46 



VI. 

 COAST EROSION REPORT. 



BY 



G. DOWKER. 



Since my last report on the Coast Erosion, on the shore 

 between Deal and Ramsgate, and thence to Heme Bay, we have 

 had a remarkable storm and high tide, which happened between 

 the 27th and 29th of November, iSqy. 



The high tide was then accompanied by a North-East gale, 

 which seems to have followed the tidal wave from the North 

 sea. causing it to rise to an unusual height. At Ramsgate 

 harbour the height of the tide could not be exactly measured, as 

 it exceeded the maximum of the tidal guage at the harbour's 

 mouth, which registers a height of 23 feet lo inches. The 

 average height of high water here is 19 feet, so that in 

 this gale the tide was raised 4 feet i o inches above the normal 

 level. On the 26th instant the tide reached a height of 16 feet 

 10 inches only. On the 27th, two hours before high tide, the 

 sea was washing over the footpath in front of the Colonnade and 

 reaching the road in Lower Harbour Street, while two hours 

 later the waves were so high as to break over the entire 

 Colonnade, destroying that structure as may be seen in the 

 photograph No. i. The waves tore down part of the wall 

 of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway station, and 

 broke down the iron fence in front of the Colonnade, twisting 

 and breaking the iron standards as if they had been but lead 

 pipes. At the same time the waves were breaking over the pier 

 on the East, and carried away a large piece of the stone parapet 

 as seen in photograph 2. The cliffs between Ramsgate and 

 Broadstairs suffered severely from the chalk talus of the cliffs 

 being carried away. At Broadstairs the Jetty was wrecked, the 

 whole structure being under water and the foundation and large 

 blocks of concrete being carried away. Between Ramsgate and 

 Sandwich, near the " Sportsman," the sea flowed over the turn- 

 pike road into the marshes beyond, and a large quantity of the 

 grass-covered shore was carried clean away. At Stonar the tide 

 overflowed, filling all the lower parts of the Stonar beach, 

 converting it into a lake. In Sandwich also the water over- 

 flowed and flooded parts and the marshes in front. It is worthy 

 of note, however, that an old bank which had been raised two 

 feet since a former flood, was there sufficient to stem the tide. 

 At Sandwich bridge the tide rose to 14 feet, while the average 

 high tides are from eight to ten feet. At Margate the Marine 



