394
REPORT OF THE CLUB'S DELEGATE.
our shores, whether they lived in counties bordering the sea
or wholly inland. It was now possible to obtain maps
of six inches to the mile for all parts of the country,
and on maps of this large scale it was easy to measure
the amount of loss sustained at any point on the coast with
approximate accuracy. In illustrating the loss sustained in
certain places, he mentioned Sheppey. On the first visit of the
Geologists' Association there, many years ago, the church and
churchyard at Warden Point were both intact; some years later
the churchyard had been partly destroyed, and coffins were seen
sticking out from the edge of the cliff. The latest visit was last
summer, when both church and churchyard had disappeared.
Another form of marine encroachment had been well displayed
at Aldeburgh, in Suffolk, during the visit of the Geologists'
Association there last spring. During the storm in November,
1897, masses of shingle had been heaped up in the gardens and
against the walls of houses and sheds, causing much injury to
and destruction of property. The help of the photographer was
extremely valuable in giving an accurate record of the effects of
a storm, the damage done by natural forces of this kind being
often much obscured in a very short time. As to the economical
aspect of the question, there were two things especially worthy
of attention: (1) The removal of shingle from any part of the
shore; (2) the quarrying of stone on the faces of sea cliffs. It
was seldom, if ever, wise to allow either operation to take place.
Archaeologists would be interested in noting spots where old
British camps had been partly destroyed by the sea. Observa-
tions on the changes which had taken place since prehistoric
times, would help us to predict the probable changes of the
future.'
In the discussion which followed, Mr. W. H. Wheeler attributed the
movement of shingle along our shores to the tides, and not to the winds, and
thought the retention of shingle a better protection than a sea wall. Prof.
H. E. Armstrong recommended that photographs should be taken by means
of the photo-theodolite instead of in the ordinary way. Mr. Gray said that
the Belfast Naturalists' Field Club had paid much attention to the subject,
and were going to issue a special report on it next year. And Mr. A. T.
Walmisley advocated the use of groynes, remarking that sea-walls were most
useful when they were built a short distance in front of the cliff to be pro-
tected, not close to it. Waves might then rush up the face ot the wall with-
out touching the cliff. Mr. Clement Reid referred to the waste of land on the
I Details of temporary and permanent effects of the high tide of November 29th. 1897, on
the east coast, will be found in the present volume of the Essex Naturalist,' ante pp. 377
-97, 365. and in the present part, p. 297.—Ed.