West Bay also lies within the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Large cracks appeared on coast path close to cliff face between Eype and West Bay, Dorset three weeks ago On Sunday a 300ft wide section of the cliff … There is a bed of hard rock which undulates up and down in a discontinuous or broken set of curves. The carbonated-cemented sandy limestone layers are consistently narrower and range only up to 75 centimetres and have irregular upper and lower surfaces. Learn how your comment data is processed. The friable or crumbly texture of the sandstone means that rock frequently falls from the cliff and ends up as boulders on the beach (12). The famous sandstone East Cliff at West Bay, formed from Lower Jurassic Bridport Sands exposes 180 million years of … “We just ask that walkers are mindful that they are walking within the boundary of the holiday park and keep to the permissive path, with dogs on leads at all times.”. They really are a remarkable geological phenomenon – like so much of the landscape on the World Heritage Jurassic Coast. Tara Hansford, Dorset Council Countryside Access Development Officer, said: “Fortunately, the adjacent landowner – Highlands End Holiday Park – have kindly granted permissive access so that the public can still follow the coast path and enjoy the cliff top views this section provides. Lack of support for the rock in these locations led to a kind of subsidence that opened up vertical cracks and led to the development of a sort of fanning of the strata and a curving of the top of the hill (21 – 22). From there it is possible to either view the photograph in full-screen size or to the use the arrows to scan through all the pictures in the gallery in sequence, https://picasaweb.google.com/104119468342349514032/NessBeach#, Nature Chronicles of the Pacific Northwest. Over the last three weeks, this large section of the cliffs in West Dorset has been monitored as it shows signs of steadily collapsing down onto the beach and sea below, with a 90m long crack seen in the clifftop. There is a large section failing and, when it finally does go, it could be very sudden. Dorset County Council confirmed that the 90m stretch of Highlands Park cliff near West Bay … Walkers with mobile phones are being advised to take a photo of the map on the closure notices to use as a reference while continuing along the route, ensuring they can swiftly get from A-to-B! As far as I can understand it (and I may have got the wrong end of the stick here), this cambering was due to softer substrates lying beneath the Bridport Sand Formation rocks in river valleys to the east and the west of this BSF structure. The East Cliff (1) is largely composed of the Bridport Sand Formation with 43 metres depth of it exposed out of an overall depth of approximately 49 metres. ( Log Out / Wherever you are along the Jurassic Coast, please remember: Your email address will not be published. They are also typically bio-turbated, meaning that the original soft sediments on the sea bed were churned up and burrowed into by marine invertebrate animals. At the base of the cliff where waves frequently work (14, 18), and in newly exposed rock after falls (13), the true colour of the Bridport Sand Formation is revealed as blue-grey. However, these joints are particularly susceptible to erosion and are worked at by the elements so that they gradually recede landwards, creating angular recesses between protruding columnar buttresses right along the length of the cliff. The depth of each bed of soft sandstone gets progressively smaller with an increase in height above the beach. By using this site, you agree we can set and use cookies. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. For more details of these cookies and how to disable them, see our cookie policy. The sand beds vary in thickness from 30 centimetres to 3 metres. Change ), You are commenting using your Google account. If you click on any picture in the gallery below, the image will be enlarged and show the descriptive caption. ALL IMAGES & TEXT COPYRIGHT
JESSICA M WINDER 2009-2020, If you click on any picture in the gallery below, the image will be enlarged and show the descriptive caption. The striped nature of the cliff is one of its most notable characteristics. This all happened in the Upper Lias phase of the Early Jurassic Period (about 176 – 205 million years ago). Change ). It’s vital that people stick to the permissive route and do not go near the cliff edge.”. West Bay is situated at the mouth of the River Brit on the English Channel coast. Tara Hansford, Dorset Council Countryside Access Development Officer, explained: “Movement in this section has rapidly increased, affecting an extensive area with more cracks appearing and sections collapsing, resulting in extremely dangerous, uneven and unstable ground. ( Log Out / Watched part Broadchurch by accident, had missed the start… and lo, there were these very cliffs. It is this process that converts the natural blue-grey to the wonderful yellow colour of the rocks in the cliff. A 5* Resort between rolling sand dunes interspersed with coastal vegetation and an exclusive view over the Atlantic Ocean and Óbidos lagoon. Walkers can find a map detailing the permissive diversionary route at either end of the closed section of path. The coast at West Bay forms part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site which stretches for 96 miles (154 km) and includes most of the Dorset coastline. The gulls are usually in-filled with sand and debris. West Bay is a major gateway to the Jurassic Coast, which covers 95 miles of coast from Orcombe Rocks at Exmouth, Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. There are a few photos here. Not really …but my son is – he runs smuggling tours at Weymouth in the summer! Indeed, or even those at Ness Cove, Shaldon! Almost as good as the red cliffs at Budleigh Salterton! At the base of the cliff for some distance along its length, it is possible to see an anomaly in the rock layers (19 -20). on Coast path diverted due to unstable cliffs. The spectacular yellow cliffs at West Bay near Bridport in Dorset are soon to form the back-drop for the new television series called Broadchurch. ( Log Out / Required fields are marked *. Author dorsethighways. A large section of cliff has given way in West Dorset. Most of the alternating bands of rock are virtually level, horizontal, and parallel to each other. Your email address will not be published. It has been calculated that each metre of rock would have taken about 20,000 years to accumulate on the seabed where it originated.