Sidmouth, East Devon by richard edmonds

The Regency town of Sidmouth lies between spectacular red cliffs of Triassic aged rocks that form part of the Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site. The cliffs are capped by much younger Upper Greensand and Chalk from the Cretaceous period of geological time.

The town is protected by a sea defence scheme of offshore breakwaters and rock groynes that hold a recharged beach in front of the sea wall, completed in the late 1990’s. However, the scheme has led to a loss of sediment supply to the eastern end of the esplanade with the result that erosion rates have increased at Pennington Point. This has created a difficult challenge. Sidmouth’s famous, red cliffs, part of the Dorset and East Devon Coast World Heritage Site, are maintained by erosion but that erosion has led to the loss of the coast path and concern regarding future loss of property and possible flooding to parts of the town.