Clacton Cliffs & Foreshore
Also within
Condition (Natural England)
| Unit | Feature | Condition | Area (ha) | Assessed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TM146128 | — | Favourable | 1.46 | 2012-02-27 |
| TM156134 | — | Favourable | 16.54 | 2012-02-27 |
| TM173142 | — | Favourable | 8.28 | 2012-02-27 |
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
Description
Area,26.1 hectares 64.49 ac Description Foreshore and cliff exposures and excavations in the Clacton district have provided opportunities for the study of one of the most important Pleistocene interglacial deposits in Britain. The celebrated Clacton channel deposits are a sequence of freshwater and estuarine sediments occupying a channel cut into an earlier gravel accumulation and the underlying Tertiary London Clay. They have yielded abundant molluscan and mammalian fossil remains, fossil plants and pollen, all of which indicate a Hoxnian interglacial age. The deposits also contain the type site of the internationally significant Clactonian Industry which, based on a crude working technique, is believed to be stratigraphically earlier than the Acheulian culture. The relationship between the Clact on Channel deposits and the other Pleistocene sediments of the area is poorly understood. There is need for further study of this critical site, which provides important comparisons, in a British context, with Hoxne and Swanscombe.