoft. South of the Yarmouth denes the coast- line faces almost due east, and is bordered by cliffs from 50 to 90 feet in height, composed of sand containing shells and gravel. On the top of the cliff, for a depth of from 3 to 4 feet, the gravel is more abundant and consists principally of flints, some of which are 12 inches in length. Near Hopton, about halfway to Lowestoft, the cliffs rise 50 and 60 feet above high water, and consist, at the top of boulder clay with stones, then sand, and near the beach of loam with boulders. They have been subject to constant erosion. In the report of the British Association, it was stated that 200 to 300 feet had been washed away between the years 1846-86. During the past twenty-five years, 1870-98, the loss at the northern end has been from 50 to 100 yards, but since the erection of the groynes the beach has grown up. The beach is principally sand, with a small amount of shingle above high water, the proportion of sand to shingle being about one-eighth. The sand slopes at an angle of 1 in 30 below high-water line, the pebbles varying in size from 1J up to 6 inches in diameter. After heavy north-east gales the sand is cut out at high-water line in the same manner as described at Yarmouth, but the swill thus formed fills up again in calm weather and with off-shore winds. Formerly the tide sweeping round the south pier caused a counter tide, which cut out the beach at the back of it. To stop this a concrete jetty was constructed in 1874, running out at right angles to the pier, and since its erection low-water mark has receded 50 yards. Wooden groynes were also placed on the beach about fifteen years ago, to protect the promenade which was formed under the cliffs. These groynes extend out from the sea-wall at right angles, and are 25 yards long and spaced the same distance apart. When first put in, the top of the groynes was 6 feet above the beach, but now they are nearly buried at the upper end. They are formed with 7-inch piles 12 feet long driven 6 feet into the beach, with 2-inch horizontal boarding held in place by 7-inch by 2-inch uprights bolted through the boarding to the piles. For some distance beyond the groynes and at 2 miles from 268 THE SEA-COAST. Gorleston the beach has accumulated above the level of ordinary high water, which does not reach within from 30 to 40 yards of the foot of the cliffs ; but beyond this to Gorton the beach is lower, and the cliffs are being eroded by the sea. In the gale of 1898 there was a considerable fall of cliff, a large part of a field having been carried away. In the winter of 1869 serious encroachments were made on. the cliff at Gorton, endangering the safety of the mansion built on the top and the grounds attached thereto. For the purpose of protecting the cliffs, a concrete wall was erected 19 feet high, which was subsequently extended a quarter of a mile to the north, and the remainder of the frontage protected by timber breasting. After the construction of this wall, in order to stop the denuda- tion of the beach in front, fourteen groynes were erected, extend- ing from the wall to low water, a length of from 50 to 60 yards. These groynes are of a substantial character, and vary much in height, distance apart, and method of construction, some being 7 feet above the beach, and others reaching 7J feet above high water at the shore end. They are placed at a rake of 1 in 30, which is considered as the normal slope of the beach. This groyning generally has been effective in gathering and retaining beach material and preventing damage to the sea-wall ; but, experience showing that the high groynes, while requiring great strength and being subject to much damage by the effect of the waves during gales, were not so effective in holding up the shingle as those which were lower, they were lowered to within 3 feet of the beach. Lowestoft. South of Gorton the cliffs continue nearly to Lowestoft Harbour, a distance of 2^ miles, when there is a depression, in which are situated Lake Lothing and Oulton Broad, and the former estuary of the Waveney. Beyond this depression, the cliffs again rise to Kessingland. The cliffs consist of gravel, sand, and loam, and rise from 50 to 80 feet above the sea. They are now no longer washed by the waves, there having grown out in front of them a large area of low sand-hills, known as the Denes. At the Ness, which is the widest part, the distance of low-water line from the cliff is 800 yards, of which the Denes occupy 650 yards. In Taylor's " Geology of East Norfolk," the distance of the cliffs from the point of the Ness is given as 660 yards in 1827. The distance as measured on the Six- inch Ordnance Map of THE EAST COAST. 269 1882 is 638 yards, showing a decrease of 22 yards. The surface of the Denes, over the greater part, is very little above mean sea- level, and part is liable to be inundated by very high tides. The Ness, which consists of shingle and sand, forms the most prominent projection on the East Coast. The line of the beach to the north of the Ness faces north and north by west ; and on the south south-south-east. The beach is about 220 yards wide between high and low water, and consists principally of sand, interspersed with small shingle and patches of larger pebbles. The larger flints are gathered up and removed for road-making and other purposes. The Great Eastern Railway Company also export large quantities of shingle and sand, but this is principally from material dredged from the harbour and entrance. After the construction of the jetties at the entrance to the harbour in 1832, there was considerable extension of the beach seaward, the north jetty acting as a groyne and holding up the shingle and sand. Twenty years after the harbour had been con- structed, the beach had advanced seaward 132 yards. The only source of supply of beach material now is from the gravel and sand derived from waste of the cliffs between Yarmouth and Cor ton. During the past half-century there has been considerable waste of the beach on the Lowestoft coast. The erosion has been greater since the erection of the groynes at Gorton in 1870, which stopped the southerly drift of the shingle, as much as 40 yards having gone during the last year or two. In June, 1899, the lower lighthouse, which was situated on the Denes, was removed back 87 yards, or 50 yards from high- water line, and a year and a half later it was reported that high water came within 30 yards, showing a loss of 20 yards of the Denes. Where ten years previously there was a fine stretch of beach was then all covered at low water. During heavy gales in 1894, the sand-hills which afforded protection to the Denes from high tides were very greatly damaged over a length of half a mile. Faggots and other temporary means of protection were adopted, but in subsequent gales in 1895 they were still further damaged, and during the heavy gale and high tide in 1898 the sand-hills over a length of half a mile were almost entirely obliterated, and the water broke into and flooded the denes, the beach being lowered from 10 to 270 THE SEA-COAST. 12 feet, the wreck of a fishing-smack, which had previously been buried in the sand, standing from 6 to 8 feet above the beach after the gale. During a severe north-east gale occurring in the spring tides in March, 1901, further damage was done to this part of the coast, the marram-hills which protected the coast being swept away. In 1896 some timber groynes were placed on the beach between the Ness and the harbour, at a cost of 1462. These were about 60 yards long, and consisted of 3-inch planks fastened to iron uprights, the top being about 3 feet above the beach. They were not carried as far up the beach as the line of high water, and during the gale of 1898 the waves swept round the upper ends and scoured out the sand, leaving a depression in the beach 4 feet deep, which extended under the bottom of the groynes for about a third of the way, a similar hollow being cut out at the lower ends, so that the groynes were left suspended in the air on a ridge of shingle and sand in the middle, and became wrecked. The low or swill extended for some distance parallel to the Dene s. Gillingwater, in his " History of Lowestoft," l refers to an ancient map showing this part of the coast in the year 1000, when the mouth of the Waveney is shown as discharging between Lowestoft and Kirkley. It is also stated that where Lowestoft roads are now situated was at one time dry land, with houses on it. In the reign of Henry VIII. the houses were destroyed by the encroachment of the sea. In Queen Elizabeth's reign the land had also disappeared, and there was then 3 fathoms at low water. At Lowestoft, the coast-line is separated from the large sheet of water known as Lake Lothing by a narrow neck of land 700 yards wide. Near Kirkley there was formerly an indentation in the coast- line, forming a small bay, and known as " the Ham," which was made use of by fishermen and small boats having cargoes for Norwich. The position of this haven is clearly shown on the drift map of the Geological Survey, by the bed of alluvial matter which extends from the coast inland up to and along the river Waveney, and at one time the outlet for this river was at Kirkley, which became blocked up by the southerly drift of the beach material. 1 A modern edition was published at Lowestoft in 1897. THE EAST COAST. 271 Kirkley existed as a haven town before Yarmouth was built. In the reign of Edward III. there are records of vessels discharging their cargoes there. The outfall of the river and navigation to the harbour was finally stopped by the drift of shingle and sand from the north, forming a bank a quarter of a mile wide. In the year 1600 a determined effort was made to re-open this estuary and join Lake Lothing with the sea, but the work was stopped by Yarmouth, which at that time had a charter giving them the right to charge dues on vessels as far as Pakefield, and it was not until the middle of the seventeenth century that Lowestoft was freed from this impost. In 1717, during a " raging " tide, the sea forced its way over the beach which separated it from the river, and Lothingland ceased to be an island. A breakwater was erected on this sandy isthmus between Lowestoft and Kirkley, as security for the marshes behind, and also a pier for the fishing-boats. In 1791 a high tide burst over the isthmus and inundated the land behind, carrying away the bridge at Mudford. In 1832, under the powers of an Act passed in 1827, a cut was. made through the beach to Lake Lothing, and communication established with Norwich by means of Oulton Broad and the river Waveney, and the harbour at Lowestoft constructed. The coast-line at the harbour entrance is somewhat similar to that at Yarmouth, the low-water line on the south side being set back 350 yards behind that on the north side, and being 264 yards inside the south pier. From the north pier head a jetty was ex- tended, in 1878, in a north-easterly direction for 170 yards. As the drift of sand and shingle is from the north, this direction of the pier is such as to lead the drift into the harbour, and constant dredging is necessary to keep the entrance open. When the harbour wa& first constructed, there was a depth of 11 feet at low water, but a few years afterwards it had decreased to 5 feet. It is now kept at from 8 to 9 feet by constant dredging, but after north-east gales sand to the depth of from 8 to 10 feet is sometimes deposited round the pier heads in as many days. During a north-east gale in the winter of 1898, the sand accumulated round the north pier head to a height of from 5 to 6 feet, the shoal extending two-thirds of the way across the entrance. 272 THE SEA-COAST. South of the harbour the coast is low for about half a mile to Kirkley, when the cliffs begin again and rise to a height of from 50 to 60 feet. They consist of sand up to Pakefield, when this becomes capped by boulder clay to a depth of 25 feet. The loss of land along this part of the coast has been very great. About 60 years ago 75 acres of land were lost at Pakefield. During the gales of 1898 a considerable fall of the cliff took place at Kirkley, and the pathway leading from the beach to the top of the cliff was washed away, part of the grounds of Pakefield rectory also being carried away, and the cliff eroded to within 5 feet of the lighthouse. The beach was lowered 3 feet. During a heavy north-east gale and spring tides in March, 1901, great damage was done to the cliffs at Kirkley and Pakefield, part of the rectory garden being washed away, and the safety of the house placed in peril. A concrete wall and other protective works were destroyed. The buildings of the Admiralty, occupied by the Royal Naval Reserve, were also endangered. Further damage occurred in December, 1901, due to a very high tide and gales, large masses of earth were eroded from the cliffs, several buildings placed in danger, much injury was done to the sea defences, and it became necessary to pull the rectory down. Immediately south of the pier, the upper part of the beach above ordinary high water is covered \\ith shingle to a width of 25 yards, when it slopes down at an angle of 1 in 2 J, below which to mean high water the beach consists of sand with some shingle mixed, lying at a slope of about 1 in 7. Below this is good sand lying at a flatter slope. The shingle-bank gradually narrows to the south. The shingle on this beach has been wasting for some years past, owing to the stoppage of the drift by the protective works erected to the north. Denudation has been going on at the rate of 11 feet a year for the past sixteen years. There is very little shingle amongst the sand beyond Kirkley. In 1898 the Corporation purchased the rights of the Lord of the Manor in the foreshore, and at their request, about the same time, the Board of Trade made an order in accordance with the terms of Section 14 of the Harbour Act of 1814. In 1858 a sea-wall and esplanade were constructed extending southward from the pier for a distance of a quarter of a mile, and subsequently a wall was also erected for the protection of the cliffs in front of the Grand Hotel. THE EAST COAST. 273 In 1900 a concrete sea-wall between the Kectory Road and the Grand Hotel, 410 yards in length, was constructed, together with a low-level path, at a cost of 10,000. The foot of this wall was protected with 12-inch by 6-inch steel piles and timber sheet-piling. For the payment of this work the sanction of the Local Government Board was obtained for a loan, to be repaid in eighteen years. This wall was seriously damaged during the high tides and gales in December, 1901. With the object of preventing further drifting and waste of the beach material on the south beach, a contract was made with the Case Syndicate in July, 1898, for the erection of sixty groynes, spaced 33 yards apart, and extending from mean high water to low water of spring tides. The sanction of the Local Govern- ment Board was obtained for a loan for 5000 to repay the cost. The groynes were expected to take three years before they were completed, and the Syndicate undertook to maintain them during that period. The reports made to the Corporation from time to time by the Town Surveyor did not give a very favourable report as to the result of this groyning, and towards the end of 1900, two years after their commencement, a resolution was passed by the Council calling attention to the unsatisfactory condition of the work and the small amount of accretion that had taken place. During a gale several of the groynes had been washed out. In October, 1900, the report of the Surveyor stated : " Generally, I do not think I have seen the beach looking lower for a long time." And, again, in December the report was that 202 feet of groynes had been washed away, one groyne having completely disappeared, and that the beach throughout was very low, and in many places the concrete round the groynes was exposed. From a survey made in the beginning of 1901, the Syndicate reported that the total length of groyning then completed was 3427 feet ; that the shingle had so far accumulated as to require the raising of 382 feet; and that 517 feet of the groynes had become buried, the denudation of the beach which had previously been in process being arrested. At the time of the expiry of the time for the completion of the contract, the Corporation, however, declined to extend the period. An inspection of the beach by the author two years after the groynes had been in operation showed that, while shingle had accumulated against the groynes at the northern end, T 274 THE SEA-COAST. scouring had taken place at the southern end, and the beach near the Grand Hotel, which on a previous visit had been covered with shingle, was then quite bare ; and the conclusion he arrived at was that these numerous groynes, placed at such short intervals all along the beach, considerably detracted from its appearance, and, considering the poor results attained at a large outlay, it was doubtful if the right system had been adopted. The result that followed the projection of the north pier of the harbour in accumulating beach indicated that a better result would have been obtained at less cost by the erection of a sub- stantial groyne at the southern boundary of the borough, which would have stopped the drifting of the material southward without the amenities of the beach being spoiled. In August, 1900, application was made to the Board of Trade for permission to construct a timber groyne on the foreshore at Pakefield to the north of the Gap. The groyne was to extend to a distance of 60 feet below high-water mark, and the top to be 3 feet above the level of the beach. It was also determined to erect a box-wall to protect the Denes on the north shore, and a tender of 6904 was obtained for the work. Subsequently, in the summer of 1901, a more extensive scheme for the protection of both the north and south beaches was adopted, in accordance with a report submitted by Mr. W. T. Douglas, M. Inst. C.E. He advised the substitution of a concrete wall for the protection of the Denes in place of the timber wall previously ordered. This wall was to commence at the wall erected on the Gorton estate and continue to the harbour, a distance of 1930 yards, and to have a base of 4 feet, with top 1 foot 9 inches wide, to be from 14 to 18 feet high, and the top 7 feet above high water. The wall is to be placed 43 yards behind the line of ordinary H.W.S.T. It is to be protected by four main wooden groynes, 100 yards in length, and sixteen subsidiary groynes. The cost of the wall was estimated at 10,500, and of the main groynes 11,250, the smaller ones being put at 6200. To break the force of the waves and prevent the scour that takes place on the landward side of the south jetty of the harbour, a timber groyne 80 yards long is to be constructed, extending in a south- south- westerly direction from the south pier of the harbour, at a cost of 2156. For the protection of the south beach a substantial timber groyne 80 yards long, with a revetment, is to be erected at the southern boundary of the THE EAST COAST. 275 borough at Pakefield, the estimated cost being 4000. The total amount of the contract for these works was 32,216. The Local Government Board having declined to sanction a longer period than fifteen years for the repayment of the loan for this work, the plan as above described was modified, and it was determined to abandon half the length of the wall and half the groynes on the north side, effecting a reduction of cost of 14,000. Mr. Douglas also advised that arrangements should be made with the Great Eastern Railway Company for the deposit of their dredgings of shingle on the south shore in order to feed the beach, being of opinion that it was now starved by the stoppage of the drift by the harbour pier. A similar course was pursued at Hove, with great benefit to the beach under the new sea-wall. Pakefield to Aldborough. The coast-line beyond Lowestoft faces nearly east as far as Covehithe Ness, when it falls away a little to the west as far as Dunwich, when its direction is nearly north and south to Thorpe Ness, when it again falls off a little to the west. Except at South wold, no works for protecting the cliffs have been carried out along this reach of 20 miles. South of Pakefield the cliffs consist of sand capped by boulder clay, and are about 60 feet high. They are being rapidly destroyed by the sea, which reaches their foot at high tides. About sixty years ago 30 acres of land and a row of cottages at Kessingland were washed away. The beach consists principally of sand, with patches of shingle above ordinary high water. The drift of material is southerly. Beyond Kessingland the coast is low, and is fronted by a wide beach of fine white sand and shingle If miles long and mile wide. This is backed over part of its length by hillocks of blown sand. The depression of the coast appears to have been the site of an ancient estuary, which extends inland for some distance. There is a small stream discharging at Benacre Sluice. The estuary has become choked by the drift of the shingle from the north, which now forms a natural embankment and encloses a fresh-water lake known as Benacre Broad. This shingle-bank is 10 feet 6 inches above ordinary high water, and is 40 yards wide. The pebbles are principally brown flint, with pink and grey quartzite, and vary in size from inch to 4 inches in diameter, the average size being about f inch. 276 THE SEA-COAST. Mr. Redman, in his paper read in 1863, describes this coast as consisting of 200 yards in width of ancient shingle, 150 yards of sand-hills 30 feet high, 30 yards modern shingle 10 feet above high water, and 60 yards sand and shingle, making a total width of 440 yards. South of Benacre the coast trends more westerly, Covehithe Ness forming a projecting point something like that at Lowestoft, which is said to have extended at one time 2 miles beyond the present line ; and the coast formerly known as Sole Bay, a name rendered historical as being the place where the great sea-fight took place between the English and the Dutch under De Euyter in 1672, is now almost reduced to a straight line. Cliffs com- mence about a third of a mile beyond the Broad, and consist of sand and crag, with layers of round pebbles, and rise from 20 to 30 feet above the sea-level. The beach is covered with sand, and there is no shingle except a few patches at the foot of the cliffs ; there are also a few blocks of red sandstone. H.W.S.T. reaches to the foot of the cliffs, which are being rapidly eroded. At the end of the road which formerly led to Whitehouse Farm, the buildings of which have all disappeared, a series of measurements have from time to time been taken, the particulars of which are given in the " Memoir of the Geological Survey of the Suffolk Coast," by Mr. Whitaker, published in 1887. From these it appears that in the nine years ending 1887, 172 feet of cliff was washed away, or at the rate of 19 feet a year. From measurements taken by the author in July, 1900, the distance from the hedge on the south side of the lane to the edge of the cliff was only 40 yards, showing a loss of 52 yards in three years, or at the rate of 14 yards a year. As the hedge to which these measurements were taken will soon be gone, a measurement was made by pacing, in July, 1900, from the edge of the cliff to the east end of the wall of the cottage on the south side of the lane, the distance then being 112 yards. From Covehithe for about 1J miles is a low cliff of sand and pebbly gravel, which is rapidly wasting. Beyond this another gap or depression occurs, in which is situated Easton Broad, at one time no doubt a salt-water creek, but now shut out from the sea by a bank of shingle which has drifted across it. This shingle-bank is from 50 to 60 yards wide, and slopes down to the beach at an angle of 1 in 10, and to the Broad at 1 in \\. The THE EAST COAST. 277 pebbles consist principally of flint, with a fair sprinkling of quartzite, and vary in size from \ inch to 3 inches, the average being about 1 inch. South of the Broad the cliffs are from 20 to 30 feet in height, and consist of clay at the base, and above this sand capped with gravel from 3 to 4 feet thick. The tide flows to the foot of the cliffs. During the first half of last century the cliff was wasted back 350 yards, and 27J acres removed by the sea. In 1882, the barn which was recorded by Mr. Eedman in 1865 as being 14 yards from the cliff had been washed away. From measurements made in 1889, the loss of cliff at Easton Bavent was in six years 20 feet ; at Easton High Cliff, in thirteen years, 22 feet ; at Covehithe Cliff, 84 feet in six years. At Covehithe Cliff, 50 yards were found to be gone since the survey for the Ordnance Map in 1883 (J. Spiller, "Kecent Coast Erosion at Southwold," British Association, Ipswich, 1895). During a high tide and gale in 1898, when the waves washed over the top of the cliffs, which are from 30 to 50 feet high, 12J yards of cliff were washed away near the lane which leads to the cliff. By measure- ments made by the author in July, 1900, the edge of the cliff was 55 yards from the shed fronting this lane. Southwold. The cliffs terminate about half a mile north of South wold, and are succeeded by a low tract of marsh land, which is partially protected from the sea by a bank of shingle and sand, the top of which is above high water, the width being from 50 to 60 yards, the beach below this to low water being 16 yards wide, and consisting of sand. The pebbles vary from \ inch to 3 inches in size, the average being f inch. The larger pebbles are taken from the beach for road-making and other purposes. In heavy gales and high tides a great deal of shingle is washed from this bank and carried on to the marshes. Buss Creek formerly discharged into the sea at the northern end of these marshes, but its outlet is now entirely blocked by the shingle which has drifted across its mouth. The town stands on a cliff, which extends along the shore for about three-quarters of a mile, and gradually rises from the marshes on the north, where it is low and consists of boulder clay, containing chalk and stones of various descriptions, and drops down again to marshy land extending up to the entrance of the river Blyth, half a mile south of the town. 278 THE SEA-COAST. The beach consists of shingle and sand, and has considerably decreased in width during recent years. The shingle is from 25 to 30 yards in width in front of the town, below which to low water is sand, the distance being from 15 to 16 yards. From the end of the cliffs on the south side of the town to the harbour, the shingle-bank widens out considerably, the width halfway to the harbour being about 110 yards above high water, of which 65 yards is grass-grown shingle, below which to low water, a distance of 16 yards, is sand mixed with shingle. In heavy gales the sea washes over this bank, and gets on to the roadway and marshes beyond. Near the piers shingle has accumulated in large quantity, stretching inland along the side of the harbour for a distance of over 200 yards. The shingle-bank slopes under normal conditions on the sea side at an angle of 1 in 3. From its foot to mean high water the slope of the beach is at the rate of 1 in 6, and below this at 1 in 10, the distance between H.W. and L.W.S.T. being 16 yards. The rise of spring tide is only 6^ feet. The pebbles are principally flints, and average about an inch in diameter ; but there are occasional pebbles as much as 9 inches in length, showing scarcely any marks of being water-worn. There is no visible source from which these flints can be derived, but it is stated that the fishermen occasionally dredge up large chalk flints from the sea-bed. The outfall of the river Blyth forms the harbour of South wold. Up to the middle of the eleventh century the Blyth discharged its water at Dunwich, 3 miles south of its present outfall, and formed a seaport of some importance ; but the outfall from time to time became choked by the drift of the shingle, the river in each case forcing its way through the low ground further from Dunwich. The present harbour at South wold was formed in 1590, by a cut made through the beach in continuation of the lower reach of the river. The jetties at the mouth were constructed under the powers of an Act obtained in 1747. The length of the north jetty is 367 feet, and it projects beyond the one on the south side about 30 feet. A bar consisting of sand and shingle stretches across the entrance, the average depth on which is 1J feet, but occasionally it is dry, and it is possible to walk across the harbour at low water. The projection of these piers for over 100 yards beyond the coast-line has led to the large accumulation of shingle already THE EAST COAST. 279 referred to, which extends northward for more than half a mile. At the present time the sand and shingle extends out beyond the end of the piers for a distance of over 30 yards, and works round into the harbour, shoaling the waterway. There is a continual drift of beach material across the mouth to the south- ward, which is much increased during north-east gales. This could be prevented by an extension of the north pier seaward, which would be advantageous both to the navigation by pre- venting the shoaling of the harbour by the drift, and also to the preservation of the shore at Southwold by holding up the beach material and preventing its southerly drift, as the shingle, once it has crossed the harbour, never returns northward again. Thus during the heavy gales of 1897, the beach was denuded of shingle to a depth in places of from 7 to 10 feet, which was carried south- ward of the harbour, and can never return. The beach at Southwold presents a subject of great interest in sea-coast protection, the town standing on the top of a high cliff of soft material, some of the houses extending nearly to the foot, and the sea washing the cliffs where unprotected. South- wold, having become a favourite seaside resort, has been forced as a matter of self-preservation to carry out works of protection. This has been accomplished by the construction of timber breast- work to prevent the destruction of the cliffs ; and on the beach the Case system of groyning has been adopted with the hope of holding up the beach material, and raising the surface so as to diminish the effect of the waves, the expectation held out being that low- water mark would be driven back about 50 feet, and the beach correspondingly raised. In 1898, sanction was obtained from the Local Government Board for a loan of 3400 for the construction of groynes and sea-defence works ; and a contract was entered into with the Case Syndicate for the construction of thirty groynes, 26 yards long, and 33 yards apart, to be constructed on the beach in front of the cliffs, at a cost of 2300. The work was commenced in the spring of 1898, and was still in operation in the summer of 1900. In some places intermediate groynes have been placed since the first set were put down. The planking was fixed about two feet above the surface of the beach. In the summer of 1900, so far as could be judged by the author, very little beach material had been collected. In some places sand had accumulated, and the groynes were partly buried, 28o THE SEA-COAST. but over the greater part the beach was from 2 to 3 planks below the top, and in some places about 2 feet higher on the north than on the south side of the groyne. When this was the case the water ran over the top of the groyne and cut out the sand on the lee side, causing a gully to be formed; and the same effect was taking place round the upper end in several places. The general opinion of those competent to form one as to the results attained, including that of the town surveyor boat- men, and others interested, was that the result of two years' working did not encourage the expectation that the groyning as carried out would lead to the results expected, and that the increase over part of the beach was not greater than would have taken place under natural conditions. The boatmen also raise great objection to these numerous low groynes, on account of the difficulty of avoiding them when making for the shore when they are covered at high water. In 1899 sanction was obtained for a further loan of 6600 for works of cliff protection, and these have since been carried out under the direction of Mr. Ball, the town surveyor. These works consist of a timber breastwork on the face of the cliffs, divided into two levels. The lower breastwork is from 5 to 8 feet above the beach. The piles are 12 feet long and 12 inches square, driven into the clay of the beach and spaced 12 feet apart ; between these are 11-inch by 4-inch sheet piles, with 12-inch by 6-inch ties. The whole of the timbers are fastened together with iron bolts. The upper breastwork is set back beyond this 12 feet 6 inches, forming a promenade of that width, the top being 3 feet 6 inches above the path. On the top is a path varying from 9 to 15 feet in width, at the back of which is the slope of the cliff. This timber work was seriously injured during a north-east gale and high tides in March, 1901, the damage being estimated at over 1000. At the south end, where there is more shingle, a low breasting only has been put in to prevent the sea reaching the foot of the cliffs. This consists of 12-inch piles 12 feet apart, the space between having two 4J-inch by 3-inch walings and 4-inch sheet piling. Dunwich. Beyond the river Blyth the coast-line for 3 miles trends in a south-westerly direction, the land immediately on the shore being low and consisting of marshes, the beach being covered with sand and shingle above high water. At Dunwich THE EAST COAST. 281 the land rises into a cliff 50 feet high, consisting of sand capped by a gravel bed 10 to 15 feet thick. The shingle-bank above ordinary high water is about 10 yards wide, with a face about 3 feet high, having a slope of 1 in 2 J. The pebbles vary in size from J inch to 2^ inches, the average size being 1-S- inches. The shingle consists almost entirely of flints of different colours, derived from the gravel bed in the cliff, but there are a few yellow and pink quartzite, chert, jasper, and other rocks. Some of the quartzite pebbles resemble those found at Budleigh Salterton, on the South-West Coast, in having marks resembling blood-spots. In the cliff are some large unworn chalk flints from 6 to 9 inches diameter. There has been very considerable erosion of the coast here. The present village, the houses of which are scattered up the valley inland, is all that is left of a once flourishing town and port, the seat of government of Sigebert, king of the East Angles, and of a bishopric. It is recorded that eleven prelates held the see of Dunwich in succession until, in the ninth century, this see was incorporated with Norwich. Up to the time of Henry II. , the town was described by an old chronicler as " of good note, abounding with much riches." It contributed several ships in aid of King John, and in the time of Edward I. main- tained eleven vessels of war. After this, owing to the encroach- ment of the sea, Dunwich began to decline, the port being blocked up by sand cast up in storms, and the haven is described as being utterly choked by north-easterly gales. 1 In the time of Elizabeth the town was reduced to a quarter of its former size, and four out of six churches were swept into the sea. In the middle of the sixteenth century there were 750 inhabitants, whereas now there is less than a third of this popula- tion. The last of the six churches stands a solitary ruin, so near the edge of the cliff that in a few years it also will be lost. Mr. Whitaker, in the Geological Memoirs of this part of the coast, published in 1887, quotes a measurement given in Gardner's book already referred to, made in 1772, from the cliff to the east end of the chancel of All Saints' Church, as being 70 yards. A measurement made by Mr. Whitaker in 1880 gives the distance from the northern buttress of the church to the edge of the cliff 1 " An Account of Dunwich in 1589," by Kadulph Agas. " Historical Account of Dunwich," etc., by Thomas Gardner. London, 1754. Given in British Association Report on Coast Erosion, 1895. 282 THE SEA-COAST. as 14 J yards, and to the priory wall 112 yards, showing a loss of 56 yards in 108 years, or at an average rate of 18^ inches a year. The distance in 1900 from the cliff to the nearest part of the ruin, as measured by the author, was 11 yards, and the priory wall 101 yards. The cliff at present is protected from the sea by the bank of shingle heaped up at its foot. It is evident, from an inspection of the ground, that at one time a river, the water from the district it drained now going to the Blyth, discharged into the sea at Dunwich, and a narrow estuary extended about 2 miles inland. At the mouth of this river was the ancient haven. The position of this haven is recorded in the sixteenth century as having been " oftentimes changed, for the whole range of shingle assureth it in no place certain, causing it to run southward." The old harbour at Dunwich was deserted about the time of Edward II., and a new one opened at Blythburg, 2 miles inland; but as the sea silted up the ancient harbour vessels could no longer sail up to Blythburg. In 1740 further loss was inflicted during a great storm, and " ancient foundations which had long been covered were laid bare, and channels were cut by the sea through the beach to the river, rendering the shore impassable." Aldborough, or Aldeburgh, The Dunwich cliffs terminate about If miles to the south at Minsmere Head. Beyond this for 2 miles is a low tract of alluvial land, known as Minsmere Level, which is protected from the sea by an earthen bank. Beyond Sizewell are sandy cliffs, at the foot of which is shingle. The cliff continues to rise to Thorpe Ness, which is 40 feet above sea- level and consists of blown sand. South of this again is a tract of alluvial soil which continues nearly to Aldborough. The cliff at Minsmere Head is wasting considerably. Between 1883 to 1897 the loss was 44 yards near the coastguard station. At Aldborough a low cliff, three-quarters of a mile long, on which the town is built, consists of pebbly gravel and Chillesford clay. South of the town, at Slaughden, is a large area of valuable marsh land. These marshes and the town are protected from the sea by a natural shingle-bank, which rises from 8 to 10 feet above high water. The rise of an ordinary spring tide on this part of the coast is 8 feet. In heavy north-east gales the sea washes over this bank and does considerable harm, carrying the shingle on to the marshes and flooding them. The gales of 1881, 1889, 1895, and 1897 had a destructive effect on this coast, and in that THE EAST COAST. 283 of 1898 it was stated that " the town was nearly washed away," which although an exaggerated description, yet the effect was sufficient to cause considerable anxiety to the inhabitants. The sea has made considerable encroachments here. It is recorded that the land at one time extended a quarter of a mile further seaward, and that during a storm and high tide in 1779 eleven houses were demolished. An old map, dated 1559, shows the church as ten times its present distance from the sea, with broad denes in front similar to those at Yarmouth. A market- place and cross, which at one time existed, have been swept away. For the purpose of preventing the further erosion of the shingle beach, application was made to the Local Government Board, in 1899, for permission to borrow 1600 for the con- struction of thirty-seven low groynes on the Case system, extend- ing from mean high water to beyond the present low-water line, a distance of 60 feet, the groynes being 33 yards apart. The maintenance was to continue for two years after completion, the proportion of the loan allotted for this being 200. At the inquiry, considerable diversity of opinion was expressed as to whether the shingle-bank had wasted during recent years, boatmen who knew the locality well stating that there was more beach now than twenty years ago, while, on the other hand, statements were made that the shingle was decreas- ing in front of the town, and that the sea had come more than 10 yards inland during the last twenty or thirty years. Consider- able objection was also raised on behalf of the fishermen and crew of the lifeboat, as to the danger that would arise by scatter- ing the number of groynes proposed over the beach, and it was contended that a single groyne to the leeward of the town at the north end of Slaughden would afford the protection required without inconvenience to the boatmen. Aldborough Shingle-bank to the south of the town is one of the most remarkable along the coast. The river Aide formerly had its outlet to the sea across the marshes to the south of the town. This river, together with the rivers Ore and Butley, has been diverted from its course by the travelling shingle, and its point of discharge is now 9 miles further south than it was originally. At Aldborough the river is only separated from the sea by a shingle-bank 73 yards wide, which runs parallel with the coast the whole distance, the river flowing on one side of the bank, 284 THE SEA-COAST. the sea being on the other, the width of the bank and the distance between the sea at high water and the river being not more in places than from 40 to 50 yards. It is stated that this bank has extended southward more than half a mile during the present generation. At Slaughden, and for some distance south, the bank is about 30 feet wide at the top, and 120 feet at high-water mark, the slope on the sea side being about 1 in 2J, the top being 8 feet above high water. There are then the usual fulls and hollows for a distance of from 10 to 13 yards, when the beach slopes away for 25 yards to low water at an inclination of 1 in 5J. The pebbles vary in size from J inch to 3 J inches in diameter, the majority being about 2 inches. The only apparent source from which this shingle has been derived is the pebbly gravel contained in the low cliffs 2 miles to the north and those at Dunwich, 8 miles away. There is a continuous shingle beach all along this reach of coast, and the direction of the drift is from north to south. The bank suffers most in heavy gales from the north-east. At Shingle Street, where the bank ends, there is another large bank of shingle nearly a mile in length and the eighth of a mile in width. At the back of the river Aide there is a large tract of marsh land, which is protected from the sea by earthen embankments. Bawdsey. From Shingle Street, at the mouth of the river Aide, the coast for about 2 miles runs nearly north and south, and beyond East End to the river Deben, 2^ miles, the trend is south-westerly. Along the first length the coast is low and bordered inland by a large stretch of alluvial marshes, known as the Bawdsey, Alder ton, and Hollesley Level, the surface of which is below the level of high water, which is protected from the sea by an earthen bank, which is maintained by the Level Commissioners. For holding up the beach a few groynes were erected by the Wai- Office in 1895, to protect the frontage of land belonging to the Department. During the high tide of November, 1897, the sea- bank gave way, and the country was flooded for several miles inland, and the shingle off the beach carried on to the marshes. Some of the breaches were from 300 to 400 yards long. These breaches were closed with bags of shingle obtained from the beach, THE EAST COAST. weighing 2 cwt. each. Thirty thousand of these bags were used. The bank was then raised and made good with earth and clay puddle, a line of faggoting being placed in front of the wall. FIG. 35. Coast, Bawdsey to Harwich. 286 THE SEA-COAST. Low groynes have also been placed along the shore, which have trapped a great deal of the shingle drifting southward. Beyond East End the coast is bordered by cliffs consisting of London clay and red crag, which rise 50 feet above the sea, the beach consisting of sand with shingle above high water. Bawdsey Haven, at the mouth of the river Deben, is en- cumbered with a large bank of shingle, which extends across the haven in a southerly direction in a triangular spit three-quarters of a mile long and a quarter of a mile wide where it joins the cliffs. There is also a considerable accumulation on the south side. This shingle-bank is reported to have extended eastward 100 yards in the last few years. Adjoining the land are some low dunes of blown sand. The river Deben has considerable difficulty in maintaining a passage through this shingle, which is constantly being shifted by north-easterly gales. Formerly large quantities of the shingle were removed from here for road repairs and concrete-making. It is stated that as much as a thousand tons were sometimes removed in a week in the vessels which came for the purpose. This practice was stopped in 1880, owing to proceedings taken at the instigation of the Board of Trade against the lord of the manor. Felixstowe and Harwich. From Bawdsey Ferry nearly to Harwich, the coast consists of low cliffs, 15 to 20 feet high, of clay and glacial drift containing some gravel and stones, which have supplied a limited amount of shingle to the beach. The direction of the travel of this shingle varies, with the direction of the coast and the set of the flood tide, from nearly west to north-east. There appears to have been considerable waste of this coast. In a survey made in 1613 is shown a close of land on the cliffs in which was situated the ruins of Walton Castle. The ruins of an old Koman wall also existed in the middle of the last century on the top of the cliffs between Landguard Fort and Woodbridge river, 100 yards long, 12 feet broad, and 5 feet above the ground. Both these ruins and the land on which they stood are gone, but portions of the ruins are occasionally visible at extreme low water. The site of the town of Orwell, which stood 5 miles from Harwich in King Alfred's days, is now under the sea, on a spot known to mariners as the West Rock Shoal. THE EAST COAST. 287 Plan Iii March, 1901, during a heavy north-east gale and high tides, considerable damage was done to the cliffs at Felixstowe between the bottom of Bent Hill and the Bath Hotel, and the town sewer, which runs along the foreshore at a depth of 4J feet below the surface, was exposed and injured. A breach 20 yards long was also made in a wall erected by the War Office near Landguard Fort by the undermining of the foundations. The cliff to the south of the Deben, where the golf links now are, was protected by groynes erected about fifty years ago. These were allowed to fall into decay, but have recently been repaired. A concrete wall has also been constructed at the foot of the cliff. The groynes have collected a considerable amount of shingle, which reaches nearly to the top of the wall at the south end. Further on to the north of Felixstowe Point -the cliffs have been also protected by a timber breasting, a description of which will be found in Chapter V. ; and low groynes have been placed along the beach at right angles to the wall. When put down, the top . g ^ a 'g . of the planking was from 2 to 3 feet above the beach. They are constructed of 5-inch by 5-inch fir piles, 8 to 10 feet long, driven into the clay, and hav- ing 11-inch by 2-inch planking placed between. Every fourth set of piles is double, and those between placed on alternate sides of the planking. The groynes rake at an angle of 1 in 10, which is the natural slope of the beach, which consists principally of coarse sand with a mixture of small shingle. These groynes are spaced about 33 yards apart, and are about the same length. They have accumulated a considerable amount of material, the sand over the greater part of the length at the eastern end, from which the drift comes, being perfectly level, and reaching to the top of the planks, and at the western end the material being about a foot the higher on the windward side. Further south, in front of the town, the beach was groyned by the frontagers about forty to fifty years ago with groynes, locally termed " shies," of a similar character to those already described, but omitting the double pile. These are spaced 25 to 30 yards 2 H (-2 //** If [2 ![ I i j j i \ _, '- i ration FIG. 36. 288 THE SEA-COAST. apart, and vary in length from 33 to 50 yards, and cost about 70 each. After they were constructed, the beach gradually accumulated, and was raised from 3 to 5 feet, the planking being raised as the material accumulated. These groynes were suffered to get out of repair, and became much dilapidated, allowing the shingle to escape, the beach being in places from 2 feet to 3 feet below the planking. In 1899 the district Council of Felixstowe resolved to repair these groynes, and the sanction of the Local Government Board to a loan of 900, subsequently increased to 1200, for the purpose was obtained, the repayment to extend over three years. At Felixstowe Point a long groyne or jetty has been erected, which extends to a considerable distance below low water, and north of this some substantial groyning has been constructed for the purpose of protecting the foreshore and land belonging to a mansion on the cliff; and the cliff protected by timber breasting consisting of 11-inch piles spaced 3 feet 3 inches apart, with 11-inch by 3-inch planking. The beach in front of Felixstowe is covered with sand, except where the cement stones project, and at the south end on the upper part is a fair amount of shingle, which increases in quantity towards the large groyne at Landguard. The pebbles vary in size from to 3J inches in diameter, the average being about 1 inch. At the north end of the beach the shingle is smaller, the average being about half an inch. North of the jetty the beach is almost entirely sand. The force of the waves in front of Felixstowe is broken by a ridge of cement stones or masses of indurated clay and septaria, which runs along parallel with the shore at about, and in some places above, low water. Formerly a ridge of these stones, pro- jecting from the face of the cliffs, acted as a natural groyne and assisted in protecting the beach. At the beginning of the last century great quantities of this stone, stated as amounting to 200,000 tons, were removed for the manufacture of Eoman cement. Consequent on the removal of this natural groyne, the sea encroached on the cliffs. Two Martello towers and a small battery erected in 1808 were washed away. The beach terminates in a triangular spit of shingle, which projects across Harwich harbour in a south-westerly direction for THE EAST COAST. 289 about 1J miles, something similar to Spurn Point. This spit is a mile wide at the northern end, diminishing to about one-tenth of this width at the south-western end at Landguard Point. The locality on which Landguard Fort now stands was at one time an island, and Harwich harbour had two entrances. The fort was built in the reign of James, and was then at the end of the point, the ground sloping from the fort down to the water's edge. The Admiralty Survey of 1804 shows that the high-water margin had extended 480 feet from the fort in a southerly direction, and the entrance channel as having 7 fathoms at low water. In 1841 the distance had increased to 1890 feet, or at the rate of 38 feet a year. Between 1841 and 1846 the rate of growth was 35 feet a year ; between 1846 and 1850, 50 feet a year ; between 1850 and 1859, 55 feet a year, the distance then being 2650 feet. The depth of the water in the channel became reduced to 7 feet. The extension of this shingle ridge is attributed to the removal of the rocky ledge above referred to, which acted as a natural groyne and prevented the shingle from drifting southward. The removal of the stone of which the ridge was composed began at the commencement of the last century, and continued up to 1844. The further progress of the shingle was finally stopped by the construction of a massive concrete groyne of a curved form 500 yards in length round Landguard Point, and extended seawards by an open timber structure 15 feet wide, rising about 14 feet above low water, the lower part between the framing being filled in with concrete. This arrested the further progress of the spit, the shingle collecting in the pocket formed by the projection of the groyne from the coast-line. At the inner end of the groyne a pier projects, against which a considerable amount of shingle accumulates. The groyne at Landguard Point has prevented any further shoaling of the channel, but the supply of shingle being stopped, part of which used to work round the spit along the beach on the inside of the harbour, this beach became so denuded that the land began to waste away, threatening the destruction of the fort. To prevent this, part of the timber planking of the groyne was removed and some of the shingle allowed to escape. The shingle now travels along the beach up the harbour in a northerly direction, and as it began to form a shoal across the entrance to the Felixstowe dock, a groyne was run out from the sea-wall to the south of the u 2 9 o THE SEA-COAST. dock, and other groynes have also been placed between Landguard Point and the fort. On the west side of the harbour the cliffs, consisting of London Clay, rise to a height of 50 feet, the most prominent part being known as Beacon Cliff, which projects out from the coast-line 150 yards. These cliffs have been wasting for a long period, but their disintegration was hastened by the removal of septaria for cement-making. With the beating of the waves on the pro- jection of Beacon Cliff, the septaria stones became denuded and fell on the beach, forming a natural groyne from 4 to 5 feet high on the beach to the north in front of Harwich. At the beginning of the last century a large demand sprang up for these stones, as many as from 100 to 200 boats being engaged in the trade, employing from 400 to 500 men. As this natural protection was removed, the cliff rapidly wasted. Between 1700 and 1750, 40 feet was washed away ; from 1750-1800, 80 feet ; from 1800-1841, 126 yards of cliff were reported as washed away, and low water gained 200 i yards on the shore ; the vicar's field and glebe and 40 acres of land, part of a battery, and several houses disappeared, and a house, mill, granary, and stables were washed away in 1824 ; and the harbour became deprived of a natural breakwater from south- west gales (Keport Tidal Harbour Commissioners). In 1847 a breakwater, projecting out from the Beacon Hill 500 yards long, was constructed by the Government, which not only afforded pro- tection to the harbour from south-west gales, but led to a large accumulation of material on the beach a process which also has been aided by the construction of groynes. Walton, South of Harwich Harbour the coast-line recedes in the form of a bay lying between Beacon Point and the Naze. The shore is low, and the beach consists of alluvial clay covered with sand. From the centre of the bay two large salt-water creeks, called Hanford Water and Walton Creek, extend inland for 2 or 3 miles, winding amongst salt marshes. This tract of alluvial land extends for 4 miles along the coast to Walton Naze. At the Naze is a cliff about 30 feet high, of gravel and crag, resting on London Clay, of which the beach is composed. The shore here has been protected by a stone wall, and groynes extend to Walton-le-Soke. At Frinton, along a frontage of half a mile, the cliffs, which are of the same character as at Walton, have suffered much from THE EAST COAST. 291 the encroachment of the sea, 60 yards having been lost since 1874, or about 3 yards a year. At the south end of the Frinton Cliffs the coast is low for a mile, a small river discharging into the sea at Holland Haven. A tract of salt marshes is here enclosed from the sea. On the beach is a bank of shingle which extends to low water, the top being 10 feet above the shore. Beyond this the .Clacton cliffs commence and continue for 3 miles. Clacton. The cliffs, which here are from 30 to 60 feet high, consist of London Clay capped with beds of gravel and flints. Before protective works were carried out these cliffs were constantly falling on the beach, either from slips caused by want of drainage or erosion by the waves. The gravel from the beds on the cliffs has afforded a limited amount of shingle, which is drifted along the beach in a westerly direction. The beach consists principally of sand with some shingle from \ to 2 inches in diameter, and slopes at an angle of 1 in 10. There are also on the beach large lumps of vermiculated cement stone. A sea-wall and promenade was erected at Clacton by the Sea Wall Commissioners along part of the frontage east of the pier in 1881, and was extended to the eastern limit of Clacton in 1900. A description of this wall, and also of the timber wall previously in use, will be found in Chapter V. on Examples of Sea-walls. The denudation of the beach in front of the sea-wall first erected was so great that a concrete apron had to be placed at the foot of the wall for its protection, and in order to prevent further denudation of the beach low groynes were placed at right angles to the wall, spaced from 50 to 100 yards apart, extending to low water. They consist of fir piles and planks placed horizontally, and raised about 3 feet above the beach. They are of service in collecting the sand and shingle the beach, after strong easterly gales, being from 1 to 2 feet higher on the side from which the supply of shingle comes than on the lee side. Some of these groynes do not reach up to the wall, but terminate at about the point to which mean tides extend. The waves breaking round the upper end of these groynes scour away the beach, which is lower at this part than where the groynes are carried up to the wall. To the west of the promenade pier the timber walling has recently been extended for a distance of about 2000 feet. This 292 THE SEA-COAST. part of the shore lies under the lee of the pier, and the sand on the beach at the eastern end is about 3 feet below the top of the wall ; further on, the effect of easterly gales is more felt, and the beach is being scoured away, and at the time of my inspection was 6 feet below the top of the wall. A timber landing wharf which has been run out from the coast at the extreme west end, acting as a groyne, has collected the sand and shingle, and the beach is higher. After the timber wall and breasting were erected on the east side of the pier in 1889, the beach, the bed of which consists of London Clay locally called " platimore " became gradually broken up and lowered 4 feet from the action of the waves beating against the wall. During heavy gales and rain in the winter of 1896-97 the water, saturating the gravel and sand in the cliffs, caused some landslips; at the same time the waves denuded the beach in front of the timber wall protecting the promenade at the east end, and the beach became considerably lowered, the consequence being that the piling and woodwork were carried away over a length of about 50 yards. After the wall was repaired, groynes were placed on the beach 100 yards apart. These consist of a triangular box 10 yards long, the base resting against the wall being 7 feet wide, and beyond this are single 9 -inch by 3-inch planks fastened to 11-inch by 5-inch piles, spaced 8 feet apart. Sand and shingle were accumulating against these groynes, the beach being from 1 to 2 feet higher on the windward or east side. In 1901 four additional groynes were placed opposite the Grand Hotel, which collected a small amount of sand. Mr. Cressy, the surveyor of the Commissioners, who has charge of these works, expresses his opinion, as the result of experience of this part of the coast extending over thirty years, that groynes are beneficial, not only in preventing the removal of the sand and shingle which overlie the clay on the beach, but also in preventing the breaking up and scouring away of the clay itself; and that the best results are obtained with long low groynes running from the sea-wall to low water, rising 18 inches above the beach, and raised as the beach accumulates. Beyond the Clacton boundary there are no cliffs, but some low sand-hills. The beach consists principally of sand with a limited amount of shingle, and slopes at an angle of about 1 in 10. Low timber groynes have been fixed along the frontage, THE EAST COAST. 293 consisting of 6-inch by 6-inch piles, spaced 5 feet apart, and placed on alternate sides of the 2-inch planking. The top of these groynes is about 2 feet above the beach. At the windward groynes the beach is about a foot the higher on the east side. Beyond this to Colne Point a sandy beach extends out seaward from the high land for nearly a mile. At St. Osyth's there is a bank of shingle backed up by sand- hills 12 to 15 feet high, which extend for 2^ miles. The Thames Estuary, Southward of Walton and Clacton there is a large embayment in the coast-line extending from Walton Naze to the North Foreland, a distance of 34 miles, the depth of the embayment being 16 miles, the area being approxi- mately 500 square miles. In this bay the Thames, Medway, Colne, Blackwater, and Crouch discharge their waters. The mouth of the Thames from Shoeburyness to Sheerness is about 3 miles wide. The bay is interspersed with numerous beds of sand and some shingle patches, derived mainly from the debris brought down by the Thames. Through these sand-banks are two deep channels, one from the North Sea, the other from the English Channel, which are maintained by tidal action, the former having from 5 to 10 fathoms at low water, and the latter from 6 to 10 fathoms. This bay is exposed to winds from the north-east to south- east, and the wave-action is too great to allow of the permanent deposit of the alluvial matter brought down the river by the ebb current. The same remarks also apply to the large area of the Maplin and other sands adjoining the shore. The coast from Colne Point to Shoeburyness and in the estuary of the Thames consists of a tract of low, flat alluvial land, the greater part of which has been embanked from the sea ; at the mouth of the Colne and Medway, however, is a large tract of salt marshes covered with water at spring tides. At Southend is a low cliff of London Clay capped with Tertiary crag. This cliff is liable to continual falls, due to the saturation of water in wet seasons. A sea-wall and promenade half a mile long have recently been constructed, the total length of the road along the sea front being 4J miles. The face of the wall is made at a slope of 1 in 3, and pitched with pentagonal blocks of basalt 6 to 9 inches deep, the joints being grouted with cement. 294 THE SEA-COAST. On the south side of the Thames, from Sheerness to Eeculvers are low clay cliffs, and thence round by Margate to Kamsgate the cliffs are of chalk with flints. Between Westgate and Margate the cliffs are from 25 to 40 feet high. These cliffs have been much perforated by the waves, due principally to gales from the north-west, and large caverns formed. Where not protected by sea-walls the cliff is wasting, as much as 20 feet having been lost in the six years 1880-86. A sea-wall built at Westgate, and one at Margate, are described in Chapters IV. and V. The beach is bare of sand and shingle, except in the bay at Margate, the chalk floor being exposed. It is very flat, the tides, which rise 15 feet at springs, receding back 300 yards. At Westgate a low groyne, 160 yards long, has been con- structed across the chalk beach. From Margate to Kamsgate the chalk cliffs increase in height, the top being 80 to 350 feet above sea-level. At Broadstairs and Kamsgate sea-walls have been constructed at the foot of the cliffs. There is little or no sand on the beach at the foot of the cliffs, from which recently there have been some large falls of chalk. Eeculvers and Herne Bay, The chalk cliffs which border the estuary of the Thames from Margate westward terminate at Birchington, and from this point to Keculvers is a low tract of land which has been reclaimed, and is protected by an earthen wall. In the British Association Keport of 1895 it is stated that some groynes which had been placed on the beach at Birchington had been swept away by a storm, and that an esplanade near the terminus of the chalk cliff was then being rapidly destroyed. West of Keculvers are cliffs from 20 to 30 feet high, consist- ing of Thanet Sands with layers of rounded flints, the base where exposed on the beach at low water being a soft yellowish sand- stone. The formation of the cliff changes towards Herne Bay, and consists of London Clay with septaria nodules interposed. The greatest height of this cliff is about 113 feet. Beyond Herne Bay are clay cliffs from 40 to 70 feet high, which are succeeded by another low tract of land which has also been reclaimed, and which extends more or less past Whitstable to Faversham. The beach along this line of coast is either clay or sandstone, THE EAST COAST. 295 with a thin covering in some places of sand, and in others it is bare. There is a bank of shingle skirting the shore all the way from Wademarsh, about a mile west of Birchington, to Faver- sham, the pebbles being collected in a mound at and above the level of mean high water. The sea face lies in ridges from 6 to 9 feet wide, with slopes varying from 1^ to 1 to 3 to 1, denoting the heights of successive tides. Towards the sea-wall the shingle rises about 6 feet above H.W.O.S.T., the total width of the shingle-bank being about 80 feet. At Herne Bay, east of the town, the shingle reaches to the foot of the clay cliffs, the highest part being from 4 to 6 feet above high water, and from 40 to 50 feet wide. Along the frontage of the town the shingle is about 8 to 10 feet below the top of the sea-wall at the east end, and from 2 to 3 feet at the west end. The drift of the shingle is from east to west, the same as the set of the flood tide, but from the shape and appearance of the pebbles there does not seem to be much movement. The pebbles consist almost entirely of rounded flints, varying in size from \ to 3 inches in diameter. They closely resemble, both in size, colour, shape, and appearance, those contained in the Thanet sands of which the cliffs are composed, and in the gravel pits more inland. Occasionally, during on-shore gales, large unworn flints with sea- weed attached are cast up on the beach, and these no doubt come from the flint bed which underlies the Thanet sands. The origin of the flints on the beach must be purely local, as the beach in front of Westgate consists of chalk covered with seaweed, and is devoid of both shingle and sand except in Margate Bay. Although the layers of flint in the cliffs of the Thanet sand do not exceed from 6 to 9 inches in thickness, considering the immense amount of erosion that has taken place along this part of the coast, the quantity of flints thrown down on to the beach from the cliffs would appear to be sufficient to account for the shingle which now lies along the coast, and which probably is supplemented in storms by the flints loosened on the beach below low water, but within range of the breaking waves. The loss of land along this part of the coast has been very great. It is stated that in Henry VIII.'s time the church at Eeculvers was a mile from the sea. Leland, writing in 1530-37, says that the village of Eeculvers stood within a quarter of a mile 296 THE SEA-COAST. of the seaside. In 1809 the sea had so far encroached that the church on the top of the cliff had to be removed, and later on the sea made a total wreck of the village which then existed. The two towers of the ancient church now stand on a mound about 36 fathoms from high- water mark, and, being a well- recognized sea-mark at the entrance of the Thames, the Trinity House purchased them for about 100 in 1811, and spent 500 on groynes and other works for their protection ; and in 1866, to prevent any further fall of the cliff, and the exposure of bones from the old churchyard, the cliff was protected by an extension of the stone-pitched apron on the shore, and the construction of a curved revetment of Kentish rag stone carried up to about high- water mark on the face of the cliff below the towers. From thence a concrete wall, boxed in with timber, extends about 60 yards to the westward. Between Birchington and Herne Bay the sea-wall and coast has been protected by groynes maintained by the Commissioners of Sewers, and the same kind of groynes are maintained along the frontage of Herne Bay, and are being extended further to the west. These groynes consist of oak posts, many of which are made from old ship timbers, 10 feet long and spaced from 4 to 5 feet apart, driven into the clay beach, to which are spiked 2-inch horizontal planks. Those used in recent repairs are of oak 6 inches square. The groynes extend out at right angles from the shore, and their length, measured from the cliff, may be taken at about 130 feet. They are spaced at about 30 feet apart, and rake at an inclination of 1 in 8. In front of Herne Bay there are ninety-one groynes, spaced from 100 to 120 feet apart. They consist of 3-inch planking spiked to 7-inch by 6-inch oak posts, spaced from 4^ to 5 feet apart, placed on alternate sides of the boarding, and extend at right angles to the sea-wall, to about the line of mean high water, their length varying from 50 to 200 feet. These groynes have been the means of stopping the drift of the shingle to the west, and causing a considerable accumulation above high-water level. In heavy on-shore or north-east gales the shingle is driven up shore wards, and during the great gale and high tide of November, 1897, the waves breaking on the shore carried very large quantities of the shingle on to the road- way, the road being covered 3 feet deep in places. On the eastern side of the old pier at Hampton (about 2 THE EAST COAST. 297 miles west of Herne Bay), in the angle formed by its junction with the shore, an extensive accumulation of shingle has taken place, notwithstanding the carting away of large quantities for various purposes. The beach generally, along the Herne Bay frontage, has wasted away considerably during the last few years. A com- parison of the Ordnance Survey of 1872 and 1896 shows that the low-water mark is now from 1000 to 1300 feet nearer the parade than it was twenty-four years ago. The gradient of the foreshore between the lines of H.W.S.T. and mean high water is steep, the inclination being about 1 in 7. In order to raise the beach and give it a uniform slope of 1 in 12, it is proposed to replace the present groynes by others spaced further apart and carried down to low water, their length varying from 500 to 900 feet. Isle of Sheppey and Sheerness. Further up the estuary of the Thames, on the north of the Isle of Sheppey, which consists of cliffs composed of London Clay from 60 to 80 feet in height, considerable erosion has taken place. Between 1856-59 a great slip took place in the cliff, and the site of Warden Church, the tower of which was built from the stones of old London Bridge, together with the churchyard, fields, and a coastguard house, disappeared, the church having been removed inland. Three coastguard stations have also had to be pulled down. Minster Church, which at the end of the last century was in the middle of the island, or about 2 miles from the coast, is now close to it. Between 1810 and 1830 it was estimated that 30 acres of land had disappeared, and it is stated that within the last forty years the coast-line has been set back by the sea 80 feet. In 1885 Colonel Sim, E.E., reported that from Shellness Point, at the eastern end of the island, to Sheerness the coast was being gradually undermined by the action of the sea, and the debris conveyed by the tide towards Sheerness, the limestone nodules washed out of the cliff being collected by the fisherman for cement-making. The movement of the shingle on the beach has been from east to west, and runs out in a spit at Garrison Fort Point. In 1737 this shingle spit was half a mile east of Garrison Point, and since that date it has grown out about 1000 yards. This part of the coast has been protected by wooden groynes put down when the fort was erected ; they point in a north-easterly 298 THE SEA-COAST. \ direction, the accumulation of shingle being from 6 to 7 feet higher on the east than on the west side. The southern bank of the Medway from the dockyard to Queenborough has also been protected by groynes, to prevent the erosion that was then going on. On the opposite side of the Medway, at the Isle of Grain, where the action of the sea is very destructive with north-east winds, groynes and a sea-wall have been built to prevent the erosion in front of the fort. The groynes were made to point in a north-easterly direction, the accumulation of shingle to windward often being from 6 to 7 feet higher than on the other side. These groynes are described as consisting of two parallel rows of small round oak piles driven down about half their length through the sand and shingle into the clay, battering on the outside, their heads inclining inwards, the intervening space being filled with rough Kentish rag stone, the top being from 2 to 3 feet above the beach. The groynes run out at right angles to the shore, at a rake of 1 in 7 to 1 in 10, corresponding with that of the beach. Some groynes which extend a greater distance outward have a rake of 1 in 30. They are spaced at distances equal to one-half to one- fourth their length. Large quantities of shingle have been removed for concrete, roads, and other Government works from the accumulation at Garrison Point, and also by the landowners at Cheney Point. The septaria which fall from the cliffs was formerly collected and removed for cement-making. Sandwich and Deal. The cliffs consisting of chalk with flints end about half a mile south of Kamsgate, and beyond this the coast- line sets back more than 2 miles. Between the point where the cliffs end and the outfall of the river Stour is Pegwell Bay, a low flat beach 1 J miles wide, which is left dry at low water. The bay is skirted by low cliffs consisting of Thanet beds. The report made to the British Association in 1 895 states that since the previous report, made in 1884, there had been a con- tinuous and large amount of erosion going on along the shore in Pegwell Bay, the sea having removed the talus of the cliff and the shore accumulation, the cliff itself being cut back at a rapid rate^more especially at Cliff End. Within the previous three years nearly all the trees that fringed the top of the clay beds had been thrown down and washed away ; the chalk cliff to Pegwell and on to Kamsgate having suffered from many falls. THE EAST COAST. 299 There had then been no attempt at groyning or other protection. At Eamsgate, both east and west of the harbour, there had also been many falls, the cliff being perpendicular and free from talus, the waves breaking at its foot. North of Kamsgate to Dumpton gap there had also been several falls of cliff. Kound the north promontory of the Isle of Thanet the erosion had been less, but generally there was an absence of beach. The Goodwin Sands, which run parallel with this coast for a length of 10 miles, and at a distance of from 4 to 5 miles from the shore, are generally supposed to have been at one time joined to the mainland. Between Peg well Bay and Deal there is a large tract of salt marsh, and bordering on this are sand-hills from 10 to 15 feet high. From Shingle End, on the south side of the river Stour, a large shingle-bank extends southward to Sandown Castle, a distance of 5 miles. The width of this bank varies from 500 yards at the northern end to three-quarters of a mile at the widest part opposite Sandwich, and diminishes to 100 yards at the southern end. The top of this bank is about 10 feet above mean high water. The shingle continues along the beach in front of Deal to St. Margaret's Bay, 5 miles south of Deal. This shingle is derived from the waste of the cliffs, which commence near King's Down about 2 miles south of Deal, and consist of chalk with many flints, their height between King's Down and St. Margaret's Bay being from 80 to 100 feet. During recent years the beach in this bay and along the South Foreland has become very much denuded, and the waves now break on the cliffs, causing great destruction. The cause of this denudation has been ascribed to the effect of the projection at Dungeness, which has stopped the drift along the coast, which used to come from the west. 1 The collection of shingle at Dungeness has, however, been taking place for a period long anterior to the denudation that has within recent years prevailed in St. Margaret's Bay; there are causes nearer to the bay which are sufficient to account for the denudation of its beach. The drift of shingle along this part of the coast has been arrested by the groynes which have been constructed at Hythe, Seabrooke, Sandgate, and Folkestone. The harbour wall at the latter place traps all the shingle which 1 Admiralty Report. 300 THE SEA-COAST. reaches it; while the Admiralty Pier at Dover effectually prevents any shingle passing from the westward. The size of the pebbles composing the bank varies from J inch to 1 inch in diameter, the average being about 1 inch. The drift is in the same direction as the set of the flood tide, from south to north. According to the British Association Keport of 1885, the shingle accumulated during the hundred years 1741 to 1841, 100 yards near Walmer Castle ; between 1841 and 1872, 28 yards. At Deal Castle, between 1741 and 1859, 28 yards ; since then it has decreased 13 yards ; and from 1872 to 1884 again increased 12 yards. At Sandown Castle, between 1741 and 1859, there was a decrease of 48 yards ; between 1859 and 1882, a further decrease of 18 yards ; and further north at the Second Battery, between 1859 and 1884, an increase of 46 yards. The effect of sea-walls in aiding the denudation of shingle beaches during on-shore gales is well shown by the condition of this bank. Beyond the sea-wall in front of Deal, after a recent gale the shingle remained heaped up above high water for a width of from 20 to 30 yards, whereas along the adjoining beach to the south, in front of the sea-wall the shingle was washed out in places from 2 to 3 feet below high-water mark, and cleared out down to the sand. The promenade and frontage at Deal has been protected by a sea-wall over 3 miles in length, the northern extension of this wall having been erected about twelve or fourteen years ago, at a cost of 7000. This wall is constructed principally of con- crete, but at the northern end of bricks. The top is 10 feet above H.W.O.S.T. The face is vertical for the first 2 feet from the top, and then curved. The general direction of the coast-line faces east. There is a considerable accumulation of shingle all along the front, which is evenly distributed throughout the whole length, but is more abundant south of the pier than along the north parade, the drop from the wall to the beach under normal con- ditions being from 3 to 4 feet. The shingle-bank above high water next to the wall is about 5 yards wide ; it then slopes at an angle of 1 in 4 to mean-tide level, and thence 1 in 6 to the sand, the total width of the shingle from the wall being 30 to 40 yards. In heavy north-east to north-west gales the beach in front THE WEST COAST. 301 of Deal suffers very much, the waves scouring it out and some- times breaking over the sea-wall and on to the streets of the town. After the construction of the new sea-wall at the north end the waste of the beach rapidly increased, the high-water mark advancing shoreward 33 yards, and the low-water mark 53 yards. In March, 1898, during a very severe north-east on-shore gale which continued for three days, the waves broke over the top of the sea-wall and across the road, and removed an enormous quantity of shingle, the beach being lowered along the North Promenade from 10 to 12 feet, and to a depth of 15 feet below the top of the wall, exposing the rock bed in places. Some heavy timber groynes which had at one time been erected for the protection of the beach were destroyed, and the woodwork carried away. After the gale was over the shingle began to work back again, and gradually accumulated at the foot of the sea-wall. For the purpose of preventing, if possible, this scouring away of the shingle, the corporation, under the advice of Mr. Edward Case, put down in front of the North Promenade, over a space reaching for half a mile southward of Sandown Castle, a number of low wooden groynes extending from below mean high water, or about 20 yards from the face of the wall to low water, a distance of 130 yards, the groynes being spaced from 66 to 100 yards apart. The total length of these groynes was 5600 feet. The beach at St. Margaret's Bay has been dealt with in the description of the shore at Dover. THE WEST COAST. St. Bees Head to the Duddon Estuary. The cliff at St. Bees Head, which forms the southern horn of Sol way Firth and rises to a height of 323 feet above the sea, has a base of breccia containing fragments of different rocks cemented together with ferruginous or siliceous cement. The fragments of stone consist principally of granite, gneiss, sandstone, etc. Above this are 11 feet of rnagnesian limestone, 30 feet of red and grey marls, and 50 feet of red sandstone. There is no beach at the foot of the cliff, but on the southern side the coast-line sets back about the third of a mile, and the beach between high and low water is a quarter of a mile wide. The cliff, which is from 20 to 30 feet high, consists of drift sand and 302 THE SEA-COAST. gravel, full of boulders of various rocks, red sandstone predomi- nating. At the foot of this cliff is a shingle-bank, which under normal conditions is 23 yards wide above high water ; it then slopes at an angle of 1 in 3 for 3 yards, and 1 in 8 for 24 yards, where there is a " scar " or bed of boulders from 6 to 18 inches in diameter, beyond which is hard sand. Three-fourths of the shingle consists of flat ovoid pebbles of siliceous slate (basanite), varying from 1 J to 3 inches in diameter, the remainder being red sandstone, quartzite, felsite, hornstone, granite, jasper, etc. Below high-water mark the pebbles average about half an inch in diameter. The flood tide along this coast as far as the north side of Morecambe Bay sets along the shore about south-east, and the drift of the shingle on the beach in the same direction. The prevailing winds and heaviest gales are from the south-west. The cliffs from St. Bees past Netherstone and Braystones to the outfall of the Calder, a distance of 26 miles, consist of drift sand, gravel and boulders, resting on red sandstone, and rise from 30 to 187 feet above sea-level. The cliffs are being eroded by the sea. The beach above high water consists of shingle of the same kind as that at St. Bees, with blocks of sandstone. Below this, between high and low water it consists of sand, and is about a quarter of a mile wide. Between Braystones and Sellafield the outfall of the river Eden has been diverted by the drift of the shingle southward, and after running parallel with the coast at the back of a bank of shingle and blown sand for If miles, finally joins the Calder, the two rivers finding their way to sea through a mass of shingle nearly a quarter of a mile wide. In places the cliff has been faced with sandstone slag pitching, for the protection of the rail- way which runs along the coast. South of the outfall of the two rivers, hills of blown sand, or "meals," extend along the coast to Seascale, where they are a quarter of a mile wide, and from 10 to 15 feet high. The railway line has had to be protected from the drifting of this sand. The sand of which these hills are composed is derived from quartz and felspar rocks, and is of a dark colour, the grains varying in size from 50 to 200 to a lineal inch. In front of Seascale, the beach, which is a quarter of a mile wide, consists of sand with patches of shingle, the pebbles varying in size from .V inch up to 5 and 6 inches, the majority being THE WEST COAST. 303 derived from the red sandstone rocks, with pink and grey granite, green slate, etc. On the beach is a large " scar " (A.S. rock), or collection of boulders of red sandstone, granite, and other rocks, some of which are more than 3 feet in diameter, and contain upwards of a cubic yard. Material is taken from the beach for road-mending. South of Seascale, for the third of a mile the cliffs consist of drift sand and gravel, with layers of large boulders, and rise to a height of from 40 to 50 feet. At the foot is a bank of boulders and shingle 10 yards wide above high water, and below this for 50 yards sand with patches of small shingle lying at an angle of 1 in 20. Below this the sand is very flat, and not firm. From Whitrigg Scars a long range of sand-hills extends nearly to Bootle, a distance of 7 miles. These hills vary in width from a few yards to half a mile at the estuary of the Esk, and in places attain a height of 50 to 70 feet. At the back of these " meals " is a flat tract of alluvial soil. The drift of the beach material has diverted the outfall of the river Irk 2 miles to the south, where it now joins the river Esk, these two rivers and the Mite running through a large sandy estuary and escaping to the sea by a gap in the sand-hills at Eskmeals. On the beach, which is half a mile wide, are several " scars." Two miles south of Eskmeals and Selker Point the sand-hills are succeeded by a low cliff of boulder clay, in which is a depression, which at one time was a bay where a small river discharged, but which is now filled with alluvium. From the south of Selker Bay a shingle-bank extends to Annaside for 1J miles, at the back of which a small beck runs between it and the clay cliffs. From Annaside southward the cliffs, which are from 30 to 40 feet high, consist of drift sand, gravel, and boulder clay, and are being much wasted by the sea. On the beach large boulders are scattered about, and the " scars," which extend out for three- quarters of a mile, dry in places at low water. The drift cliffs are succeeded again by sand-hills as the estuary of the river Duddon is approached. This estuary is 3 miles wide, and the sands extend out \\ miles beyond the coast line. About 2 miles up the estuary on the north side is a con- siderable amount of shingle, which has drifted round the point in a north-easterly direction. There are ranges of sand-hills on the south side of the estuary at Sandscale. 304 THE SEA-COAST. Walney Island. South of the Duddon Estuary the coast-line for 7 miles consists of a narrow strip of land, which is three-quarters of a mile wide at the broadest part, and a quarter of a mile at the southern end, the height varying from 20 to 78 feet above the sea. On the east side of the island a salt-water creek or arm of the sea extends from the south-eastern side of the Duddon Estuary to Morecambe Bay. The land consists of glacial drift clay, in which are embedded boulders of varying sizes and many different kinds of rock. For 3 miles at the northern end the sea-face consists of blown sands from 20 to 40 feet high, and varying in width from the third of a mile at the north end of the island to a few chains at their termination. The sand and shingle of which the southern end of the island is composed has been drifted 1J miles by the action of the tide setting into Morecambe Bay in an easterly direction, and on which are blown sand-hills 20 feet high. The flood tide sets along the island in a south-easterly direc- tion, and turns round the southern end to the east, and then sets up along the east side north-westerly. The shingle and beach material is drifted in the same direction as the set of the flood tide. At the north end of the island, south of Earnse Point, the cliff has been much eroded, and it and the beach set back a con- siderable distance. This leads to an eddy or counter-current being formed, the flood-tide curving in a northerly direction, and a shingle spit has in consequence been formed which runs in a north-easterly direction, or opposite to the main drift along the coast. The direction of the drift is thus changed four times within a short distance. The cliffs consist of glacial drift, boulders of all sizes being interpressed, some being upwards of 6 feet across the widest side and containing 180 cubic feet. Considerable erosion is taking place, particularly at the southern end, where in one place the coast-line has receded nearly halfway across the island, the large boulders set loose from the cliffs being scattered over the beach. According to the British Association Keport of 1895, the loss since the Ordnance Surveys of 1852 and 1892 has been 59 to 86 feet south of Earnse Point, 720 feet near Trough Head, and 158 to 260 feet at the south end. Shingle derived from the stones in the cliffs is banked up at the foot of the cliffs. A section taken across the beach near South End Farm gave 16 yards of shingle i to 1 inch in diameter THE WEST COAST. 305 above mean high water, with a slope of 1 in 5 to a bed of boulders 13 yards wide, the size of the stones varying from 6 to 24 inches, beyond which was sand, the total distance between the cliffs and low water being a third to three-quarters of a mile. For the protection of the land at the south end of the island, a large groyne was constructed about twenty-five years ago, extending from the cliff halfway to low water. The upper length of the groyne extends outwards at right angles to the cliff", and then slopes off in a south-easterly direction for about 220 yards. Spur groynes are run out at right angles to the main groyne, and a shorter groyne is erected more to the east. The groyne consists of 12-inch square piles spaced 5 feet apart, driven into the clay bed and rising 6 feet above the beach, with 11-inch by 6-inch planking, which reaches about 4 feet above the beach, but not within 2 feet of the top of the piles. The shingle is heaped on the north or wind- ward side to the top of the planking, the beach being nearly bare of shingle on the south side. Morecambe Bay. Walney Island forms the northern headland of this bay, the distance across to Kossall Point on the south side being 9 miles, the length of the bay being 14 miles. Morecambe Bay covers an area of 140 square miles, the greater part of the sand being bare at low water. The rivers Lune, Kent, and Leven, which discharge into this bay, only drain 875 square miles, and are utterly inadequate to have been the means of bringing down the enormous mass of sand that covers it, which in places is more than 70 feet deep, and there can be no doubt that this was conveyed there by the floods which occurred at the breaking up of the last glacial period, when a vast mass of ice moved southward from Scotland and Cumberland along the depression of Morecambe and Liverpool Bays and the valley of the Kibble. The rise of tide in the bay is 27J feet, and it marks the dividing line of the two tides entering the Irish Sea, one from the north between the Scotch and Irish coasts, and the other from the south through St. George's Channel. The bay also marks the dividing line of the set of the littoral drift, the direction being from north to south along the coast north of the bay, and from south to north on that to the south. On the south-east coast of the bay are some hills of blown sand, which attain a height of from 15 to 20 feet ; but, considering the large area of sand uncovered at low water, the general absence x 306 THE SEA-COAST. of these sand-hills as compared with those in the Kibble Estuary and Liverpool Bay is worth notice. Fleetwood. Immediately east of Kossall Point, on the south of Morecambe Bay, is the estuary of the river Wyre, which runs up to Fleetwood. The coast between Kossall Point to Wyre, a distance of 2 miles, consists of hills of blown sand from 20 to 30 feet high. The drift of the shingle coming from the south along the Lancashire coast works round Kossall Point and sets up this estuary in an east and south-easterly direction, in the same way that the shingle coming from the north works into the Duddon Estuary. The beach at the lower end of the estuary is covered above high water with small shingle, varying in size from f inch in diameter to 1 and 2 inches, below which is sand. The shingle is more plentiful in front of the town, and the drift has been stopped by groynes, which are continued all along the Fleetwood frontage. These groynes are placed at right angles to the shore, and are constructed of 12-inch square piles 4 feet apart, and planked with 9-inch by 3-inch boards. They vary from 30 ^to 50 yards apart, and are 120 yards long, one extending to low water, which is nearly a quarter of a mile from the shore. The top of the groynes is from 7 to 8 feet above the sand, which is higher on the north side. Other groynes are made of 12-inch by 6-inch piles spaced 18 inches apart, and planked the same as the others. A wall has been built along the promenade, at the back of which are hills of blown sand resting on alluvium. The site of the town was formerly occupied by sand-hills, one of which, known as the Mount, 70 feet high, has been preserved and forms a public garden. Previous to the construction of these groynes and the sea-wall, the town suffered a great deal during heavy storms, much de- struction having taken place during a gale in 1869, several houses being destroyed. R-ossall. Between Kossall Point and Blackpool, a distance of 7 miles, the coast-line is slightly embayed, and is bordered by sand- hills on the northern part. The beach is sand, with a limited amount of shingle under the cliffs, consisting of pebbles derived from the glacial drift ; the largest accumulation extends from Kossall to Cheveley, and the largest stones are at the north end. There has been considerable erosion along this part of the coast. At Kossall Point, the British Association Report of 1895 states that there had been a loss of 140 yards in the three previous THE WEST COAST. 307 years, and south of Eossall College 87 yards. It is stated that within historical times cliffs extended out seaward to a point called Pennystone, a large mass of conglomerate sand and gravel, now only- left bare at very low spring tides. Groynes have been put down at intervals along the beach ; but the greater part of them have not been maintained in good order, and they have in many cases been allowed to go to ruin. In front of Eossall college considerable expense has been incurred in the erection of a sea-wall for protecting the sea-bank, and in the construction of groynes. These groynes extend about one-third of the way to low water, and are placed at right angles to the shore ; they are from 100 to 130 yards in length, and spaced 100 to 150 yards apart, and about 3 feet high. They consist of 2J- inch planking spiked to 12-inch square piles driven into the beach, tied in some places on the south side with iron rods attached to . short piles. The beach consists of sand at a flat slope, with a limited amount of shingle. The groynes at Kossall have accumu- lated a fair quantity of shingle, the material being from 1 to 2 feet higher on the south than on the north side of the groynes. The sand-hills end about half a mile north of Bispham, and from there to Blackpool the coast is bordered by cliffs of glacial drift from 40 to 70 feet high. The cliffs are wasting between Norbreck and Bispham. A sea-wall built for their protection has been allowed to go to ruin. There is shingle at the foot of the cliffs and erratic boulders on the beach, some 6 feet long, others from 9 to 12 inches in diameter, lying scattered about or collected into " scars." The drift of the shingle is northerly. From 20 to 50 per cent, of the pebbles consist of granite, 30 per cent, of carboniferous limestone, *\ red sandstone, Silurian slates and grits, and the remainder granite, volcanic stones, with fragments of hematite iron ore. Blackpool. As this place gradually emerged from a fishing village into a seaside resort, various means were adopted for pre- serving the sea from encroaching on the land and washing away the roadway. At first a rough stone footing was built to protect the cliff. This led to the denudation of the shingle with which the beach was then covered. This was followed by a sea-wall, or " hulking," made by slop- ing the shore to about an angle of 50 degrees and paving it with stones, the manner of construction being somewhat similar to that at Dymchurch. This wall was so undermined by the sea that the 3o8 THE SEA-COAST. foundation had to be carried to a lower level. The scour at the foot still continuing, the foundation was again carried lower. The annual cost in repair ten years ago amounted to 1500 (B. A. Keport, 1888). As the surface of the beach became gradually lowered several feet, and the force of the wave-stroke increased, the difficulty of protecting the sea-front increased. At South Shore, where there is no sea-wall, there is a large accumulation of sand on the shore, and on the south side of the pier high water of neap tides does not reach within 150 yards of the roadway, whereas along the Blackpool frontage the beach is scoured out down to the clay, and the high water reaches to the foot of the wall. The beach along a great part consists of clay and boulders, and is bare of sand. Low water of spring tides ebbs out about half a mile from the sea-wall. Some short high timber groynes were erected more than ten years ago along part of the wall, and to a certain extent prevented the drifting of the shingle, but this is so unevenly distributed, being heaped up on one side and leaving the beach bare on the other, that they do not afford any protection to the wall. The seaward ends of the groynes have deep pools of water round them, and the waves driven along to their shore ends strike heavily against the sea-wall. It is contended that these groynes, while being a hindrance to the use of the beach and dangerous for children, have not been of any service in protecting the wall. The promenade with the recent extension to the north extends over a distance of 2f miles. Between 1895 and 1900 the hulking and promenade were ex- tended three-quarters of a mile northward, and a new sea-wall con- structed, the cliffs being sloped down to the wall, the cost amount- ing to 125,000. A description of this wall will be found in Chapter Y. on examples of sea-walls. This wall encroached con- siderably on the beach, the foot being placed 20 yards from the cliffs. After the construction of the sloping hulking at the foot of this wall, the beach became considerably denuded, the sand being scoured away in places as much as from 6 to 8 feet, and the clay laid bare ; the pitching having to be extended further seaward. The cost of extending this footing and repairing the sloping wall amounted to 10,000. In the winter of 1900, during a heavy on-shore gale and high tide, when the waves broke THE WEST COAST. 309 over the old promenade, covering the road in places with sand and stopping the traffic, considerable damage was done to the hulking of the new promenade, the granite pitching and clay underneath in three sections being washed out, and the lower work undermined. For a further extension of the promenade it was decided to have an upright concave sea-wall. On the Gynn estate, which adjoins Blackpool on the north, considerable erosion of the cliff has taken place, and the beach, which is the third of a mile wide, and consists almost entirely of sand resting on clay, was very uneven and full of lows and swills. In places there are scars or collections of large boulders derived from the erosion of the cliffs. These boulders vary in size from 6 to 18 inches. Where these boulders are scattered over the beach, the sea breaks on them, eroding the clay underneath, and leaving holes and a broken surface. The cliffs here, from 40 to 50 feet high, are composed of glacial drift, containing boulders and pebbles, but in no great quantity. The stones are derived from rocks of various kind, but principally shap granite, quartz, sandstone, flints, etc. Erosion is taking place. The loss of land has been very great. It is stated that at a distance out to sea of a mile from the edge of the cliffs are to be found the remains of an inn which once stood well inland, and that at very low spring tides the fishermen can still see the remains of a wall with a stone and ring to which the horses stopping at the inn were tethered. For the protection of the beach in front of the Gynn estate, some groynes consisting of iron rods and open lattice-work were constructed some years ago under the direction of Mr. Dowson, but, as they were not considered to have been of any service, they have since been removed. Also about the same time that the sea-wall was built, a high timber groyne, extending for a short distance seaward from the cliff, was constructed, but this also was found to be of no service in raising the beach and preventing the destruction of the cliffs. About three years since a concrete wall was erected at the foot of these cliffs, but owing to the scour on the beach following its construction, during a heavy south-west gale its base was under- mined and the wall fell, the concrete now lying in ruins on the beach. Mr. Hindle, C.E., the engineer to the estate, before rebuilding 3io THE SEA-COAST. this wall, determined to try and raise the whole beach in front, so as to diminish the force of the wave-stroke on the cliffs, and engaged Mr. Case to construct five low groynes extending to low water of spring tides, placed 130 yards apart and 330 yards long, and commencing at 100 yards from the foot of the cliff. These groynes are similar in construction to those described at Dymchurch. These groynes were commenced in September, 1898, and completed about the middle of the following year. Although they have not been the means of collecting any large amount of sand or of raising the beach under the cliffs, the general effect is stated to have been an improvement by the drifting of the sand from the high places into the lows and making the beach more dry and firm, the slope being reduced to a regular gradient. To the south of the Gynn estate and all along the sea-wall in front of Blackpool nearly to South Shore, a distance of 1J miles, the beach is very bare of shingle and sand, and, the drift from the erosion of the cliffs being northerly, there is no supply for the groynes to collect. For the protection of the cliff northward of the new sea-wall, which suffered considerably from erosion, the corporation of Black- pool, being satisfied with the results on the Gynn beach, in the beginning of 1899 entered into arrangements with Messrs. Case and Gray to construct on the beach five low groynes. These extend from about mean H.W. to L.W.S.T., the lengths varying from 330 to 400 yards, the total length being 1600 yards, and the estimated cost 2580, or 36 shillings a yard. There appears to be a considerable diversity of opinion as to the beneficial effect of this system of groyning at Blackpool, one party holding that the hills of sand had been broken up since the groynes were constructed, the lows filled up, and the sand on the beach raised from 5 to 6 feet; while others contend that this is a mere shifting of material that may at any time be scoured away in a gale, such alterations frequently taking place. Thus, in a gale in 1869, along the whole of the beach in front of Blackpool, the sand to a depth in places of 4 feet was scoured away and the clay left bare. After the gale the sand gradually worked back. These numerous low groynes placed along the beach are greatly objected to by the fishermen and boatmen, and it was stated at a public meeting called to protest against them that THE WEST COAST. 311 they were dangerous to the boating, and had spoiled the shrimp fishery. The denudation of shingle from the beach in front of Black- pool has been aided by the removal of material for road-making and other purposes. During the construction of the railway from Poulton to Blackpool in 1846, a very large quantity of shingle was taken from the south beach. The shingle removed had accumulated to a great height at this part of the coast, and formed a natural protection to the land behind at high tides. After its removal, the shore at South Beach was flooded for the first time during a heavy gale. The shingle is also used for road-making purposes, as many as twenty or thirty carts being engaged at times in removing it from the beach. Recently the whole of the shingle used in the construction of the new sea-wall was taken off the beach. The Kibble Estuary. This estuary affords another example of the effect of the torrents that must have poured down from the country behind at the breaking up of the ice age. The bay covers an area of 57 square miles, and is 8 miles wide between St. Anne's and Southport. With the exception of the low water-channel, the whole of the sands covering the bed of the estuary are dry when the tide is out, some of them being from 7 to 8 feet above low water, and they extend into the Irish Sea for 3 or 4 miles, a depth of from 3 to 4 fathoms only being reached at that distance from the mouth of the estuary. There are two rivers discharging into it, the Kibble and the Douglas, together drain- ing 585 square miles. These rivers now only transport a small amount of sand and alluvium, but underlying the bed of the estuary are large beds of boulders and rounded pebbles and the trunks of large trees which have been brought down by heavy torrents in past ages. At Southshore, immediately south of Blackpool and on the north side of the Kibble Estuary, sand-hills commence which extend up the estuary in an easterly direction nearly to Lytham. These sand-hills range in height from 30 to 80 feet, and extend inland 2 miles in places. They are covered with Arundo arenaria, locally called star-grass. 1 1 Further information as to the geology of the Ribble estuary and the coast will be found in the " Memoirs of the Geological Survey relating to the Country round Southport, Lytham, and Southshore, 1872, and between Liverpool and Southport," by C.E., De Ranee, F.G.S. 1869. 312 .THE SEA-COAST. Before the hulking or sea-wall was constructed in front of Blackpool, there was a large accumulation of boulders extending seaward at the point where the tide sets into the northern side of the estuary. After the construction of the wall this bank became broken up by the waves, some of the material being drifted north- ward, but the greater part eastward up the Eibble estuary, forming a, bank along the beach, and at Fairhaven, where the coast bends round to the east, the shingle accumulated in a spit of bank branching off from the coast-line in a south-easterly direction for 1^ miles, leaving a low flat 200 yards wide at the back, into which the water drained from the land. The top of this bank, known as the Stanner, is about 10 feet wide, and from 3 to 4 feet above the level of H.W.S.T. A few years since the end of this spit was connected with the sand-hills, and a marine lake formed within the enclosure. A somewhat similar bank also runs out from land at the east end of Lytham, which has formed a natural enclosure of marsh land from the sea. This bank is 8 feet wide at the top, and 10 feet high. St. Anne's is partly built on an old shingle-bank, which has become buried by the drifting sands. There is a fair amount of shingle scattered all along the beach from Southshore to Lytham, the direction of the drift being from west to east. The pebbles are derived from the glacial drift, and are of the same character as those on the beach north of Blackpool, and vary in size from ^ inch up to 5 and 6 inches, and generally are flat ovoids in shape. About 50 per cent, are derived from granite, quartzite, or porphyritic rocks, and 30 per cent, from Silurian slates and grits. Near Fairhaven a concrete sea-wall has been constructed for the protection of the land, After the erection of this wall con- siderable denudation of the beach took place. Groynes have at different times been placed on the beach near Fairhaven, at irregular distances and at varying angles. Some are very short, not extending more than 15 or 20 yards from the shore, and the shingle, which had accumulated against some of them to the top of the planking, was, at the time of my last inspection, working round the end. Near St. Anne's a concrete groyne 4 feet high has been constructed across the beach to protect the sewer outfall. Shingle has accumulated to the top of THE WEST COAST. 313 this on the west side, the beach being 3 feet lower on the east side. At one part of the coast a system of open groynes, on a plan advocated by Mr. Dowson, was adopted about twenty years ago. The uprights of these consist of 2-inch iron tubes driven into the beach at intervals of 3 feet 6 inches, to which are attached |-inch horizontal iron rails, and on these are fastened ^-inch upright iron rods If inches apart, forming a continuous grating 2 feet high. The uprights are so formed that, if necessary, a second grating can be placed 011 the top. Mr. Dowson states that these groynes accumulated a considerable amount of shingle. As the first groynes became buried they were lifted from time to time, until the beach became raised 10 to 12 feet above the level which existed when operations were first commenced (British Associa- tion " Keport on Coast Erosion," 1888). At the present time the beach is about 3 feet below the top of these groynes, the shingle being about a foot higher on the west side, or that from which the regular drift takes place. On the east side of the estuary the sand-hills cover a greater area and reach to a greater height on the west side. They are known locally as meols, from a Scandinavian word still in use denoting " a hill of sand." A village called North Meols marks the commencement of these sand-hills, which extend in a south-westerly direction along the coast for 16 miles to Seaforth. At Southport the town has been entirely built on the site of the sand-hills, which extend out from the original coast-line nearly 2 miles. At Formby Point the sand-hills are 2 miles wide, and south of this the width diminishes to a quarter of a mile. Where the hills have not been removed and built on, they are covered with star-grass. The sand-hills are traditionally supposed not to have been in existence more than about three hundred years. At Formby the churchyard and village were buried by the sand moving inland between 1746-50. Between Formby and Birkdale many farms have been entirely covered up during the last century, part of the buildings of one, known as the " Lost Farm," situated 2 J miles south of Southport, and a quarter of a mile inland, being still visible in 1826, but 20 years later all trace of this was lost. Some of the hollows formed in the hills, known as " slacks," form reservoirs which retain sufficient moisture to support a luxuriant vegetation. The rain-water charged with carbonic acid, 314 THE SEA-CO AST. acting on the shells in the sand, dissolves them, and the lime thus formed cements the particles of sand together, forming an imper- meable surface. The sand is blown from the estuaries of the Kibble and the Dee, where large areas of sandbanks are exposed at low water. A fresh breeze will lift the sand to a height of from 5 to 20 feet, and a heavy gale as high as 200 feet ; the particles, on coming in contact with the hills, are rolled up the incline and over the top, the surface facing the prevailing winds or those from the west -north-west having a steep incline, that on the lee side being much flatter. 1 The beach in front of the sand-hills consists entirely of sand, and is very wide. In front of Southport the distance between high and low water mark was at one time three-quarters of a mile, but some of this has been enclosed by the town, and a marine lake and drive formed, the embankment of which is half a mile from the sea-wall erected to protect the promenade. At Ainsdale, further to the south, the beach is 1800 yards wide, diminishing at Sea- forth to half a mile. There is no shingle, as on the opposite side of the estuary, there being no cliffs to the south from which a supply can be derived ; but there are a few stones scattered about here and there, varying in size from f inch up to 4 or 5 inches. At the lower part of the beach opposite Ainsdale, near low water, is a peculiar deposit of marine silt locally known as " slutch," which contains a considerable amount of alumina with about 10 per cent, of shell sand, and is occasionally used for manuring the land. When the surface coat of sand is broken through, this deposit forms a dangerous quicksand. The Mersey and Dee Estuaries. These are situated in Liver- pool Bay, which forms the southern end of the large embayment in the Irish Sea lying between the coasts of Scotland and Wales, the distance between Formby Point and the eastern projection at Anglesea being 55 miles. Liverpool Bay is composed of a large area of sandbanks, through which the Mersey and the Dee find their way to the Irish Sea. A remarkable sandbank, or bar, used to exist at the mouth of the Mersey, on one side of which was 50 feet of water at low tide. This has now been dredged away. 2 1 De Ranee, " Memoir of the Geological Survey of the country around Southport,. Lytham, and Southshore, 1872." 2 "Bars at the Mouths of Tidal Estuaries," Min. Proc. Inst. C.E., vol. c., 1890. THE WEST COAST. 315 The Mersey and the Dee are separated by a peninsula 6 miles wide. There is reason to suppose that at one time the out- let of the Mersey was across this peninsula by the course of what is known as Wallesley Pool, which now forms a low tract of alluvial soil 5000 acres in extent, forming a depression in the boulder clay of which the peninsula is composed, lying below the level of high water. This depression extends from Birkenhead to Leasowe, and was embanked from the sea by an Act of Parlia- ment passed in 1818. At Leasowe, on the west side of the peninsula, where the coast was wasting at the rate of a yard in a year, necessitating the removal of the lighthouse further inland, an embankment If miles in length was constructed in 1829, at a cost of 20,000. During a heavy gale in 1863 the sea broke over this embankment. From New Brighton, at the north-east corner of the peninsula, round Hilbre Point to West Kirby, a distance of 8J miles, a line of sand-hills skirts the coast. These sand-hills or meols rise to a height of 30 feet, and at the eastern end are from half a mile to a mile wide, diminishing to 20 or 30 yards at the south-east end. From West Kirby to Neston, on the east side of the estuary of the Dee, a distance of 7 miles, the shore is skirted by low cliffs of boulder clay with sand and gravel, at the foot of which is a bank of shingle from 50 to 100 feet wide, the size of the pebbles, which have been derived from the waste of the cliffs, being from 3 to 4 inches in diameter. The direction of drift is the same as that of the set of the flood tide from north to south. This shingle was at one time removed for ballast and other purposes, but, as this led to the destruction of the cliffs by taking away the protection which the shingle afforded, it was stopped by order of the Board of Trade. No groynes or other works of protection have been carried out. From the Point of Air on the west side of the Dee Estuary the coast-line is nearly straight to Abergele, a distance of 12 miles ; it is then broken by the bays at Abergele, Ehos, and Orme, the projection at Great Ormes Head, consisting of mountain limestone 325 feet high, forming the western boundary. At Air Point the coast is low and sandy, and between there and the river Clwyd the beach consists of fine sand backed by a shingle beach and sand-dunes from 5 to 20 feet high, which continue to Pensarn near Abergele. Near Grornont the shingle 3i6 THE SEA-COAST. projects from the shore in an east-north-easterly direction, and is 12 feet high, the pebbles being from 5 to 7 inches in diameter. Towards Khyl the pebbles diminish in size to about half an inch. At Khyl the beach is from 600 to 700 yards wide. To the west of the river Clwyd the sand beach is backed by a shingle-bank 80 to 100 yards wide, the pebbles being from 6 to 7 inches in diameter ; and by sand-hills, the land behind being low marshes. Since the last Ordnance map was issued, 70 feet of the sand- hills have been washed away along the beach from the pier to the eastern promenade extension. Recently application was made to the Local Government Board for sanction to borrow 3000 for the extension westward of the sea-wall and promenade. The sea- wall is protected by groynes. Ehyddlam Marsh, near Abergele, has been enclosed from the sea by an embankment about a mile in length. The shingle- bank continues along the coast to Ehos Bay, where the beach consists of sand and loose stones extending to low water. At Colwyn Bay, in addition to works of sea-defence recently carried out, it is intended to erect a sea-wall for the protection of the shore and an extension of the east and west promenades at an estimated cost of 8000 ; it is also in contemplation to con- tinue the promenade along the coast for 900 yards to Khos-on-Sea, the estimated cost being 25,000. Below Great Ormes Head are scattered about the beach large blocks of stone, which have been loosened from the cliffs by weathering. The direction of the flood tide along this coast is from west to east, and the shingle travels in the same direction. Except at Khyl and Colwyn Bay, no groyning or other works of protection have been carried out. The coast was wasting before the construction of the embankment of the London and North- Western Kail way, which now affords protection from the sea for a considerable distance. Shingle is removed from the coast at Khyl and other places and sent to Liverpool for ballast, and is also used for road- making. The Welsh Coast. The coast of Wales is generally rocky, and, with the exception of one or two places that have become seaside resorts, there are no beaches of importance and few works of pro- tection. Between Great Ormes Head and the west side of the Menai THE WEST COAST. 317 Straits is Beaumaris Bay, a deep indent in the coast-line in which is an extensive area of sands forming the estuary of the Conway and the entrance to the northern end of the Menai Straits. The cliff bordering the bay and along the coast of Anglesea consists of glacial drift containing large boulders and gravel. The beach in front of Penmaen Mawr and Llanfair-fechan is covered by a large accumulation of shingle and boulders, which are heaped up against the shore in fulls or ridges. Spring tides have a rise of 22 feet, and the waves break with considerable force over this shingle-bank. The London and North- Western Kailway, which runs close to the shore, has on several occasions suffered severe damage in storms, and the company have had to carry out extensive works for the protection of their line and the Penmaen Mawr Station. Round the Isle of Anglesea the coast is bold and rocky, but in Eedwharf Bay are sand-hills, and in some of the other bays shingle beaches. At the western entrance to the Menai Straits in Carnarvon Bay is a large area of shifting sand, and the channel passes through a sand-bank which moves periodically from the north to the south side of the estuary. South of the Menai Straits for 6 miles the coast is bordered by a shingle beach, on which are scattered large boulders, backed by sand-hills. The coast of the Menai Straits opposite Carnarvon consists of low cliffs of red marl overlying limestone, and, 3 miles north of the town, of the soft shales of the coal-measure. South of Carnarvon Bay is a narrow peninsula which extends seaward for 20 miles, the coast being rocky. This peninsula forms the north side of Cardigan Bay, and deeply recessed on the south side is Tremadoc Bay, on the west side of which the beach is covered with sand and gravel backed by sand-hills ; and east- ward of this is Pwllheli, where a considerable tract of low marsh land at the outfall of a small river has been reclaimed from the sea. The regular drift of the shingle along the north shore of the bay is easterly. Groynes have been put down, and have been found of service in arresting the drift of the beach material and protecting the sea-wall at Criceith. Near Harlech is a singular spit of stones called Sarnbadrig, or Sarn causeway, which projects from the point at Mochra for 10 miles in a south-westerly direction. Near the shore there is about 1 \ fathoms of water over it, but the outer end dries 1 J feet at low water. The water each side of the spit is from 4 to 5 fathoms 318 THE SEA-COAST. deep. The tide sets into this bay along the causeway in a north- easterly direction. One mile south-west of Harlech Castle a broad sandy strand trends off from the cliffs in a north-easterly direction, and joins the extensive sands in the estuary at Port Madoc. The river Glaslyn formerly flowed through a large plain of mud flats and sand pools known as Traeth Mawr, which formed the home of numerous sea-fowl. This was reclaimed by Mr. Madock in 1800, and turned into rich arable land ; subsequently he con- structed a stone embankment a mile in length across the estuary from a rocky ridge on one side to Port Madoc, thus enclosing and reclaiming 7000 acres of land. Towards Barmouth there is a wide sandy beach backed by low sand-hills, and the river Mawddach finds an outlet to the sea through a large sandy estuary more than a mile wide. The beach for 1J miles south of this estuary consists of sand the eighth of a mile wide, backed by shingle derived from the cliffs to the south, and there is a low shingle point at Borthwen. A narrow beach skirts the coast for the next 10 miles to Aberdovey, where there is another wide sandy estuary, through which the river Dovey finds its way to the sea. On the north side of the estuary are some sand-hills. South of the Aberdovey Estuary are the Borth sands, which lie along a recessed part of the coast for 3J miles. The beach consists of hard sand and shingle. The shingle is derived from the slate cliffs on the south, 95 per cent, consisting of slate pebbles. The drift of the flood current is northerly along this part of the coast. Behind the shingle are low sand-hills, and an extensive morass extending 2 miles inland. Borth, being situated close on the sea-shore, has been subject to continual damage from storms and high tides, and the sea has been steadily encroaching on the shore. In 1896 a heavy storm broke on this coast, causing great damage to the town, and distress to the inhabitants. The necessity for some protective works was felt to be imperative. Under the direction of a sea- defence com- mittee, it was decided to construct groynes for the purpose of collecting and holding up the shingle on the beach, and a contract was entered into with the late Mr. Case to construct seven low timber groynes, which were completed in 1899 at a cost of over 1200. It is stated that since the construction of these groynes low water has receded 20 yards. Subsequently two groynes were THE WEST COAST. 319 extended opposite a breach which had been made in the main road during the storm. At Aberystwyth is a low shingle beach, and south of this the cliffs are composed of Silurian grit or slate, which rise to a height of over 600 feet above the sea, with very little beach at their foot. The entrance to the harbour at Aberaevon is encumbered with shingle, and groynes have been constructed to prevent its drifting into the harbour. Beyond New Quay the slate cliffs continue with an absence of beach. There is a narrow sand beach at New Quay and at Traeth Mount. At Cardigan, the river Teifi discharges into the sea through a wide sand-encumbered estuary. South of this the slate cliffs continue, with only a small amount of sandy beach in the bay, to St. David's Head. Newport Bay, into which the river Nevern discharges, has a rocky shore on the south side, with sands on the north side. Along the coast of Pembrokeshire the cliffs consist of sand- stone and limestone, with hard volcanic rocks intruded, which project from the coast as headlands. There are shingle-banks and sand beaches in the bay, but the shingle does not travel beyond the headlands, or extend below the line of high water. The sea is encroaching and wearing away the softer rocks. At Abermawr an acre of land and some buildings were washed away during the last century. During a gale from the north in the winter of 1885, the sea drove back the shingle all along St. Bride's Bay, but chiefly in the centre, filling up a road and damming a stream. The beach at Abercastle has been cut into 50 yards during the last half-century, while at Abereiddy a beach grew up from the drift of the refuse from a slate quarry. At the north- east of the bay, 34 yards of land were lost in fifty years, and 40 yards on the southern side, the place formerly occupied by the highway being now 20 yards out seaward. The new road made in 1866 was protected by a sea-wall, but this was subsequently destroyed by the sea. No groynes or other protective works have been carried out along the Pembrokeshire coast. The shores of Fishguard Bay consist of rocky cliffs composed of slate, but the Goodie sands front the shore for half a mile. The Strumble bank, half a mile long, lying on the south of the bay about a mile off the coast, consists of gravel and shells. Beyond this the cliffs are from 50 to 250 feet high, and consist of the Cambrian and Carboniferous series. 320 THE SEA- CO AST. Whitesand Bay, which lies between St. David's Head and the next headland to the south, has been formed by the erosion of the cliffs of boulder clay, the headlands being composed of hard Cambrian rocks. It has a shingle beach 1000 yards long, with a maximum width of 40 feet, the seaward face having the usual fulls. The drift of the shingle is northward, the beach being the widest at the north end of the bay. The sandy beach is 200 yards wide. The shingle is backed up by hillocks of blown sand from 10 to 15 feet high, the seaward slope lying at an angle of 24 degrees, or about 1 in 2. The sand in heavy gales is drifted a mile inland. The shingle is removed from this bay for road- making, and the sand is taken for manure. St. David's Head, 100 feet high, forms the north headland of St. Bride's Bay, a deep indent, being 6J miles wide and 7^ miles deep. Its bottom is covered with fine sand. The headlands on the north and south of this bay are formed of hard igneous rock standing out boldly seawards, between which are softer rocks, which have been worn away and scooped out by the sea, thus forming the bay. On the northern side of St. Bride's bay is a small inlet which has been excavated in the softer rocks lying between the granite cliffs, in which is a bed of shingle, and boulders up to 18 inches in diameter. At Port Clais is another break in the cliffs, through which is the outlet of the river draining the country behind. During the last half- century the sea has eroded 40 yards of cliff, owing to the protecting shingle being removed for ballast. At Carbwddy the shingle has increased owing to the waste from a slate quarry, which was thrown on the beach. Beyond this to Salva Creek there have been some very heavy slips in the cliffs, which consist chiefly of sandstone. At Newgale, in the north-east corner of the bay, is a shingle-bank a mile in length and 90 feet wide. The pebbles have been supplied from the waste of the cliffs to the south of the bay, and vary from 3 to 14 inches in diameter. The direction of drift is north-west with the set of the flood tide. The sand beach is 230 yards wide. The cliffs south of St. Bride's Bay, which rise to a height of 200 feet, consist of old red sandstone, carboniferous limestone of a light-blue colour, slate, and grey sandstone. The limestone cliffs rise up boldly from the sea, and at St. Govan's Head the face has been weathered and honeycombed in a remarkable manner. South of the sandstone cliff at St. Ann's Head, and THE WEST COAST. 321 lying protected behind this headland, is a deep recess in the rocks, in which is Milford Haven, one of the finest harbours in the kingdom. South of Milford Haven is Freshwater Bay, where the cliffs rise to a height of 50 feet, with a shingle-bank and sandy beach at their base. The shingle-bank consists of pebbles and boulders up to a foot or 14 inches in diameter. In strong westerly gales the sea breaks on this shingle-bank with great force, especially when ground swells prevail, the boulders, rolled about by the waves, producing a roar which can be heard inland for 8 or 9 miles. St. Govan's Head, which forms the western horn of Caermarthen Bay, consists of a limestone cliff 120 feet high. The coast along the bay is generally rocky, the cliffs consisting of limestone and sandstone, with sandy beaches in the caves. At Lidstip the bay is skirted by a low shore with a broad strip of boulders and shingle. At Giltar is a range of low sand-hills and sand beach, which extends as far as Tenby. The bottom of the bay is covered principally with sand and shells. Caldy Island consists of lime- stone cliffs 150 feet high, and along the shore are bights having short reaches of shingle and sand. The coast at Tenby consists of cliffs, but in Saunderspool Bay, a short distance to the north, there is a flat beach of shingle mixed with sand a quarter of a mile wide. At Kagwen Point the coast is shelving, but beyond this to the mouth of the river Towy, the beach for 7 miles consists of hard firm sand, and is backed for the greater part of the way by a range of low sand-hills. The estuary of the Towy and Taff, affording access to the harbour at Caermarthen, situated in the centre of Caermarthen Bay, is 2f miles wide, and is covered with extensive sand-beds, which extend from 4 to 5 miles seaward of the entrance, and which dry as much as 9 feet in places. Some marsh land has been embanked and reclaimed from the estuary. On the east side of the estuary the high-water line is backed by a range of sand-hills named Pembrey Burrows, which extend south-westward for 4 miles to Burry Inlet. The beach is covered with sand, which dries at low water for a mile. On the east side of the bay is Burry Inlet, the most extensive estuary on the south coast of Wales. It is 4 miles wide at the Y 322 THE SEA-COAST. entrance, and 9 miles deep, the greater portion of the area being covered by sands dry at low water. Beyond Burry Inlet, in Khossili Bay, is a low shore with a sand beach about a quarter of a mile wide, bordered on the southern side by cliffs of limestone 100 feet high. Bristol Channel. The Bristol Channel is 20 miles wide at the entrance, decreasing to 2J miles at Portishead. The shores at the lower end are generally bounded by rocky cliffs. The flood tide from the Atlantic sets into the bay to the eastward, the depth of water being from 15 to 20 fathoms at L.W.S.T., decreasing to 7 fathoms off Portishead. Porth Eynon Head, the north-west horn of the bay, is a rugged perpendicular cliff 140 feet high, and from low-water line a ridge of rock extends south-west for the fifth of a mile, which dries at low water. In the bay to the east of the headland is a broad sandy beach about the third of a mile wide. In the bay between Porth Eynon and Oxwich headland there is a hard sand beach the third of a mile wide, backed by sandy burrows. Eastward of Oxwich the coast consists of cliffs from 200 to 250 feet high, broken by three bays. The Mumbles Cliff, 60 feet high, forms the western head of Swansea Bay, a deep recess 9 miles across and 7 miles deep. The rivers Tawe, Neath, and Avon discharge into this bay. The flood tide, which rises 27 feet, sets into the bay on the west side past the Mumbles, and on the east side along the Scarweather sands, which form a spit extending out from the coast in a westerly direction for a mile, drying 6 feet at low water. The tide, after passing this spit, sets round the bay, and near the shore from half-flood to low water the current is to the westward ; the tides thus flowing round in opposite directions. On the west side at the Mumbles the beach is covered with shingle, and is above 200 yards wide. Beyond this to Swansea the foreshore is three- quarters of a mile wide, and near the shore is covered with sand and patches of stone and mussels, but further on it is all mud brought down by the rivers and drifted by the tide to the west of their outfall. On the east side the beach is about the third of a mile wide, and is sandy and backed up by sand-hills, or " burrows," through which the rivers Meath and Avon find their way to the bay ; the entrance to Port Talbot has been excavated through the sand-hills. These sand-hills, which run all along the east side of THE WEST COAST. 323 the bay from Swansea for 10 miles, rise to a height of 250 feet, and extend some distance inland. Continuing along the coast for 3 miles to the Ogmore Kiver, the range is known as Newton Burrows, and in places attains a height of 150 feet. These sands, working inland, filled up the channel of the river for 2 miles, and many houses were buried and rendered uninhabitable by the drift sand. The low cliffs to the east, consisting of limestone with a capping of lias, are much fissured in places and worn into irregular shapes by the action of the waves. Sandy beaches occur in the recesses, and near Sutton is a bank of shingle containing pebbles of red and brown grit and limestone. From Sutton to Dunraven the cliffs consist of hard blue conglomerate lias, and a white conglomerate rock known as Sutton stone. On the shore south-east of Dunraven the beach consists of ledges and platforms of lias rock from 150 to 200 yards wide, covered in patches by coarse boulders of lias rock and occasionally by sand. Falls of the cliff are constantly taking place. Below St. Donat's Cliff large rounded blocks of lias limestone lie on the shore, which are removed for building- stone and lime-burning. West of Aberthaw there is a tract of alluvial ground which has been embanked and reclaimed. This is bordered by hillocks of blown sand 20 feet high. Bordering the sand-hills there is a bank of shingle, and beyond this the beach, which is a quarter of a mile wide, consists of sand and mud. The shingle which has drifted from the west consists of boulders and pebbles of blue lias limestone, which are used for making lias lime, and large quantities are removed and sent away by ship for this purpose. When the trade was prosperous as many as 20 vessels were in the harbour at one time, loading with stones taken from the beach. From Cold Knap to Barry Island the cliffs are 50 to 200 feet high, and consist of lower lias limestone and shales. The sea washes the cliff at high water along the whole of this reach. Near East Aberthaw at the mouth of the river is a considerable expanse of sand and alluvium, and a bank of shingle extending 300 yards to low water. Barry Island is composed of triassic limestone and marl, the severance of the island from the mainland being due to the denudation of the soft marls, leaving the limestone standing. Whitmore Bay, on the south side, has a beach of shingle and sand, and blown sand occurs on the face of the slopes. 324 THE SEA-COAST. Between Barry and Sully Islands the coast consists of rocky ledges fronted by a sand beach 250 yards wide. Lavernack Headland is formed of lias limestone and shale, and ledges of the same rock run out seaward and form a protection to the base of the cliffs. Half a mile to the north of Lavernack Point is a ridge of shingle the third of a mile long which runs out in a south- south-easterly direction from the cliffs, drying at low water. From Lavernack to Penarth the cliffs, which rise to a height of 200 feet, consist of grey marls and black shales and limestone. The mass of the cliffs is formed of crumbling marl, so there is a constant but not great fall of material. The beach is covered with fine grains of limestone and pebbles of red marl, also boulders or rolled slabs of lias limestone. At Penarth a sea-wall protects the shore for a short distance. Beyond this the Bristol Channel narrows, and its continuation may be regarded as the estuary of the Severn. On the south side of the Channel, opposite Lavernack Point, where it is 9 miles wide, is an extensive area of sands and mud, in Sand Bay, lying between Swall Point and the Knightstone Cliff at Weston-super-Mare ; and in Weston Bay between this point and Bream Down, nearly 1 miles wide, the surface of the beach being from 6 to 18 feet above low water, the tide rising here 42 feet above L.W.S.T. The sands, known as Berrow Flats, Gore sands and Stert Flats, skirt the coast for 8 miles, and opposite Burnham are 3 miles wide, the surface being from 5 to 30 feet above low water. The river Parrett finds its way to sea through Stert Flats. Westward of this the foreshore narrows to about a quarter of a mile except in the indents in the cliffs, where it reaches the third of a mile, the surface being 7 to 10 feet above low water. The sea has been making considerable encroachment along this part of the coast. According to local chronology, a brewery which once stood 300 yards inland has been swept away with all the land intervening. The Great Western Kailway Company have recently had to carry out extensive works for the protection of the railway, and in some places the sea had encroached within 10 yards of the line. At Blue Anchor, a little further to the west, the Somerset County Council had to construct a sea-wall for the protection of the main-road, for which, at the end of 1899, they obtained the sanction of the Local Government Board for a loan of 19,000, repayable in twenty-four years. THE WEST COAST. 325 Between Watchet and Blue Anchor Head the low-water shore dries out half a mile and is rocky, beyond which the beach is covered with large boulders and coarse sand. In the bight west of Blue Anchor to Minehead the coast is low, the beach being from 7 to 10 feet above low water. West of Minehead the rocks approach nearer the sea, and there is very little beach except in the bights of the bays. The coast for 4 miles is rocky, with shallow water extending out from the cliffs for half a mile, the bottom being covered with boulders and rocky spits. Porlock Bay lies recessed between Hurtstone Point (which consists of quartzose sandstone) and Gore Point. The beach is covered with boulders and shingle composed of greywacke and other local rocks, and beyond these is a considerable area of sand. From Porlock to Lynton the sandstone cliffs, which are 1100 feet high, descend to the water without any beach. West of Fore- land Point, which consists of hard quartzose sandstone, is the harbour of Lymouth, which lies in the valley of the West Lynn Kiver. The shore, which is recessed from the cliffs, is a mile in length, and is fronted by a mass of large boulders which dry at low water for a quarter of a mile. The harbour is protected by a ridge of gravel and sand a mile long and 250 yards wide, which lies parallel with the coast at a distance of a quarter of a mile seaward. The highest part of this ridge is bared at very low tides, and between it and the shore is a depth of 7 fathoms. The tide runs from 4 to 5 knots past this ridge. From Lynmouth to Bull Point the coast continues rocky, and the cliffs, which rise from 1100 to 1200 feet, are steep, with occasional breaks as at Martinhoe and Combe Martin Bay. At Watermouth is a sandy cove. The harbour at Ilfracombe, 6 acres in extent, lies in the break between Lantern Hill and Capston Hill. Helesborough Cliff on the east is 420 feet high, and is fronted by rocks dry at low water for a distance of 200 yards. Beyond Ilfracombe the coast is bordered by high cliffs which are intersected by Lee Bay. Morte Bay lies to the south beyond the western point of the shore of the Bristol Channel, and has a clear fetch to the southern coast of Ireland. It is 2J miles wide, and is recessed between Morte and Baggy Points 2 miles, the former consisting of slate rock with beds of quartz, and the latter of hard grey- wacke sandstone. It has a good sandy beach a quarter of a 326 THE SEA- CO AST. mile wide. Barricane Beach is covered with sand composed of sea-shells. Barnstaple Bay. On the west side of Baggy Point lies Barii- staple Bay, which is bounded at its southern extremity by Hart- land Point, a precipitous rocky cliff of hard carboniferous sandstone and shale 350 feet above the sea. The sea is wasting this cliff. The bay faces north-west, and is exposed to the full fetch of the Atlantic, the waves in north-west gales breaking on the shore with tremendous force. Spring tides rise 27 feet, and the flood tide sets along the shore first eastward and then north-easterly. The southern side of the bay is faced by cliffs as far as Eocks Nose, a little south of Westward Ho. In a break in these cliffs is situated the little harbour of Clovelly. The cliffs gradually die out to the sands and low ground on the north, which form the estuary of the rivers Taw and Torridge. The whole of this fore- shore is skirted by large boulders, terminating beyond the cliffs in the remarkable pebble ridge, of which a separate description is given. Inland, to the north of the river Taw is a large tract of sand- hills a mile in width, known as Braunton Burrows, terminating in Down Hill, 2J miles to the north. The sand-hills continue 011 from the north side of the Down End along the south-west side of Croyde Bay. The Northam Pebble Ridge. This accumulation of large boulders and shingle, forming a bank over 2 miles in length, is composed of the material eroded by the action of the waves, which break with great force on the cliffs extending along the southern side of Barnstaple Bay from Hartland Point to Eocks Nose, a distance of 13 miles. These cliffs rise to a height of over 350 feet, and consist of hard carboniferous grit of a dark slate colour, except at the western end, where this rock is interspersed with red sandstone and shale and a few pockets of glacial drift. The beach between the foot of the cliffs and low water consists of rocks cut and furrowed by the action of the sea in perpetually rolling about the large boulders which lie along its surface. Large fragments of rocks have in the course of ages been dislodged from the cliffs, the remains of which, perpetually rolled about by the waves of the sea during high tides, which here rise to a height of 27 feet, have acted as instruments for grinding their fellows, and battering the cliffs, and so producing the rounded boulders which now strew the beach throughout its whole length THE WEST COAST. 327 for several miles, and a portion of which, drifted along the shore of the bay, has become finally heaped up in the Northam pebble ridge. In some parts of the cliff indents of considerable size have been cut out, and across these the boulders have collected, and been thrown up into ridges and banks. At Abbotsham, about 12 miles from Hartland, there is such a bank, the top of which is 9 feet above high water of spring tides. This ridge or bank is about 160 feet wide, the boulders of which it is composed varying in size at the top from about 12 inches in length by 4 inches in diameter to pebbles 3 inches in diameter, the largest boulders weighing about 12 Ibs., those at the foot reaching to a length of 2 feet and weighing about 70 Ibs. Notwithstanding the large size of the boulders of which the bank is composed, its sea face is shaped into a ridge and hollow, similar to other pebble ridges, the position of which varies according to the height of previous spring tides. The pebbles left on the shelf or hollow at the spring-tide level are of a smaller size than those at the other part of the bank. The boulders scattered along the beach all lie above the level of low water of neap tides. The general direction of movement is eastwards, but the boulders follow the line of the coast and the set of the flood tide. This direction varies round the bay from eastward to south-east, east again and then north-east, and finally south-east. The direction of the wind which drives the heaviest sea into the bay is from the north-west. The Northam pebble ridge commences at the termination of the cliffs, and runs in a north-north-easterly direction for upwards of 2 miles across a low flat plain, which is below the level of high tides, until it falls into some hummocks of blown sand. It thus forms a natural embankment enclosing a tract of 900 acres of sandy and alluvial grass land, which is used for grazing purposes and also as golf links. After running along the foot of the sand- hills for a short distance, the pebble bank turns sharply to the south-east up the course of the outfall of the two rivers, the boulders diminishing in size to pebbles and coarse sand. There is an outlying bed of boulders, known as the Pulley, situated some distance from the bank, on the edge of the low-water channel of the river ; but these appear to be a fixed deposit, which neither increases nor diminishes in size. The ridge is approximately 180 feet wide at the base and 20 328 THE SEA-COAST. feet high, the top being about 25 to 30 feet wide and 6 feet above high water of spring tides. The boulders on the top of the bank vary in size from 12 inches in length by 6 inches in diameter to pebbles 1 inch in diameter, the average size being about 8 inches in length by 4 inches in diameter, the largest being 12 inches long and weighing from 40 to 50 Ibs. At the foot of the bank are to be found boulders measuring from 15 to 18 inches in length and weighing from 100 to 150 Ibs. The size of the boulders does not vary much throughout the length of the bank. The greatest collection of small stones appears to be on the shelf or hollow at the level of spring tides, where the pebbles vary from \ inch to 4 inches in diameter. Some of the larger boulders have been drifted quite to the far end of the bank. The boulders consist entirely of the same description of slate- coloured carboniferous grit as the cliffs from Hartland to Abbots- ham are composed of, and there can be no doubt that they have drifted from this part of the coast. At the commencement of the ridge there are fairly numerous samples of shale and red sandstone pebbles from the cliffs between Westward Ho and Abbotsham, but these gradually disappear further along the ridge, the softer rock of which they are composed evidently not being able to withstand the constant grinding process produced by the wave-action of the tides and wind. From the foot of the bank to low water the beach is covered with sand, which dries from a third of a mile at the south end to three-quarters of a mile at the northern end. There is a very slow but continuous drift or movement of the boulders along the bank northwards. The progress of the ridge being stopped by the sand-hills, the bank has bifurcated at this point, a new or double bank now forming, a circumstance which has occurred within the knowledge of those who have known the bank all their lives. The boulders composing the ridge are in perpetual motion during the time that the bank is covered by the sea at spring tides. Even in calm weather in summer the whole face of the bank is continually changing under the influence of the wave-action of the flood and ebb-tide, which is of sufficient force to cause the movement of the large boulders. Observers who have carefully watched this movement and marked individual stones, find that they are never in the same place two tides running, and each THE WEST COAST. 329 spring tide leaves its impress in a hollow and ridge at high-water mark. In heavy on-shore gales these ridges and hollows are oblite- rated, and the face of the bank is pulled down seaward, the extent to which this is carried depending on the force and duration of the gale. After the storm, and when the height and force of the waves have subsided, the pebbles begin to move back again ; the contour of the bank becomes more steep, and is soon restored to its normal condition. During the winter at the end of 1896 there was a succession of westerly gales, culminating in a very heavy storm from the north- west. The bank was torn down and so lowered that the waves broke over it and inundated the enclosed land. Some of the largest boulders were thrown over the top of the ridge and hurled a considerable distance inland, where they remain as a witness to the force of the gale. The disturbance of the boulders was so great under the action of the waves, that after the gale it was found that the base of the bank was moved 10 yards inland, the clay bed on which it had rested previously being exposed. A somewhat similar movement took place during a gale about twenty years previously. The peculiarity of this pebble ridge, and the way in which it differs from ordinary shingle-banks, is in the large size of the boulders drifted along the coast, and heaped up by the action of the waves and tides. The action of the waves on this bank has been graphically depicted by Charles Kingsley in " Westward Ho," where he de- scribes the sea as having defeated its own fury by rolling up, in the course of ages, a rampart for the protection of the land at the back, on which the waves, breaking at high water and continually rolling the boulders up and down its sea slope, cause a loud murmur which may be heard at a considerable distance ; but when the mighty surges due to a ground swell rolling in from the ocean break on the bank, this murmur increases to a loud roar, " the everlasting thunder of the long Atlantic swell." This is frequently the harbinger of a coming storm, when the sea breaks on the shore with all the fury due to a heavy onshore gale, and then it is that the advancing waves hurl some of the boulders up the slope, throwing them over the top of the bank for a consider- able distance on to land at the back, while others, rattling down the face of the bank with each retreating wave, create a deafening roar, which may be heard several miles inland. 330 THE SEA-COAST. Coast of Cornwall. From Hartland Point the coast for 15 miles trends south, and is bordered by rocky cliffs varying in height from 120 to 700 feet. The sea washes the foot of the cliffs except in some of the bays and indents. From Cleve 'Point to Bude there is a narrow strand under the cliffs. At Widemouth Bay the shore trends south-westerly to Tintagel Head, which rises 250 feet above the sea, and the coast continues steep and rocky to Pentire Head, which consists of greenstone and trap. On the south side of this headland is the outlet of the river Camel, and the harbour of Padstow. A bar of sand and shingle stretches across the entrance to the river, and within the bar is an extensive tract of sand named Doom Bar. The sand on the beach consists of comminuted sea-shells, principally mussels, and is largely used for manure, several thousand tons of this sand having been removed by the farmers for this purpose. In 1609 an Act was passed (7 Jas. I., c. xviii.) making it lawful for any person to take from the shores of the coast of Devon and Cornwall, below high water, the sea-sand " which by long trial and experience had been found very profit- able for the bettering of land, especially for the increase of corn and tillage." There are sand-hills consisting of shell-sand blown off the beach of considerable height, which have advanced inland, burying farms and houses and the church of St. Edenoch. The coast from Trevose Head, on the south side of Padstow Bar, is rocky and precipitous, and much indented to Mawgan. At Constantine Bay, on the south side of Trevose Head, are hills of blown sand. In the recessed cliffs between Port Mawgan and New Quay in Watergate Bay, for upwards of 2 miles, is one of the few sand-beaches along this rocky coast. Beyond New Quay the coast trends nearly due south, and is embayed between Towan Head and St. Agnes' Head, a hard slate rock, and in the embayment is Perran Bay, where the coast is bordered by a sandy strand and sand-hills. The Perran sand- hills have been kept in check and prevented drifting inland by a river for 2 miles between Treamble and Holy well Bay. Much land has been covered in one place by the drifting of these sands, due principally to the stopping up of a small stream near Gear by mining operations. The sands running over the low land behind Holywell Bay near Crantack were stopped by a streamlet near Tregal. THE WEST COAST. 331 The old church of Peranzabuloe, which was at one time com- pletely buried in the sand, became again uncovered by its drifting further inland. South of St. Agnes' Head, which rises 617 feet, there is a narrow beach at the foot of the cliffs, which here run due south. St. Ives' Bay, which lies deeply recessed between St. Ives' Head, composed of greenstone, and Godevry Head, a compact sandstone and slate cliff, is 3J miles wide, and faces nearly north, the depth being 2 miles. The bottom of the harbour is covered with sand, and there is some shingle. The coast is composed of cliff-bound slopes. In the centre of the bay is an estuary which is the outlet of the river Hayle and several smaller streams. The sand-hills which border the bay cover several square miles, the sand consist- ing chiefly of broken shells. From St. Ives the coast trends south-westerly to Cape Corn- wall and the Land's End, and is rocky and much indented, the cliffs rising from 50 to 200 feet. Whitesand Bay is set back between these headlands, and faces nearly due west. The sand beach in this bay is also composed of broken sea-shells. From the Land's End round to Mount's Bay the cliffs, com- posed of granite, are steep and rocky and washed by the sea. Mount's Bay lies between the Eunnel Stone and Lizard Point, a distance of 18 miles, the bay facing south. It contains several minor bays and five harbours. On the western coast the cliffs are low and the shore is rugged, consisting of large masses of loose rock ; the eastern cliffs consisting of igneous rocks and green- stone. Near Newlyn the cliffs rise to 40 feet, with a flat stony shore and a shingle beach. In Kynance Cove the red, green, grey, and yellow coloured serpentine cliff has become polished by the beating of the waves; the variegated colours of the cliff, and of the boulders at the foot, forming a striking contrast with the white sand of the beach. The beach continues sandy to Penzance, which lies embayed, and between it and Newlyn the coast is wasting, the destruction having been very rapid during the last half-century. A wall has been erected to protect the road, which was in danger. The shingle-bank is 12 feet above the marshes at the back, and rests on clay, the top being 14 feet above high water. It is 20 yards distant from the line of ordinary high water. The pebbles are composed largely of quartz derived from the debris of the granite rocks in the bay, and have been worn down by the continual 332 THE SEA- CO AST. drift over 2 or 3 miles of shore, travelling to the eastern head- land with westerly winds and to the opposite headland with easterly winds. On the other side of the headlands the shingle is of a different character. Below the shingle the beach is covered with fine sand for 33 yards to low water. There is also a bank of fine white sand, consisting of quartz, mica, and hornblende. At the eastern end of Penzance Bay the cliffs at Marazion, consisting of Devonian slate, are continually wasting. The beach, which is half a mile wide, is covered with sand, and there is a bank of granitic sand. St. Michael's Mount is an island joined by a low causeway one-third of a mile long to the land, and consists of an isolated mass of granite 195 feet high. It has been separated from the mainland by the* wearing away by the sea of the softer slate rocks of which the cliffs consist. The cliffs around Cuddon Point are high and precipitous, with several rocky ledges on the shore to Prussia Cove, where they decrease in height, and have a sandy strand. From Hoe Point eastwards the coast is low and a small bay is formed between two headlands, with a sandy beach called the Pray Sands, which extend 250 yards to low water. Beyond this the shore is bounded by heavy masses of loose rock. From Port Leven the coast is low with a sandy beach, after which the cliffs rise to a height of 200 feet, the shore continuing sandy for some distance. Near Helstone is a deep indent known as Loo Pool, the entrance to which is blocked by a bar of shingle, the top being 34 feet above low water, and 100 to 130 yards wide, completely stopping the outfall from the river Caher, and the water being ponded back, a large pool 173 acres in extent is formed. In wet weather, when the water rises 10 feet above the normal level, a narrow channel is cut through the shingle and the surplus water is let off. As soon as this is accomplished, the cutting fills up by the drifting shingle. The shingle extends to a depth of 150 feet below the surface of the land, and consists of pebbles derived from the debris of the neighbouring rocks, principally of quartz, granite, serpentine, and shale. CHAPTEE VIII. DESCRIPTION OF THE COASTS OF THE NORTH OF FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND DESTRUCTION LITTORAL DRIFT AND WORKS OF PROTECTION. Cape Barfleur to Cape Antifer. Cape Barfleur forms the western headland of the great bay of the Seine, Cape Antifer forming the eastern headland, the distance between the two being 55 miles, the greatest depth being 24 miles. This bay is open to all winds from north-west round by north to north-east. The flood tide sets into the bay and along the shore in a south- easterly and easterly direction till the Seine is reached, when one set of the tide is easterly into the estuary, and the other north-easterly some distance off the shore to Cape Antifer, when a counter-tide sets down the coast in a south-westerly direction, which, flowing round Cape la Heve, also enters the Seine. The rise of spring tides in the bay is from 18 to 22 feet. The shores of the western side of the bay of the Seine are low and sandy, backed by sand-hills. Sixteen miles south-east of Cape Barfleur is the Bay of Grand Vay, and a large sandy estuary into which the rivers Vire and Aure, Taute and Douve discharge. The outfall channel of these rivers through the sands has been trained by rubble-stone embankments; the tide being stopped from flowing up by flood-gates, which automatically close with the rising tide and open again on the ebb. Between Grand-Camp and the Bay du Vay a shingle-bank protects some fertile land. This bank is sometimes breached in high tides, but after the storm the shingle works back and fills the breaches. Four miles east of Grand Vay chalk cliffs commence, which rise to a height of 400 feet, and extend for 2 miles along the coast. At the Point de la Percee a shingle-bank with several fulls extends out in an east-north-easterly direction for three-quarters of a mile, being in the same direction as the set of the flood tide along the shore. Beyond the chalk cliff the coast again becomes low and 334 THE SEA-COAST. sandy, the beach, which is 350 yards wide and covered with muddy sand and shingle, being bounded by sand-hills. At St. Honorine the shore becomes precipitous, the cliffs being composed of rock and clay intersected by narrow ravines, in one of which is situated Port-en-Bessin. The shore here is steep and covered with shingle. A shingle-bank, which extends from the rocks at St. Honorine to another projection on the coast, affords protection from the sea to some marsh-land behind. The shingle at Port-en-Bessin, and also that at Villerville and other places on the coast of Normandy, has not increased in a sensible degree for a very long period, the waste by wear and tear being about equal to the supply from the cliffs. 1 From Arromanches eastward for 20 miles the cliffs change to undulating hills sloping gently up from the shore. The beach extends out for some distance, in front of which is the plateau of Calvados, a rocky flat, which runs parallel with the shore for 13 miles, extending out for 1 J miles, having only half a fathom on it at low water. At Courseulles the sand accumulates on the west side of the harbour, forming banks which render access to the west jetty-head sometimes difficult. There are also low sand-hills on the shore. At Oystreham is the sandy estuary of the river Orne and a wide expanse of sand called the Banes de Merville, which are dry at low water, extending out beyond the shore for li miles. The river, which formerly pursued a winding course through these sands, has been trained by stone banks. The piers and entrance here are much encumbered by the accumulation of sand after easterly gales. From the estuary of the Orne to the river Dives the coast consists of sand-hills, which in places are half a mile wide and have a width of 800 yards. Beyond this the coast rises, the cliffs consisting of clay and stone, fronted by a sandy beach, from 400 to 500 yards wide. There are frequent landslips along this length. From Trouville the clay cliffs continue round into the Seine; shingle being banked under them above high water, and drifting round the point past Villerville up to Honfleur. The estuary of the Seine, which is 7 miles across from Trou- ville to Havre, is encumbered by a vast area of sand-beds which 1 " Etudes sur la Navigation des Kiviferes a Maree," par M. Bouniceau. Paris, 1845. CAPE BARFLEUR TO CAPE ANTIFER. 335 extend out from the shore on the south side from 6 to 7 miles in a triangular form, the base being 14 miles long. The depth at low water over this area is only from 1 to 2^ fathoms. In the middle of the entrance to the estuary are the two banks of D'Amford and Katier, consisting of a base of clay covered with stones and large shingle, which are dry up to half-flood. The cliffs on the north side of the estuary, which consist of chalk, stand back from the coast-line, and at their foot for 4 miles is a broad alluvial flat on which are situated Havre and Har- fleur. The beach is covered with debris from the chalk cliffs, and at Hoc Point there is a large collection of shingle. The cliffs along this shore are continually wasting. At Cape la Heve the loss is estimated at a yard in a year, and during a tempest in 1862 between 15 and 16 yards were eroded. The lighthouses have twice had to be set back. In the twelfth century the Church of St. Addresse, on the top of the cliff, was nearly a mile from the coast-line on a spot now occupied by sand-banks. 1 The drift material along the coast north of the Seine sets in two opposite directions from Cape Antifer with the set of the tidal current the main set of the flood tide and drift going northerly from the cape, and a counter-tidal current being deflected by the headland and drifting the shingle southward, which, working round the point at Cape la Heve, sets along the foreshore of the Seine to the Point of Hoc. From Cape la Heve, which is 300 feet high, chalk cliffs con- taining flints extend along the coast in an almost unbroken line to Ault, 6 miles west of the river Somme, a distance of 142 miles, the average height being 200 feet. The annual loss of these cliffs has been estimated at a foot a year, or 5 J million cubic yards. There are generally sixty seams of flints in the cliffs, varying in thickness from 3 to 12 inches, the average being taken at 3 inches, making a total thickness of the beds of 15 feet, or seven per cent, of the chalk. Taking the annual loss of the cliffs at 1 foot, the quantity of flints thrown on the beach at their foot would be half a million cubic yards a year. These flints soon get broken and ground into pebbles by the waves, leaving one-third of the original quantity on the beach in the form of shingle and two- thirds as sand. 2 It is estimated that the quantity of shingle drifted along the 1 " Fortes Modernes," par Cordemoy. Paris, 1900. 2 " Les Cotes de la Haute Normandie," par De Lamblardie. Havre, 1789. 336 THE SEA-COAST. coast annually is 42,000 cubic yards at Treport, 39,000 at Dieppe, 23,400 at Valery-en-Caux, and 6500 at Fecamp. Large quantities are annually removed for ballast and for other purposes, 18,000 cubic yards being taken from the beach at Havre, and large quantities at Fecamp, Dieppe, and other places. 1 From Cape la Heve to Cape Antifer the coast is bordered for 11 miles by an unbroken line of chalk cliffs containing flints, which rise to a height of from 320 to 370 feet. There are continual falls of chalk and flints from these cliffs. Between Cape la Heve and the valley of St. Jouin, 3 miles south of Cape Antifer, large masses of shingle are banked against the foot of the cliffs, the drift of the shingle being southerly. On the north side of the valley the sea washes the foot of the cliffs. At Etretat the chalk cliffs are broken by a wide valley, the low land on which the village stands being protected by a shingle-bank. Iport, another fishing village, is also sheltered by a natural high shingle-bank, the beach in front being encumbered by rocks which uncover at low water. The remains of ancient cliffs standing out seaward of the present coast-line are indicated by the Etretat Needle and the Guillemot and Yaudieu Bocks, which rise to a height of 53 feet. The small port of Fecamp, 9 miles east of Cape Antifer, stands in a break in the high cliffs where the rivers Yalmont and Ganze- ville discharge into the sea. The west side of the harbour is pro- tected by a high bank of shingle derived from the chalk cliffs, the easterly drift of which is stopped by the west harbour jetty extending out from the shore. The coast between Fecamp and Valery-en-Caux consists of chalk cliffs with flints. The shingle, drifting from the west, accumulates against the west jetty of the harbour and forms a bar across the entrance. Occasionally the accumulation becomes so great that shingle which has worked into the channel has to be removed. Shingle accumulates in the greatest quantity in south- west winds. The harbour of Dieppe is placed in a valley down which runs the rivers Bethune and Aure to the sea. The chalk cliffs rise to a height of 200 feet on both sides of the harbour, having seams of flint 6 inches thick and 2 feet apart. On the west side of the harbour the beach is about 300 yards wide, with a large accumula- tion of shingle, the pebbles being chalk flints derived from the 1 " Fortes Modernes," par Cordemoy. Paris, 1900. NORTH OF FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND. 337 cliffs ; the drift to the east being stopped by several groynes, which are described at page 347. Formerly there were two sea approaches to Dieppe one at the foot of the cliff to the east by a channel formed by the rivers Eaulue and Bethune, and the other at the foot of the rocks to the west by the river Arques. The west entrance has become choked by shingle, and a great part of the town stands on this shingle-bank. Before the west harbour had become choked with shingle, vessels were able to go up the estuary as far as Boutrilles. To the east of Dieppe the shore is bordered by precipitous chalk cliffs, which rise to a height of over 300 feet, and are washed by the sea at their foot, where there is a rocky shelf covered at low water. Five miles east of Dieppe, in a recess between two projections, is a beach the surface of which is from 2 to 9 feet above low water, and a narrow beach of sand and gravel continues to Treport. Treport lies in a valley below the cliff at Mont Huon, which is 322 feet high. The entrance to the harbour is much encum- bered by shingle drifting along the coast from the west. To prevent this the jetties have had to be lengthened from time to time. Between Treport and Ault the chalk cliffs are broken by nine valleys, the shore being bordered by a rocky ledge dry from 10 to 15 feet at low water for a quarter of a mile from the cliffs, and having a narrow sandy strand. The chalk cliffs end at Ault, the coast becoming low and marshy, and being protected from the sea by a bank of shingle 350 yards wide, which slopes down to the land, and is backed by sand- hills which continue to La Hourdel. The village of Cayeux is surrounded by the dunes. In westerly gales a great quantity of blown sand is heaped up in front of the town and also carried inland. In front of the dunes is a sand beach which dries at low water for half a mile. The shingle on the beach gradually diminishes in quantity, and finally disappears at the entrance of the river Somme, 6 miles from the termination of the chalk cliffs. Formerly the shingle drifting along the coast accumulated at Hourdel Point at the entrance to the Somme, beyond which it never passed, causing it to advance 20 feet a year ; but a wooden jetty and groynes which were placed on the beach have stopped further drift. The estuary of the Somme lies between the town of Cayeux and 33 8 THE SEA-COAST. St. Quentin Point, the space between these headlands being filled with sand (which is uncovered at low water) to a height of from 2 to 16 feet. North-east of the Somme the coast is low and bordered by ranges of sand-hills to Kouthianville Point, fronted by a strand which dries for half a mile at low water. It is bordered by low land and marshes, the greater part of the bay having been reclaimed. Since the river and the stream flowing into it above Abberville have been diverted by the Somme Canal, the sand has accumulated in the estuary and nearly filled up the bed. North of Kouthianville is the estuary of the river Authie, the entrance to which is 2 J miles wide, and extends the same distance inland, the whole area being covered with a large accumulation of sand and broken shells, which dries at half-ebb. The tendency of the sand-banks of this estuary is to advance northward, Eouthianville Point having moved in that direction 550 yards between 1835 and 1878. Further northwards the shore continues low and sandy, and is bordered by a range of sand-hills of moderate height, with a sandy strand half a mile wide. At the back of the sand-hills is low land, beyond which is a second range of dunes 1J to 2 miles inland. Further to the north-east is the bay of Etaples, a large sandy estuary 2 miles wide, forming the outlet for the river Canche. It is filled with sand and broken shells, which dry at half-ebb. The sand-banks of this estuary, like those of the Authie, have a tendency to move northward, the two points which border the estuary having moved 330 yards since 1835. To prevent the destruction of the navigation by the filling up of the estuary, the channel has been fixed to one course over a length of 2 miles by training-walls of chalk blocks. Boulogne, further along the coast, is situated in a valley. The cliff, composed of Jurassic rocks and chalk, is 300 feet high, and continues to Yimereux, where it is bordered by sand-hills which extend to Audercelles. Beyond this the land rises from the shore in a succession of hills and valleys, and in places the shore is bordered by perpendicular cliffs with a sandy beach at the foot the third of a mile wide, and a rocky shelf 350 yards wide. Cape Grisnez stands out as a bold dark grey chalk headland, which marks the change in the direction of the coast-line from north to east. The rock, which is precipitous, is 167 feet high. NORTH OF FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND. 339 Large masses of broken rock lie at the foot of the headland partly covered with sand, which dries at low water for a quarter of a mile. Extending out from the shore on the north of Cape Grisnez in an east-north-easterly direction for 4J miles is a bank of sand and broken shells, the shoalest part being from 4 to 6 feet above low water. This bank has been caused by an eddy tidal current due to the sudden change in direction of the coast-line, the tide running past the headland in a north-easterly direction, and then curving round suddenly to the east along the altered direction of the coast. At the termination of the rocks to the east of Cape Grisnez the shore becomes low and sandy, bordered by sand-hills. Cape Blanc Nez is a high cliff of white chalk, the coast eastward being steep to Sangatte, where commences the low sandy shore which continues along the remainder of the coast to the Texel. The sand-hills are low to within 1 miles of Sangatte, whence they rise in height towards Calais, and spread out into several parallel ranges. The sandy beach at Sangatte is a quarter of a mile wide, increasing at the west pier of Calais to 1000 yards, with an inclination of 1 in 60. Between Calais and Gravelines the coast is bordered by sand- hills, which in some places have become so low that they have had to be protected by an embankment. In front of the dunes a sandy strand extends out nearly a mile from the shore, with an inclination of 1 in 1000. Spring tides on this part of the coast rise 19 feet. Between Gravelines and Dunkirk the shore is low, and a flat sandy beach extends out half to three-quarters of a mile. At Dunkirk the sand drifted by westerly gales is arrested by the harbour jetties, which project 500 yards beyond the shore, forming a large sandbank, the top of which is not covered at spring-tides. Off the coast between Calais and Dunkirk are numerous shoals of black and grey sand, which run parallel with the shore and extend out several miles from it. They are generally long and narrow, and converge in direction towards the Straits of Dover. These sandbanks are all very steep on the shore side, with a gentle slope towards the offing. At some banks there is a depth of from 19 to 20 fathoms at less than half a cable from the southern edge. 340 THE SEA-COAST. The Coast of Belgium. From Sangatte on the French, coast to the Texel on the north of Holland, the coast consists of a low sandy shore, bordered the greater part of the distance by saiid- dunes, which form the principal protection from the sea of the low-lying land behind them. Beyond Dunkirk there is very little movement of the sand, and the beach is in a more or less stable condition. At certain parts of the coast of Belgium considerable en- croachments were made at one time on the dunes during high tides and storms, but the protection works carried out about three centuries ago, and which have since been maintained and strengthened, stopped further erosion. From a comparison of various charts and plans dating from the beginning of the present century, and of surveys made of the coast in the years 1833 and 1870, the conclusion arrived at by a commission appointed to investigate this matter was that no material alteration in the general features of the beach has taken place. 1 In some parts there has been a gradual wasting of the beach, and the low-water line has approached nearer the shore. Measurements taken, in 1870 and 1883, of the height of the beach at the groynes between Ostend and Heyst showed that, with one or two small exceptions, the beach had been neither raised nor lowered at these groynes, although during that period there had been some very heavy storms. Near Nieuport, the sand beach is about 400 yards in width, with a slope between high and low water of 1 in 80. The dunes here are nearly a mile in width, and vary in height from 50 to 80 feet, the highest hill being 114 feet. Both the beach and the dunes diminish in width towards Ostend, the beach being only about 330 yards wide at Middel-Kerke, the high-water line being from 15 to 30 yards from the foot of the dunes before the sea-wall was built. At Maria-Kerke, where the dunes almost disappear, the beach is flat, the average slope being 1 in 70. The whole of the coast in front of these two villages is now protected by a sea-wall and groynes. A chart of 1725 shows that at that time the dunes were of very little width at this part, and that it had become necessary to protect the coast by the stone-pitched bank d'Albertus, and % groynes made of bricks and fascines. Beyond this to Ostend * \\ l De Mey, "Ports Modernes." \v NORTH OF FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND. 341 the dunes are about 170 yards wide, and their face is protected by brickwork and groynes. On the east side of Ostend the sand beach is about 300 yards wide between high and low water, the inclination being 1 in 60. Ostend is protected by a stone pitched sea-wall 710 yards long, built at the beginning of the last century, in front of which the beach diminishes in width to about 200 yards. The beach is protected by four low masonry groynes running out at right angles to the shore. A new wall in front of the town has recently been constructed, of which a description is given in Chapter V. The groyning is described at page 348. Eastward of Ostend the beach widens again to 400 yards, the slope between high and low water being 1 in 77. Near Aubette, high water reaches the foot of the dunes. Beyond the Point of Wenduyne, groynes constructed of fascines and stones extend all along the frontage to Heyst, a distance of 8 miles. They extend out at right angles to the shore to low water, a length of 230 yards, and are spaced about the same distance apart. The first erection of these groynes was commenced in 1604, and they have since been slowly added to. Near Wenduyne the dunes are protected by a brick wall 666 yards long. Eastward of Blankenberghe, the dunes are reduced to a mere heap of sand, lying against the bank constructed by Comte Jean after the great storm of 1280, when the sea broke through the dunes and inundated the country. The bank, with a short break at Heyst, continues to Knocke, a length of over 2 miles, and is the principal defence of the country. This bank is 23J feet above low water ; the top is 15 feet and the base 55 feet wide, the slope on the sea side being 4 to 1. The bank consists of clay backed by the sand-dunes. Near the lighthouse at Blankenberghe the dunes are protected for about 1 J miles with a pitching of random stone. The top of the bank is paved with bricks for a width of 76 feet, forming a roadway. During a great storm and high tide in 1788, nearly half the dunes at Blankenberghe were cut away and their height greatly reduced, after which the sea-face was protected for a length of 300 yards by " a bank of precaution," which is protected by stone pitching. Between Blankenberghe and Heyst the dunes are only from 35 to 55 yards wide, and even less in some places. 342 THE SEA-COAST. Beyond Heyst the dunes increase in width to about 300 yards, and at Knocke, on the west side of the entrance to the Scheldt, are about three-quarters of a mile wide, and from 50 to 80 feet high ; the beach in front being 360 yards wide, with an inclination of 1 in 50 between high and low water. East of Heyst the dunes divide into three separate ranges, with " pannes " or cultivated land lying between. At Zwyn a new dune is forming across the site of the old creek, which extends for 550 yards in length by 27 yards wide and 20 feet high. A large tract of land, formerly part of an arm of the sea, has been > reclaimed between Zwyn and the Scheldt, a bank for pro- tecting the land having been built in 1240. The last embank- ment was made in 1872. On the low shores of the north coast of Belgium and Holland, dykes have been constructed for the reclamation and protection of the land on a grander and more imposing scale than in any other part of the world. The islands of Walcheren and Beveland, at the mouth of the Scheldt, suffered constant inundations from the sea between the ^ fourteenth and eighteenth centuries. Walcheren is protected by dunes along the greater part of its coast-line, but on the most exposed part on the north-west side the dunes are wanting, and this part in the ninth century was protected by the West Kapelle bank. This bank was breached in 1808, and the island inundated. It has more recently been reconstructed. A description of this sea-wall is given in Chapter V. (page 111). Originally the alluvial land at the mouth of the Scheldt con- sisted of a number of separate islands. Walcheren contains ten of these islands united into one between the end of the fourteenth century and the middle of the fifteenth century. Goepee and Overflakkee were also separate islands, covering about 10,000 acres. By means of sixty successive advances of the banks, these separate enclosures have been brought into a single island con- taining 60,000 acres. 1 Along the shore to Cadzand, at the entrance to the Scheldt, the coast has been protected by fascine groynes for about 3 miles. This part suffered severely from the inroads of the sea in 1658. The Coast of Holland. From the Scheldt to the Texel the 1 Conrad, Address International Navigation Congress at the Hague, 1898. NORTH OF FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND. 343 Dutch coast continues much of the same character as that already described, but is more exposed. Holland is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and depends either on natural dunes or artificial banks for its preservation from the sea. Altogether there are 1550 miles of dykes or sea- walls to maintain on the coasts of the North Sea and on the Zuyder Zee. Careful measurements of this part of the coast have been made by the Dutch Government during the last half-century. Between the years 1843 and 1846, they caused to be placed all along the Dutch coast, extending from the Helder to the Hook of Holland, a distance of 75 miles, at the foot of the sand-hills, oak posts at intervals of one kilometre (O62 mile) to form a permanent base line ; and from these, at regular intervals, measurements have been periodically taken to the foot of the dunes on the land side, and to the low-water line on the sea side. The results are recorded in the Proceedings of the Dutch Institution of Civil Engineers. 1 They are also set out in con- siderable detail, and tables given for the different periods, in the report of a Commission appointed to investigate the shell fishery of the coast, issued in 1896. 2 The coast between the two parts named forms the arc of a very large circle, the depth of the embayment in the centre being 5J miles. The main direction for the southern part faces about north-west, and of the northern part west-north-west. The winds which have most effect on the coast are those from the south-west, changing round to north-west. The set of the flood tide is from south to north, the range decreasing from 5 feet at the Hook of Holland to 4J feet at the Texel. The coast-line is bordered seaward by a sand beach extending from 100 to 120 yards to low water, lying at a slope of about 1 in 70 ; and on the land side by sand-dunes, which vary from 1 to 3 miles in width, and from 40 to 50 in height. These decrease in size towards the Texel. With the exception of the detrital matter brought down in suspension by the river Mass, there is no source from which a 1 "Tidschrift Van bet Koningklijk, Instituut Van Ingenieurs " (1883). 2 " TJitkomst Van het Onderzoek of de Schelpvisscherij Langs de Noordzeekust Nadeelig Kan Zijn Voor Het Weerstandsvermogen Van Het Strand en het Behoud Der Duinen als Zeewering " (1896). 344 THE SEA-COAST. supply of material to feed the beach can be obtained. The cliffs which border the French coast, from which the shingle and sand on the beach there is derived, terminate at Sangatte. The drift of the shingle and sand from the erosion of these cliffs extends, as already described, only for a limited distance, and dies out a little beyond Calais and Dunkirk. The Dutch coast, between the periods to which the present investigations extend, has been subjected to two disturbing elements, in addition to one abnormally heavy gale in December, 1 894 ; the opening out of the new waterway to Kotterdarn through the Hook of Holland; and the construction of the harbour at Ymuiden for the entrance to the Amsterdam Canal. The long jetties and piers extending across the beach, led to a considerable transposition of material at those parts of the shore ; but the effect was local, and extended only over a short distance. As a general result, the measurements show that during the last half-century, on the Dutch coast, the sea has been encroach- ing on the land. The low-water line has crept landward, and the beach has become more steep. There has also been a wasting away of the foot of the sand-dunes. For the first part of the period over which the observations extend (1843-56), there appears to have been a retreat of the low-water line from the shore, and consequent increase in width of the beach, in the northern portion of the coast for the first 44 miles, and this continued up to 1866 to a less extent. After this the low-water line began to advance landwards until 1877, when the northern beach began again to grow wider, but the decrease continued along the southern half. On an average there has been a loss of beach along the whole coast between 1846 and 1894, the total average loss for the forty-six years being 52 yards for North Holland and 36 yards for South Holland. The greatest change has taken place between the Helder and Petten, a distance of 12 miles, the low-water line having advanced landward an average of 53 yards. Near Callangstoog, where the effect of the great gale of 1894 was most felt, the low-water line is from 66 to 90 yards more inland than in 1846, and the foot of the dunes has been driven back more than 100 yards. Near Zandvoort there has been a gain of 33 to 40 yards. Near Scheveningen the low-water line has approached nearer the shore, over a length of about 4 miles for about 66 yards, and the NORTH OF FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND. 345 foot of the dunes lias been scoured away to an average of 33 yards, and in one place as much as 133 yards. The dunes have also wasted, although in a less degree. From the Helder to Egmont, a distance of 25 miles, there has been an average loss of about 50 yards. From there to Ymuiden the foot of the dunes has remained about stationary ; and from Ymuiden to the Hook of Holland, excluding the part at Scheveningen, there has been an average gain of about 22 yards. Ymuiden Harbour is situated nearly in the centre of the embayment, and the piers project about a mile out from the shore. The works were commenced in 1865, and finished in 1876. Since the commencement of the piers, sand has accumu- lated both on the north and south sides of the harbour, and in 1894 the accumulation had extended along the north pier seaward for a distance of about 500 yards, and along the beach for 1J miles, this being the measure of the two sides of the triangle forming the pocket where the material had collected. On the south side of the harbour the seaward measurement of the accumulation was at the same period 120 yards, and along the beach about \\ miles. The sand thus accumulated appears to be due to a trans- position of material, as previous to the piers the beach was increasing at this part of the coast, and has since considerably diminished. The accumulation at the jetties forming the entrance to the Maas, which extend seaward about a mile, has not been so great. On the north side the sand has extended seaward, since the construction of the jetties in 1863, 2426 yards, the width of the extension along the beach being 2 miles. On the south side the accumulation extends outwards 233 yards. Here also there is a corresponding diminution of the beach for some distance to the north of the jetties. In December, 1894, there occurred a very heavy gale, accom- panied by the highest tide on the Dutch coast recorded during the last century, when an immense amount of damage was done to the fishing fleet. Out of 200 boats moored at the foot of the sand-hills near Scheveningen, not one escaped without injury, and many were entirely destroyed. The damage done to the sand-dunes, on which this part of the country depends for its protection from the se'a, was very extensive, and throughout nearly the whole length the foot was washed away, leaving the 346 THE SEA-COAST. mounds with steep sides. The stone pitching on the Helder Sea Dyke was damaged over a surface of about 5000 square yards. In North Holland the tide broke through the sand-hills in several places, and near Callanstoog the hills were breached for a distance of 2 miles, the tide inundating the low land behind. In former times there was considerable loss along the coasts of Holland and Belgium. At Scheveningen the church, which was once in the middle of the village, now stands on the shore, and half the place was overwhelmed by the sea in 1570, 128 houses being swept away, the boats of the fishermen being driven into the middle of the village by the fury of the waves. Katwyk, which was once far from the sea, is now on the shore. The beach and dunes during the last 1800 years have been driven back two leagues, and the ruins of some old buildings are occasionally come across by the fishermen at a considerable distance from the shore. The ancient villages of Helder, Nieuwediep, Huisduinen, and Langebourt, with dunes and banks for a width of over a mile as shown in an old map of 1571, have all been swallowed up by the sea, the site of the old town of Helder being now over 1330 yards from the present shore. The village of Egmont, as shown on a chart of 1686, is all gone. During a period of 200 years the church of the village, the town hall, the school, the lighthouse, and about 175 houses have been swallowed by the sea; and land over 200 yards wide, covered with houses, has been lost, with all that was on it, by the fury of the North Sea. During the storm in the sixteenth century great damage was done to the dunes at Petten, which at that time had only a narrow width, but were reduced by it to a mere heap of sand. For a long period a system of gradually retiring backwards as the sea advanced was pursued by the occupiers of the land on this part of the coast. Between 1730 and 1872 the coast-line had receded 580 yards, and the ancient village of Petten was destroyed by the sea. After an unusually severe storm in 1863, when the inundation of a great part of North Holland was threatened by a breach of the sandbanks, it was determined to abandon this system of retreating from the sea, and to protect the dunes by permanent works, and a bank of considerable magnitude was con- structed^ description of which is given in Chapter V. (page 113). NORTH OF FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND. 347 Groyning. On the French, Belgian, and Dutch coasts a con- siderable amount of groyning has been done for the protection of the coast. At Grand Camp, in Calvados, some upright groynes which had been fixed on the beach were replaced by triangular or A-shaped structures, similar to those described at Bridlington, the top being level with H.W.S.T. The object of these sloping groynes was to raise the shingle evenly on both sides, the wave-stroke falling over with less force on to the beach on the lee side than with the upright groyne. The result was said to be satisfactory. 1 At Dieppe the groynes, which are from 10 to 11 feet in height, consist in some cases of solid balks of timber, 12 inches by 10 inches, laid horizontally, and supported by piles spaced 5 feet apart, with two struts 7 inches square, attached to 12-inch by 12- inch oak piles. The top row of balks is held in place by 2 \ -inch by 1^-inch iron straps, other groynes have a solid horizontal balk at the top, with a double row of 2-inch planking spiked to the piles. The shingle is very unevenly distributed along the shore, in some places being level with the top of the groynes, and in others there being a drop of about 10 feet from one side to the other. Altogether there are eight groynes spaced 110 yards apart, the two at the west end being 200 yards apart. They extend to the foot of the beach, a distance of 120 yards. At 170 yards to the west of the harbour, a large triangular- shaped groyne has been constructed for the purpose of forming a receptacle for the shingle which passes the other groynes, and thus preventing its drifting into the harbour. This is constructed of timber, with 12-inch square centre piles spaced 10 feet apart, with a 12-inch by 16-inch timber raking on each side at an angle of 45 degrees, and fastened to two short piles driven into the beach, and held together by cross-timbers. On the side timbers 4-inch planking is spiked. The inside is filled with shingle. This groyne is horizontal for 40 yards from the shore, and then slopes at an angle of 1 in 7^ for 82 yards to low water. On the Belgian coast, the beach consists of sand, the slope below high water of spring tides lying on an average at an angle of about 1 in 50 up to as much as 1 in 100. Groynes have been placed transversely to the coast, which have had the effect of fixing the sand and forming a regular slope. The principal use of groynes on these sandy coasts is to intercept the currents 1 " Ports Modernes," C. de Cordemay. Paris, 1900. 348 THE SEA-COAST. which, during the rise and fall of the tide on the beach, flow along thejpws running parallel with the coast, produced in heavy on-shore gales. These lows, if the run of water is not stopped, sometimes attain a considerable depth, scouring out the sand down to the clay and peat of which the substratum of the beach is composed, and extend nearly to the foot of the dunes, render- ing the falling of the slope occasioned by tempests and great tides more considerable. This system of low groynes placed transversely to the coast is considered to have the effect of pre^- venting the formation of these lows, and maintaining the beach at a regular slope and in a better condition for the spread of the waves. At Maria-Kerke and Middel-Kerke, the sands on the beach, which extend out to low water for a distance of from 300 to 330 yards, are flat and wet, containing low places and swills, and over the greater part of the length there used to be a low place near the foot of the wall. The average inclination is 1 in 70 to 1 in 100. The sand is largely composed of broken shells. At Maria-Kerke the roadway and promenade on the dunes have been protected by a sea-wall or pitching of random masonry ; and at Maria-Kerke of brickwork, with sheet piling at the foot of the slope. The top of these walls is 14^ feet above H.W.S.T., and the slope of the pitching, which is finished with a short vertical length and stone coping, is 1 in 2. This walling extends to Ostend. The foot of the pitching is a little above the level of high water. Westward of Ostend is a low arched groyne 40 feet wide, composed of basalt blocks varying in size from 5 to 3 feet by 1J feet, with wattled faggots on each side, which extends about two-thirds of the way to low water. This groyne has been serviceable in raising the low places in the beach and forming a dry level strand near the shore. In 1899 the Case Syndicate erected a number of low wooden groynes, of the type described in Chapter VI., in front of the sea- walls at Maria-Kerke and Middel-Kerke. The author inspected this beach soon after the groynes were put down, and at that time there appeared to be a tendency for the higher parts of the sand to drift into the lows. In some places the sand had risen to the top of the groynes, being about a foot higher on the west side. The general effect appeared to be the same as at the brick and fascine groynes at Ostend and other parts of the Belgian coast. Considerable damage had been done to the NORTH OF FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND. 349 groynes by a recent storm, some of the uprights being broken off, the planks washed away, and the concrete base disturbed. It has since been stated that the sand has been raised 3 feet in the low places near the foot of the sea-wall, burying the foot for 2 yards, the sand sloping from the shore at an angle of 1 in 15 for 15 yards. At Ostend, in front of the sea-wall, the groynes extend out from the sea-wall at right angles, to low water a distance of from 150 to 200 yards. Some are composed of an arched pitching of brick paving 30 feet wide, rising in the centre about 3 feet above the beach, and protected at the sides by bermes of fascine work 13 feet wide. Other groynes are constructed of fascine work 26 feet wide at the upper end, increasing to 40 feet at the lower end. The fascines are laid in a curved form to a radius of 3 feet, which corresponds with their rise above the beach in the centre. The fascines are fastened down with stakes 5 feet in length, and from 2 to 3 feet apart. In some cases random blocks of stones are placed between the stakes. The beach is very level, and the surface of the sand under normal conditions is the same on both sides of these groynes, the sand being highest near the sea-wall. From Wenduyne to Heyst the beach is protected the whole way with groynes of masonry or fascine work, placed at right angles to the coast, and extending to low water a distance of 225 yards, and the same distance apart, the slope being about 1 in 50. This system of groyning was commenced about 300 years ago, and has been gradually extended. The groynes are low, and do not appear to have led to any accumulation on the beach. A comparison of surveys made from time to time since 1833 shows the beach in places to be from 2 to 2 feet higher, but for the greater part of the distance the level appears to be unaltered, the general condition of the littoral of Flanders being practically the same as when the groynes were first constructed. At Scheveningen and other parts of Holland, the groynes 350 THE SEA-COAST. erected for the purpose of collecting or preventing the denudation of the sand from the beach consist of a layer of mattress-work made of willows secured in place by piles. This is used for the purpose of preventing the stones sinking into the fine sand. On this mattress-work is placed a layer of rubble basalt about 18 inches in thickness. These groynes extend to some distance below low water, certain lengths reaching at Scheveningen to 325 yards, the average length being about 120 yards, and the full width 40 feet, the distance apart being a little more than that of the length. The willow mattress does not last longer than about twenty years, and consequently the groynes frequently require reconstruction. Similar groynes are used on other parts of the coast. On some of the groynes the piles project above the shore as much as 6 feet. There is a strong controversy as to whether this does good or harm, the more general modern opinion being that they are injurious. In addi- tion to their uselessness, these piles, projecting above the beach over a wide area, are a great eyesore and give a dismal appearance, and tend greatly to destroy the beauty of the shore where they are used in front of a watering-place. In some cases these groynes collect sand or raise the beach, but their general effect is only to prevent denudation. Where the beach is steep, say at an angle of 1 in 25, they are most effective, but when the slopes reach 1 in 50, little or no accretion takes place. At West Kapelle, the groynes for the protection of the coast of the Island of Walcheren, and more particularly of the sea-bank between Domburg and West Kapelle, are of a very substantial character. They vary in length, the average being about 130 yards, the maximum distance apart being 300 yards. They con- sist of from two to four rows of fir piles, 8 inches in diameter, 12 to 18 feet in length, and projecting 6 feet above the beach, driven from 6 to 8 inches apart. They are connected by walings on each side, and divided into bays by cross-timbers. The space between the piles is filled with clay, brushwork, and stones, some of these being 2 feet square. They rake at a broken slope, the angle varying from 1 in 23 near the bank to 1 in 35 further out. At the end of each groyne mattresses are placed 130 feet in length. The piles formerly were studded with worm nails to 6 J feet below high-water level, having broad flat heads, the rust from which stopped the action of the teredo. At Schleswig and Holstein the sea- dykes are protected by NORTH OF FRANCE, BELGIUM, AND HOLLAND. 351 n . 11 352 THE SEA-COAST. groynes, which run out a long way across the sands. Experience has shown that when these groynes extend only a short distance, although they are serviceable in preventing the beach from being hollowed out, they do not lead to any accumulation of sand. When they are extended outwards from 430 to 560 yards they afford practical protection to the sea-wall, and cause a rise in the upper part of the beach. These groynes are from 2 to 3 feet high, made of mounds of earth covered with grass and matting, having a top width of 4 feet, with slopes of 4 to 1 on the windward side and 3 to 1 on the lee side (Min. Proe. Inst. C.E., vol. xxi.). On the north coast of the Island of Schouwen, for the purpose of preventing the waves from the North Sea forming deep lows close to the shore and endangering its safety, groynes were placed at right angles to the coast, spaced 164 yards apart. These were constructed of layers of fascines covered with stones and fastened down to the beach with oak staves. The result was satisfactory. The cost of maintenance of from 18 to 25 groynes between the years 1872-86 was given as 5703, equal to 19 a year for each groyne. For the purpose of protecting the coast of Mecklenburg near Kostock, and to keep open the entrance of the Warnemunde by trapping the sand drifting along the coast, and thus creating a beach, groynes spaced 1 J times their length were erected in 1889, for a length of 2J miles along the coast, and carried to a depth of 8 feet. They consisted of piles 8 inches in diameter driven 3^ feet, and pitched in two rows 2 J feet apart. Fascines were packed between the piles, and secured by transverse timbers and walings. The piles at the end of the groynes were sunk 5 to 6 feet, and the fascines weighted with stones. The result was quite successful, the drift of the sand, which is very fine, being stopped by the fascines, and a beach formed 55 yards wide and to a depth of 6J feet. UNIVERSITY OF INDEX ABBOTSBURY, Chesil Bank, 144, 147 Abergele, 315 Aberthaw, 323 Aberystwyth, 319 Admiralty Pier, Dover, 209 Adur, river, diverted by shingle, 69, 182 Aldborough, or Aldeburgh, 282, 27 Aide, river, 283 Alderney breakwater, 15, 20 Aldington, 184 Aldwick, 177 Alluvium, 23, 57, 60 , analysis and composition of, 58, 57 at mouth of Humber, 239 , clay, 57 , effect in making water turbid, 59 , formation into salt marshes, 60 found in ocean at mouth of rivers, 50, 60 not derived from sea, 59 not drifted along the coast, 58, 61 , settlement in salt and fresh water, 62 , silt, 57 , size of particles, 57 , specific gravity, 57 , time taken to settle in water, 65 Alnwick Bay, 214 Alum Bay, 168 America, sand-spits on East Coast of, 45, 46 Anglesey coast, 317 Annaside, 303 Antifer, Cape, 333 Arrish Bay, 157 Arromanches, 334 Atherfield, 170 Atherington, 181 Ault, 337 Axe river diverted by shingle, 69, 139 Axmouth, 139 P, BABBACOMBE BAY, 135 Baker, SirB., on pressure of earthwork, 91 Ballard Point, 158 Baltic, sand-spits in, 44 Banbury Castle, 213 Barfleur, Cape, 333 Barmouth, 318 Barnstaple Bay, 326 Barricane Bay shell sand, 326 Barry Island, 323 Barry, Sir J. Wolfe, Dymchurch sea-wall, Bars, Boston Deeps, 242, 70 , river Adur, 182 , river Blytb, 71 , river Deben, 71 , river Mersey, 70, 314 Basalt, use for sea-walls, 197 Bawdsey, 284 Bay du Vay shingle-bank, 333 Beach protection, object to be attained, 3 Beaches, control of Board of Trade over. See BOARD OF TRADE , lows or swills in, 40, 118, 235 , meaning of word, vii. , raised, 146, 149 , removal of material from, law relating to, 5 ; when this may be permitted, 6 , supply of material on, limited, 4, 33 Beachy Head, 191 Beacon Cliff, 290 Beal Point, 213 Beard, Mr., system of groynes, 127, 194 Bee sands, 112 Beer Head, 139 Belgium, coast of, 340 Bembridse, 173 Benacre Broad, 275 Bents. See SAND-DUNES Berrow Flats, 324 Berry Head, 133 Berwick, 214 Beveland, 342 Bexhill, 193 Birchington, 296 Blackgang Chine, 170 Blackpool coast, 307, 84, 105 Bay, 132 Blakeney, 246 Blanc Nez, Cape, 339 Blankenbergh, 341 Blue Anchor coast, 324 Blyth coast, 214 Blyth, river, 279 Board of Trade, inspector sent to hold inquiry as to damage to coast from storms, 249, 264 , care of Spurn Point, 237 , permission required from, to erect groynes on a beach, 128, 159, 249, 274 2 A 354 INDEX. Board of Trade, powers as to removal of material from beaches, and prevention of same, 5, 176, 238, 315 Bognor, 176, 101 Bonchurch, 171 Bootle, 303 Borth coast, 318 Bouldnor, 174 Boulogne, 338 Bournemouth Bay, 161, 35 Brading Harbour, 173 Brancaster, 247 Branscombe, 138 Braunton Burrows, 326 Braystones, 302 Bridlington, 227, 220, 122, 83 Bridport, 142, 143 Brighton, 183 Bristol Channel, 322 British Association, papers read at, vii., 277 , Reports, 140, 162, 167, 180, 181, 200, 212, 222, 281, 294, 300, 300, 308, 313 Broad Sands, 133 Broads in Norfolk, 262, 265 Brook Point and Bay, 170 Brydges, 0. A., Bognor sea-wall, 101 Bude, 330 Budleigh Salterton, 136 Burning Cliff, 157 Burrows. See SAND-DUNES Burry Inlet, 321 Burton Bradstock, 142 CADZAND, 342 Caermarthen Bay, 321 Caister, 263 Calais coast, 339 Calder, river, 302 Caldy Island, 321 Callanstoog, 346 Calshot Castle, 166 Cape Antifer, 333, 335 Barfleur, 333 Blanc Nez, 339 Cod, 45 Grisnez, 349 La Heve, 335 Cardigan Bay, 317, 319 Carnarvon Bav, 317 Case, Mr., system of groynes, 124, 125, 203 Aldborough, 283 Blackpool, 310 Borth, 318 Cromer, 256, 257 Deal, 301 Dymchurch, 202 Eastbourne, 192 Lowestoft, 273 Maria-Kerke, 348 Middel-Kerke, 348 Mundesley, 260 Southwold, 279 Weymouth, 156 Worthing, 181 Case and Gray, Messrs., Report on Holder- ness coast, 224 Cayeux, 337 Cay ton Bay, 218 Chale Bay, 170 Chalk cliffs, coast of France, 333-337 flints. See FLINTS Char mouth, 141 Cherbourg pier, 80, 15, 18, 19 Chesil Bank, 144, 25, 17 Chesilton, 145 Chewton landslip, 164 Chichester Harbour, 167 Chines, 170 Chit Rocks, 138 Christchurch, 162, 16 Clacton, 291, 90, 102 Clay, 57 , rate of deposit in water, 65 Cleethorpes, 238 Cley, 247 Cliffs, destruction of, 31 Coast, destruction, v., 2, 23, 31 , cost and policy of preservation, 2 , example of cost of protection on Yorkshire, 2 ; scheme for protection, 3 , questions to be considered in design- ing protective works, 3 Collins, Grenville, charts, 197, 199, 265 Colwyn Bay, 168, 316 Combe Martin Bay, 325 Compton Bay, 169 Comte Jean, sea-wall, 341 Coode, SirJ., Chesil Bank, 144-148 , , Hove sea-wall, 98 , , Spurn Point, 238 Cooding, groynes at, 119 Coolernose Point, 214 Coquet Island, 214 Cornish, Dr. Vaughan, sand beaches, 151 , , Chesil Bank, 147 Cornwall, coast of, 330 Corton, 268 Covehithe, 276 Cowes, 174 Cranz, sea-bank, 114 Cressy, T. H., Clacton sea-wall and groynes, 103, 292 Cromer coast, 251, 28, 249 groynes, 254, 124 Point, 218 Crown rights to the shore, 128 Cubitt, Sir W., Rye Harbour, 198 Culver Cliff, 173 Curische Haff, 44 Curry Point, 215 D DAUBUEE, experiments on wear of rock fragments, 32 Deal, coast of, 296 Deben, river, 284 Dee estuary, 314 Deposit of solid matter in water, table showing rate of, 65 Dieppe, 336 Donna Nook, 238 INDEX. 355 Double dykes, 161 Douglas, 'W. T., Lowestoft defences, 274 Dover, 208, 80 Dovvnlands landslip, 139 Dowson, system of groynes, 308, 313 Drift. See LITTORAL DRIFT Duddon estuary, 303 Dunes or denes. See SAND-DUNES Dungeness, 198, 27, 33 Dunkirk, 339 Dunnose Point, 172 Dunstanburgh, 214 Dunwich, 280 Durdle Door, 157 Durham coast, 213 Durlston Head, 158 Duvver shingle-bank, 174 Dymchurch, 200, 84 EARTH, pressure of, on back of sea-walls, 91 Easington, 234 East Wear Bay, 209 Eastbourne, 191 Easton Bavent and Broad, 276, 277 Eccles, coast and sand-dunes, 261 Eden, river diversion by shingle, 302 Egmont, 346 El berry, 133 Ellice-Clark, Hove beach and sea-wall, 98, 184; Newhaven beach, 191 Elliott, Mr., Dymchurch sea defences, 201 Embankments. See WALLS Embleton, 213 Engineer, the, articles on Coast Protection, vii. English Channel once dry land, 24 Eskers, 244 Eskmeals, 303 Eta pies, 338 Etretat, 336 Exe, river, estuary, 135 Eype mouth, 142 FARN ISLANDS, 214 Fecamp, 336 Felixstowe, 287, 107 Felpham, 177 Filey Bay and Brig, 219 Finistere shingle-bank, 39 Fishcotnbe Cove, 133 Fishguard Bay, 319 Flamborough Head, 221, 216 Fleet, the, 144 Fleetwood, 306 Flints from chalk, 35, 336 , source of, and colour, 27 , wear of, by attrition, 33 Flot defondw&vea, 11 Folkestone, 207, 23, 121 Fraisthorpe, 230 France, coast of, 333 Freshwater Bay, Isle of Wight, 168 , Pembroke, 321 Frinton, 290 Fulls, shingle, 36 G GALES, effect of, on movement of shingle, 72 Geike, Professor, deposit of solid matter in water, 62 Gillingworth, History of Lowestoft, 264, 270 Giltar, 321 Glacial Period, accumulation of sand and shingle due to, 24 Golden Cap Cliff, 141 Goodnngton Sands, 134 Gorleston, 267 Gpswick, 214 Granite, wear of fragments, 33 Grantham, Mr., 181 , R. F., 182 Gravelines, 339 Great Ormes Head, 315, 316 Grisnez, Cape, 338 Uround swell. See WAVES Groynes, 116 , A-shaped. See SLOPING , accretion due to, 119 , Beard's system, 127 , Board of Trade permission required to erect, 128, 159, 249, 274 , box, 160 , Case system, 125, 124, 257 , , validity of patent, 127 , conclusion as to the use of, 128 , cost, 123, 257 , direction, 122 , distance apart, 118 , Dowson system, 308, 313 , height, 121 , length, 122 , on sandy beaches, 117 , on shingle benches, 119, 121 , sloping, 122, 229, 241 , temporary, 122 , wave-action on, 116 Groynes at Aldborough, 283 Bawdsey, 284 Beeston", 249 Belgian coast, 347 Bexhill, 193 Birchington, 296 Blackpool, 308, 310 Bognor, 177 Bonchurch, 171 Borth, 318 Bouldner, 174 Bridlington, 229 Brighton, 184 Clacton, 292 Cleethorpes, 238 Colwyn Bay, 316 Cooding, ll9, 194 Gorton, 268 Cromer, 254, 124 Deal, 301 Dieppe, 347 356 INDEX. Groynes at (continued) Dover, 209 Dymchurch, 201 Eastbourne, 191 Eccles, 262 Fairhaven, Kibble estuary, 312 Felixstowe, 287 Felpham, 178 Fleetwood, 306 Folkestone, 208, 120 Fraisthorpe, 230 French coast, 347 Gorleston, 267 Grand-Camp, 347 Happisburgh, 261 Harwich, 289 Hastings, 194, 120, 123 Herne Bay, 296 Heyst, 349 Hornsea, 231 Hove, 187, 123 Hunstanton, 246 Hythe, 120, 205 Lancing, 182 Littlehampton, 179, 120 Lowestoft, 270 ; Case sytem, 273 Lyme Regis, 141 Mabletborpe, 122 Maria-Kerke and Middel-Kerke, 348 Mecklenburg, 352 Middleton, 178 Mundesley, 260 Newhaven, 190 Ostend, 349 Overstrand, 258 Pakefield, 274 Poole, 160 Reculvers, 296 Rhyl, 316 Kibble estuary, 312 Rossall, 307 Rostock, 362 Rottingdean, 189 Rye, 198 Sandgale, 206 St. Anne's, 312 St. Leonards, 194 St. Margaret's Bay, 212 Scheveningen, 350 Schleswig and Holstein, 352 Schouwen, 352 Seabrooke, 205 Shanklin, 173 Sheerness, 298 Sheppy, Isle of, 298 Sheringham, 249 Shoreham, 183 Sidestrand, 259 Sidmouth, 138 Southwick, 183 Southwold, 279, 121 Spurn Point, 238 Swanage, 159 Tremadoc Bay, 317 Trusthorpe, A-shaped, 241 Ventnor, 171 Walney Island, 305 Westgate, 294 West Kapelle, 350 Groynes at (continued) Weybourne and Blakeuey, 24i Weymouth, 156 Withernsea, 232 Worthing, 180 Yarmouth, 121 Ymuiden, 118 11 HALL Sands, 132 Hampstead, 174 Happisburgh, 261 Harbours and piers, effect on littoral drift, 33, 34, 118, 120, 121 Dover, 210 Folkestone, 208 Hastings, 195 Littlehampton, 179 Lowestoft, 269 Maas, 345 Shoreham, 182 Southwold, 278 Yarmouth, 266 Ymuiden, 118, 345 Harfleur, 335 Hartland Point, 326 Hartlepool coast, 216 Hastings, 194 , waves at, 20, 120 Haupt, L., on littoral drift, 45 Havre, 335 Hayburn Wvke coast, 218 Helder, the/114, 346 Hempstead, 261 Hengitsbury Head, 161 Herue Bay, 294, 106 Heyst, coast of, 340, 341 Hindle, Mr., groynes at Blackpool, 309 Holderness coast, 222 Holland, coast of, 342 Hollocombe, 134 Holme, 247 Holy Island, 213 Holyhead breakwater, effect of waves on, 15 Hondsbossche, sea-bank, 113 Hopes Nose, 134 Hopton, 267 Hordle, 164 Hornsea, 231 Horsey, sand-dunes, 263 Hourdel, Point of, 337 Hove, 183, 85, 17 Howick, 214 Huds Head, 213 Huisduinen, 346 Humber estuary, 238 , warp not derived from erosion of coast, 223, 61 Hunstanton coast, 245 Hurst Castle, shingle-bank, 165, 17, 25 Hutchinson, on the Chesil Bank, 152 , Isle of Portland, 154 Hythe, 904 ICE AGE. See GLACIAL PERIOD INDEX. 357 Ilfracombe coast, 325 Ilsbam beach, 134 Ingoldmells, '239 Institution of Civil Engineers, papers from Minutes of Proceedings, vi. Irk, river, diversion by shingle, 303 Isle of Wight, 1G7, 162 JETTIES acting as groynes. S?e HARBOURS AND PIERS KAPELLE-WEST sea-bank, 111 Katwyk, 346 Kessiugland, 275 Kilnsea, 234 Kimmeridge Bay, 158 Kinahan, on movement of stones in water, 28 Kirkley, 270 Knocke, 341 Knocks at Dymchurch, 200 Kynauce Cove, 331 LAMBLARDIE, coast of Normandy, 24, 25, 200 Lancing, 181, 28, 69 Land reclaimed from the sea, 23, 60, 239 Landguard Fort, 286, 289 Land's End, 331 Langebourt, 346 Langney Point, 191 Latham, F., experiments on force of waves, 19 Lavernack Headland, 324 Leasowe, 315 Leeward, meaning of, vii Leland, description of Chesil Bank, 152 Leven estuary, sea-wall, 107 Limestone, \vear of, by attrition, Lincolnshire coast, 238 Littlehampton, 179, 120 Littoral drift, 22 , description and classification of material, 22, 67 , direction of travel, 66, 73 , diversion of rivers by, 69 does not pass headlands in deep water, 67 due to tidal action, 15 , effect of stopping, by piers. See HARBOUR , enclosure of land by, 70, 132, 167, 176, 181, 326, 312, 331, 334 , material derived from the land, and not from the sea, 28 , quantity not inexhaustible, 33 , sorted by wave action, 23 , source of supply of material 22 , transporting agency, 71 Loans for coast-protection works Aldborough, 283 Bridlington, 228 Brighton and Hove, 183, 186 Felixstowe, 288 Lowestoft, 273 Sheringham, 350 Somerset, 324 Southwold, 279, 280 Swanage, 159 Local Government Board. See LOANS Lodmoor Marshes, 154 Loo Pool, 332, 70 Lovegrove, E. J., experiments on wear of rock fragments, 32 Lowestoft, 268 Lows in sand beaches, 40, 118, 235, 258, 259 Luccombe Chine, 170 Lulworth Cove, 157 Lyme Bay, 130 Lyme Regis, 141 Lynmouth, 325 Lytham, 312 M MA AS, effect of piers on beach, 118, 345 Mablethorpe, 240 Mackenzie, chart showing Shambles, 152 McDakin, Captain, 212 Mclntosh and Yallon sea-wall, Westgate, 101 Madoc Port, 318 Man Sands, 133 Maplin Sands, 293 Marazion, 331 Margate, 294 ; sea-wall, 83, 90 Maria-Kerke, 340 Marram grass, 49 , cut for thatching, 264 , laws relating to, 5 Marshes, salt, formation of, 60, 65 on Atlantic coast, 60 Marske, 216 Martinhoe, 325 Matthews, Mr. W., Dymchurch sea de- fences, 203 Menai Straits, 317 Meols, or Meals, 313. See SAND-DUNES Mersey estuary and bar, 314 Mewps Point and Bay, 157 Middel-kerke, 340 Middleton, 178 Milford-on-Sea, 164 Minehead, 325 Minsmere Head and Level, 282 Morecambe Bay, 305, 302, 24 Morte Bay, 325 Mounts Bay, 331 Mud. See ALLUVIUM Mudford, 164 Mudstone Sands, 133 Mumbles, the, 322 Mundesley, 260 N Nature, articles in, vii. 2 A 3 358 INDEX. Needles, the, 168 Netherstones, 302 New Brighton, 315 Newhaven, 189 New Quay, 330 Newton Burrows, 323 Nieuport sand beach, 340 Nieuwe Deep, 346 Niton, 171 Nordenay sea-bank, 115 Norfolk coast, 242 Northam Pebble Ridge, 326, 69 Northumberland coast, 213 O ODDICOMBE SANDS, 135 Ogmoor, river, 323 Oldhain, Mr., Holderness coast, 222 Orwell, 286 Osmington, 157 Ostend, coast of, 340 ; sea-wall, 111 Otterton Point, 134, 137 Overstrand, 258 Owthorpe, 233 Oystreham, 334 PADSTOW, 330 Pagham Harbour, 175, 26, 71 Paignton beach, 135 Pakefield, 272, 275 Palling, 261 Palmer on the movement of shingle, 71 Panfield Point, 157 Parrett, river, solid matter in, 65 Pebble ridges. See SHINGLE-BANKS Peg-well Bay, 294 Pembrokeshire coast, 319 Penarth, 324 Penmaen Mawr, 317, 89 Penzance, 331 Peranzabuloe Church buried in sand, 330 Perran Bay and sand-hills, 330 Peterhead, movement of stones by waves, 18 Petten, dunes, 346; sea-bank, 113 Pettitor Cove, 135 Pevensey, 193 Pevril Point, 158 Pick well, groynes at Withernsea, 232, 238 , Holderness coast, 222 Piers. See HARBOURS Platimore, 171 Plavender, 192 Plymouth breakwater, effect of waves on, 15, 18, 80 Poole, 169 Popples at Budleigh, 137 Porlock Bay, 325 Portland Bill and Island, 153, 130, 146 Portland breakwater, effect of waves on, 15 Portslade-by-Sea, 183 Pray Sands, 332 Prestwich, Sir J., on the Chesil Bank, 149 QUICKSANDS, 42 K 294 - sea-wall , 90 Ravenseyr and Ravcnserod, 237 Reclamation of land. See LAND Reculvers, 294 Redcar coast, 216 Redcliffe Point, 157 Redman, J. B., on grovnes, 118, 211, 254, 276, 277 Rennie, Mr., Dymchurch sea defences, 201 Rhyl, 316 Ribble estuary, 311 Ringstead Bay, 157 Rivers, diversion of, by shingle. SHIXGLE Robin Hood's Bay, 217 Rocken End, 171 Rocks, wear of fragments by attrition, 32 Rollers. See WAVES Romney Marsh, 201, 69 Rossall coast, 307 Rostock groynes, 352 Rottingdean, 189 See Runswick Bay, 217 Rye, 197, 69 S ST. ADDRESSE, 335 Agnes Head, 330 Alban's Head, 158 Ault, 335 Bees, 301 Bride's Bay, 320 Catherine's Point, 169 David's Head and Bay, 320 Donat's Cliff, 323 Govan's Head, 321 Ives Bay and sand-hills, 330 Leonards, 194 Margaret's Bay, 212 Osyth, 293 Salt water, effect of, on deposit of solid matter, 62 Saltburn coast, 216 Saltfleet, 240 Sand, 40, 69 , accumulation due to glacial action, 24 beaches, coast of Belgium, 340 ; France, 336, 43 ; Holland, 343, 43 , composition of beaches, 40 derived from land, and not from sea, 28 , drift of, 42, 68 dunes, 48. See also SAND-DUNES gullies or lows in beaches, 40, 118 , inclination of, beaches, 40 , movement by waves, 17 , quick, 42 ridsres and furrows in beaches, 43 shell, 68 ; Barricane beach, 326 ; Pad- stow and St. Ives, 330 ; used for manure, and Act relating to, 330 , size of grains, 40 INDEX. 359 Sand, specific gravity, 40 , suspension in water, 40 Sand-dunes, 48 , artificial growth of, 50 , effect on, from cutting down forests, 56 , laws relating to protection of, 5 , moisture in, 41) , nature of, 50, 5G , planting, 54, 56 , plants growing on, 49 , cultivation of, 50 , size of, 50 , slope of, 50 Sand-dunes America, 55 Barnstaple Bay, 326 Barrow, 51 Bay of Biscay, 52 Belgian coast, 340 Birkdale, 313 Bootle, 303 Braunton Burrows, 326, 51, 32 Dee estuary, 315 Denmark, 55 Eccles, 261, 51 Esk meals, 303 Form by, 313 French coast, 51 , 334-339 Holkham, 245 Holland, 343 Horsey, 263 Jutland and Schleswig, 55 Lake Michigan, 56 Lincolnshire coast, 51 Littlehampton, 179 .Mara/ion, 51 Mersey estuary, 315 Morecambe Bay, 305 Norfolk coast, 51 Oginoor, 51 Ormesby, 263 Padstow, 51 Palling, 261 Pembrey, 321 Perran Bay, 330, 51 Perranzabuloe, 51 Petten, 346 Poole. 161 Port Talbot, 51 , 322 Prussia, 55 Rhyl, 316 Kibble estuary, 51, 311, 313 St. Ives, 330, 51 St. Michael's Mount, 332 Sandscale, 303 Scotland, 51 Seascale, 302 Southport, 313 Southshore, 311 Suffolk coast, 51 Swansea Bay, 322 Waxham, 263 Wells, 245 Winter ton, 263 Yarmouth, 264 Sandgate, 206 Sand-le-Mere, 233 Sandown Bay, 172 Sandown Castle, 300 Sandscale, 303 .Sandsend, 217 Sand-spits, 43 African coast, 47 Atlantic coast, 46 Cape Cod, 46 Christchurch, 162 Curische Hatf, 44 Dantzig Bay, 44 Gulf of Mexico, 45 Sandy Hook, 45 Sandstone, wear of, by attrition, 33 Sandwich, 299 Sandy Hook, 45 Sangatte, 339 Sanibadrig shingle spit, 317 Scabbacombe Bay, 133 Scarborough coast, 218 ; sea-wall, 100 Scars or scaurs, 303 Scheldt, river, 342 Scheveningen coast, 346 ; sea wall, 19 Schouwen groynes, 352 Sea mat-grass, 49 Seabrooke, 205 Seaford, 189 Seascale, 303 Seaton, 139, <>9 Seatown, 142 Sea-walls. Sc-e WALLS Seaweed, stones floated by, 28 Seine, bay of, and estuary, 334 Sellafield, 302 Selsea Bill, 174-167 Settlement of solid matter in water. See DEPOSIT Shakespeare Cliff, 210 Shaler, movement of stones due to seaweed, 28 ; sea-beaches of Atlantic, 65 Shambles shingle-bank, 29, 132 Shanklin, 173 Sheerness, 297, 132 Sheppey, Isle of, 297 Sberingham, 248, 28 Shield on waves, 12, 21 Shingle, 35 , direction of drift, 66 diverting rivers, 69, 279-283; Aide, 283 ; Adur, 182 ; Axe, 139 ; Brede, 197 ; Eden, 302; Fleet, 69; Blyth, 270; Irk, 203 ; Sid, 138 ; Waveney, 263 ; Yare, 265 , effect of wave-action on, banks, 37 fulls, 36 , large pebbles at top of bank, 37 mixed with sand on beaches, 36 , movement of, due to tidal action, 75 protecting land, 70, 132, 167, 181, 312, 326, 327-331, 333-334 .quantity moved bv tidal shore waves, 78 , rate at which drifted, 38 , shape of pebbles, 38 , size of pebbles, 38 , slope of banks, 36 , source of, 24, 35 ; from chalk cliffs, 335 , top above high water, 38 , transporting agency, 71 , weight, 38 INDEX. Shingle-banks Aldborough, 288, 39, 69 Bay du Vay, 333 Cbesil, 144, 39, 69 Dover, 174 Dungeness, 198 Fairhaven, 312 Finistere, 39 Harwich, 39, 289 Hurst Castle, 165, 59, 09 Lancing, 181 Lytham, 312 Northam, 326, 38, 71 Pagham Harbour, 71, 176 Point de Perce'e, 333 Kibble estuary, 312 St. Honorine, 334 Selsea Bill, 71, 175 Shoreham, 182 Slapton, 69, 132 Spurn, 39, 236 Westward Ho, 33, 326 Weybourne, 248, 39 Wolferton and Snettisham, 245 Shingle-spits Harwich, 39, 289 Sarnbadrig, 317 Spurn, 39, 236 Shingle Street, 284 Shipden, 252 Shore, meaning of, vii. waves, 7 Shoreham, 182, 33, 120 Sid, river, 138, 71 Sidestrand, 259 Sidmouth, 137 Silt. See ALLUVIUM Skerries shingle bed, 29, 132, 133 Slag, wear of, by attrition, 33 Slapton, 132, 69 Slaughden, 282, 284 Slidel on deposit of solid matter in salt water, 62 Slutch, 314 Smeaton, Mr., Rye Harbour, 198 Smith, H. W., Scarborough sea-wall, 100 Snab Point, 214 Snetfcisham shingle-bank, 245 Solent, the origin of, 166, 164 Somme, river, 335, 337 South coast, 130 Southampton Water, 166 Southbourne, 161 Southend sea-wall, 104, 293 Southport, 314 Southsea, 167 Southshore, 308, 311 South wick, 183 Southwold, 277 Speeton Cliff, 220 Spiller, J., erosion at Southwold, 277 Spithead, 162 Spits. See SAND and SHINGLE Spurn Point, 236, 34, 5, 14 Staithes Nab, 217 Star-grass. See MARRAM Starling on deposit of solid matter, 62 Start Bay and Point, 130 Stert Flats, 324 Stevenson, Thomas, force of waves, 19, 20, 82 Stonebarrow Cliff, 141 Strahan, Mr., on the Chesil Bank, 151 Studland, 159 Sunderland coast, 215 Suspension of solid matter in water, 65 Sutton, cliff protection, 109 Sutton Cliffs, Bristol Channel, 323 Swansea Bay, 322, 158 TAYLOR, Geology of Norfolk, 253 Tees estuary, 216 Teign, river, 135 Tenby, 32 Thames estuary, 293 Thorncombe Beacon, 142 Thorpe Ness, 275 Tidal action on movement of shingle, 75, 31 Tor Bay, 133 Totland Bay, 168 Towans. See SAND-DUNES Transport of shingle, 71 Travel of beach material, 66 Tremadoc Bay, 317 Treport, 337 Trevose Head, 330 Trimingham, 259 Trouville, 334 Trusthorpe, 240, 241 Tynemouth, 215, 15 VALKRY-EN-CAUX, 336 Ventnor, 171 Vernon-Harcourt, Professor, on deposit of solid matter in water, 62 ; action of waves on sea-walls, 16 Villerville, 334 W WALCHEREN, 342 Walker, Mr., Dymchurch sea defences, 201 Wallesley pool, 315 Walls, sea, 79 , curved and concave, 81, 82, 85 , earthen, 85, 107 , effect of, on beaches, 88, 300 , effect of vertical, in throwing water upward, 81 , force operating on, 80, 87 , form of, 81, 86 , height, 94 , height of water raised by wind, 8 , materials for facing, 94 , pressure of earth on, 92 , projections from face, 88 , sloping, 79, 81, 82, 84, 85 , stepped faces, 83, 90, 94, 227 , strength, 91 , timber, 95, 107, 103, 280 , upright or vertical, 78, 82 INDEX. Walls, sea, water falling behind, 86, 87 , , waves acting on, 82 Walls, sea, at Alderney, 80 Belgium, 109, 341, 111, 94 Bexhill, 20, 193 Blackpool, 308, 84, 105 Bognor, 177, 101 Bridlington, 83, 227 Brighton, 184 Cherbourg, 80 Clacton, 90, 94, 103 Comte Jean, 341 Cranz, 114 Deal, 210, 300 Dover, 79, 80 Dymchurch, 201, 84, 94 Felixstowe, timber, 107 Felpham, 177 Hastings, 95, 195 Helder, 114 Herne Bay, timber, 106 Holland, 343, 111, 113, 114 Hove, 89, 94, 85, 109 Hythe, 205 Leven estuary, earthen, 107 Lowestoft, 272 Margate, 83, 90, 94 Nordenay, 115 Ostend, 111, 94 Penmaen Mawr, 89 Petten and Hondsbossche, 113 Ramsgate, 90, 94 Sandgate, 206 Scarborough, 99 Scheveningen, 94, 111 Seabrooke, 205 Sheringham, 250 Sidmouth, 139 Southend, 104 Southwold, timber, 280 Trusthorpe, timber, 107 Ventnor, 171 West Kapelle, earthen, 111 Westgate, 100, 90 Walmer Castle, 300 Walney Island, 304 Walton, 290 Warp, rate of deposit, 65 Wash, the, 241 , alluvial matter in, 61, 242 , source of sands, 25 Watchet coast, 325 Wavelets, tidal shore, 8 Waves, 7 , action on sea-walls and clift's, 88, 19, 31 , action on shingle beaches, 13 , breaking, 12 , depth at which sand moved by, 15 , dimensions of shore, 14 Waves, effect of groynes on, 116 effect on sea-walls, beaches, and cliffs, 19, 31 Plot de fond, or bottom, 11 force of impact, 19 ground swell or rollers, 11 height to which water thrown, 20 kinetic energy or power to move material, 19, 77 moving material, 17, 16 number of, in a minute, 14 on Hastings sea-wall, 20 power of, in moving shingle, 77 shore, 7 size governed by depth of water, 13 terms relating to, 14 tidal shore, 7 velocity of, 14 wind, 9 Waxham sand-dunes, 262 Wear of rock fragments by attrition, 33 Wear, river, 215 Wells Harbour, 246 Welsh coast, 316 Wenduyne, 341 West Kapelle groynes, 350; sea-wall, 111 Westgate sea-wall, 90 ; groynes, 294 Weston-super-Mare, 324 Westward Ho, shingle-bank, 326, 38, 71 Wey bourne, 248, 27 ; shingle-bank, 247 Weymouth, 154 Whitaker, W., 244, 276, 281 Whitburn sands, 215 \Vhitby coast, 217 Whitecliffe Bay, 173 Whitesand Bay, 320 Whitley coast, 215 White Nothe, 157 Winchelsea, 197 Wind, effect of, on movement of shingle, 72 , increase in height of tides due to, 8 Windward, meaning of, vii. Winterton sand-hills, 263 Withernsea, 232 Wolferton shingle- bank, 245 Woodward, Mr., 244 Worbarrow Tout and Bay, 157 Worthing, 180 YARE, diversion of, by drift, 265 Yarmouth coast and sand-hills, 264, 69 , lows in sand beach, 41 , Isle of Wight, 174 Ymuiden, effect of piers on beach, 118, 345 Yorkshire coast, 221 , material eroded from, not carried into Humber, 223, 61 , scheme for protecting, 3 THE END. PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BECCLES BY THE SAME AUTHOR. TIDAL RIVERS: THEIR HYDRAULICS, IMPROVEMENT AND NAVIGATION. With 75 Illustrations. $76 pp. Medium 8vo., price 16s. net. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. On the "Development of Hydraulic Science," gives a short account of the investigations and theories of engineers and mathematicians on the motion of running water, from GALILEO to the present time, and of the literature which has been issued on the subject. An historical summary of works which have been carried out for the improvement of tidal rivers and navigation. The motion of water in tidal rivers, and of the various formulae in exist- ence for ascertaining the velocity details of which are given in the appendix. The transporting power of water, and its action in the removal of solid material. The tides. This chapter deals with the theory of the tides ; the effect of wind and atmospheric pressure on the tides ; the progress of the tidal wave, and the peculiarities attaching to the tides on different coasts ; the variations in the rise of the tide, and the propagation of the tidal wave and the tidal current up rivers. The physical conditions of tidal rivers, and a description of their principal characteristics and of the agents at work in maintaining the channels. On bars at the mouths of tidal rivers, and littoral drift. On the principles to be observed in improving tidal rivers. Training, and its effect on the motion of the tidal water ; on accretion and reclamation ; on various forms of training walls and piers ; the use of fascine work, with descriptions and illustrations of that used in this country and abroad. X. Dredging. The various forms of dredgers in use are described, and a large number of examples of the methods in use and the cost of dredging in this and other countries are given. XI. On the requirements of navigation. Deals with such matters as the depth of water required for vessels of different tonnage, the tonnage and capacity of vessels, navigation of rivers, and other matters it is necessary an engineer should be acquainted with before dealing with a tidal river. XII. On buoying and lighting. Contains a large number of illustrations of buoys and river lights, with the cost of the same ; and also descriptions of the various kinds of lights in use, in harbours and estuaries, and of the universal system of buoying now adopted. XIII. On hydrographic surveying and marine surveying; the construction of charts and tidal observations, with diagrams and illustrations ; instruments used for obtaining velocity observations and samples of water. XIV. On the use of working tidal models for the purpose of investigating the action of currents and the movement of sand in estuaries ; gives a descrip- tion and illustration of the apparatus used by the Committee of the British Association and others, and a record of the results obtained. XV. A general description, with illustra- tions, of representative tidal rivers, including the Clyde, Tyne, Tees, Mersey, Dee, Ribble, Witham, Seine, Maas and Danube, and of the works which have been carried out for their improvement. In the APPENDICES are given the titles of books relating to hydraulics and tidal rivers ; equivalent English and French hydraulic terms and measures ; abbreviations used on marine charts ; datum levels of English and foreign countries, and of the principal dock sills in this country ; formulae for ascertaining velocities ; quantity of solid matter transported by various rivers ; compass bearings and angles ; marks of the lead line ; tonnage of vessels at various ports, and average size of vessels. LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. A History of the Fens of South Lincolnshire: BEING A DESCRIPTION OF THE RIVERS WITHAM AND WELLAND AND THEIR ESTUARY, AND AN ACCOUNT OF THE RECLAMATION, DRAINAGE AND ENCLOSURE OF THE FENS ADJACENT THERETO. Second Edition. Greatly Enlarged. With 16 Maps and Illustrations. 489 pp. Price 1 Is. Od. Chapter I. deals with the early history of the Fens, up to the period of their reclama- tion. Chapter II. treats of the constitution and functions of the Court of Sewers, the oldest drainage authority in the Fens, and con- tains an abstract of the Acts under which the Court now exercises its powers. Chapters III. and IV. relate to the Divisions of North and South Holland and contain a description of the various drainage and reclamation works, including the em- bankment of land from the sea : also an abstract of the Enclosure Acts in each parish. Chapters V. and VI. relate to the river Witham and the Districts into which its Level is divided. They contain an abstract of the Acts relating to the improvement of the river and to the management of each District ; a description of the works which have been carried out and of the drainage engines ; an account of income and ex- penditure and of the rates annually levied. Chapters VII. and VIII. describe the Black Sluice and the Districts in its Level, and contain information of a similar character to that given for the Witham. Chapter IX. deals with the rivers Wei- land and Glen, Bicker Haven and Cowbit and Crowland Washes. Chapter X. relates to Deeping Fen, Bourne South Fen and Thurlby Fen. Chapter XI. contains a description of the Estuary and an account of the various schemes of reclamation which have been proposed from time to time. Chapter XII. relates to Boston Harbour and the Witham Outfall, and contains an abstract of the Acts relating to the Harbour and Pilot Trusts ; an account of the works which have been carried out for the improve- ment of the Channel ; and also of the New Outfall Cut ; and of the means adopted for buoying and lighting the channels. Chapter XIII. is an account of the drainage system and a description of the drainage engines at Pode Hole and Lade Bank, with particulars of the cost of the erection and maintaining of the pumping machinery throughout the district. Chapter XIV. In this chapter the history of the local agriculture is traced from the time of the Saxons ; statistics, as to the rent of land at various times, before and after the reclamation, and also as to the rates of wages and the prices of pro- duce, are given. This chapter contains a review of the crops which are specially grown in the Fenland. Chapter XV. on roads, waterways, bridges, railways and means of transport, describes the various changes made in the management of the highways, together with the cost of their maintenance; a history of the various Turnpike Trusts ; statistics as to the mileage of roads and railways in relation to acreage ; abstracts of the Acts relating to canals, bridges, etc. Chapters XVI. and XVII. deal with the geology and water supply, natural pro- ducts, climatology and health. 'J he Appendix deals with the situations and names of places, including names now obsolete ; it contains a list of books and reports relating to the Fens ; the dates and titles of all the Acts of Parliament which have been passed relating to South Lincoln- shire ; a vocabulary of words used in the Fens ; statistics as to the rainfall, floods, temperature, wind and tides ; levels (re- duced to ordnance datum) of the sills and sluices, sea-banks, &c. ; borings made in the district ; an abstract of the verdict of the Court of Sewers for the Hundreds of Skirbeck and Kirton, giving the positions of the public and private sewers, and the orders made as to sea-banks. BOSTON: T. M. NEWCOMB. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL & CO. BY THE SAME AUTHOR. THE DRAINAGE OF FENS AND LOW LANDS BY GRAVITATION AND STEAM POWER. With Eight Illustrations of Pumping Machinery, Sluices, &c. 168 Pages. Price 12s. 6d. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION. II. DRAINAGE BY GRAVITATION. III. FIELD DRAINAGE. IV. 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