Sea Cliffs at Downderry

Image: © Tony Atkin Taken: 16 Feb 2002

The problem with Downderry village is that much of it is built on this stuff. This cliff is made of 'Glacial Head Deposits'. During the ice age when the sea level dropped considerably and the shoreline retreated several kilometres, the high sea cliffs here were subject to a lot of erosion by repeated freeze-thaw action. The resulting rubble piled up at the bottom of the cliff and eventually slumped further down to form a nice fertile sloping plain in front of the cliff. A good place to put a village like Downderry. This deposit is very easily eroded by the sea and this low cliff at Downderry shows that it is in the process of being eroded. The only reason there is any of this left here at all is because the underlying hard rock platform over which the tide washes is slightly higher here and moderates the effects of the sea. Global warming however is slowly increasing sea levels making it more likely that winter storms will start to take much more of this land and put houses in danger.

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