One of the latest cliff-fall events (November 2024) due to erosion on Sidmouth’s Jurassic coast prompted me to have a closer look – using a desktop study. The first image of this post (Fig 1), courtesy of National Library of Scotland (1888-1915). It shows (as close as I can get it), an old gravel pit very close to where the cliff fall occurred . Interestingly on the current Ordnance Survey map (Fig 2), the gravel pit location is not included – this does happen on more modern maps.

Gravel pits

In past centuries where transport was simply not an option, natural resources were extracted from areas not too far from where buildings were erected. Gravel pits are often created from old waterways. These waterways may have vanished many hundreds of years earlier, some became ponds while others retained water and created wetlands or simply become consumed by flora and get forgotten about. Old gravel pits can store water which influences the hydrology and geology. It is possible that some quantity of natural water storage has led to this recent event.

A peek into the past

The map in (Fig 1) shows a comparison between the old (1888 – 1915) and ‘modern’. The image below (Fig 3), shown the cliff fall in question, note the colour of the material. Is it possible that this material could be part of an old gravel pit?

It’s interesting to explore the question!

While it is not clear what this material is and how it formed. It is very interesting to explore the question. No doubt there will be many more cliff falls in the future.