528 



ENCROACHMENTS OF THE SEA 



[Ch. XX. 



seems 



ward and 



movements, taking place perhaps as 



slowly as those now in progress in Sweden and Greenland, 



may m 

 stream 



Folkstone. 



undermines 



chalk 



and subjacent strata. About the year 1716 there was a re- 

 markable sinking of a tract of land near the sea, so that 



from 



particular spots on the sea cliffs, from whence they could not 

 be seen previously. In the description of this subsidence in 

 the Phil. Trans. 1716, it is said, ' that the land consisted of a 



mass 



it slid forwards towards the sea, just as a ship is launched on 

 tallowed planks.' 



memory 



of persons then living, the cliff there had been washed away 



to the extent of ten rods. 



Encroachments of the sea at Hythe are also on record ; 

 but between this point and Eye there has been a gain of 



land within the times of history ; the rich level tract called 

 Romney Marsh, or Dungeness, about ten miles in width and 

 five in breadth, and formed of silt, having received great ac- 

 cession. It has been necessary, however, to protect it from 



embanl 



Romney 



the level of the highest tides.* Mr. Redman has cited numer- 

 ous old charts and trustworthy authorities to prove that the 

 average annual increase of the promontory of shingle called 

 Dungeness amounted for two centuries, previous to 1844, to 

 nearly six yards. Its progress, however, has fluctuated dur- 

 ing that period; for between 1689 and 1794, a term of 105 



years 



annum 



He 



observes ' that this great accumulation, commonly called 

 Romney Marsh, is composed for a distance of about two 

 miles of undulating ridges marking the periodical accessions 

 made to the coast, like the rings of growth, in timber. 't It 



H 





B 



M 



81 



L 



P 





i 



I 



: 







* On the authority of Mr. J. Meryon, 

 of Rye. 



f Redman, ibid, see p. 169 



