SCARBOROUGH, ENGLAND (June 8, 2015) — We see many of these World War II concrete defenses along the Yorkshire coastline. This is a pillbox that was likely constructed in 1940 to defend the realm from the Germans. Of course, it was not placed on the sandy beach but up on the steep slopes overlooking the shore. Erosion of that headland since 1940 was complete, leaving this structure on the open beach.
It is a dilemma, building on these sea cliffs of the northern Yorkshire coast. The substrate here is a “boulder clay”, a Pleistocene glacial deposit known as a diamictite. It is easy to excavate, but flows readily under weight and when wet. The sea hammers away at the foot of these soft cliffs as their tops slump downwards. The heavy concrete gun emplacements and observation posts serve their purpose for a few years, and then eventually fall into the sea as the coast retreats. Seventy-five years of coastal erosion has removed a great deal of the cliffs.
Given what you’ve seen above, would you buy this seaside house?
