ON THE EROSION OF THE SEA-COASTS OF ENGLAND AND WALES. 339 



the owner, who, however, if this be a public injury, could be stopped in 

 these operations through the Woods and Forests Department. In illustra- 

 tion, he refers to a recent case at the mouth of the Humber, where, by the 

 indiscriminate removal of pebbles from Spurn Point for ballast and other 

 purposes, a breach ensued which resulted in a very heavy expenditure, which 

 might have been avoided had attention been drawn to the matter earlier. 



3. ' Eastbourne Circular Redoubt Sea-Defences,' by Mr. Redman 

 (1857) to Lieut.-Col. Owen, R.E. In 1805 the sea at high water was 

 1 20 feet seaward of the inside line of the counterscarp wall, or 250 feet 

 from the centre of the redoubt ; in 1808 the dimensions were 90 feet and 

 223 feet, showing a waste of 9 to 10 feet per annum. Surveys since that 

 period show a rate of only half that amount, 4^ feet per year for forty- 

 nine years. Encroachment on this coast and the withdrawal of shingle are 

 general on both sides of Beachy Head, and the defences of the Circular 

 Redoubt have caused it to stand out as a point in front of the retreating 

 coast-line, as was the case at Sandown. 



4. ' Sandown Castle.' Report from Mr. Redman to the Secretary of 

 State for AVar, 1860, showing that permanent works for the isolated 

 defence of the Castle would cost 16,000/'. Mr. Sidney Herbert (the then 

 Secretary of State for War) determined to abandon the Castle ; it was sold, 

 and proved so tough a morsel that it was only lowered barely to the ground 

 level. On the abutment of the drawbridge was the monogram of the great 

 Cecil, Earl of Burleigh, Queen Elizal)eth's Minister. 



5. 'Dover, East-Cliff Shore. H.M. War Department and the Town 

 Council of Dover.' Report from Mr. Redman to Lieut. -Colonel Jervois, 

 R.E., Deputy- Inspector of Fortifications, 1863. Recommended joint 

 treatment of the coast fronting Government and town property, 300 feet 

 and 1,100 feet respectively. 



6. ' Sheerness.' Report by Mr. Redman to Lieut. -Colonel Jervois, 

 R.E., 1866. Recommends that where it is inevitable that shingle be taken 

 for contractors' purposes for base of New Fort, it should be in short 

 defined lengths, and that a new length be not commenced until the sea 

 has begun to repair the damage. 



7. ' Isle of Grain.' Report of Mr. Redman to the Secretary of State 

 for War, 1867. From a plan of 1784 it appears the sea has gained on the 

 land 700 feet to the north of the Isle of Grain Fort. 



APPENDIX II. 



INFORMATION RECEIVED AND COLLECTED SINCE 1888. 



1. — Report on Coast Erosion, East Kent, 1895. 

 By George Dowker, F.G.S. 



Since the year 1884, when I reported on our coast erosion to the 

 Committee of the British Association, I have made no minute survey of 

 the coast, but having from time to time visited most part of the shores of 

 East Kent, I have been able to note what has taken place during the ten 

 years that have elapsed. 



First, in Pegwell Bay, Isle of Thanet, there has been a continuous and 

 large amount of erosion, not only from the sea having removed the talus 

 of the cliff and the shore accumulations, but the cliff itself has been cut 



