24 Mar 2014
Historic buildings at significant risk from flooding and coastal erosion, says English Heritage
BY Tom Anstey
Experts have warned that Britain’s coastal heritage is at extreme risk from both flooding and coastal erosion following the year’s extreme weather patterns.
English Heritage has identified 25 sights of historic interest in its Coastal Estate Risk Assessment that it believes are now at significant risk.
Sites at risk includes Dunstanburgh Castle, on the Northumberland Coast; Landguard Fort, in Felixstowe, the 12th century Reculver Roman fort and towers near Herne Bay, Kent; and the bronze age Innisidgen Burial Chambers on the Isles of Scilly.
Also red flagged are Warkworth Hermitage in Northumberland, Upnor Castle on the River Medway in Kent and Daw’s Castle and a sea cliff hill fort near Watchet in Somerset.
Away from the shores, Berney Arms Windmill which stands on the Norfolk Broads, is also under threat from the waters of the surrounding marshes.
Recent flooding and heavy storms have had a notable effect on Britain’s heritage. Brunel’s Great Western Railway line at Dawlish saw a section destroyed while at Filey Brig in North Yorkshire, a Roman coastal signal tower has been lost due to erosion and part of the Grade II listed granite quay at Lamorna Cove, in Cornwall was destroyed during the storms.
In addition a recent study found that up to a fifth of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including several in Britain, will be at risk by 2100 if climate change continues at current rates.
Around eighty of English Heritage’s sites lie along Britain’s coast with the body saying that 48 are at some risk of flooding, with the main 25 placed at “moderate or high” risk.
The UK government’s policy on coastal realignment also fails to help matters as it would likely lead to the eventual abandonment of these heritage sites to the encroaching waters, says the report.
It also warns that even where heritage sites are currently protected by hard defences, ‘managed realignment’ – or abandoning stretches of coastline to the waters – will have a significant impact.
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