47 



Palace was entirely destroyed and the Jetty much damaged, the 

 waves entirely covering it, and all the fore-shore from Margate 

 to Birchmgton was much damaged by the washing away of the 

 supports to the base of- the cliffs. 



Whitstable and Herne Bay. 

 The whole of the promenade was placed under water at the 

 high tide, and many thousand pounds worth of damage done, 

 while the low-lying parts of Herne Bay were flooded, and at 

 Whitstable there were ten feet of water in the main street, and 

 several houses were washed away, including the old " Neptune " 

 pubhc house and the boat-building houses on the shore. 



Deal. 

 At Deal the effect of the tide was most disastrous to the 

 fore-shore. The town being chiefly built upon the beach, but 

 little above high water mark at spring tide, the waves threatened 

 the whole front of the town, and destroyed several boat houses on 

 the beach and flooded a large portion of the lower-lying portions 

 of the town. At Sandown there is a large natural embankment of 

 beach stretching along the shore from Sandown Castle ; this 

 has been accumulating for several years, and the beach, thrown 

 up by the sea, forms a protection as regular as a railway 

 embankment, and has completely shut out the sea from the 

 low-lying land behind, but the waves overflowed this and formed 

 a large lake of sea water behind. Great efforts had been made 

 to protect the North part of the town by artificial groins and 

 works along the fore-shore, which received much damage by the 

 gale. ° ■' 



From the foregoing report it will be seen that the chief 

 damage done to the shore line has been more the result of the 

 excessive high tides than anything else. But we shall find that 

 the total effects have been a loss to the shore and a gain to 

 the sea. Nor do we find that there has been any counter- 

 balancing gain by shore deposits all along the coast. At 

 Pegwell Bay, at Deal and Walmer, at Margate, and Whitstable, 

 the same is the case. 



The map will show generally where the damage has been 

 greatest. 



The photographs and map which have been placed in the 

 •Society's Album, and for some of which I am indebted to Mr. S. 

 Manser, of Deal, will give a better idea of the flood near its 

 height. The storm seems to have scoured out the fore-shore below 

 low water mark, as well as washing away the beach at high-water 

 mark. And a report made to the Town Council showed that 

 the low water mark was nearer the wall than it had been when 



