Coastal sand and gravel extraction

Hallsands, South Devon

Background

Hallsands is located on the South Devon coast near the towns of Kingsbridge and Dartmouth. On January 26^th 1917, Hallsands was destroyed by storms. The authorities stated that it was a natural disaster. However, coastal engineers believed it was a direct result of human use of the coastline and resulted from a misunderstanding of the coastal processes occurring along this stretch of coastline.

Geology

One hundred years ago, the village stood on a soft rocky outcrop. In front of this was a large shingle beach which acted as a natural sea defence. The shingle beach absorbed the energy of the Atlantic waves, preventing the foundation of the village being eroded.

Human intervention and accelerated erosion rates

In 1884, the beach protected the village. However, by 1905 the beach was visibly disappearing. At the same time, shingle was being dredged offshore to provide building material for the construction of Devonport dockyard in Plymouth, further down the coast. As\a result, the shingle from the beach gradually slipped away to fill the holes left by the dredging. The beach eventually fell away to below sea level.

The destruction of Hallsands

The shingle that formed the beach had arrived thousands of years ago during a period of higher sea levels. However, as sea levels fell, deep fast-flowing channels developed which stopped material being deposited at Hallsands. On January 26^th 1917, storms hit the village. The sea quickly eroded the base of the soft rocks supporting the cliffs. Consequently all that is left today are the remains of the village.

D. Drake 2010