Hut teeters on cliff edge after massive landslide on Jurassic Coast

A house was left on the brink of a 122-metre (400ft) fall after a massive cliff collapse along the Jurassic Coast.

The collapse of a large section of the cliff at Jacob’s Ladder Beach between Sidmouth and Ladram Bay last weekend sent tonnes of rubble crashing to the ground and prompted the local authority to close the popular coastal path in Devon for safety reasons.

It caused a smaller rockfall just below a thatched-roof cottage, leaving it just 12 m (40 ft) from the edge of the unstable Sidmouth cliffs.

Dramatic aerial photographs show how close the thatched-roof hut was to the cliff edge and the magnitude of the landslide that occurred when part of the 185-million-year-old sandstone cliff collapsed.

“Following a cliff fall at Jacob’s Ladder Beach in Sidmouth, we would like to remind visitors to keep their distance from the cliffs on the East Devon coastline,” East Devon District Council said in a social media post.

“cliff falls are a natural and unpredictable occurrence along the East Devon coast.

“This is because the rock from which the cliffs are formed is soft and therefore prone to rockfalls and landslides, which can occur at any time.”

The local authority reminded visitors to “stay clear” of the cliffs when walking on the beach, while the coastguard advised beach users to put a distance between themselves and the cliff base equivalent to the height of the cliff.

Following a similar collapse at the same location last year, coastal scientist Vicky Walkley warned that cliff falls were “very difficult” to predict and that both heavy rainfall and hot sunshine could contribute to it.

Related Posts