EROSION OF SEA-COASTS. 595 



The Dogger Bank, north-east of Cromer (see p. 516), as well as the Goodwin 

 Sands, probably mark tlie former extension of the land ; the latter tract is reputed 

 to have been overwhelmed by the sea about 1099. Fishermen employed in 

 trawling in the North Sea frequently bring up bones of the Mammoth and other 

 animals, derived from submerged deposits or from the waste of the old lands. ^ 



At the time of the Koman occupation, Reculvers (Regulbium) was a military 

 station and a seaport, while the Isle of Thanet was then separated from the rest of 

 Kent by a navigable channel. In the reign of Henry VIII. Reculvers Church was 

 nearly one mile from the sea, but at the beginning of the present century it was 

 abandoned as a place of worship, on account of its insecurity ; and it would no 

 doubt have disappeared if the cliffs had not been protected artifically from further 

 destruction. - 



The Chalk cliffs of Thanet lose on an average about three feet per annum ; 

 further south Pegwell Bay has been excavated out of the softer Eocene beds. 

 Sandwich was at one time a port of debarkation ; Richborough, also a port 

 in Roman times, is now surrounded by pastures ; while Stourmouth, formerly the 

 mouth of the Stour, is now four miles from the sea.'' Romney Marsh or Dunge- 

 ness has increased at the rate of nearly six yards annually for two centuries previously 

 to 1S44, the shingle being derived from the west. (See p. 552.) The old town of 

 Winchelsea, situated to the west of Romney Marsh, was destroyed in the reign of 

 Edward I., the mouth of the Rother stopped up, and the river diverted into 

 another channel.^ 



On the coast near Hastings, and westwards, much destruction has been going 

 on ; between Brighton and Newhaven the annual loss is estimated at 3 feet. 

 Again, from Brighton westwards to Portsmouth the land has lost much ; for 

 between the years 1260 and 1340 sixty acres of land were destroyed at Felpham, 

 and a similar quantity at Middleton.^ Pagham Harbour has, however, been 

 reclaimed. 



Beachy Head is a headland of Chalk ; while westwards the Portland rocks 

 form Durlston Head, St. Albans Head, and Portland. Allusion has previously 

 been made to the romantic coves along the Dorset coast (see p. 346). There is a 

 natural arch at Durdle Door, and other arches formed by the sea may be seen at 

 "London Bridge," near Torquay (Devonian), the Thurlestone Rock (New Red 

 Sandstone), west of Kmgsbridge ; there are also arches at the Land's End, arches 

 and needles in the Carboniferous Limestone on the Pembrokeshire coast, also near 

 Holyhead, in the Isle of Man, etc. Their formation is sometimes due in part to 

 the inclination and jointing of the beds, and sometimes to the occurrence of softer 

 shaly beds between harder beds of limestone, etc. Caves are formed by the sea in 

 any hard rocks ; caverns are formed by subaerial agents only in calcareous rocks. 



Along the Dorset coast there has been much loss, especially in the cliffs of 

 Lias clay between Bridport Harbour and Lyme Regis, a loss largely due to the 

 numerous landslips ; while east and west of Lyme Regis, and especially at the 

 Church Cliffs, there has been considerable artificial destruction of the land by the 

 removal of the Lower Lias limestones, a proceeding which is much to be depre- 

 cated. 



Torbay has been excavated in the Triassic rocks between two headlands of 

 Devonian Limestone, etc., and extensive encroachments are still in progress in the 

 bay. Start Point stands out by reason of its being composed of metamorphic rocks 

 harder than the Devonian Slates. 



Penzance itself is a granitic promontory no doubt once like Dartmoor surrounded 

 on every side by Slates, whose almost entire removal has been effected by the sea. 



Near Westward Ho ! the sea has for several years been encroaching on the land 

 at the rate of about lo yards a year.^ 



1 Captain J. B. Martin, Proc. G. S. iii. 138. 



=> Dr. J. Mitchell, Proc. G. S. ii. 7. 



•'' I. Taylor, Words and Places, ed. 6, p. 236 ; see also J. R. Green, Making 

 of England, 1881. 



* Lyell, Principles, ed. II, i. 533. 



* Mantell, Geol. Sussex ; see also Dixon, Geol. Sussex, ed. 2, pp. 16, 114. 

 « H. G. Spearing, Q. J. xl. 474. 



