Figures

1 Introduction

(Figure 1) Shifting tidal bars at the mouth of the River Ore, Shingle Street, Hollesley.

(Figure 2) Ice Age drama at Bawdsey cliffs: grey mudstones of the London Clay were plastically deformed by the weight of ice sheet which deposited the brown till at the top of the cliff, so squeezing the gravelly sands of the Red Crag into a trough-like structure.

(Figure 3) The Eocene sea-bed c.53 million years ago, at Nacton Cliff. Pale bands of mudstone in the London Clay are evidence of volcanic ash falls into the sea. Carbon dioxide from these volcanoes contributed to making the early Eocene a ‘greenhouse’ world.

(Figure 4) 2 million years climate change graph Adapted from the chart 'Five million years of Climate Change from Sediment Cores' by RA Rohde, courtesy Wikipedia.

2 Origins of the landscape

(Figure 5) Mammoth jaw dredged from the North Sea off the Suffolk coast. Photo courtesy Rachel Bynoe, University of Southampton Photo courtesy of the Landesmuseum Natur Und Mensch, Oldenburg, Germany - https://www.naturundmensch.de/.

(Figure 6) Progressive sea-level rise in the North Sea basin, between 9600 and 6000 years BP, showing the shrinking of Doggerland and the establishment of a through-connection to the channel after about 7,000 BP. From a display panel at the Landesmuseum Natur Und Mensch at Oldenburg, Germany.

3 Pakefield cliffs

(Figure 7) The brown sediments of the Rootlet Bed can be seen at the base of the cliffs between Pakefield and Kessingland.

(Figure 8) A scene at Pakefield during a warm interglacial period 680,000 years ago. © Beverly Curl

(Figure 9) The antlers of Dama roberti, a newly discovered species of fallow deer, from Pakefield. © Norfolk Museums Service (Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery). Photograph by Dr Marzia Breda.

4 Benacre Ness

(Figure 10) The shingle ridges of Kessingland Denes.

(Figure 11) Benacre Ness on a quiet day. During storm surges the beach front may temporarily retreat as much as 35 m (115 ft).

5 Benacre Broad

(Figure 12) Norwich Crag cliffs and fallen birch trees at Boathouse Covert.

(Figure 13) Benacre Broad and blocks of eroded peat left by washover from a storm.

(Figure 14) Erosion is rolling back the coastline at Benacre Broad. Trees succumb to sand-blasting and sea spray as the shingle bar retreats landwards.

6 Covehithe

(Figure 15) Road to nowhere. Visitors may see old wartime drain pipes, electricity cables and bundles of barbed wire eroding out of the cliffs. Recently a concrete pillbox was swallowed by the sea.

(Figure 16) Reconstruction of a local tundra scene during the Baventian cold period. © Beverly Curl

(Figure 17) Sands, gravels and clays of the Norwich Crag formation exposed in Covehithe Cliffs. Similar deposits are forming offshore at the present day.

(Figure 18) Eroding cliffs at Covehithe, April 2006. Clay beds of Baventian age are exposed on the beach in the middle distance.

7 Easton Bavents

(Figure 19) Easton Broad, showing the beach bar reinforced with bulldozed shingle, 2006. The eroding cliff at Easton Wood is in the background.

(Figure 20) The Norwich Crag, showing a darker horizon of Baventian clay at the foot of the cliff, overlain by sands and gravels of the Westleton Beds. A mass of dumped clay spoil can be seen on the left.

(Figure 21) Sand-martins nesting in easily-excavated sandy horizons in Easton Bavents cliff. A mass of dumped clay spoil can be seen in the foreground. © A. & A. Kennis, www.kenniskennis.com

(Figure 22) Alachtherium cretsii, an extinct species of walrus. A fossil example of its jawbone has been found at Easton Bavents cliff Credit: Andy Robins, UKGE Ltd

(Figure 23) An antler of a large, extinct species of deer Eucladoceros falconeri.

8 Southwold

(Figure 24) Trawled finds from the bed of the North Sea, including a mammoth tooth (below, centre). Photo courtesy Rachel Bynoe, University of Southampton

(Figure 25) The offshore submerged course of the early Holocene river Stour / Orwell, compiled using bathymetric and seismic data. Image courtesy Relict Palaeo-landscapes of the Thames Estuary Project, University of Southampton.

9 Dunwich

(Figure 26) An artist’s impression of a map of old Dunwich 1587, from a lantern slide by AR Fisk, c.1910. The old harbour has been blocked by shingle. The red dotted line shows the line of the present coast. © Trustees of Dunwich Museum.

(Figure 27) The Westleton Beds at Dunwich Heath cliffs

10 Thorpeness

(Figure 28) Thorpeness cliffs looking north, showing pale sands of the Norwich Crag beneath orange outwash gravels and glacial clays.

(Figure 29) A fossil-rich block of Coralline Crag on the beach. It includes reef-building bryozoans (‘corallines’) after which the rock gets its name.

(Figure 30) Thorpe Ness, showing shingle beach bars backed by sand dunes and a line of low cliffs.

11 Aldeburgh

(Figure 31) Aldeburgh Brick Pit, 1931, showing beds of the Chillesford Clay Member (Norwich Crag) exploited for brickearth. Beds of glacial sand and gravel are lying on top. © British Geological Survey P236203.

(Figure 32) Storm damage to cottages at Crag Path, 1898.© British Geological Survey P205645.

(Figure 33) Coastal defences: the Martello Tower at Slaughden is protected by rock armour and groynes. The beach is regularly recharged by bulldozers.

12 Orford Ness and Shingle Street

(Figure 34) Parallel shingle ridges known as ‘fulls’ mark successive growth stages of the Ness. These may be many hundreds of years old. The circular shape in the foreground is the remains of a 20th century military installation.

(Figure 35) The spit at Shingle Street ness at low tide, October 2013.

(Figure 36) The Stony Ditch, a tidal channel draining reclaimed saltmarshes on the lee side of Orford Ness. The distinctive shapes of Cold War ‘pagodas’ can be seen on the horizon, built for testing explosive detonators.

13 East Lane, Bawdsey

(Figure 37) A specimen of fossil wood embedded in London Clay.

(Figure 38) A bay has developed in undefended Red Crag cliffs at Bawdsey.

(Figure 39) The Red Crag basement bed, showing flints and brown, phosphate-rich mudstone pebbles.

14 Bawdsey

(Figure 40) Red Crag cliffs, showing cross-bedding structures. Introduced holm oak, tamarisk and silver ragwort give the cliffs a Mediterranean aspect.

(Figure 41) Bawdsey Bar at low tide, October 2013.

15 Sutton Knoll

(Figure 42) A Coralline Crag exposure, showing sand martin holes in sandy limestones of the Sudbourne Member. © Roger Dixon; artist Louis Wood.

(Figure 43) ‘Suttona Antiquior’ — an artist’s impression of the «Pliocene Island’ at Sutton Knoll.

16 Felixstowe

(Figure 44) Red Crag outcropping in East Cliff, c.1905, before the Seafront Gardens and Spa Pavilion were constructed. Image courtesy Suffolk Coastal District Council.

(Figure 45) The Dripping Well, as seen during the heyday of the Seafront Gardens in the 1930s. Suffolk Coastal District Council

(Figure 46) Landguard beach viewed from the breakwater. Studies have shown that sediment moves southwards down the coast as far as this point, then moves offshore rather than continuing across the mouth of Harwich Harbour into Essex.

(Figure 47) Dunwich beach after a storm, 19th October 1911, showing building wreckage and the ruins of All Saint’s church on the cliff top. From a lantern slide by A.R. Fisk. © Trustees of Dunwich Museum

Title page and preliminaries

(Figure 48) Location map.

(Front cover) Front cover.

(Rear cover) Rear cover.