For many centuries now the East Anglian coastline has been slowly eroding for natural reasons. Apart from the effects of the onslaughts of major storms and surges, this has been a steady but nevertheless relentless regression. In the short term the high beach sand loss, resulting from the strong onshore north winds of the winter months were normally balanced by reinstatement during the summer months when the prevailing offshore south to south west winds prevail.
The cliffs at Walton have layers of different materials. The bottom one is London clay and is impermeable, which means water cannot soak through it. The middle layer is Red Crag and is made of silt and sand. The top layer is wind-blown sand. The top two layers are permeable, which means water can soak through them. This makes the cliff less stable so 'slumping' occurs. The edge of the cliff slips away from the top of the cliff. The tide can then wash the fallen debris away into the sea.
Solutions
Some of the methods of protection that have been used include a sea wall, a riprap, groynes and a permeable groyne as well as improved drainage. However, the area of cliff where the Naze Tower is situated is being greatly eroded by the sea and weather.
There are many different types of protection used to help keep the Naze. These coastal management measures have helped to keep the coast form heavy erosion. Some forms of coastal protection are breakwaters and using rip rap but the 6 types of coastal management that the Naze use are:-
- Sea walls
- Beach groynes
- Herring bone drainage systems
- The plant vegetation
- The graded slopes
- Beach feeding.
All these protection schemes are all very well for the south of the coast line but the consequences of these protection measures on the north of the tower breakwater are sever. The unprotected north side is susceptible to all the processes that face it. It is left to erode away and is getting lost by:-
- Sand slumps
- Mud slides
- Marine attack
- Moss movement
- Wave cut notches
- Tension cracks
The cliffs are just being lost due to nature, but because they have just stopeed the protections for the coast, at one point, half way alone the beach, the effects are greater. When the tower breakwater stops, the land north of it is now open to attack. As the last groyne is left, the wanves now curver around it and no longer hit the coast at the same angle but cut into the beach. This causes abnormal ‘cavities’ in the beach and change tha layout of the beach furthur on. There is also less sand near to the end to the protection as the last beach further on. There is also less sand near to the end to the protection as the last beach further on. There is also less sand near to the end, as the last groyne stops the sand from being carried on along onto the rest of the beach, leading to beach starvation.