Coastal protection and erosion in Sidmouth.
Sidmouth is a thriving seaside town near Exeter in Devon. As it experiences coastal erosion, many different erosion features can be found there. Sidmouth has protected and unprotected areas of coast. The protected are has a number of strategies to try to prevent erosion. The unprotected site experiences much erosion, and the cliffs slump and have other erosion problems.
The protected area is directly in front of the town centre, and locals call it Town Beach. The waves at Sidmouth are powerful at times, and if it were not for the coastal defences, much of the town would have been lost to the sea. Town Beach has many coastal protection strategies in place, such as bull-nosed seawall, footpaths, and offshore breakwaters, rip rap and beach nourishment which is bringing sand/shingle from elsewhere to replenish the beach material washed away by the sea. The land behind Town Beach is valuable, as many shops, residential properties and hotels which provide money for the local areas and encourage tourism are found there. It is therefore essential that this land is not lost to the sea.
