Why would you think twice about retiring to Lyme Regis

in 50 years time?

This is the town of Lyme Regis on the Jurassic Coast

• The Jurassic Coast is a natural World Heritage Site and is internationally important for its rocks, fossils and coastal landforms.

• It stretches for 95 miles, from Exmouth in East Devon to Swanage in Dorset. You can see 185 million years of geological time in 95 miles of coastline!

• Erosion is a very important process for maintaining the natural beauty of the coastline and ensuring that fossils and fresh geological exposures help scientists study the coastline. Coastal defences are the biggest threat to the World Heritage Site since they affect the natural process of erosion

Lyme Regis is here

Key Facts

Lyme Regis is a popular tourist destination and lots of people like to retire here

Do you think the following pictures might make you think twice about retiring to Lyme

Regis in 50 years time?

This following houses are in Lyme Regis. What do you think has happened to them?

Here is another clue. Look closely at the stone wall.

The next picture was taken in the graveyard of the church in centre of Lyme Regis.

What do you think has caused some of the gravestones to tilt?

This next picture was taken in the Charmouth Road car park, towards the top of the town. Why do you think the tarmac

has crumpled like that?

This is a picture taken 100 years ago and it shows the old road from Charmouth to

Lyme Regis. The road ran across the top of the cliffs above the town.

Where do you think the road is now?

This is where the road used to be

This is an aerial photograph of Lyme Regis. What do you think has happened to the cliffs?

• Have you already guessed?

• This sign will give you the answer

• Wouldn’t YOU think twice about buying a house in Lyme Regis?!

LANDSLIDE!

East Cliff proposed Coastal Defence works

May 08 Landslide, 400m wide

Black Ven Landslide

Is Lyme Regis slipping into the Sea?

The Jurassic Coast is a dynamic coast

May 7th 2008

About 400m of the coast fell into the sea in a dramatic landslide!

400m

A dynamic coast • Winter storms attack the base of the cliffs and case erosion

• Erosion is an important process that maintains the natural beauty of the coast and reveals scientifically important fossils over time.

Why are there landslides in Lyme Regis?• The town is built on a layer of strong limestone which is very solid. On

top of that layer there are slippery muds, clays and sands which slide over the limestone layer to form the landslides.

• The sea erodes the cliffs at the bottom of the landslide, causing it to become unstable and slip even further.

• Houses, buildings and roads become damaged as the land slips towards the sea.

• Black Ven is the largest and most active coastal landslide in Europe!