XI 3 
COAST EROSION AT WHITBY. 
J. T. SEWELL. 
(PLATE IX.). 
The cliffs east of Whitby have fallen more than usual recently 
owing to the excessively wet winter of 1912-3, though any 
alteration is hardly noticeable ; indeed it is many years since 
any change of the cliff foot has taken place. 
The shale forming the ground of the Scar has been found 
by borings in connection with the pier extension, to be ten 
feet thick at a distance of 200 feet from the cliff ; the same 
bed has only a thickness of four feet a little below water 
mark. As the beds north and south appear level, if not 
Direction of the rising tide in the Whitby- Sandsend Bay. 
a a . — Currents influenced by rocks B and C. 
ci d . — Back current dangerous to bathers 
c c . — Shale more or less uncovered at low water 
B. — Sandstone always covered at low water. 
rising towards the north, this difference only allows for very 
slow erosion. 
Young, in his ' History of Whitby,’ gives several measure- 
ments of the distance between the cliff-edge and the Abbey, 
existing in 1816. 
West of the harbour are three miles of sandy shore with, 
except at the extremities, a continuation of clay cliffs. This 
bay is bounded on the west by Sandsend Ness with its long 
foot of shale, visible at low water. In the centre are the 
Upgang Rocks running directly seaward from near the shore, 
while the east end is enclosed by the Whitby piers, recently 
1914 April 1. 
