East Yorkshire coastal erosion
Mappleton
historical perspective
The Ordnance Survey map shows Mappleton at mid-nineteenth century. Approximate cliff lines for 2022 are added, in orange. The section to the north of the beach access is protected by sea defences while to the south the cliff is subject to ongoing erosion.
Also marked is the estimated position of the cliff line in 1786, recorded as 28 chains and 76 links (generally rounded to 576 metres) in direct measurement from the church.
wartime role
During World War II, a ‘Diver’ heavy anti-aircraft (AA) gun emplacement and associated camp were established at the end of Cliff Lane, Mappleton.
In the upper aerial photograph, a row of Nissen huts lines the southern edge of the lane. Another Nissen hut sits in a field to the west. Although the emplacement and camp are long gone, and the site almost entirely lost to the sea, the individual hut has survived. Visitors to the car park and beach pass by it quite possibly without a second glance despite its historical significance.
The middle image includes a line (in yellow) along which cliff loss is measured. Dates on the line signify the cliff top position in: (i) 2003, the beginning of regular twice-yearly monitoring; (ii) 1990, during construction of the sea defences; (iii) 1945, the year of the upper photograph.
Upper image: English Heritage RAF Photography Collection ref. RAF 106G/LA/212F20 3272, 13 April 1945.
Middle image: Google Earth, dated 18 June 2017. For information on cliff loss measurement, see data in detail.
Lower image: Timothy’s Travels (video), 30 August 2024.
Nissen huts were named after Major (later Lieutenant-Colonel) Peter Norman Nissen (1871-1930), a Canadian-American-British engineer responsible for the design in World War I.
The term ‘Diver’ comes from Operation Diver, a means to counter German V-1 flying bombs (also known as buzz bombs or doodlebugs), which dived towards their intended targets. In the Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey scheme of identification, the anti-aircraft gun site converted for the operation bears the reference MA31, and the nearby army camp is MA29.
Nissen hut at Mappleton, visually aligned with the church [Roger J C Thomas: 2006].
View along Cliff Lane towards the sea. In a field on the right is the Nissen hut, the only remaining evidence of an important wartime defence installation [Google Earth Street View: September 2011].
sea defences
The sea defences at Mappleton provide a prime example of the terminal groyne effect. A description and explanation of the process are available at the following link.
Top of the beach access slope [Timothy’s Travels (video), 30 August 2024].
At lower right in the image, mounted on a stone under the sign, is a modest plaque bearing somewhat weathered lettering which reads:
THIS PLAQUE COMMEMORATES THE COMPLETION OF THE
MAPPLETON COAST PROTECTION WORKS
UNVEILED BY THE MAYOR OF HOLDERNESS
COUNCILLOR C.H.BUCK ON 12 SEPTEMBER 1991
FUNDS WERE PROVIDED BY
EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE FISHERIES AND FOOD
HOLDERNESS BOROUGH COOUNCIL
HUMBERSIDE COUNTY COUNCIL
CONSULTANT
POSFORD DUVIVIER
HAYWARDS HEATH
WEST SUSSEX
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT
R. TAYLOR Dip. T.P. F.R.T.P.I.
HOLDERNESS BOROUGH COUNCIL
CONTRACTOR
SHEPHARD HILL CIVIL
ENGINEERING LTD
CHESTERFIELD
DERBYSHIRE
This view from the north shows a slightly unusual configuration. An initial cross-beach groyne is separated from the cliff by an enclosed rectangular cell. The arrangement is intended to reduce updrift outflanking.
Some 260 metres to the south and greater in dimension, a terminal groyne crosses the beach to form a sediment containment cell, open to the sea. The cell is backed for four-fifths of its landward side by a rock revetment at the base of a profiled cliff [15 June 2015].
Initial groyne from low water. Distance of the head (where the beacon is) from the cliff foot is approximately 80 metres. Effective length of groyne is about 64 metres. Note the transition of profiled to natural cliff [5 October 2013].
Defences from head of initial groyne (video) [15 June 2015].
Head of terminal groyne [5 October 2013].
Shingle bank in sediment containment cell [15 August 2015].
Perhaps the most recognisable section of the Mappleton defences layout is the L‑shaped structure at the south. This comprises a cliff-perpendicular limb of 110 metres and a cliff-parallel limb of 95 metres (approximate effective lengths). The ‘L’ is offset from the cliff line by a small amount in an effort to counter downdrift outflanking and to allow access at beach level.
A group of students examine the L-shaped component [24 September 2014]
Sea defences that inhibit normal beach movement affect the local coastline both in the shorter and longer terms. The chart shows average annual rate of cliff loss at former erosion monitoring posts EP48 to EP56, north and south of the cross-beach groyne, spanning periods of 39 years before (blue) and 20 years after (orange) installation of the defences.
an ever decreasing car park
The completion of the sea defence work was accompanied by the creation of a public amenity consisting of a no-charge car park with picnic area and a toilets building. Coaches bringing school trips to Mappleton would also make use of the space.
Aerial view of the car park in 2012, intact but with the cliff line creeping closer. There are 42 vehicles parked and one in the process of leaving. Three more line the side of the entrance road. It can be seen that the amenity extends beyond the end of the defences, by 35 metres [National Network of Regional Coastal Monitoring Programmes: 2012].
Over the course of winter 2012-2013 the south-east corner came under threat and was fenced off [26 February 2013].
In this scene during filming for a heritage project, a deep wave-action undercut of the cliff below the site is apparent [FilmBee: 23 October 2013].
The southern end of the parking area was removed in 2017 [12 July 2017].
View from the shortened car park [12 July 2017].
By 2021 the toilets building had become an appendix to the parking area. A crack can be discerned in the growth where the surface used to be [12 October 2023].
Inevitably, the fixed conveniences had to go, replaced by portable units [Timothy‘s Travels (video), 10 September 2024].
Signage includes a Customer Charter [12 October 2023].
Customer Charter [12 October 2023].
The reduced car park is too small for coaches to unload [29 September 2023].
Despite official discouragement, overnight stays are suspected [07:57 5 October 2013].
The East Riding of Yorkshire Council is currently looking at relocation and possible enhancement of the Mappleton amenity once a suitable site has been found.
the enigmatic red band
The cliffs at Mappleton are made of glacially deposited till, once widely known as boulder clay. Within the till (essentially Skipsea Till, or Skipsea Member of the Holderness Formation) can be found various units, beds, layers and other features. These reflect advances, shifts, and retreats of the ice sheet that created the land.
One easily recognisable feature is the red band, exposures of which are common between Hornsea and Cowden, north and south of Mappleton.
The provenance of the red band (where the material originated), together with its distinctive colouration and precise manner of deposition, are a matter of geological debate.
An exposure of the red band [Cowden: 29 September 2023].
Differential erosion sometimes causes the band to be slightly recessed [Cowden: 29 September 2023].
Red band at the foot of the cliff, above a sloping clay platform [Mappleton north: 5 October 2013].
Here, the red band is partially merged with surrounding till which contains chalk crushed by ice. The scaling rod is approximately a metre in overall length [Cowden: 31 July 2020].
In addition to the red band, there is a similarly enigmatic though much less seen grey band [Mappleton south: 7 November 2013].
Page prepared by Brian Williams, January 2025.
