Waltons Retreating Cliffs

Erosion comes from the mid 16th century: via French from Latin erosio(n- ), from erodere meaning 'to wear or gnaw away’

Types of Coastal Protection
Ripraps

A riprap is a loose stone structure used to form a foundation for a breakwater or other structure. Crag Walk is an example of a riprap at the Naze. The 'rock armour' forces the tide to spread out in the gaps in the rock, meaning it has less energy. This significantly slows erosion.

Groynes

A groyne is a low wall or sturdy timber barrier built out into the sea from a beach to check erosion and drifting. Groynes have also been used  in the north of the Naze. With the most valuable part of the cliffs protected by Crag Walk, Walton on the Naze has placed wooden groins along the whole beach to prevent longshore drift. Wooden groins are a cheap way to maintain beaches for tourists who visit there.

Vegetation

Vegetation has been planted to soak up water in the Red Crag. This helps make the Red Crag stay together and help prevent cliff slumping which is a major problem at Walton on the Naze.

Sea walls

There are many different types of sea wall but the one at Walton is a curved one and it is one of the most expensive walls 1 -  this is an immediate barrier and reduces the wave energy significantly 2 - the gentle slope slows the energy even more and it helps the wall to stay over time 3 - The wall slopes back round making the wave turn around and lose almost all of its energy

Beach Nourishment

Beach Nourishment is when beach material is dredged out at sea and put on the beach, the sand acts like a sponge and soaks up the water. Therefore the more sand on the beach the more water is soaked up and wave energy is reduced more. 


What have the council done to protect the cliffs?

The Naze continues to erode rapidly (at a rate of approximately 2 metres per year) threatening the tower and wildlife. The Naze Protection Society was formed to campaign for erosion controls. The Naze has become popular for school fieldwork into erosion and methods to protect the coast. Protection includes a sea wall, a riprap, groynes and a permeable groyne as well as drainage. If nothing was done to protect the cliffs, the wildlife and tower would soon be gone, and Walton on the Naze would lose its scientific value. After lots of campaigning from locals, the Naze protection society decided to use hard engineering techniques in 2009 to protect the coastline – a project costing £1.2million, making sure the town is safe for the future.

Millions of tons of sand have been added to the beach to replenish it and stop the cliff eroding. However, the cliff near Naze Tower is greatly eroded. The cliff is receding fast and within 50 years Naze Tower may have tumbled into the sea like the pill boxes that can be seen on the beach. The cliffs themselves are a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the base of which is London Clay (54 million years old) which is overlaid with a 2-million-year-old sandy deposit of Red Crag. This sandy deposit contains a large number of fossils including bivalve and gastropod shells, sharks' teeth and whale bones. The clay base is considered one of the best sites for pyritised fossils (mainly wood) and for bird bones (which are very rare.)