West Runton Cliffs
Also within
Norfolk County King Charles Way - Sea Palling to Weybourne National TrailPeddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path National Trail
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TG187431 | — | Favourable | 17.83 | 2011-07-21 |
Climate exposure
This is about exposure to a nationwide pressure this habitat type carries — not a verdict on this site's own management.
Coastal habitats are exposed to sea-level rise and storm erosion. Where hard sea defences sit behind them, there's nowhere landward to retreat to — a squeeze that keeps compressing the habitat no matter how well it's managed.
Geology & landscape
Geological Period: Quaternary
Landscape processes: Coastal, Glacial, Periglacial
Description
Area, 17.56 hectares 43.39 ac Description West Runton is one of the most important Pleistocene localities in the British Isles. In the cliff and foreshore are exposed a series of sediments representing two temperate stages Pastonian, Cromerian and three cold stages Pre Pastonian, Beestonian, Anglian. Pollen spectra indicative of temperate forests have been obtained from the temperate stages, while the cold stage deposits show permafrost structures and subarctic herb floras. The whole Cromer Forest bed Formation sequence is overlain by glacial tills of the Anglian Glaciation. The sequence records several periods of transgression and regression major advances and retreats of the sea represented by alternations of marine and non marine sedimentation. The entire Cromerian Interglacial vegetational cycle is represented within the West Runton Freshwater Bed and overlying marine sediments and this locality has been designated the stratotype for the Cromerian stage. Molluscan and vertebrate fossils occur at several horizons, especially in the West Runton Freshwater Bed. The West Runton Freshwater Bed Cromerian Interglacial has yielded by far the richest fauna of any open Pleistocene site in Britain. Fossils, dated to pollen Zones Cr Ib – IIb, include a wide range of large and small mammals, freshwater fish and other vertebrates. The fauna has considerable international importance for its value in correlations with early Middle Pleistocene deposits across Europe and beyond. Marine gravels above with pollen dated to Zone Cr II I have also yielded an interesting but sparse vertebrate assemblage. The Pastonian ‘crag’ below the Freshwater Bed contains abundant vertebrates, of particular note are the voles and marine fish – the only known fauna which can with certainty be assigned to this lower Pleistocene stage. An internationally important locality for its vertebrate faunas.