RISING TIDE '25

EAST ANGLIA

COASTWISE, a project run by the North Norfolk District Council, funded by Central Government to the order of some £15m, is looking at coastal erosion, climate change, and the mitigation available to manage the coastline.

We, the RPS Documentary Special Interest Group for the East Anglia region are taking this opportunity to lay down the foundation images of the coast which will be impacted by any changes to the infrastructure.

GOV.UK have made a plan; illustrated here. Like most plans, they are flat and on the face of it we have gone from green to orange and then to dashed orange.

Is this enough ?

We, docea@rps.org will, by this project of ours, monitor document and record for future use.

Clearly, it is unlikely we will be around in 2055, and I fear the council members themselves may be thin on the ground by then.

2105 is a bridge too far !

• Management approaches depend on funding and relevant approvals and permissions.

• Adaptation to coastal change may be needed. Even where defences are present, some risk from storm surges or ground instability may remain.

Time periods (short (0 to 20 years), medium (20 to 50 years) and long (50 to 100)) are approximate and do not signify precise dates of management transitions.

Where shown, coastal erosion projections are for guidance only. They show areas of land likely to be at risk but do not show the precise future position of the shoreline, nor specific information for individual properties

EAST ANGLIA

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A meeting of the Regional Special Interest Group in March 2025 at the Rose & Crown followed by a photo walk around the town before ending up back at ‘ The Railway’.

Train in, train out; and roughly 3 hours in a very hospitable town emulating Sir John Betjeman’s films to be found in the East Anglia Film Archive.

At the head of the River Colne estuary, Wivenhoe’s story begins with its Roman harbour, a modest but strategic port that linked inland Colchester to the North Sea. Beneath the modern town lie the Kesgrave Sands and Gravels, including the distinctive Wivenhoe Gravel, a terrace deposit dating back to the Cromerian interglacial warm period, more than half a million years ago. These layers preserve traces of temperate-climate plants and beetles, reminders of a shifting climate long before human settlement. In later centuries, Wivenhoe became a centre for shipbuilding, sail-making, and small-scale industry, its riverside yards shaping both maritime and working-class identity. Today, the estuary edges are marked by saltmarsh and mudflat, habitats that buffer storm surges but are increasingly vulnerable to sea-level rise and tidal flooding. Forecasts suggest that by 2125, the Colne estuary could see significant inundation, with low-lying land around Wivenhoe at risk of permanent loss or even knowingly sacrificed by managed retreat.

THE ESSEX COAST

Essex appears to have more visible coastal protection than Norfolk because its coastline is more densely populated, economically valuable, and historically engineered, whereas much of Norfolk’s coast has been designated for managed retreat or no active intervention under Shoreline Management Plans.

Why Essex Gets More Protection: Population & Infrastructure Density

Essex’s coast includes large towns (Southend, Clacton, Harwich), major ports, and transport links. Protecting these areas is seen as economically justifiable. Norfolk, by contrast, has long stretches of sparsely populated, rural coastline where the cost of defences outweighs the value of land and property.

Historical Engineering Legacy.

Essex has centuries of sea walls, embankments, and reclaimed marshland. Once you build hard defences, you’re committed to maintaining them, otherwise the land behind would flood catastrophically. Norfolk’s soft, sandy cliffs and dunes were never defended to the same extent, so policy has leaned toward allowing natural erosion.

FISH AND SHIPS GORLESTON-ONSEA

EAST ANGLIA

Perhaps more genteel than its neighbour across the river, Great Yarmouth, this town has featured heavily in the history of the county and is a coastal gem.

Avoid parking on the Pier as when we visited, both machines were broken and a one-hour photo shoot cost sixty quid; despite the Council saying it should be refunded.

South of Great Yarmouth, at the mouth of the River Yare, Gorleston’s identity has always been tied to the sea. The coastline here is defined by soft glacial tills and sands, prone to erosion and reshaping under the force of tides and storms. Historically, Gorleston was a Domesday port and later a centre for the herring fishery, with salt pans and curing houses lining the shore. By the Edwardian era, as the fishing industry declined, the town reinvented itself as a seaside resort, its wide sandy bay and promenade drawing visitors from inland. The cliffs and dunes, however, remain vulnerable: the Great Storm of 1987 recorded the UK’s highest wind speed here at 122 mph, a reminder of the coast’s exposure. Today, sea defences and beach nourishment schemes attempt to hold the line, but forecasts suggest that rising seas and more frequent storm surges will continue to threaten the bay and low-lying hinterland over the next century.

EAST ANGLIA

North of Gorleston, Winterton-on-Sea sits behind one of the most dynamic dune systems on the Norfolk coast. These dunes, formed during the Holocene, are shaped by wind and tide, and act as a fragile buffer between the village and the North Sea. Beneath them lie glacial sands and tills, remnants of the last Ice Age, which make the coastline prone to slumping and erosion. Historically, Winterton was a lifeboat station and lighthouse outpost, with crews launching into treacherous waters to rescue sailors. The lighthouse, built in the 1600s and decommissioned in the 1920s, still stands as a sentinel over the shifting shore. Today, the beach and dunes are under pressure: coastal erosion has intensified, with recent storms exposing old shipwrecks and forcing the demolition of the beach café. Forecasts suggest that without significant intervention, Winterton’s dunes may breach, threatening inland habitats and homes.

OVERSTRAND

Perched on the North Norfolk coast, Overstrand’s cliffs are a geological palimpsest, revealing layers of deep time and glacial upheaval. The lower sections expose the Cromer Forest-bed Formation, rich in fossil remains from the Middle Pleistocene, including the so-called Elephant Bed. Above this lie glacial lake clays and glaciotectonised tills, contorted by the Anglian ice advance into thrust planes and chalk rafts—blocks of Upper Cretaceous chalk displaced from their original positions by the bulldozing power of ice. These cliffs are not static: slumping and landslips are frequent, especially where water infiltrates the glacial clays. In the 1990s, a major slip destroyed part of the old Coast Road and threatened nearby homes, prompting a successful geoengineering effort to stabilise the cliff face. Overstrand’s history as a quiet fishing village and later a retreat for Edwardian visitors (including Clement Scott, who coined “Poppyland”) adds a layer of cultural memory to its geological drama. Looking ahead, rising sea levels and increased rainfall may reactivate old slip zones, making Overstrand a key site for monitoring coastal change. Photography here frames the faulted chalk rafts and ripple-marked clay layers, with the sea pressing in; an image of beauty, instability, and deep time exposed.

THE RUNTON GAP

Between Cromer and Sheringham lies The Runton Gap, a stretch of coast where deep time surfaces in spectacular fashion. The cliffs here expose the Cromer Forest-bed Formation, a fossil-rich sequence spanning over 700,000 years. At West Runton, the Freshwater Bed—a dark organic layer at the cliff base—yielded the most complete skeleton of a Steppe Mammoth ever found in the UK, along with remains of rhinos, deer, and early humans. East Runton, just a mile away, reveals Pastonian clay conglomerates, marine shell beds, and the largest chalk reef in Europe, visible offshore. The cliffs are a chaotic mix of glaciotectonised drift, where chalk rafts and flint circles have been displaced by ancient ice sheets, creating a contorted mosaic of Pleistocene history. WWII pillboxes and the Surfers’ Memorial weather vane add layers of more recent memory. Today, the area is part of the Deep History Coast Trail, with Discovery Points guiding visitors through its geological and archaeological wonders. But the cliffs are fragile: erosion and tidal scouring continue to expose—and threaten— these deposits. Over the next century, rising seas and intensified storms may accelerate cliff retreat, risking the loss of both scientific heritage and coastal infrastructure. Photography here captures the stratified cliff face at low tide, a portrait of curiosity, vulnerability, and the race against time.