Coast-cliff Denudations. 485 



notable example is found at Eccles-by-the-sea in Nor- 

 folk. The town at a comparatively late period extended 

 beyond the church tower, which is partly buried in- 

 blown sea-sand, and the church itself has been de- 

 stroyed. 



On the south side of the estuary of the Thames 

 stands the ruined church of the Reculvers, on a low 

 hill of Thanet Sand, half surrounded on the land side 

 by the relics of a Roman wall, that in old times encir- 

 cled the little town, then probably at least a mile from 

 the sea. The church has been abandoned, but is pre- 

 served as a landmark by the Admiralty, and groins 

 have been run out across the beach to prevent the fur- 

 ther waste of the cliff by the sea. As it is, all the sea- 

 ward side of the Roman wall, has long been destroyed, 

 the waves have invaded the land, and half the church- 

 yard is gone, while from the cliff the bones of men 

 protrude, and here and there lie upon the beach. A 

 little nearer Herne Bay, the same marine denudation 

 sparingly strews the beach with yet older remains of 

 man, in the shape of palaeolithic flint weapons of a 

 most ancient type, washed from old river gravels that 

 crown part of the cliff. 



In the Isle of Sheppy, great slips are of frequent 

 occurrence from the high cliff of London Clay that 

 overlooks the sea. Two acres of wheat and potatoes in 

 this manner slipped seaward in 1863. When I saw 

 them the crops were still standing on the shattered 

 ground below the edge of the cliff. 



Again, in the Hampshire basin, on the south coast 

 of England, if we walk along the footpaths that are 

 used by coastguardsmen, we often find that the path on 

 the edge of the cliff comes suddenly to an end, and 

 has been re-made inland. This is due to the fact that 



