by January in that year it had become so cleared out, that from Belmont to the 
Chit Rocks, at the western end, the red rock was bare, and an extent of clay 
and river sand was exposed opposite Fort Cottage. Since then it has been 
returning. 
41. This remarkable diminution had never been seen before, and caused great sur- 
prise. It was due to natural causes. The River Sid once had an outlet to 
the sea where Fort Cottage stands, as a bank behind the cottage shows, and 
which I have traced through the town inland. When the shingle was all 
cleared away, the surprise was increased by the appearance of a number of 
stumps of trees dotted about the beach between high and low water, and 
when the tide was in they were from 4 to 5 feet under water The stumps 
were worn short off, but they were evidently in situ, for on digging round 
some of them, which I did with others, the roots were found to radiate in the 
clay. They were of alder. I have several specimens. Also in the clay, probably 
washed down the river, five or six Mammoth teeth were found, most of which 
I secured. Three or four of the best I have given to the Exeter Museum, 
RATE OF EROSION OF THE SEA-COASTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 419 
High Water Spring Tide 
HighWaterNeap Tide 
Oh L 
ava 
Figs. 3 and 4.—Diagrammatic Sections through a Shingle-Beach. 
42. In 1830 a number of groynes were made all along the beach in front of the town 
of Sidmouth, as an experiment, to see whether they would accumulate and re- 
tain the shingle. I saw many of the piles driven and much of the work done. 
a. They were carried out at right angles to the shore line, or line of the 
Parade, or Esplanade, as commonly styled. The Esplanade then was merely a 
walk on a bank of earth. The Esplanade wall, which is about 1,841 feet long, 
was not built till 1837. b. The length of the groynes, from their starting- 
point at the Esplanade, was about 30 yards, that is nearly to the commence- 
ment of the sand at low water. e. Judging only from recollection, I should 
say they were about 200 feet apart. d. Their height when built was about 
5 feet at the inner end, and 3 or 4 feet at the farthest end. On the leeward 
side no shingle accumulated, but it became heaped up on the windward side. 
When the wind changed, say from west to east, the shingle was heaped up on 
the east, or new windward side, and cleared away from the west, or previous 
windward side, but new lee side; and when the wind was end on it was 
cleared away on both sides altogether. e. They were made of elm timber, to 
the best of my recollection. The piles were about 7 or 8 inches square, and 
perhaps 4 feet apart, and they were planked on both sides with stout elm 
boards some 2 inches thick. f. They disappointed the builders. They ac- 
cumulated small portions of shingle in places, but wholly failed to retain it. 
When the gales of wind were strongest, and the waves were the highest and 
most violent in their attacks, and when the protection of a bank of shingle 
was wanted for the esplanade, and, indeed, for the sea-front of the town, 
then it got either washed away or got drawn back into deep water. After a 
few years’ wear and tear the groynes began to show signs of dilapidation, 
EE2 
