Cliffs and Landslides

The West Dorset coast from Lyme Regis to Burton Bradstock is a beautiful landscape of cliffs and landslides, including Golden Gap - at 191 metres, the highest cliff on the south coast of England.  The South West Coast Path provides good walking and views along the coast, although rapid landslides can sometimes mean the path has to be diverted inland.  Most of this stretch of coastline is owned and managed by the National Trust.  The cliffs are formed by erosion acting over time and by landslides that occur during wet years.  Global warming and a rising sea ensure that these processes will continue.

Black Ven between Lyme Regis and Charmouth is the site of one of the largest coastal mudslides in Europe.  In 1958/9 two huge mudslides spilled out across the beach.  Today the boulder arcs exposed at low tide are all that remain from this event.  However, these cliffs continue to move and it is only a matter of time before the next ‘big slip' takes place.

The landslides vary in character and occur whenever sandstones overlie Jurassic clays and where the cliffs are undermined by coastal erosion.  At Black Ven the slips take the form of major mudslides that advance over the beach but elsewhere there can be sudden and dangerous falls.  Occasionally this can mean that the beach is closed.